Chapter 282: Gravity Blade: Rising Dragon x The Final Kick
Underneath those sharp old eyes, a gaze as fierce as a hawk and a wolf shot directly toward the ground. The green Nen aura flowed like a highly responsive "healing spring," tracking down and surging toward every single injury on Roy's body.
It isn't Kaidō.
Kaidō was not this fast, nor was it this flexible; it ultimately required the user's will and an advance incantation to manifest.
A method like the boy's—which required no incantation and allowed for completely autonomous healing—manifested a far higher degree of utility and operational flexibility than Kaidō. The therapeutic effects were plainly visible!
Three breaths passed.
On the ground, right beside the humanoid crater Roy had smashed into, the boy stood tall and solitary. His back was straight, his caved-in chest had completely flattened out, and he reached out to pinch a wisp of Nen aura, transforming it into a water style technique that he splashed over himself.
The dust on his body vanished instantly, leaving him as clean as before. His radiant appearance was fully restored, and the Solar Eclipse—which had nearly flown out of his grip earlier—subsequently turned red, ignited, and violently erupted with brilliant, scorching flames!
"Again!"
With a sudden, deep shout, Roy lowered his center of gravity, his feet spreading into a wide bow stance. Solar Eclipse was held in a reverse grip at his waist, falling completely silent.
Then, he drew the blade. As Roy looked up at the sky, his gaze locking tightly onto Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai, he abruptly slashed upward!
The flames vanished in a flash, replaced by a spiraling, ascending magnetic force. Brushing right past the edge of Yamamoto's nose, it shot rapidly into the high heavens, instantly tearing through the atmosphere, bypassing the moon, and heading straight into the pitch-black, lonely outer void. There, it locked onto an extraterrestrial meteor with a diameter of several dozen kilometers!
Buzz~
A faint humming vibration traveled slowly down from the deep void.
Sensing this peculiar rhythm, Yamamoto raised his white eyebrows. His gaze traced the magnetic path back up into the night sky.
A tiny black dot subsequently reflected in his old eyes, causing him to narrow them slightly. He executed a brief sword flourish, then turned his head, casting a diagonal downward glance at Roy as he said, "This is not a slash of fire."
[Gravity Blade: Rising Dragon]!
The blade technique from his prior battle against his father, Silva, in the courtyard had returned to the light of day.
On the ground, Roy maintained his drawing posture and said slowly, "Of course. This is a slash of the sun."
Yamamoto's white beard twitched. A brilliant wave of light involuntarily rippled within his sharp eyes, weathered by thousands of years of wind and frost. He tightly gripped Ryūjin Jakka in his hand. The sun... have you truly chosen your path?
Memories fluttered like wind-blown blossoms as the black dot in the sky grew larger.
Recalling his youth, he too had imagined more than once that if he could unlock his Zanpakutō with the concept of "Yang," it would possess not just scorching fire, but also brilliant light, violent magnetic storms, and blinding flares. Perhaps his current self would be different, or even entirely opposite.
Rumble!
The meteor drew closer. Breaking through the atmosphere, it ignited from air friction, trailing a massive tail of fire. It ultimately transformed into a brilliant star in the sky, caught by countless pairs of shocked, terrified, and disbelieving eyes!
"What is that?"
"Why is it so bright?"
"Could it be... another sun?"
"How strange... why are so many bizarre things happening tonight?!"
Cries of alarm, panic, and sharp gasps rose one after another, weaving together into a terrifying tapestry of utter bewilderment against the backdrop of the Demon Slayer world.
At Mount Sagiri, Giyu Tomioka pressed down on his Nichirin sword, sensing that his blade was once again showing signs of flying away due to that strange magnetic force. The current Water Hashira, draped in his three-colored haori, watched in absolute silence as the deep-space meteor transformed into a star, rumbling straight down toward Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai.
His cold pupils abruptly shrank to the size of pinpricks. For the second time in his life, an intense wave of powerlessness washed over him—the first being the day he watched his sister, Tsutako, be slaughtered and devoured by a demon to protect him.
Clang, clang...
"The swords are moving again!"
The meteor pressed closer, its roaring boom exploding like thunder. The flames burning across its surface were infused with Roy's Nen, entirely converted into magnetism. It wantonly radiated spiraling violet waves of magnetic force into the surroundings.
Every piece of refined iron lost control, breaking free from its owner's grasp to fly toward Yamamoto. Kitchen knives from cooks, needles from tailors, cleavers from butchers, and hammers, pliers, and iron shears from blacksmiths... piece by piece, amidst the screams of the populace, they converged from all directions into several massive torrents of steel, surging toward Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai!
Sabito, Makomo, and the other fellow disciples, along with their master Sakonji Urokodaki, exerted every ounce of their strength to press down their own swords and carving knives. At this moment, they could clearly feel the difference.
In terms of pure area of effect, Roy's Gravity Blade might not match Yamamoto's casual vertical slash forged over two thousand years. But in terms of pure suction force, relying on the magnetism bestowed by the sun, the swordsmen led by Giyu Tomioka, Kyojuro Rengoku, and Sanemi Shinazugawa found it significantly harder to restrain their own blades.
"Namo Amitabha, Silence!"
In the eastern suburbs of Kyoto, right beside the ancient temple, iron chains rattled violently. The spiked flail and axe flew upward uncontrollably toward the sky, only to be forcefully yanked back by a tremendous strength midway, pinned firmly back beneath Gyomei Himejima's seated posture on the moss-covered stone steps. The muscles on his right arm bunched up, exposing half of his massive chest. He piously chanted a Buddhist prayer, then raised his head to look at the sky.
Tears streamed down his face. He faintly caught a familiar scent within this monstrous force pulling at his Nichirin sword.
"Praise the sun... is it you, Lord Eiichiro?"
The exceptionally powerful monk clearly discerned the difference between the two pulling forces. If Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai's pull was the manifestation of a "sword intent" honed over two thousand years, then Roy's pull was a purely physical expression of magnetism! One was idealistic, the other materialistic, yet they achieved a nearly identical presentation!
"What is this slash called?" A leisurely question drifted from Yamamoto's mouth.
The old man, clad in his white haori and pitch-black Shihakushō, stood with his back to the moon. Directly above his head, the meteor rumbled downward. He held his blade horizontally, casting a glance at Roy as he asked.
With his fiery red long hair swaying in the wind, Roy similarly held his blade horizontally. He looked up at the meteor growing larger by the second, its unmatched heat and magnetism casting a shadow that enveloped the entire patch of moonlight. He smiled faintly and said, "Rising Dragon... Gravity Blade: Rising Dragon!"
Drawing the blade toward the heavens like a dragon entering the abyss... Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai nodded infrequently: "A good name. Highly fitting."
Then, he didn't even cast a single glance upward. He merely turned his wrist lightly. The Ryūjin Jakka in his hand subsequently emitted a sharp sword cry! He slashed gently upward behind his back!
Pfft!
The pitch-black vertical line reappeared. However, compared to the previous vertical slash, it was simultaneously slower and faster. Before anyone could even blink, it seemed to teleport, abruptly appearing right in front of the meteor.
Subsequently, it split from one to two, two to four, four to eight, eight to sixteen... in an instant, it manifested countless flashes of sword light that pierced into the meteor.
Crack!
Visibly to the naked eye, the meteor—nearly dozens of kilometers in diameter, no smaller than a minor asteroid—abruptly froze! Then, its exterior suddenly fractured, countless rifts spreading across it. Brilliant sword light could be faintly glimpsed within the cracks as it passed back and forth, instantly shredding it to pieces!
Swish... swish... swish...
The meteor disintegrated, instantly butchered into countless tiny stone fragments that rained down, forming a spectacularly brilliant meteor shower!
"This... is this a miracle from a god? It must be... the gods above have come to save us!"
The sudden meteor had been pulverized by a sudden sword light. The torrent of steel rushing toward Yamamoto lost its anchor and immediately fell apart. Cooks, butchers, and blacksmiths who had lost their tools walked out of their houses and prostrated themselves on the ground.
At Mount Sagiri, Giyu Tomioka, Sabito, Makomo, and Sakonji Urokodaki quietly breathed a sigh of relief. Noticing that their swords were no longer vibrating and had restored their calm, they looked at each other, temporarily at a complete loss for words.
[Prompt: Because your host of believers mistakenly attributed Yamamoto's slash to "you" revealing a divine technique to save the populace... "Faith Power" +0.0005 +0.007 +0.0007...]
On the ground, right beside the humanoid crater, Roy held his blade horizontally with an unusual expression. In the next split second, seizing the window where Yamamoto's old force was spent and his new force had yet to generate, his body instantly Photified. In the next glance, he drilled out from the moonlight, already pressing right in front of the old man, thrusting his blade in a sharp, blinding strike—
[Shinsō]!
This bizarre footwork and the suddenly extending blade caused Yamamoto's gaze to turn stern. He immediately thought of a specific term—Shunpo!
Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Shunpo, Kidō...
Zanjutsu: Swordsmanship, specifically referring to all sword techniques utilizing a Zanpakutō.
Hakuda: Hand-to-hand combat, referring specifically to empty-handed martial arts, such as the Ikkotsu and Sōkotsu techniques Yamamoto created.
Shunpo: Footwork, approaching the opponent rapidly through high-speed movement.
Kidō: Demon Arts, spells utilizing spiritual pressure released through rapid incantations, generally divided into offensive Hadō, binding Bakudō, and healing Kaidō.
Light... light that was close at hand... blossomed inside the old man's eyes along with the flash of the blade.
If he weren't certain that Roy carried the aura of a human, if he weren't certain that he had indeed investigated him, and if he weren't certain that the boy didn't possess even a sliver of the disgusting scent of a Quincy, in this exact moment, Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai would have nearly believed—
Roy was the reincarnation of the Quincy King, the Son of the Soul King, the all-knowing and all-powerful Yhwach, returning from the dead and possessing a human body!
"A pity your spiritual pressure isn't strong enough, and the day your soul was birthed is too short. Otherwise, this strike might have allowed you to touch the edge of my clothes!"
Clang! The Shinsō that pierced through the void abruptly struck Ryūjin Jakka. Yamamoto had anticipated its trajectory ahead of time, striking second but arriving first to parry it perfectly!
The old man squinted as he locked eyes with the boy. His beard moved, and with a backhanded stroke, he forced Roy back. He followed up with a horizontal sweep, slicing toward Roy's midsection—the pitch-black vertical line flashed once more.
Roy's palms split open and restored themselves instantly. Instead of retreating, he advanced, forcefully halting his backward momentum mid-air. He kicked off the void with both feet, merging into the moonlight once again as he held his sword to block the line!
Only a crisp clang~ echoed through this extraordinary midnight, beginning to compose the prelude to battle!
Clang, clang, clang...
One strike, two strikes, three strikes...
[Prompt: "Swordsmanship" +100 +100 +100...]
Two streams of flowing light clashed and collided, flashing back and forth like two ambiguous stars suddenly encountering dark clouds—sometimes bright, sometimes dim, sometimes extinguished, completely unpredictable.
"Amane, take Kiriya and the others back inside." At the Ubuyashiki estate, Kagaya Ubuyashiki patted his wife's small hand, telling her to lead Kanata, Kuina, and Kiriya back into the house. Only he and Kyojuro remained in the courtyard, squinting at the sky in silence.
As the sword light wove together and illuminated half the sky, Kagaya Ubuyashiki found himself entirely unable to discern anything clearly through the haze. He simply didn't want to miss this battle. After a moment, he suddenly asked Kyojuro Rengoku, "Kyojuro, what level of strength do you think is required to witness this battle?"
To witness? Did Oyakata-sama mean to see it clearly?
"Yes," Kagaya smiled freely. "I know it is impossible for me to ever catch up in this lifetime. I am simply curious and want to know the answer."
Buzz~ Infusing his eyes with even more Nen aura, Kyojuro Rengoku stood leaning on his sword, maintaining his [Gyo] without letting it dissipate. Looking up at the sky, he could only vaguely see two sword lights trading blows back and forth in an endless struggle. After a long silence, he slowly shook his head and said, "My apologies, Oyakata-sama. I cannot give you an answer. But my intuition tells me that Lord Eiichiro is a hundred times stronger than me! Therefore, I think I would perhaps need to become fifty times stronger just to keep up with their movements."
Kagaya Ubuyashiki fell silent... The leader of the Demon Slayer Corps tucked his hands into his sleeves and let out a sighing smile: "That truly is quite exaggerated..."
Looking up at the sky once more beneath the bright moon, after a prolonged struggle, the two "stars" separated at a touch, suddenly halting their movements...
Whoosh~ A gust of wind blew.
Pfft... pfft~ A sudden spray of blood erupted from Roy's chest cavity. The boy was entirely drenched in blood. In just the blink of an eye, he had traded dozens of blows with Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai.
Now, relying on Rebirth from a Drop of Blood to barely maintain his breath, he propped himself up with his sword, panting heavily as he asked Yamamoto, "Why stop?"
Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai was completely unharmed, not even a single thread of his clothing nicked. He frowned in silence, merely staring intently at Roy. After a long while, he said, "You... are unusual!"
Roy suddenly laughed. Amidst his unbridled laughter, he cast a glance at the panel.
[Prompt: "Swordsmanship" +100] [Current "Swordsmanship": LV4 (99,940/100,000)] [Note: Exactly sixty points away from breaking through to LV5]
Meaning, he was just one final kick away!
☆☆☆
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