Berserk Battle

Ripple within Bai Cangshu began to surge, spreading outward from his palms in rings, like the light of Buddha.

Hand Demon watched the human it had thrown more than ten meters into the air suddenly begin radiating circles of light. It instinctively narrowed its eyes. That light contained a power that frightened it.

What was that? Was it the Demon Slayer Corps' Breathing Style?

The next moment, its several massive arms rose into the air and lunged for him. Once caught in its grip, even the strongest human would be crushed into a puddle of blood.

Bai Cangshu felt the impact of the giant hands tearing through the air toward him, and his heart pounded even harder. Every cell in his body seemed to be breathing, every pore opening under the stimulation as vast amounts of "qi" flowed in and out with the movement of his body.

Ripple energy accumulation increased. Your Energy attribute +1

Bai Cangshu paid no attention to the panel's notification. He merely snapped open his palm, which had been twisted to its absolute limit, unleashing terrifying force that broke through the limits under the Absolute Territory state.

The Ripple driven by his palm went berserk in an instant, like a massive boulder crashing into a tranquil lake and creating countless ripples at once.

Immortal Art: Rakshasa Palm!

Hand Demon's enormous palms were like walls. Several arms grabbed at him simultaneously, like giant pythons fighting over prey, completely swallowing Bai Cangshu from sight.

Hand Demon relaxed slightly. Even those so-called Hashira-level Swordsmen wouldn't be able to withstand this move!

Boom!

Bai Cangshu's palm struck the massive blue-gray hand before him.

An utterly terrifying force erupted in an instant.

Pfft!

Like a dry, stiff rag being wrung out in an instant, the blue-gray palm's muscles twisted violently.

A huge spiral pattern formed in the center of its palm and instantly extended downward, twisting the arm, more than ten meters long, into a knot.

Even more terrifyingly, Ripple with the exact same wavelength and nature as sunlight entered the twisted palm along with that force and spread outward in every direction.

Splat!

As if a rotten winter melon had been smashed from the outside, Hand Demon's pupils contracted. Its powerful giant hand shattered out of thin air.

Not even flesh and blood scattered. It burst apart in midair like melting mud.

"Aah!"

Hand Demon had experienced the pain of being scorched by the blazing sun only once in its life. It was a pain it had never dared touch again after that single experience—the agony of its soul being seared. Now, that agony had returned.

Its whole body convulsed, and all its arms instinctively curled inward.

Its arms flailed wildly before retracting completely around its body, wrapping it into a ball of flesh dozens of meters wide.

"It hurts! This isn't a Nichirin Blade!"

Hand Demon had been cut by more than one Nichirin Blade. It was certain that this power was not from a Nichirin Blade. And then... it finally realized that this human probably was not part of the Demon Slayer Corps at all. He did not even have a blade.

Since when could humans kill demons without relying on Nichirin Blades?!

Bai Cangshu grinned. A faint aura radiated from his body, while Ripple coursed over both hands. Falling from more than ten meters in the air, he had used the terrifying Rakshasa Palm to completely dispel his downward momentum.

He landed as lightly as a cat.

His muscles were swelling far more visibly than ever before. Judging by his build, he was now over 1.9 meters tall. Mercenary Tao's pink robe was stretched taut over his hulking frame, and the contrast between his powerful muscles and pink clothing made Hand Demon feel even more absurd.

"Hey, you bastard, what exactly are you? Could you be a new Lower Rank created by that lord?!"

Hand Demon prattled on. When it had been weak, it could only cling to its hatred and slaughter Shōnen wearing fox masks during the Final Selection on Mount Fujikasane to take revenge. Only by provoking the fear of those Shōnen with words could it vent the hatred that had nowhere else to go.

Even now, with Mount Fujikasane's venue destroyed and Man-eating Demons running rampant on a massive scale, it still retained that habit.

Bai Cangshu did not answer. He merely clicked his tongue and wagged a finger.

"Don't talk, Hand Demon. Right now... I'm high as hell."

Bai Cangshu exaggeratedly raised his left leg high. Unlike Clown Evans, who fought through agility and kept every movement as concealed as possible, Bai Cangshu was overwhelmingly flamboyant.

There was no other reason. He was far more skilled at fighting than Evans, and far better at grasping the "momentum" of battle.

His raised leg crashed down.

Bang!

The ground shook violently. Then spiderweb cracks appeared in an instant, and moments later, the earth collapsed with a roar.

Bai Cangshu became a black shadow and shot forward head-on.

That speed, that power—it was nothing like an ordinary human's.

Hand Demon continued chattering, trying to disrupt his opponent's focus. This was its usual strategy whenever it believed itself weaker than its foe. It knew very well that humans were still only human. No matter how strong they became, they would have weaknesses—either stamina or mentality. As long as it found—

Boom!

Terrifying force erupted in front of it. As Hand Demon's pupils trembled, it finally saw that figure, seemingly stretched long by the air itself, drive a fist into its front.

No need to fear. It had dozens of arms defending it. An attack like this couldn't possibly—

"Urgh... pfft!"

A force with horrifying penetrating power blasted through several meters of blue-gray flesh and burrowed into Hand Demon's body.

Its internal organs were shattered in an instant, and blood sprayed from its mouth.

Then that terrible power that burned the soul appeared again.

It watched the dozens of arms gathered around its neck begin to melt and rot. The terror of facing death struck it in an instant.

"Aah!"

Hand Demon screamed in fear, its voice nearly breaking.

But the dozens of arms suddenly spun like a hurricane, lashing outward in every direction with terrifying momentum.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The trees in the forest—whether thin saplings or giant trunks that required one person to wrap their arms around—were smashed apart in an instant and hurled away by those blue-gray arms.

Hand Demon became the center of a terrifying whirlwind.

The instant those blue-gray giant hands came crashing down, Bai Cangshu's eyes trembled. The reason he could perfectly capture others' movements and force, even imitating their actions after seeing them almost once, was not simply his nearly perfect muscle control.

It was also because of his eyes.

Bai Cangshu's dynamic vision was extraordinarily sharp. He could even see the trajectory of a dragonfly's beating wings as it flew past.

This moment was no exception. Hand Demon's massive arms spiraled outward, and the movement was made incredibly obvious by its enormous muscles.

Bai Cangshu noticed immediately.

Then he made a slight leap, his entire body becoming incomparably soft. He raised both hands before him, while his core tightened completely.

Niko Style: Redirection Kata: Willow!

At this moment, Bai Cangshu did not care what would happen if he failed. Rather than choosing the safer option of dodging, he intended to take this attack head-on with this move.

Buzz!

The tremendous force struck. Bai Cangshu's hands were hard, but his arms were incomparably soft. In an instant, the immense force was redirected before him. Bai Cangshu rolled with it, spun twice in midair, and instead of being sent flying, landed smoothly atop one of the massive arms whipping outward like a lash.

"Ha, hahaha!"

Bai Cangshu suddenly laughed in exhilaration amid the berserk hurricane. His feet seemed rooted in place as he stood atop that arm.

The next moment, still laughing wildly, he charged straight toward Hand Demon along its arm.