Flower Breathing

"Rokuya, are you hungry?" Kanae covered her mouth, struggling to hold back her laughter. She knew just how terrifying his appetite was. On the night he spent recovering from his injuries, he had eaten enough food for ten people all by himself.

"Obviously. I ran all the way here from Mount Sagiri, and my dry rations ran out ages ago." Rokuya rolled his eyes irritably. "If I hadn't been in a hurry, I'd have caught a wild boar along the way and roasted it."

"But there are only demons here." Kanae blinked playfully. "You can't eat demons."

"Can't eat them? Then I'll work them off as my after-dinner exercise!" Rokuya sneered, his gaze instantly sharpening. His ears twitched slightly as his keen hearing caught an unusual sound from deep in the woods to his right.

"Here they come," Rokuya said in a low voice, reaching back to grip the hilt of his heavy katana.

"Heeheehee... What a delicious smell..."

"That woman's blood smells so good!"

Accompanied by spine-chilling cackles, three dark figures lunged down from the treetops as fast as lightning, heading straight for Kanae behind Rokuya!

In the faint moonlight, Kanae saw the attackers' true forms-three hideously distorted demons. Their skin was a sickly bluish gray, their mouths bristled with fangs, and saliva dripped from the corners of their mouths, sizzling corrosively against the ground.

"Watch out!" Kanae cried, about to draw her sword and use Flower Breathing.

"I told you, don't steal my kills!"

His roar exploded through the woods like thunder.

Rokuya vanished from where he stood, moving so fast that he left an afterimage on Kanae's retinas.

"Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash!"

With a deafening crackle, golden lightning erupted in the darkness.

Rather than going straight for their heads, Rokuya unleashed a terrifying burst of power and slammed into the three demons' formation like a cannonball. His system-enhanced leg muscles released astonishing strength as he swung his right leg up with a piercing sonic boom.

Bang! Bang!

Two heavy crashes rang out in succession as Rokuya's steel-whip-like kick struck two of the airborne demons hard. The immense impact snapped their ribs and sent them flying backward like torn sacks, screaming as they smashed through more than a dozen trees and embedded themselves deep in a distant rock face, temporarily unable to move.

The battlefield was split apart in an instant!

Now, only the last demon remained in Rokuya's field of vision, utterly bewildered.

"Ding! System assessment: single target! Core passive triggered: damage forcibly increased by 50%! Critical hit rate greatly increased!"

The cold mechanical voice rang out in Rokuya's mind, but at that moment, it sounded sweeter than any music.

Rokuya slowly raised his head. A glimmer of silver-blue magic light flashed in the depths of his normally black eyes. Looking at the demon trembling before him, he curled his lips into a cruel grin.

"Have you decided how you want to die?"

"You... What kind of monster are you?!" The demon finally reacted, shrieking in terror as it turned to flee.

"You talk too much. Let's see if you can survive one strike first!"

Rokuya gripped the hilt of his heavy katana with both hands and drew a deep breath. A flood of oxygen rushed into his lungs, blood surged through his veins as though boiling, and his body temperature soared instantly.

"Thunder Breathing: Modified Extreme Blade Flash!"

With Rokuya's low roar, golden thunder power and that mysterious silver-blue Magic Power fused perfectly within his body. Savage currents of interwoven gold and blue instantly coiled around the pitch-black blade.

Boom!

The ground beneath Rokuya's feet collapsed in an instant, leaving a deep crater two meters across. Like a thunder beast tearing through space, he crossed more than ten meters in a flash and appeared behind the fleeing demon.

There were no fancy movements, only absolute speed and pure violence!

Shhk-

The broad, heavy katana sliced effortlessly through the demon's tough neck as though cutting tofu. Not only that, but with the system's single-target critical hit triggered, the savage Magic Power poured directly into the demon's body through the blade.

The instant its neck was severed, the demon's body burst into a cloud of blood mist as though a bomb had detonated inside it. Without even a chance to regenerate, it turned to ash in midair.

Then he turned around, dragging his still-crackling katana as he walked step by step toward the two demons he had kicked away, who had only just struggled out of the rock face.

"A monster... This guy's a monster!" The two demons were scared out of their wits. They had eaten so many swordsmen on Mount Fujikasane, but had never seen a madman turn their companion into blood mist with a physical attack!

"Kanae." Rokuya abruptly stopped and called out without looking back.

"Here!" Kanae immediately straightened her back.

"Looks like these two have already lost their fighting spirit. That doesn't fit my aesthetics for a one-on-one duel." Rokuya rested the heavy katana on his shoulder and pointed at the two trembling demons. "I'll give you a chance to show what you've learned over these past few months."

Kanae froze for a moment, then her gaze grew serious. She knew Rokuya was deliberately giving her practice in real combat.

"I'll do my best!"

Kanae drew a deep breath and rested her fair hand on the pink hilt. In that moment, her bearing changed. Her gentle warmth remained, but now it carried a trace of chilling killing intent.

"Flower Breathing, Second Form: Shadow Plum!"

The pink blade left its sheath, tracing a dazzling arc through the night sky.

Kanae moved like a butterfly dancing among flowers, light and graceful. As she swung her sword, countless plum blossoms formed from sword energy seemed to bloom in the air. Beautiful and deadly, these blossoms surrounded the two demons from every direction with a strange rhythm.

So fast! What beautiful swordsmanship! Rokuya watched from the side, nodding inwardly. Kanae's talent for swordsmanship was truly astonishing. There was no unnecessary hesitation in her movements, and every slash cut precisely toward her enemies' vital points.

"Aaaargh!"

Amid the breathtaking plum-blossom sword shadows, the two demons screamed in agony. Their hands and feet were severed in an instant, followed by two pink flashes of the blade crossing like scissors.

Thud, thud.

Two heads rolled to the ground, and the demons' bodies began to dissipate in the air.

Kanae sheathed her sword, panting slightly, a fine sheen of sweat beading on her forehead. She turned toward Rokuya with a somewhat apprehensive look, like a student waiting for her teacher's praise.