There's no need to elaborate on Mizuki's side; adhering to the basic principle of striking while the iron is hot, her offensive became increasingly fierce.
But Kokushibou had fought Mizuki before, and he knew well her unforgiving nature when she gained the upper hand.
When fighting Mizuki, if she has the advantage, she will literally ride your face and beat you up.
Retreating at this moment would only lead to her chasing and beating him.
Back when he was human, physical exhaustion might have been a limiting factor.
But now, with a demon body, even Mizuki could sustain this level of exertion for a long time.
Kokushibou risked his blade shattering to force Mizuki back with a single strike.
The cry of emptiness shattered. Kokushibou raised his hand, broke off the section severed by the scarlet blade, and it repaired itself in the blink of an eye.
Taking advantage of Mizuki being forced back before she could reorganize her stance, he took the initiative to complete his own posture.
His broad arms moved in wide, sweeping motions, bringing the blade down.
Under the vast moonlight, a slash that made Mizuki's scalp tingle shot up into the sky.
"Moon Breathing, Eighth Form: Moon-Dragon Wheel Tail!"
A massive purple crescent moon, carrying countless tiny crescent blades, suddenly slashed out, its magnificent Aura pressing down like a mountain.
This was Kokushibou's method of response.
Overwhelming power trumps intricate skill.
An attack of this scale was no longer something one could simply avoid.
Under an attack of this magnitude, having nowhere to retreat was the norm.
In an instant, Mizuki prepared for a head-on collision, stepping forward, holding her blade vertically beside her face, and exhaling a faint white-purple breath.
"Snow Breathing, Tenth Form: Moonlight Beneath the Snow..."
The Haguya Form was the one Mizuki developed after seeing the Moon Breathing Eighth Form back then.
It was inspiration, not plagiarism.
However, she did not possess Kokushibou's powerful physique; her twenty-centimeter-long horns did not make her body as tall and massive as his.
Therefore, the range of Haguya's attack could not compare to the Moon-Dragon Wheel Tail.
A snow-colored grinding wheel formed, like a jade plate, and met the Moon-Dragon Wheel Tail head-on.
Would it win?
It wouldn't.
The jade plate collided with the Moon-Dragon Wheel Tail, resisted for a moment, and was then shattered.
Fortunately, Mizuki never expected a single move to completely neutralize such an exaggerated attack.
Her twisting body spun again, using the momentum from her waist rotation to unleash a second strike.
"...Double Strike!"
The second jade plate flew out, and after a brief stalemate with the Moon-Dragon Wheel Tail, it finally managed to wear it down.
If she utilized the power of her Blood Demon Art, the Haguya Form could reach a level comparable to the Moon-Dragon Wheel Tail.
But using her Blood Demon Art would override the effect of the scarlet blade; her blood was too cold, the opposite extreme of the scarlet blade, preventing the Nichirin Blade's solar energy from activating.
This would be equivalent to trading attack range for true damage, which was somewhat counterproductive.
Kokushibou did not stand idly, waiting for Mizuki to break through his Sword Forms one by one; while Mizuki was resisting the Moon-Dragon Wheel Tail, he swung his blade backhand toward the ground.
Influenced by the small branches on his blade, several giant shockwaves shot out, cutting vertically along the ground, accompanied by numerous arc-shaped small shockwaves that filled the gaps between them.
This was a seamless, fan-shaped suppressive slash.
This was precisely a Form Mizuki had seen before, one of the only two advanced Moon Breathing Forms she had witnessed back then.
This exaggerated slashing attack made it difficult for Mizuki to exert her strength.
If she were still in a human body, she would be panicking now.
Facing the giant shockwaves traveling along the ground, Mizuki pushed off with her legs and leaped into the air.
"Moon Breathing, Ninth Form: Descending Moon, Successive Faces!"
Kokushibou raised his hand and swung his blade toward the sky; countless intersecting crescent slashes attacked, practically sealing off the space around Mizuki.
Mizuki flipped her body mid-air and landed back within the encirclement of the giant shockwaves.
She stepped forward to meet the attack, passing through the gaps filled by the arc-shaped slashes.
Tiny slashes cut into her body, leaving bone-deep sword wounds, and strong Sword Qi friction left countless bloody marks.
Her demon body naturally repaired itself; wounds of this severity usually healed automatically within a single breath after appearing.
Under complete Demonization, Mizuki's physical regeneration speed had also increased significantly.
Of course, the consequence of doing this was that her stamina consumption was also accelerating.
If this turned into a pure battle of endurance, she would definitely lose in the end.
But dawn would arrive in two hours, and her body wasn't so weak that she couldn't last for two hours.
Seeing this scene, the Battle Intent in Kokushibou's heart also soared.
This style of fighting, completely disregarding the body, was truly how a Wicked Demon should fight.
The scarlet blade and this fighting style proved Mizuki's resolve.
In that case, underestimating her any further would be disrespectful to Mizuki.
He decided to defeat Mizuki and then bring her back.
Mizuki was weaving through the giant shockwaves. Kokushibou gave her no chance to breathe, raising his hand and swinging his blade downward.
"Moon Breathing, Sixteenth Form: Moonbow, Solitary Moon!"
Giant crescent slashes rained down from above, like a colossal spider stomping down, accompanied by countless tiny crescent blades.
The dense slashes almost completely encircled Mizuki.
Mizuki was already feeling the pressure.
The range is too wide!
What kind of Forms are these?!
The overwhelming slashes were like a shrinking spiderweb, leaving the prey nowhere to escape.
Kokushibou's slashes, embedded with tiny crescent blades, maximized the restriction on the enemy's survival space.
Facing such a wide range of slashes, there was no possibility of avoidance.
Mizuki could only adjust her body to meet this offensive.
Even if someone managed to survive this kind of slashing attack, they would definitely be severely injured, but Mizuki was different.
She had a demon body.
While Mizuki adjusted her body angle, the Sword Qi unleashed by her blade carved out a considerable amount of safe space for her, leaving only countless tiny wounds from the microscopic crescent blades.
Boom! Boom! Boom!!!!!!
Countless crescent blades rained down, and the deafening roar sounded like a continuous barrage of exploding shells, kicking up a cloud of smoke and dust.
Kokushibou stared sharply into the dust cloud.
Whoosh!
A streak of red light flashed through the dust cloud, then grew brighter and brighter.
"Snow Breathing Eleventh Form: Crimson Furnace Lighting Snow!"
Mizuki's figure, covered in wounds, appeared in Kokushibou's sight.
The red dots, connecting into a line and moving at extreme speed, swept toward Kokushibou.
Facing this Sword Form combined with Sun Breathing, along with the glowing red scarlet blade, Kokushibou chose to temporarily avoid the edge.
But Mizuki's speed was extremely fast; the tiny wounds on her face hadn't even fully healed, not even taking a breath's time.
The gap in strength between the two was not significant; even in Kokushibou's highly concentrated state, he only managed to evade the fatal blow.
The blade pierced his right chest. The scorching blade seared his flesh, and intense pain instantly flooded his entire body.
This is... what it feels like to be struck by a scarlet blade.
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