The Water Demon looked far removed from a normal human. Only by its faint remaining features could one guess that it had most likely been male before.
When it saw Kurozawa charging at it with a savage grin, the Water Demon froze.
Each opening of Mount Fujikasane was not only a trial for swordsmen. For demons like them living within Mount Fujikasane's prison, it was also a life-or-death ordeal—and a harvest day, a chance to feast.
Any demon that had survived on Mount Fujikasane for over fifty years was no weakling. The trainee swordsmen entering the mountain were all food in their eyes.
There were three such demons on Mount Fujikasane, and the Water Demon was one of them. Compared to the other two, its raw strength was the weakest, but it was exceptionally powerful in water.
Moreover, demons that had lived for decades were all cunning and shrewd. They knew they were merely tools for the trial, and that powerful swordsmen guarded Mount Fujikasane's outskirts, so they never caused too great a disturbance—such as wiping out every trainee swordsman.
During each Mount Fujikasane trial, the three demons would only choose to devour between ten and twenty swordsmen, maintaining an unspoken understanding.
If they occasionally encountered particularly strong trainee swordsmen, the three demons would avoid them unless there were special circumstances, preventing themselves from being beheaded.
Now that Kurozawa had entered the water to pursue it, his obviously powerful physique and immense confidence made the Water Demon believe it had encountered a formidable swordsman.
Its first thought was to flee.
However, one of its legs had been injured by the stone Kurozawa had thrown back at it. It had not yet recovered, and Kurozawa quickly caught up.
At that moment, the demon's vicious nature emerged. A flash of madness surged into the Water Demon's blackfish-like eyes.
Blood Demon Art: Heavy Water Roll! With a hiss, a tentacle wrapped in rushing water lashed toward Kurozawa.
Before the tentacle could reach him, layers of undercurrents swirling around it had already struck Kurozawa's body.
Hmm? In an instant, Kurozawa felt a considerable force pulling him forward.
The direction of that pull was the tentacle, filled with tiny sharp teeth and constantly twisting and churning.
The force made Kurozawa's body sway, nearly dragging him away.
Fortunately, his physique was strong enough. He resisted the undercurrent's suction and steadied himself underwater. At the same time, however, moving became somewhat difficult, his body bound by invisible currents.
There's something wrong with this demon. I got cocky. Kurozawa realized something was amiss.
He had fallen into a misconception. And because he wanted to gain Potential Points, he had acted impulsively and rashly, taking the initiative to enter the enemy's home ground.
In Kurozawa's impression, only the Hand Demon on Mount Fujikasane counted as a true demon, possessing tremendous strength and a body like steel. The other demons were all weak, malnourished creatures. But that was only because he had seen things from Tanjiro's perspective.
Aside from the Hand Demon, Mount Fujikasane concealed other dangers.
At this moment, Kurozawa had encountered one—an Ability Demon that could rival the Hand Demon underwater.
The undercurrents carrying immense restraining force quickly made Kurozawa understand his current predicament.
The Water Demon before him was not merely a Mutated Demon whose body had changed. It was also an Ability Demon with a special power, one that had awakened a Blood Demon Art.
Demons came in three types: Mutated Demons, Ability Demons, and the particularly rare demons that possessed both mutation and abilities.
Mutated Demons had undergone powerful physical transformations that set them apart from ordinary people. Most possessed exceptionally strong bodies.
Ability Demons were a whole level more troublesome than Mutated Demons. They wielded a power called Blood Demon Art. Blood Demon Arts were extremely bizarre, manifesting in countless strange forms. Some unique Blood Demon Arts could even rival miracles.
At that moment, the water binding him like a living creature made Kurozawa think of Blood Demon Art.
"My mindset has been off lately. In the past, no matter how the Water Demon provoked me, I never would have entered the water to fight it."
Watching the thick tentacle covered in fine fangs draw closer, Kurozawa reflected on himself.
"Maybe the demons I encountered were all too weak, making me arrogant enough to think demons were nothing special. Or maybe learning about the wonders of Potential Points allowed greed to overwhelm my reason."
"Whatever the reason, I can't make this mistake again. If the demon before me were a Lower Rank, I would certainly die today."
In an instant, Kurozawa's mind became intensely focused, and his gaze turned resolute.
His right hand reached for the Nichirin Blade at his waist and gripped the hilt tightly.
In the end, he still had to use a sword form to break the deadlock. Before his strength reached a certain level, he had no particularly good way to deal with something as yielding as an undercurrent.
Although he claimed not to like using a Nichirin Blade, ever since taking it from Sakonji Urokodaki, Kurozawa had kept it on his person and never removed it.
Kurozawa understood that before his physique became strong enough to break through human limits, the greatest technique against demons was still the sword forms, every move and stance created for the purpose of killing demons.
Most of the time, Kurozawa did not use sword forms simply because he did not need to, not because he could not.
Water Breathing: Total Concentration! Since he was underwater, Kurozawa held his breath. The power of Total Concentration was halved, but it still temporarily enhanced his physique.
His blood flow and heartbeat instantly increased by fifty percent.
Water Breathing: Tenth Form: Constant Flux! Kurozawa's upper body nearly twisted behind his back, angled away from his lower body. Then, using the force generated by the sudden turn of his body, he swung his blade.
Every movement he made possessed a harmonious beauty.
That was the feeling that only came from masterful control of sword forms.
The azure Nichirin Blade swung from Kurozawa's hand, instantly drawing out gorgeous blue blade-light. The blade-light circled around Kurozawa's body rather than charging directly at the Water Demon.
Because Kurozawa knew it was daytime, and the orange fireball in the sky was still freely radiating light and heat.
This was the strongest sword form in Water Breathing. At present, only Kurozawa, Sabito, and Makomo had mastered it.
The instant the azure blade-light appeared, the restraining force of the undercurrents shattered on its own.
At the same time, a rapidly spinning vortex emerged in the small river along with the Nichirin Blade's slash, driving heavy torrents of water with it.
By the riverbank, Hanada Shizuka watched wide-eyed as a whirlpool formed almost in the blink of an eye, churning the water and creating a vacuum in its center that exposed the riverbed.
As well as the human and demon standing on it.
The powerful sword form directly created a water storm, stripping the Water Demon away from the surrounding water.
Shock filled the Water Demon's eyes as it looked up at the sun hanging high overhead. A fatal sense of danger made its entire body tremble.
Kurozawa had never intended for his Constant Flux to strike it. He had only used it to create a vortex and let the sunlight shine through.
There was no better way to kill a demon than the sun.
Awooo! A beast-like howl rang out. Bathed in warm sunlight, the Water Demon's entire body erupted into raging flames.
It desperately tried to escape from the center of the vortex Kurozawa had created, attempting to break through the vortex wall and enter the water.
But the instant sunlight scorched it, its aura plummeted wildly. Even after touching the vortex wall, it no longer had the strength to break through the rapidly spinning water.
In only three breaths, the Water Demon that had nearly caused Kurozawa to stumble in the gutter underwater turned into ash that scattered through the air and was swept into the water.
"I got cocky by entering the water to fight you, but weren't you the same?"
"Showing yourself in broad daylight... you really had some nerve."
Kurozawa stopped slashing, gasped for breath, and leaped onto the riverbank.
The vortex he had created still remained, wildly churning the water. It seemed it would take some time to disappear.
At once, Kurozawa focused his mind on the Gray-White Panel.
Potential Points: 65 points.
Power of Despair: 7 points
This Water Demon had given Kurozawa forty Potential Points and five points of Power of Despair at once, four or five times more than an ordinary demon.
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