In the corridor deep within the courtyard, the air seemed to freeze one's very bones.
Doma hung upside down in mid-air, the edge of the golden iron fan in his hand already covered with deadly ice crystals.
He looked down at Kanae, who was kneeling on one knee due to exhaustion, and his seven-colored eyes shone with pleasure.
"Oh dear, beautiful Miss Flower Hashira, your breathing is completely disordered."
Doma smiled and waved the iron fan in his hand, his tone light and cheerful, as if he were chatting casually.
"Struggling is painful, so it's better to give up."
I will use the gentlest touch to make you the most beautiful part of my being!
"... Come, close your eyes and welcome bliss--"
"Welcome to my grandpa!"
Doma didn't even get to utter the last syllable of his line.
"Boom--!"
Wood chips and broken bricks flew everywhere.
Amidst the billowing dust and debris, a deep blue figure streaked through the smoke and dust at an astonishing speed, heading straight for Doma in mid-air!
Quick!
It's almost at its limit!
Doma, engraved with "Upper Rank Two," suddenly shrank to the size of pinpoints.
With his abnormal dynamic vision, he could barely catch a glimpse of the other person's clothing!
"What is that?!"
Doma instinctively wanted to swing his iron fan in defense.
Giyu Tomioka descended from the sky, his left foot stepping into the air, and using the momentum of his forward thrust, his right leg lashed out like a steel whip!
"Bang!!"
A solid kick!
The size 42 shoe sole was imprinted perfectly on Doma's handsome yet otherworldly face.
How powerful was that kick?
Doma felt a sharp pain in his facial bones, as if his entire head had been hit by a heavy object.
"Snap!"
He didn't even have time to scream before he was sent flying backward like a cannonball.
It crashed through three artificial hills and two pavilions in a row, finally embedding itself firmly in a thick stone wall, impossible to pry off.
Everything happened so fast that even Kanae hadn't had time to react.
The strong wind dispersed the dust and smoke in the courtyard.
Giyu Tomioka landed steadily in front of Kanae, his back straight, protecting her behind him.
"You're not late, are you?"
Giyu did not turn around; his voice remained as cold and indifferent as ever, but if you listened carefully, you could still detect a hint of suppressed anger.
Kanae's tense nerves instantly relaxed.
She let out a long breath, and a bright smile appeared on her previously pale face.
"You're not late at all, Mr. Giyu."
Kanae gently tugged at the hem of Giyu's haori from behind, her voice soft and sweet.
"His entrance was so cool it almost stopped my heart."
"However, if that kick had been a little harder, and had smashed that guy's head open, it would have been perfect."
"He won't die even if you kick his head off; he's a ghost."
Giyu earnestly corrected his girlfriend's common sense.
Just as the two were oblivious to everyone else, they were showing affection on the battlefield.
"Ouch... that really hurts..."
From the ruins of that stone wall in the distance came several exaggerated coughs.
Doma struggled to pull himself out of the crack in the wall.
He looked extremely disheveled at that moment.
Half of his face was crushed by Giyu's kick, and even his beautiful, seven-colored eyes were hanging outside their sockets, wriggling and regenerating at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"Suddenly popping out of the wall and kicking someone in the face without saying a word—that's extremely rude!"
Doma out and pressed his eyeballs back into their sockets, his facial muscles contorting as he forced out that fake smile again.
"Let me guess, you're the legendary Mr. Water Hashira, who's not only taciturn but also has a terrible temper, right?"
Giyu stared coldly at him, his right hand slowly resting on the hilt of his Nichirin Blade.
"I ask, you answer."
Giyu looked at him as if he were looking at a pile of unrecyclable hazardous waste.
"Where is Muzan Kibutsuji hiding?"
This straightforward and direct questioning startled Doma for a moment.
"Oh dear? You're asking about our big boss's whereabouts the moment we meet? This is really giving me a bit of a headache."
Doma tapped his forehead with his iron fan, pretending to be deep in thought.
"Muzan's whereabouts are top secret!"
"Even if that kick you just delivered was really powerful, I'm Upper Rank Two, you know!"
Do you think I would obediently betray my boss just because I got kicked?
"Speak or die."
Giyu was too lazy to listen to this freak's nonsense. He gently pushed the tsuba (guard) with his thumb, and the deep blue blade revealed a chilling sharpness in the moonlight.
Sensing the oppressive aura emanating from Giyu, Doma's smile gradually faded.
He's not stupid.
That terrifying destructive power is something that ordinary pillars could never possess.
This guy's physical abilities are completely beyond the realm of humanity!
If we don't take real action, things might really go wrong today!
"What a boring man, he has absolutely no sense of humor."
Doma sighed, then suddenly opened his arms wide, and two golden iron fans drew two dazzling trajectories in mid-air.
The temperature in the air dropped suddenly!
"Since you are unwilling to listen to my sermon, then let me use the grandest ceremony to deliver you from suffering!"
A flash of crazed killing intent crossed Doma's eyes.
"Blood Demon Art: Rime — Water Lily Bodhisattva!"
He let out a wild roar.
A thick layer of frost instantly formed on the ground of the entire courtyard.
Immediately afterwards, a colossal ice bodhisattva, tens of meters tall, rose up from the ground with a roar!
This ice bodhisattva is incredibly lifelike, with its hands clasped together, but its lowered eyes and brows exude a strange and sinister aura.
Even more deadly, with the appearance of the Ice Bodhisattva, a large amount of deadly ice crystal poison powder immediately filled the surrounding air.
"Giyu! Watch out!"
Kanae called out loudly from behind, her pink eyes filled with anxiety.
"That's his strongest Blood Demon Art! Whatever you do, don't inhale those ice crystals! Even a tiny bit will ruin your Breathing Style!"
Haha! Too late!
Doma stood on the Ice Bodhisattva's massive shoulders, looking down at the two of them with a triumphant laugh.
"Before my Water Lily Bodhisattva, all your struggles are in vain!"
"With every breath this Bodhisattva takes, it scatters deathly ice flowers. Enjoy the thrill of your lungs freezing!"
Doma was secretly making his own plans:
If this ice statue can hold off this terrifying, expressionless man for even a minute, he can seize the opportunity to slip away.
This man is too strange; he won't risk his life here unless the boss gives the order.
Facing the colossal ice Buddha that blotted out the sky, Giyu Tomioka slightly raised his head.
"It's enormous in size, but its structure is loose! In pursuit of a flashy appearance, the core stress points have been completely exposed."
Giyu gripped the hilt of his Nichirin Blade tightly with his right hand.
"Showy but impractical, it's a complete waste of energy."
The next second.
The Giyu took action.
By engaging your legs and twisting your waist, the power travels down your spine to your right arm.
Draw your sword!
"Clang--!"
A deep blue blade of light suddenly flashed across the night sky.
This strike was so fast it was silent, and so powerful it distorted the air!
"Boom--!"
The blade flashed, creating a visible shockwave, and slammed heavily into the enormous ice bodhisattva!
"What?!"
Doma, who was standing on the ice Buddha's shoulder, froze instantly with his maniacal laughter.
"Snap--!"
He only heard a piercing cracking sound from beneath his feet.
Immediately afterwards, his most powerful Blood Demon Art, which he was so proud of, actually developed a huge crack in the middle under Giyu's basic attack!
The cracks spread wildly like a spider web.
"Bang!"
The ice bodhisattva, towering tens of meters high, shattered in mid-air, turning into a torrential downpour of hail!
Ice cubes, carrying dust, flew everywhere.
"Impossible! This is absolutely impossible!"
Doma fell from mid-air along with the shattered ice, his seven-colored eyes filled with incomprehension.
Even Breathing Style didn't work?!
He shattered his powerful magic attack with just a bare-handed strike?!
Where did this monster come from?!
Escape!
We must escape immediately!
Doma forcibly twisted his body in mid-air, attempting to use his Blood Demon Art to escape the moment he landed.
However, he had only just landed...
A cold hand was already gripping the back of his neck tightly!
"You're too slow."
Giyu Tomioka whispered in Doma's ear.
Before he knew it, Giyu had teleported behind him.
Doma tried to retaliate by swinging his iron fan, but Giyu exerted a slight force with his fingers, and a terrifying power severed the nerves in his neck, instantly rendering him unable to move.
Giyu did not immediately cut off his head.
"Hello."
"Can the rats hiding in the gutter hear us?"
Muzan's voice didn't come through, but Giyu could clearly sense the other's fear through the trembling of his cells.
Giyu's eyes were cold, and his words were like knives:
"I'll kill your dog!!"
"I'm right here, waiting to fight you to the death!!"
Having finished his announcement, Giyu gave Muzan no Muzan to sever the connection.
"Pfft--!"
The Nichirin Blade traced a clean arc across the night sky.
Doma's handsome, eerie head soared high into the air.
Even as his vision blurred, Upper Rank Two still couldn't figure out what kind of unreasonable opponent he had messed with.
The headless corpse crashed to the ground and quickly turned to ashes.
Giyu casually flicked the grime off the blade and swiftly sheathed his Nichirin Blade.
The crisp sound of the sheath returning to its sheath echoed in the night.
The battle is over.
Giyu turned around and walked towards Kanae was still in a daze.
The aura of a war god that had just been so destructive vanished completely in an instant.
He looked at Kanae's slightly disheveled hair, reached out, and clumsily tidied it for her.
Let's go.