One of You Must Die

Byōga was panicking. He had only brought someone to meet Muzan, and he had not particularly cared whether Muzan killed Ye Chen or Ye Chen joined the Twelve Kizuki. He was Lower Rank Three, so even if Ye Chen joined, it would not affect him. Kamunue, that Lower Rank Six, was the one who should have been worried.

But in the blink of an eye, Kamunue had died, and his death had been utterly pointless. Lord Muzan had not cared about his life at all. Still, fine-Byōga had not panicked yet. Next, those two Upper Ranks and Lord Muzan would beat this guy senseless. But who could have known that Ye Chen would pull the same trick again and take on his appearance? It nearly scared him to death.

"Do you really think I can't see through these little tricks?" Muzan looked toward one of the two Byōgas. He certainly would not repeat his earlier mistake; that would only make him a laughingstock. He promptly signaled with his eyes.

"Blood Demon Art: Lotus Leaf Ice."

Understanding Muzan's glance, Upper Rank Two, Doma, smiled faintly. He swept his fan, stirring a light breeze, and several icy lotus blossoms suddenly formed in the air. The blossoms rapidly unfurled, releasing a blast of intense cold toward that Byōga.

"Oh dear, you saw through me." That Byōga smiled faintly, then drew the Samurai Long Sword and assumed a defensive stance. As the blast of cold reached him, the long sword in his hands slashed out.

Netherworld Breathing, Third Form: Mirror-Flower Sword Stance!

A powerful wave of sword energy dispersed the cold outright. At the same time, the icy lotus blossoms before Doma suddenly shattered, leaving only wisps of freezing mist.

This was another Breathing Style technique adapted from a Long Sword Hunting Art in Monster Hunter. Mirror-Flower Sword Stance involved assuming a defensive stance in advance, then swiftly counterattacking when an attack arrived.

At the same time, Ye Chen grinned. His feet moved again, and he slashed at Byōga, who had only just breathed a sigh of relief.

"Blood Demon Art: Blood Shadow Transformation!!"

Byōga's expression changed drastically. He hurriedly unleashed a Blood Demon Art, and his figure blurred. Ye Chen's slash struck only an afterimage.

"No resistance. Did he escape instantly? And this Blood Demon Art probably lets him turn invisible."

Ye Chen narrowed his eyes. He had not expected to miss this time. Still, even if Byōga was a Lower Rank, he was a member of the Twelve Kizuki who served directly under Muzan. Yet Ye Chen's hands did not slow in the slightest. He drew a deep breath, then exhaled forcefully again. Having roughly pinpointed a direction, he moved, his long sword becoming wreathed in blue-white flames as he swept it viciously that way.

Netherworld Breathing, Fourth Form: Demon Blade Rakshasa!!

Netherworld Breathing, First Form: Cherry Blossom Spirit Blade Slash!!

Like the first three forms, the Fourth Form incorporated a Monster Hunter Long Sword Hunting Art into a Breathing Style. Demon Blade Rakshasa consumed his stamina to strengthen his attacks while rapidly restoring stamina whenever he struck his opponent.

Ye Chen spun swiftly and fiercely ahead, sending his sword energy rampaging in every direction. Combining the two techniques further expanded the already wide-ranging Cherry Blossom Spirit Blade Slash, engulfing an area more than ten meters around him in sword energy.

"Aah!!!"

With a scream, Byōga's figure reappeared, but his body had already been sliced into several pieces. A trace of disbelief lingered in his eyes. He had never expected Ye Chen to hit him with an area attack based on nothing more than his approximate direction.

"Hm? Missed the neck? No problem. One more slash."

Ye Chen saw that although Byōga's body had been cut into several pieces, everything above his collarbones remained intact. He quickly followed up with another slash.

[Ding! Killed one High-Level Demon. Obtained exchange points ×431.]

"Blood Demon Art: Creeping Lotus!"

Ye Chen had not relaxed for even a moment. He had only just collected a little blood when Doma unleashed another Blood Demon Art from a distance. With another sweep of his fan, several icy vines bearing lotus blossoms appeared out of thin air and attacked Ye Chen.

Netherworld Breathing, Fifth Form: Ground-Rushing Slash!!

Ye Chen turned, scraping the long sword in his hands along the ground before swinging it forward. A massive shock wave shot straight toward Doma, shattering every icy vine without losing momentum and continuing toward him.

This was a Breathing Style technique Ye Chen had adapted from a Great Sword Hunting Art in Monster Hunter. It was also the most powerful ranged attack he could currently unleash. So far, he had only developed the First through Fifth Forms of Netherworld Breathing.

He had originally adapted Long Sword Hunting Arts, but the Long Sword only had four such techniques, and four clearly were not quite enough. He had therefore begun adapting Great Sword Hunting Arts as well. However, incorporating Hunting Arts from two Monster Hunter weapons into a single Breathing Style was far from easy. It had taken him a long time to succeed.

"Blood Demon Art: Crystal Maiden."

The relaxed smile on Doma's face was gone, replaced by a smile whose meaning was impossible to read. As his words fell, an ice doll that looked exactly like him appeared before him. The ice doll swept its fan, sending attack after attack forward.

Boom!!!

An explosion erupted, scattering shattered ice crystals and dust. Doma's expression was somewhat sour. Although he had neutralized Ye Chen's attack, his ice doll had also been smashed apart. Having to use two Blood Demon Arts to cancel out a single enemy attack clearly did not sit well with him.

"Hey!!" Ye Chen leaped into the air. Several balls had appeared in his hands at some point, and he threw them around him.

Bang!

Clouds of smoke suddenly burst out everywhere, engulfing Muzan Kibutsuji and the others.

Naturally, these were Smoke Bombs Ye Chen had purchased from the Monster Hunter Shop. Their purpose needed no explanation.

"Nothing but petty tricks, all day long."

Upper Rank One spoke quietly. At the same time, he drew his Nichirin Blade once more, releasing a wave of sword energy that dispersed the clouds of smoke.

Once the smoke cleared, Muzan Kibutsuji and the others felt as though their intelligence had been insulted. The scene before them was all too familiar...

"Lord Muzan!! He... he's impersonating me!"

When Lower Rank Four, Koyuki, saw an exact copy of herself standing beside her after the smoke cleared, her face turned pale with terror.

The other Koyuki did not dare speak. She glanced at this Koyuki, then leaped. A hole appeared in the ground, and she jumped into it.

Ye Chen: "... (For fuck's sake.)"

Seeing how uncooperative this Koyuki was, Ye Chen instantly grew annoyed. Do you think I'm that easy to push around? He immediately took out a Sonic Bomb and tossed it into the hole.

"Aah!!!" The underground space shook violently. Once again, the Sonic Bomb blasted Koyuki out, and once again, she experienced ringing in her ears. She fell to the ground and writhed.

Ye Chen did not slow down in the slightest. He grabbed his long sword and sprinted over, intending to claim the last Lower Rank's head. If he killed this Lower Rank too, he would complete his mission to kill three High-Level Demons. Two thousand exchange points! What a sweet reward!

Clang!

Just as Ye Chen's long sword descended, Upper Rank One arrived, bringing his Nichirin Blade out to clash with Ye Chen's weapon. He had no choice. Ye Chen had already killed two of the three Lower Ranks present. How could they let him kill the last one as well? That would utterly disgrace the Twelve Kizuki.

Koyuki struggled nearby for a while, then hurriedly climbed to her feet. Seeing that Ye Chen had been intercepted, she breathed a sigh of relief and leaped underground again. With his attack blocked, Ye Chen could not quickly take out a Sonic Bomb.

Seeing Koyuki escape, Ye Chen fell silent for a while. By now, she had probably fled far underground, so taking out a Sonic Bomb would be damn useless. He looked at Kokushibo before him, then at Muzan and Doma behind him, and said, "She got away. One of you must die."