The Damn Muzan

The night was hazy, and the mountains resounded with the constant chirping of insects. Occasionally, a cool breeze drifted past, stirring the heart.

Beneath the bright crescent moon, two figures faced each other.

Yoriichi held an ordinary iron blade and calmly looked at the person before him. "Let's first see how strong you are now."

Yuko nodded slightly. "Yes. I also really want to know the difference between us and Big Brother."

As soon as she finished speaking, Yuko slowly drew a long blade of bloody flesh from her palm.

She casually flourished it once, flicking away the blood coating it.

The silver-white blade radiated a sacred glow beneath the moonlight.

Yet the faintly bizarre aura surrounding the blade constantly told anyone who saw it that this was a Demon Blade.

The long blade was styled like the Nichirin Blade Yuko had used before, but its features were slightly different.

The most special part was the edge. The pure-white blade was almost completely flawless, without even a single blade pattern, as immaculate as a clear mirror.

In terms of hardness alone, the Demon Blade born from Yuko's flesh far surpassed ordinary iron blades.

Only a Nichirin Blade could cut it.

But the prerequisite for a Nichirin Blade to cut it was that its wielder had to be strong enough to sever her neck.

Yuko slowly assumed her starting stance, faint white breath spilling from her mouth. "Brother, you don't need to hold back. Just give it everything you've got."

Yoriichi was not using a Nichirin Blade but a simple iron blade, which could not inflict any real damage on a demon.

Even if the opponent was Yoriichi, it would still be impossible.

Even the most skilled cook could do nothing without ingredients. No matter how strong Yoriichi was, he could not kill a demon with an iron blade.

Of course, a demon's regeneration was not actually infinite. Every regeneration consumed stamina, which had to be replenished through eating. If too much stamina was consumed, the speed of regeneration would slow.

If a demon really encountered Yoriichi wielding an ordinary Katana, there would probably only be two possible outcomes.

First, Yoriichi would cut her until she questioned her entire life, and then dawn would arrive.

Second, Yoriichi would cut her until she completely lost her ability to regenerate.

But no matter how one looked at it, even Yoriichi, wielding an iron blade, could not inflict effective damage on her in a short time.

More importantly, an iron blade could not produce a Scarlet Blade.

A Nichirin Blade could form a Scarlet Blade through grip strength because of the special nature of its materials. The scarlet crimson sand iron and scarlet crimson ore used to make it grew on mountains closest to the sun, absorbing ample sunlight and possessing the sun's energy.

The principle behind the Scarlet Blade was to use grip strength to activate the sun's energy within the Nichirin Blade.

Yoriichi understood this as well, so he nodded slightly.

"Then, I'm coming."

Yuko took a deep breath, and the Clear World unfolded before her eyes.

"Snow Breathing Form Straight Line in the Sky!"

A white flash, impossibly fast, streaked past, as though drawing a slender silver thread through the air. It was incomparably graceful.

The movement of the lungs, the motion of the muscles, the observation of his next action.

Yuko focused intently on Yoriichi's body.

In Yuko's view, the Clear World was the most valuable of the three abilities.

Even in other anime worlds, an ability that could see through the human body would never be weak.

Knowing the gap between herself and Yoriichi, Yuko held nothing back and struck with all her strength.

The snow-white blade shot straight toward Yoriichi's neck.

It was a habit she had developed while hunting demons. Even after becoming a demon, with her enemy now a human, she still could not shake the urge to cut off his head.

The white thread traced a graceful curve through the air. This was Yoriichi's first experience of Snow Breathing taken to its extreme.

Ever since Yuko had been injured, Snow Breathing had essentially been lost, because no one could learn it. Its difficulty was no less than that of Sun Breathing.

Yoriichi had only occasionally watched Yuko secretly practice it, but that was nothing compared to what he was seeing now.

It was a beautiful Breathing Technique and a beautiful Sword Style.

But it was far more than merely beautiful. The fierce killing intent within it almost stabbed Yoriichi's skin.

It was bone-chilling, like ice and snow.

This was Snow Breathing.

The snow-white thread swept across Yoriichi's neck, and their blurred figures crossed paths.

After one strike.

Yuko stared in astonishment at the headless figure before her, still holding the Demon Blade.

Before her head fell to the ground, Yoriichi reached out and gently caught it, then carefully set it back onto her body.

The entire process looked somewhat bizarre.

Yuko opened and closed her mouth, then said expressionlessly, "...That was a bit discouraging."

Although she had known from the start that she would definitely be crushed, it still hurt when it actually happened.

Yoriichi: "..."

Someone had insisted on pestering him to teach her, after all.

Yoriichi said awkwardly, "Are you all right?"

Although he could not cause any substantial damage, the pain of being beheaded was unavoidable.

If Yuko had not repeatedly requested it, he definitely would not have been able to bring himself to strike.

Yuko looked up at him and said gloomily, "It was too fast. I didn't feel any pain at all."

Yoriichi smiled. "That's good."

Yuko pursed her lips.

It was not good at all.

If she could have felt the pain, she might have been happier, because the gap would not have seemed so great.

Not even knowing that she had been beheaded could only prove that a dimensional gap existed between them.

Yoriichi: "Again?"

Yuko took a deep breath. "Yes. This time, I'll be serious."

Yoriichi nodded slightly, and the two returned to their original positions.

Yuko held the snow-white Demon Blade, her wine-red eyes slightly closed as she gently exhaled a long breath.

The next moment, she abruptly opened her eyes. Golden-rimmed pupils containing a hint of profound darkness appeared in them. Slightly ferocious veins surfaced around the corners of her eyes, a pair of Demon Horns resembling dragon horns drilled out from the top of her head, and her black fingernails grew a little longer.

Her originally wine-red hair visibly turned snow-white.

Seeing Yuko like this, Yoriichi could not help spacing out slightly. He shared Yuko's opinion.

That was, she did not quite look like one.

She did not resemble an ugly demon. Instead, she looked more like a divine being.

Silver-white moonlight slanted down between the branches of the dense forest, gently falling over Yuko's snow-white hair as if draping her in a layer of faint silver gauze.

With snow-colored hair and a pair of Demon Horns resembling dragon horns atop her head, no one who happened to pass by and see this scene would mistake her for a demon.

Yuko quietly sensed the condition of her body. Strictly speaking, this was the first time she had fully transformed into a demon. Earlier, at the inn, she had been somewhat distracted because she was worried someone outside might come in.

In this state, her physical abilities had received another considerable boost after her demon transformation.

They were nearly several times greater than when she had been human. Moreover, she knew very clearly that this ability could continue to improve. Since becoming a demon, she had not yet eaten any humans. If she ate humans...

Yuko quickly shook her head. Those damn Muzan cells had actually begun influencing her mind.