The Spider Family's Destruction - Part Two
Rui plunged both hands into the ground, not to unleash some strange Blood Demon Art, but to use his spider silk to frantically draw in the yin energy and resentment accumulated across the whole of Mount Natagumo, in a manner bordering on self-mutilation! These forces surged endlessly into his small body through the network of webs spread throughout the mountain forest.
"Aaargh—!" He let out a howl of pain as his body swelled and twisted violently. Gashes split open across his skin, exposing the writhing new tissue beneath. The wound on his chest healed rapidly under the infusion of tremendous energy, but it healed in an extremely deformed fashion, as though the energy had been forcibly stuffed inside. The muscles around the wound knotted and coiled like tree roots, giving off an unstable, violent aura.
His white hair grew wildly, waving like living white tentacles, while the [Lower Five] inscription in his left eye glowed an eerie red. His aura climbed higher and higher, far beyond its previous level, even giving the impression that he was approaching a critical point and was about to lose control and self-destruct!
"See that? This is... the power my family gave me! The whole mountain... is my family! Their fear! Their hatred! Their... everything! It's all supporting me! I won't lose!" Rui's voice grew hoarse and muddled, filled with the chaotic static of energy. "You destroyed my home... you'll pay for it... with your life!"
He no longer used intricate control of his threads. Instead, he crudely condensed the vast, unrefined energy around his hands, forming two enormous Demon Claws made of chaotic threads and dark energy. Like a rampaging beast, he pounced at Moyu! Sheer force could overcome any skill! He would use overwhelming energy to tear Moyu to pieces!
"Forcibly devouring evil thoughts to increase your strength... you're only bringing about your own destruction." Moyu's gaze was icy as he saw through Rui's condition at once. This way of forcing rapid growth might grant great power for a short time, but it placed an enormous burden on the body, and the energy was impure and full of flaws. Moreover, in this state, Rui's mind was already on the brink of madness, and his twisted obsession with "family" had become the fuel hastening his destruction.
Faced with this wild assault of pure energy, Moyu chose not to meet it head-on. After all, Limitless Inviolability also consumed considerable energy when blocking powerful attacks. His footwork shifted as he pushed Flowing Cloud Step to its limit, weaving like a phantom between the frenzied swipes and tearing blows of the two chaotic Demon Claws. His Six Eyes precisely predicted the path of every attack and the gaps in the flow of energy.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Wherever the Demon Claws struck, the ground cracked, trees shattered, and dust filled the air. Rui's attacks covered a vast area and were astonishingly destructive, but they were relatively slow. His movements also had obvious hesitations and openings because of his unstable energy.
Moyu calmly observed as he dodged. He was waiting for the inevitable decline after Rui's forcibly enhanced power reached its peak, or... for the moment his energy ran out of control. At the same time, he was secretly building up power. A complete Blue consumed an enormous amount of energy and could not be used lightly; he needed an opportunity to kill in one strike.
"Run! Is running all you can do?! Coward! Come and fight me head-on!" Rui roared madly, his attacks growing ever more violent, but the confusion in his eyes became increasingly obvious as well. The negative energy he had forcibly devoured was beginning to turn against his mind.
Suddenly, after a combined strike with both claws missed, Rui's enormous body lost its balance for an extremely brief moment because he had put too much force into the blow! At the same time, the eruption caused the impure energy flowing within him to fluctuate in violent disorder!
Now!
Blue light flared in Moyu's eyes! The aura he had kept restrained erupted with a roar! He stopped dodging and charged straight at Rui's chest, left wide open by his loss of balance!
"Cursed Technique Lapse—Blue: Maximum Output!"
This time, Moyu cupped his hands together without touching and frantically poured nearly seventy percent of his Breathing Cursed Energy and mental power into the technique! A pitch-black sphere rapidly condensed and swelled between his palms, larger and denser than any before it, radiating a destructive pull! The air around it warped completely, and light was utterly swallowed up, as though a miniature black hole had been born into the world!
Rui had only just steadied himself when he saw the deadly black sphere already right in front of him! The terrifying suction pulled even his enormous body forward against his will, and he felt an unprecedented threat of death!
"Wh-what is this?!!!"
"No!!!" Rui screamed in despair and crossed his two chaotic Demon Claws in front of himself, trying to make one last stand.
"Annihilation."
Moyu thrust both palms forward!
The pitch-black Blue struck Rui's defensive Demon Claws without a sound.
There was no explosion, no thunderous crash. There was only a stranger, more chilling sound, the sound of matter and energy being completely broken down and annihilated. The instant Rui's Demon Claws, formed from vast amounts of energy, touched Blue, they were like a dam of sand and soil struck by a tsunami, effortlessly broken apart, swallowed up, and erased!
Blue continued unabated, striking Rui squarely in the chest!
Pfft—!
Rui's eyes bulged, filled with utter terror and disbelief. He felt the flesh, bones, and even the soul at the point where his chest touched Blue being forcibly compressed and torn apart by an incomprehensible force, until they finally returned to nothingness! It was a true point of "nothing," devouring everything in existence!
"No... Lord Muzan... my... my family..." He let out one last faint wail, filled with unwillingness to accept his fate.
The next moment, the pitch-black sphere of Blue suddenly collapsed inward, then released a ring of invisible, space-distorting shock waves!
Hum—!
Beginning at the point on his chest where Blue had struck, Rui's enormous, twisted body rapidly dissolved and broke apart like a pencil drawing rubbed away by an eraser. In the end, it was completely reduced to the most basic particles and annihilated in the air, leaving not even a trace of ash behind.
Only a head covered in white hair and bearing the [Lower Five] inscription remained. Because it had been at the edge of the shock wave's range, the blast flung it away, and it rolled to the ground, its face frozen in the horror and bewilderment of its final moments.
In the clearing, the immense, suffocating demonic aura receded like a tide. The deathly pale webs covering the mountain forest also lost their luster at a visible rate, becoming brittle and breaking and falling away.
Lower Rank Five, Rui, confirmed dead.
[Successfully killed Twelve Kizuki: Lower Rank Five, Rui. Coins +20000.] The system's notification sounds rang out in succession, announcing a generous reward.
Moyu was slightly out of breath, his face a little pale. Using Blue: Maximum Output at full strength had taken an enormous toll on him. He walked over to Rui's head, his azure pupils calmly watching the eyes gradually lose their light. This twisted, pitiful soul had finally been freed from endless pain and obsession.
He quickly took out a special test tube Tamayo had given him and carefully collected some blood from the severed neck of Rui's head. It was dark red, almost black, and still retained some vitality. This was the blood of a Lower Rank Demon, containing a higher concentration of Muzan's Blood. Its value to Tamayo's research was immeasurable.
[Item obtained: Lower Rank Five blood sample ×1.]
After he had carefully put the sample away, Rui's head gradually turned to ash as well. Moyu straightened up and looked around. With Rui's death, the eerie atmosphere of Mount Natagumo was gradually dissipating, but the bloodshed and sorrow that permeated the place would not disappear immediately. As for Tanjiro and Inosuke...
He sensed that although Tanjiro and Inosuke's auras were weak, they had stabilized. Zenitsu's aura... was very faint, but it seemed to be moving, and in the direction away from the mountain. He had probably been rescued by reinforcements. It seemed the battle over there had ended too.
The brutal battle that had lasted all night had finally come to an end.
He took a deep breath, suppressed his physical exhaustion, and headed in the direction of Tanjiro and the others. There was still plenty to do, including the ensuing cleanup and delivering the blood sample to Tamayo.