Caw!
Caw!
The cries echoed through the night sky as the black Kasugai Crow flapped its wings and departed.
"A fateful encounter—I love that phrase~!"
White-blond hair like pale oak, rainbow-hued eyes, a head seemingly splattered with blood, a carefree smile, and a voice both steady and soft.
If you ignored the "Upper Rank" and "Two" etched in his prismatic eyes and the bloodstained, bone-white demon fangs, you'd mistake him for a warm, reliable big brother.
Yet every trait screamed that this man, wearing a gentle, delighted smile, was Upper Rank Two of the Twelve Kizuki!
"You came because of reports of demons here." Douma's ashen fingers pressed to his chest. "I came because someone's been swindling money using the Eternal Paradise Cult's name. Truly a fateful encounter!"
Douma's eyes blinked, his thick black brows relaxed, the corners of his eyes drooping as his lips curved, forming a smile. His pale fangs gleamed with a chilling glint.
"I haven't introduced myself yet. Hello, lovely ladies! I'm Douma. What are your names?"
His clean, refreshing, gentle voice belied the fact that its owner was a heinous demon who'd devoured countless humans.
"I'm Kochou Kanae!"
Kanae's voice was as soft as moonlight.
Reverie had no intention of responding, merely tilting her head, her emerald eyes sizing up the Upper Rank demon.
It's well-known that demons' trickiest trait isn't their eerie Blood Demon Arts but their terrifying regeneration.
Limb regrowth is child's play. As the Demon King, Muzan could freely split his body into 1,800 fragments, like self-detonation, and as long as one piece survived, his unmatched recovery could fully restore him.
That's nearly Majin Buu levels!
Utterly absurd!
Crucially, normal weapons can't harm demons effectively. Only direct sunlight or decapitation with Nichirin Blades, forged from special materials, can kill them.
Nichirin Blade materials—Scarlet Crimson Iron Sand and Scarlet Crimson Ore—absorb sunlight, making their essence the same: sunlight.
So, could ultraviolet light affect demons?
While Reverie studied Douma, he was also observing this ethereally beautiful girl.
"So pretty!" Douma's rainbow eyes sparkled with admiration. She was the most beautiful girl he'd seen in his life!
And Reverie wasn't wearing a Demon Slayer uniform but a deep, near-black blue skirt.
In Taisho-era Japan, such dress styles didn't exist. Douma raised his golden folding fan to his face. Was this girl a Westerner?
Perfect!
He'd never eaten a Westerner!
He'd heard Westerners were superior to Japanese. Eating her would surely boost his power!
Douma squinted, smiling, about to speak when pink blade-light bloomed in the air.
Kanae, with a kind smile, swung her Nichirin Blade at Douma's neck. He raised his lotus-patterned golden fan, and blade met fan, sparking faintly.
"Such beautiful blade-light!" Douma gazed at the flower-like slashes. "Is this your unique Breathing? It's got traces of Water Breathing. Does it have a name?"
"Flower Breathing," Kanae replied politely.
Sun Breathing was Yoriichi's daily breathing formalized into a technique, but others couldn't withstand the sun's power, unable to learn it.
With no choice, Yoriichi tailored weakened versions based on learners' strengths, birthing the five basic Breathing styles: Water, Thunder, Flame, Stone, and Wind.
Later Demon Slayers created diverse derivative Breathings from these.
Flower Breathing, created by Kanae from Water Breathing, inherited water's softness, losing some agility but gaining intricate force techniques and complex variations.
Each slash's trajectory was elegant and soft like petals, with sharp sword aura yet delicate, akin to Dungeon Fighter Online's Sword Master, maxed out for aesthetics.
Even Grandpa Kirito would take notes!
As petal-like blade-light clashed with fan-danced ice lotuses, Douma's smile faded, his eyes glinting with surprise. Such strength and speed!
The Twelve Kizuki were Muzan's creation, a demonic army to rival the Demon Slayer Corps, divided into Upper and Lower Ranks. The Upper Ranks, the strongest, hadn't changed in nearly a century, and Douma had slain multiple "Hashira."
Even one-on-one or one-on-two, those Hashira were no match.
Yet this young girl faintly exuded a strong sense of pressure. Since when did the Corps have someone like her?
Kanae's scarlet blade danced, dodged by Douma.
Her wrist twisted, pink blade-light flowing like layered flower seas, waves surging toward Douma's neck.
His golden fan blocked the blade. Douma's other lotus-patterned fan unfurled, fanning.
Frigid air spread, ice lotuses blooming from nowhere, wildly surging toward Kanae.
"Blood Demon Art: Lotus Leaf Ice!"
Kanae leaped back, narrowly evading the sharp ice lotuses.
But their freezing aura clung to her arm, bone-chilling cold seeping in, frosting her skin.
Kanae's expression grew grave.
Douma was among the toughest demons. Honestly, if he didn't fool around, even all Hashira combined would pay a price to defeat him.
Not just raw strength but his Blood Demon Art.
By turning frozen blood into misty "ice crystals" spread by his fan, human skin froze on contact. If inhaled, the crystals caused breathing issues, leading to lung necrosis.
A hard counter to the Corps!
If he played dirty, spawning clones and spamming big moves, he'd be unbeatable—one breath, and Breathing Techniques were nullified.
In terms of Corps suppression, Upper One might not compare!
As her black hair fluttered, Kanae's pink Nichirin Blade danced, crisscrossing slashes like peony petals tightly layered.
"Flower Breathing, Fifth Form: Fruitless Peony!"
"Blood Demon Art: Withered Garden Snow!"
Douma's golden fan waved, frost swirling like falling snow, forming solid ice to block Kanae's attack.
"Such a gorgeous form!" Douma squinted, praising. "But… it doesn't suit you at all!"
Kanae's gaze remained calm, pressing her assault. She knew Douma wasn't wrong.
Among Breathings, Water Breathing was the softest and easiest to learn.
Water was the "soft" specialization of Sun, with the lowest stamina demands. Over ninety percent of female Corps members learned Water Breathing.
Due to Kanae's limited strength, Flower Breathing enhanced water's "softness," with all forms built on this.
Now, stacked with Shiraki's, holy war angel Reverie's, and especially Kiana's Kaslana physique, even at twenty percent, Kanae's physicality rivaled the Stone Hashira!
Wielding soft Flower Breathing forms with unfamiliar, massive strength couldn't showcase their advantages.
Worse, it exposed more openings than before.
Her boosted physique compensated, but fully suppressing Douma was beyond reach.
Just then, Reverie, sensing Kanae's struggle telepathically, finally moved.
She hadn't been idly spectating.
Teaming with enhanced Kanae against Demon Douma didn't require "synergy."
Reverie feared synergy's power might scare Muzan into hiding for centuries—what a hassle!
No other villain, but the scummy boss could pull that off.
So, no overwhelming power display.
Plus, Reverie wanted to test something.
In that time, Shiraki in the Honkai world prepped what Reverie needed.
The blue-haired girl lacked a warrior's aura, more like a pampered noble's daughter, so Douma barely noticed her.
"Watch this—Flower Breathing, Eleventh Form: Ultraviolet!"
Two specialized UV lamps appeared in Reverie's hands via the mysterious space, pale purple beams shooting out, bathing Douma directly.
"What's thi—!!?"
Curiosity lit Douma's face. Taisho-era folks wouldn't recognize handheld lamps, but his intrigued look lasted two seconds before his eyes surged with horror.
"The sun!!!"
At that moment, in a Western-style mansion in some town, a pallid, handsome man snapped his eyes open, scarlet slit pupils contracting sharply.
Impossible!?
As the demon progenitor, Muzan held all demons' lives.
His cautious nature banned any info about him spreading. Demons uttering his name triggered a curse, causing bodily collapse and self-destruction.
Muzan couldn't monitor every demon constantly. He used a keyword-search-like mechanism.
All demons carried Muzan's blood, varying in amount. He etched keywords into their DNA, so lower demons triggering them instantly alerted him.
Muzan's keywords weren't just his name.
High EQ: Muzan's an extremely cautious demon.
Low EQ: The scummy boss is terrified, cowardly to death!
He set "sun," "Sun Breathing," "Tsugikuni Yoriichi," and other fear-laden terms as keywords.
Today, a rare keyword trigger from an Upper Rank prompted Muzan to check, nearly scaring him witless.
Humans wielding the sun!?
Reverie and Kanae closely watched Douma under the UV lamps. Would it work?
"No, wait, this isn't the sun—just a hollow imitation."
Douma's expression vanished, brows furrowing slightly. "Not entirely a gimmick, though. It holds a faint sun aura."
Douma felt his body and Blood Demon Art slightly suppressed, but negligibly.
Yet that purple light repulsed him viscerally!
Though a mere facade, it instinctively terrified his body, like facing the sun itself.
"Find out what that is, then kill them."
Muzan's cold, fearful voice echoed in Douma's mind.