The Coward demon was an expert at playing the victim and begging for mercy. He did this either to annoy Jigoro with his endless prattle or to solicit sympathy from the soft-hearted Zenitsu with his pitiful act.
To cut the problem off at the source, Horitake simply wrenched the Coward's jaw off, rendering him mute.
As he dislocated the jaw, Horitake infused the wound with a trace of his own lightning, ensuring the bone and tissue could not regenerate.
With that, the problem was solved. He grinned and handed the Coward over to Jigoro.
Jigoro accepted Hantengu's main body—now the size of a mere mouse. He noticed that while the creature was struggling, its strength was pathetic, which allowed him to relax.
"Don't worry. I'll make sure to keep this thing secure."
"Good. Stinky old man, make sure you don't let him die. I have a lot of things I need to interrogate him about later. Besides, having Hantengu alive is quite useful to us."
"Understood."
On the ground nearby, Zenitsu finally snapped out of his daze. He jumped to his feet, pumping his fist excitedly at Horitake.
"Big Brother! Do your best! You have to kill those demons!"
"Don't worry, I won't let them off the hook," Horitake replied, his tone darkening slightly. "Using you two to threaten me... that crossed my bottom line. I'm going to give them a very special reception."
While they were speaking, the three demon clones in the distance had recovered their senses. Desperate to save the main body, they began a mad dash toward the group.
Horitake turned his head, his eyes filled with cold indifference.
Purple arcs of electricity flickered around his body as he exploded into motion, charging straight at the three demons with blinding speed.
I can't let you three get over there. You want to save the Coward? Don't even think about it!
Sekido, leading the charge, looked up just in time to see a bolt of purple thunder rushing toward him.
Horitake was moving so fast that Sekido couldn't even see his physical form—only the streak of lightning that encased him.
But seeing him clearly didn't matter; finding the target was enough!
Sekido roared, his khakkhara staff crackling with electricity. He thrust it forward, unleashing a torrent of lightning to intercept the incoming purple streak!
Horitake didn't even flinch at the lightning-clad staff swinging his way.
Whether it was the lightning generated by Sekido or the Thunder Breathing techniques used by Jigoro, they were merely "Ordinary Thunder." They couldn't hold a candle to his "Heavenly Thunder."
Horitake flashed directly in front of Sekido. Watching the staff descend, his hand flickered with purple light as he simply tapped the weapon with one finger.
Just as expected—Ordinary Thunder meeting Heavenly Thunder was like snow meeting boiling water. It melted away instantly.
With just that one tap, the lightning on Sekido's staff vanished.
Before Sekido could process what had happened, Horitake spun, his leg wreathed in thunder, and delivered a roundhouse kick that sent Sekido flying back the way he came!
Karaku seized the opening to attack. He raised his leaf fan and swung it violently at Horitake, sending a massive, concentrated blast of gale-force wind screaming toward him.
It had to be said—this extreme wind pressure was excellent for both crowd control and direct offense.
Although Horitake wasn't afraid of the wind, being hit by it would still slow him down and waste time.
The purple arcs around Horitake's body flared. In a blur, he sidestepped the blast zone entirely, flashing to Karaku's side. He threw a punch wrapped in violet lightning, slamming it squarely into Karaku's right eye!
Karaku shrieked, clutching his eye socket as the force of the blow launched him into the air!
With a furious roar, Hatred—the last remaining clone—lunged forward. Relying on his massive frame and immense strength, he intended to simply ram Horitake out of the way!
His goal was clear: he didn't need to defeat Horitake; he just needed to knock him aside.
If Horitake was displaced, Hatred could use his full speed to rush Jigoro, snatch the Coward, and then either flee or take hostages.
Horitake sneered, seeing right through Hatred's plan.
Did the demon really think he would let that happen?
Instead of dodging, Horitake charged straight at Hatred, intending to meet the demon head-on in a contest of raw physical force!
Hatred watched Horitake rushing toward him and felt a surge of disbelief.
This guy's speed is terrifying, I've seen that already. But his strength? It can't be that high.
Just look at his small frame! And he plans to collide with me?!
He's practically looking for death!
Roaring, Hatred braced himself and slammed forward!
Hatred's body was huge and imposing, radiating pressure. Horitake's physique was athletic and well-proportioned, but he certainly didn't look like a heavyweight. The collision seemed visually unfair.
And yet...
BOOM!
A dull, thunderous sound erupted as man and demon collided.
The force of the impact was so great that a semi-transparent shockwave blasted out from the center, uprooting and overturning several nearby peach trees!
Contrary to Hatred's expectations, he did not send Horitake flying!
In that moment of impact, Hatred felt as though he had slammed into a massive, onrushing millstone. Although the opponent was small, his power was astonishing!
Hatred was left dizzy and breathless by the recoil.
How could Horitake, with such an ordinary physique, win a contest of strength against Hatred's giant form?
It all came down to physical constitution.
Hatred might be big, but his density and muscle quality were far inferior to Horitake's.
Take Mitsuri Kanroji, for example. Her constitution was legendary—eight times the muscle density of a normal human. In the original stories, she had even torn off one of Muzan's arms with her bare hands.
But Horitake? Ever since mastering his lightning control, he had been using electricity to stimulate and activate his cells, tempering his body relentlessly over time.
Horitake's current physical constitution was now significantly stronger than even Mitsuri's.
With a body tougher than the Love Hashira's, slamming into Hatred—who was essentially just a big bag of air and flesh—it was no surprise that Horitake won the collision.
Seeing Hatred reeling and dazed, Horitake showed no mercy. He dashed forward instantly.
He grabbed the sharp horns on Hatred's head and violently yanked the demon's head downward!
At the same time, Horitake drove his knee upward, wreathed in lightning, delivering a brutal knee strike directly to Hatred's face!
CRACK!
Hatred's face met Horitake's knee with a sickening crunch.
The demon screamed as his nose collapsed completely, turning into a bloody mess.
This blow upgraded Hatred's condition from "dizzy" to "severe concussion."
Still gripping the horns, Horitake swung the demon around and hurled him through the air, sending him in the exact same direction as the other two.
And so, the trio was reunited.
Sekido had crashed, kicked back to the starting line.
Karaku had crashed, punched back to the starting line.
Hatred had crashed, thrown back to the starting line, bloody and bewildered.
The fate of the three clones was miserable, each worse than the last.
Sekido sat on the ground, clutching his cracked sternum, gasping for air as he tried to recover.
Karaku sat beside him, covering a blackened "panda eye" that refused to heal, looking utterly depressed.
Hatred was in the worst shape, rolling on the ground and clutching his caved-in, bloody nose.
Karaku, still holding his eye, pointed a trembling finger at the approaching Horitake. His voice was a mix of shock and horror:
"You... you're not human!
Since when do Demon Slayers brawl physically with demons? And how did you actually win?!
You are simply not human!"
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