The nature of the battle had completely changed.
Previously, Kanae still held a glimmer of hope that she might be able to slay the demon if she risked her life. But now, facing a two-on-one situation, she was in a desperate plight.
The slender demon had completely abandoned the idea of close-quarters combat. Instead, it stayed at a distance, constantly channeling its power to grow spears from the tree trunks and hurling them at Kanae one by one.
Meanwhile, the newly appeared hulking demon swung its terrifying stone axe, launching a pure and violent frontal assault. Kanae understood that if she tried to meet him head-on, she likely wouldn't survive a single exchange.
To make matters worse, the slender demon's long-range harassment always landed during the hulking demon's attack intervals. She didn't even have a chance to counter-attack; even the footwork required for evasion was becoming difficult to execute.
What suffocated her even more were the Blood Demon Arts of these two demons. Both surprisingly possessed similar abilities—simulating the substances they touched to drastically increase their physical strength and hardness.
Even using Total Concentration breathing forms, Kanae could not change the one-sided nature of this battle.
When she attacked the older brother, her strikes were easily smashed aside by his stone axe. The recoil even caused the webbing between her thumb and forefinger to split instantly. When she tried to parry a hardened wooden spear shot from the younger brother on the flank, the older brother seized the opening and kicked her in the abdomen, sending her tumbling away.
And when she finally managed to break through the older brother's blockade and swung her blade toward the younger brother, he simply dodged with a sneer, showing no intention of engaging her in combat at all.
Blood stained the petal-like light of her blade. Eventually, her dance came to a halt.
Kanae leaned on her Nichirin Sword, gasping for air.
This is bad... even my vision is starting to blur.
"Brother, let Mu play with this little butterfly for a bit," the slender demon laughed coldly. "As for those 'rations' trying to escape, don't let them actually get away."
Oh no, this monster plans to go after the innocent people!
Though the demons splitting up would lower the pressure on her, things would be different for Mitsujiro. He and the civilians had no way to survive against that hulking demon!
"I can still fight!"
Forcing her Breathing Style to activate again, Kanae propped up her body and took a swordsmanship stance.
Hearing this, the hulking demon gave a cruel grin. "Ro doesn't care about you."
His massive frame moved with an agility that defied his size as he suddenly bypassed Kanae, charging toward the direction where the civilians had fled!
"Stop right there!"
Kanae's eyes widened. She tried to intercept him, but she was entangled by the slender demon's mass of wooden spears and wooden hounds. By the time she swung her blade to repel them, the hulking demon's silhouette had already vanished into the forest.
Dammit!
Gritting her teeth so hard they nearly shattered, Kanae brandished her Nichirin Sword, unleashing a furious storm of flowers. With unprecedented speed, she crashed into the slender demon's personal space. In a single instant, a dense barrage of slashes left the opponent's body covered in bloody gashes.
"Gentle slashes like these can't kill Mu!"
In the span of just one or two breaths, the wounds vanished as the muscles writhed, restoring him to normal.
When facing demons, anything less than decapitation was useless. Kanae, of course, understood this.
So! Flower Breathing, please... for the sake of Mitsujiro and the others, bloom once more!
Her heart grew still. Her body began to respond to her will. A faint light flickered in Kanae's eyes. It was the sign of her Breathing Style being pushed to its absolute limit.
[Total Concentration!]
[Flower Breathing]
[Seventh Form: Instant Bloom, Scarlet Cherry!]
She lowered her posture, pointing the tip of her blade toward the demon's neck. In that moment, Kanae seemed to transform into a flower bud waiting to burst.
Step!
Thrust!
In that instant, her body and blade became a straight, crimson trajectory, looking very much like a cherry blossom branch extending rapidly in the wind. This was a form derived from Water Breathing's "Drop Ripple Thrust." It discarded all redundant movements, concentrating all strength and focus into a single point to complete a thrust at a speed beyond visual perception.
This strike surpassed Kanae's usual level of swordsmanship. It was too fast. So fast that the demon didn't even realize Kanae had struck before the blade pierced his throat. His iron-like body failed to hinder the Nichirin Sword in the slightest.
A thrust, followed by a diagonal slash. The form should have been a continuous motion, but it faltered.
The prolonged battle, her injuries, the demon's excessive physical hardness, and the naturally lower muscle mass of a woman... it all accumulated, and in the end, Kanae's form did not complete perfectly. She only managed to sever more than half of the opponent's neck.
"Mu!?"
The demon reacted belatedly, clutching his head as he leaped back dozens of steps. He stared with wide eyes as if looking at some demon-eating beast, eyeing Kanae warily.
I... was almost decapitated by this little butterfly?!
Muscle fibers and bone writhed, rapidly filling the gap cut into his neck by the Nichirin Sword. In just a few seconds, he was restored to normal. For a monster like this, if the neck was not completely severed by a Nichirin Sword, the damage was meaningless.
Kanae leaned on her sword, her mind a complete blank. That strike, which had pushed far beyond her limits, had left her barely able to maintain her breathing. She had no strength left to follow up with a finishing blow.
"Little butterfly! Mu doesn't want to play with you anymore!"
The metallic luster on the demon's body deepened several shades, and the surrounding tree trunks and branches twisted according to his anger, eventually transforming into even more wooden hounds.
"Mu is going to eat you now. And then, next year, Mu will become one of the Twelve Demon Moons!"
Despair, like cold vines, wrapped around Kanae's heart, nearly suffocating her. The hand holding her sword trembled from exhaustion and agonizing pain. Although she had managed to catch her breath slightly, Kanae no longer had the confidence to defeat her opponent.
Is this... as far as I go?
I'm sorry, Shinobu...
Right at that moment, a voice tinged with slight excitement drifted from the distance.
"What did you say?! Twelve Demon Moons!"
Whoosh!!!
A sharp, piercing sound of breaking air, like tearing fabric, rapidly approached from high above at a terrifying speed! It wasn't an arrow, but a person falling at extreme speed!
A figure wrapped in violent currents of electricity slammed down like falling thunder right between Kanae and the demon. The shockwave overturned soil and wood debris, forcing both the girl and the demon to instinctively squint their eyes.
As the dust began to settle, the newcomer slightly bent his knees to absorb the impact and slowly stood upright. Over his loose-fitting uniform, he carried a pack, draped with strange items like a peddler. There were odd fox masks, yellow-green cord knots tied to his belt, a wine gourd hanging off him, and even the head of an iron hammer peeking out from the pack...
However, the most eye-catching feature was the three Nichirin Swords of different colors worn at his waist.
Is it the little butterfly's reinforcement? They arrived so quickly.
And a Three-Sword Style user... he looks like he might have some skill.
The demon grew cautious.
As for Kanae, her joy was tinged with a bit of worry. A Thunder Breathing swordsman... and a Three-Sword Style I've never heard of. Is he a newly joined member?
If the man possessed the strength of the Tsuchinoto (5th) rank, or even above the Tsuchinoe (6th) rank, she felt she could coordinate with him to turn the tide. But a swordsman she had never heard of... he would be at the Mizunoto or Mizunoe rank at most. Beyond throwing away his life alongside her, there would be no other outcome.
"While I am very grateful for your support, this demon is too powerful. Please, esc—"
However, the newcomer showed no intention of speaking with her. He lifted his head, his gaze sweeping over the blood-soaked, swaying Kanae, and then seemed to look at something above her head. Then he shifted his gaze to the demon in front of him, his face still devoid of expression.
He simply tilted his neck slightly. Resting his hand on one of the Nichirin Swords at his waist, he produced a faint click of contact.
"Hey, what were you saying about the Twelve Demon Moons just now?"
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