Sosuke's body collapsed to the ground, but the hand still clamped around his neck retained its grip.
He locked his hands around the demon's fingers, using every ounce of remaining strength to pry them apart and hurl the severed hand away.
The aftereffects of Sun Breathing coursed through his body, leaving him so sore he could barely move. His already taut wounds began to bleed anew.
Yet throughout the entire ordeal, his eyes never left Doma for a moment.
He watched as Kanae arrived, severing Doma's arm and rescuing Sosuke from the brink of death. With a swift reversal of her blade, she unleashed a fragrant, petal-scented strike aimed directly at Doma's neck.
Doma recoiled, but it was too late.
The tip of Kanae's blade pierced his neck, drawing a thin line of blood. He frowned, instinctively reaching up to touch the wound, only to remember his right hand had been severed.
He sighed softly. "How did things... end up like this?"
Shinobu leaped to Kanae's side, helping Sosuke to his feet as she asked, "Elder Sister, are you alright?"
Kanae turned her gentle gaze toward them, smiling softly. "This blade... seems to carry a warm power that flows through me."
Even in his weakened state,Sosuke's heart fluttered at her words, as if he had tasted something exquisite. A subconscious smile curved his lips.
Shinobu froze, glancing at her elder sister and then at Sosuke. A nameless anger flared within her.
'I was the one who asked if she was alright! Why does it feel like my sister answered my question but also brushed me aside?'
"You two, step back," Kanae said, her gaze sweeping over Sosuke. A flicker of concern flashed in her eyes before she turned her attention back to Doma, her expression hardening into a cold, resolute glare. "Leave the rest of this battle to me!"
Shinobu nodded and retreated to the side with Sosuke.
Doma shook his head. "Even at this point, you still want to bully a wounded demon like me? The Demon Slayer Corps truly has no humanity."
Sosuke, who had just been helped to sit down by Shinobu, sneered. "Humanity? Why don't you discuss humanity with the corpses in that house?"
Doma was about to retort, but Kanae had no intention of prolonging the conversation.
Sosuke had sustained grievous injuries, and despite his condition, he had unleashed such a powerful attack.
Regardless of how he had managed it, now was not the time to idly chat with a demon.
'I need to attack him, finish him, kill him!'
'Then get Sosuke back to the Butterfly Mansion for treatment as quickly as possible. That's the top priority now; everything else can wait!'
"Such an impatient young lady," Doma remarked, unfazed by the loss of his arm. "So eager to become a part of me?"
With a flick of his left hand, he unleashed his Blood Demon Art: Wintry Icicles!
Kanae didn't even glance at the descending barrage. Her movements were like a shuttle, effortlessly dodging the razor-sharp ice pillars that plummeted from the sky with barely a hair's breadth to spare.
The grace and beauty of her movements stood in stark contrast to Sosuke's frantic dodging, which involved lunging left and right, flipping forward and rolling backward.
Sosuke watched intently, finally realizing with a sigh that such elegant movements were simply beyond his reach.
By then, Kanae had already closed the distance to Doma. Lowering her stance, her sword danced like a blossoming flower, each strike as graceful as a crimson hanagoromo.
Breath of the Flower—Fourth Form: Crimson Hanagoromo!
Doma retreated swiftly, dodging the slash. In that instant, his left hand swung again, conjuring a chilling frost that visibly condensed into an ice lotus. Two female figures materialized atop the lotus, their mouths opening to exhale a freezing breath toward Kanae.
Blood Demon Art: Cold White Princess!
Kanae spun and recoiled, then leaped into the air. The airborne girl evaded the icy assault, her body twisting in a spiral as her Nichirin Blade traced an impossibly delicate arc, aiming straight for Doma's neck!
This strike had reached its peak in both speed and power.
The sword's frigid light pierced the dawn, yet carried the intoxicating fragrance of flowers. In a flash, it had already reached Doma's left neck.
Retreat was impossible; any further evasion within the blade's momentum would only lead to certain death.
In that critical moment, Doma could only extend his left hand and seize Kanae's blade.
But in the next instant, the blade sliced through his palm, blood gushing as four severed fingers flew through the air!
This slight obstruction allowed him to narrowly avoid a fatal wound.
His condition had deteriorated to its absolute worst!
His body's wounds refused to heal, defying all comprehension of what sorcery had been wrought upon that blade.
The bleeding wouldn't stop, and his mangled body couldn't unleash its full combat potential.
To make matters worse, the Swordsmith had hammered his weapon to pieces. Against the Pillar's relentless sword strikes, he could only evade or endure them with his bare flesh.
And then... his injuries worsened again.
It was a vicious cycle!
'If this continues... I'll die!'
The thought flashed through Doma's mind as he rolled his eyes upward to gaze at the sky.
Continuing meant certain death... but fleeing in panic before the Pillar seemed equally fatal.
He watched Kanae charge at him once more, her icy blade glinting coldly. That sword, capable of such gentleness, was now wielded with murderous intent.
"What a predicament..."
He sighed softly, then took a deep breath and activated his Blood Demon Art.
A frigid aura surged forth, coalescing into form.
"Blood Demon Art— Rime: Water lily Bodhisattva!"
This was the final Blood Demon Art he could use in his current state.
A towering ice sculpture of a Bodhisattva, over ten meters tall, materialized instantly. The moment it appeared, a wave of freezing mist spread rapidly.
But at that very moment, a figure darted through the layers of mist, appearing directly before Doma. It was Kanae.
Her blade fell with precise, lethal accuracy.
"...This is a bit unfair, isn't it? I just unleashed my ultimate move, and you're already charging at me without giving me time? Just how much combat experience do you have?"
A flicker of surprise crossed Doma's eyes. But then, as if sensing something, his blood surged, and his severed right arm suddenly regenerated, snapping forward to block the attack.
At the same moment, Kanae's strike descended.
Crack!
As if cleaving through wood, the blade sank in a third of the way. But in the next instant, the girl, still mid-air, spun violently, her blade tearing through the newly regenerated arm and crashing down on Doma's neck.
"Huh?"
Before the thought could fully form, his head had already flown off.