Master Blacksmith in Demon Slayer

Doma turned around and saw Kochou Kanae bursting out of the mansion roof, wreathed in freezing mist, followed by a frost-formed puppet.

"Oh? Your mind's in turmoil. Looks like this swordsmith matters quite a bit to you. I bet right..."

Before he could finish, he sensed something wrong and whipped his head around to see the blood-soaked man holding a hammer in his hand, somehow.

Breath of the Sun—Form One: Gale Sun!!

"Who the hell are you calling useless?!"

Chapter 20: Hammer String!

Does it hurt?

How could it not hurt?

After all, he'd been cut by a demon!

But compared to the physical pain, the torment in his heart was far more unbearable!

A body tempered through countless strikes wouldn't fall from mere suffering like this.

So the moment Doma turned, the Heavenly Crafting Hammer was already in his hand.

He knew the gap in rank!

He understood Upper Moon Two's strength better than anyone.

But even so, what of it?

Waiting to die or helplessly hoping for rescue—neither was something Tetsu no Sosuke would accept or do!

So... screw Doma, screw the Twelve Demon Moons!

You cut me down like this, and in the original story, you killed the woman I love now. No matter who you are, even if you were a block of iron, I'd hammer you to death!!!!

Breath of the Sun—Form One: Gale Sun!

"Who the hell are you calling useless!!?"

Blood burned like fire, heart pounded like a drum, he erupted from nowhere!

Doma spun around to see a sky full of hammer shadows!!!

"What the hell is this?"

He'd seen countless sword techniques, but what was this? A hammer technique?

In his shock, a hammer came down. His iron fan met it with a clang.

"Nothing special!"

Doma steadied himself. In his mind, neither Shinobu Kocho nor Tetsu no Sosuke was worth his notice.

Only that Pillar truly mattered.

Her frail-looking body unleashed strength and speed far beyond his imagination.

And his Blood Demon Art, merged with freezing mist, had been called out by Tetsu no Sosuke, robbing it of its full effect. So in the fight just now, he'd been on the defensive almost the entire time.

The key point was that her blade seemed tampered with—the cuts he took healed far slower than ever before.

All of this led him to a sudden idea: use his Blood Demon Art: Crystal Child to create five ice puppets to stall her, then rush out to kill Tetsu no Sosuke and Shinobu Kocho.

This would disrupt Kochou Kanae's rhythm.

His first target was Shinobu Kocho, but somehow the swordsmith charged out, dodging his Blood Demon Art with clumsy, desperate moves.

And now... he was attacking with this mindless, patternless assault.

"Ridiculous! Can't you just die properly?"

After taking a round of blows, Doma thought: "You could merge with me and gain eternal life—why this stupid resistance?"

"Too weak..."

He spat out two words, but felt Tetsu no Sosuke's strikes like rain on banana leaves—hammer shadows falling endlessly, blow after blow without pause!

It kept him from mounting an effective counter in the short term, yet he stood rooted. Taking a step back would be a loss: "Even if this hammering never stops, what can you do to me?"

Tetsu no Sosuke ignored Doma's words entirely.

In fact, when the first hammer struck Doma's iron fan, what rang in his ears was...

Hardness -1

Toughness -1

This prompt instantly cleared his mind from its white-hot haze.

The collision between forging hammer and weapon had actually degraded the enemy's weapon stats!!!

This was a result he'd never expected, and in that instant, he made a decision.

Shatter his weapon!!!!

Control every hammer's landing point, precision-strike each blow, drain the enemy's weapon stats as much as possible.

But in truth, he barely needed to guide the hammer's aim—Doma, unwilling to be hit, kept feeding his iron fan right under Tetsu no Sosuke's Heavenly Crafting Hammer.

What Doma heard was the sound of a hammer striking, like rain beating against banana leaves.

But what Tetsu no Sosuke heard was a series of prompts, also like rain beating against banana leaves...

Hardness -1

Hardness -5

Toughness -5

Hardness -10

This sound was like music to his ears. He didn't know how much of Doma's combat strength was tied to his weapon, but as long as he shattered it, Doma's attack power would inevitably suffer.

In battle... it was all about give and take!

For a moment, he felt that the flame burning in his chest had finally found an outlet.

Hammer the iron!