Right in the middle of the clash, a sharp cry tore through the air.
The ceiling was smashed open again. Two figures burst in at once!
Sanemi Shinazugawa was drenched in blood, clearly having just survived a brutal fight.
The other figure was enormous.
It was none other than the Stone Hashira, Gyomei Himejima!
The moment he arrived, he immediately saw Vincent Fox's predicament.
"Mr. Fox, we'll take over here for now. Recover quickly. Because what comes next…" Gyomei trailed off and didn't finish.
Vincent Fox understood at once. After shattering Kokushibo's blade-light with one more punch, he withdrew to the side.
Sanemi and Gyomei stepped in to replace him.
The battle erupted instantly.
"Oh? More Demon Slayers?" Kokushibo lazily lifted his demonic blade, pale moonlight spilling off it. "Looks like Nakime's been putting some pressure on me."
"The era of demons is over," Gyomei said evenly, swinging his flail. "Once we deal with you, we can focus on Muzan without worry."
"Deal with Lord Muzan? You're dreaming," Kokushibo replied, voice cold. "Humans are always like this, always overestimating themselves. You haven't even broken through the obstacle in front of you, yet you're already thinking about what comes after. People like you were never meant for greatness."
"In my eyes, you aren't even worth turning into demons. If you hadn't shown up, that boy might've already been finished by me." Kokushibo spoke with total confidence, because his injuries had already fully healed.
"Bullshit!" Inosuke bellowed, furious after watching the entire fight. "You big-talking freak! I wanna rip that mouth of yours apart, you eyeball bastard!"
"If Mr. Fox wasn't saving strength for what's coming, he'd have crushed you in one go!"
"You… are too loud." Kokushibo's tone dropped, and something like irritation flickered. He snorted, then swung his demonic blade with force.
Moon Breathing, Seventh Form!
Calamity Mirror: Moonlit Reflection!
The demonic blade, long as two swords end to end, bristling with jagged barbs, slashed forward.
Five crescent-shaped arcs of sword energy appeared in front of him, rushing toward them.
And as they flew, the arcs split and replicated, multiplying into more than a dozen vicious trajectories in an instant!
Neither of them dared relax.
Gyomei spun his spiked flail like a storm, the air itself seeming to get dragged along. Even the incoming arcs were tugged toward his position.
Sanemi used speed instead, threading through gaps in the sword energy, his Nichirin blade flashing to cut down whatever he couldn't evade.
The sword arcs were drawn toward Gyomei. Though blind, he sensed the danger through the air itself.
He smashed his flail down with brutal force, detonating the clustered sword energy in a single blow!
A thunderous blast erupted. Debris and dust exploded upward and rained across the floor.
"Impressive muscle," Kokushibo murmured, a hint of excitement mixed with regret. "It's been three hundred years since I've seen a human temper their body to this degree. And you've awakened the Demon Slayer Mark?"
His eyes examined Gyomei's condition in calm detail.
"Twenty-seven. At your age, you still chose to awaken the Mark… According to the records, marked swordsmen die by twenty-five. If you awaken it now, you likely won't live past tonight."
"Why do it? The Mark is nothing but borrowing power by spending your life early. A body honed to this level, only to die tonight. Isn't that worth lamenting?"
"I don't think so." Gyomei shook his head, voice flat as stone. "Every Demon Slayer knows the truth about the Mark. There's nothing to lament. Mortality is what makes us human. You became a demon out of fear of death. What are you really chasing?"
"Even without the Mark, life in the Corps is still a walk through nine deaths for one breath. What's the difference?"
"If you can't even hold that resolve, how do you deserve to be called a swordsman, let alone a Hashira?"
Gyomei's tone stayed calm, as if he were stating something obvious.
"If you can't face death, then you're unworthy of the blade. Someone like you will never understand human pride. You were never meant to endure."
Kokushibo, who had been pitying Gyomei just a moment ago, went silent.
Then his blade appeared beside Gyomei in a flash, hacking straight for his throat.
Clang!
The chain intercepted it, locking the strike in place. The edge couldn't push forward even a hair.
Gyomei counterattacked immediately.
His flail crashed toward Kokushibo like a falling star!
Kokushibo twisted aside. He tried to surge forward again, but the weapon on the other end of the chain, a massive axe, came swinging in.
A cold flash.
Kokushibo couldn't fully evade. One of his ears was sliced clean off.
He tried to retaliate, but at the moment his strike landed, a chill crept up from near his feet.
No time to think.
Kokushibo sprang upward instinctively.
Sanemi's ambush missed, but he didn't hesitate for even a heartbeat, because Gyomei's attack was already arriving again.
The flail slammed in with a roar. Kokushibo was forced to brace with his blade.
He was blasted backward, smashing through two pillars in a single violent skid!
"Three different styles… and their coordination is this perfect?" Kokushibo's eyes narrowed. "Swordsmen of different Breathing forms, synchronizing their assaults?"
He hadn't expected them to land real damage while covering each other so cleanly.
"Looks like all that practice between Hashira wasn't wasted, Mr. Himejima," Sanemi said, resting his blade on his shoulder.
"Yes," Gyomei answered, as brief as ever, but the meaning was clear.
At the same time, Muichiro Tokito joined the fight.
"These three…" Kokushibo's six eyes assessed them at once.
Even among all the Demon Slayer Corps throughout history, these three would be elites.
Their seamless coordination was giving him a real headache.
Especially that man.
Kokushibo's gaze locked onto Gyomei.
Blindness didn't hinder him at all.
That weapon was practically built for him. Through the vibrations in the chain, he could map the battlefield. And the two ends, flail and axe, matched his monstrous physique perfectly.
And in the earlier clash, Kokushibo had discovered something even worse.
His demonic blade couldn't cut through Gyomei's chain.
Worse, the chain seemed to carry a corrosive effect that ate at his weapon every time they collided.
----------------------------------------------------
The deeper he goes, the more the truth unravels. Don't wait read ahead and witness Vincent's rise before the world catches up!
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