Chapter 62: Fish Monster
Outside, torrential rain poured down, raindrops smashing frantically against the eaves with a pitter-patter sound; the roof trembled amidst the violent curtain of rain.
"Honestly, why did it suddenly start raining like this?"
Ryuji held a bowl of rice in his hand, shoveling it down quickly.
Mochizuki Inasaburo took a sip of sake, picked up a piece of tamagoyaki handmade by his wife Suzuki Yuriko, stuffed it into his mouth, and said indistinctly to Ryuji:
"You brat, eat slower. You don't even know how to show some respect to me, your teacher."
Hearing this, Ryuji retorted without even looking up:
"Me staying alive and not making you bury your own student is the greatest respect I can show."
"Stupid brat, still as cheeky as ever!"
Mochizuki Inasaburo laughed and cursed, took another swig of sake, his face glowing with a comfortable red flush.
Suzuki Yuriko smiled gently and refilled their bowls: "Eat slowly, there's enough for everyone..."
She patted Haruko's head: "Haruko should eat more too, so you can grow up tall like Ryuji."
Chewing on tamagoyaki, Haruko raised her small hand: "Okay!"
Knock knock knock!
A series of urgent and heavy knocks on the door suddenly rang out.
"Who is it? In such heavy rain..."
Mochizuki Inasaburo frowned, reacting quickly to shield Yuriko behind him. He held his tobacco pipe in a reverse grip across his chest.
He prepared to go forward and open the door.
Before he could move, with a bang, the door was burst open.
A young fisherman stumbled in, soaked to the bone as if he had just been fished out of the sea.
His face was covered in water—it was unclear if it was rain or tears—his eyes were bloodshot, and his lips were pale.
He was trembling all over, with bloodstains on his body.
"M-Mr. Mochizuki!"
As soon as he saw Mochizuki Inasaburo, his legs gave way, and he fell directly to his knees, crying out hoarsely:
"Please, save us!"
"Shiro, don't panic. Take it slow. What happened?"
Mochizuki Inasaburo stepped forward, his voice steady.
Shiro panted heavily, sobbing incoherently: "The boat... our boat is trapped on the Black Reef! And... and there's a monster! A huge octopus, it's killing people! Ada, Saburo, and the others... they've all been eaten!!"
Because he was young and a good swimmer, he had managed to escape by jumping into the sea.
"I know you were a swordsman of the Demon Slayer Corps!"
He gripped Mochizuki Inasaburo's pant leg tightly, sobbing uncontrollably: "Please, go and kill that monster!"
A monster?
It must be a demon!
Ryuji and Mochizuki Inasaburo exchanged a look, both seeing understanding in each other's eyes.
No more words were needed.
Mochizuki Inasaburo turned and said in a low voice to his wife: "Yuriko, lock the door and don't go anywhere. I'll be back soon."
Suzuki Yuriko's eyes were full of worry, but she didn't stop him. She simply stepped forward and gently straightened her husband's collar:
"Be careful. I'll be at home... waiting for you to return."
"Mhm."
Mochizuki Inasaburo nodded heavily, quickly took his carefully maintained nichirin blade from the headboard in the inner room, and tucked it into his waist.
Ryuji calmly flexed his wrist and said to Shiro:
"You stay here..."
At the same time, he spread out his Observation Haki to search for the location, quickly locking onto the coast.
Shiro nodded, then his vision went black. Ryuji withdrew his hand after striking the back of the man's neck:
"Sorry."
Mochizuki Inasaburo's lip twitched: "If you knock him out, who's going to lead the way?"
He didn't ask why; he knew some demons could bewitch humans.
"I will!"
Ryuji looked at the storm and spoke in a low voice before rushing into the wind and rain.
Mochizuki Inasaburo didn't waste any breath either and followed immediately.
The seaside.
The wind and waves were towering; the black seawater was like an enraged beast, frantically battering the coast.
Several fishing boats were being hammered by the wild waves, stuck fast in the black reefs nearby. Figures on the boats swayed in the wind and rain, letting out desperate cries.
A giant, grayish-blue octopus with a pot on its back was using its countless slimy tentacles to tightly coil around the ships, dragging the hulls bit by bit into the deep sea.
One of its tentacles curled around a struggling fisherman. In its grasp, the fisherman was like a fragile doll, easily delivered into its mouth filled with sharp teeth, making a bone-chilling chewing sound.
"Aaaaaah!"
The survivors on the boat let out heart-wrenching screams, sounds that were almost swallowed by the waves and the storm.
The moment Ryuji saw this, his gaze turned completely cold.
Without the slightest hesitation, he stomped hard on the slippery sand. The ground instantly caved in, and he shot forward like a cannonball, piercing through the curtain of rain and charging straight ahead!
"Fist Breathing Style, Fourth Form—"
His voice exploded in the storm, his muscles bulging instantly, and Armament Haki dyed both his arms pitch black!
"Fist Bone Meteor Shower!"
In an instant, hundreds and thousands of dense, pitch-black fist shadows were suddenly unleashed!
Every fist shadow carried a roar that tore through the air, like countless tiny black meteors carrying destructive power, raining down upon the giant octopus demon!
Boom boom boom boom boom!
The dense explosions merged into one, drowning out the thunder and the tsunami!
Under this storm-like barrage of punches, the octopus monster's seemingly tough skin was instantly torn apart, flesh and blood flying everywhere. It let out a sky-shaking shriek of pain, and its numerous tentacles instinctively released the ships.
"Now's the time! Come over here quickly!"
Mochizuki Inasaburo took the opportunity to rush to the shore, shouting to the surviving fishermen on the boats, directing them to jump into the sea and escape.
"Zhi-yee-yee-yee-ah!!!"
The octopus demon was enraged by the pain; it abandoned the ships, and all its tentacles smashed down toward Ryuji, covering the sky.
"Oh? Is this Life Qi? That was just a warm-up!"
Ryuji looked at the sky full of tentacles without a trace of fear on his face. He had only used thirty percent of his power for those Fist Bone strikes... mainly to save people.
But now, Master Mochizuki had already started the rescue.
Instead of retreating, he advanced, throwing another right punch.
Boom!
Another punch, heavier and faster! It directly pierced through the octopus demon's head!
Immediately after, a second punch!
Violent power exploded inside its body. Its massive frame stiffened, then collapsed with a bang in the rain, rapidly turning into ashes.
But soon, under Ryuji's curious gaze, it regenerated once more.
Although the speed was quite slow.
"A bit strange. This kind of fish monster that can't speak and can regenerate even after its head is blown off..."
Ryuji's eyes narrowed. It was Gyokko!
upper rank five!
Since he knew the source, he knew how to eliminate it.
He scanned with Observation Haki and found the pot hidden deep within.
He went up and delivered a Fist Bone Impact!
Bang.
The moment the pot shattered, the octopus monster turned into black smoke and slowly disappeared.
[Ding! Host detected to have killed an extremely evil pirate. Reward obtained: 500 military merit points.]
The System's notification rang in his mind. Ryuji was stunned. Wait?
500?
The fish monsters created by Gyokko's Blood Demon Art were worth military merit points?
If this were true... he seemed to have discovered a bug, a bug for quickly farming military merit points.
However, Gyokko's Blood Demon Art shouldn't be able to stay far from it, right? Doesn't that mean it's right here?
At this moment, the shore was already filled with the sound of weeping.
"Thank you, benefactors! Thank you for saving our lives!"
The rescued fishermen knelt on the wet, cold sand, repeatedly bowing to Ryuji and Mochizuki Inasaburo, crying with tears and snot flowing.
It was a kind of ecstasy and lingering fear from returning to the human world from Hell. They grabbed Mochizuki Inasaburo's pant legs, incoherently expressing their gratitude, their voices so hoarse they were out of tune.
Mochizuki Inasaburo, however, didn't hear their words at all.
He was frozen in place, his mouth slightly agape, his pupils dilated from extreme shock.
He stared blankly at his disciple, then at the place where the demon had dissipated, his mind a complete blank.
Is this... the strength of a Hashira?
No, this had even surpassed his perception of a Hashira... He knew Ryuji was strong and had become a pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps, a Genius even the Master praised highly.
But it wasn't until he saw it with his own eyes today that he understood just how earth-shattering and unreasonable this strength was!
That octopus demon, if it were his past self, would have probably taken more time and maybe even suffered some injuries.
But in front of Ryuji, with those storm-like punches and that overwhelming power... that demon was like a fragile sandbag, easily blown apart.
This was no longer a battle.
This was a one-sided slaughter.
Mochizuki Inasaburo exhaled a breath of turbid air, his lips curling upward.
This brat had already grown to a Realm he completely couldn't comprehend.
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