The rush of blood essence filling his body made Mōmenbō laugh hysterically. "Keke... every bit of damage you deal is filled back by the life of these peasants! You can't kill me!"
"You piece of trash!!!" Uzui Tengen's rage was ignited instantly.
How despicable! How ugly! To trample on life without a bottom line—to use, loot, and plunder! He swung his dual blades, his body launching forward like a cannonball. "I'm going to mince your ugly clay into dust!"
"Insolent!" Mōmenbō was undeterred, swinging his clay-coated claws.
CLANG!
A piercing screech of metal on ceramic rang out. Clay shattered, and blood sprayed. Mōmenbō stumbled back, eyes wide with disbelief. The clay on his claws was as hard as solid bedrock, yet this human had shattered it with sheer force!
He's a human! A lowly human! Why does he have such monstrous strength?! Is he even man?!
"Evil demon, be purged!" Tengen gave him no room to breathe, his silhouette flickering as his blades came down again.
Having learned his lesson, Mōmenbō didn't dare take it head-on. He dodged frantically and snapped his fingers. In the distance, two more clay dolls crumbled into ash. The essence surged into him, and his wounds closed yet again.
Mōmenbō's expression turned grim. He finally realized that Ryousuke and Tengen were different from any Slayers he had faced before. He couldn't let this continue.
The demon opened his mouth and let out a dry, rasping wail. Suddenly, the slow-moving clay dolls were injected with a frenzy. Muddy blood-tears flowed from their eyes. They ignored Ryousuke and swarmed toward Tengen like a maddened tide.
Tengen, locked in combat, roared over his shoulder, "Ryousuke! Block them!"
"On it!"
Ryousuke's eyes flashed with lightning. The air around him began to hum and crackle as the electricity became violent.
"Thunder Breathing, Sixth Form: Rumble and Flashing!"
With a low growl, his white blade didn't strike an enemy. Instead, he slammed it vertically into the earth beneath his feet!
BOOM!!!
Centered on Ryousuke, a wild surge of lightning—like an unleashed dragon—tore into the ground. The earth groaned under the burden, cracking and heaving. Blinding light erupted from the fissures, weaving a web of electricity across the surface.
CRACK!
The ground within a thirty-meter radius collapsed. The frenzied clay dolls had no time to react, falling straight into a deep three-meter pit!
"What?!" Mōmenbō's sneer froze. He hadn't expected Ryousuke to break the stalemate by terraforming the battlefield. Those dolls were his shields and health packs, and now they were trapped!
In that split second of distraction—
"Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash!"
Ryousuke turned into a straight bolt of lightning, aiming for the demon's neck. Simultaneously, Tengen seized the opening, appearing like a ghost behind the demon. Their daily training had forged a seamless synchronicity.
Trapped in a pincer attack, Mōmenbō's eyes narrowed. He slammed his hands onto his own chest.
"Blood Demon Art: Sealed Blood, Living Clay!"
THOOM—
A muffled boom rang out. A massive shockwave repelled both Slayers.
"Nani?!" Ryousuke was stunned. Their combined force couldn't break the demon's new armor. Mōmenbō was now encased in a thick, dense layer of dark terracotta. He lunged at them, his strikes now carrying immense weight.
Clang-clang-clang-clang!
The demon's power had spiked. Every hit felt like a falling boulder, numbing their wrists. Their own counters only left shallow scratches on the clay shell.
"Damn it! We can't break the shell!" Tengen cursed.
"It's more than that," Ryousuke said coldly. "That clay is incredibly heavy. His speed is down, but he's using that mass to amplify his kinetic energy. He's literally throwing his weight around."
"Hehehe... so what if you know? Die!" Mōmenbō charged.
"I'll handle the shell!" Ryousuke roared. His body temperature spiked as lightning surged. "Thunder Breathing, Fifth Form: Heat Lightning!"
A blinding white light tore through the night. The scorching bolt coiled like a serpent and slammed into the demon. Under the intense heat, the clay armor began to develop a spiderweb of cracks.
Tengen was already in position. "I don't believe your turtle shell is unbreakable!"
His dual blades hummed with a resonance that wasn't quite Thunder Breathing. He swung down with every ounce of his monstrous strength.
KABOOM!!!
A violent explosion of sound and pressure erupted.
CRACK! CRUNCH!
Large chunks of the "unbreakable" clay armor peeled off and shattered. Ryousuke was shocked. That wasn't a Thunder Breathing form. It was the prototype of Sound Breathing, First Form: Roar!
"AGHHH!!!" Mōmenbō screamed in agony. The shockwave had traveled through the armor, rupturing his internal organs. He nearly saw his "life flashing before his eyes" (Maridōrō).
Ryousuke didn't miss the beat. "Thunder Breathing, Fourth Form: Distant Thunder!"
He streaked forward like a lightning spear. Mōmenbō desperately raised his arms to form a shield, but the piercing strike shattered the defense and carved a deep furrow through his chest.
"ARGH—" Mōmenbō used the impact to fly backward. He dove into the earth, disappearing, and reappeared at the edge of the pit where the dolls were trapped.
"Cursed Slayers! You didn't expect this, did you?! This is my escape route, you bastards!"
Ryousuke's lip twitched. Wait, JoJo references? Really? Is that your line to say?!
Mōmenbō looked down at the trapped villagers in the pit. His eyes glowed with a frantic, greedy madness. "You forced my hand!!"