Behind the horde of demons, inside the "farm" enclosed by thick steel bars, more than a hundred villagers wearing rusty iron collars huddled together. Their clothes barely covered them, their bodies were filthy, and many had bloodletting wounds on their arms and thighs deep enough to expose bone.
"It's over... it's all over..." The gray-haired village chief collapsed into the muddy water, desperately tearing at his hair. "That lord was taken out in a single move... now there's only a teenage boy left..."
"Waaah... Mommy, are we going to die?" A skeletal little girl hid in her mother's arms, trembling with fear.
"God... why won't you open your eyes and look at us..." The young mother covered her daughter's eyes tightly, tears slipping down in silence.
"That silver-haired boy is doomed! Fifty demons... no matter how strong he is, they'll wear him down and bite him to death! Why did he stay here to die?"
The villagers' despairing murmurs drifted to Rokuya's ears on the breeze.
Rokuya did not look back. He simply sensed the system panel flickering across the retina of his right eye.
[Current Gratitude Points: 4,700] [System Shop: Shadow Battle Axe-requires 5,000 Gratitude Points to unlock]
"Still three hundred short..." A cold smile curved Rokuya's lips.
He knew his current condition was far from perfect. Without Demon Form's ultimate ability, [Invincible Might], relying solely on his normal Magic Power and Thunder Breathing, he could certainly kite fifty demons and kill them on an open plain. But this was a narrow limestone cavern, with no escape behind him. He had to meet them head-on.
Moreover, his passive [Single-Target Critical Strike Rule] was extremely difficult to trigger while surrounded by demons, where any swing might strike two or three targets at once.
"But... so what?"
Rokuya drew a deep breath. His lungs gave a deep, powerful rumble like bellows as vast amounts of oxygen were forced into his blood, and his body temperature soared.
"Thunder Breathing, First Form..."
"He's coming! Stop him!" Several extremely fast quadrupedal demons scrambled on all fours, launching themselves at Rokuya like cannonballs from both sides of the rock walls. Their sharp claws tore through the air with piercing cracks.
"-Thunderclap and Flash!"
Boom!
A deafening thunderclap exploded inside the cavern! The solid rock beneath Rokuya's feet instantly shattered into a deep crater two meters across, spiderweb cracks spreading wildly outward. His body became a streak of silver-blue lightning. Rather than retreating to defend himself, he charged straight into the densest part of the demon horde with savage force!
"What?!" The demons lunging through the air saw only a blur before losing sight of their target.
The next second, the teeth-grating screech of metal cutting and the crack of shattering bones rang out together.
"Die!" Rokuya's icy voice exploded beside a burly giant demon's ear. The three-hundred-jin Shura Greatblade swept diagonally upward with overwhelming force!
"Too slow! That clumsy piece of scrap-" The giant demon arrogantly raised its scale-covered arms to block.
Squelch-!
There was not the slightest pause. Like a hot knife through warm butter, the Shura Greatblade instantly severed the giant demon's arms, then continued unchecked into its jaw and out through the crown of its head! Silver-blue lightning erupted from the dark-blue blade, tearing the demon's body clean in two!
"Next." Rokuya coldly spat out the word, shifting his feet like a phantom and narrowly evading the claws of three demons behind him.
"Kill him! He's only one man! Wear him down!" Their companion's death roused the demons' savagery, and they surged forward like a raging tide.
The battle instantly reached a brutal fever pitch.
Rokuya charged in and out of the horde again and again. The three-hundred-jin Shura Greatblade seemed weightless in his hands as he swung it in broad, sweeping arcs. Every slash sent severed limbs and foul black blood flying. But there were simply too many demons, and their regenerative abilities were astonishing. Unless their necks were severed instantly, their severed limbs soon reattached under the power of their Blood Demon Arts, fresh flesh writhing at the wounds.
Riiip-
A dwarf demon lurking in the shadows suddenly burrowed up from underground, its sharp nails tearing a ten-centimeter gash in Rokuya's calf.
"Get away!" Rokuya frowned slightly and slammed Shura's hilt downward, smashing the dwarf demon's head like a watermelon.
But that was only the beginning. His back, shoulders, thighs... as his stamina rapidly drained and the encirclement grew unbearably dense, wounds began accumulating across Rokuya's body. His black Demon Slayer Corps uniform was already soaked with blood, impossible to tell whether it belonged to the demons or himself.
"Hahaha! He's bleeding! He's slowing down!"
"This brat's flesh is really tough, but he can't hold on much longer!"
"Attack together! Bite through his throat!"
Hanging on the wall, Tanaka watched Rokuya struggle. Rather than showing the slightest concern, a glint of vicious satisfaction flashed through his eyes, and he screamed wildly, "Serves you right! That's what you get for being so arrogant! You ignorant brat, this is what happens when you don't listen to your seniors! If you'd taken me and run earlier, how could you have ended up like this? Die! You're dead for sure..."
"Shut up, you worthless piece of trash. You're worse than a dog." Rokuya shot Tanaka a cold glance and swung Shura hard, driving back three approaching demons.
His breathing began to quicken, his chest heaving violently. Powerful as his magical aura was, it still had a limit.
"My condition really is slipping... but who said I was going to let you slowly wear me down?" A fanatical gleam flashed in Rokuya's eyes.
He abruptly drew a deep breath, and the silver-blue magic within his body began churning wildly.
"Try taking this first-Returning Blade!"
Holding his blade in one hand, Rokuya swept his left hand forward. A spinning projectile condensed from exceptionally pure silver-blue magical energy shot out with a piercing whistle.
"What kind of Blood Demon Art is that?! How can a human use something like that?!" The demons paled in shock.
Hiss, hiss, hiss, hiss-!
The silver-blue flying blade traced a strange zigzag through the air, ricocheting through four demons in succession and leaving broad, charred wounds. The demons it struck instantly felt as heavy as though their bodies had been filled with lead, their movements becoming extremely sluggish (slow effect).
After completing its ricochets, the flying blade abruptly wheeled around in midair and flew precisely back into Rokuya's body.
Hum-
A warm, vibrant force instantly flowed through his entire body. The wounds on Rokuya's calf and shoulders, deep enough to expose bone, actually stopped bleeding at a rate visible to the naked eye. His muscle fibers began slowly knitting together, and his stamina, depleted by the intense exertion, was greatly replenished!
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