The blade light surged like a tide in reverse, and Doma's pupils suddenly constricted.
He extended both hands, and solid, heavy-looking ice walls rose from the ground, blocking Kurozawa's blade light.
Bang bang bang. Amidst a series of explosive sounds, the ice walls that had risen from the ground were sliced into scattered fragments by the slashes.
Along with the giant humanoid sculpture beneath Doma's feet, everything shattered into pieces, and Kanae, sealed in ice crystals and left unattended, fell to the ground.
Immediately after, before Kurozawa could react, these fragments exploded a second time into a vast expanse of white mist.
All of Doma's Blood Demon Arts seemed to have this characteristic: as soon as they were attacked, they would explode into a sky full of ice crystal dust. Normally, this would stiffen the enemy's body and freeze their internal organs.
Unfortunately, Kurozawa was protected by a Pitch-Black Aura around his body. The fine ice mist, with its very dispersed power, had no effect on him and blocked the erosion. The pitch-black flames silently burning on him didn't even flicker.
The Secret Technique Sword Form was incredibly powerful. Even though Kurozawa hadn't accumulated power for a long time and used it hastily, it was still something the weakened Doma couldn't resist at this moment.
Crack! Kurozawa tightly gripped Mingzhou in his hand, breaking through Doma's last layer of ice wall defense.
A sharp slash cut out, and the Mingzhou itself struck with more fierce slashing force than the blade light.
Suddenly, it seemed as if an invisible wind was rapidly surging, and all the faint white mist suddenly began to flow, converging towards Doma's location.
At the same time, the vast white expanse in Kurozawa's vision receded.
Crack! Mingzhou struck something, but it didn't feel like slicing into a Demon's body.
Kurozawa's wrist trembled slightly, as if he had struck a piece of hard steel.
His expression froze, and upon closer inspection, he saw a highly condensed ice sphere appear around Doma's body.
This ice sphere was translucent, not large, and tightly wrapped around Doma's entire body. Kurozawa could see Doma's lingering fear and slightly gloomy eyes inside.
Moreover, it was extremely hard. The Mingzhou blade only cut in about ten centimeters, stopping near Doma's throat.
Mingzhou was formed by compressing the Power of Despair. It was sharper than an ordinary Nichirin Blade, and a layer of Pitch-Black Aura constantly swirled around it, causing continuous burning damage. It was also extremely effective against Blood Demon Arts and Demon bodies.
Kurozawa hadn't expected to be stopped like this.
"Hmm?" Without hesitation, Kurozawa moved his arm, tensing the muscles in his body.
Inside, Doma's expression remained unchanged as he quietly watched Kurozawa.
Behind Kurozawa, three Ice Bodhisattvas rumbled forward, and in another second or two, they would bring Kurozawa into their attack range.
At the same time, Kurozawa wanted to add force to his slash and cut off Doma's head.
However, Doma's ice sphere didn't resist Kurozawa. Instead, it moved along with Kurozawa's force.
So, after slashing out, Kurozawa looked up helplessly.
The not-too-small ice sphere hung on the tip of his Mingzhou blade, following Kurozawa's force as if performing a movement technique called "Willow Swaying in the Wind."
There was no point of resistance. No wonder Mingzhou, despite being so sharp, couldn't destroy it.
The rumbling sound from behind grew closer and closer, and Kurozawa felt increasingly that Doma was a tough opponent.
The Pitch-Black Aura on Mingzhou was burning and corroding the inner ice layer, slowly approaching Doma inside at a visible speed. However, compared to that, the Ice Bodhisattvas behind would arrive faster.
Kurozawa suppressed the urge to immediately kill Doma and shifted his gaze to Kanae who had fallen to the ground.
At the same time, Mingzhou dissipated, and Kurozawa, without looking back, turned and hooked the ice sphere with his foot, kicking it hard backward.
Bang! An Ice Puppet was caught off guard and was shattered into pieces by the iron-hard ice sphere. The Ice Bodhisattva charging forward at its feet stiffened, and cracks began to spread. But just as it was about to collapse and dissipate, the ice sphere cracked open, and Doma stumbled out in a disheveled state. He placed a hand on the Ice Bodhisattva, stabilizing its crumbling body.
On the other side, Kurozawa looked down with a bit of a headache.
"..." Kanae's gaze was also on Kurozawa, filled with extremely complex emotions.
Kurozawa was speechless. He casually unleashed fine blade light that swirled around Kanae's body.
Amidst the dense, crisp cutting sounds, the irregular ice crystals sealing Kanae turned into powder, coating the ground with a layer of white frost.
"Hmph."
Just rescued, Kanae took a deep breath wanting to stand straight, but her legs were numb and without sensation, causing her to fall softly to the ground.
"You're severely injured, just watch from the side," Kurozawa didn't know what to say, so he just quietly told Kanae to rest.
She raised her head. Her face, which had been fair and rosy, was now pale, without a trace of color, like paper soaked in water, that would tear if rubbed and break if touched.
"Kurozawa, you..." Kanae's eyes were full of disappointment and sadness. She opened her mouth but stopped after just saying a few words.
Inside the ice crystals, she could still see what was happening outside.
Kurozawa regenerating severed limbs and recovering from severe injuries – these actions clearly revealed his identity.
Logically, Kanae shouldn't have been so conflicted.
But after their previous interactions, Kanae felt that Kurozawa was vastly different from the Demons she knew. During the daytime before, Kurozawa had always been like a human, showing no avoidance of sunlight. Moreover, although his personality might have been fierce, he wasn't essentially an evil person, nor was he a Demon.
They hadn't known each other for long, but Kanae had already considered Kurozawa a friend she could entrust her back to.
Now, everything happened too quickly, leaving her in confusion.
At the very least, her trust in Kurozawa had completely vanished.
Seeing this, Kurozawa sighed faintly, "Life is sometimes very complicated." He paused, then continued, "Kanae, you're a good person. I hope when we meet again in the future, we won't be facing each other with swords."
His eyes were deep and resolute: "Of course, if you choose to be my enemy, then I naturally won't show mercy. Going all out is the best respect for a Swordsman."
Kurozawa had always been kind to those he was familiar with, like the Water Breathing Swordsmen from Mount Sagiri. They essentially saw him as their gentle and considerate Senior Disciple, like an older brother, and respected and admired him greatly.
He had a very good impression of Kanae. She was a gentle, kind, and courageous Swordsman with her own principles. If possible, Kurozawa didn't want to become her enemy, but it seemed unlikely at the moment.
At the same time, having experienced the powerlessness of being sickly in his previous life, now that he had the chance to become stronger, Kurozawa had an inner drive to reach the very peak.
He wouldn't stop moving forward, but due to the unique nature of his gray-white aura, the way he obtained power, and the targeting by the world's will, Kurozawa found it difficult to develop steadily.
"Hongyue knows I killed an Upper Moon. She should be coming to kill me too, right?"
This damned world... was always pushing him step by step towards being everyone's enemy.
He wasn't one of them, so humans wouldn't let him go, and the Demon Slayer Corps Swordsmen would want to kill and eliminate him.
Similarly, because he hunted Demons, the Demon side naturally wouldn't accept him either. When they met, it would be a fight to the death.
Looking at Kanae's complicated and no longer trusting eyes, Kurozawa felt a moment of loneliness and solitude in his daze. Although the world was vast, he had nowhere to go, caught between a rock and a hard place. Everywhere he looked, there were bandits, and everyone he saw was an enemy leader.
"However, if everyone is an enemy, doesn't that also make me peerless?"
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