Four Demons Attack

The Mugen Train stood quietly at the platform in the night, like a sleeping steel behemoth. Its freshly repainted body reflected a cold, hard sheen in the moonlight, but the faint, almost imperceptible chill in the air, mingled with the scents of blood and decay, could not escape Moyu's Six Eyes.

He boarded with the sparse stream of passengers. A dark haori over his black uniform concealed the outline of his Nichirin Blade, and his Azure eyes calmly surveyed the carriage from beneath the shadow of his hat brim. The ordinary passengers, weary-faced, searched for their seats, unaware of the danger about to descend.

The train slowly pulled away, its wheels pounding rhythmically against the rails. Moyu chose a window seat, placed Azure Star beside him, and closed his eyes to rest. But his Six Eyes had already spread their perception like an invisible radar, covering the entire carriage and even the whole train.

"Tickets, everyone. Please show me your tickets." A uniformed ticket inspector approached, his eyes somewhat vacant and his voice flat.

Moyu opened his eyes, and as he handed over his ticket, his fingertips briefly touched the back of the inspector's hand. In the vision of the Six Eyes, a faint but highly invasive mental ripple was emanating from a mouth that flickered in and out of view on the back of the inspector's hand. Like invisible ripples, it quietly brushed over every passenger.

"Go to sleep..." The barely audible whisper carried a hypnotic power.

The passengers around him quickly grew dazed and fell asleep one after another, snores gradually rising. Moyu could clearly "see" their mental fluctuations grow steady and slow as they were drawn into deep dreams. He did not resist. Instead, he deliberately lowered part of his mental defenses, letting the hypnotic waves touch him, while the core of his Six Eyes maintained a sliver of absolute clarity, like the calm at the eye of a storm. He needed to experience this Blood Demon Art firsthand and find its core.

The scene before him began to blur and twist. The bustle of the Butterfly Mansion, Shinobu Kocho's presence, Teacher Urokodaki's stern but concerned face... All kinds of heartwarming illusions emerged, trying to drag him into a pleasant dream. But under the absolute insight of the Six Eyes, the illusions were like crude stage sets, riddled with flaws.

What a boring trick, Moyu thought with a cold sneer. With a slight movement of his consciousness, the fragile mental threads constructing the dream snapped apart inch by inch. He "looked" toward the source of the mental fluctuations—the entire train! Enmu's Blood Demon Art had fused deeply with the train's steel body. Those seemingly ordinary walls (not sure what to call them, perhaps carriage walls), and windows all glimmered faintly with an eerie mental energy.

So the train itself is his true body, Moyu realized. He noticed two "people" dressed as passengers at the connection between carriages, their auras chilling as they watched their surroundings warily. They were clearly Enmu's subordinates, tasked with eliminating any "fish that slipped through the net" and remained awake.

Just then, the two Demons seemed to notice Moyu was still awake. A vicious glint flashed in their eyes as they silently closed in, their nails sharpening.

Moyu gave them no chance to strike. His figure vanished from his seat like a ghost, and the next instant he appeared between them. Azure Star did not even leave its sheath completely; only two pale-blue flashes of steel flickered past.

"Splurt!"

Two heads rolled to the ground, their faces still wearing expressions of shock, while their bodies rapidly turned to ash. The entire process was silent, so fast that blood did not even have time to spray.

[Killed Enmu's minions ×2. Coins +600.]

With the grunts dealt with, Moyu did not linger. His figure flickered, and he climbed through a window onto the roof of the speeding train. The night wind howled, tugging at his robes. The panoramic vision of his Six Eyes opened instantly, taking in the energy flowing throughout the train.

He was not alone on the roof.

Four figures stood in a fan formation, blocking his path, their auras far stronger and colder than those of ordinary Demons. In each of their eyes was engraved a number representing their Lower Rank.

Rokuro, with "Lower Rank Two" engraved in his left eye, was tall and heavily muscled, his face covered in black markings and his body radiating a sense of savage power.

Byōga, with "Lower Rank Three" engraved in his left eye, had short hair, three scars across his face, and a sinister gaze. An ominous glow flickered at his fingertips, seemingly carrying a deadly poison.

Mukago, with "Lower Rank Four" engraved in her left eye, had white hair, two horns growing from her head, and crimson sclera. Her shifting figure moved with an eerie agility.

And Lower Rank One—Enmu—who had not appeared in person, but whose mental power had fused completely with the train and was everywhere.

"Hee hee hee... I've finally been waiting for you, swordsman with the Azure eyes." A shifting voice, full of mocking laughter, came from all over the train. It was Enmu. "Lord Muzan gave us special instructions to give you a proper 'welcome.' It's a shame that boy with the sun-patterned earrings didn't come, but if we kill you, I'm sure Lord Muzan will be pleased and grant us more blood!"

Rokuro twisted his neck with a crack and grinned viciously. "Why waste words on him? Let's kill him and offer his heart to Lord Muzan!"

Byōga licked his lips, the glow at his fingertips growing brighter. "His blood smells special..."

Mukago said nothing. Her figure simply flickered across the roof like a ghost, leaving a trail of afterimages.

Moyu's gaze calmly swept over the four Demons, his Azure eyes showing neither joy nor sorrow. "As expected, the trash that should have been cleared out has gathered here. It seems Muzan intends to use you to test me, or... as disposable pawns."

"Bastard! Who are you calling trash?" Rokuro flew into a rage and stomped hard enough to dent the steel roof. His massive body shot toward Moyu like a cannonball, his fist driving straight at Moyu's face with a vicious gust that tore through the air! Strength-Type Blood Demon Art: Raging Heavy Strike!

At the same time, Byōga swept both hands outward. Dozens of nearly invisible, venomous needles shot toward the vital points all over Moyu's body like a torrential downpour! Blood Demon Art: Thousand Poison Needles!

Mukago silently closed in from the side, the nails on both hands lengthening into blades as she slashed at Moyu's waist and abdomen! Blood Demon Art: Shadow Cut!

Facing attacks from three sides, Moyu did not even draw his sword. With a slight thought, Limitless: Inviolability quietly unfolded.

"Boom! Sss, sss, sss—!"

Rokuro's fist, powerful enough to shatter rock, stopped three feet from Moyu's body as though trapped in a boundless mire. All its kinetic energy was infinitely dispersed and canceled out until it finally came to a standstill. Byōga's poison needles struck an invisible barrier and slowly fell and dissolved in midair. Mukago's Shadow Cut was equally futile.

"What?!" The three Demons' expressions changed drastically. Their attacks could not even touch the hem of his clothes?!

"Game time is over." Moyu's cold voice rang out. He had originally planned to play with them for a while and collect blood samples from the Lower Rank Demons along the way. But just now, his Six Eyes had keenly sensed Enmu's mental power fluctuating violently inside the train. He was clearly preparing to attack the innocent passengers sleeping in the carriages! Their mental fluctuations were being forcibly pulled, about to be dragged into deeper, more dangerous dreams. They might even suffer a mental collapse and die on the spot!

There was no more time to waste!

Moyu's gaze instantly turned chillingly cold. In his Azure eyes, it was as though stars were being annihilated and the universe frozen over.

"Cursed Technique Lapse—Blue: High-Speed Movement."

Hum!

Space warped! Moyu's figure vanished straight from the three Demons' encirclement. He had not simply moved too fast; it was genuine spatial movement! The next moment, he appeared at the locomotive at the very front of the train!

"This is bad! He's after Lord Enmu!" Mukago cried.

"Stop him!" Byōga shrieked.

But it was already too late.

Moyu's Six Eyes had locked completely onto the core node where Enmu had fused with the train—a point where energy converged beneath the locomotive's cab. There, Enmu's face, twisted together from mental energy and flesh, was slowly emerging, wearing an expression of shock and panic.

"You... how could you possibly find..."

"Die."

Moyu drew his sword. The instant Azure Star left its sheath, Azure Cursed Energy surged forth like a galaxy! He used no complicated form, raising his power, speed, and Blue's spatial properties to their utmost for one simple, straightforward thrust!

"Azure Flow Breathing: Zero Form, First Style: Whirlpool Slash: Extreme!"

A miniature Blue instantly formed in front of the sword tip, not as an attack, but as a spatial anchor and energy amplifier! Highly compressed spiraling Cursed Energy coiled around the blade as it pierced the core node faster than the eye could follow!

"No—!!!" Enmu let out a shrill, despairing scream.

Boom!!!

The immense mental energy, along with Enmu's true body, was detonated from within and torn apart by Blue's power of annihilation and Vortex Slash's spiraling cuts! The entire train jolted violently, and the locomotive gave an ear-splitting shriek of twisting metal! The mental fields covering the carriages crumbled inch by inch like shattered glass! The sleeping passengers' bodies trembled, and the pained expressions on their faces began to ease as they were freed from the deadly dream.

[Killed Lower Rank One: Enmu. Coins +10000.]

The system notification sounded. It had given less than for Lower Rank Five, Rui, because their relative strengths were different now.

Moyu did not pause. His figure blurred again, returning to the roof as though he had teleported.

The three remaining Lower Rank Demons watched Enmu's aura slowly dissipate at the locomotive, then looked at Moyu, who had returned in an instant like a god of slaughter. Their faces filled with incredulous terror. Lord Enmu... had been killed instantly in a single exchange?!

"M-monster!" Mukago shrieked. Her figure split into several afterimages that fled in different directions! Blood Demon Art: Clone Escape!

Byōga waved both hands repeatedly, sending great clouds of poison mist billowing out in an attempt to block Moyu's vision! Blood Demon Art: Poison Mist Spread!

Rokuro roared, his muscles swelling and his skin hardening like rock as he fought like a cornered beast! Blood Demon Art: Rock Skin!

"Do you think you can escape?" Moyu's voice was like the whisper of death.

With the Six Eyes fully open, Mukago's true body stood out clearly among the countless afterimages. Moyu half-closed his left hand, and a fingertip-sized miniature Blue instantly formed and shot out faster than sound, striking precisely into Mukago's back over her heart.

"Splurt!"

Mukago froze and looked down at the black hole that had suddenly appeared in her chest, frantically devouring her life and energy. Her eyes filled with despair, and she turned to ash.

[Killed Lower Rank Four: Mukago. Coins +8000.]

At the same time, Moyu held his breath. Azure light flared along Azure Star's blade, and he slashed! He did not slash at the poison mist, but at its "source" and "flow"!

"Azure Flow Breathing: Zero Form, Second Style: Mirror Dissection: Empty Slash!"

Where the blade's light passed, the structure of the space ahead was briefly "separated." The poison mist was stopped as though by an invisible wall, unable to advance an inch, and instead rolled back toward Byōga, who had cast it!

"What?!" Byōga was horrified. Enveloped by his own poison mist, he immediately let out a piercing scream as his skin rapidly corroded and ulcerated!

Moyu's figure flashed like lightning through the rolling poison mist. His blade gleamed, and Byōga's head flew into the air.

[Killed Lower Rank Three: Byōga. Coins +8500.]

Only Rokuro remained. He had watched his two companions get killed in an instant. Fear overwhelmed everything else, and he turned to jump off the train and escape.

"Since you're already here."

Moyu appeared behind him like a ghost and lightly touched the sword tip to his rock-hardened skin. The subtle vibrations of Mirror Dissection entered his body and easily found the weak point in his defense.

"Crack... splurt!"

Rock Skin shattered like porcelain, and the blade swept unimpeded across his neck.

Rokuro's massive body crashed to the ground and turned to ash.

[Killed Lower Rank Two: Rokuro. Coins +9000.]

From beginning to end, the battle had lasted only a minute or two. All four Lower Rank Demons had been wiped out.

Moyu sheathed his sword and stood on the roof of the gradually slowing train, the night wind blowing through his Azure hair. His Six Eyes scanned the surroundings, confirming that nothing else was amiss. With Enmu dead, the train had lost power and slowly came to a stop on the tracks.