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"Hey, you seem to know who I am."
Yamai wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, baring a row of sharp fangs.
His golden eyes were fixed on Haruto, and a flush, as if from drunkenness, appeared on his cheeks.
"Lower Three…"
Haruto gripped his nichirin blade, retreating into a bow stance, ready to attack.
"Hmm, did you see my eyes?"
Yamai's lips curled into a strange smile. He lifted his hand and pulled down the lower lid of his right eye, making a childish grimace: "This old man's name is Yamai."
He extended his palm downwards towards Haruto, and as Haruto quickly rolled back, the vegetation beneath the boy's feet rapidly withered.
Blood Demon Art: Withering!
Indeed, every Demon's Blood Demon Art was related to his name.
Yamai, having missed his attack, didn't mind, and continued to press his palm down on Haruto, moving faster and faster.
The boy dodged and weaved, and inadvertently, the tip of his foot touched the withered vegetation, and even the sole of his wooden clogs was largely corroded!
Haruto's expression remained unchanged. He stomped his foot heavily on the ground and lunged straight at Yamai.
Breath of the Stars, First Form: Tear of Light!
Haruto's figure flashed past, and in the next instant, he was wrapped in the light of his nichirin blade, rushing towards Yamai.
The First Form of Breath of the Stars was extremely fast, no less than Thunder Breathing's Thunderclap and Flash. This attack was swift, accurate, and always worked wonders in battle.
But today, he met his match.
The nichirin blade met no resistance as it moved forward, and there was no sensation of anything being cut.
Haruto's heart sank. He quickly twisted his body in mid-air and unleashed "Tear of Light" again.
A dark shadow tore through the afterimage left by the young man in the green robe. Yamai let out an "oh" and landed lightly on a tree.
Haruto landed steadily on the ground, glancing at the treetop.
A gauntlet with a dark glow had appeared on Yamai's hand at some point. Combined with the scars on his face and his extremely fast movement speed, it seemed that Yamai, in his human life, had been a ninja.
"Your movement speed is good. Are you a Hashira?"
Yamai shook his head, denying his own idea: "No, I've eaten many Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, and they weren't as weak as you."
Haruto narrowed his eyes slightly.
"If I hadn't just had a delicious meal, your limbs would be broken by now, and you'd be wriggling on the ground."
He swept his long, snake-like tongue over the outside of his lips: "Again!"
Before the word 'again' had fully left his mouth, the dark shadow struck straight at his face. Haruto hastily raised his nichirin blade to block, and with a "sizzle," a series of sparks immediately flew.
The boy immediately twisted and flew up, kicking the Demon's face with a scissor kick.
Yamai did several backflips, countering with a Blood Demon Art: Withering, but Haruto, with the tip of his nichirin blade on the ground, pursued relentlessly.
Star Breathing, Second Form: Prairie Fire!
The flickering stars caught up to Yamai, staining him with starlight starting from his Demon claws, connecting to his limbs, and finally exploding with a bang in his chest!
Scarlet Demon blood splattered on the ground, emitting a foul stench.
Yamai's body flew backward in mid-air, then his Demon claws hooked onto a branch, and he flipped to squat on the treetop.
He looked down at the black hole blasted into his chest, gritted his teeth for a moment, and the flesh in his chest wriggled, recovering in no time.
"Flashy nonsense."
He commented on Haruto's move: "A Demon's weakness is its neck… you wouldn't not know that, would you?"
The Twelve Kizuki… truly lived up to their name.
Normally, Haruto's attack would continuously explode up to the neck, finally shattering the Demon's head into pieces.
However, against Yamai, it could only leave him with a barely visible small wound.
"Is that all you've got?" Yamai's offensive didn't weaken. He leaped from the air: "The new generation of Demon Slayer Swordsmen—you're too disappointing!"
He raised his palm high, and Haruto's heart skipped a beat as he immediately rolled to the side.
Who knew that this time Yamai's palm wasn't pressing down, but lifting up—
Blood Demon Art: Growth!
Haruto's heart sank, and he secretly thought, 'This is bad.'
At the spot where he was about to land, a tree suddenly burst from the ground, covered in diseased purple-black branches and leaves!
"Damn it!"
Haruto forcibly twisted his body, but still couldn't completely dodge the growing tree.
"Thud!"
His shoulder was in excruciating pain; a branch easily pierced his left shoulder.
The branch that had penetrated his body suddenly exerted a suction force, and streams of crimson blood were absorbed by the branch, then fed back to Yamai.
Haruto immediately swung his nichirin blade to cut off the branch. That section of the branch immediately withered but stubbornly bit into his muscle, unable to be removed.
The flush on Yamai's cheeks became more and more pronounced, and his emotions became more and more excited. In contrast to his heightened emotions, his limb movements became slower and slower.
An opportunity… "Ha, the after-effects of drinking seem to be getting worse. Indeed, it's the rich blood that moves me more."
He babbled incoherently, saying who knows what. In the night sky, only the sound of a sharp nichirin blade cutting through the air could be heard.
Tear of Light!
Yamai still dodged quickly, but this time his movements seemed a little slower.
The nichirin blade grazed his neck, leaving a small, thin wound.
"Damn it."
Yamai's smile vanished. He opened his palm towards Haruto, who was close by.
Blood Demon Art: Surging!
A large cluster of twisted, diseased vines burst from his palm, shooting rapidly towards the falling Haruto.
"Clang, clang, clang, clang!"
He rapidly swung his nichirin blade, cutting off the vines heading for his head and vital points.
"Thud!"
Amidst the teeth-grating sound of piercing, his limbs were pierced by the vines, and like that tree branch, these vines were constantly drawing his blood and injecting it into Yamai.
"Your blood… your blood…"
The effect of his rare blood was maximized. Yamai's speech became slurred, and he couldn't even express what he wanted to say.
Haruto endured the severe pain and raised his nichirin blade to cut the vines.
He was now completely covered in wounds, but luckily, his handsome face was fine; he still needed it to find a wife.
"Blood? What about my blood?"
Without further ado, Haruto didn't want to give him a chance. His nichirin blade trembled, and ignoring the pain in his body, he gathered all the power of starlight into the nichirin blade in his hand.
He turned the nichirin blade, gripping the hilt with both hands and holding it against his chest.
The countless stars in the sky seemed to dim slightly because of him.
A brilliant star map erupted behind Haruto, and a full moon rose above Yamai's head.
Even in his drunken state, Yamai sensed immense danger. His pupils were somewhat unfocused, but he still raised both hands and pushed them forward.
Blood Demon Art: Embrace of the Tree!
A massive tree burst from his palms, hurtling straight towards Haruto.
The full moon was about to shatter… All his strength had been pushed to the limit, yet that full moon trembled precariously, as if it could shatter at any moment!
"Breath of the Stars, Ninth Form—
Banishment of the Moon!"
Haruto faced the giant embracing tree, gritting his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead.
The full moon didn't shatter!
The nichirin blade in his hand was thrown out by Haruto with a spin!
"Bang!"
The white-haired boy was hit squarely by the giant tree, sent flying dozens of meters like a bird with broken wings.
"Heh heh…"
Yamai sneered twice, about to say something, but felt his vision sliding downwards.
"Gulp."
The short-haired, black-headed head gently fell onto the grass. That spinning nichirin blade had still completed its mission of Banishment of the Moon, grazing his neck before deeply embedding itself in the tree behind him.
Haruto held on by a thread, and only after seeing the Lower Three's head and body begin to burn did he roll his eyes and pass out.
I've made it, I've actually killed a Twelve Kizuki.
Master, Mr. Urokodaki, Sabito, Giyuu, Makomo, Ubuyashiki boy… no matter who, come and see me… I've actually killed a Twelve Kizuki…