Suddenly, a playful and cynical voice drifted into their ears from behind, causing Ren and Kocho Shinobu to turn around in haste.
However, the moment she saw the person, Shinobu's eyes went wide. She gritted her teeth and murmured, "Rainbow-colored eyes... Upper Rank Two..."
The newcomer was a handsome young man with silver hair. He had a youthful, attractive face and skin as snow-white as a corpse.
But the most striking feature was his pair of rainbow-colored eyes. The characters for "Upper Rank" and "Two" were inscribed in his pupils. It was indeed Upper Rank Two: Doma.
As the saying goes, Giyu among humans, Doma among demons; this meant that his popularity among his own kind was rather poor.
At this moment, Doma was clutching a long, pale leg in his hand. The skin was fair and smooth, evidently well-maintained. The owner of this beautiful leg must have been a stunning beauty, though sadly, she had now perished.
While the two sized Doma up, Doma was also secretly observing them. When he saw Kocho Shinobu standing beside Ren, his eyes immediately lit up with excitement, and he shouted.
"Oh my! There is actually another great beauty here. Lord Muzan is truly thoughtful to have prepared a midnight snack for me."
"Such a beautiful woman must taste absolutely delicious, right? But why do you look a bit familiar?"
"Well, never mind! Allow me to introduce myself. I am Doma. As you can see, I am Upper Rank Two! Lord Muzan sent me here to get rid of you two!"
Doma spoke incessantly. As he spoke, he looked toward the spot where Akaza's body had fallen. By now, Akaza's corpse had completely turned to ash.
"Really now, Akaza-dono was so fragile because he refused to consume the flesh and blood of women."
"Not only did he not eat women, but he also wouldn't hurt them. In fact, unless he was starving to the point of being unable to endure it, he wouldn't even eat men. How strange!"
"And Lord Muzan seemed to tacitly allow this. Isn't that too unfair? Even though the flesh and blood of women is so delicious!"
Speaking of this, he looked at Kocho Shinobu again and spoke in a twisted, affectionate manner, "Did you know? A woman's body stores enough life energy to nurture an infant. Women are magnificent vessels capable of propagating life! Therefore, eating more female flesh and blood can make my power incredibly strong!"
"You bastard!"
Kocho Shinobu clutched the butterfly haori she was wearing. Tears welled up in her eyes as she shouted angrily, "Do you remember this butterfly haori? My sister... my sister was killed by you, wasn't she?"
"Ara ara, your sister?" Doma looked surprised for a moment, then smiled indifferently. "Oh my, sorry, I don't remember. Would you remember how many slices of bread you have eaten? But don't rush, let me think."
Squelch!
Suddenly, under Kocho Shinobu's shocked gaze, Doma plunged a finger into his own brain. He even stirred his brain matter with his finger, as if this method would help him recall past experiences.
Soon, Doma's eyes lit up, and he laughed, "Got it! I remember now! I did kill a girl who looked very much like you. I think she was the Flower Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps."
"She was truly impressive. She fought me for so long, though it's a pity she was eventually beaten into a critical state by me!"
"Originally, I wanted to eat her, but the sun was about to rise, so I had to retreat first. Failing to eat her was truly one of the great regrets of my life. However..."
Doma cast his gaze upon Kocho Shinobu again, a flash of excitement and greed passing through his rainbow-colored pupils.
"It must be fate making up for my regret, allowing me to meet you here today. As her sister, your flesh and blood must taste even better than hers, after all, you are so beautiful. Hehehe..."
"You are the one person I will absolutely never forgive!" Kocho Shinobu abruptly drew her Nichirin Sword and slashed at Doma.
"Insect Breathing: Dance of the Locust · Explosive Step!"
Whoosh!
In the blink of an eye, Kocho Shinobu rushed toward Doma. Her movements resembled a leaping locust. Under the moonlight, her Nichirin Sword emitted a chilling glint as it tore through the air, stabbing toward Doma's body.
"Insect Breathing: Dance of the Bee Sting · True Flutter!"
"Insect Breathing? That's kind of interesting."
Doma smiled faintly like a child. He pulled two golden iron fans from his waist. The fans were engraved with pink-purple lotuses and green leaves. The edges of the fans were as sharp as blades, and faint ice crystals scattered as he waved them.
Clang!
The crisp sound of cold weapons colliding rang out. Doma easily blocked Kocho Shinobu's Nichirin Sword by waving his iron fan. After sensing Kocho Shinobu's strength, he couldn't help but laugh.
"Oh my? Little sister, your strength is too weak. You can't compare to your sister at all, can you?"
"Bastard, don't you dare mention my sister!"
Kocho Shinobu shouted in fury. Her Nichirin Sword turned into afterimages as she stabbed at Doma in rapid succession. Just like Akaza's 'Destructive Death: Compass Needle', she thrust out several times in a single second.
"Insect Breathing: Dance of the Mantis · Phantom Flying Sickle!"
Squish squish squish...
Kocho Shinobu's attack speed was extremely fast. Even Doma, due to a momentary lapse in attention, was caught by Kocho Shinobu and stabbed with over a dozen transparent holes in his body. However, none of them hit his vitals.
Soon, the poison on the Nichirin Sword permeated his blood through the wounds. Doma's wounds began to rot and turn into flying ash bit by bit.
"Ara? My body..."
Doma was stunned, but there was no panic on his face. Instead, he laughed out loud. "So that's how it is. You coated the blade with lethal poison to make up for your lack of attack power. What a clever child."
"But this move won't work on me!"
As he spoke, the wounds on Doma's body healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, and he was instantly restored to his original state.
"No, the concentration of the poison isn't enough. It can't kill an Upper Rank Demon..."
Kocho Shinobu spoke powerlessly. At this moment, Doma launched his attack.
"Little sister, it's my turn now. Blood Demon Art: Winter Icicles!"
Doma fanned his iron fans. In the blink of an eye, the air above Kocho Shinobu froze rapidly, turning into sharp icicles that rained down from the sky, stabbing toward her.
This was Doma's ability, the Blood Demon Art of Ice!
Seeing the aggressive nature of this move, Kocho Shinobu hurriedly retreated while swinging her sword to cut the icicles.
"Insect Breathing: Dance of the Centipede · Hundred-Legged Zigzag!"
Kocho Shinobu shouted as she leaped up, dancing in the air like a butterfly, slashing the falling icicles into pieces one by one.
"Oh my, little sister, since you're already here, how can I let you run away? Blood Demon Art: Lotus Ice!"
Suddenly, while Kocho Shinobu was attacking the icicles, Doma rapidly flapped his iron fans. In an instant, a cloud of freezing ice mist swept toward Kocho Shinobu.
The ice mist contained a massive amount of tiny ice crystals. If inhaled into the lungs, they would destroy the alveoli; it was the nemesis of all Breathing Styles.
Just as the ice mist was about to engulf Kocho Shinobu, a scorching red light flashed, instantly evaporating the incoming ice mist.
"Wind Combat Technique: Crimson Blade · Fire Dance Whirlwind!"
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]