Boom!
A torrent of flames surged forth, and the searing blaze lit up the dim wooden cabin, illuminating the eyes that had died unclosed,
"Ah!!"
The demon Masahiro held in his hand was plunged into utter despair in an instant. The flames of Sun Breathing scorched every inch of his body,
He screamed until he vanished completely.
Only a little ash remained.
Tsugikuni Yoriichi, who had arrived later, had seen the same scene,
Although his expression was calm as still water, the sparks boiling around Tsugikuni Yoriichi showed that his heart was anything but calm.
He had even struck out without hesitation, killing the demon that still had a breath left in him.
"Sorry, Lord Sarutobi."
"I really couldn't hold back..."
Tsugikuni Yoriichi's usually clear voice had grown a little hoarse. Despite that, his good manners compelled him to apologize to Sarutobi Hiruzen,
He had promised to leave one demon alive for Sarutobi Hiruzen to use in various experiments.
But now he had broken that promise.
"It's fine..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned as he looked at the scene inside the cabin, his own murderous fury rising,
"Either way, this fellow wasn't going to survive"
"It was only a matter of time"
Sarutobi Hiruzen wasn't going to fall out with Tsugikuni Yoriichi over one demon.
Even an old man like Sarutobi Hiruzen, who had lived through brutal wars, found it hard to contain himself when confronted with a scene like this,
Because compared to humans slaughtering each other in war, a demon devouring people and storing them as food was far harder for a human to accept.
"Speaking of which"
"I really have to ask..."
"That Demon King..."
Tsugikuni Yoriichi had never felt such intense hatred, not even when demons had killed his wife and children.
"What does he think life is?!"
The sight before them wasn't just one or two people. It was a grisly mass of dried corpses, including countless men, women, and children!
Clearly, the Blood Mist Demon wasn't as noble as he'd claimed. He said he only ate people who got lost in the mountains, and hardly anyone wandered up there by mistake—not even once a month.
But just a quick glance at the remains before them revealed dozens of victims.
"There'll be a chance"
Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded,
"Let's go..."
"Burn this place"
"Then we'll move on. Sooner or later, we'll run into Kibutsuji Muzan"
"Wind Breathing: Tenth Form: Great Gale!"
The Demon Slayer Corps swordsman's veins bulged as he drew in oxygen at an inhuman rate with every breath. He was like firewood catching the air,
His heartbeat and blood flow surged like a roaring sea, sending out visible shock waves!
The strength in his body ignited in an instant!
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
Countless green blades of wind swept across the clearing, dense as a gale,
At such close range, the demon had nowhere to dodge. The sharp elemental force sliced through his tough skin, swarming like bees and tearing into every inch of his cells.
"Ah!!"
The demon across from him let out a pained scream and immediately lost the ability to move,
The Wind Breathing swordsman pressed his advantage, maintaining Total Concentration Breathing: Constant State as he beheaded the demon in an instant.
"Phew."
The Wind Breathing swordsman let out a breath of relief. The blood boiling through his body slowly settled, and the Demon Slayer Mark on his face faded a little.
After Tsugikuni Yoriichi joined the Demon Slayer Corps and taught them Breathing Styles, the techniques spread rapidly, and many gifted swordsmen awakened their Demon Slayer Marks in quick succession.
For a time, the Demon Slayer Corps' combat strength reached an almost unprecedented peak.
With a sufficient number of swordsmen bearing Demon Slayer Marks, even demons as powerful as the Upper Moons could be slain. The balance between the Demon Slayer Corps and the demons had completely shifted,
The demons in the Kyoto region, with the exception of a very few exceptionally powerful or elusive ones, had been swiftly eliminated by the Demon Slayer Corps in recent days.
"Now, then..."
The Wind Breathing swordsman looked at the demon's head. Beheading could kill most demons,
But a small number of powerful demons could partly overcome this weakness, so to be safe, Breathing Style swordsmen usually crushed the head as well before considering the demon slain.
As one of the finest swordsmen bearing a Demon Slayer Mark, the Wind Breathing swordsman had also needed considerable effort to defeat this demon. It was clearly among the stronger ones.
"Squish!"
The Wind Breathing swordsman stared in shock at the pale arm bursting out through his chest. Wave after wave of pain and weakness washed over him,
A single strike had left him unable to fight.
"Lord Muzan!"
"You've finally arrived!"
The demon, lying on the ground and pretending to be dead, immediately spoke, his expression respectful and excited,
"If I hadn't come, you worthless fool..."
"Our kind would've been wiped out by the Demon Slayer Corps by now"
Kibutsuji Muzan, wearing the guise of a human, appeared behind the Wind Breathing swordsman,
The swordsman had planted his Nichirin Sword in the ground to keep himself from falling, but with his lung pierced, he could barely breathe.
"Tell me, a swordsman like you..."
"How many more are there in the Demon Slayer Corps?"
Kibutsuji Muzan's pale face was dark with anger. He had been in a foul mood lately,
First, one of his capable subordinates had vanished for no reason. Then the Demon Slayer Corps had somehow learned a power called Breathing Styles,
It allowed their swordsmen to gain physical abilities comparable to demons,
Worse still, the Demon Slayer Corps had discovered a kind of metal capable of harming demons, called a Nichirin Sword.
It made demons much easier to kill.
At first, this change had alarmed Kibutsuji Muzan, and he immediately went into hiding, afraid to show himself.
But after observing the Demon Slayer Corps' Breathing Style swordsmen for a while, he'd found that although the strongest among them could kill most demons,
They still couldn't match the power of the Demon King.
What reassured Kibutsuji Muzan even more was that their power came at the cost of their lifespans.
Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen over the age of twenty-five had already died after awakening their Demon Slayer Marks, their life force consumed by the process.
This put Kibutsuji Muzan, with his nearly limitless time, at ease,
Seeing the Wind Breathing swordsman's contemptuous, hateful smile, Kibutsuji Muzan remained unmoved,
"You don't have to tell me..."
"I've already figured out..."
"The limits of your power..."
Kibutsuji Muzan laughed arrogantly,
"You can't surpass me, the Perfect Being!"
But the Wind Breathing swordsman didn't so much as flinch. He looked at the Demon King before him with utter disdain,
"An existence like you..."
"Will end up in hell someday"
"I'll be waiting for you..."
"Clang!"
The sound of a blade slicing through the air rang out, and the Wind Breathing swordsman's head was severed in an instant.
With a dark expression, Kibutsuji Muzan withdrew his right arm, which had transformed into a long whip.
"Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen..."
"I'll kill every last one of you..."
"In the cruelest way possible..."
"Then you won't be able to talk anymore."
Before you continue