Muzan seemed to sense Lexon's intention. Abruptly, two more whips lashed out at extreme speed.
Absurdly fast!
Even though Lexon reacted, he only had time to raise his Nichirin Sword to block one of the surprise attacks. The other whip was unavoidable, striking down on Lexon's left side with immense force.
Lexon's arm and the burlap sack containing Gyokko were instantly turned into a blood mist.
They exploded and dissipated, leaving a thick, bloody scent hanging in the air.
Ironically, the "harder than diamond" scales of Gyokko's so-called "perfect form" had offered no resistance whatsoever, neither against Lexon's sword nor against Muzan's whip.
'What terrifying speed and power.'
Feeling the reverberation from the Nichirin Sword, Lexon couldn't help but marvel at the strength of Muzan's stats.
'If only I could sign in on him.'
He couldn't help but think.
The next moment, Lexon discovered that his severed part was not regenerating. Logically, he was a demon right now, and an extremely powerful one at that. His regenerative ability shouldn't be so weak. A second had passed, and his arm had not recovered.
He focused his senses and found that a different kind of power within his body was preventing his recovery, but that power was also gradually being worn down by his own.
In reality, Muzan's whips carried his blood. As long as a whip made contact with an opponent, it could deliver his blood into their body.
Then, according to his will, the blood containing Muzan's cells would not turn the target into a demon, but would instead destroy all the cells within the opponent's body.
Normally, a single hit from such a whip attack would be fatal.
But at this moment, Lexon was a demon, and one that did not share the same origin as Muzan. The demon cells in his body were not the same as Muzan's cells; they could even be said to be as incompatible as fire and water.
Therefore, the demon cells in Lexon's body were fighting against the cells in Muzan's blood. Although Lexon's regenerative ability was temporarily hindered and suppressed, Muzan's blood was also unable to further corrode his body.
"Lord Muzan..."
A very weak and intermittent voice suddenly came from near Lexon's feet.
It was Gyokko's voice.
He had somehow survived Muzan's whip attack, with only a small piece of his head, from the nose up and to the left, remaining.
He was lucky that his mouths were on his eye sockets; otherwise, he wouldn't even be able to speak right now.
"Not dead yet," Lexon said with a slight smile.
The sound of whistling whips came from the front again. There were more of them, denser, and their speed and power were even greater.
However, Lexon was not panicked. He half-raised his Nichirin Sword, and a thick mist emanated from the blade.
"Mist Breathing!"
The breathing technique was used to its maximum, and the mist was released to its greatest extent.
Like a heavy object falling into water, the mist exploded outwards, shrouding everything in sight.
The whips pierced into the mist, lashing about wildly, but they did not disperse the fog. Instead, they lost their direction within it, swinging randomly and even colliding with each other.
"The direction is wrong."
His whips, which were under his control, were crashing into each other. Muzan immediately realized that the mist had a disorienting effect.
He stood still, making no further moves.
As time passed, the mist seemed to lose its support and gradually dissipated. But where Lexon had been standing, there was no longer any figure.
"Foolish."
Muzan spat out a single, cold word.
'Since you chose to capture Gyokko alive, that was your mistake. You probably don't know that I can sense the location of any demon... Hah... you can't escape. Next time, I absolutely will not let you get away. I will eat you, and once again allow myself to bask in the sunlight, to become a truly perfect creature!'
A look of excitement gradually appeared on Muzan's face.
He did not choose to pursue Lexon.
Because he knew in his heart that it was useless to chase him now. The opponent was a very powerful demon, and as the first demon, Muzan deeply understood how troublesome demons could be. That was why he tried to keep all demons under his control as much as possible, holding the power of life and death in his hands.
Muzan planned to go back, gather his forces as much as possible, and devise a plan to ensure that next time, Lexon would not escape as he had this time.
At the same time, standing on the eaves of a certain shop, Lexon slowly sheathed his Nichirin Sword. His other arm, which had already recovered, lifted up the now fully regenerated head of Gyokko. A sinister light shone from his pitch-black eyes.
'Muzan probably thinks he can track your position at any time, so he'll make preparations before approaching me. But what I need is a little time. It'll be much easier to let him come to his own death...'
Muzan would never have guessed, even in his wildest dreams, that Lexon already knew everything about him, including his absolute control over Gyokko.
What he would never have imagined even more was that Lexon possessed "Sign-in," a trump card ability that could greatly increase his strength in a short period of time.
Gyokko averted his gaze, not daring to meet Lexon's eyes.
'Even Lord Muzan couldn't kill him...'
He felt that the rest of his demon life was looking a bit bleak.
Ending his demonization, Lexon slowly returned to his normal human form.
He looked at the fish-belly white of the dawn sky, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.
[Sign in]
[Congratulations on signing in for "Gyokko's Pot-Making Technique"]
[Gyokko's Pot-Making Technique: The pot-making method Gyokko prides himself on, close to his pathological worship of art.]
Lexon's mouth turned down. He tilted his head and met the eyes of Gyokko, who was looking sideways at the eaves.
Gyokko flinched and quickly looked away.
"Useless."
Lexon said coldly.
Hearing the taunt, Gyokko flinched again, a look of bewilderment on his face, not knowing how he had offended the other.
However, he had already completely resigned himself to his fate. He didn't even feel the slightest bit of anger at being cursed at.
With the help of the Demon Slayer Corps' logistics team, Lexon boarded a train back to headquarters.
Lexon looked at the neat and clean Demon Slayer uniform in the bag next to him and couldn't help but think.
'It seems I haven't worn it at all on this mission...'
"Don't move."
Lexon suddenly said.
Gyokko's head, which Lexon had placed on the windowsill as a decoration, instantly became quiet, turning into a stone sculpture.
Since Gyokko was just a head, Lexon had him maintain that state. Otherwise, it would be a hassle to always carry him around in a burlap sack.
It was much better now, serving as an art sculpture, nice and quiet.
To make Gyokko look more "artistic," Lexon had even specially applied some paint to him.
It made his face a garish mess of colors.
Passing young girls and children would laugh when they saw it.
Saying things like, "Sir, your sculpture is so ugly."
Lexon would just smile, and although Gyokko was angry, he didn't dare show it in front of Lexon, committed to his duty as a stone sculpture.
The scenery of the train journey was unusually moving. This feeling of experiencing the past was something Lexon also quite enjoyed.
There were few people in this carriage, and it wasn't noisy.
It could be considered a VIP seat specially arranged by the logistics team.
Before long, Lexon closed his eyes to rest, his thoughts drifting to who knows where.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]