Hichikyu—or rather, the blood demon wearing his skin—kicked off the ground and charged straight at Tatsuo.
The fist he swung came for Tatsuo’s face, but Tatsuo dodged in a flash.
When the fist that sliced through the air smashed into the ground, a violent shockwave rippled out and cracks split the earth.
“Still fast... but now I can see you!!”
The blood demon’s eyes were fixed on Tatsuo, who had already drawn his sword.
His dynamic vision has improved beyond comparison.
Watching the demon track his speed with its eyes, Tatsuo thought it over.
Before the ritual, it had been moving at a speed that didn’t even allow for reaction.
No matter how much the contents had changed, if this had been the blood demon’s original body, it still shouldn’t have been able to react no matter what was inside it.
It seemed the result of the ritual he’d mentioned wasn’t just nonsense after all.
The blood demon came flying in again, swinging its fist.
This time, Tatsuo didn’t dodge. Instead, he met it head-on with the same force he’d used to cut down the roots created by the previous demon’s [Blood Demon Art].
The impact rang through the cavern with a deafening crash, so loud it was hard to believe it came from a fist and a sword colliding.
So it’s not just the size that changed. Strength, speed, physical durability—everything has grown overwhelmingly stronger.
Tatsuo slashed his sword in rapid bursts from where he stood, but the blood demon refused to yield and kept throwing punches back at him.
“How’s that? This overwhelming physical power is nothing like before!!”
“Honestly, it’s not bad. But the change in personality is disappointing. For a body that big and a face that ugly, your tone is far too light. It doesn’t suit you.”
Tatsuo spoke with genuine admiration, though not without a hint of regret.
“Kya-hahaha! What a shame. But this body is mine now, you know?”
The blood demon clenched its fist, raised it high, and brought it crashing down.
Tatsuo, who had been parrying until now, suddenly twisted his body like flowing water, slipping past the strike while swinging his sword toward the demon’s wrist.
The blade cut through the blood demon’s skin.
The severed hand shot into the air.
Black blood sprayed from the cut surface, streaking between Tatsuo and the demon.
“And that proud body of yours can still be cut.”
The blood demon snatched the hand floating through the air and pressed it back against the stump.
“That’s even better, isn’t it? If I couldn’t be cut at all, wouldn’t that make this fight too unfair?”
Laughing as if it enjoyed the situation, the demon began regenerating.
“Hmm... your attacks really are strange. You’ve gotten this strong, and yet I still don’t regenerate properly. Just what are you? Oh! It’s already reattached.”
“Who knows. Just a swordsman who wants to cut the sky, I suppose.”
Tatsuo answered while looking up into the air.
“Yep! You really are just a mad human!”
The blood demon pointed at Tatsuo with an index finger and continued.
“Ever since I awakened my self-awareness thanks to Lord Muzan, I’ve seen all kinds of people over the decades, but I can say with certainty that I’ve never seen a human like you.”
“Mad, huh... I feel like I hear that a lot from demons like you. I wonder which of us is really mad.”
Tatsuo kicked a pebble that had been rolling nearby as he replied.
“Do demons lose their minds along with their reason? Go look in a mirror sometime. That’s what mad looks like.”
“You have such a nasty mouth... I might really be hu—”
“Haa... how long are you going to keep chatting and testing the waters? Shut up and focus on the fight for real.”
Tatsuo cut him off, as if any further conversation was unnecessary.
“I’ve been feeling it for a while, but you really only ever say what you want, don’t you? That’s getting on my nerves a little... If that’s what you want, then I’ll deal with you seriously from here on out!!”
The blood demon raised both hands high and slammed them down toward the ground.
[Blood Demon Art - Bloodwood Root, Reforged]
The earth trembled as even larger tree roots than before burst from the ground, stained a dark crimson.
Each root now looked different from before—one root coiling around another in a spiral pattern.
Countless roots rained down toward Tatsuo.
Tatsuo moved his body with dazzling speed and slipped through them.
“So your full power is still just these tree roots? Aren’t you bored of them yet?”
Tatsuo said in a voice that sounded truly fed up.
“No! This time it’ll end differently than before!”
The roots aimed at Tatsuo suddenly changed direction and shot upward into the air.
They began boring wildly through the top of the cavern.
Now and then, chunks of rock started falling.
“Now that the ritual is over, this place is useless to me!”
The roots that had been tearing through the cavern vanished and reappeared in repeated ambushes.
He’s really going all out. Is he planning to collapse this whole place?
Tatsuo thought as he cut down a root flying toward him.
The cavern began to shake.
After the relentless fighting from before and up to now, the chamber’s durability had finally reached its limit.
This was deep underground.
If it collapsed, he’d be buried alive in no time.
Tatsuo quickly broke into a run toward the entrance he’d come through.
Roots began flying after him, destroying everything around them as they pursued his high-speed figure.
The blood demon was also closing in with its wings spread wide.
Even with wings, that’s impressive for a body that huge.
With stray thoughts in his head, Tatsuo kept cutting down every root blocking his path and pressed forward.
Before long, the entrance he’d come in through came into view.
The moment he set foot at the threshold—
It’s a trap.
A brief instinct flashed through his mind, and at the same time the ground began to cave in.
Anticipating that Tatsuo would try to escape this way, the blood demon had torn up the floor at the entrance with roots, leaving it on the verge of collapse.
With nowhere to plant his feet and a strange floating sensation in the air, the blood demon’s fist suddenly came flying at Tatsuo’s face.
[Heaven-Splitting Breathing, Fifth Form - Tear the Heavens asunder]
Eight slashes launched forward in such rapid succession that it felt like there had only been a single swing.
The fist that had come right up to Tatsuo’s face couldn’t withstand the barrage and was torn apart into eight pieces, as if it had been split open.
No way... He definitely only swung his sword once, didn’t he?
The blood demon’s pupils shook for a brief moment, unable to keep up with the speed of the technique.
Even so, Tatsuo couldn’t bring himself to cut down the root attack that had already been fired at him, so he raised his sword to block.
The root collided with Tatsuo’s blade. It had been launched in advance, prepared for the moment the demon’s own attack was blocked.
The root spun upward with enough force to pierce Tatsuo and his sword together.
Tatsuo twisted the sword slightly to let the attack slide off, then cut the root down—but another root appeared and knocked him into the air.
Tatsuo’s body flew upward with that same weightless sensation.
“Mm.”
A slight impact touched his back.
The attack itself had been completely blocked, but he’d been thrown into the cavern ceiling as he flew.
It had been a long time since he’d taken damage in battle.
[Blood Demon Art - Torrential Blood Wave, Reforged]
Looks like a real fight is finally starting.
Tatsuo thought as he watched the waves of blood crashing toward him.
Using the brief opening he’d shown, the demon had launched him into the air and was now chaining attacks together, determined never to let his feet touch the ground again.
It felt as if the blood that had gone stagnant in his body had begun to flow once more.
[Heaven-Splitting Breathing, Sixth Form - Ganyeolnongwol, Dark Sky]
Spinning his body, Tatsuo unleashed slashes in every direction and cut apart every wave of blood pouring toward him.
The blood waves that failed to reach him surged onward and mercilessly shattered the cavern’s ceiling.
The chamber was collapsing at speed now. Tatsuo no longer had time to waste.
Interesting.
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