As his voice fell, Tanjiro blocked that lethal drop of blood. The slight numbness in his hands was enough to prove how terrifying that blood was.
He could not help but think.
How terrifying. If I hadn't been prepared just now, that drop of blood might have killed me already.
When facing a demon with no information whatsoever, Lin Fan knew his limits.
The rest was up to you, Tanjiro!
Though he said that, Lin Fan still used Demon Power to strengthen Tanjiro.
Meanwhile.
When the female demon saw that her sneak attack had failed, her expression immediately turned ugly.
Damn it, my sneak attack actually failed!
Cursing under her breath, she raised her left hand and tore a gruesome wound across her right arm before violently flinging it forward.
"Blood Demon Art—Ruinous Blood Rain!"
All of the blood rushed toward Tanjiro at incredible speed.
Faced with that dense barrage of blood.
Tanjiro hurriedly dodged, holding his sword in one hand to block the blood rain. Even so.
Some blood still broke through his defenses.
It landed on Tanjiro's body, punching one bloody hole after another into him.
Fortunately, while it was fast, the blood itself was not hard enough. Even when it struck him, it was not fatal—but the pain was very real.
Even Tanjiro sucked in a sharp breath from the pain.
A Desperate Struggle
Seeing this, Lin Fan immediately released Demon Power.
He healed Tanjiro's wounds.
As Demon Power flowed into his body, the bloody holes in Tanjiro's body began closing at a visible rate. Feeling this.
While focusing seriously on his enemy, Tanjiro did not forget to thank him. "Thank you for healing my injuries, Akazamaru!"
Lin Fan did not deny anything and chose to continue observing.
As for the female demon, seeing Tanjiro struck by her Blood Demon Art, a sickly smile finally spread across her lips.
"It must hurt to be hit by my blood. But it's all right. You won't feel any pain soon, because all your blood will have drained away!"
As she spoke, she swung her arm again, scattering a large amount of blood and activating her Blood Demon Art. It shot toward Tanjiro through the air like bullets.
Perhaps because he had suffered once already.
This time, Tanjiro did not hesitate to immediately unleash a sword technique. "Water Breathing—Sixth Form—Twisting Whirlpool!"
Water blossomed from the blade, rotating around him and gathering into a water vortex that blocked all the incoming blood. As the water spun.
The blood completely lost what little power it had left.
Tanjiro stopped moving and began rapidly shifting his position with his sword in one hand.
The female demon's expression immediately froze when she saw this.
Was this guy a monster?
He had been hit by my Blood Demon Art, and his body had already been punched full of bloody holes. How could he still be so lively, using such an exaggerated technique without the slightest hindrance?!
So who was the demon here, him or me?
But with injuries like that, he probably would not be able to hold on much longer as his blood rapidly drained away.
Thinking this, the female demon crossed her arms before her chest, curled her hands into claws, and dug her fingertips into her forearms before violently tearing outward.
Locking onto Tanjiro's figure, she unleashed a cross-shaped slash made of blood.
Tanjiro immediately dodged, narrowly brushing past the slash.
During this brief exchange, Tanjiro had already discovered certain patterns, such as the nature of the female demon's Blood Demon Art.
Once the blood left her body, it could accelerate and strike once, but its direction became fixed and could no longer be changed. During that time, the blood was completely beyond her control.
Moreover, the amount of blood the female demon could fire was extremely limited. The closer the distance, the denser the blood became, and the easier it was to dodge.
What he needed to do now was close the distance between them!
With that thought.
Tanjiro pushed off with his feet and charged straight forward with his sword in one hand.
Seeing this, the female demon wildly swung her arms to release blood while angrily shouting.
"Don't come closer! Get away from me!"
But Tanjiro's gaze remained firm. As he twisted and moved, several more bloody holes appeared on his body, though Lin Fan quickly healed them all.
As the distance closed.
The blood could no longer spread out, and its attack range shrank.
Tanjiro found it easier and easier to dodge, while the female demon's expression gradually turned fearful as Tanjiro drew closer.
"Don't come any closer! I told you not to come any closer!"
As she spoke.
She swung both arms, unleashing two blood slashes.
And Tanjiro had already arrived before her.
He leaped up to avoid one horizontal slash. In the instant he hung in the air, the female demon activated her Blood Demon Art again and launched the second slash vertically.
"Hehe, die!"
There was no way to Borrowed Power in midair. In the female demon's eyes, there was no possible way to avoid this move.
Yet Tanjiro, suspended in the air, gritted his teeth and suddenly twisted his body, narrowly passing the slash.
Holding his sword in one hand, he unleashed a sword technique.
"Water Breathing—Seventh Form—Ripple Thrust!"
The hand gripping the sword gathered strength, with no unnecessary flourish.
There was only a single thrust, piercing straight through the female demon's throat like a blade entering water, causing neither ripple nor resistance.
Just as Tanjiro prepared to slash horizontally and sever her head.
The female demon also raised both hands with all her strength, seemingly preparing to activate her Blood Demon Art again.
At this point.
Tanjiro had no way to retreat. He poured all his strength into turning the blade sideways.
The female demon raised both arms. It was already too late for her to use her Blood Demon Art again, yet she still showed no intention of stopping.
As though making a desperate struggle.
But Lin Fan sensed that something was wrong. The moment he saw the female demon's throat twitch.
He immediately warned him.
"Tanjiro, watch out for the blood in her neck!"
The moment his words fell.
The female demon suddenly sneered.
"Die, demon slayer!"
A large mouthful of blood suddenly gathered in her mouth. She condensed it, activated her ability, and fired it out of her mouth at accelerated speed.
At this distance, it was almost impossible to dodge.
Fortunately, Lin Fan had warned him, and Tanjiro had also expected it. The instant the blood left her mouth, he immediately tilted his head aside.
The mass of blood grazed past his cheek.
At the same time, his blade severed the female demon's neck.
Her head flew through the air.
Tanjiro swung his sword in midair, tracing a semicircle before crashing to the ground.
The female demon's head fell to the ground, terror impossible to hide in her eyes. "How could this be... This is impossible..."
She wailed and screamed before death as both her body and head gradually turned to ash.
But then a cat meowed beside Tanjiro. When he turned around, he saw a calico cat that had appeared behind him at some unknown time.
It stared at Tanjiro with wide eyes. A talisman was stuck beneath its neck, and one glance was enough to tell that it was Yushiro's work.
He crouched down and saw that the cat was carrying a small backpack.
Reaching inside, he found a note and a folded knife. He unfolded the note.
It read.
This cat will deliver blood to me from now on. As long as you unfold that knife and stick it into a demon's body, it will automatically absorb and store blood.
After collecting the blood, simply put it back into the backpack.
Seeing the writing.
Tanjiro unfolded the knife. It looked more like a test-tube knife. Looking at the corpses of the three demons around him, only part of the female demon's body remained.
With no time to think further, he flung the blade into her.
The blade pierced her body, and due to the pressure, blood rapidly flowed into the test tube within the blade.
And at that moment.
Lin Fan provided Nourishment once again.
Tanjiro once again felt an all-around improvement. Even the amount of time he could maintain his Breathing Style was rapidly increasing.
This improvement could be said to far surpass any previous one.
Lin Fan felt that this was normal. After all, the female demon was indeed powerful and extremely cunning, always scheming.
Without him.
Tanjiro might really have died at that woman's hands. Even if he had won in the end, he would have been seriously injured.
Fortunately, they had won in the end, and Tanjiro had once again received Nourishment that increased his strength. If he encountered a female demon of this level again.
He would not fight as miserably as he had this time.
On the other hand.
Lin Fan felt that this was just right. As long as the Twelve Kizuki did not show up.
Any demon that came would be killed.
As long as they kept a low profile, they would only grow stronger with every battle!
When the time came, killing Muzan would be easy.
Put another way, crippling Muzan and locking him up, then cutting him a few times whenever he had nothing to do to farm Emotion Points, did not sound bad either...
Muzan Aiding the Enemy
Perhaps it was a coincidence.
A system prompt suddenly rang out in Lin Fan's mind. [Ding! Detected negative emotions from Demon King Muzan Kibutsuji. Reward: 1000 Emotion Points!]
Hearing the prompt.
Lin Fan was somewhat surprised. He knew Muzan would most likely watch this battle, but he had not expected that this alone would scare Muzan so badly.
Still, it was fine.
Muzan occasionally helped out on their side. Those demons would probably never imagine that their Demon King was the greatest one aiding the enemy!
Before you continue