"This is..."
In Evernight's moment of shock, Sanemi's blade had already come whistling toward him, aimed squarely at his throat.
"Ren, the match is decided!"
Boom—
As Sanemi roared, Evernight suddenly raised his bone blade, effortlessly blocking the hurricane-like strike. At the same time, a surge of fierce, overbearing power flooded into every one of Evernight's cells, causing his muscles to quiver slightly.
After using the muscle stimulants, Sanemi's strength had clearly increased significantly, rivaling even that of Himejima Gyomei. The proof was the dense, spiderweb-like cracks spreading across the bone blade.
"I see, so you possess Marechi blood?"
Evernight laughed coldly, ignoring the cracks on his bone blade as he spoke to himself.
"If I'm not mistaken, your blood has a special property that makes Berserk Demons dead drunk. While fighting that big guy earlier, I must have accidentally inhaled your blood, which is why my consciousness is blurring. Am I right?"
Without waiting for Sanemi to answer, Evernight calmly continued, "To have such an ability, your blood is undoubtedly a Marechi among Marechi..."
At this point, Evernight tapped his own head. The scent of Sanemi's blood was constantly flooding into his nasal passages, making his consciousness even more muddled, to the point where afterimages began to appear.
'Whatever, I've achieved my goal anyway. It might be better to leave them to slaughter each other with my prototype; maybe I can even profit from the chaos.'
Thinking this, Evernight casually swung his sword, easily sending Sanemi flying more than ten meters back. He then sneered.
"Heh heh heh, I didn't expect your blood to be effective even against someone like me, Upper Moon Zero. Let's end things here for today."
"But you'd better keep your necks clean and wait. One day, we will meet again. When that time comes, I will completely annihilate the Demon Slayer Corps, one by one... Heh heh heh..."
"Wait! Are you trying to flee?"
Seeing Evernight prepare to turn and leave, Sanemi couldn't help but roar like a hot-headed thug.
"Heh heh, if I want to leave, no one can stop me. Blood Demon Art: Into the Darkness!"
As Evernight focused his power, his body distorted slightly, appearing to merge with the surrounding darkness. His entire being became ethereal and fleeting, like a ghostly phantom.
"Later!"
Before his words even faded, Evernight dissolved into the surrounding darkness, vanishing from before Sanemi's eyes in an instant.
"He disappeared?"
Sanemi's eyes widened. From the moment Evernight activated his Blood Demon Art, it had only been the blink of an eye before he completely vanished.
"A spatial Blood Demon Art? That truly is a troublesome ability... Namu Amida Butsu..."
Gyomei spoke calmly as he took out hemostatic bandages to treat the wounds on his body. Although he could not see, he had already opened the Transparent World, and any movement in the surroundings could not escape his perception.
He had clearly felt just now that Evernight had not moved away quickly, but rather, his entire presence had vanished instantly. Even his Transparent World could not detect him.
Only a spatial Blood Demon Art could achieve such a bizarre movement.
"Himejima-san, are you all right?"
Seeing Gyomei injured, Sanemi hurried over to support him and help treat his wounds.
"I am fine; these are just superficial wounds. However, I never expected that child, Ren, would become a Berserk Demon and kill so many Demon Slayer swordsmen."
"A hero of the Corps, our former comrade-in-arms, now forced into a fratricidal slaughter... What a tragic turn of events..."
"Ren, that bastard! Next time we meet, I will definitely be the one to behead him!"
Thinking of Evernight's actions, a look of fury appeared on Sanemi's face. His eyes were filled with killing intent, and his hands involuntarily clenched into fists.
"The priority now is to inform the Master and the other Hashira. Ren's strength is extremely terrifying. The two of us were no match for him, and the same goes for the other Hashira. If Ren intends to assassinate them, things will become very problematic."
"You're right. I'll report his transformation into a demon to the Master immediately."
With that, Sanemi quickly summoned his Kasugai Crow to inform Ubuyashiki Kagaya of what had just transpired.
Meanwhile, relying on his unique spatial Blood Demon Art, Evernight arrived at a prosperous town almost instantaneously.
"Umai!"
Inside a century-old oden shop, Rengoku Kyojuro was devouring the tempura and tamagoyaki in his bowl, shouting 'Umai!' with every single bite.
Beside him were Kanroji Mitsuri and Iguro Obanai. Since Doma had been slain by Kocho Shinobu, the publicly known Twelve Kizuki had been completely wiped out. Combined with the recent lull in the activities of the Berserk Demons, the Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps were enjoying a rare moment of rest.
"Delicious, so delicious..."
Mitsuri was eating sakura mochi one after another, enjoying them immensely. Her gluttonous display left the owner and his wife staring in shock, and even Obanai, who was beside her, could only press a hand to his forehead in resignation.
"It really is a rare and peaceful time. If only it could stay this way forever, right, Rengoku-san?"
"Exactly! Umai! Boss, give me five more pieces of radish, two eggs, and an order of udon!" Kyojuro shouted before continuing his meal with gusto.
"It's just wishful thinking. As long as Muzan isn't eliminated, nothing is truly over," Obanai spoke in a low, somber tone.
"And now, we don't even know where Muzan is... With the Twelve Kizuki completely wiped out, I'm afraid Muzan won't dare to show his face for quite some time!"
"Yeah, but being able to completely uproot the Twelve Kizuki was really thanks to Ren. Almost all the Upper Moons were defeated by him!"
Mitsuri took a bite of sakura mochi, her mind wandering. "Speaking of which, I wonder how Ren and Shinobu are doing. I promised to help set them up."
"In the end, look at them. One spends all day locked in the infirmary, and the other goes out hunting Berserk Demons every day. They don't even see each other. How am I supposed to bring them together?"
"Iguro-san, what do you think? How can we get those two to be together?"
Mitsuri suddenly turned her head, staring straight at Obanai with her big, sparkling eyes. Seeing those watery eyes, Obanai's face flushed red, and he quickly turned his head away, speaking shyly.
"How should I know? I've never been in a relationship..."
"Hiss, hiss, hiss!"
Kaburamaru, on Obanai's neck, also flicked its tongue as if to say it didn't know either, but suddenly, Obanai's internal alarm bells went off.
"Careful! Rengoku, Kanroji, get down!"
Boom—
Before his voice even finished, a sharp slash came whistling toward them, tearing through the wall of the shop like a gale and expanding outward.
Fortunately, Obanai had pushed Mitsuri down with him in time, and Kyojuro had also ducked quickly upon hearing Obanai's warning, allowing them to remain unharmed.
But the shop owner and his wife weren't so lucky. Both were sliced clean in half at the waist, and blood sprayed everywhere.
"Oh? Your reactions aren't bad at all!" Looking at the three who remained unharmed, Evernight stood outside the shop and laughed coldly.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going..... patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]