Doma's words were like a poisoned dagger, plunging deep into the heart of everyone present.
Especially Inosuke.
His charging figure abruptly faltered. It was as though a basin of boiling oil had been poured over his raging fury, instantly making it burn even fiercer.
"I'll kill you!"
Inosuke's roar turned hoarse, thick with bloodlust.
Watching his reaction, Doma narrowed his eyes in delight.
What he most enjoyed watching was this very progression from hope to despair, from fury to collapse.
With a casual wave of his hand, the ice covering the floor immediately rose, forming two ice puppets identical to him that blocked Inosuke's path with precision.
"Beast Breathing, Fifth Fang: Crazy Cutting!"
Inosuke's twin blades became a frenzied tornado, instantly slicing the two ice puppets to pieces.
But more ice puppets surged in from every direction, keeping him firmly entangled and preventing him from getting even a fraction closer to Doma's true body.
"It's useless, useless."
Doma wagged his finger as though scolding a disobedient child.
"Hatred is something only the strong deserve to possess. The hatred of the weak is nothing but a laughable farce."
His words were not directed solely at Inosuke. They seemed even more like a provocation aimed at Shinobu Kocho and Kanao.
Shinobu Kocho's body trembled slightly, not from cold, but from anger.
She knew Doma was deliberately toying with them.
He enjoyed this game of cat and mouse.
Just then, Kanao, who had remained silent all this time, took a step forward.
She placed herself in front of Shinobu Kocho.
She slowly raised her head. Flames of resolve now burned in her once-calm eyes.
"Sister."
Kanao called softly.
Her voice was quiet, yet carried an unprecedented firmness.
"For Kanae, for you, and for Inosuke... we'll take revenge together."
With that, she drew a