"Tch! Dammit!"
Kocho Shinobu cursed under her breath. "This guy's neck is even tougher than the other Berserk Demons!"
After developing a potion to force the manifestation of the Demon Slayer Mark, she had attempted to use its power to fight the Berserk Demons. With the mark's enhancement, she could easily decapitate many of them.
But Doma was clearly different. As Upper Moon Two of the Twelve Kizuki, he was now the strongest Berserk Demon second only to Muzan. His neck was undoubtedly far tougher than those of the rank-and-file.
"How's that, little girl? Can't do a thing to me, can you? Hahaha!"
"Shinobu?"
Seeing Doma's arrogant display, Ren couldn't help but draw the third blade from his waist, itching to cut him down right then and there. However, Kocho Shinobu gave a slight shake of her head.
"It's fine. I didn't expect to kill him quite so easily. To be honest, everything happening now is still within my calculations!"
"Is that so? Then how about this?"
Doma swung his iron fans with force. A biting, frigid wind howled forth, swirling above Shinobu's head. Countless ice crystals within the gale instantly coalesced into dozens of hard icicles, raining down from the sky!
"Blood Demon Art: Winter Icicles!"
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
In an instant, the icicles slammed down heavily, threatening to turn Shinobu's slender body into a pincushion.
"Insect Breathing, Dance of the Praying Mantis: Phantom Flying Sickles!"
Seeing the assault, Shinobu swung her blade with all her might. Enhanced by the Demon Slayer Mark, her once-weak physical strength was now enough to easily shatter those hard pillars of ice.
Already naturally swift, her speed surged even further under the mark's influence!
Having cleaved through the icicles, Shinobu charged at Doma without a moment's delay.
"You've gotten faster, but it's useless. Blood Demon Art: Crystalline Divine Child!"
"Fwoosh!"
As a cold wind swept by, a dozen small ice figures resembling Doma suddenly appeared, blocking Shinobu's path.
"Just more small fry. Get out of my way! Insect Breathing, Dance of the Dragonfly: Compound Eye Hexagon!"
Shinobu delivered a rapid flurry of thrusts. Her blade moved at a dizzying speed, leaving behind nothing but a blurred afterimage.
The moment Shinobu clashed with the ice clones, they were instantly sliced apart, shattering into countless fragments that filled the air.
"Quite impressive. Blood Demon Art: Cold White Princesses!"
The instant the ice clones were destroyed, Doma struck again. He conjured two frozen white lotuses shaped like young maidens. Frigid wind blasted from the maidens' mouths while Doma himself slowly opened his mouth to exhale a blizzard.
"Blood Demon Art: Snowstorm!"
The two storms merged, becoming even more bone-chilling. As Shinobu plunged into the gale, she felt a cold so intense it was as if she'd fallen into an ice cave. Her very blood felt on the verge of freezing.
'No, it's too cold! Even the heat from the Demon Slayer Mark can't withstand this. I have to break through this wind immediately!'
With that thought, Shinobu pulled out another syringe and plunged it into the artery of her arm without hesitation. Unlike the blue serum from before, this one was filled with a red liquid.
As the drug flooded her system, Shinobu felt a surge of agonizing pain that seemed to penetrate her very marrow. Blood began to seep from her eyes, nose, and ears, giving her a gruesome and terrifying appearance.
At that moment, she looked more like a Berserk Demon than Doma did.
Despite the soul-shattering pain, a frenzied smile played on Shinobu's lips. For along with the agony came unparalleled strength.
"Insect Breathing, Dance of the Centipede: Hundred-Legged Zigzag!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Shinobu swung her blade with such force that the resulting shockwaves of sword qi dispersed the surrounding frozen winds.
A deafening explosion rang out as Shinobu burst through the gale, instantly closing the distance between her and Doma. She swung her blade straight for his throat.
Her eyes were filled with absolute confidence, as if certain her strike would land.
"She actually broke through?!"
Doma was genuinely shocked. Shinobu was moving so fast that at this range, he couldn't dodge. A trace of panic finally flickered in his eyes.
'No, there's no need to worry. This girl's physical strength is weak. There's no way she could decapitate—'
"Slash!"
Before Doma could finish his thought, Shinobu's blade had already passed through his neck.
As the world spun around him, Doma's head rolled to the side, his face a mask of disbelief.
"Impossible! How can this be? Your strength should be negligible... You shouldn't have been able to cut my head off!"
"True. Normally, I wouldn't have been able to take your head... Pfft!"
Shinobu coughed up a spray of dark blood. She held up an empty syringe that had contained the red serum and spoke with grim satisfaction.
"But I developed a muscle enhancer. With just a small dose, I can gain five to six times my normal strength and physical capacity. More than enough to sever your neck..."
"Heh, and interestingly enough, the main ingredient of this muscle enhancer was extracted from the blood of you Berserk Demons."
"You've lost. Now go to hell, you piece of trash!"
"Heh, so that's how it is..."
Having understood the reason for his defeat, Doma faded away from the world with a faint smile.
He had always been devoid of human emotion, so naturally, he felt no fear even in death.
With Doma's death, Nakime was the only one of the Twelve Kizuki remaining!
"It've finally over, Sister. I've finally avenged you. I've kept our promise..."
With those final words, Shinobu's body, flickering like a candle in the wind, collapsed.
Yet the expected pain of hitting the ground never came. Shinobu slowly opened her eyes to find Ren holding her frail body, looking down at her with a complicated expression.
"Setting aside the side effects of that muscle enhancer... just manifesting the Demon Slayer Mark alone... You know what that means, don't you? You won't live past twenty-five!
Shinobu, was doing all this... really worth it?"
"Hehe. Didn't you manifest yours too, Ren? Technically, you won't live past twenty-five either."
Shinobu smiled gently. With Doma's death, the scent of resentment and anger had vanished from her being.
"And of course it's worth it! If killing a single Berserk Demon can save dozens, then taking down an Upper Moon can save hundreds, even thousands!
It's not about whether I can do it, or if it's worth it. It's something that must be done, even at the cost of one's life!"
"Shinobu, your will is truly noble and grand. But I'll say it again: I won't let you die!
Shinobu, and everyone else in the Demon Slayer Corps—all of you need to live long, peaceful lives!
If you all exist to protect the world, then I exist to protect you!"
At those words, Shinobu smiled as well. "Compared to mine," she whispered, "your will is the one that's truly noble."
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]