Gyokko could no longer spare any attention to killing Tengen Uzui and the others. He immediately leaped backward to evade, producing a pot decorated with wave patterns as he activated his Blood Demon Art.
A massive volume of highly viscous liquid sprayed from the pot, covering an enormous area and directly sealing off every route Luke could use to advance.
Blood Demon Art: Water Prison Pot!
Gyokko had plenty of combat experience. His backward dodge and activation of his Blood Demon Art happened almost simultaneously, backed by solid tactical judgment. Luke was charging forward, making it difficult for him to evade the enveloping slime.
And even if Luke changed the angle of his charge at the last second and dodged the slime, Gyokko would still have resolved the immediate threat of Luke closing in on him.
The liquid produced by this Blood Demon Art was exceptionally soft yet durable. Conventional attacks could not pierce the Water Prison Pot. Once trapped inside, escape was virtually impossible, because the water would cut off a swordsman's breathing. Without air, no matter how powerful a Breathing Style was, it would be useless.
Just as Gyokko concluded that Luke would either be trapped or forced to dodge the Water Prison Pot in embarrassment, something that stunned him happened.
Accompanied by the shrill crackle of electricity, as piercing as thunder, the black blade streaked with golden lightning and carved a massive cross through the night sky.
Before that razor-sharp slash, Gyokko's Water Prison Pot was cleaved apart and scattered in all directions. Luke maintained his slashing stance as he shot through the gap in the middle, his blade still locked onto Gyokko's neck.
"Damn it!"
Gyokko was genuinely panicking now. In his shock and fury, he unleashed his full strength. Amid the thunderous crash of trees collapsing and smashing together, several enormous octopus tentacles, each dozens of meters long, suddenly appeared. Some of the elastic tentacles shielded Gyokko, while the rest coiled toward Luke, intending to crush and pulp him.
Facing the heavy, incoming tentacles, Luke took a breath in midair. Then, amid a thunderous roar, streaks of lightning flashed across the tentacles, severing them one after another before they could touch his body.
He leaped out from the pile of tentacles and landed atop a fallen tree. Rather than immediately continuing his pursuit, he glanced at Tanjiro and the others behind him. "Why are you still standing there? Get out of here!"
Only then did Tanjiro snap out of it. This was not the time to marvel at Senior Brother Zenitsu's strength or stand around offering commentary. He and Nezuko each hauled people up, carrying the Sound Hashira, Zenitsu, and the others as they rushed down the mountain.
"Don't think you can escape."
Lower Rank Five, Rui, spoke in his gloomy voice. As he leaped into the air, he swung his spiderwebs toward Tanjiro's group. "Leave Nezuko behind."
But before his attack could land, a thick beam of crimson flame struck him.
Boom—
Under the violent impact and blistering heat, Rui crashed through several massive trees before coming to a stop. More than half his body had been scorched black, and he lay there without any indication of whether he was alive or dead.
Luke slowly lowered his raised hand, his voice calm. "I already said it. I'm taking over this battlefield."
His killing intent fixed itself on every Demon present. "Don't you like fishing? Come on, then. Kill me."
Under Luke's fierce killing intent, the Explorers could not help trembling as they took a step back. Their instinctive aversion to danger already had them wanting to run.
If they had guessed right, the man before them was the one who had killed Upper Rank Six, Gyutaro and Daki, just two days ago—the monstrous carry from the opposing side!
No intelligence report or description could compare to seeing him in person. The eight Demon Explorers present felt as though Luke's killing intent had squeezed the breath from their lungs.
What suffocating pressure. Gyutaro and that adventure group had not lost unfairly at all.
"Don't be afraid! He's alone, while we've got coordination!"
One Explorer shouted, trying to raise morale, but not a single Explorer dared to make a move.
True enough, they had assembled what was practically an absurdly powerful combo for the world of Demon Slayer: an Upper Rank combined with Lower Rank One. They had damage, control, area attacks, and single-target killing power.
But it was not their own strength. The cold nature of Demons meant Gyokko and Enmu would never protect them. Luke was not a native of this world either; he knew Enmu's abilities and would not be so easily controlled.
Even if Gyokko and Enmu worked together flawlessly and managed to kill Luke, Luke would probably have no trouble killing several of the Explorers before that happened.
"Xiaolian, don't worry. I'll protect you."
A male Explorer shielded a female Explorer behind him. They were a couple and had formed an adventure group consisting of only the two of them.
"Aro, why don't we run? Maybe we can still intercept the Sound Hashira at the foot of the mountain and pick up his loot chest."
Xiaolian spoke over their team channel. The man who had become the Thunder Hashira felt terribly dangerous. Originally, they had believed Lower Rank One's ability, combined with an Upper Rank, would make their team fight foolproof. Now, however, it was clear that even this combination was not invincible.
This battle was different from before. It was no longer Gyokko's pleasant little artistic performance. Enmu had tried to act, but Luke's combat skill was extraordinary. He could fight while avoiding Enmu's eyes and had never once made eye contact with Enmu.
Clearly, against an Explorer who knew his abilities and possessed sufficient strength, Enmu's power was not nearly as terrifying.
All they could do now was place their hopes on Gyokko. They hoped that Upper Rank Five's overwhelming strength could force Luke to reveal an opening, allowing Enmu to use his ability and drag Luke into a dream.
As long as they succeeded, even if Luke immediately killed himself in the dream, that brief opening would be enough for Gyokko to kill him.
As for loot chests, they no longer dared to hope for them. They might have been able to snatch the Sound Hashira's kill while he was on the verge of death, but they did not dare touch a monster as powerful as Luke. It would not be strange at all if he killed them with one last burst of strength while dying.
"Don't act rashly. Anyone heading down the mountain will become the Thunder Hashira's priority target."
Aro warned her on the team channel, his mind racing. He had been the one to devise the plan of using Enmu's powers in conjunction with an Upper Rank to fish for and kill Hashira, so he had understood its strengths and risks from the very beginning.
The advantage was that this world's natives—the Hashira—lacked intelligence on Enmu. Even if enemy Explorers wanted to warn them, it would be difficult to explain where they got that information, so they could not make it clear. And even if the opposing Hashira knew how Enmu's ability worked and how to counter it, there would still be a delay before they could do so.
Human bodies were nowhere near as strong as Demon bodies, and injuries could not be regenerated. So even if a man as powerful as the Stone Hashira fell for it, a single hit from Gyokko would at least seriously injure him. By repeatedly exploiting the control effect afterward, they could wear even the Stone Hashira to death.
And aside from the Stone Hashira, as long as the Demon Slayer Corps did not send more than three Hashira at once, their combination could handle them. After all, Enmu's Blood Demon Art affected an area, while Gyokko had plenty of area-of-effect killing techniques as well.
At first glance, his plan had looked excellent, and in truth it was excellent—but it still carried a risk. Once the Demon Slayer Corps lost two Hashira one after another like fools walking into a trap, they would inevitably dispatch an outrageously powerful lineup to steamroll them next time.
So in Aro's original plan, they were supposed to kill the Sound Hashira, fish for one more target, and then retreat.
But he had never expected the second Hashira to arrive to be a freak like Luke. This guy had a record of solo-killing Upper Rank Six without taking a scratch. In terms of raw strength, he likely did not lose to the Stone Hashira. On top of that, Luke was an Explorer and was extremely wary of Enmu, refusing to fall for his ability at all.
Aro had thought that with visibility restricted, Luke should have a difficult time fighting Gyokko. Yet the combat power he displayed seemed completely unaffected, leaving their side in a highly passive position.
He had to consider the possibility of Gyokko losing. What should they do then?
Luke had no idea what the opposing Explorers were thinking. After sweeping his gaze around the area, he stopped on Gyokko.
[Twelve Kizuki: Upper Rank Five—Gyokko]
Constitution: 35 points
Strength: 31 points
Agility: 35 points
Spirit: 36 points
Charm: -5 points
Gyokko's overall attributes were more or less what Luke had previously estimated. Among the Upper Ranks, he was relatively fragile.
When Luke had first seen Gyutaro's attributes, Gyutaro had possessed 36 points of Constitution—and that was while Gyutaro had shared his strength with his sister. In reality, after Daki died, Gyutaro's Constitution had risen even higher, reaching 37 points.
Gyokko's Strength was lower than Gyutaro's as well. His stronger attributes were Agility and Spirit. He was clearly a more Blood Demon Art-dependent, caster-type member of the Twelve Kizuki.
No wonder Muichiro Tokito, the Mist Hashira, had been able to solo-kill Gyokko after awakening his Demon Slayer Mark in the original story. His vision had been obscured by the mist, he had failed to adapt to the Mist Hashira's sudden boost in strength, and then his head had been sliced off in one stroke.
If he had possessed the same level of durability as Upper Rank Four or above, then with the Mist Hashira's strength, perhaps his head would not have been severed in a single strike. He would have still had the ability to keep fighting.
Luke did not inspect Gyokko's skills in detail. On one hand, he had read the original story and understood Gyokko's abilities. On the other, he could not let his gaze linger in one place for too long. He had to stay on guard against Enmu's Blood Demon Art.
When he had read the original story, he had always thought this Lower Rank One's ability was incredibly powerful. He had even complained that Muzan's side never fought as a team, because this was clearly the perfect crowd-control skill for a team battle.
It could be said that if Enmu had still been around during the final battle, Muzan's side would have had almost no chance of losing. This control skill was simply too disgusting.
The enemy Explorers had assembled this lineup after clearly giving it plenty of thought. Luke had to admit that they were smart. This composition was difficult to handle.
If it were a one-on-one fight with Gyokko, Luke was confident he could kill him within a minute. But with Enmu to guard against, he needed to be much more vigilant during the fight, which made things troublesome.
"Kid, you're not as good-looking as that fellow just now. You can only be considered low-grade art."
Facing Luke's provocation, veins bulged on Gyokko's forehead. "I'll turn your head into a chamber pot!"
"Is that so? Looking as distinctive as you do and still showing your face in public takes some nerve. The pots you make look like garbage, yet you dare call yourself an artist?"
Luke spoke blandly, pointing at the pot beneath Gyokko. "The patterns on the two sides are obviously asymmetrical, aren't they?"
"What?!"
Gyokko flew into a rage, yet he still could not stop himself from lowering his head to inspect his pot, checking whether there really was some flaw or asymmetry.
"Lord Gyokko, be careful!"
An Explorer shouted a warning, afraid that Luke would seize this chance to launch a sneak attack. Worried that Gyokko might suffer a complete mental breakdown, he quickly added, "Your pot is perfect! He simply doesn't understand art!"
Yet Luke did not use the opportunity to sneak attack Gyokko. That did not mean he remained still.
Flash Step erupted under the enhancement of Thunder Breathing. Luke tore through the scorching air, and the gale generated by his extreme speed split apart the flames. He swung his blade at the neck of the Explorer who had looked up to flatter Gyokko.
Since his attention had been focused on Gyokko, and his own strength was mediocre to begin with, he could not react at all. In an instant, Luke took off his head.
[You have obtained 1,200 Endspace Coins.]
The notification sounded beside Luke's ear, but the gravity of the battlefield did not allow him to smile in delight. Gyokko's furious attack descended from above at the same time.
"You dared kill my kindred spirit!"
Gyokko attacked in a fury, activating Blood Demon Art: Ten Thousand Gliding Slime Fish—the technique that had once severely wounded the Sound Hashira. A mass of disgusting little fish with pointed mouths surged toward Luke.
At the same time, Gyokko shed his skin inside the pot. His body grew larger. The small hands growing from either side of his body vanished, replaced by proper arms connected to his torso. His lower body emerged from the pot and transformed into a fish tail, while clear, translucent scales covered his entire body.
Luke did not choose to take Gyokko's attack head-on. Instead, he used Thunder Breathing's speed advantage to evade. He stepped sideways, then sprang backward. His body flipped in midair until it was parallel with the ground, and his feet planted against the trunk of a large tree.
Large amounts of scorching steam poured through his clenched teeth. His Zanpakuto had long since entered Shikai, but his attributes were still rising.
Against an enemy's control-focused combination, he needed to end this quickly.
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