Chapter 37: What Kizuki?
The nature of the battle had shifted entirely.
If it were just the first demon, Kanae might have had a sliver of hope—a chance to slay it by betting her life. But in a one-versus-two situation, she was staring into the face of certain death.
The Slim Demon had completely abandoned close-quarters combat. From a distance, he continuously manipulated tree trunks to grow jagged wooden spears, hurling them at Kanae in a relentless barrage.
Meanwhile, the newly arrived Bulky Demon swung his terrifying obsidian axe, launching a brutal and violent frontal assault.
Kanae knew that if she clashed with him head-on, she wouldn't last a single exchange. To make matters worse, the Slim Demon's long-range harassment was perfectly timed for the gaps in the Bulky Demon's attacks. She couldn't find an opening to strike back; she could barely even find the space to dodge.
What truly suffocated her was their Blood Demon Art. Both demons possessed a similar ability: they could mimic the material they touched, drastically increasing their physical density and hardness.
Even using Total Concentration sword forms, Kanae couldn't turn the tide.
She lunged at the "Big Brother," but her blade was effortlessly batted aside by the stone axe. The recoil was so violent it instantly split the skin between her thumb and forefinger.
She tried to parry a flurry of wooden spears from the "Little Brother," only for the Big Brother to catch her opening and kick her squarely in the abdomen, sending her tumbling across the forest floor.
She managed to break through the Big Brother's line and swing at the Little Brother, but he simply laughed and danced away, refusing to engage her directly.
Blood stained the petal-like trail of her blade. Eventually, her dance faltered and stopped.
Kanae leaned on her Nichirin Sword, gasping for air.
This is bad... my vision is starting to blur.
"Big Brother, leave this Little Butterfly to me. I want to play with her slowly," the Slim Demon hissed with a cold grin. "Don't let those 'rations' get away."
No! The monster is going after the innocents!
With the demons splitting up, the pressure on her would drop, but Kojiro's group was in trouble. He and the civilians didn't stand a chance against that hulking brute!
"I can still fight!"
Forcing her lungs to work, Kanae pushed herself up and resumed a combat stance.
The Bulky Demon let out a savage laugh. "I don't care what you can do."
His massive frame moved with a nimbleness that defied his size, darting around Kanae and heading straight for the path the civilians had taken.
"STOP!"
Kanae's eyes went wide. She tried to intercept him, but was immediately swarmed by a barrage of wooden spears and a pack of wooden wolves. By the time she hacked them away, the Big Brother had vanished into the woods.
Damn it!
Gritting her teeth so hard they nearly cracked, Kanae unleashed a violent storm of Flower Breathing. She accelerated to a speed she had never reached before, slamming into the Slim Demon's guard. In a heartbeat, a flurry of slashes left his torso covered in bloody furrows.
"Such gentle strikes won't kill me!"
In the time it took to draw a single breath, the wounds closed as his muscles rippled and healed.
Against a demon, anything less than decapitation was meaningless. Kanae knew this well.
So...
Flower Breathing... please. For Kojiro and the others... move one more time!
Her heart stilled. Her body began to respond. A faint, flickering light appeared in her eyes—the sign of a Breathing Style pushed to its absolute limit.
[Total Concentration!]
[Flower Breathing...]
[Seventh Form: Instant Bloom - Crimson Sakura!]
She dropped her center of gravity, the tip of her blade leveled at the demon's throat. In that moment, Kanae looked like a flower bud ready to burst.
Lunge!
Thrust!
Her body and blade became a single, crimson line—a straight-line trajectory that mimicked a cherry blossom branch snapping forward in a gale.
It was a technique derived from Water Breathing's Drop Ripple Thrust. It discarded all redundant motion, focusing every ounce of strength and spirit into a single point, achieving a speed that was invisible to the naked eye.
This strike surpassed Kanae's own master-level skill. It was too fast for the demon to react to. The blade sank into its throat before it could even blink.
Its steel-hard body provided zero resistance.
Thrust, then diagonal slash—
But the follow-through faltered.
The prolonged battle, her injuries, the demon's abnormal density, and the natural physical limits of her frame... they all accumulated in that final micro-second. The form didn't complete perfectly.
The blade only severed three-quarters of the demon's neck.
"Mmm!?"
The demon reacted after the fact, grabbing its head and leaping back several dozen paces. It stared at Kanae with wide eyes, as if looking at a predator that ate demons.
I was... almost decapitated by this butterfly?!
Muscle fibers and bone rippled, closing the massive gash in its throat. In mere seconds, it was healed. For a creature like this, a non-fatal cut—no matter how deep—was irrelevant.
Kanae leaned on her sword, her mind blank. That strike had cost her everything. Her breathing was ragged, and she had no strength left to follow up.
"Little Butterfly! I'm done playing!"
The metallic sheen on the demon's skin darkened. The surrounding trees and branches twisted in response to its rage, forming an even larger pack of wooden hounds.
"I'm going to eat you now. And next year, I will become one of the Twelve Kizuki!"
Despair, like cold vines, wrapped around Kanae's heart, making it hard to breathe. Her sword-hand shook from exhaustion and pain. Though she managed to catch her breath, her confidence was gone.
Is this... as far as I go?
I'm sorry, Shinobu...
But then...
A voice, tinged with genuine excitement, drifted from the distance.
"What did you just say?! THE TWELVE KIZUKI?!"
SWOOSH!!!
A piercing whistle of displaced air tore through the night. Something was approaching from the sky at a terrifying velocity.
It wasn't an arrow. It was a person.
A silhouette wreathed in violent, crackling electricity slammed into the ground between Kanae and the demon like a fallen thunderbolt.
The shockwave uprooted dirt and shattered wood, forcing both the girl and the demon to squint against the debris.
As the dust settled, the newcomer stood up, absorbing the impact with a slight bend of the knees. Over his loose uniform, he wore a travel pack, looking like a wandering peddler draped in strange gear.
There was a goofy fox mask, a yellow-green rope knot tied to his belt, a wine gourd, and even the handle of a heavy hammer peeking out of his bag.
But the most striking detail was the three Nichirin Swords of different colors hanging at his waist.
Is this the butterfly's backup? Already?
A Three-Sword user... he looks like he might have some skill.
The demon grew wary.
Kanae felt a surge of hope followed immediately by a wave of worry.
A Thunder Breathing user... using a Three-Sword Style I've never heard of. Is he a new recruit?
If he were a Hinoe (Rank 3) or even a Kanoe (Rank 6), she could coordinate with him to flip the script. But a nameless swordsman? He was likely a Mizunoto or Mizunoe. He would just be throwing his life away alongside her.
"I appreciate the backup, but this demon is too strong! Please, you must run—"
The newcomer didn't even acknowledge her.
He lifted his head, his gaze sweeping over the bloodied, wavering Kanae. He looked like he was reading something floating in the air above her head.
Then, he turned his gaze to the demon. His face remained completely expressionless.
He cracked his neck.
His hand rested on the hilt of one of his swords with a soft, metallic click.
"Hey. What were you saying about the Twelve Kizuki just now?"
☆☆☆
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