"A Rime-Water Lily Bodhisattva? You're piloting a Gundam, are you? What a coincidence. I have a Gundam too. I wonder whose is stronger?"
Hm?!
Doma stared blankly at the giant looming over him. His Rime-Water Lily Bodhisattva was already massive, standing over ten meters tall, but the flaming energy giant before him was even taller.
"Oh my, that's not fair. You can't just bully someone smaller than you," Doma said, waving his fan. His Blood Demon Art activated again, and the ice clones from before reappeared.
Several ice figures identical to Doma immediately rushed forward to attack Nagi's Susanoo. This was, of course, a probe. Doma might love to play, but he wasn't an idiot. While the clones tested the waters, the rest of his body—which had been reduced to a head and half a shoulder—regenerated at a phenomenal rate, fully reforming in seconds.
He glanced at his former body on the ground, which had already been reduced to ash by the black flames.
Doma's combat potential, when fully unleashed, was nothing to scoff at. But he never showed his full strength in front of Muzan, nor did he ever challenge Kokushibo, so whether he could actually defeat the Upper Rank One remained an open question.
Take the colossal ice figure before them, for instance. With Doma hidden inside the Rime-Water Lily Bodhisattva, even Kokushibo, for all his masterful swordsmanship, would have to shatter the ice statue first before he could land a blow. Doma's Blood Demon Art, Wintry Icicles, was a natural counter to Breathing Styles. Even with his demonic immortality, Kokushibo's Moon Breathing would be severely hampered if Doma managed to corner him with that technique.
Holding Shinobu in one arm, Nagi piloted his Gundam while simultaneously administering medical ninjutsu. His eyes fell upon the dozen or so corpses of female cultists scattered across the floor, and his anger flared. Doma was utter scum, a truly detestable creature.
With two casual steps, he crushed the ice clones underfoot before advancing on Doma's ice Gundam, the Rime-Water Lily Bodhisattva.
"Blood Demon Art: Wintry Icicles!"
Seeing that Nagi and Shinobu were safely inside the Susanoo, protected from the fine ice particles filling the air, Doma switched to another technique. The Wintry Icicles technique was primarily used to restrict an enemy's movement. It created two ice maidens who could exhale a white mist, producing a freezing fog effect without Doma needing to lift a finger. In essence, it augmented the environment, turning the battlefield into a frozen domain where Doma's abilities were at their most advantageous.
What followed was a straight-up Gundam brawl. The Rime-Water Lily Bodhisattva, only half the height of the Susanoo, swung at its opponent, but its arm was sliced clean off by the Susanoo's Sword of Totsuka. Seeing this, Doma quickly dodged backward.
By the time he had repaired the Bodhisattva's arm, Nagi had already closed the distance.
Nagi channeled more power from his divine weapon, Raikiri, coating the Sword of Totsuka with its energy. The blade now crackled with the destructive power of a miniature sun as he brought it down in a vicious slash.
Doma's pupils contracted. He controlled the Bodhisattva to press its palms together, forming a blooming ice lotus to block the attack. But the lotus only delayed the inevitable for a moment before it was cleaved in two, taking one side of the Bodhisattva's head with it.
"Oh dear, it seems the height difference is too much. I'll have to make mine bigger, hee hee~" Doma still wore that same playful grin, as if the life-or-death crisis couldn't possibly affect his mood. The truth, however, was that he was incapable of emotion and therefore felt no fear of death.
Doma suddenly poured a massive amount of power into his Rime-Water Lily Bodhisattva, forcibly increasing its size until the half-sized ice Gundam was just as large as Nagi's Susanoo.
Nagi stared, dumbfounded. Was Doma missing a few screws? Did he think that by forcibly increasing its volume, its mass would just follow suit? Didn't he realize this would only make his Bodhisattva weaker?
Not wasting any more time, Nagi slashed again. The ice Bodhisattva clasped its hands, forming another ice lotus, but the Sword of Totsuka cut through it like tofu. The Bodhisattva tried to dodge to the side, but Nagi's strike still took off its leg.
As the ice giant stumbled, Nagi pressed his advantage, bringing the sword down from head to toe and splitting the Rime-Water Lily Bodhisattva right down the middle. This time, it couldn't even put up a token resistance.
Under the onslaught of the two giants, the grand hall was turned into a demolition site. Walls and pillars crumbled, and if not for Nakime's unique ability holding the Infinity Castle together, the entire structure might have collapsed.
Shinobu watched Doma get utterly trounced, a feeling of immense satisfaction washing over her. Every time Doma repaired his Bodhisattva, the Susanoo would shatter it with a single strike. And without it, he stood no chance against the Gundam.
Faced with the colossal avatar, Upper Rank Two's attacks seemed feeble, barely having any effect at all.
This was a weakness he shared with many of the Upper Ranks and the Demon Slayers alike: they were overly specialized. They might have incredible regenerative abilities and an array of flashy Blood Demon Arts, but in the end, their techniques were designed for one-on-one duels or small-scale skirmishes.
Faced with a taijutsu battle, they held an overwhelming advantage. But against a titan like the Susanoo, with its nigh-impenetrable defense and immense offensive power, the flaws in their specialization became glaringly obvious.
It was like saying Sakumo Hatake could defeat Jiraiya in close combat, but if Jiraiya summoned Gamabunta, Sakumo's swordsmanship, no matter how brilliant, would be useless against such a behemoth.
"Oh my, I can't win. I'm not playing anymore. Time to run~"
As his ice Bodhisattva was shattered once again, taking half of his head along with it, Doma finally realized the game was over.
"You think you can escape?" Nagi sneered.
"Hee hee, how about a game of hide-and-seek then?" Doma giggled, waving his fan.
"Blood Demon Art—Freezing Fog!"
A thick cloud of ice-cold mist instantly filled the entire space. Doma then waved his fan again, summoning several identical ice clones that fled in all directions. This time, however, they weren't simple ice figures; they looked just like his shadow clones, complete with color and clothing.
"Damn it, don't let him get away—" Shinobu shouted anxiously from within the Susanoo. If he escaped, her sister's death would never be avenged.
"Relax, he's not going anywhere. Nakime—" A red light flared in Nagi's Sharingan.
Far away, Nakime instinctively plucked her biwa. Doma, who had just been making his escape, was instantly teleported right back in front of the Susanoo.
"Huh? How did I get back here? Ah, Sister Nakime, you've betrayed us?" Doma was still chattering away when Nagi seized the opportunity, piercing him with the Sword of Totsuka.
"Seal—"
This time, Nagi didn't absorb Doma into the gourd of the Totsuka Blade. Instead, while Doma was impaled and unable to move, he used a combination of Uzumaki clan sealing jutsu and Shukaku's unique pyramid seal. Under this dual-layered seal, which could even subdue a Tailed Beast, Doma had no chance of escape.
"Hmm, I can't move. What are these strange runes? They look a bit like our Blood Demon Arts, you know," Doma said, his eyes wide as he watched the sealing formulas crawl all over his body.
Nagi dismissed the Susanoo and gently set Shinobu down. After his emergency treatment, she could move without issue as long as she didn't fight.
"I told you I'd help you avenge your sister. I've kept my promise. This piece of trash is yours now. No one in this world can break my sealing jutsu," Nagi said to Shinobu earnestly.
"Thank you... thank you... sob..." By the end, Shinobu was choking on her tears.
"Now, now, don't cry. Look, I'm the one who got captured and I'm not even crying. I should be the one crying! Waaah... Lord Muzan, save me! Sister Nakime is a traitor~" Doma began to cry dramatically.
SPLAT!
Tired of his incessant chattering, Nagi stomped on Doma's head, crushing it. When it regenerated, he stomped on it again.
"Drop the fake act. There isn't a shred of fear in your heart," Kanao said, walking over with Inosuke.
"You're pathetic," she continued, her voice cold. "You were born human, but you lack everything that makes one human. Joy, anger, sorrow, the hope for life, the fear of death—you have none of these emotions. You try so hard to mimic them, but your heart is, and always will be, a desolate wasteland."
Kanao ruthlessly tore away Doma's mask. For the first time, the facade dropped. His expression became utterly placid, his face as cold and emotionless as ice.
"You're right," he said. "I have never had feelings. It was all an act. So, what do you plan to do with me? Your so-called human revenge won't affect me in the slightest. In fact, I'm looking forward to it. I'm hoping you can finally make me feel something. Even if it's the fear of death..."
Shinobu walked over and crouched in front of him, a sweet smile gracing her lips. "Of course. I will be sure to find a way to give you human emotions. To make you feel terror before you die..."
"Is that so? I look forward to it..."
Just then, the Infinity Castle began to shake violently, rapidly ascending toward the surface.
"What's going on? Is this place collapsing?" Inosuke demanded.
Nagi frowned. "Muzan's awake. He's killed Nakime. Without her control, the Infinity Castle is rising to the surface."
It turned out that the deaths of Kokushibo and Akaza, coupled with Doma's mental message about Nakime's betrayal, had sent Muzan into a panic. He had ended his seclusion prematurely, ignoring the poison still in his system. The first thing he did upon emerging was activate his curse to kill Nakime.
The Infinity Castle, under Nakime's control, could move underground much like White Zetsu. But without her, it would automatically rise to the surface. Muzan couldn't afford to worry about that now. He understood better than anyone the trouble he'd be in if the enemy controlled Nakime. If he couldn't escape the castle, he was done for. Nakime had to die.
Without the protection of the fortress, the numerous demons inside would be exposed. When dawn came, they would all perish. Right now, Muzan's only plan was to escape to some deserted place and hide before sunrise.
As long as he survived, he could just wait another hundred years for all these humans to die off. Then he could slowly rebuild his forces.
Upper Ranks? Lower Ranks? He could always make more. His own miserable life was what mattered most.
BOOM!
The earth trembled as the Infinity Castle broke through the ground, rising into the open air. It was already past four in the morning. In just over an hour, the first rays of dawn would appear on the horizon.