Creating Star Breathing might have been nothing more than a joke, but after mastering the Five Great Breathing Styles, Yuko had continuously searched for the Breathing Technique that suited her best.
The creators of the Five Great Breathing Styles had all based them on their own sword techniques, creating their respective Breathing Techniques under Yoriichi's guidance.
In other words, it was not that Breathing Techniques were adapted to create Sword Styles. Rather, Sword Styles were adapted to create their own Breathing Techniques.
This differed from the swordsmen of later generations, who developed new Sword Styles based on Breathing Techniques. The first generation had done the exact opposite.
Therefore, Yuko had begun contemplating the design of her Sword Style long ago.
As for inspiration for her Breathing Technique, it came from the Water Breathing and Wind Breathing she excelled at most.
The Sword Style created on the foundation of Water and Wind Breathing was a near-perfect match for Snow Breathing, which inherited the strengths of both.
"Snow Breathing: First Form—Blizzard!"
As Yuko's cool voice rang out, the surrounding blizzard grew several degrees more violent.
A white dragon formed from wind and snow swept upward, hurling the Demon high into the air.
The biting cold wind slid repeatedly across the Demon's body like blades. In the blink of an eye, countless tiny wounds tore open across him.
Without giving him time to react, that deadly, cool voice rang out again.
"Snow Breathing: Second Form—Snow: Flying Flurry."
A curtain of snowflakes obscured his vision. A swordswoman wielding a snow-white blade, with a strange marking emerging on her cheek, ambushed him from within the snow and rapidly grew larger in the Demon's eyes.
A marking? What is this?
Before he could think, the world spun violently. When his vision finally steadied, Yuko's toes touched the ground, and her light body hung upside down in his sight.
The Demon's pupils trembled violently. Had she decapitated him?!!!
Sss—
Yuko never held back against Demons like this. She drove her sword through the Demon's head, and his entire body soon began dissolving, head and all.
The weather that had originally hindered her breathing had ultimately become her aid. The cold air circulated through her lungs, and her mind seemed to turn transparent, leaving her clearer than ever before.
"Huff~"
Yuko continued panting heavily as the weight in her body steadily wore down her willpower.
If not for the chill of the cold air passing through her lungs, she feared she would already have collapsed unconscious.
Relying on the last of her willpower, Yuko dragged her grievously wounded body back to the temple and pushed open the ruined door of the main hall.
The blizzard rushed inside. The girls abducted by the Demon huddled in a corner of the main hall, staring fearfully toward the entrance.
Yuko let out a long breath of relief. Her vision began to darken, and she toppled headfirst to the ground.
When the girls saw who had arrived, they hurried over.
But at the slightest touch, one of them cried, "She's burning! Her body is so hot!"
A decisive girl of about fourteen or fifteen hurriedly helped Yuko up.
"Quick, shut the doors and carry her to the corner."
Everyone hurriedly carried Yuko to the corner by the wall.
"It looks like she killed that monster."
"What do we do? There's no way to go down the mountain in this weather. Her fever is so severe. If this continues, she'll die."
A girl sat down against the wall, pulled Yuko into her arms, and called out to the others.
"Come closer, everyone."
Everyone immediately understood what she meant. They gathered around and completely surrounded Yuko.
"Xiao Qi, you come over too."
The girl called Xiao Qi and Yuko were surrounded by everyone in the very center.
So warm.
In her deep sleep, Yuko felt as though her body lay on some warm, soft bed, as warm as lying beneath the covers on a winter morning.
No one knew how long had passed before Yuko's eyelashes trembled and she hazily opened her eyes.
The young child was in her arms, the mottled bloodstains on her clothes already dried. She was sleeping soundly.
"Are you awake?"
A gentle voice came from behind. Yuko instinctively turned around, only then noticing that everyone had surrounded her.
They were using their bodies to keep her warm.
Protected by a group of people, Yuko felt both touched and uncomfortable. She moved slightly, and an ache spread through her body.
Was this a side effect of Sun Breathing?
Yuko had adapted quite well to the other Breathing Techniques. Even forcibly changing Breathing Techniques midway through using a Sword Style would not cause any problems.
Yuko's movement woke the other girls.
"Are you all right now?"
"Thank you for saving us."
The girls all showered Yuko with words of praise.
The woman sitting behind Yuko and holding her reached out and gently touched her forehead.
"You had a terrible fever before. Fortunately, it has gone down now."
A fever?
She had indeed felt her body burning hot before. That was probably because, in an environment of extreme cold, the human brain produced false signals and sent all the blood and heat to the brain.
People who froze to death also removed their clothes for the same reason.
"Cough, cough~" Yuko could not help coughing twice.
Her body was still slightly uncomfortable.
Yuko handed the girl in her arms over to them and looked at the weather outside the window.
The night had passed, and the sky had already cleared.
"Let's go. I'll take you home." Yuko pushed herself up from the floor. Though her body was still somewhat inconvenient, she could move.
Hearing the words "go home," several of the girls finally relaxed completely and covered their faces as they wept.
It was only natural for ordinary people to be afraid after encountering such an ugly monster.
Yuko introduced herself to everyone and calmed their emotions before leading them down the mountain.
When they reached the houses at the foot of the mountain, the firewood cutter was sitting at the doorway with his hatchet in hand, as though he had sat there all night.
Seeing the figures descending from the mountain in the distance, the firewood cutter trembled. Uncontainable joy appeared on his face, and he hurried over.
He walked faster and faster... then slower and slower...
The joy on his face turned into bewilderment.
The man suddenly rushed forward and grabbed one girl's shoulders, his face filled with near-pleading desperation. "Where's Eko? Where is Eko!"
Yuko froze for a moment, her eyelids lowering slightly.
The girl whose shoulders the man held moved her lips faintly. "Eko... Eko was eaten by a Demon."
It was as if all the strength had been drained from the man's body. He collapsed to the ground, a numb expression settling over his face as though he had lost his soul.
Yuko gently closed her eyes and turned away.
Even if the virus was eradicated, the pain it had caused would not disappear.
The Demon Slayer Corps could eliminate Demons, but it could not soothe suffering.
During their earlier conversation, the girl carrying the child had told Yuko that her name was Namiko.
Noticing Yuko leaving, Namiko chased after her.
"Um..."
Yuko's footsteps slowed slightly.
"Miss Yuko, thank you for saving everyone."
Without turning her head, Yuko waved and disappeared into the town.
It was only while taking a shallow drink beside a stream that Yuko saw what she looked like now in the water.
A strange red marking extended from her cheek to her neck. Its winding shape added an enchanting allure to her already striking appearance.
It probably would have been very popular in my previous life. But by the standards of this era, it's a complete disfigurement.
If I had awakened my marking earlier, I probably could have reduced the number of marriage proposals.
"A marking?" Yuko murmured as she gently touched her cheek.
It was something she had learned about from Demon Slayer short videos, one of what was called the Three-Piece Set.
Only by mastering the Three-Piece Set could one gain the qualifications to fight the Upper Ranks and Muzan.
They were the marking, the Clear World, and the Scarlet Blade.
Yoriichi had been born with the marking and the Clear World. At present, only Yoriichi could use the Scarlet Blade.
Although he had explained the technique behind the Scarlet Blade to everyone, no one in the Demon Slayer Corps besides him could accomplish it.
The principle behind the Scarlet Blade was to use powerful grip strength to activate the sun's energy within the Nichirin Blade, turning the blade red.
It could effectively suppress a Demon's regeneration and increase the damage dealt to Demons.
At present, only Yoriichi possessed such powerful grip strength.
Aside from Yoriichi, no one in the Demon Slayer Corps had mastered even one of the Three-Piece Set.
In theory, that meant she could now be called the second person after Yoriichi to master the marking.
She was even ahead of Kokushibo.
Carefully recalling the memories after her Death's Reverie, Yuko had indeed felt an improvement in her physical abilities.
After all, Snow Breathing could not have allowed her to recover instantly.
Then, having awakened the marking, can I also master the Scarlet Blade?
Before you continue