Chapter 116: That Day, Muzan Once Again...
Muzan stared at the lightning-wreathed blade in the black-clad man's hand. Heat from the friction between lightning and air had turned the pitch-black blade red-hot. Then, through some peculiar ability, it had become a dark crimson, seeming even sharper and tougher than before.
The killing intent radiating from his opponent, along with the faint demonic howl issuing from that blade, made Muzan's scalp prickle. It felt as though he had returned to that night centuries ago.
The immense pressure made Muzan forget to counterattack. He instinctively tried to evade, but his opponent was too fast. Stunned into hesitation for a moment, he failed to dodge.
Like a hot knife through butter, the dark-red blade cut down from the side of Muzan's neck to his lower back, nearly splitting him in half!
"Aaaah—"
In pain and terror, Muzan screamed. He leaped back and unleashed countless blood-red thorny whips at Luke, while shouting as he retreated, "Nakime!"
As an exemplary employee, Nakime reacted immediately. She manipulated the Infinity Castle, opening a door at Muzan's location and transferring him farther away from Luke.
Seeing Muzan moved away, Luke flicked his blade clean, spraying Muzan's filthy blood across the floor in an elegant arc.
Lightning and dark-purple mist coiled around him, while he exhaled white, scorching vapor. Carried by the heated airflow, his hair and black clothes drifted faintly upward. To the countless vicious Demons in the Infinity Castle, he looked like an Asura Thunder God.
Luke flashed a row of stark-white teeth. "Demon King? That is all?"
From his new position above and to the side, Muzan stared at Luke warily. "Kill him!"
One hand clutching his neck, he laboriously forced the wound closed. Yet even after reconnecting his body, a scar remained. Worse, he could feel an eroding force inside him relentlessly destroying his cells, while the electrothermal force of Thunder Breathing lingered in his body.
Fear surged uncontrollably from the depths of his heart. Luke's existence reminded him of the man from centuries ago—the man who had cut him down so badly that he had needed to self-destruct to escape.
Damn it. Why had the Demon Slayer Corps produced another monster this dangerous?!
Fortunately, today was different from the past. He had stronger forces under his command. Yoriichi Tsugikuni's elder brother, Kokushibo, had joined his side and now served as Upper Rank One, protecting him. On top of that, they were fighting on his home ground, the Infinity Castle. The circumstances were far more favorable.
Muzan refused to admit that he could not defeat Luke. He believed Luke still did not pressure him as much as Yoriichi had. But when he had subordinates available, he had no desire to lower himself by fighting Luke personally—nor did he wish to take the risk.
"To actually dare attack Lord Muzan. You really are quite bold."
Before the cautious Doma even reached Luke's platform, he had already unleashed his Blood Demon Art. As the Infinity Castle trembled, an enormous crystalline ice Buddha, dozens of meters tall, rose up.
Blood Demon Art: Rime—Water Lily Bodhisattva!
The colossal Buddha pressed its palms together. Under Doma's control, it swung a chopping hand at Luke, while its mouth spewed vast quantities of ice crystals.
At the same time, the new Upper Rank Four, the Explorer Gale, made his move. His Blood Demon Art resembled that of Rui, the former Lower Rank Five. He used threads.
However, Gale's threads were even more concealed—completely transparent—and dozens of times tougher than Rui's. They were nearly impossible to guard against and far more dangerous in a chaotic battle.
Demons would be fine even if their bodies were severed. Everyone here was an Upper Rank, and regenerating from being cut apart took only an instant. But if Luke carelessly charged into these threads, he would be sliced apart, severely wounded, or even killed.
Gale first flicked his hand, laying down a transparent web throughout the space to keep Luke from running wild and continuing his pursuit of Muzan.
As Muzan's subordinate, Gale wanted to say that Muzan was being far too cowardly. But as the Demon King, Muzan held absolute control over them. No matter how displeased Gale was, he could not say it aloud.
Not only that, they had to ensure Muzan's survival. Once Muzan died, every Demon would die as well. Even being an Explorer would not exempt him.
Facing the attacks of the two Demons, Luke answered in a simple, brutal manner. Before Doma's ice crystals reached him, he drew in a deep breath. Then lightning erupted like a waterfall, and the heat carried by the current dispersed the ice crystals approaching him.
Having read the original story, Luke knew that inhaling those ice crystals would make breathing difficult and ultimately cause the alveoli in his lungs to die. He had to eliminate this support-type mage first.
The instant lightning burst outward, the ground beneath Luke's feet shattered. He became a streak of black interwoven with purple-gold light. Prison Demon slashed upward in reverse, first cutting apart Gale's invisible web before cleaving the enormous ice Buddha in two.
He was already before Doma. Yet Doma showed not the slightest fear. That false smile still hung on his face as he waved the two iron fans in his hands. Several ice vines entwined with ice lotuses appeared, binding themselves around Luke.
Blood Demon Art: Freezing Clouds!
At such close range, even Luke had nowhere to dodge. But he did not evade. Bound in the vines, he still forced himself one step forward through sheer brute strength, slashing at Doma's neck.
Doma hurriedly retreated, but having misjudged Luke's raw strength, he was a step too slow. Luke's blade cut across his neck.
Luke frowned. That slash had been slightly too shallow. Like an executioner's beheading stroke, it had not quite sent Doma's head falling; only a layer of skin still connected it to his body.
Doma clasped his head in both hands and pressed it tightly to his neck. By the time he leaped backward, the wound had already begun slowly closing.
He had not died, but Prison Demon's corrosive damage and the searing lightning damage from peak Thunder Breathing had both struck him. It took a great deal of his power to reconnect his head and body.
Luke flexed his muscles and completely burst apart the ice vines around him. The web Gale had woven dropped from overhead. Luke swung Prison Demon upward, and the blade-light shredded Gale's invisible threads as he charged at Doma again.
"Akaza, what are you doing?!"
Seeing the battle going badly, veins bulged across Muzan's forehead as he angrily berated Akaza. At the same time, he was also reminding Kokushibo, who had leaped onto the platform but had not moved.
Akaza, who had been watching the show, frowned slightly at the words but immediately sprang into action.
Neither he nor Kokushibo was slow. In fact, they had arrived at this upper platform even before Doma. Yet neither of them had made a move right away.
Akaza had two reasons for watching. First, he considered Luke a powerful martial artist. He did not want to win through a group assault; he wanted a one-on-one duel. To him, that was an honorable fight.
A group of Demons ganging up on one man was far too dishonorable. It was not something a true powerhouse should do.
As for the second reason... he simply disliked Doma. Seeing that Luke might kill Doma, he could not be bothered to save him.
Kokushibo's reasons for watching were much the same. He felt that Luke was the strongest human of this era, someone akin to his younger brother. He wanted to duel Luke one-on-one. If he defeated Luke, then in some sense, he would fulfill his dream and prove that his own path had been right.
Back then, he had willingly become a Demon just to surpass his younger brother. Yet when his brother was nearly dead of old age, he had almost been killed by a single slash. His brother had simply stood there and died of old age, remaining the eternal victor. It had tormented Kokushibo deeply.
For all these years, he had continued striving to become stronger, wanting to prove that he had surpassed his younger brother. Unfortunately, he had never had the chance to verify it. After all, he and Muzan were more or less partners, even if they were also superior and subordinate. It would hardly do to use Muzan as a measuring stick by cutting him down.
But seeing Luke unleash such power today, the fire in Kokushibo's heart, dormant for years, burned hot again. He wanted to use Luke to test the fruits of his training.
But now the boss was panicking and shouting orders. Though Muzan had respectfully not called Kokushibo out by name, he was clearly expressing his displeasure.
Left with no choice, Kokushibo stepped forward, preparing to act.
Akaza reached Luke's back first, and in a display of remarkably fair martial etiquette, shouted, "Take this!"
As he shouted, a twelve-pointed snowflake pattern appeared on the ground: his Blood Demon Art, Destructive Death: Compass Needle.
Like a compass, this Blood Demon Art sensed an opponent's fighting spirit, making Akaza's attacks and evasions as precise as if drawn by a magnet. The stronger his opponent's fighting spirit, the stronger the Compass Needle's response—and the greater its power and accuracy.
At that moment, Akaza could clearly sense Luke's movements and even anticipate the direction of his next attack.
He assumed a standard martial arts opening stance, power flowing smoothly through his entire body before converging in his right fist. Then he threw a punch at Luke.
Given Luke's strength, Akaza used his most destructive technique from the outset: Destructive Death: Annihilation Type!
At that instant, Luke slashed Doma in half at the waist again. Sensing Akaza's attack behind him, Luke twisted sideways and threw a backward punch with his left hand, meeting Akaza's fist.
Boom!
Where their fists collided, it was as though an explosion had occurred. The shockwave surged in every direction, even halting the threads descending toward Luke's head for an instant.
With his left hand exchanging blows while turned sideways, Luke brought Prison Demon down in his right hand, directly beheading the bisected Doma.
"Oh? I was beheaded? Am I going to die?"
Doma's head still wore its false smile as it flew through the air. Without any fear of death, he spoke at an even, unhurried pace.
Propelled by the shockwave from Luke and Akaza's clash, his head flew away and struck the ground. His eyes gradually lost focus, and at last, all life left them.
Only a few dozen seconds had passed since the battle began, yet Doma, Upper Rank Two, had already been slain by Luke. This fact stunned the countless Demons inside the Infinity Castle and terrified the Explorers even more.
Although only several Upper Ranks were currently participating in the assault on Luke, all the remaining Explorers in this world had been summoned by Muzan to the Infinity Castle. There were also several new Lower Ranks and two new Upper Ranks.
They had initially thought that luring Luke into the Infinity Castle meant catching a turtle in a jar. But now, they seriously suspected that Luke had been waiting all along for an opportunity to enter the Infinity Castle.
The finest hunters often appear in the guise of prey. Luke had walked into this trap of his own accord!
"Kokushibo!"
Seeing Doma killed so cleanly, the chill down Muzan's spine deepened. He could no longer bear it and directly shouted Kokushibo's name.
Kokushibo did not reply, but his actions gave an answer.
His figure blurred. With one step forward, he arrived before Luke. He lowered his body, one hand gripping the scabbard and the other the hilt, assuming an iai stance.
All six eyes locked onto Luke, who had just killed Doma. Kokushibo had not wanted to do something as degrading as joining a group assault, but Muzan was clearly panicking. Since he was the boss, Kokushibo had to indulge him.
As his blade left its sheath, moonlight flowed like water. A massive crescent slash swept toward Luke's midsection. It happened in the blink of an eye. Luke had just killed Doma and had not yet withdrawn his blade, still maintaining the stance of his fist clash with Akaza.
Under the collision of their fists, Akaza felt an overwhelming force surge toward him amid the roar. It even carried along the force he had originally thrown out, like a tsunami swallowing a feeble wave.
In a single instant, the right arm he had used to clash fists with Luke began disintegrating from the fist onward. His knuckle bones were pulverized, while the skin twisted and burst apart inch by inch beneath that spiraling force, becoming chunks of blood and flesh that scattered in every direction.
That force continued traveling upward. Even after the bones and flesh of his entire arm were destroyed, its remaining momentum was not exhausted. The leftover force passed into his whole body and sent him flying backward.
And at that moment, Kokushibo's blade arrived. Luke struggled to turn Prison Demon in his right hand, blocking it before his waist at an awkward vertical angle.
Because he had rushed to defend, and because Kokushibo's combat skill was not much weaker than his while their attributes were nearly equal, Luke's blade was forced back against his waist, striking his body.
Kokushibo's six eyes were cold and merciless. In the instant sparks flew, the blade in his hand vanished and reappeared. Beneath the glow of one crescent after another, the second slash arrived at once.
Moon Breathing, Third Form: Loathsome Moon—Chains!
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