Sui let out a slow breath.
Gyokko's blood aura flowed along the blade of the demon sword and into her body.
"So you killed an Upper Rank this quickly? As expected of my partner." A hoarse, low voice rang out in her mind. The god had awakened again after absorbing the blood of an Upper Rank demon. "Which rank was this one among the Upper Moons?"
"Five," Sui answered inwardly.
"Five, hm? The purity of his bloodline was fairly high. If you want to use the Mystic Eyes, I can support you for at least an hour this time. It's just a shame his Blood Demon Art has terrible compatibility with you, so I can't strip it from his bloodline and give it to you."
The god's tone was calm, but Sui's heart gave a slight jolt.
"What do you mean, strip a Blood Demon Art from a bloodline?"
"Exactly that," the god replied. "A Blood Demon Art is just a different supernatural ability produced by my divine blood combined with the demon's own degree of adaptation. Haven't you noticed? Ever since you killed Lower Moon One, Lokia Blue, your senses have expanded. With Thunder Breathing and the chime of your wind-bells, you can create those 'snakes' to serve as your eyes and ears."
"That sort of thing can't be achieved by Thunder Breathing alone. Even in a world with magecraft, your 'snake swarm' would count as an exceptionally refined sensory art. It's because you already consumed Lokia Blue and inherited part of its Blood Demon Art. You just weren't aware of it."
"But I'm human. I don't have demon blood in my body. No matter how you look at it, I shouldn't be able to use a Blood Demon Art."
"The snake swarm isn't a Blood Demon Art," the god said. "It's more of a hybrid product. At its core, it's still a form of electric current… Still, you're not wrong. Although you are my shrine maiden and have entered into a pact with me, your flesh is still human. You don't possess my divine blood, so your bloodline concentration isn't high enough to sustain a true Blood Demon Art."
Sui was about to say something when the god let out a dry, rasping laugh.
"Girl, you didn't think I woke up just to chat with you, did you?"
"Another demon remains in this village. It far surpasses that Fifth Rank one. As your partner, I've accepted the blood of an Upper Rank demon, so I can pay you a small advance."
"One percent of the Blood of Orochi."
"Recite this:
'Since the beginning of the world, the primal blood has congealed until now…
let the stagnated fetal blood of creation boil once more.
O dragon-serpent of the everlasting darkness that coils beneath the shadow of the world…
now open your eight revolving eyes and gaze upon the earth of men.'"
"Focus and recite it exactly like that. If you do, you'll be able to summon a fraction of Orochi's power. And yes, I heard you complaining that the incantation is too long. It's a necessary procedure, like entering the password to a safe. Don't be lazy."
"The Blood of Orochi will temporarily grant you a body and regenerative ability not inferior to a demon's."
"Like the Yamata no Orochi of legend—something almost impossible to kill."
"Farewell for now, girl. Good luck."
The god's voice abruptly cut off, and the thunder rumbling in her mind fell silent.
Sui turned her head and saw that the floodwater in the Swordsmith Village had frozen into ice crystals.
Lotus flowers of ice bloomed in every corner of the village.
"The village is in danger! The village is in danger! Reinforcements! Reinforcements!" A crow's wings cut across the night sky as it cried out shrilly.
On the ground, footsteps thundered through the forest. A towering, bear-like figure swept across the mountain path, sending all the birds in the woods flying into the air.
"Namu Amida Butsu," Himejima Gyomei murmured with his palms pressed together in prayer.
He was hurrying toward the Swordsmith Village at astonishing speed. As the strongest among the Hashira, the area under his watch lay between the village and the Ubuyashiki estate. He guarded both of the Demon Slayer Corps' most vital locations.
"So the Swordsmith Village has been discovered after all," said the giant monk, tears streaming down his face. "I must hurry there and save them. The smiths cannot stand against demons."
"Two Upper Ranks! Two Upper Ranks! There are two Upper Rank demons in the Swordsmith Village! Two Upper Rank demons in the Swordsmith Village!" Another crow relaying information swooped in and cried out as it crossed paths with Gyomei.
"Two Upper Ranks…" Gyomei's voice sank as his pace grew even faster. It was hard to believe a man built like an unmoving boulder could move at such speed.
"The Sound Hashira has killed an Upper Rank! The Sound Hashira has killed an Upper Rank!" the crow cried again.
"Thank goodness!" the Stone Hashira said in a deep voice. "If Miss Sui is in the Swordsmith Village, then the smiths will be safe!"
But suddenly Gyomei stopped, the force of it kicking up a violent gust across the forest floor.
A shrine maiden stood quietly in the shadows ahead, blocking his path. She raised one hand, as if about to cup the moonlight itself.
"My sister really is so capable, isn't she? Don't you think so, Himejima-san?" the girl asked softly.
She stepped out of the darkness and lifted her eyes. In them was engraved the kanji for Upper Rank Three.
"Hokemizuki!" Gyomei recognized the demon at once. She was Sui's younger sister—the demon who had killed the Flame Hashira, Rengoku Makijuro.
"I'm honored that you know my name, Himejima-san." Eight white fox tails hung behind her, and blue flames danced at her fingertips. "In Makijuro-san's memories, you were the strongest swordsman in the Demon Slayer Corps. So Lord Muzan hopes that tonight I will kill you and remove one more inconvenience for the future."
Gyomei answered with silence as he drew the weapon from his back.
The Stone Hashira's "Nichirin Blade" was in fact a massive axe and a spiked flail joined by a thick chain. Its concentration of scarlet ore and scarlet iron sand was extraordinarily high, which made it tremendously heavy. But in the hands of this immovable pillar, that weight was nothing. To him, it was perfectly suited.
His brown priest's robe whipped violently in the wind.
The next instant, the flail smashed straight into Hokemizuki's face.
"Namu Amida Butsu!"
Once this weeping monk began to fight, he became a wrathful guardian deity made flesh.
Gyomei's flail crushed rock and blasted a crater into the ground.
Blue fire coiled around his ankle.
Hokemizuki leapt into the air atop the scattering rubble, and her fox tails stabbed toward the monk's throat like lances. But they struck the suddenly rising flail and burst with sparks. At the center of those blue flames, the Hashira merely swung the flail faster, the fierce wind from its motion blowing the azure fire apart.
"Stone Breathing, Second Form: Upper Smash!"
The great axe split through the burning fox-fire, its edge stopping barely an inch from the girl's brow.
Hokemizuki's body suddenly shattered like foam and vanished.
Five fox tails lashed in from behind and coiled around the axe's handle.
Her fox-fire ran up the chain and onto Gyomei's hands, filling the mountain forest with the smell of scorched flesh.
Hokemizuki's fingers lunged for the monk's throat—only for a heavy blow to smash them aside.
With a furious cry, Gyomei burst apart the fox-fire clinging to him, and the flail passed by the girl's ear with such force that the mere graze blew away half her head.
"Incredible!" she exclaimed, her eyeball dropping free even as her ruined face regenerated at once.
"Stone Breathing, Fifth Form: Arcs of Justice!"
The rotating chain shredded one of Hokemizuki's tails. Then Gyomei vaulted skyward and brought the flail crashing down from above.
The severed fox tail dissolved into bloody smoke as it fell.
The girl retreated beneath a maple tree, laughing softly. "You really are hard as stone, aren't you? Is there a mountain buried under your skin?"
But before she finished speaking, Gyomei's flail had already smashed apart the very ground she stood on. The attacks came one after another, without pause, without room to breathe.
This was the overwhelming presence of a wrathful guardian deity.
Fox tails and flail collided again. Hokemizuki licked at the blood on her claws.
"To be honest, I'm not your true opponent," she said as she fell back into the distance. More than half of her eight tails had been smashed apart. "I merely requested this assignment from Lord Muzan because I wanted to see what the strongest man in the Demon Slayer Corps looked like."
"The one truly interested in you is this person."
The moment her words fell—
Gyomei's heart stopped for a beat. All sound vanished from his ears.
"Strum—!"
A biwa string rang out.
Gyomei jumped away at once. As he did, he glanced down and saw that a figure had appeared exactly where he had been standing an instant earlier.
A man in a warrior's robe stood there, a sword at his waist. His long, dark crimson side-locks and high ponytail swayed in the wind. He faced away from Gyomei, his head slightly lowered.
"Stand down, Hokemizuki. Lord Muzan has other tasks for you," the man said in a low voice.
"Yes, yes, I'll be off to handle them," Hokemizuki replied with a bright little laugh, then disappeared into the night.
The man turned.
Three pairs of eyes stared out from his face.
And as his gaze fell upon the field, an invisible pressure descended, so heavy that even Gyomei—the man like unshakable stone—found it hard to breathe.
Upper Rank One.
Kokushibo.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 138)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter160)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter98)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter175)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 163
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 150
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 100
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 170
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 145
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 125
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 69
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 90
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 100
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 70
Uma Musume: I Want All 90
I Can Copy Unique Skills 65
Summoning an Evil God, but the 52
Supernatural Multiverse 65
My Harem Is Indescribable 55
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 55
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 66
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 55
Still playing traditional Honk 35
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 35
What Should I Do After Switchi 24
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 35
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 27
Transmigrated as Sukuna 27
Checking In in Demon Slayer 32
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 44
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