Lucien relit his cigarette, taking a slow drag as smoke curled around his calm expression. A kukri materialized in his hand as he approached the nearly regenerated Enmu.
Without hesitation, he chopped off Enmu's recovering head again and pinned it to the table with ease.
"No one has ever been able to command me."
Golden lightning cracked through the air, and before Kyojuro Rengoku could react, Lucien appeared right in front of him. The air screamed from the speed of his movement.
Lucien unleashed a devastating kick.
Kyojuro barely managed to raise his Nichirin Blade, but the overwhelming force behind Lucien's strike drove the blade directly into Kyojuro's own chest. Bones cracked, blood sprayed, and Kyojuro's body blasted backward through several train carriages like a fired cannonball.
He crashed into the fifth carriage, skidding across the floor.
Lucien held his cigarette between his fingers in an "OK" gesture as smoke drifted from his lips. His amethyst eyes gleamed with indifference as he watched Kyojuro struggle to rise in the distance.
Then he turned back to the pinned demon.
Pulling out his kukri, he gripped Enmu's head by the hair.
"The timing should be just about right."
A new presence was rapidly approaching the speeding train. Judging by its strength and speed, Lucien recognized it instantly.
Upper Rank Three, Akaza.
He tilted his head slightly, meeting Enmu's panicked gaze. The fear in the demon's eyes deepened as those amethyst irises locked onto him.
"Cough… cough…"
Far away, Kyojuro pushed himself upright as passengers fled toward the rear carriages in panic.
"You have violated the Demon Slayer Corps' rule against internal conflict. You murdered a comrade. If you refuse to surrender, I will kill you here."
Kyojuro's righteous voice carried through the wrecked train.
Lucien exhaled smoke, flicking ash from his cigarette.
"Who gave you the courage to talk like that? That Farmer Punch brat?"
Kyojuro's grip tightened. Flames erupted.
"Flame Breathing, First Form, Unknowing Fire."
Kyojuro shot forward like a burning comet, flames roaring around him as he crossed multiple carriages in a single instant.
He appeared before Lucien in a flash.
But compared to Lucien's movements, his speed was still a shade slower.
Lucien's right arm turned crystalline with Hardening, glowing red-hot as steam rose from his skin. With Enmu's head still in his left hand and a cigarette between his lips, he stepped forward and countered Kyojuro's slash with a crushing strike aimed for the heart.
"Not good. Flame Breathing, Second Form, Rising Scorching Sun!"
Kyojuro reacted instantly. His blade arced upward in a blazing crescent, aiming for Lucien's crotch, a suicidal angle meant to force Lucien to abandon his attack.
Lucien's eyes sharpened.
Hardening could protect his body, but he refused to test whether it would protect something so important.
He shifted his attack at the last moment, lowering his elbow to intercept the strike.
Heat exploded. The shockwave blew apart the entire train carriage in a violent eruption of debris.
Kyojuro seized Lucien and dragged him off the moving train. The two rolled through the dirt, crashing into the dark outskirts beyond the tracks.
Although they'd exchanged only two blows, each one carried terrifying force.
Kyojuro coughed heavily, soil spilling from his mouth as he forced himself upright. His body trembled, yet his stance remained firm.
Meanwhile, Lucien stood ten meters away, perfectly composed. Not a hair was out of place. Enmu's severed head hung loosely from his grip.
Lucien wasn't even looking at Kyojuro.
His amethyst gaze was fixed on the left, where an overwhelming aura rapidly drew near.
Two minutes until arrival.
Lucien made his decision.
He threw Enmu's head onto the ground and pinned it with a kukri. Then electricity surged over his entire body, golden lightning streaking around him.
Kyojuro braced.
Lucien vanished.
A large, red-hot crystalline foot appeared in front of him, heavy enough to fracture the earth beneath it.
"Flame Breathing, Fourth Form, Blooming Flame Undulation!"
A vortex of fire burst from Kyojuro, swirling outward like a defensive explosion. The flaming slash collided with Lucien's scorching foot, sending cracks rippling through the ground in a spiderweb pattern.
Lucien's eyes sharpened. His right hand, gripping his golden Nichirin Blade, turned into lightning as he slashed toward Kyojuro's neck.
Kyojuro bent backward at the last instant, flames igniting around his leg as he counter-kicked.
Lucien disappeared in a crack of lightning.
He reappeared on Kyojuro's left, raining down red-hot, crystalline foot strikes aimed for Kyojuro's waist.
"Blooming Flame Undulation!"
Kyojuro spun again, using the wide-range technique to shield himself from Lucien's relentless assault.
The explosion forced Kyojuro back. Blood sprayed from his lips as he tumbled across the ground, carving a long gorge in the earth.
Lucien hovered briefly above the ground before turning into golden lightning and giving chase.
"Flame Breathing, Ninth Form, Rengoku!"
Burning with resolve, Kyojuro launched his strongest attack. Flames wrapped around him like a meteor falling from the heavens.
Lucien inhaled deeply.
Lightning crackled wildly around his body, his hardened right leg heating until it glowed like molten metal.
Both forces collided.
For one silent moment, the world held its breath.
Then the earth split.
Thunderous shockwaves tore open the terrain. A massive mushroom cloud erupted skyward as flames and lightning collided in a blinding explosion.
Dirt shot into the sky like shrapnel. The plains were left barren and cratered.
From the heart of the explosion, Kyojuro flew out, blood covering his face. He crashed into the ground with earth-breaking force, carving an enormous trench with his body.
Lucien descended from above. His right leg was destroyed from the knee down, colorful regeneration veins glowing as flesh rapidly reformed.
His left foot crashed down onto Kyojuro's chest, crushing bone with a sickening crack.
Blood exploded from Kyojuro's mouth along with fragments of organs.
"Flame Breathing, Fifth Form, Flame Tiger!"
Even on the verge of death, Kyojuro roared and unleashed his attack. A blazing tiger lunged toward Lucien with its jaws wide.
Lucien didn't flinch.
His hardened fingers pierced through the burning tiger, then clamped around Kyojuro's skull.
The fiery creature faded like an illusion.
It had no power left.
A cold gleam flashed from Lucien's blade.
Kyojuro's body fell to the ground, head severed cleanly.
Blood erupted from the stump like a fountain.
"Whoosh…"
A figure shot across the plains, stopping before Lucien in the blink of an eye.
As the dust settled, the moonlight revealed him clearly:
Short peach-pink hair.
Golden eyes.
Pale skin.
A purple-red martial artist's haori.
Deep blue tattoo marks etched across his body like the sins of countless fighters.
Blood-red claws.
Upper Rank Three of the Twelve Kizuki.
Akaza.
---
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