When Michikatsu landed again, Mizuki clearly saw the Demon Slayer Mark that had appeared on his cheek.
Aside from the Demon Slayer Mark below his cheek, the one on his forehead was very similar to Yoriichi's.
Before she could speak to warn him, Michikatsu swung his nichirin blade and rapidly closed in.
Mizuki struggled to parry Michikatsu's nichirin blade.
With the awakening of his Demon Slayer Mark, Michikatsu's physical abilities had improved, and he had once again surpassed her in strength.
Michikatsu struck Mizuki back with one blow, and through the reflection on his blade, he saw the Demon Slayer Mark on his own cheek.
Michikatsu, who had never experienced anything so wonderful, felt his entire body brimming with power.
Excellent!
He was in an incredibly good state right now.
Mizuki retreated steadily under his fierce onslaught, on the verge of defeat.
Michikatsu, clearly experiencing this immense power, roared inwardly.
Yoriichi!
I'm getting closer and closer to you!
Mizuki calmly fended off Michikatsu's attacks, exhaling white mist as her clear, cold voice softly sounded.
"Snow Breathing, Third Form: Frosty Sky Dance!"
Unlike the defensive First Form and the vision-confusing, enemy-defeating Second Form,
the Third Form, Frosty Sky Dance, was a sword technique as fierce as a blizzard.
It surged towards Michikatsu like an overwhelming tide.
"What?!" Michikatsu's impassioned heart was frozen by this wild and dense sword technique, as the blizzard-like sword strikes continuously battered him.
Why!
He clearly had the advantage in both strength and speed... "Brother." Mizuki suddenly looked up.
Michikatsu looked over at the sound, only to see a faint sadness on Mizuki's face that he hadn't noticed before.
In a daze, her expression in Michikatsu's eyes actually overlapped with that of his perpetually calm younger brother.
"Experience the pain of defeat."
Defeat?
An expression of anger surged onto Michikatsu's face.
Except for Yoriichi, he wouldn't lose to anyone!
"Moon Breathing! Third Form! Loathsome Moon! Erosion!"
Two crescent-shaped slashes, interspersed with dense, tiny crescent blades, came towards Mizuki.
Mizuki ignored the anger on her brother's face, her raised white nichirin blade radiating dazzling light in the sun.
"Snow Breathing, Fourth Form: Warm Snow."
Mottled snowflakes suddenly fluttered in mid-air, easily piercing through the two sharp crescent slashes, falling piece by piece onto Michikatsu's body and face.
Michikatsu's eyes widened slightly.
Warm.
No... it was the heat of blood flowing out.
Dense, tiny slashes left countless small wounds on Michikatsu's body... Michikatsu lay spread-eagled on the ground, staring blankly at the clear sky.
"Cough, cough..." Mizuki endured the discomfort in her lungs and put away her nichirin blade.
She wasn't as relaxed as Michikatsu thought; the lung condition indeed had a significant impact. After just a few swings, she felt exhausted.
Her lung's breathing... couldn't keep up with her physical exertion.
It felt like running five kilometers at full speed, only to have her mouth and nose covered when she was gasping for air, causing unbearable pain, and her vision blurred for a moment.
Mizuki endured her physical discomfort and knelt beside her brother.
Even after twenty years, she still hadn't gotten used to this sitting posture.
Mizuki murmured, "Brother."
Michikatsu still gazed expressionlessly at the clear sky, as if he hadn't heard her call.
He had lost.
He had lost without a word.
Mizuki clearly knew what her brother was thinking at this moment.
Had Michikatsu never lost before?
After joining the Demon Slayer Corps, his sparring matches with Yoriichi almost always ended in Yoriichi's victory.
But apart from Yoriichi, he had never lost to anyone else.
Yoriichi's talent was despair-inducing, making it impossible for Michikatsu to even see his back, no matter how hard he tried.
Even so, he was still striving forward.
Since Michikatsu was too focused on the back of the person in front of him and never looked back, she would forcefully enter his line of sight from behind.
Defeated by his almost ignored, weak younger sister.
Michikatsu's mindset had undergone a drastic change at this moment.
Mizuki lowered her head slightly, forcing her way into Michikatsu's line of sight: "What is Brother's dream?"
Dream?
Of course, it was to become the strongest samurai in this country... wasn't it?
It was, originally.
But he didn't know when it started, he only wanted to surpass Yoriichi.
Those who never envied others merely happened not to have met someone favored by all gods, as scorching and dazzling as the sun.
Before Michikatsu could speak, Mizuki looked up again, facing forward, and said to herself.
"My dream is to surpass both of my brothers and become the strongest swordsman."
Hearing this, Michikatsu's eyes finally moved, and he glanced at her.
You?
Michikatsu subconsciously thought this, but then he came to his senses; Mizuki had already defeated him, so where did he get the courage to mock her?
Michikatsu scoffed inwardly, but then heard Mizuki's slightly disappointed voice.
"It should have been like this."
Mizuki paused, then coughed twice, "Cough, cough..."
This lung disease, when not needed, insisted on coming out to affect her, but when needed, it didn't appear, forcing her to pretend.
"I was injured by a demon, and my lungs have a chronic illness. Perhaps I will never be able to advance further," Mizuki said dejectedly.
"Brother is different from me; he is more talented and stronger than I am."
Michikatsu finally reacted, scoffing, "Strong?"
Mizuki gently explained, "I was lucky to defeat Brother once because Brother had never seen Snow Breathing, and I know Moon Breathing inside and out."
"This is all thanks to Brother's careful guidance over the years."
Michikatsu's expression shifted slightly, but he still didn't show much reaction.
Even so, the fact that he lost to Mizuki remained.
Mizuki saw that the groundwork was laid, "So, I want to entrust my dream to Brother."
Michikatsu was completely stunned. Dream?
To become the strongest swordsman?
Mizuki's statement actually contained a significant element of risk.
The resonance of the Demon Slayer Mark would allow countless strong individuals to break through their limits, and with Michikatsu's talent, awakening the Demon Slayer Mark was only a matter of time.
However... activating the Demon Slayer Mark meant not living past twenty-five.
Mizuki had seen some scattered remarks about Michikatsu online, some saying he became a demon because he was afraid of death.
But at this moment, Mizuki felt that it shouldn't be the case.
Michikatsu didn't become a demon out of fear of death, but because an activated Demon Slayer Mark meant he wouldn't have time to catch up to Yoriichi, and without activating it, Michikatsu couldn't progress further.
It could be seen from Michikatsu's daily training volume; he constantly wanted to surpass Yoriichi.
As long as Michikatsu's jealousy remained, as long as Michikatsu was unwilling to stop his pursuit.
Then his transformation into a demon was inevitable.
Strictly speaking, there was only one way to solve this problem.
That was, in their generation, to end the life of the Demon King Muzan.
Mizuki hadn't read the manga; she only knew that Yoriichi had fought Muzan when he was young.
That scene where Yoriichi rushed forward with his blade, brainwashing with 'What do you consider life?', she had replayed countless times.
But even Yoriichi couldn't kill Muzan.
Yoriichi definitely had the strength to defeat Muzan, but perhaps it was Muzan's powerful demonic vitality that prevented Yoriichi from killing him, only repelling him.
For creatures like demons, escaping is truly not difficult.
After all, losing limbs had almost no effect on their bodies.
Given that the above condition was difficult to achieve, Mizuki came up with a not-quite-solution.
That was, to awaken Michikatsu's dwindling self-esteem, which had been trampled by his younger brother.
Michikatsu was a person with extreme inferiority complex and intense jealousy.
'I want to surpass both of my brothers and become the strongest swordsman.'
The wasn't to become the strongest swordsman, but to surpass both brothers.
To let Michikatsu know that he was also a goal others were chasing.
There is only one sun, and the moon is also unique.