Douma was startled by Shinobu Kocho's question, then looked closely at her haori and suddenly understood.
"Oh! You didn't say, I really didn't notice, isn't that the girl who uses Flower Breathing?"
"Are you that girl's younger sister? I'm so sorry, I really wanted to save her, but unfortunately, the sun came out in the end."
At this point, Douma shook his head with immense regret, his expression like a priest who failed to save a life.
"Save?" Shinobu Kocho's face turned incredibly grim, and she couldn't help but utter the word, finally roaring with anger that was almost like an exploding bomb: "You were the one who killed my sister!"
Douma smiled innocently: "That's right, I am the founder of the Eternal Paradise Cult, and it's my duty to share happiness with my followers. That girl who used Flower Breathing, gentle and strong, moved me."
"So I made an exception and allowed her to share in happiness."
"Humans are all afraid of death. I could tell that girl was also scared when she faced me, so I decided to eat her, to let her live eternally with me."
As he spoke, two golden iron fans appeared in Douma's hands. He slowly spread his arms, a gentle expression on his face.
"I accepted everything from my followers, bestowed salvation, and guided them to new heights."
His calm and gentle words sent shivers down Shinobu Kocho's spine, who was already on the verge of a rampage.
He was committing heinous acts, yet he saw himself as a living Bodhisattva, a twisted perception that made her, as a human, feel nauseated.
Shinobu Kocho's face was terrifyingly grim; it was a state where hatred and rage appeared simultaneously but were controlled by reason.
Her sister had taught her that being controlled by emotions was a sign of immaturity, so she had to remain rational no matter what, even if the demon who killed her sister was right before her eyes.
"I shouldn't have asked... How could a demon's mind be normal? It's truly disgusting." Shinobu Kocho slowly raised the hand holding her nichirin blade, making an attacking motion.
"Are you angry? Is it because I couldn't save your sister?" Douma sighed regretfully: "Because your sister couldn't be saved."
"So to grow to this extent in just four years, I'm truly touched. How much effort must it take to achieve what you have now?"
"What a gentle and strong girl. Don't worry, I won't make the same mistake I made with your sister. This time, I will completely save you..."
Before Douma could finish his sentence, his vision suddenly blurred.
"Insect Breathing! Centipede Dance: Hundred-Legged Serpent—"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Pits appeared from the bottom up on the fifteen-meter ice Bodhisattva; these were left by the explosive force of her feet. The entire ice Bodhisattva instantly became covered in cracks.
Shinobu Kocho also instantly appeared before Douma, her nichirin blade slashing out in an instant.
Douma only saw the sword light blooming before his eyes like a lotus. This was a swordsman as powerful as Kokushibo; how could he be unprepared?
With such a long distance, it was enough for him to counterattack.
Of course, he would definitely be cut, but as long as it wasn't a cut to the neck, any number of cuts didn't matter to him.
As soon as a Demon Slayer started using a Breathing Technique, his frozen air would be inhaled.
He could be cut countless times, but the opponent only needed to inhale a little frozen air for it to be over.
"Blood Demon Art! Lotus Leaf Ice!" Douma waved his iron fans with both hands, using his Blood Demon Art against the blooming sword light.
Ice lotus flowers accompanied by frozen air rapidly exploded before his eyes.
Crack! Rumble!
The entire spacious room had one wall destroyed by the blooming sword light, wooden beams were cut into several pieces, and another wall was frozen by bone-chilling ice, with ice spikes forming.
Shinobu Kocho dodged the exploding ice lotus flowers and retreated a few steps. Just by inhaling some air, Shinobu Kocho felt as if her lungs were being torn apart. Without any panic, she began to chant an incantation.
"Oh, healing wisteria, I pray here."
Douma's arms were cut off, his shoulder to his abdomen was almost severed, and his neck was cut three times consecutively. Under the wisteria poison, his recovery speed was very slow.
But even if it was slow, the three half-cut wounds on his neck had already recovered.
"The demon's neck is a weakness, so I specifically protected my neck. My neck's hardness is three times harder than your nichirin blade, you know."
Douma looked at Shinobu Kocho, who had suddenly started chanting something, and his newly regrown fingers tapped his neck, making a metallic sound.
But the next moment, he froze and showed surprise.
The girl before him was glowing, and glowing wisteria petals appeared out of nowhere, one after another.
In this extremely short time, the entire room was enveloped by glowing wisteria petals.
With him and Shinobu Kocho at the center, they were in a vortex formed by wisteria petals.
"Please bring the mercy of God, and dispel all pain that should not exist."
Shinobu Kocho finished chanting the incantation at an extremely fast pace.
She had long known the drawback of magic: although the incantation wasn't very long, it wasn't short either, and in battle, enemies wouldn't give you time to chant.
So she found a way to chant while fighting.
She succeeded.
She didn't know that these two techniques were highly advanced in other worlds, known as "parallel chanting" and "high-speed chanting."
Only those who could use these two techniques could be called elites among mages.
Douma was utterly astonished, encountering this situation for the first time: "What is this? Blood Demon Art? A human using Blood Demon Art?"
Shinobu Kocho had no obligation to answer a demon's question; the magic's effect began to activate.
A portion of the wisteria petals flowed towards her, healing her frostbitten lungs, while the majority of the petals surged towards Douma.
From all directions, without any blind spots, there were wisteria petals. Douma had nowhere to escape.
Although Douma didn't feel any danger, he knew that anything created by a Demon Slayer was meant to counteract demons, so he instantly waved his iron fans with both hands.
"Blood Demon Art! Freezing Cloud!"
The moment he waved his fans, a large amount of ice crystals appeared, spreading out like a cloud mist in all directions.
However, it had no effect on the wisteria petals, which continued to envelop Douma without any deceleration. Douma was momentarily stunned, seemingly not expecting such a result.
Petal after petal of wisteria flowed into his body.
The instant the first petal entered Douma's body, his entire body's blood vessels burst, every inch of his skin turned purple, and the bursting blood vessels writhed like earthworms.
Pfft!
Douma spat out a large mouthful of blood.
Before he could fully react, his body began to swell and inflate, like a corpse submerged in water.
"..." Douma, already bloated into a monster, twisted his eyes to look at the now calm girl before him, making gurgling sounds from his mouth, his body's mutation preventing him from making proper sounds.
His numbered eyes were full of confusion.
He didn't understand why things had turned out this way in the blink of an eye.
His body was completely uncontrollable, his Blood Demon Art was unusable, pain, pain...
'What is this? Poison! This is poison! What kind of poison can make me, Upper Rank Two, become like this!'
Shinobu Kocho slowly raised her nichirin blade: "Salvation? This is salvation. Let me send you to hell completely, you ugly monster."