With their opponents finally eliminated, the remaining Upper Moons immediately shifted their attention back to the main battlefield.
Gyutaro spun his twin sickles before hurling them forward with tremendous force.
At the same time, Daki manipulated countless obi sashes, wrapping them around herself and her brother like a protective cocoon.
Blood Demon Art: Flying Blood Sickles!
In an instant, the rotating sickles unleashed a storm of crimson blades.
Countless blood sickles tore across the battlefield in every direction.
No one present escaped entirely unharmed.
For the first time since the battle began, Kokushibo felt what could technically be called support from his comrades.
Unfortunately, that feeling lasted only a moment.
Because the attack showed absolutely no regard for friend or foe.
The flying blood sickles treated every demon on the battlefield with complete equality.
Kokushibo's expression darkened immediately.
Several blood blades carved fresh wounds across his body before he effortlessly regenerated them.
The Lower Rank demons had never experienced such treatment before.
Terrified, they scattered in all directions.
Some covered their heads.
Others threw themselves to the ground.
Several simply screamed and ran for their lives.
Doma casually raised one of his folding fans.
A towering wall of ice instantly rose before him.
The countless blood sickles collided against the frozen barrier and shattered harmlessly.
Doma covered his mouth with his fan and chuckled.
"My, my. The siblings have become quite impressive."
His eyes narrowed slightly as old memories surfaced.
There was a time long ago when he had still occupied the position of Upper Moon Six.
Back then, he had encountered a starving boy named Gyutaro and his dying younger sister, Ume.
Perhaps it had been a momentary whim.
Perhaps it had been curiosity.
Whatever the reason, Doma had offered them the opportunity to become demons.
Gyutaro had accepted almost immediately.
After all, what hope could remain for someone whose entire life had consisted of suffering and loss?
Thus, the siblings were transformed together.
Perhaps because of the powerful bond they shared, their existence became linked.
From that day onward, they could only truly be killed if both brother and sister were decapitated simultaneously.
Elsewhere, Gyokko and the restored Hantengu desperately avoided the incoming storm of blood sickles.
Gyokko himself was not particularly worried about the attack.
The scales covering his transformed body possessed tremendous durability.
Most of the blood sickles lacked the power to seriously injure him.
However
Several stray attacks sliced directly through one of his prized pots.
The beautiful ceramic vessel shattered into countless fragments.
The battlefield seemed to freeze.
Gyokko stared at the broken remains.
His entire body trembled.
A vein bulged visibly on his forehead.
The greatest injury he had suffered today had not come from an enemy.
It had come from an ally.
His expression twisted into one of absolute despair.
"Why…"
His voice shook.
"Why does this always happen to my art?"
Meanwhile, Daki and Gyutaro remained safely hidden within their layered obi defenses and could not hear a single word of Gyokko's complaints.
Far away from the chaos, the Lower Rank demons eventually regrouped behind Doma's ice wall.
They crouched together in a neat row, covering their heads while waiting for the attack to end.
Surprisingly, the indiscriminate assault proved highly effective against Heiglar.
The poison that Gyutaro had introduced into his body earlier finally began to spread completely.
His movements slowed.
His regeneration weakened.
The accumulated damage overwhelmed him.
At last, his true body could no longer endure.
With a final shriek, Heiglar perished.
As the dust settled, only a handful of enemies remained on the battlefield.
Meng Xiyu.
Gu Tianmo.
Fuji Ame.
And…
One stubborn survivor.
The cockroach-like demon was somehow still alive.
Even after enduring wave after wave of attacks, it continued clinging desperately to existence.
Once the flying blood sickles finally ceased, Doma dismissed his ice wall with a gentle wave of his fan.
Looking at the pitiful creature still twitching on the ground, he immediately lost interest.
"You all deal with it."
The Lower Rank demons exchanged glances.
Then they rushed forward together.
The unfortunate creature's greatest strength was its incredible survivability.
Its greatest weakness was exactly the same thing.
It simply refused to die.
Even after being beaten relentlessly, it somehow remained alive.
Its regenerative ability continuously forced it back from the brink of death.
Eventually, Doma grew bored.
With a sigh, he stepped forward personally.
A single attack ended the creature's suffering.
If the demon had possessed enough consciousness to think at that moment, it probably would have thanked Doma.
Elsewhere, Akaza's battle against Meng Xiyu had entered its final stage.
Akaza smoothly avoided a devastating elbow strike.
He had already recognized how dangerous his opponent's physical strength was.
There was no reason to meet such attacks head-on.
Destructive Death: Leg Type – Flying Planet Thousand Wheels!
A relentless barrage of kicks struck Meng Xiyu's body.
The attacks tore apart his flesh layer by layer.
More importantly, Akaza had finally identified the weakness hidden beneath the surface.
The skeleton within.
The true core supporting his body.
His eyes sharpened.
His compass needle spun.
The opening appeared.
Destructive Death: Annihilation Type!
Akaza unleashed his strongest punch.
The strike penetrated directly through Meng Xiyu's chest.
The force shattered the skeletal structure hidden within his body.
Cracks spread instantly.
Meng Xiyu's eyes widened in disbelief.
His strongest defense had finally broken.
Yet instead of retreating, he suddenly grabbed Akaza's arm.
His face twisted with unwillingness.
"Akaza!"
"You win this time!"
"But I'm not satisfied!"
"I can still surpass you!"
With a furious roar, he raised both fists overhead.
Then he slammed them downward.
Akaza instinctively tilted his head back.
Suddenly, his instincts screamed a warning.
Too late.
Meng Xiyu's fists collided with each other.
BOOM!!!
A deafening explosion erupted.
The resulting shockwave engulfed everything nearby.
Akaza was blasted backward.
One of his arms was torn completely from his body.
When the dust finally settled, Meng Xiyu was gone.
Far below, a battered figure could be seen dragging itself down the mountainside.
Escaping.
Akaza stared in disbelief.
Part of him wanted to chase immediately.
Another part wanted to throw something at him.
Anything.
Just to stop him.
Before he could move, Muzan's voice echoed directly into his mind.
"Leave him."
The command sounded irritated.
"I've watched this battle long enough."
"It's becoming tedious."
"Come watch Kokushibo finish his fight."
Akaza immediately abandoned the pursuit.
No matter how much he wanted to continue, disobeying Muzan was not an option.
Soon afterward, nearly all of the Twelve Kizuki had gathered around Kokushibo's battlefield.
None of them intervened.
They simply watched.
Kokushibo's eye twitched.
"What are all of you doing here?"
His voice was colder than winter.
Were they spectators?
Had they forgotten they were supposed to be fighting?
Without direct orders from Muzan, however, none of them dared interfere.
Seeing this, Gu Tianmo and Fuji Ame launched another coordinated assault.
The pressure upon Kokushibo immediately intensified.
For a brief moment, they even appeared capable of suppressing him.
Moon Breathing, Ninth Form: Waning Moonswaths
Kokushibo gripped his flesh blade with both hands.
The already monstrous sword extended even further.
Vast crescent-shaped slashes erupted across the battlefield.
Their range was enormous.
Avoiding them entirely was nearly impossible.
Gu Tianmo reacted a fraction too slowly.
His right arm was severed once more.
Yet this time, instead of retreating, he unexpectedly utilized techniques inherited from his original human self.
At the same moment, Fuji Ame did the same.
Water Breathing, Third Form: Flowing Dance!
Wind Breathing, First Form: Dust Whirlwind Cutter!
The two surged forward simultaneously.
Their objective was obvious.
Close the distance.
Sever Kokushibo's head.
However, they had forgotten one critical detail.
They had maintained distance earlier for a reason.
At close range, Kokushibo's attacks became infinitely more dangerous.
The Transparent World remained fully active.
Every muscle movement.
Every heartbeat.
Every shift in balance.
Nothing escaped his sight.
The instant they entered his range, Kokushibo struck.
Moon Breathing, Fifth Form: Moon Spirit Calamitous Eddy!
A violent vortex of crescent blades exploded outward.
The attack engulfed both opponents entirely.
This time, the slashes finally reached their true bodies.
Blood erupted.
Their flesh tore apart.
For the first time since the battle began, genuine injuries appeared upon their real forms.
The tide of battle had finally shifted.
And with that decisive strike, victory for the Twelve Kizuki was all but assured.
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