Ice Breathing! Seventh Form!

As soon as he finished speaking, Rui flicked his hand, sending three sharp spider threads toward Lin Guang.

Lin Guang swung his blade, cutting straight through all three threads.

Immediately afterward, Rui raised his hand again, sending two even tougher spider threads flying toward Lin Guang.

Lin Guang drew a breath, and a layer of white frost spread over his blade.

"Ice Breathing! First Form! Ice Blade Slash!"

His blade flashed, severing Rui's spider threads in a single stroke, wisps of cold still rising from its edge.

A trace of surprise appeared in Rui's eyes when he saw Lin Guang easily fend off his attack. "Looks like you do have some skill. But let me make this clear: I won't kill you in one stroke. I'll tear you to shreds first, then rip you apart."

"Of course, if you take back what you said, I can still kill you in one stroke."

Lin Guang scoffed. "Pfft. You haven't even scratched me. How do you have the nerve to say that?"

Rui tugged at the spiderweb in his hands and said, "I see. You... think this is as tough as my threads get?"

With that, Rui flicked his hand, lashing four spider threads at Lin Guang.

These threads were faster, sharper, and tougher than before. This time, Lin Guang chose to dodge rather than meet them head-on.

"Shave!"

In an instant, Lin Guang vanished from where he stood and reappeared near Rui a moment later.

"Ice Breathing! Second Form! Flying Star Ice Blade!"

Clang!

Lin Guang's blade struck three threads. Immediately afterward, the threads behind him swept toward him.

Seeing that his strike had failed to land, Lin Guang swiftly retreated.

"Shave!"

Lin Guang vanished again, and every one of Rui's threads struck empty air without so much as grazing him.

The young female demon nearby covered her mouth in shock at Lin Guang's speed.

"He's so fast! If I were facing this man, I'd probably already be dead!"

Rui grew irritated as Lin Guang kept dodging his attacks and even found opportunities to counterattack.

After using Shave to evade Rui's attack, Lin Guang said, "As expected of the Twelve Kizuki, you're not easy to kill. But I promised Rose I'd help her escape you, and I intend to keep that promise."

"Oh! I forgot to mention, Rose is the mother you've bound to yourself with fear in place of a bond. She works for me now."

Hearing this, Rui scoffed. "No wonder I couldn't sense Mother's death. She didn't die at all. She betrayed our family."

"But she only has her power because of my blood. I can control whether she lives or dies."

As he spoke, Rui reached out and clenched his hand at the air, but nothing happened.

Rui looked at Lin Guang in confusion. "I can't sense my blood anymore. Did you make her leave this place?"

Lin Guang looked at Rui with a faint, teasing smile. "She's somewhere I can summon her from whenever I want, waiting for me to kill you."

At Lin Guang's words, the young female demon behind Rui began to entertain an idea, but she quickly pushed it out of her mind.

Rui looked at the young female demon behind him. "Do you want to leave me too?"

The girl hastily explained, "Of course not! Your big sister would never leave you, Rui! I'll fulfill my duties as your sister!"

"Then go kill everyone wandering around the mountain. If you do that, I'll forgive you," Rui said coldly.

"I... I understand. I'll go kill them right now!"

With that, the young female demon fled in a panic.

After she left, Rui stared coldly at Lin Guang. "I'll kill you, then find that woman and make her understand the price of betraying our family."

Holding his Nichirin Blade, Lin Guang said, "Then give it a try."

The moment he finished speaking, Lin Guang charged toward Rui.

"Shave!"

The distance between Lin Guang and Rui shrank in an instant. In the blink of an eye, he was right in front of Rui.

Blood seeped from Rui's hands, staining all his spider threads red in an instant.

"Blood Demon Art! Thread Prison!"

Rui seemed to have anticipated Lin Guang's frontal charge. A cage woven from blood-red threads surrounded him.

A moment later, the entire cage closed in on Lin Guang.

"Ice Breathing! Third Form! Raging Blade Ice Shatter!"

In an instant, frost coated the entire cage of blood-red threads. Then white blade flashes flickered, and the whole cage shattered into ice, scattering crystals across the air.

Every ice crystal suspended in the air reflected Rui's image.

Rui's hands had already woven another web of blood-red threads, which he hurled at Lin Guang.

"Blood Demon Art! Killing Eye Cage!"

Blood-red threads filled every direction, sealing off all Lin Guang's escape routes like an enormous net.

Hiss...

The sound of breathing rang out. Frost covered Lin Guang's hands and Nichirin Blade, and even his hair glittered with tiny ice crystals.

"Ice Breathing! Fifth Form!..."

The red threads enveloped Lin Guang, then violently twisted shut.

With a bang, Lin Guang turned into smoke and vanished.

At this bizarre sight, Rui warily scanned his surroundings.

A moment later, Lin Guang appeared behind him and slashed hard across his back.

"Aah!"

Rui screamed in pain and flung three blood-red threads behind him with a backhand sweep.

But Lin Guang was already gone. A moment later, he appeared behind Rui again and landed another slash.

Rui lashed blood-red threads in every direction like a madman, while Lin Guang moved like a phantom, leaving more than a dozen wounds on his body. Only after the final stroke severed Rui's head did Lin Guang come into view.

"Ice Breathing! Fifth Form! Illusory Killing Ice Mirror!"

Reflections in ice crystals blurred reality and illusion; the killing strokes of the ice mirrors seemed both phantom and real.

Rui's headless body knelt on the ground, blood pouring from its wounds. Suddenly, it slowly rose to its feet. At some point, the blood covering it had frozen into icy fragments. The frozen blood scattered across the ground, and Rui's wounds healed as well.

"You think you've beaten me? You think you cut off my head? Before your blade could sever my neck, I cut it myself with my own threads!"

"Enough! I haven't been this furious in a long time! Now I can tear you apart without holding back!"

Lin Guang smiled faintly. "I knew that move wouldn't kill you. But this one should."

"I've had enough!"

After reattaching his head, Rui roared, brought his hands together, and traced a circle in front of his chest.

Countless blood-red threads spun and intertwined around him, finally forming a ring before his chest.

"Blood Demon Art! Thread Rotation!"

Using his toughest threads, Rui wove a gigantic, swirling cocoon and launched it at Lin Guang.

Lin Guang gripped his sheathed Nichirin Blade with his right hand. Waves of icy air spread outward, coating the ground around him in frost. Frost even crept over his entire face.

The sound of a sharp inhalation rang out.

Hiss...

"Total Concentration! Ice Breathing! Seventh Form! Snow Tiger Sky-Rending Roar!!!"

In an instant, Lin Guang drew his Nichirin Blade. A tiger's roar rang out, and a fierce, snow-white tiger manifested along with the blade.

With a thunderous tiger's roar, the gigantic, swirling cocoon woven from blood-red threads shattered in an instant.