What a thrilling fight!
Since gaining his system's cheats, Horitake had never faced a truly equal opponent. Only now, clashing fiercely with Yushiguro, did the thrill of battle ignite within him.
Horitake's slashes grew more fervent, his movements swifter, his grin wider with each strike.
In a flash, he completed the Thunderbolt One Hundred Eight Flashes.
But it wasn't enough!
"Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderbolt Three Hundred Sixty-Five Flashes!"
A torrent of purple lightning slashes surged toward Yushiguro.
Yushiguro countered with his claws, but his earlier nonchalance was gone. It was clear—he wasn't gaining the upper hand!
Slash! One lightning-charged strike broke through his claw flurry, carving a long gash across his forearm!
As the Three Hundred Sixty-Five Flashes ended, Horitake seized the moment, delivering a swift kick toward Yushiguro's grotesque head.
Yushiguro raised both arms to block, his body skidding back a dozen meters.
Lowering his arms, he felt the sting in his forearm. Fury twisted his already perverse face. "Impossible! You breached my skin?! My skin's as hard as diamond!"
Horitake scoffed.
Diamond-hard skin? Pure nonsense.
Diamond, nature's hardest substance, sacrificed toughness for hardness. It was brittle—shatterable with a hammer.
Yushiguro's skin balanced hardness and resilience. If it were truly diamond-like, Horitake's slash would've shattered chunks of it.
Settings like that? Fun to read, but not to be taken as combat fact.
As they say: Talk combat without settings, and it's all nonsense. Talk combat with settings? Still nonsense!
Yushiguro wiped the blood from his arm, his voice warping with rage. "No matter, it's just a scratch. I'll heal it in—huh?! Why isn't it healing?!"
His tone turned to genuine panic.
Demons relied on their supernatural regeneration. Without it, they were just slightly stronger monsters.
Yushiguro glared at Horitake, shock and fury mixing. "You! Did you poison your blade?! No… it's your lightning! It's abnormal—it's stopping my body from regenerating!"
Horitake leveled Weiguang, his gaze cold. "You're not as dumb as you look."
Yushiguro's rage boiled over, tinged with fear. He was done holding back.
Roaring, he slammed a pot forward, summoning grotesque aquatic creatures. "Thousand Needles: Fish Slaughter!"
Goldfish poured from the pot, flopping in the air. Each spat venomous spines, a swarm so dense it aimed to turn Horitake into a pincushion!
This was Yushiguro's signature Blood Demon Art: summoning bizarre creatures from his pots.
So, a summoner of sorts?
Horitake stood unflinching, eyeing the incoming spines, each glinting with blue poison.
Raising Weiguang, he remained calm. "Thunder Breathing, Second Form: Chidori Current!"
A chorus of bird cries echoed as dense purple lightning enveloped Horitake, forming an impervious shield.
The spines struck the electric barrier, sizzling into charred ash!
With a flick of his blade, Horitake flung the lightning outward, forming a massive electric net that fried the flopping goldfish midair.
It felt a bit like illegal electrofishing in a pond.
Taking advantage of Yushiguro's shock, Horitake pressed his attack. "Thunder Breathing, First Form: Godspeed!"
Arcs of lightning flared around him. In a blink, he moved like the Flash, darting to Yushiguro's right. Weiguang, crackling with thunder, slashed at the demon's arm.
As an Upper Rank, Yushiguro reacted to the attack, if not the speed. Abandoning his precious pot, he dodged and blocked.
But Horitake's target wasn't his arm—it was the pot!
Yushiguro's Blood Demon Art relied on his pots to summon creatures. Destroy them, and his endless summons would stop.
Crack! Weiguang shattered the pot in one strike!
Yushiguro, seeing his "artwork" in pieces, erupted in fury. "You… you dared destroy my art! I'll never forgive you!"
He lashed out, clawing at Horitake's head, intent on tearing it apart!
Horitake met him head-on, purple lightning flaring. He swung Weiguang, clashing with Yushiguro's claw!
Boom! The collision of claw and blade unleashed a deafening shockwave, rattling the courtyard and uprooting nearby plants!
Tamayo paled, and Yushiro stood dumbstruck.
Yushiro, barely forty as a demon, had never witnessed such a terrifying battle. Worried for Tamayo, he urged, "Lady Tamayo, let's not get involved! While they're locked in combat, we should escape!"
Tamayo, stunned, shook her head. "How could we? I don't know this Demon Slayer, but he clearly knows me. He's fighting Yushiguro for us. We can't abandon him. And this is Tokyo—too many innocents are nearby. I must maintain the Blood Demon Art barrier to hide this chaos. Please, Yushiro!"
Yushiro, ever loyal, couldn't resist her plea. "Yes, Lady Tamayo!"
Meanwhile, Horitake and Yushiguro's battle grew fiercer, each strike scarring the ground. In just a few exchanges, Tamayo's courtyard was a ravaged mess.
Facing a worthy foe, Horitake's excitement surged. His attacks grew fiercer, Weiguang flashing with chilling light and purple lightning, striking at Yushiguro from every angle!
Because Horitake's lightning prevented demonic regeneration, Yushiguro dared not take direct hits, dodging and blocking instead.
And that was infuriating.
Yushiguro's fish-serpent body, with joints that twisted 360 degrees, made his dodges slippery and unnervingly fast. Horitake struggled to land a clean hit.
Gradually, he shifted tactics, moving beyond close combat. "Thunder Breathing, Second Form: Thunderbeast Pursuit Fang!"
With a swing of Weiguang, purple lightning coalesced into four wolf-like beasts. The electric hounds howled, charging at Yushiguro!
Yushiguro, startled, clawed at the thunderbeasts.
Boom! The torn-apart beasts exploded! The blast sent Yushiguro tumbling, and the remaining two hounds pounced, savaging him with relentless bites!
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