"Clang--!"
With a crisp clang of metal, the Nichirin Blade traced a pink arc in mid-air.
"Flower Breathing - Second Form - Honorable Shadow Plum!"
Kanae shouted, her figure moving like a butterfly.
The blade flashed, transforming into several blooming plum blossoms, and slashed directly at Doma's repulsive face.
Now that we've already crossed the line, there's no need to be polite to this pervert anymore!
However,
Faced with the oncoming slash, Doma didn't even try to dodge.
He simply raised his right hand slowly, casually using the golden iron fan in his hand to block the attack.
"When!"
Sparks flew everywhere.
A tremendous force of recoil traveled down the hilt of the knife, making her hands go numb.
"Oh dear, it's not good for a girl to have such a bad temper."
Not only did Doma easily block the attack, but he even had the leisure to lightly flick Kanae's blade with the edge of his iron fan.
His seven-colored eyes shone with excitement.
"However, compared to that little girl who could only cry, you look really charming when you're angry!"
Shut your stinking mouth!
Kanae didn't linger in the fight. Using the force of the recoil, she lightly somersaulted backward and landed on a wooden pillar ten meters away.
She took a deep breath, but immediately sensed that something was wrong.
The air temperature is dropping sharply!
Doma stood still, then suddenly unfolded his golden iron fan and waved it gently.
Blood Demon Art: Scattering Lotus Blossoms!
Countless tiny, sharp ice crystals instantly enveloped the entire room and drifted towards Kanae.
The ice crystals refracted colorful light under the candlelight, like the first snow of winter.
But Kanae knew better than anyone that if she inhaled even a tiny bit of this stuff, her alveoli would freeze into a lump of ice crystals in an instant!
We can't beat them!
We absolutely can't beat them!
Kanae's mind remained perfectly clear at this moment.
Although she is the Flower Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, she is a support-type character who is more agile and adept at movement.
To expect her to go toe-to-toe with a top-tier freak like Upper Rank Two, who excels in both physical and magical combat, would be pure idiocy.
Her only task was to stall!
Let's stall until that man arrives!
"Flower Breathing - Fourth Form - Crimson Hanagoromo!"
Kanae immediately held her breath and swung her Nichirin Blade in front of her, creating a dense net of blades that shattered all the ice crystals that tried to approach her.
Immediately afterward, she pushed off the wooden pillar with her toes, and like a pink flash, she smashed through the paper window behind her and sped towards the open space outside the courtyard.
"Oh dear? They've already run off?"
Doma, watching Kanae escape through the window, wasn't angry at all. Instead, he clapped his hands as if he had found a new game.
"Hide and seek? I love playing hide and seek! If I catch you, you'll have to be eaten by me!"
Before he could finish speaking, Doma's figure vanished from the spot.
In the courtyard, an extremely dangerous chase officially began.
"Blood Demon Art: Lotus Vines!"
Doma's voice, like a ghost, rang out from Kanae's left.
Several thick ice vines spread rapidly along the ground, attempting to entangle Kanae's ankles.
"Flower Breathing - Sixth Form - Whirling Peach!"
Kanae forcibly twisted her body in mid-air, using the power of her waist to spin in the air, skillfully avoiding the attack of the ice vines, and at the same time, using the force of the spin, she landed on a rockery dozens of meters away.
"Mr. Giyu, if you don't come soon, you can forget about ever getting into my bed again!"
Kanae mentally complained while cautiously observing her surroundings.
Her chest heaved violently; her strength was being depleted at an alarming rate.
Doma's ice-type Blood Demon Art is just too overpowered.
Because she couldn't breathe deeply, Kanae's prized "Flower Breathing" technique couldn't unleash its full power; she could only rely on holding her breath for short-distance dashes and evasions.
It's like a sprinter being forcibly pinched on the nose during a 100-meter dash; the feeling of suffocation is absolutely maddening.
"Where are you looking, beautiful Miss Flower Hashira?"
Doma's face appeared directly above Kanae without warning.
He hung upside down in mid-air, swung his iron fan down suddenly, creating a biting gust of wind.
Blood Demon Art: Freezing Clouds!
A thick cloud of cold mist pressed down, blocking all of Kanae's escape routes.
Kanae gritted her teeth and used up all the remaining oxygen.
"Flower Breathing - Fifth Form - Peonies of Futility!"
The pink blade flashed like blooming peony petals, forcefully tearing a narrow gap in the cold mist.
Kanae rolled along the gap, narrowly avoiding a direct impact, but several sharp ice crystals still grazed her shoulder, leaving several bloody scratches on her clothes.
The extreme cold seeped into her body through the wound, causing Kanae's movements to slow slightly.
"Oh dear, you're hurt. Does it hurt?"
Doma landed steadily on the artificial hill, looking at the wound on Kanae's shoulder, but his tone revealed an unusual pleasure.
"Stop running away, just come into my arms. Once you become one with me, you'll never feel pain again."
As he spoke, Doma smiled and raised two iron fans.
The water vapor in the surrounding air began to condense rapidly, and the illusory figures of two ice bodhisattvas appeared and disappeared behind him.
Kanae gripped the hilt of the knife tightly, her palms sweating profusely.
She knew that the other party had gotten tired of playing hide-and-seek and was ready to get serious.
"Giyu... you big idiot, are you lost...?"
--
At the same time.
On the other side of the Eternal Paradise Cult.
Giyu Tomioka was conducting a thorough search of a luxurious study behind the main hall.
The study was large and filled with various ornate scriptures and so-called "doctrines".
Giyu flipped through the notebooks expressionlessly, his eyes full of disdain.
"On February 3rd, a very cute girl came to the believers today; she must taste good."
"On February 5th, we ate her. She was indeed delicious. Thank you, God, for this blessing."
"February 10th, the weather is nice today, I'm craving something sweet. I wonder if any girls who like sweets would like to join the cult?"
"..."
Snap!
Without hesitation, Giyu threw the so-called diary on the ground and even rubbed it with the sole of his shoe.
"That's all nonsense."
"Not only is his handwriting terrible, but his logic is also chaotic. All he thinks about is food; he's practically a wild animal that hasn't escaped its base desires."
Muzan Kibutsuji?
What are the coordinates of the Infinity Castle?
Not a single word was mentioned in this shabby study!
Giyu looked around the room, which he had turned upside down, and frowned slightly.
It seems that the plan to find Muzan by gathering clues is not going to work.
The brains of such inferior beings simply cannot hold any valuable information.
Since written materials cannot be found...
Giyu's hand slowly rested on the hilt of his Nichirin Blade at his waist, his deep blue eyes darkening slightly.
"Then we'll have to 'get' it from the person themselves."
Physical interrogation is simple, direct, and efficient.
Just as Giyu was about to turn around and leave the study to look for Doma's whereabouts on the other side.
Suddenly, a subtle ripple appeared in the air.
Giyu stopped in his tracks instantly.
The airflow is changing, and the humidity in the air is decreasing linearly in an abnormal pattern.
More importantly, within this chaotic, frigid aura, he detected a faint pink fluctuation belonging to the Flower Breathing!
"Kanae!"
Giyu's previously calm gaze instantly turned cold.
Dare to touch his woman?
This wild animal's life is truly over today!
Without any hesitation.
Giyu's eyes widened suddenly.
[Transparent World] -- Full Power On!
In his field of vision, the magnificent walls, screens, and even the entire architectural structure of the temple all turned into transparent dotted lines in an instant.
His perception instantly covered a large area around him.
"Found it."
In the rear courtyard, about three kilometers away from the main hall.
Giyu clearly "saw" the energy flow between the two life forms.
One is a malevolent spirit whose body exudes extreme cold and whose organ structure is completely different from that of ordinary people.
The other one is Kanae, whose breathing rate has begun to become rapid and whose physical strength is being lost at an alarming rate!
She's injured!
Although the injury was minor, Giyu still managed to see the unusual flow of blood on her shoulder in his Transparent World.
At that moment, Giyu's rationality completely snapped.
"Court death!"
He suddenly exerted force with both legs, and the muscles in his calves tensed instantly.
"Boom--!"
A deafening roar.
The solid wood wall of the study was as brittle as tofu in the face of Giyu's pure physical explosive force.
Wood chips and broken bricks flew everywhere.
Giyu's figure blurred into a streak, smashed through the wall, and sped straight towards the back courtyard.
A deafening sonic boom echoed through the air.
Doma, you better pray you have a next life!!