The purple mist stirred up by Prison Demon mingled with the white vapor Luke exhaled, rising toward the full moon overhead.
Illuminated by the firelight, Gyokko and the other Demons could clearly see dark-purple demonic markings appearing across Luke's skin. The markings spread over his body and climbed his masculine face, lending him an extra touch of sinister menace.
Though the Demons stood amid a sea of flames, they felt a bone-chilling cold that made them tremble.
Secret Technique: Demon God activated. Luke's primary combat attributes soared, with both Strength and Agility reaching 35 points!
His legs exploded with force, and Luke launched from the tree trunk like a cannonball, charging straight at Gyokko.
Logically, in a group fight, the support should be killed first. But Enmu's Blood Demon Art was troublesome. Charging him recklessly could get Luke caught by it. Gyokko's Blood Demon Art, on the other hand, was powerful but had flaws.
If Luke simply did not treat Enmu as his target, he could avoid meeting his gaze. Once he killed every other Demon, he could deal with Enmu afterward. With Enmu left alone, even a powerful control skill would become useless.
Enmu had no offensive power. His attacks would have a hard time breaking Luke's defense.
"Enmu, use your art!"
Gyokko shouted as well. Luke's outward transformation had clearly made him feel a lethal threat.
That speed and strength had already surpassed even him, an inhuman Demon. If Luke got close, Gyokko had no doubt his head would be severed in an instant.
Boom—
The enormous octopus appeared again. Gyokko used his Blood Demon Art, Octopus Vase Hell, placing it before himself as a living shield.
At the same time, he had completed his molt. Once free of his pot, both his speed and power rose somewhat. This was one of the rare occasions when he fought seriously.
He positioned the octopuses from Octopus Vase Hell in front of himself, then unleashed Thousand Needle Fish Kill to seal off the air above him. If Luke tried to leap over, Gyokko would turn him into a sieve in midair.
His mind was stretched to its limit. Sweat beaded on his forehead as his eyes darted rapidly.
Which direction will you attack from?
Before he could finish that thought, however, the several enormous octopuses ahead of him had already been sliced into hundreds of pieces.
A figure like a demon god strode through the sea of fire and rain of blood. Luke had never considered taking another route. He had always preferred breaking through head-on!
Gyokko had no time to be horrified. He immediately pulled out ten pots, and innumerable sharp-mouthed catfish surged out like a flood, intending to rip Luke's flesh apart through sheer density of attack.
Yet Luke's stride did not pause in the slightest, nor did he turn to evade. Lightning flashed around his body in an instant, and a tidal wave of electricity surged backward, grinding every small fish Gyokko had released into pieces.
With his current attributes, bolstered by Flash Step and Thunder Breathing, Luke was truly as fast as lightning. Prison Demon cleaved through Gyokko's tide of fish and slashed upward toward Gyokko's vital point.
Whoosh—
Gyokko abruptly vanished. At the critical moment, he dove into a pot once more, using his Blood Demon Art to transfer himself into another pot and relocate.
Still shaken, he looked back to see whether the Water Prison Pot he had released before transferring had worked. All he saw was viscous liquid scattering in every direction.
Luke did not seem surprised by Gyokko's transfer. His momentum did not stop. Riding his forward charge, he swung once and beheaded an Explorer standing not far behind Gyokko.
"No, he's too fast! Lord Gyokko, work with me!"
The strange blissful smile vanished from Lower Rank One Enmu's face, replaced by tension and excitement.
As a Lower Rank, his raw strength naturally could not compare to an Upper Rank's. Even though Lord Muzan had bestowed new blood upon him a few days ago, his physical toughness was still far inferior to an Upper Rank's.
The only thing he could truly rely on was his Blood Demon Art. He was confident that even the strongest Hashira would definitely fall asleep if caught by it.
During the gap before they sensed the killing intent and awoke, Gyokko would already have more than enough time to kill Luke.
But Gyokko had no spirit of teamwork. As a fragile Demon, he naturally could not charge right up to Luke to use his Blood Demon Art. Luke might simply close his eyes and kill him anyway.
Tactically, Gyokko should have stood in line with Enmu, blocking Luke from him. Then, as long as Gyokko dodged or entered a pot using his Blood Demon Art to transfer away, Enmu would be able to meet Luke's gaze.
Enmu did not believe Luke could close his eyes or shift his gaze in that instant. Before then, if Luke wanted to kill Gyokko, he would have to keep his eyes fixed on Gyokko's movements and respond to his attacks.
But Gyokko seemed to have panicked. Luke had first enraged him, then made him somewhat fearful of battle, leaving their side entirely on the defensive.
The sound of air tearing rang out. Burning leaves scattered through the forest like crimson butterflies, flying higher into the sky after the man blasted past.
Luke's hunt did not stop. Gyokko's Blood Demon Art had respectable damage and a broad range, but Luke was now incredibly fast. Gyokko's Blood Demon Art was decent for passive defense, but it had difficulty keeping pace with him.
In the blink of an eye, three Explorers died by his hand. Only those farther away narrowly escaped with their lives.
"Gather around Lord Enmu!"
The Explorer named Aro shouted, calling the remaining people together. At a time like this, they had to stick together. They could not count on that brainless Gyokko. They could only save themselves.
He had noticed that Luke was carefully avoiding Enmu's gaze during combat. Thus, he instinctively avoided charging toward Enmu's position. Their only chance to survive was to surround Enmu.
As for attacking, their attributes were far too far below Luke's. Getting close meant instant death. If they had ranged attacks, they could at least harass him, but the few Explorers with ranged skills had all just been cut down by Luke.
"Damn it, how dare you look down on me!"
Seeing Luke completely shake off his Blood Demon Art and hunt down the Demons in the field who appreciated his art, Gyokko's fury overwhelmed his fear. When Luke passed one of the hidden pots he had planted, Gyokko transferred instantly.
He burst from underground, slipping out at incredible speed as his claw reached for Luke's heart.
His hand was covered in a peculiar power that could turn anything it touched into a fish. This was his God's Hand ability.
In terms of raw offensive power, he admitted he could not match a violent Thunder Breathing swordsman like Luke. But if he could touch Luke, he would strip away his flesh. If he touched a vital point, he could kill him in a single blow!
Thud—
Amid the dull impact and Gyokko's stunned gaze, Luke's left elbow and knee slammed together from above and below, trapping Gyokko's wrist. God's Hand could not advance another inch, stopping mere centimeters before Luke's heart.
Luke's immense strength crushed the bones in his wrist to powder. Even with a Demon's rapid regeneration, Gyokko could not recover while subjected to that crushing pressure.
Gyokko could not understand it. Luke had clearly not noticed the location of his hidden pot. Gyokko had launched the ambush at extreme speed first, while Luke had been charging just a moment ago. How could he possibly have reacted!?
But the truth was right before him. Luke had not only reacted—he had crippled Gyokko's hand.
He had no time to think. He yanked backward with all his strength and tore off his own hand, because he could feel that hesitation would mean death.
Sure enough, although he activated his Blood Demon Art in time and transferred through a pot, Luke still sliced off a row of the little hands on his body.
If he had been even a fraction slower, his head might already have been off his neck.
This brief exchange immediately cleared Gyokko's mind. He knew that he could not deal with Luke alone. He had to coordinate with Lower Rank One and use Enmu's mental control art to send Luke into a dream.
As soon as he emerged from another pot, he pulled out a new pot and threw it toward Enmu's position. That way, he could use his transfer art to escape to Enmu's side next time.
Bang—
To Gyokko's shock and fury, his pot exploded halfway through its flight. Luke had not leaped up to intercept it. Instead, a long black gun appeared in his hand as he ran, and with a casual swing, the pot in the sky exploded.
And while shooting apart the pot, Luke's steps did not slow. He reached Gyokko's true body and brought his blade down again.
Gyokko vanished, while the pot beneath his feet was cleaved apart by Luke's blade.
Luke stopped and frowned. He felt as though he had put too much pressure on Gyokko, to the point that the Demon was no longer getting arrogant or reckless.
A Blood Demon Art that let him transfer from pot to pot was undeniably an incredible survival skill. In the original story, the Mist Hashira had questioned Gyokko's art. Enraged, Gyokko had arrogantly molted and tried to brawl with the Mist Hashira, only to fail to react amid the mist and get beheaded in a single slash.
But now, Gyokko apparently was not being reckless at all. Whenever Luke came for him, he transferred through a pot. Luke had no idea how many pots Gyokko had hidden across the mountain. It would be far too troublesome if he had to smash every last pot before he could catch him.
Luke took a deep breath and expelled the stale air, forcing his mind to calm down. This was not the time to rush. Overcommitting would make it easy to get caught. He would clear out the Explorers first.
Gyokko and Enmu's greatest mistake in this fight was their complete failure to protect the Explorers. In Luke's view, compared with the Twelve Kizuki whose abilities he already knew, Explorers capable of pulling out strange items at any time were the greater threat.
"You brat who cannot appreciate art, do you understand the gap in speed between us now? You cannot touch me."
Gyokko transferred to a position slightly closer to Enmu and taunted him.
He was not a stupid Demon. Other than him, no one present could survive after facing Luke directly. Enmu's words had made him realize that, in this situation, even the weak Demons in his eyes could be useful, because they could serve as Enmu's shield.
As long as they clustered around Enmu and blocked him from sight, Luke would not know where Enmu was looking and could not act rashly.
And if the fight became one of endurance, the Demons would definitely have the advantage. Human stamina had limits, while they could keep going for an extremely long time.
"A gap in speed?"
Luke tilted his head. Lightning coiled around his body, and his hair stood on end under the current, as though the god of thunder had descended.
In the next instant, his foot drove down. Dirt burst upward like a massive water lily blooming, while flaming leaves spiraled through the air, swept up by a whirlwind like a raging dragon tearing through the woods.
A streak of lightning pierced through. Even Gyokko did not clearly see Luke's figure. By the time Luke's silhouette solidified again, two more heads were already flying through the air.
Of the four Explorers who had been standing beside Enmu, two fell. Only then did Enmu turn his head a beat too late, his gaze trying to catch Luke, but seeing only Luke's back.
Aro and Xiaolian stood at Enmu's side, their bodies trembling uncontrollably. In that instant, they had felt as though they had brushed past death itself.
They had survived only because they stood on the inner side. Had they been standing on the other side, they would likely have shared the fate of those two Explorers.
Gyokko had already charged in, intending to entangle Luke with his Blood Demon Art. Sweat also beaded on Enmu's forehead as he frantically considered how to control Luke.
He was not as strong as Gyokko, but he was smarter and saw the situation more clearly. Gyokko's Blood Demon Art was not limitless. Summoning enormous octopuses and the like to hinder Luke consumed considerable energy every time. Eventually, he would tire and make a mistake.
At this rate, Enmu believed Gyokko would be defeated within three minutes. After that, only death awaited them.
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