Boom—
Amid an ear-splitting roar, a massive boulder several meters tall exploded into fragments. Dragged by its chain, the spiked flail swept toward the figure standing in a nearby tree.
The chain's midpoint was gripped in a broad, powerful hand, while its other end extended back to a battle axe linked to the chain.
The towering man swung the flail with his left hand and leaped with his battle axe in his right, using the flail's pulling force to propel himself forward as he brought the axe down upon his opponent.
The axe collided with a pitch-black blade, throwing off dazzling sparks. The force of the clash sent both fighters flying backward. They landed, slid a distance across the ground, then steadied themselves.
Gyomei Himejima reeled in his flail. Only after coming to a stop did fine beads of sweat trickle down his forehead, while the earthy yellow patterns across his body gradually faded.
"No matter how many times I try it, I cannot help but marvel at the power of this secret technique. For Luke to have developed something like this, he truly is a genius of his generation."
Over the past two months, all nine Hashira had learned [Demon God] under Luke's training.
Gyomei felt that the name of the secret technique was perfectly fitting. It granted a person power surpassing that of Demons; it could practically be called a divine art.
He had already possessed a unique physique blessed with natural strength. After years of training with Stone Breathing, his body had become even more powerful, far surpassing that of the other Hashira.
After using Luke's [Demon God] secret technique, his strength became even greater—so great that it sometimes gave him the illusion that there was nothing he could not do.
"It was merely a little trick I worked out before I learned Breathing Styles. As long as it can help everyone, that is enough."
Luke smiled. It was not exactly a lie. He really had created [Demon God] before learning a Breathing Style.
The nine Hashira truly were extraordinarily gifted, and their learning ability was second to none. The [Demon God] technique Luke taught each of them had been slightly adjusted to fit their individual circumstances.
Moreover, the nine Hashira possessed formidable powers of deduction. In just over two months, they had not only learned how to use [Demon God], but also adapted and refined it based on their own traits, molding it into a form best suited to themselves.
That was why the Stone Hashira's body had manifested those earthy yellow patterns, unlike the demonic markings that appeared on Luke's own body.
"I have heard that Demon activity outside has also decreased. It may be because of that girl, Nezuko. We should remain vigilant. Muzan Kibutsuji may be preparing to take the initiative and attack us."
The Stone Hashira looked worried. Remembering the moving story of Tanjiro and Nezuko, tears began flowing down his face again.
"I have discussed that with the Master. Miss Tamayo's drug research is progressing quickly. She may be able to turn Nezuko back into a human within the next few days, but the Master and I believe we should delay that progress slightly."
Luke had been quite busy within the Demon Slayer Corps these last two months.
Borrowing the way his roommate Sosuke Aizen thought, Luke believed that when they were outnumbered by the enemy, they needed to unite their internal strength and improve the overall caliber of the Demon Slayer Corps' side.
So rather than recklessly rushing ahead, he had first focused on enhancing the Demon Slayer Corps' strength. At the same time, he could use this period to further improve his own attributes through training.
Restricted by this world's nature, the atmospheric Reishi concentration in the world of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba was not particularly high. Therefore, Luke could not gain any significant improvement by using Soul Society's Spiritual Pressure training methods. Fortunately, Breathing Styles produced remarkable self-improvement effects in this world, and his attributes had changed dramatically over the last two months.
Muzan's faction appeared to have the advantage in baseline combat power and Explorer numbers, but this world had one condition that greatly favored Luke: the extended stay duration.
Unlike the Kengan world, his mission time in this world was a full three months. Just as in the world of Bleach, he could use that time to train and further strengthen himself.
Of course, this approach would be useless for ordinary Explorers. Luke possessed the [Limiter Release] talent, making it easier for him to improve. That was why he could profit from time itself. Even if normal Explorers could stay longer, at most they would only manage to learn a Breathing Style within two months.
At present, Luke's attributes in his normal state, without using a Breathing Style, were as follows.
[Pioneer No. 008, your unequipped attributes are as follows (including title bonuses):]
Constitution: 33 (+2)
Strength: 30 (+3)
Agility: 30 (+4)
Spirit: 32 (+2)
Charm: 6
Luck: 1
Luke had already trained his Breathing Style to the level of Total Concentration Breathing: Constant. Even while sleeping, he continued training and further improving his physique.
In theory, once someone reached this realm, their physical capabilities would rapidly improve. Yet for someone like Luke, who possessed [Limiter Release], the gains were not quite as dramatic as he had expected.
Luke guessed that this was mainly because first-tier Explorers had an attribute threshold. He could clearly feel a barrier once an attribute reached 30. The barrier was not particularly solid, but crossing it was still somewhat difficult.
Constitution had been his first attribute to break past 30, but that had been thanks to a title bonus rather than something he had attained through his own training.
Over these two months, he had performed extensive physical training while maintaining Total Concentration Breathing: Constant, yet his Constitution had only barely risen by two points. That was because the barrier stood in his way.
His Strength and Agility had improved much more noticeably because they had initially been lower, but they had both been stuck at 30 for two weeks now.
As for his Spirit, he still had the meditation method he learned in the world of Bleach to thank. After all, it was a technique from a high-powered battle anime, so it had allowed him to cross the barrier with ease.
Besides his improved attributes, Luke had not neglected his Armament Haki training. Although his progress in comprehending it had slowed after level ten, he had still gained two more levels. His Armament Haki was now level twelve.
Compared to two months ago, Luke had undergone a complete transformation. If he fought now, using a Breathing Style to further enhance himself and then combining it with [Demon God], his stats would become utterly outrageous.
He believed that based on attributes alone, he could crush every Demon below Upper Rank Two. Unfortunately, he still had not found Muzan to test his blade on.
If Muzan had been ruthless enough to gather all his forces and surround Luke two months ago, Luke felt that he would most likely have been in serious danger. But now, that was another question entirely. He felt that even alone, he could take down every Upper Rank.
Of course, Luke was not blindly overconfident. The Explorers on the other side would not have spent those two months sitting around either. They would have made their own preparations and improvements.
"Delay it? Why? Hasn't Tanjiro always wanted his sister to become human again?"
The Stone Hashira was puzzled by Luke's words.
"Because we hope Nezuko's existence will draw Muzan out. We are human; our time is limited. Muzan, however, has an extremely long life. If he truly hides and never shows himself again, then after our generation of powerful swordsmen dies, Muzan may terrorize the world for hundreds, perhaps even thousands, more years."
Luke explained, "When we have the ability to solve a problem, we should not leave that problem for those who come after us."
He and the Master had discussed it already. They intended to reveal Nezuko's ability to overcome sunlight to the outside world. Once that happened, Muzan would certainly be unable to resist coming after them.
Because Luke knew the plot so well, he had been guiding Tamayo's research direction from the beginning. He had also suggested that Nezuko try gradually adapting to sunlight.
Unlike the original story, Nezuko had overcome sunlight gradually through staged attempts. It was not like the Swordsmith Village arc, where she was thrown into the deep end and would have died if she failed. And since those experiments were conducted under the Demon Slayer Corps' protection, no other Demons had learned of them. Muzan therefore did not know that a Demon capable of overcoming sunlight had appeared.
They had continually changed their hiding places over this period, and their secrecy had been excellent. As a result, the enemy could not have anticipated the tremendous growth in the Hashira's strength.
The opposing Explorers might at most guess that the Hashira were learning to awaken Demon Slayer Marks or enter the Transparent World. They would never imagine that the Hashira had learned a technique that was both more powerful and far less costly.
That was why Luke believed the timing was now ripe. They had the foundation needed for a decisive battle against Muzan's faction.
"Luke is right. We should not leave this problem to future generations. Heaven must have given us bodies this powerful so that we could end this chain of tragedy."
The Stone Hashira burst into tears as he spoke and began chanting, "Namu Amida Butsu."
At that moment, a Kasugai Crow flew down from the sky. "Fifty ri to the west, a Demon suspected to be one of the Twelve Kizuki has appeared! Several Demon Slayer Corps members have already died! Requesting that two Hashira proceed to deal with it!"
Luke's spirits lifted at once. This was the first time recently that he had heard news of a suspected Twelve Kizuki.
He did not know what Muzan's faction intended, but while all nine Hashira had remained hidden, the Twelve Kizuki on the other side had barely acted either. Luke had gone out to slay Demons several times and had not caught even a trace of the Twelve Kizuki.
Yet now the Kasugai Crow reported that one might have appeared. This meant the other side was becoming restless as well. They might be probing them, or it might be a carefully laid trap.
"I will go. All my sparring sessions scheduled for today have already ended."
The Stone Hashira spoke. He and Luke took turns sparring with the other Hashira, but for some reason, no one particularly liked sparring with Gyomei for extended periods. His sessions ended quickly, whereas the Thunder Hashira's instructional sparring took longer.
"No. Gyomei, you stay here and hold down the fort for the Demon Slayer Corps."
Luke's expression was serious. "I have a feeling this incident is unusual."
"You think it may be a trap? That the enemy has already prepared for us? Then it would be best for us to go together."
The Stone Hashira thought for a moment before replying.
Luke shook his head. "You excel at protecting others. This place needs your protection. My mobility is better, and I can adapt to whatever happens. I should go alone."
Luke had his own considerations in making this arrangement. The Stone Hashira was indeed very strong, and he had grown even stronger after learning [Demon God], but he was still a little behind Luke.
If Luke encountered a situation he could not handle, the Stone Hashira would not be able to offer much help either. On the other hand, if the Stone Hashira left too, the enemy could easily strike their base.
The incident was only fifty ri from their current training grounds. The distance was too suspicious, and Luke could not help thinking that the enemy had already located their headquarters.
Once their strongest fighters left, the rear could be massacred outright. Muzan possessed the Infinity Castle, giving him absolute initiative when it came to mobility.
They could completely wipe out everyone in the rear while Luke and the Stone Hashira were away, then return through the Infinity Castle to surround the two of them.
After pondering it for a moment, the Stone Hashira understood Luke's meaning. "Then be careful. If anything happens, call for support immediately."
Luke nodded and left directly, though he did not head straight for the scene. Instead, he went to find the Master and Tamayo.
At Luke's suggestion, even Shinobu Kocho and Miss Tamayo had remained with the main group at all times. Their core strength had never been split apart.
Tamayo was researching and mixing medicines when Luke suddenly arrived. She was somewhat surprised. "Mr. Luke? Has your training ended for the day?"
"It is not yet time for my sparring sessions with the Wind Hashira and Mist Hashira, but circumstances have changed. I need to go out for a while. Just in case, I came to explain two things first."
Luke now possessed extremely high prestige within the Demon Slayer Corps. Not only was he the sole Hashira to have killed Upper Ranks, but he had personally instructed all nine Hashira and several Tsuguko in [Demon God].
A breakthrough technique that could massively increase combat power held a status nearly equal to Breathing Styles themselves. It was like Yoriichi Tsugikuni teaching Breathing Styles to Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen centuries ago.
Therefore, all nine Hashira respected Luke greatly. Even the Wind Hashira, who had initially disliked Luke, had now become a full-blown tsundere.
With the nine Hashira's respect and the Master's special authorization, Luke had considerable influence within the Demon Slayer Corps. He could enter any area freely, and he frequently monitored and guided Tamayo and Shinobu's experimental progress.
Well, Luke did not understand research at all. But because he knew the plot, he could provide ideas and directions for their research.
"Please tell me, Mr. Luke."
Tamayo sensed Luke's seriousness as well. She felt that he was about to do something dangerous.
"It may merely be a coincidence, but I believe Muzan may already have found this place. Therefore, I hope you will take the medicine you developed earlier, Miss Tamayo."
Comments (0)
Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register