Blue Stone Town: Transparent World!

Darkness, warmth, and the rusty stench of blood.

Giyu felt himself sinking, falling into a bottomless abyss.

The pain grew distant, and Tetsusai's arrogant laughter faded into a blur.

It was as though a thick curtain of water separated him from the world, distorting sound and light alike.

So tired...

From waking on Mount Fujikasane, to slaying the Hand Demon, to training relentlessly on Mount Sagiri, to the fierce battle on Defiled Wood Mountain, and then Blue Stone Town... Barely more than ten days had passed, yet it felt like half a lifetime.

Slay demons, grow stronger, then slay even stronger demons... It seemed endless.

Every swing of his blade took all his strength, and every breath left him taut as a bowstring.

I'm really... so tired.

Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to go to sleep like this.

Through the haze, light filtered in.

It wasn't the red glow of the lanterns in the martial arena, but a softer, warmer light. A figure stood within it.

"Giyu."

The voice was so familiar that his heart ached.

Gentle and clear, with a trace of concern.

"Sister... Tsutako?"

She stood in the light, her smooth black hair falling over her shoulders, her eyes curved with a smile as warm and enveloping as a stream thawing in spring.

Her gaze was as gentle as ever. Her clear eyes reflected his battered, bloodstained appearance, yet held not a trace of reproach, only boundless sympathy and affection.

"You shouldn't be here, Giyu."

She shook her head gently, her voice brushing against his heart like a feather.

"...Sister..."

Giyu tried to speak, but no sound came out. He could only cry out in his heart,

I... can't beat him... My sword broke... I... o(╥﹏╥)o

"Giyu."

Another voice rang out, clear and bright with a young girl's distinctive vigor.

Senior Sister Makomo appeared beside Tsutako, as petite and lively as ever. A fox mask with a hanafuda pattern sat tilted in her hair, and a playful, encouraging smile graced the visible half of her face.

Her eyes sparkled, filled with unreserved trust in her junior.

"Don't be silly!"

Makomo planted her hands on her hips, putting on her familiar, slightly fierce expression, though her gaze was soft enough to melt.

"The Giyu we know is the most tenacious person there is, and he never gives up!"

"Master Urokodaki said your heart was like water. It looks calm, but unimaginable strength lies in its depths."

"Believe in yourself, Giyu!"

Tsutako stepped forward and gently stroked his cheek. Her fingertips had no warmth, yet they brought him an incredible sense of peace.

"Giyu, look. There are still so many people waiting for you."

"Master Urokodaki must be so worried."

"And the old woman who gave you that omamori... You promised to go back, didn't you?"

Makomo leaned in too, grinning as she said:

"Besides, hasn't our Giyu always wanted to protect more people?"

"How can you let some stinking Lower Rank demon stop you?"

"Your Water Breathing should flow farther, washing away more of the darkness!"

"So open your eyes, Giyu."

Tsutako's voice was gentle but firm.

"You still have a very, very long road ahead."

"Makomo and I will always be here, watching over you and cheering you on."

"Yeah! Go, Giyu!! Show that big guy what real strength looks like!!!"

Makomo waved, her figure gradually turning transparent.

The light faded, but its warmth remained in his heart.

Was he unwilling to accept this? Of course.

Was he angry? He had never stopped being angry.

But stronger than either was a rekindled desire to live, a determination to protect, and a promise to the future.

I can't... let it end here...

I have to go back... back to the world where they are...

There are still... things I have to do...

In the dark abyss, a faint but tenacious spark of light shone from the depths of Giyu's soul...

In reality.

Tetsusai walked triumphantly toward Giyu, who lay slumped at the foot of the wall, imagining the wonderful taste of devouring that body full of potential.

But when he was only three to five steps away from Giyu, he abruptly stopped.

"Hmm?"

The vicious grin froze on his face, giving way to profound astonishment and... a trace of barely perceptible suspicion.

Something was wrong.

Very wrong.

A moment ago, although the boy named Giyu Tomioka had been on the verge of death, the aura of a living person had still been clearly discernible.

It was a presence Tetsusai could clearly sense as a demon and a martial artist.

But now, right before his eyes, that aura... had vanished.

It wasn't the stillness brought by death.

The aura of death was cold and spreading, carrying a sense of finality.

But what came from Giyu now was a kind of... emptiness.

It was as though he had been temporarily erased from the world. Not the slightest trace of energy, aura, or even presence leaked from him.

Tetsusai's pupils shrank to pinpoints, and his heart gave a violent jolt.

He held his breath instinctively.

A voice from the distant past, yet etched deep into his bones, suddenly rang out in the depths of his mind, as clearly as if he had heard it yesterday—

In a bamboo grove beneath the moon, there had been a figure radiating pure fighting spirit and overwhelming pressure—Upper Rank Three, Akaza.

He had once said in a calm yet condescending tone:

"Tetsusai, you desire power. That's good. But true strength is not merely an accumulation of destructive power."

"There is a state known as the [Supreme Realm]."

Akaza's gaze seemed capable of piercing his soul.

"Those who enter it can perfectly control every fraction of their power, suppress all unnecessary expenditure and aura, and become one with their surroundings, like dead wood or a stone."

"To their opponents' senses, they seem to disappear."

"And in their eyes, their opponents' bones, muscles, blood flow, and points of power... everything is clearly visible, riddled with openings."

"That is the art of combat worth pursuing!!!"

At the time, Tetsusai had been captivated, yet he had also felt it was beyond his reach.

He had thought it a threshold he could only touch after endless years and the consumption of vast quantities of flesh.

But now...

"Y-you've got to be kidding me??!!"

Tetsusai's lips trembled, and the muscles in his face twisted with extreme shock and some indescribable emotion.

He stared fixedly at Giyu, motionless at the foot of the wall, the boy drenched in blood and seemingly unconscious.

Perfectly concealing his aura... becoming one with his surroundings... "disappearing" from perception...

Wasn't this... one of the introductory signs of the Supreme Realm that Lord Akaza had described?!

This thirteen- or fourteen-year-old human brat?!

This kid whose sword he had just broken, whom he had grievously wounded and left on the brink of death?!

Right before his eyes, in such a desperate situation... had he actually touched the threshold of the Transparent World, something Tetsusai had failed to glimpse even after spending a century, abandoning his humanity, and devouring countless lives?!

"How is this possible... How is this possible?!"

Tetsusai snarled under his breath, his voice filled with a sense of absurdity and boiling rage.

"I gave up everything... pursued it my whole life... and still couldn't..."

He suddenly clutched his head, dark gold arcs of electricity bursting uncontrollably from his body and scorching the surrounding flagstones.

An overwhelming, world-shattering sense of absurdity and... jealousy branded into his bones gnawed at his reason like a venomous snake.

"Then what has my whole life... amounted to?! Am I a joker?!"

His roar echoed through the empty martial arena, shaking countless cherry blossoms from their branches.

But immediately afterward, that extreme jealousy and rage were quickly replaced by another thought, hotter and greedier.

Tetsusai jerked his head up, his crimson eyes filled with nothing but the obsession of a rabid dog:

"That's right... That's right! As long as I eat him! Eat this brat who touched the [Supreme Realm]!"

"His flesh, his soul, the insight he has right now... They can all become mine! They have to!!"

"Eat him! Then I can step into it! I can have the Transparent World too!!"

A dark gold wave of energy erupted, sweeping outward with Tetsusai at its center.

His killing intent and hunger were fiercer and more frenzied than ever before!

He hesitated no longer. His body became a dark gold afterimage that tore through the air, his five fingers curled into a claw as he reached viciously for the motionless, aura-less Giyu at the foot of the wall, driven by an obsession to crush everything!!!

Tetsusai's speed had reached its limit, and so had his determination.

He held nothing back with this strike, intent on seizing Giyu's head, along with the brain that might hold the secrets of transparency, and crushing and devouring them!

But just as his fingertips, wreathed in dark gold lightning, were about to touch the ends of Giyu's hair—

The body at the foot of the wall, which had been limp and devoid of aura, vanished without warning...?!

Tetsusai's supposedly certain strike grasped nothing but air!

His fingertips scraped the cold wall, tearing away several fragments of stone.

Where did he go?!

Tetsusai's vicious grin froze on his face. His crimson pupils contracted sharply as he stared in disbelief at the empty space before his claw.

The next moment, a chill that penetrated his marrow, mixed with a sense of deadly peril, came from above his head!

He jerked his head up.

A figure had appeared in midair above and to one side of him like a ghost, at some unknown moment.

It was still the same tattered red haori, the same young, pale face, and even the weapon in his hand was still the same dull half of a broken sword.

But everything was different.

Giyu Tomioka's head was slightly lowered, his ice-blue eyes looking down.

All the pain, confusion, and unwillingness had vanished from those eyes, replaced by an absolute calm.

His aura was still almost nonexistent, but Tetsusai felt as though those eyes had seen right through him.

Giyu moved!!

With a lightness and coordination that defied reason, he twisted his waist slightly, and the arm holding the broken sword swung down naturally.

The path traced by the broken blade was plain, simple, even somewhat... slow.

But to Tetsusai, the slash was faster than he could possibly react!

"What?!"

His scalp prickled, and deadly fear drove him to unleash unprecedented speed.

He forcibly twisted his body and drove his demon blood to its limit. Dark gold arcs raced wildly over his body, forming a thick layer of defense.

Squelch! Squelch!

Two soft sounds came almost simultaneously.

The dark gold lightning defense was easily sliced open before the seemingly slow broken blade.

The cold blade swept past along an exquisitely precise path, sending two streams of bright red blood spraying into the air.

Tetsusai let out a piercing scream and staggered back more than ten meters before barely managing to steady himself.

He lowered his head and looked at his empty shoulders.

Both of his heavily muscled arms had been severed at the shoulders. They lay on the ground, rapidly turning gray and shriveled!!

The severed surfaces were as smooth as mirrors, as though cut by the most precise instrument.

"How is this possible... My steel bones..."

Tetsusai looked up at Giyu, who had landed lightly on the ground and was gazing calmly back at him, the broken sword dripping blood in his hand.

His face was filled with utter shock, bewilderment, and... jealousy that went to the bone.

"Is this... the Transparent World...?"

he asked hoarsely, as though he were asking himself.

Giyu did not answer.

He looked down at the hand holding his sword, then sensed the state of his body.

Incredible!!

The world had completely changed in his eyes.

He could see the minute trembling of the muscle fibers beneath his skin;

He could see how, as he breathed, oxygen was exchanged in his alveoli, how it entered his blood, and how it was carried throughout his body to provide energy to every cell.

Meanwhile, a warm, surging power was repairing his damaged organs, broken bones, and torn muscles with unprecedented efficiency.

In this wondrous state, his cheat-level physique seemed to have truly awakened and come under his control. It was no longer merely recovering passively, but actively "reshaping" itself.

At the same time, he also "saw" Tetsusai across from him.

That hulking body was no longer an impregnable wall of iron.

Demon blood rushed through his body. The paths his muscles would take as they prepared to exert force, the points where his bones bore weight—everything was clearly visible!!

For those two slashes just now, he had simply followed the "lines" and "points" he saw, lightly cutting along them.

His strength had not soared, nor had his speed surged.

But his control, perception, and understanding of his own and his enemy's "structure" were worlds apart from before.

His tattered red haori hung from his shoulders, soaked through with blood and swaying gently in the wind.

Giyu was still covered in wounds, and his face was pale. But the aura radiating from within him gave Tetsusai, his arm severed, an unprecedented sense of pressure.

It was a... qualitative difference.

It was not a difference in the amount of power, but an overwhelming difference in their levels of attainment.

From this young swordsman, Tetsusai actually felt something like what he felt when facing Lord Akaza...

A suffocating pressure stemming from a higher form of life or a higher level of comprehension.

The feeling was utterly absurd, yet undeniably real.

Giyu raised the broken half of his sword, and the demon blood remaining on its tip dripped to the ground.

His ice-blue eyes gazed calmly at Tetsusai, who looked somewhat disheveled from losing his arm and the shock.

His voice was still almost devoid of inflection, but it carried a determination to cut down everything:

"Come on."

"Round three!!!"

What remained of Tetsusai's body trembled slightly, whether from anger, fear, or both.

The muscles in his face twitched as he tried to force a vicious expression, but his voice was dry and strained:

"Heh... heh heh... so this is the Transparent World?"

"It's... enough to drive me mad with envy."

He took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed his churning emotions. Dark-gold arcs of electricity flickered once more around his severed arm and across his body.

He knew the young man before him was no longer the same.

But his century of accumulated strength, his power as Lower Rank One, and his nearly mad obsession with the Transparent World would not allow him to retreat.

"Then come on!!"

Tetsusai roared, red light flashing fiercely in his eyes.

"Let me see just how much power a brat like you, who only managed to touch the threshold by luck, can bring out using this state!!!"

Afterimages appeared once more, and dark gold descended again.

Only this time, the positions of hunter and prey had silently shifted in a subtle but decisive way.