Over there?
Uzui Tengen looked in the direction Iguro Obanai was pointing; a stretch of ruins stood stubbornly in front of them, blocking the view of what lay behind the houses.
Isn't that where that woman fought Upper Rank One?
The Twin Demons were not weak; even with the four of them working together, they couldn't spare attention for the fight next door.
But they often heard deafening noises coming from next door, along with the sounds of large sections of houses collapsing.
Uzui Tengen subconsciously glanced at Mizuki, finding her casually playing 'Pat-a-cake' with Nezuko.
Curious about Upper Rank One's destructive power, Uzui Tengen got up and walked toward the place where the two had fought, his three wives quickly following suit.
Iguro Obanai frowned and followed as well.
When they reached the street corner, Uzui Tengen finally noticed that the house he had seen earlier was now just a single wall remaining, with bright sunlight streaming in through the empty paper windows behind it.
"What is this..."
As the group passed through the remnants of the house, the scene before them opened up, and a look of shock quickly replaced their expressions of doubt.
The surface of the wide street was scarred with terrifying sword marks, looking like the claw strikes of a giant beast.
A massive trench, over a meter wide and half a meter deep, had been plowed into the center of the area, leaving a large pit several meters across that cracked open like a spiderweb.
The surrounding houses, which had stood like a forest, now looked as if they had been struck by a powerful tornado, destroyed until only scattered broken walls remained standing in the ruins.
"Eek!!" Suma bit her hand, her body trembling.
Makio and Hinatsuru were also too shocked by the sight before them to speak.
What in the world is this!!!
Iguro Obanai approached from behind the group and said flatly, "It's a miracle you're all still alive and kicking after attacks of this magnitude."
His gold and green eyes shifted to look at Uzui Tengen.
He was very curious.
Judging by the marks on this group, they had gone through a tough fight, but... facing a battle of this intensity, whether it was Uzui Tengen or the others, they all just looked tired, with no physical injuries.
No, it could even be said they passed through completely unscathed, which left Iguro Obanai momentarily baffled.
Uzui Tengen took a deep breath while looking at this almost impossible scene and shook his head: "No, if I had faced this kind of attack, there probably wouldn't be a single bone fragment left of me."
"Was that...?" Iguro Obanai narrowed his eyes. Was it that woman?
Although he wasn't fond of the "good demon" who claimed to be the founder of Snow Breathing and had survived since the Sengoku Period.
It was undeniable, however, that with that woman's help, the Demon Slayer Corps had successfully eliminated two Upper Rank Demon Moons—members of the Twelve Demon Moons who were rarely seen.
Furthermore, when he recently contacted Shinazugawa and mentioned that woman, even Shinazugawa couldn't say anything bad about her.
Ah, of course, in his view, part of the reason might be that Mizuki was Kochou Kanae's savior.
Nevertheless, that woman's strength was beyond question, a fact that both he and Shinazugawa fully acknowledged.
Uzui Tengen explained calmly, "In fact, the one we first encountered wasn't Upper Rank Six, but Upper Rank One."
"...One?" Iguro Obanai's eyes widened slightly. "Then where is this?"
Uzui Tengen nodded: "Yes, this is where Miss Mizuki fought him."
Iguro Obanai tilted his head: "Miss Mizuki? When did you become so polite?"
"Didn't you hate that woman before??"
"Shut up!" Uzui Tengen's face darkened.
You'd know if you argued with her once; her passive-aggressive tone is something no one can withstand.
If you don't back down, she'll argue until your head splits in two.
Suma tugged on Uzui Tengen's sleeve and shook her head: "You can't dislike Miss Mizuki, she's a savior."
Uzui Tengen: "..."
Iguro Obanai looked over in confusion: "A savior?"
"Uh-huh, Lord Tengen was bleeding 'dong dong qiang' all over the floor, it was so scary! If Miss Mizuki hadn't helped, Lord Tengen would have cracked open." Suma nodded while gesturing.
"..." Iguro Obanai stared blankly for two seconds, pointed at Suma, and said to Uzui Tengen, "Is your wife alright in the head?"
"Don't insult my wife!"
"Who are you saying has a problem with their head!"
"Don't talk about Suma-chan like that!"
"..." Iguro Obanai once again felt the sensation of being outnumbered, feeling as if he had just been force-fed a mouthful of PDA.
After a moment of squabbling, Uzui Tengen explained, "I was the one who first ran into that monster."
"Well, what do you think? About his strength." Iguro Obanai looked at the ruined city.
Uzui Tengen's expression grew serious. "He is not an opponent that a human can defeat alone."
He couldn't help but shudder whenever he thought about the situation then.
In fact, that was the cautious way of putting it; Uzui Tengen's real thought was that that monster simply could not be defeated by a human.
"Just standing in front of him makes your body tremble uncontrollably with fear. Combatants below the Pillar level wouldn't even have the courage to face him."
"No, I should say that the combat strength of a Pillar is completely insignificant in front of him."
"Even Himejima-san... I believe the same is true..."
"I was as weak as a child in front of him. I wouldn't have lasted one round in a direct confrontation. If he hadn't intended to fight seriously from the start, I would already be dead."
That monster must have been targeting Mizuki from the very beginning; I managed to escape disaster because of that.
Listening to Uzui Tengen's calm assessment, Iguro Obanai looked at the inhuman ruins and fell silent.
About four or five years ago, before he became a Pillar, Kochou Kanae encountered Upper Rank Two and nearly died at his hands, concluding that the demon was only toying with her.
A few months ago, in the Mugen Train battle, Rengoku Kyojuro met Upper Rank Three and concluded that if he had been alone, there would have been no chance of survival.
Now, Uzui Tengen encountered Upper Rank One, and the assessment was even more outrageous.
He even concluded that being like a child in front of the demon, where maintaining composure was a luxury.
Was the gap between the Upper Ranks really this vast?
Uzui Tengen, who could still coordinate to decapitate Upper Rank Six, couldn't survive a single round against Upper Rank One.
There was no way to refute it; the level of destruction was so immense that merely standing in the ruins sent shivers down his spine.
He couldn't possibly imagine what the scene looked like when the demon was actually fighting.
No wonder the Demon Slayer Corps hadn't been able to kill Muzan after thousands of years; this kind of combat power was truly despair-inducing.
Perhaps... only by piling up human lives could they achieve a slight chance of victory.
But... could someone tell him why all these Upper Ranks liked to play around? Were they insane?
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