Douma's expression froze on his face.
His gaze swept over Haruto's twisting, healing flesh, then landed on his face.
"No scent of a demon, yet possessing recovery abilities comparable to a Lower Moon demon..."
Just as humans feel a sense of crisis from the depths of their hearts when they see primates, when Douma saw Haruto, who possessed recovery abilities like a demon, although he couldn't feel an emotion like "anxiety," an uncontrollable sense of crisis still surged into his heart.
His multicolored eyes narrowed slightly, and in an instant, his killing intent soared.
He no longer held the same playful attitude as before, waiting for the swordsmen to initiate the attack, but instead leaped forward quickly, the paired fans in his hands casting shadowy figures, spraying a large expanse of frozen powder crystals forward.
Blood Demon Art: Freezing Clouds!
However, Haruto's reaction speed was extremely fast; as Douma leaped forward, he had already sidestepped, raising his hand to follow up with a "Tear of Light," instantly closing in on Douma from behind.
So fast!
Douma's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly twisted his body.
The sleeves of his Western-style kimono swirled the frozen powder, and with a "whoosh," it splattered all over Haruto's face.
The frozen powder began to frost over as it touched Haruto's facial skin, and the extremely low-temperature blood began to cause frostbite on his face. Fortunately, Haruto reacted in time and closed his eyes, preventing the blood-frozen powder from entering his eyeballs.
"Swish—"
The swordsman's movements were not distorted by the frozen powder; he swept his nichirin blade across Douma's chest, leaving a deep gash.
The blood floating on the blade, as soon as Haruto broke through the demon's skin, seemed to come alive and drilled into Douma's wound, which had not yet had time to heal.
Haruto finally let out a slight sigh of relief, tapping his toes to create distance between them.
His face, covered in frozen powder, was numb at first, then became unbearably itchy.
Haruto turned to look at Kanae, whose eyes held a mix of surprise and worry: "The frostbite is festering... but it's healing. Are there any side effects?"
It seems so... Haruto felt his heart pounding fiercely, his mouth dry, his heart palpitating, and although the healing was accelerated, all the pain seemed to be magnified in his senses.
Although the palm that had been pierced earlier had healed, a surging stinging pain still emanated from it... Oh no, I haven't mutated, have I?
If he didn't die after this battle but turned into something else, he would lie at Tamayo's doorstep and insist she cure him!
Even if Yushiro glared at him until he was pierced through, he wouldn't leave!
Douma, opposite him, took two steps back and said somewhat unhappily, "It's always me who injects blood into others' bodies. Besides That Person, no one has ever dared to defile my body with blood~"
As he was speaking, his eyes suddenly flickered: "Eh? What amazing blood!"
Haruto no longer focused on his own body, letting out a muffled groan: "Strike while the iron is hot! I'll go forward and hold him off; you... find a chance to run. We're no match for him yet."
"Haruto-san!" Kanae exclaimed in a hurried whisper, as the white-haired swordsman shook his nichirin blade and leaped forward again.
"What amazing blood! Is it an illusion? Is it an illusion? I actually saw the beautiful young girl I ate the day before yesterday~"
Douma covered his head, laughing wildly, and lowered his head, seemingly completely oblivious to Haruto's attack.
"I've changed my mind, I've changed my mind! You should feel honored because you're the first man I've decided to eat!" He suddenly looked up, his paired fans opened, spinning around his palm, deflecting Haruto's nichirin blade: "What a wonderful taste! I will enjoy it thoroughly, sucking every last drop of fresh blood from you"
Perhaps the amount of blood was insufficient, or Douma's strength was too great, but the effect of Haruto's blood on him was negligible.
Kanae looked out of the house; the sky was turning white, and time was quietly slipping away in the one-sided battle.
Hold on... just a little longer—the sun will come out!
Haruto truly felt Douma's power as Upper Moon Two at this moment. Amidst the storm-like attacks and endless Blood Demon Arts, he felt like a small boat swaying in the center of a stormy ocean, liable to be overturned by Douma at any moment.
He had lost count of how many times his face had been brushed by the frozen powder, leading to numbness, pain, and then agonizing itching.
This rapid recovery ability seemed to drain the vitality from every cell in his body. What kind of medicine did Tamayo give him anyway!
Douma knew it was getting late. To kill this man, who for the first time made him salivate, before the sun rose, he sighed softly: "What a pity If you hadn't let me taste the sweetness of your fresh blood, I might have even left you a complete corpse"
He covered his face with his fan, smiling with narrowed eyes, a little embarrassed: "So, from now on, let's end these meaningless struggles~"
A chilling wind swept through the wooden house, and two ice lotus statues of young girls, carved from pure ice, appeared in the room.
Their facial features were like real people, and they spewed large amounts of cold mist from their mouths, almost turning the entire room into an ice hell.
Blood Demon Art: Winter Chill, White Princess!
Haruto's breath caught, and his entire body's movements slowed down.
So cold... I feel like my blood is about to freeze... "Oh my, oh my, don't rush, it's not over yet~" Douma chuckled, waving his fan. Countless icicles formed above Haruto and Kanae's heads, and with a swing of Douma's arm, they plunged down fiercely.
Can't... dodge!
Haruto forced his stiffening limbs to move, but found he couldn't evade the continuous attacks.
Going to die again?
This time, it's being pierced by ten thousand arrows?
Time almost stood still.
Heavy footsteps reached Haruto's ears, also causing Douma to look up.
A heavy whooshing sound rang out as a chain connecting a broad axe and a meteor hammer spun and crashed through the wall of the wooden house, rushing into the room.
The heavy weapon spun, shattering all the falling icicles, then struck one of the ice lotus statues of the young girls, grinding the statue into powder.
An unusually tall figure flew into the room, his sandbag-sized fist aiming straight for Douma's head!
Those eyes, unable to see but already perceiving the dangerous situation in the room, were now spewing flames of fury!
"Himejima!"
The newcomer was none other than Gyomei Himejima!
"How did you..."
"It's me, it's me!"
Sora circled in mid-air: "Haruto took the medicine when he left, and his eyes looked dangerous. I just had a feeling something was going to happen! Himejima-san happened to be not far from here, and thankfully, he made it!"
"Thank you!" Haruto exclaimed loudly.
Gyomei Himejima's strength was terrifying. Even though Douma dodged his fist, he swung back with another punch, shattering the other ice lotus statue of the young girl, and re-wrapped the thrown Nichirin "blade" around his hand.
Without the deceleration from Winter Chill, White Princess, Haruto re-gripped his nichirin blade and refocused his gaze on Douma.
A full moon rose from the demon's tricorn hat.
"What a pity!" Douma looked wistfully at the rising sun, and then said to Haruto pitifully, "Pillar-san, are you really not going to let me eat you? It's my first time wanting to eat a man... I definitely won't let you feel any pain~"
"Amitābha, what absurd statements, what pure evil, it almost makes one want to weep," Gyomei sighed, saying, "Let me smash your head in one go. I won't let you feel any pain."
Breath of the Stars... "You... I have no grudge against you, why are you so aggressive the moment we meet~"
Ninth Form... Douma sighed regretfully: "Well then... next time, if we meet again, Pillar-san, I won't hold back anymore~"
With a twist of the nichirin blade's tip, Haruto's muscles propelled his arm, swinging the nichirin blade to slash at Douma!
Eclipse!
Before the full moon disappeared!
Douma's expression remained unchanged. Before his iron fan clashed with the nichirin blade, a layer of frost attached itself to Haruto's nichirin blade.
"Clang!"
In the clash of metal against metal, the frosted nichirin blade became brittle, and when it touched the paired fan, it actually snapped in half!
The ricocheting broken blade grazed Haruto's cheek, embedding itself deeply into the wooden wall.
When he looked up again, Douma had already vanished into the pale sky.
Gyomei Himejima's face was solemn, and tears began to well up in his eyes again: "I'm sorry, I came too late..."
"No, we owe it to your timely appearance..." Kanae sat on the ground, drained of strength, and looked up at Haruto: "Haruto-san also... Haruto?"
Haruto stood there blankly, clutching the nichirin blade broken in two, his face as if struck by lightning.
It's over, it's really over.