To drag things out and buy time, Muzan swung his right hand.
In an instant, countless rope-like tentacles filled the air with afterimages. They tore through the night with sharp whistling sounds and came straight for Ivan.
Ivan didn't bother dodging.
He simply folded his burning wings in front of him like a shield.
The very next second, Muzan's barrage slammed into him. The relentless impacts kicked up clouds of dust. The tentacles rained down like a violent storm, pouring out every ounce of Muzan's rage.
"I don't care how strong you are, you can't block this forever!" Muzan's face twisted even more. His roar made the tentacles move faster and hit harder.
Boom boom boom boom!!
Under that near-mad assault, even Ivan's scorching wings started to crack.
Dark red bone spikes quickly filled with fractures. One. Two. Three… The cracks spread like a disease.
The sound of snapping grew louder and louder.
Muzan immediately realized the strange wings were on the verge of collapse. He gathered every bit of power into one final tentacle. With a thunderous boom, the sharp bone spike at its tip smashed down with all of Muzan's strength.
The already failing burning wings couldn't take it.
Bang!
The next second, the shattered dark red wings exploded outward. Countless hot bone fragments sprayed in every direction.
Ivan came with them.
He had been coiled and ready. His leg muscles contracted hard, then detonated. In the space of a single breath he was right in front of Muzan.
Muzan was still trying to use his tentacles to block the flying shards. He never expected Ivan to close the distance that fast.
"You—" He didn't even finish the word.
Ivan's right hand swung up. Under the moonlight, the gleaming blade edge grew larger and larger in Muzan's plum-red pupils. This slash… he couldn't dodge it.
Pshhhk!
The razor-sharp blade sliced straight through Muzan's skull, then his neck, chest, and all the way down to his stomach.
When Ivan pulled his arm back, Muzan looked like a watermelon cut clean in half. The two sides of his body toppled in opposite directions. Thick blood mixed with chunks of torn organs splattered across the dirt at Ivan's feet.
"Guh… guh…" Half of Muzan's face was still trying to speak, but all that came out were thick, bloody bubbles.
"Killing you right now feels like a waste," Ivan said. Flesh was already sprouting from his severed arm, but his regeneration was clearly slower than the one lying on the ground.
Even sliced in two, Muzan didn't look weakened at all. Countless tiny blood-and-flesh tentacles burst out from inside his body like writhing, disgusting veins. They slowly lifted the split halves off the ground and pulled them back together.
"Cough! Cough cough!! Looks like your regeneration isn't all that great either." Muzan finished knitting himself back together and coughed up several dark blood clots.
The vertical red scar running down his body faded at a visible rate. When he saw that Ivan's severed arm had only managed to grow a small bud of flesh, he couldn't help sneering.
So the other guy wasn't perfect after all.
Just thinking about that made Muzan's mood brighten considerably.
"Your mouth really doesn't stop, does it?" Once Ivan's right hand finished regenerating, he slowly drew the Nichirin Blade from his waist.
Shit!
I completely forgot he can use Sun Breathing!
The smug look on Muzan's face vanished instantly. His expression turned dark. At least he could sense Hantengu getting closer. One Upper Rank still wasn't enough insurance, though. If two or more showed up, he might actually have a chance to fight back. After all, this guy had already shown his weakness.
"Water Breathing…" Boom! The ground collapsed under the sheer force Ivan unleashed.
The Nichirin Blade in his hand started glowing red from the heat. Ivan's arm muscles tensed like bowstrings ready to fire. Two streams of white steam rose from the corners of his mouth.
He moved.
"Tenth Form: Constant Flux!"
Boom!
A massive, ferocious water dragon roared forward. Its presence was overwhelming, like it wanted to swallow Muzan whole.
Water Breathing? What the hell?
A flash of confusion crossed Muzan's face. He had expected Sun Breathing.
Even the strongest Water Breathing couldn't kill him.
Muzan kept dodging and weaving while Ivan stayed right on him. The water dragon wrapped around the blade grew larger and larger, feeding on its own momentum to increase speed and power.
As long as the body could handle it, the power could stack without limit in theory.
But Ivan felt the stacking was still too slow. He only used it in special situations.
"Why? Why is he using this move?"
Muzan couldn't figure it out.
He could feel the dangerous aura coming off Ivan getting stronger by the second.
No good. He couldn't let the sword pressure keep building. Muzan leaped backward and sent the tentacles from his back rushing at Ivan.
"You noticed? Then I'm done pretending. Hinokami Kagura!!" A spark of flame lit up in Ivan's eyes.
Boom! The roaring water dragon suddenly transformed into a fire dragon starting from its head.
In an instant the temperature around Ivan skyrocketed. Even the wind it kicked up set the grass on fire.
A scorching heat wave rolled forward like a tsunami, carrying rocks and sand straight at Muzan.
Every tentacle Muzan sent out got sliced apart by Ivan.
The cut ends were completely charred and had lost all regenerative power.
This feeling! Muzan's hair stood on end. For a second he saw that man's silhouette again. His cells trembled. The raw fear of death flooded back into his chest.
Right now, all he wanted to do was run.
But Ivan was faster. Even when Muzan pushed himself to the limit, he couldn't shake him off.
Across the night-covered wilderness, a brilliant flame dragon twisted and roared as it chased its prey.
The next second—Pshhhk! Ivan's glowing blade sank into Muzan's right shoulder and sheared the entire arm clean off.
The familiar burning sensation spread from the wound. Muzan's face twisted uncontrollably. Veins bulged along his neck. The pain pushed him to move even faster. Losing one arm didn't matter to him. As long as he escaped, he could grow it back anytime.
The severed arm exploded like a cannonball the moment it hit the ground. Countless blood-and-flesh thorns sprayed out, but they were weak and could only slow Ivan down for less than a second.
Just then, Muzan spotted Hantengu not far ahead.
"Useless! Why the hell are you only showing up now?!"
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[]~(￣▽￣)~*
Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69