Death's Reverie

The instant Yuko severed the Buddha statue's head, a bizarre figure suddenly burst out from within it and clung to the ceiling.

Yuko's lithe body drifted lightly to the ground, and she looked up.

It was a vicious demon with several arms, its savage features enough to make anyone feel physically ill.

So that was it. It had hidden its body inside the Buddha statue?

Yuko's gaze flicked toward the shattered Buddha statue beside her.

Rather than attacking Yuko at once, the demon crawled along the ceiling to the wall on the other side.

"Don't you care at all about those people's lives?"

Yuko stared expressionlessly at the demon as her Nichirin Blade swept through another Buddha statue nearby.

The statue split apart at once, and the people bound inside tumbled out.

Yuko swept them with her peripheral vision and made a rough count.

Three women and a child of four or five, all covered in blood.

They stared at them in utter terror, yet they were somehow still conscious.

Their breathing did not seem seriously affected. They were merely weak from going without food for too long.

Seeing Yuko so easily uncover the food it had hidden away, veins bulged at the demon's temples as fury rose on its face.

The demon's muscles tensed throughout its body, clearly about to attack.

"Stay where you are. Don't move." Yuko only had time to give that warning before she swung her Nichirin Blade and forced the demon out of the main hall.

Night had already fallen, but the wind and snow still howled without pause. A few weakened women with a child could not possibly make it down the mountain in weather like this.

Forcing the demon all the way outside the hall, Yuko watched as it spat green mucus at her.

Water Breathing: Third Form: Flowing Dance!

Moving like flowing water, she evaded the green globs of mucus that shot toward her like arrows and charged at the demon.

The moment the demon dodged her attack, Yuko understood.

This demon was no ordinary foe. Its strength was likely already on par with the Twelve Kizuki of later generations.

Demons of that caliber should have been exceedingly rare in this era. Was she lucky, or unlucky?

The demon flipped onto the surrounding wall, avoiding Yuko's charge, and sneered, "This weather can't be pleasant for you, can it?"

The nighttime wind and snow intensified. Even a Breathing Technique could not completely negate the effects of the cold.

Strange. Why is it so hard to breathe?

Was the blizzard really affecting her this badly?

Yuko's breathing grew heavier, while the biting wind stabbed at her lungs again and again like needles.

Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash.

She had no intention of answering the demon. Golden lightning flashed as Yuko shot straight toward it.

In weather like this, the longer the fight dragged on, the worse it would be for her.

Yet the demon had barely revealed any of its abilities, and its speed was exceptionally fast. It was no slower than Yuko using Thunder Breathing.

After Yuko launched her Thunder Breathing charge, it slipped away like a wisp of smoke.

Watching the demon vanish into the snow-white forest, Yuko clearly felt a faint tremor run through her body.

No, the demon was not too fast. She was too slow.

In such terrible weather, sensation in her body was gradually fading.

The demon's figure flickered in and out of sight among the snowy trees. It had not gone far; it was deliberately using the harsh weather to toy with her.

This was a demon with both strength and brains.

Yuko gritted her silver teeth. Should she go back?

Inside the temple, she could at least still fight the demon. But if it escaped now, finding it again in the future would be difficult.

Just as she hesitated, a sharp whistling sound tore through the cold wind.

Several globs of green mucus ripped through the blizzard and shot toward her.

Moon Breathing: Sixth Form: Perpetual Night, Lonely Moon—Infinite.

A pale violet slash filled with countless tiny golden crescents burst forth with the movement of Yuko's Nichirin Blade, forcefully cutting the blizzard apart.

As the sword wind blew the storm away, the demon's figure came clearly into Yuko's sight.

She could not drag this out any longer. It was risky, but...

"Hiss—" A strange breath sounded.

Sun Breathing: First Form: Circular Dance!

It was not that Sun Breathing could not be learned. It was simply difficult to use.

A Breathing Technique suited to its user could effectively control blood flow through breathing, enhancing the user's physical abilities.

With ordinary Breathing Techniques, using one that did not suit you would at worst result in poor performance.

Sun Breathing was different. Those unsuited to it would instead suffer damage to their lungs.

A move that injured oneself as much as it injured the enemy was not fit for humans.

But at this moment, Sun Breathing was still the most powerful Breathing Technique and Sword Style Yuko had mastered.

Whoosh!

Orange-red flames rose from the darkness of the night. An orange-red arc of light rapidly expanded in the demon's eyes before slicing off half its body with a single strike.

She missed?

Yuko froze for a moment.

The demon had not reacted in time. With her sword skills, there was no way she should have missed. Though her control of Sun Breathing was not particularly good, Yuko was confident there was no problem with the Sword Style itself.

Was the wind and snow so severe that her hand had frozen stiff?

Her fingers... she could barely feel them anymore.

Only then did the demon react. Its pupils trembled violently as it staggered backward, staring at its wound in horror.

Why? Its regeneration had slowed!

What kind of bizarre technique was this?

The heat brought by Sun Breathing gradually warmed Yuko's lungs. Blood seeped from the corner of her mouth as she slowly began to feel her fingers again.

She possessed no talent for using Sun Breathing, and her constitution was not suited to it. Only the freezing weather had barely offset the irritation Sun Breathing caused to her lungs.

If she forced herself to use it again, her body would give out first.

At most, she had enough strength left for one more slash.

If she decided the victor with one move...

Sun Breathing: Eleventh Form: Solar Halo...

Just as Yuko gripped her Nichirin Blade tightly and prepared to decide the battle in one move, an unbearable pain suddenly erupted in her lungs.

"Ugh..." Her advance halted as she clutched her chest and dropped to one knee.

Beads of sweat the size of soybeans slid down from Yuko's temples. Had she overloaded herself by using Sun Breathing?

"Hehehe..." Just as she thought that, the demon's grating laughter came from ahead.

"Still haven't noticed? The poison in the air~"

Yuko's eyes narrowed slightly as she abruptly looked around.

The green mucus she had evaded was slowly giving off a pale green mist.

The blizzard hadn't completely dispersed it?

No... if not for the blizzard diluting it, she would likely already be lying on the ground.

In such a harsh environment, she had not noticed it at all.

"This is a cold poison that freezes your lungs." The demon slowly explained as it walked toward Yuko.

No wonder. She had thought it was the wind and snow...

The world before Yuko's eyes gradually darkened. The cold assaulting her from both inside and out nearly made her lose all feeling in her body.

She was going to be eaten.

She felt no fear of death in her heart. Perhaps that was her greatest improvement over the past two years.

The demon emerged from the blizzard, and Yuko finally lost control of her frozen body, collapsing into the snow.

As the image before her eyes grew increasingly blurred, Yuko inexplicably felt her body begin to heat up.

A faint glimmer of light appeared in the darkness, making her eyelids flutter as she unconsciously opened her eyes.

Before her stood two familiar figures, one red and one purple, both radiating a faint white light.

Yoriichi looked at her with a gentle expression, a faint smile curving his lips.

"Yuko, haven't you realized it yet? The Breathing Technique that suits you best."

What the hell?

Yuko struggled to look at Yoriichi. A Death's Reverie?

Was she hallucinating?

Kokushibo said blandly from beside her, "Moon Breathing isn't used like that."

Damn jealous bastard.

This was clearly her Death's Reverie. Why could he still say something so irritating?

White snowflakes suddenly drifted down from the sky, like tiny points of light, adding a touch of beauty to this dark world.

Yoriichi's voice rang out at just the right moment.

"That is a color as beautiful as white snow."

A snowflake, icy cold, landed on Yuko's face.

The demon had no idea that the woman lying on the ground had just received a power-up at the edge of hell.

Just as it planned to cut off Yuko's hands and feet first, then take her back to slowly enjoy the miserable expression of this female swordswoman,

"Hiss—"

Yuko, lying in the snow, ignored the biting wind and began taking deep breaths.

Had she gone mad?

The demon froze, but its reactions were not slow. Its hands turned into blades as it slashed toward Yuko's arms.

White breath slowly spilled from Yuko's mouth as her wrist, gripping the Nichirin Blade, flicked.

Snow Breathing: First Form - Blizzard.