The other swordsmen were in a similar situation; having fought the Upper Rank, their physical strength and energy had reached their limits.
Currently, only Kyojuro and his three companions retain most of their fighting strength.
"Now is not the time to rest, everyone stand up."
The Scribe glanced at the exhausted swordsmen and said.
"Have you forgotten that Upper Rank Five, Gyokko, is still here?"
Despite arriving at the mountain, the Scribe did not find the Gyokko.
But since Blood Demon Art summon has appeared, it must still be in the vicinity.
Kyojuro nodded as well.
Having briefly clashed with Gyokko, he was well aware of the latter's strength.
But he also knew that the other swordsmen were no longer able to fight.
The Scribe saw through Kyojuro's thoughts and said...
"Don't worry, all I need them to do is fetch water from the river and put out the fire."
Upon hearing this, a hint of relief appeared on the swordsmen's faces.
"Where are you going, Mister Scribe?"
"I'll go with you."
"?"
"Go to the riverbank and look for the Gyokko."
Kyojuro was a little confused, but he still nodded.
Soon, the swordsmen formed a team and went to the river at the foot of the mountain to fetch water to extinguish the forest fire.
The Scribe found a rock by the river, sat down, and waited silently.
The mountain peaks are covered with vegetation, making them an ideal location for the Zohakuten, who can manipulate trees.
After escaping, Gyokko's last hiding place was this river.
After all, it was born in a fishing village when it was still human.
Blood Demon Art abilities are mostly related to water and aquatic animals.
However, the Scribe waited for a long time but did not find any trace of the Gyokko.
Occasionally, some of the Gyokko's summoned creatures would emerge from other places, harassing the swordsmen as they carried water.
Kyojuro and his companions acted quickly and dealt with the summoned creatures.
After an unknown amount of time, the forest fire was finally extinguished.
And in the distance, a sliver of light appeared in the sky.
Is the sun about to rise?
Looking at the fiery red glow in the distance, Scribe stood up and murmured to himself.
"Could it be that the Gyokko has already escaped?"
With this in mind, he instructed Kyojuro to prepare for defense.
Then, the Scribe leaped into the river.
The river is nothing special, just some aquatic plants and fish.
Just as the Scribe was wondering, a pottery pot suddenly appeared in the silt at the bottom of the water.
The patterns on the pottery pot glowed slightly, and then a large number of goldfish appeared out of thin air.
"Blood Demon Art * Thousand Needles * Fish Killing"
The goldfish had just spat out its sharp spines when the Scribe, realizing what was happening, slashed them with a single stroke.
Seeing the Blood Demon Art suddenly activated, the Scribe frowned slightly.
"Delayed activation has indeed improved Gyokko's strength."
Swimming towards the pottery jar, the Scribe casually slashed it, shattering it into pieces.
"Luckily it was me who came down; it would have been very dangerous if it had been someone else."
When they are in the middle of a river, the Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen cannot use Breathing Technique, which greatly reduces their fighting power.
Even if one wanted to swing the knife, the water resistance would hinder the movement.
As they continued swimming, the Scribe discovered several more pottery jars.
The patterns on the pottery pots are different, therefore the Blood Demon Art is also different.
Sometimes it's a goldfish, sometimes an octopus, and sometimes a sticky fish.
As time went on, the Scribe even saw pottery jars with two different patterns.
The summoned monsters also have two characteristics.
Why did Gyokko place so many ceramic pots at the bottom of the water?
After slashing the octopus in front of him, Scribe pondered this question.
From the moment he first discovered the first pottery jar, he felt something was amiss.
Now, the feeling of doubt is even stronger.
If the Gyokko was intended to be a trap, there would be no need to place it underwater.
Unless...
Scribe narrowed his eyes, a certain possibility coming to mind.
He quickened his pace and continued swimming downstream.
Ultimately, the Scribe discovered a depression in the underwater terrain.
Around it, he saw a dozen or so pottery jars.
Each pottery pot has two patterns on its surface, and one even has three patterns!
"It seems that this is the place where the Gyokko needs to be protected."
After surfacing for some fresh air, Scribe realized that he was now more than 500 meters away from where he had entered the water.
"Let me see what you're protecting."
After taking a deep breath, the Scribe dived down again and swam toward the depression.
After a struggle, he successfully destroyed all the pottery jars.
But when he entered the depression, what he saw surprised him.
"A portal? A teleportation portal?"
In the center of the depression, there is a door exactly the same as the one on Mt. Sagiri.
The moment the Scribe saw the door, he knew that Gyokko had escaped again.
Judging from the timeline, it has already escaped a very long distance.
"I don't know where this door leads, but at least we can get out."
Shaking his head slightly, Scribe had no choice but to surface and walk towards the direction of Kyojuro and the others.
After they were told about the "door," everyone cheered excitedly.
"Let's go, let's get out of here."
With a wave of his hand, the Scribe led the swordsmen underwater and into the depression.
Finally, it passed through the "door" and disappeared.
Chapter 619 Long Time No See
Earlier, when Gyokko had just escaped from the door.
After passing through the door, it escaped back to the Infinity Castle.
Emerging from the pottery jar, Gyokko glanced nervously at the door behind her, fearing that Scribe might emerge from it at any moment.
"Damn it, knowing the Scribe was coming, why did they still stay there? Are they stupid?"
"The problem with the abilities of the Hantengu is that each one has its own independent consciousness, which makes it easy for situations like this to occur."
Just as the Gyokko was complaining, a voice came from behind it.
"Gyokko, what's wrong with you?"
"?!"
Turning around abruptly, Gyokko saw Doma standing right behind her.
"So it's Doma. I was quite startled."
With a long sigh, Gyokko's expression relaxed.
"I thought it was the Scribe who had chased after us."
"The Scribe?! You saw him? Where is he? Tell me quickly!"
At the mention of the Scribe, Doma's eyes lit up immediately.
Under his persistent questioning, Gyokko had no choice but to tell him what had happened on the mountain.
After listening, Doma nodded and murmured.
"I see. So, as long as I stay in front of this door, I can wait for the Mister Scribe to come out?"
"That's the theory, but..."
Gyokko didn't refute, but still looked at Doma with a strange "gaze".
After all, this is a suicidal act.
Doma seemed to understand what Gyokko meant, laughed heartily, and patted it on the shoulder.
"It's okay, it's okay, I won't do that."
"Speaking of which, there's something else I need you to do for me."
"Gyokko, may I ask you for a favor?"
After a moment's hesitation, Gyokko still spoke.
"Doma, please speak."
"Could we ask you to be a guinea pig for our brain food experiment?"
As soon as he finished speaking, a large amount of cold air emanated from beneath the Gyokko.
In just a moment, it was frozen into an ice sculpture.
But Gyokko was, after all, Upper Rank Five, and even when ambushed, he still put up a fight.
As the ice sculpture formed, numerous cracks began to appear, and countless tiny fragments fell off.
"No, no, you just promised me, how can you go back on your word?"
Doma smiled, waved his fan, and coated the ice sculpture with a large amount of cold air.
One side damages, the other repairs.
In this tug-of-war, Doma ultimately prevailed.
Looking at the ice sculpture that had stopped trembling, Doma spoke to the air beside him.
"You can come out now."
As soon as he finished speaking, the air distorted, and Shinri Masato appeared out of thin air.
"I thought you were going to recreate the 'Tokyo Metropolis Incident,' but I didn't expect you to grab the Gyokko."
"The Gyokko can summon a large number of magical creatures, which perfectly matches the requirements of brain food, doesn't it?"
"I don't care about that; I'm only responsible for delivery."