The Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps all possessed the ability to slay members of the Twelve Kizuki, but that ability applied to the Lower Ranks.
Against the Upper Ranks, almost every Hashira was outmatched.
Over the years, people had only heard of Hashira being killed by Upper Rank demons. They had almost never heard of an Upper Rank demon being slain by a Hashira.
The sole exception had happened recently, when the Stone Hashira, Gyomei Himejima, killed the Upper Rank demon Hantengu.
Kanae Kocho had already done everything she could, yet she was still no match for Doma. Almost every second felt like dancing on the edge of a blade. At any moment, her life might be cut short.
Rip!
The razor-sharp edge of the fan swept out once again, slicing across the young woman's chest and abdomen. It tore open a large stretch of flesh. Fortunately, Kanae Kocho had dodged backward in time; otherwise, her organs might already have been cut open, and she would have died on the spot.
Even so, the injuries covering her body left Kanae Kocho's face deathly pale.
The overwhelming combat strength of an Upper Rank demon was not something a single Hashira should have to face alone. Just like Doma before her, even forcing him to a draw would likely require the cooperation of three or four Hashira.
Before this infiltration, Kanae Kocho, as the Flower Hashira, had actually been quite confident. Deep down, she had believed that even if she was no match for an Upper Rank demon, holding out until dawn should still be within her ability.
But clearly, she had overestimated her own strength and underestimated the power of the Upper Ranks.
Though they were all members of the Twelve Kizuki, Upper Rank demons and Lower Rank demons were practically two entirely different kinds of beings.
In her mind, she could not help recalling Soma's concern before she came here. He had believed that this mission was too dangerous for her. Kanae Kocho had known there were risks, but she had always believed they were within her control.
Clearly, Soma's worries had been accurate.
He had been right.
Although even if she could choose again, she would still make the same decision.
Doma held his iron fans and stopped moving. His rainbow-colored eyes looked at Kanae Kocho. Perhaps because of excessive blood loss, the young woman's fair, delicate face had now become unbearably pale. Her right arm hung slightly downward, twisted at an unnatural angle. It had clearly been broken.
Her Corps uniform, along with her haori, had already been soaked through with blood. Even now, her body was trembling faintly.
Her condition was already extremely poor.
But the young woman was still holding on.
Kanae Kocho knew that if the battle continued, she would die. She could choose to flee. She could escape into the sunlight. But that would go against the very reason she had infiltrated this place.
Her goal had not merely been to get close to this Upper Rank demon. More importantly, it had been to pin him down and buy time for her companions to arrive.
"It is about time this ended."
Doma murmured while holding his iron fans, a gentle smile on his face, just as he always smiled when facing those believers who longed for salvation.
Kanae Kocho did not speak. She merely clenched her fist silently, her breathing growing increasingly rapid.
But just as he was about to bring everything to an end, Doma unconsciously raised his head and looked outside.
"Ah! What are you doing? Why are you arresting me?"
"Why are you arresting us…?"
Suddenly, a clamor came from outside, filled with the shocked and furious voices of the believers.
It seemed a large number of people had poured into the Eternal Paradise Faith. Government forces appeared to be among them, and his followers seemed to be getting arrested.
Although he had not gone outside, he could sense that the entire Eternal Paradise Faith had fallen into chaos.
Several believers even rushed inside. When they saw the wreckage throughout the hall, they froze slightly, clearly unable to understand what had happened here.
After a while, the believers finally reacted and told him what was happening outside.
Doma found it difficult to understand. The Eternal Paradise Faith had existed for so many years and had never encountered a situation like this before. Still, after thinking about it briefly, he could roughly guess that it was related to the Demon Slayer Corps.
However, the Demon Slayer Corps had always carried out its demon hunts independently and rarely cooperated with the authorities.
Doma found the situation rather unfamiliar.
Boom!
Suddenly, the sound of an explosion rang out, and the entire ground seemed to begin trembling.
Boom, boom!
Explosions rang out one after another, deafening, like death knells closing in.
Most of the buildings in the Eternal Paradise Faith were connected by passageways. Those connected corridors were almost entirely dark, more than enough for a demon to flee through.
But now, those passageways had all been blasted open. Long-absent sunlight poured in, completely cutting off the demon's escape routes.
At that moment, Doma understood.
This was probably a planned operation aimed at me.
Sure enough, not long after the explosions began, a rapid series of footsteps sounded from outside the hall.
Doma held his iron fans, narrowing his rainbow-colored eyes as he stared in the direction of the tightly shut doors.
Boom!
Another explosion rang out. This time, however, it was not the sound of explosives, but the sound of a spiked flail smashing into the hall doors and directly breaking through the thick entrance.
Amid the cloud of dust, several figures stepped inside.
The one in front was Soma. Guided by Tanjiro, they had arrived almost the instant dawn broke.
Behind Soma were the Stone Hashira, Gyomei Himejima; the Wind Hashira, Sanemi Shinazugawa; and the Flame Hashira, Kyojuro Rengoku.
The moment they broke into the hall and saw Upper Rank Doma, Sanemi Shinazugawa launched an attack almost in excitement.
Gyomei Himejima and Kyojuro Rengoku followed immediately after.
Doma could only meet them in haste. Although he was facing the siege of three Hashira alone, he still exchanged blows with them back and forth, barely falling at a disadvantage.
In truth, if not for the Stone Hashira, Gyomei Himejima, possessing strength far beyond that of an ordinary Hashira, Doma might even have gained a slight upper hand.
Soma quickly found Kanae Kocho, who had suffered rather serious injuries, and stopped her from trying to continue joining the siege while wounded.
"With me joining in, our chances should be higher." Kanae Kocho endured the pain throughout her body and spoke softly.
"There is no need."
Soma picked up bandages and began dressing Kanae Kocho's wounds.
"Mm…"
The pain caused by the contact with her injuries made Kanae Kocho let out a muffled groan involuntarily, but she immediately gritted her teeth and endured it.
Beneath her long lashes, her eyes remained fixed on the battle not far away.
Gyomei Himejima was worthy of being the strongest Hashira. With him taking the lead in the attack, even Doma had to dodge in a rather disheveled manner, especially with Kyojuro Rengoku and Sanemi Shinazugawa coordinating their assault around him.
Very soon, Doma began falling into disadvantage.
"There is no need to fight him head-on."
Supporting the injured Kanae Kocho, Soma spoke at that moment. "Himejima-senpai, break open the building and let him bathe in sunlight."
"Very well."
In the middle of battle, Gyomei Himejima chanted a Buddhist prayer. Then his entire body leapt up, and his spiked flail smashed into the roof of the hall.
Boom!
The sturdy roof, which would have likely required explosives to break open, was shattered under the tremendous strike of the spiked flail.
As the roof broke apart, long-absent sunlight poured down through the opening.
...
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