Shikeji Ro was sent flying again, his feet skidding across the ground before he barely managed to stop.
But soon, he noticed something alarming about his arms.
"What's happening!? My wounds… they're not healing!?"
Indeed, the wounds Horitake's lightning had seared into his arms showed no signs of closing, blood dripping steadily.
This was the formidable power of Horitake's Heavenly Thunder Breathing, devastatingly effective against demons!
As Shikeji Ro grappled with his shock, Horitake flashed before him, swinging his still-sheathed Weiguang downward, smashing it into the demon's shoulder!
Shikeji Ro spat blood, his knees buckling as they cracked the ground beneath him!
"Damn you…"
Shikeji Ro roared, struggling to rise and counterattack.
Horitake remained unfazed, channeling Heavenly Thunder Breathing. Purple lightning surged through Weiguang, striking Shikeji Ro with a ferocious jolt!
The sudden thunderbolt scorched him, sparks flying, sapping his strength to resist. Pinned under Horitake's relentless pressure, he knelt before him.
Horitake maintained the electric suppression, gazing coldly at Higashimacho.
"Six months. Look at what you've done to this town in half a year. How many couples have you devoured? How many children have you tormented? This place is practically a ghost town now."
In the house nearby, the children had freed the couple from the wardrobe. Thankfully, the child forced to play the game was unharmed, and the family clung together, sobbing in relief.
The orphaned children watched with envy, while Shintaro felt a surge of gratitude.
Dragging their weakened bodies, they peered through the hole Shikeji Ro had smashed in the wall, cautiously observing the battle. They saw Horitake, like a thunder god, utterly dominating the demon.
Shikeji Ro strained to lift his head, spotting the couple and children in the house. Blood seeped from his clenched teeth.
"All the parents in this world… deserve to die!"
Horitake pressed him down, his tone icy.
"I don't know what you've been through, but don't judge everyone by your own experience!"
Horitake exerted more pressure, nearly forcing Shikeji Ro flat.
The demon, gripped by fear at last, shouted desperately.
"You can't kill me! I control the lives of every child in this town! If you kill me, they'll all die!"
"Then do it."
"…" Shikeji Ro gritted his teeth, unable to move.
"As I suspected," Horitake said. "Your Blood Demon Art accelerates plant growth, but controlling those peanuts inside the children takes time to activate.
Once you're dead, those peanuts will lose their power. They'll be digested and expelled soon enough."
Shikeji Ro's panic surged.
"No, no, no! You can't kill me! You can't!"
Horitake pressed Weiguang, still sheathed, harder, nearly crushing Shikeji Ro flat.
In his desperation, the demon made one final stand!
Risking his left shoulder being shattered, he shoved upward, briefly freeing his right hand to plunge into the ground, unleashing his Blood Demon Art.
"Raging Tree Slaughter!"
Boom, boom! The ground quaked as four straight trees erupted, charging at Horitake!
Horitake glanced around, raising Weiguang, still sheathed, and swept it in a crackling arc of thunder.
"Heavenly Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderbolt Sixfold Flash."
Even sheathed, Weiguang's six slashes cleaved all four trees, nullifying Shikeji Ro's final desperate attack.
Looking up, Shikeji Ro seized the moment to clutch his unhealing, shattered shoulder and flee frantically.
But his speed was no match for Horitake's. By the time Horitake dealt with the trees and turned, the demon had barely escaped three steps.
At last, Horitake drew his blade…
A resplendent purple blade flowed from its dark red sheath—Weiguang unsheathed!
"Gale Swordsmanship: Forward Slash!"
Amplified by Heavenly Thunder Breathing, the Gale Swordsmanship's power surged!
Horitake took a single step, overtaking Shikeji Ro's three-step escape. With a soaring purple thunderbolt, he swung Weiguang in a horizontal slash!
How fast was this strike?
Shikeji Ro's head fell first, then he saw his headless body, and only then did he feel death.
From the house, the couple and children clearly witnessed Shikeji Ro's demise!
Horitake's figure—crackling with thunder, blade raised, slaying the demon with flair—burned into their minds, a memory they'd likely never forget.
Shikeji Ro's head rolled across the ground, his body beginning to disintegrate.
In his final moments, he saw the parents embracing their child tightly. Unable to hold back, tears spilled from his eyes.
"Why… did I have to have parents like that?"
Horitake, holding Weiguang, activated his spiritual vision.
"Oh? I can see the demon's memories again? Fine, let's see what this demon went through."
Shikeji Ro's original name was Ro, surname unknown, nicknamed A-Ro.
Once, A-Ro was just an ordinary child. His parents didn't not love him, but… they were hot-tempered and profoundly ignorant.
A-Ro had a condition: he couldn't eat peanuts. Eating them caused severe vomiting, swelling, and breathing difficulties.
Embarrassingly, his family grew peanuts for a living. His parents, whose livelihood depended on them, couldn't tolerate their child shunning their trade like it was poison.
"My son will inherit the family business! How can he be so afraid of peanuts!?" Those were A-Ro's father's exact words.
Somehow, word spread that A-Ro, born to a peanut-farming family, couldn't touch peanuts. Village gossips spun cruel tales, each more vicious than the last.
A-Ro's mother, enraged by the rumors, beat him and forced him to eat peanuts.
Predictably, A-Ro nearly died.
Later, his parents, acknowledging his condition, took him to doctors, but none could help.
During the Meiji Restoration, Japan hired foreign doctors. A-Ro saw one, who diagnosed him with an allergy, strictly forbidding peanuts.
His ignorant parents scoffed, believing the foreign doctor was a fraud and allergies nonsense.
They brought A-Ro home, forcing him to eat peanuts, thinking he'd "get used to it."
A-Ro suffered multiple allergic reactions. The more he reacted, the angrier his parents grew, forcing him to eat more.
Finally, after being forced to eat too many peanuts, A-Ro's reaction was catastrophic.
Overwhelmed by physical and emotional pain, he fled home, dragging his ailing body. Near death in the mountains, he met him and became a demon.
As a demon, Shikeji Ro's madness erupted. He returned home, consumed by vengeance, and devoured his parents!
From then on, he grew increasingly obsessed, believing all parents were shackles to their children, deserving annihilation.
Until today, when Horitake slew him, Shikeji Ro remained unrepentant.
"Why should I repent? My own parents tried to kill me!"
Those were Shikeji Ro's final thoughts.
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