The next moment, the wooden bridge beneath him was sliced in half, and the pond below erupted in a wave that rose several meters high.
A fighting style identical to that monster's.
Douma, whose body was still suspended in mid-air and hadn't regained his footing, clearly saw the blurry figure standing amidst the waves on the wooden bridge, and a trace of unease rose in his heart.
Douma executed a few backflips and had just stabilized himself. Before the wave could fall, his vision blurred, and Mizuki's figure appeared before him again.
So fast!!!
Ice blocks formed by the Blood Demon Art rapidly materialized on his body's surface, attempting to deflect Mizuki's slash, but the speed at which the ice formed seemed slightly slower than the speed of Mizuki's strike.
Can he catch up?
Douma's eyes flickered. The Nichirin Blade, which had somehow turned scorching red like a branding iron, easily melted his ice blocks as if slicing through vegetables.
He couldn't stop it!
Just as his neck was about to be struck, two figures suddenly leaped up on either side of Douma.
"Blood Demon Art: Crystallized Princess."
They were two ice sculptures that looked exactly like Douma, only much smaller in proportion.
One ice sculpture spat a blast of cold air directly at Mizuki's face, while the other grabbed Douma's hair.
At the cost of losing an arm, Douma successfully evaded the slash aimed near his neck with the help of the small ice figures.
Mizuki instinctively avoided a direct hit, and the encroaching cold air left a trace of frost on her face.
Mizuki's expression was displeased.
Spitting, huh?
This is a spitting attack, right?
It was so disgusting she felt like throwing up.
The wave stirred up from the pond crashed noisily onto the ground.
"So dangerous, so dangerous." Douma retreated to what he considered a safe spot, patting his chest ruefully, looking utterly shaken.
"I almost got killed."
"Truly amazing, just like Kokushibou Your Excellency."
He had never directly fought Kokushibou because he understood the gap between himself and that monster. Given his personality and conduct, if he were to initiate a Blood Battle for Rank Replacement, unlike the Martial Arts Fanatic Akaza, he would definitely be eaten without mercy if he lost.
But he still understood Kokushibou's abilities.
A demon who uses a Breathing Technique.
Isn't that exactly like the monster right in front of him?
It's true to say they are siblings.
Not only do they look alike, but their fighting styles are also extremely similar.
"Ah, Young Miss and Kokushibou Your Excellency remind me of two other people," Douma muttered to himself. "Hooray, they are the ones Young Miss met before."
"Gyuutarou and Daki."
"The same combination of an ugly older brother and a beautiful younger sister."
"It's just a shame that you killed them. I was the one who recommended them..."
As he spoke, before Douma's tears could fall, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up one by one, sensing an intense danger.
Sure enough, two unreasonable Jade Discs crushed towards him.
Wherever they passed, the pond water churned restlessly, surging back, and sections of the wooden bridge were crushed.
"Snow Breathing, Tenth Form: Moonlight Beneath the Snow."
That truly is exaggerated.
Douma thought, breaking out in a sweat, as he moved his body.
He certainly didn't plan to take a Move like this head-on. Fortunately, although the scene was dramatic, the speed of the Jade Disc wasn't too fast, giving him time to react.
Just as he stood up, that sense of unease surged forth again.
That figure flickered at a speed Douma found hard to catch.
When that grim-faced monster reappeared before Douma, Douma completely lost his composure.
"Seriously..."
Mizuki muttered under her breath, "All this incessant chattering is deafening."
One by one, small, short ice figures stood on the wooden bridge, rushing towards Mizuki, attempting to obstruct her movements.
Many of them possessed the ability to use Blood Demon Arts.
The strength of these small ice figures' Blood Demon Arts was nearly equivalent to Douma's, only the range was slightly smaller.
Mizuki didn't shy away from their attacks affecting her. She kicked them one by one, sending these small ice figures into the pond to drink cold water.
"That's too cruel." Douma looked at the small ice figures falling into the water with a look of pity.
"Then aren't the things you do to others cruel?"
Kochou Shinobu, her face full of fury, thrust her blade toward Douma's cheek.
Douma easily grabbed the tip of the blade.
"Such a weak attack can't hurt me." Douma first smiled casually, then said pityingly, "What I did wasn't to harm them."
"Because everyone is afraid of death, I ate them so they could live eternally with me." Douma covered his chest with one hand, as if he could genuinely feel the emotions of the people he had eaten. "I accepted the feelings, blood, and flesh of my believers, granted them salvation, and guided them to a new height."
Everyone was shocked.
This guy... is he crazy?
"That's not true!" the girl huddled off to the side cried out tremulously. "You are just murdering them!"
"How could that be..." Douma looked sad, as if hurt by the words, and wiped tears from the corner of his eye. "I only wanted everyone to achieve happiness."
Everyone felt a chill run down their spines.
This guy... is absolutely repulsive.
Unlike the other demons they had encountered, this guy genuinely seemed to believe what he was doing was right, completely unaware that he had a problem.
Mizuki didn't want to drag this out any longer. This guy was too chatty, and his words were infuriating, making you want to retort.
But Mizuki knew arguing with him was pointless. This guy's head wasn't like a normal demon's; he lacked human emotion, and his greatest emotional reaction was only when someone told him he was emotionless.
A black fingernail sliced across her wrist, and a stream of fresh blood dripped onto the floor.
Douma looked over in surprise. What was she doing?
He had no intelligence on her.
This person liked to feign human emotion, but he wouldn't randomly put on an act without reason.
This indicated that Muzan did not share intelligence between himself and the other Upper Ranks.
What a pity.
If Kokushibou hadn't been with Muzan at the time, then if she had encountered Kokushibou in the Infinity Castle, there was a chance she could have used this Move to sneakily kill him.
Mizuki sighed inwardly and flicked the blood from her wrist toward Douma.
The drops of blood solidified in mid-air, forming numerous delicate needles that rapidly shot toward Douma.
Douma dodged the blood-red ice needles and looked back in surprise at the needles embedded in the wall.
It was exactly the same as his Blood Demon Art.
The only difference was that hers required blood as a medium, while he could summon them freely regardless of space or medium.
"What a coincidence~" Douma smiled again.
"Is that so?"
Mizuki's flat voice rang out.
This sparked a trace of unease in Douma. He quickly turned his head and noticed that the blood dropped onto the floor was rapidly spreading in all directions, centering around Mizuki.
Sheets of Blood Crystals gradually spread across the wooden planks and the wooden bridge, even freezing the pond water into ice.
------------------------
I've posted 70+ chapters in advance on Patreon.
Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.
It might not seem tempting right now but who knows what the future holds?
[email protected]/SolyuraMT
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"