Kokushibo swung his demonic blade, and in an instant, streaks of sword aura erupted around him, closing in from every direction until they formed a complete enclosure!
Sanemi Shinazugawa and Muichiro Tokito felt their hearts tighten.
In their eyes, this technique was almost perfect.
They studied it for a long while and still couldn't find a single flaw.
"Don't lose your nerve! Every sword technique has a weak point. There's no such thing as an invincible sword technique in this world!" Sanemi roared, not only warning Muichiro but also forcing the words into his own skull.
The two kept slashing, fighting back against Kokushibo's demonic blade.
At the same time, Gyomei Himejima kept whipping his chain through the air.
Everyone was waiting.
Waiting for a crack.
The moment that crack appeared, someone would slip in and cut Kokushibo's head clean off.
"Hahahaha! What are you dreaming about? Keep this up and the ones who die will be you!" Kokushibo continued swinging, his speed even accelerating.
Just as he was reveling in it, a sudden sting shot through his hand.
He looked down.
A round prayer bead had struck the hand gripping his sword.
"When?!" Kokushibo jolted.
That attack had actually broken through his swordwork.
Silent, clean, and he hadn't sensed it until it landed.
"During the chain swing? How did that man fool my eyes?" he thought.
But Gyomei didn't answer.
Because the opening was already there.
"Dust Cyclone, Severing Slash!"
A green whirlwind tore through the defense and slammed in!
Kokushibo raised his blade to block, but a crushing force hit.
It felt like a speeding train smashing head-on.
His blade snapped.
Splat!
Half of Kokushibo's body was smashed away, and his right hand was severed along with it!
"Again… what is this man…?"
Kokushibo felt something deeply wrong.
He could no longer predict Gyomei's next strike.
Then a figure crashed into him.
Mist Breathing, Seventh Form!
Obscuring Clouds!
A flash of steel cut through, and before Kokushibo even registered it, his lower body was severed.
"What is happening?!" Kokushibo was going mad.
Why couldn't he see through their movements anymore?
First the man who fought with his fists.
Then the man who swung the chain.
Now even this younger descendant of his could slip past his eyes!
He couldn't accept it.
Then his gaze met Muichiro's.
Muichiro's eyes no longer held the killing intent from before.
They were clean.
Clear.
Transparent.
"So that's it… you've reached that realm too…" Kokushibo murmured, and his mind snapped to Gyomei.
That blind man had reached it as well.
During battle?
To gain a skill like that in a fight balanced on life and death… what monstrous luck.
Moon Breathing, Sixteenth Form!
Kokushibo lifted his remaining arm, preparing to unleash another technique.
If he fired it, they would be forced back again.
He would buy time.
Time to regenerate.
As for this brat right beside him…
Let him die.
"This is your fate!" Kokushibo bellowed, blade about to fall.
Then his wrist shattered from a kick behind him.
The demonic sword dropped.
Vincent Fox had endured the worst of that oppressive state and had been waiting for the moment to strike.
His left hand grabbed Muichiro and hurled him backward.
His right fist drove forward like a cannon.
Serious Punch!
The strike was brutally direct.
Kokushibo, without legs, had no defense.
The only thing he could do was twist his head with everything he had.
Crack!
A sharp snap.
Kokushibo's head spun a full one hundred eighty degrees, and all he saw was a fist filling his vision.
"It's you!" Kokushibo screamed.
He didn't get another word.
His head exploded.
Eyeballs scattered across the floor, along with a splash of red and white pulp.
"We did it!" Sanemi shouted, ecstatic.
But Gyomei, now in that transparent state, knew it wasn't that simple.
Kokushibo's muscles were still moving.
Blood still circulated.
His body showed not even the slightest sign of fading.
"I can't die!"
A voice rasped out from a headless neck, and the bleeding sealed shut.
"Keep attacking, he's not dead yet!" Gyomei shouted, swinging his iron ball down again!
"Hahahaha, good! Then I'll chop this beast into dust!" Sanemi burst forward, sword technique igniting as he became a raging wind, carving at what remained of Kokushibo's body.
"Don't stop! Keep hitting the neck! Don't waste this chance!" Gyomei roared.
Kokushibo's body suddenly sprouted new legs and started dodging.
For a moment, both the Stone Hashira and Wind Hashira struck empty air.
At the same time, Kokushibo's head began to regrow.
Not his old human face.
The new head was grotesque, covered in horns and fangs.
"What a damn animal! It grew back that fast, bastard!"
"Don't stop! Keep attacking. A fresh neck should still be fragile!" Gyomei thundered.
Now everyone joined in.
Even Inosuke rushed up, circling to prevent Kokushibo from escaping.
Boom!
Vincent Fox seized another opening, smashing Kokushibo's body apart with one punch.
All six eyes locked onto Vincent Fox, burning his face into memory.
"What are you?" Kokushibo rasped. "A swordsman or a martial artist? You can destroy a body so easily without a Nichirin blade?"
Vincent Fox lifted his foot and pinned Kokushibo's remaining head to the floor, disgust plain on his face.
"With that look, you still think you deserve to be called human?"
"What did you say?!" Kokushibo howled, fury surging.
"Then before you die," Vincent Fox said, voice cold, "I'll let you see what you've become."
He picked up Muichiro's Nichirin blade from the ground and held it before Kokushibo's eyes.
In the reflection of the steel, Kokushibo saw himself.
Twisted flesh-horns tangled everywhere.
Fangs exposed, naked and obscene.
And those eyes he'd always been proud of, eyes that claimed to see through everything…
Now they were crooked, drifting in different directions like a shattered compass.
A monster.
"I lived for hundreds of years… and in the end I became this ugly thing?"
"Turning into a grotesque beast… what was it all for?"
"I devoured thousands… what have I been doing these centuries…"
Kokushibo's body began to fade.
And in his mind appeared his younger brother, the last time they met.
The words his brother had spoken.
"How tragic, Brother. Is this what you wanted?"
"No… this isn't what I wanted…"
Kokushibo whispered.
The regeneration stopped.
His newly formed head began to crumble away.
----------------------------------------------------
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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