After Gyutaro and Dan Lei clashed repeatedly, the difference in their strength finally threw Gyutaro off balance. Dan Lei seized the opportunity and suddenly kicked him, sending him flying.
Gyutaro hadn't expected Dan Lei, who had been using his weapon to clash with him, to suddenly attack with a kick. It landed squarely in his abdomen, shattering his organs.
But an injury like that meant nothing to Gyutaro. He quickly climbed back to his feet and faced Dan Lei again.
Dan Lei was beginning to understand what Hanya had meant.
High-level Abundance Monstrosities were extremely troublesome. It wasn't that they were especially powerful. In fact, the Cloud Knights usually fought Abundance Monstrosities with a numerical advantage of three to ten to one. Even so, the Cloud Knights could cut through enemy lines with ease at the start of every battle.
But Abundance Monstrosities had extraordinary regenerative abilities. Even those with mediocre recovery could quickly heal by consuming the flesh of their comrades—or that of injured or dead Cloud Knights.
This gave people the illusion that Abundance Monstrosities could never be killed. After all, they had no wounded. Once they were injured badly enough, they became food for their comrades. They didn't need supplies, either.
Dan Lei was facing much the same situation now. If Gyutaro didn't have the Abundance Destiny, this battle would have been decided long ago.
But with the Abundance Destiny added to the demons' own astonishing regenerative abilities, Dan Lei felt as if he were fighting a monster with its health locked. Unless he could kill it in one blow, it would stay as good as new.
So Dan Lei decided to use Magecraft. He could practice his swordsmanship later. Refusing to use Magecraft now would be foolish.
Dan Lei suddenly raised his hand and made a grasping motion. Several small fireballs shot out from the blazing Kyogoku House behind him and flew toward Gyutaro.
Gyutaro had no idea what Dan Lei was up to, so he sliced all the fireballs out of the air. Looking closer, he realized they were Jade.
Dan Lei had naturally tossed these Jades earlier, while pretending to be "drunk." Each one contained Magecraft and special plants.
The split Jades immediately emitted green light, and several Blood Vines burst out, wrapping around Gyutaro.
Dan Lei had specially developed these carnivorous plants to fight demons. He had Aoko to thank for them. The technique had nothing to do with her puppets, but she cared for several plant "pets" herself, so she knew how to use ordinary plants to cultivate magical ones.
Of course, Blood Vines weren't particularly advanced magical plants. They were modeled on Japan's Golden Lantern Vine, and Dan Lei had managed to cultivate them in no time.
For demons, blood also served to transport nutrients. Once they lost too much blood, their bodies' ability to regenerate would drop drastically.
But even with Blood Vines wrapped all over him, Gyutaro wasn't worried. Instead, he scoffed.
"A bloodsucking plant? What good is that? My blood is poisonous. What can a few plants like these do?"
Sure enough, as soon as Gyutaro finished speaking, the Blood Vines wrapped around him began to wither. He broke free with a single wrench, and they fell away.
But Dan Lei ignored Gyutaro completely and continued pouring in magic power to make the Blood Vines grow stronger.
Having plants suck his blood while wrapped around him was still terribly uncomfortable for Gyutaro. He made the wounds left by their thorns gush blood, then used his Blood Demon Art to unleash a indiscriminate barrage of blood blades, tearing apart all the Blood Vines on his body.
But the next moment, he realized that not all the vines had come off. Many were still firmly embedded in his body, and they seemed to have adapted to the toxins in his blood. They were no longer withering so quickly.
Seeing how tenacious the plants were, Gyutaro raised his scythe toward Dan Lei and said sharply,
"I'm starting to believe you really do have the Blue Spider Lily. I've never seen a plant like this in all my years. You're quite the cultivator."
After speaking, Gyutaro charged straight at Dan Lei, intending to defeat him first and deal with the bloodsucking plants later.
But the outcome of their fight wasn't going to change. Gyutaro was now the one getting beaten one-sidedly.
His plan was simple, though. No matter how many times he got hit, he only needed to land one blow on Dan Lei. If his scythe so much as scratched the man, his poison would leave him unable to fight.
So Gyutaro's attacks grew increasingly reckless. He flung out his Blood Demon Art as if it cost him nothing. As long as Dan Lei wasn't aiming for his neck, Gyutaro didn't care where his opponent's sword struck. He was willing to trade injury for injury.
But now Gyutaro realized something was wrong. There was something strange about this man's body. His blood blades couldn't even cut through Dan Lei's clothes.
That was the effect of a Pathstrider's Path power: unless it was broken, its defenses remained intact.
Gyutaro wasn't skilled at using the Abundance Destiny's power. He couldn't weave it into his individual attacks; he could only concentrate it in his body and his scythe.
Without the Power of the Path of Abundance to counter the Power of the Path of the Hunt protecting Dan Lei, he couldn't break through Dan Lei's Path Protection at all.
With Path power protecting them, attacks from the outside weren't necessarily negated completely, but they were generally reduced to blunt force by the time they struck.
That was why, when Pathstriders fought each other, they could wield swords, spears, and guns, sending sword energy and bullets flying everywhere, yet after all that, they'd be covered in bruises without a single cut.
Although Dan Lei was currently bolstered by the Power of the Path of the Hunt, the impact of Gyutaro's blood blades wasn't enough to affect him.
As time passed, Gyutaro gradually began to feel that something was wrong. The [Blood Scythe] in his hand seemed heavier and heavier, and his head was starting to spin.
If he had looked down, he would have seen that some of the Blood Vines on his body had grown thicker than his arm. They had sucked out so much blood that even a demon like him was showing symptoms of anemia.
And when misfortune came, it rarely came alone. Daki, who had run off earlier, hadn't gotten far before she ran into Obanai Iguro. With three Hashira surrounding her, she spent nearly the entire time running away with her head in her hands.
But because of her unusual bond with Gyutaro, even after her head was cut off and her body was poisoned by Wisteria flower, she could still move.
Even when Tengen Uzui joined the fight after finding his wives, he still couldn't find a good way to deal with Daki.
But Tengen Uzui was quick-witted enough. He said they could simply separate the demon's body from her head. Then, as long as her body couldn't grow a second head, she would only be able to attack randomly.
So now Tengen Uzui was carrying Daki's head back toward Dan Lei, shouting,
"Dan Lei, how long are you going to keep fighting? We cut off the demon's head ages ago!"
Seeing this, Dan Lei felt the time was right. He once again used magic power to stimulate the Blood Vines, which had adapted to Gyutaro's poisonous blood. They instantly bound him.
Then Dan Lei lunged forward and easily cut off Gyutaro's head.
But even with his head severed, Gyutaro grinned viciously.
"Don't think cutting off my head means this is over. I've already told that great lord about the Blue Spider Lily. Just you wait. He'll find you."
After he finished speaking, Gyutaro's body and Daki's head slowly turned into Black Ash and vanished.
This time, Gyutaro didn't explode after dying. The Blood Vines had sucked nearly all the blood out of his body, leaving him unable to use his Blood Demon Art. All he could do was wait for death to claim him.
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