Lexon suddenly slapped Gyokko on the forehead. "Retract your aura."
Lying on the floor, Gyokko visibly flinched after being slapped by Lexon.
The next moment, the others no longer felt so uncomfortable.
Yushiro gave Lexon a meaningful look.
'For such a powerful demon to be captured alive by him and be so terrified of him, how horrifying must his strength be...'
"Upper Rank Five, Gyokko..." Tamayo clasped her hands in front of her, calmed her turbulent heart, and spoke slowly.
"You know him?" Lexon said.
"I don't. I guessed from the number in his eye and combined it with some prior intelligence about his appearance."
"Then you don't seem that surprised."
"I vaguely saw the sack moving earlier and guessed that it was a demon you had captured alive, Mr. Lexon, but I didn't expect it to be the Upper Rank Five of the Twelve Kizuki."
Tamayo responded.
"What are the Twelve Kizuki?" Tanjiro asked.
Afterward, Tamayo and Yushiro thoroughly educated him on the relevant knowledge.
"So you're saying this demon is terrifyingly strong?" Tanjiro murmured after receiving the explanation.
"Yes," Tamayo nodded.
"Then this guy's blood should be fine, right?" Lexon said.
"Yes, the blood of an Upper Rank is very close to that of Muzan Kibutsuji," Tamayo said, taking out a syringe, intending to draw blood.
But when the needle pricked Gyokko's skin, it was broken by the scales.
After all, they were scales harder than diamond. Even though they were cut like tofu under the demonized Lexon's blade, it didn't mean the hardness of the scales was an exaggeration.
Tamayo took out a new syringe and searched for a long time without finding a single place to insert it.
Even his eyeballs were terrifyingly hard. How was she supposed to draw blood?
Tamayo looked to Lexon for help.
In her view, the person who could reduce Gyokko to this state must be able to break through his skin to allow her to draw blood.
"Are you going to do it yourself, or should I?" Lexon turned his gaze to Gyokko.
"You damn bastard! You're humiliating me!!!" The listless Gyokko, who had been lying paralyzed on the floor, suddenly lifted his head, his eyes flashing with furious brilliance.
Seeing the lamb's fierce reaction, Lexon silently placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.
And so, the light in Gyokko's eyes instantly dimmed again. He lay on the floor, no longer speaking, with a look of resignation, blood trickling from the mouths in his eye sockets.
At his side, Yushiro hurriedly brought over a container and placed it by Gyokko's mouth, catching the flowing blood.
"Is that enough?" Lexon asked after seeing the large, basin-like container fill up. "If it's not enough, I can make him bleed more."
Gyokko, who was now just a pale torso on the floor, nearly coughed up a mouthful of blood when he heard this.
"This is enough," Tamayo said.
On the floor, Gyokko inwardly breathed a small sigh of relief.
'I've really been squeezed dry, not a drop left. If I bleed any more, I'll be a dead demon.'
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, Lexon let out a sound of confusion.
The Nichirin Sword at his waist was drawn in an instant, then thrown.
The tip of the sword shot towards the room's wall like a thunderbolt.
It pierced through the wall, flew out with immense kinetic energy, and seemed to hit something mid-air, making a "pop" sound as it burst.
"Bang!"
The Nichirin Sword must have finally struck the outer stone wall, making a loud sound of shattering rock.
The people and demon inside the house were all startled by Lexon's sudden action.
"What's wrong?" Tanjiro asked.
"Someone was just attacking this place," Lexon replied.
Yushiro's face was grave. He felt that something was wrong with his Blood Demon Art. "The blind spot has been broken. Someone has come in."
"Let's go out and take a look," Tamayo suggested.
"Alright."
Lying on the floor, Gyokko's eyes flickered when he noticed Lexon's sword was gone.
'His weapon is gone...'
Gyokko understood how important a weapon was to a demon-slaying swordsman.
Normal demon hunters relied on their Nichirin Swords to have the ability to slay demons.
Without a Nichirin Sword, they couldn't use their sword techniques, nor could they have the ability to slay demons.
"If you dare to move, I'll eat you alive."
Suddenly, a friendly-toned but terrifying voice came from the side.
Gyokko's heart suddenly trembled.
'It seems I forgot, this demon-slaying swordsman isn't normal.'
He didn't doubt the truth of the swordsman's words. This guy... could turn into a demon... and demons eating demons...
Normally, for a demon to eat and absorb another, they needed Lord Muzan's permission, but this demon-slaying swordsman could switch between human and demon at will. Eating him alive didn't seem like such an outrageous thing.
So Gyokko abandoned his little ideas and went back to being a reclusive demon.
'As long as I can live, I will never give up on life.'
'I still have to serve Lord Muzan. I can't die so easily!'
'When I meet Lord Muzan, I'll make sure you, this demon hunter, die without a burial place!'
The captive Gyokko thought with determination.
Lexon picked Gyokko up and stuffed him back into the burlap sack.
Then, he walked out with the sack, along with Tanjiro and the others.
The moment they stepped out the door, they were greeted with a not-so-pretty picture.
On a stone wall not far away, a man in a monk's robe was impaled by the shoulder, hanging there by a Nichirin Sword.
Beside him, a woman holding a temari ball was struggling to pull him down from the wall.
But it seemed to be embedded too deeply, and for a moment, she couldn't get him down.
"Both of them are demons," Tanjiro said immediately.
"Which one do you want?" Lexon asked.
The meaning was clear: one for each of them.
Although Lexon could get serious and end the fight with one slash for each of these two demons, who weren't even at the level of a Lower Rank, Tanjiro still needed to be tempered. Otherwise, how would he survive on his own?
Tanjiro's current strength was a little higher than either of the two demons opposite them, but not to the point of being able to overwhelm them. Letting him choose one for a one-on-one fight would be a good experience pack.
"The male demon," Tanjiro said, choosing the male demon just as in the story.
"Damn it!!" The arrow demon in the monk's robe, Yahaba, who was stuck on the wall, saw that Lexon's group was still calmly chatting and couldn't help but feel a surge of anger. He directly let the Nichirin Sword sever half his shoulder.
He slid straight down.
Then he healed quickly.
"This bastard!" Yahaba's facial eyes were closed, but the two eyes in the center of his palms, which had arrows on them, were staring straight at Lexon.
'This guy has a scabbard at his waist but no sword. This Nichirin Sword was most likely thrown by him!'
'I'm a neat freak!! The dust has made me dirty!!!'
Yahaba was frantic, his anger seemingly erupting.
At his side, the female demon holding the temari ball, Susamaru, also understood that her temporary partner was enraged and didn't spoil his mood.
"I'll leave the one who threw the sword to you. Be careful, don't die," Susamaru said, the corners of her mouth pulling into a grin.
"I don't need you to tell me," Yahaba crossed his arms, facing Lexon, preparing to unleash his Blood Demon Art.
But the next moment, that person suddenly disappeared from his field of vision.
"He chose you, so you fight him," an indifferent voice suddenly appeared at his side.
Yahaba's heart leaped in shock.
What followed was a heart-piercing pain. Yahaba's entire body was sent flying by one of Lexon's whip kicks, all the bones in his body shattering.
"Ahhhh!!" Yahaba slammed violently into the cherry tree in the courtyard, looking utterly wretched.
Next, Lexon shifted his gaze to Susamaru. "You're the one left, so you'll fight me."
The arrogant look on Susamaru's face receded, and her expression became grave.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]