Every breath was accompanied by a sharp, stabbing pain, as distinct as a knife cut.
Cold sweat dripped continuously from his forehead. Kiyokawa Izumi's face was exceptionally pale, and his hand holding the blade was already trembling slightly.
But when he thought of his big brother, who continued to fight even with a pierced chest, and Tokito Muichiro, who had been cut in half by Kokushibou but never gave up even at the brink of death...
Compared to them, was this level of pain not something he could endure?
Holding a blue-tinted nichirin blade, Kiyokawa Izumi pointed the sharp tip at Gyokko from a distance, his not-so-slender figure standing straight.
Every breath was incredibly difficult, yet incredibly forceful.
He didn't hope for his lung capacity to quadruple in an instant, but as long as it could reach double or even triple, a lung capacity far exceeding that of an ordinary person would break through the limit in this moment.
Scalding blood flowed rapidly through his body, and his body temperature rose abruptly in an instant, his slightly reddened skin showing a state of congestion.
Every cell in his body seemed to have entered a highly activated state. With the special breathing rhythm, oxygen absorption efficiency increased further, and even muscle density grew.
His physical attributes received a massive boost at this moment. Because of this, Kiyokawa Izumi felt that activating the Demon Slayer Mark would be a similar experience.
Ultimately, it would shorten one's lifespan.
Both involved burning oneself by paying with one's life force to break internal limitations and far surpass current limits.
With a sudden burst of power from his leg muscles, Kiyokawa Izumi silently lunged in front of Gyokko. He swung his blade casually, yet it was so fast that even Gyokko could barely react.
Without using any Sword Technique, the slash driven purely by willpower manifested pure raw stats.
Faster, stronger, and more powerful.
Even using a nichirin blade he wasn't accustomed to, Kiyokawa Izumi was full of threat at this moment.
Releasing his aura without any restraint, Gyokko could feel the naked, undisguised killing intent.
It was a completely different state from before.
There was a very obvious change in the breathing rhythm; the exceptionally powerful breathing was eerie and filled it with fear.
With just one strike, his neck was nearly severed.
Is this a joke?
Despite having such severe injuries, why can he still unleash such power and speed?
Is this guy made of iron?
Does he not feel pain? Does he not feel suffering?
Gyokko, who quickly leaped back to create distance, felt the distinct pain from his neck and uncertainly touched the nichirin blade that had cut into his body.
This human didn't pull out the nichirin blade, perhaps because there was no time, or perhaps on purpose.
Why exactly?
Under the touch of his hands, the nichirin blade turned into live fish at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"Are you wondering why I didn't pull out the blade?"
A terrifying voice came from behind. At that moment, Gyokko truly understood what fear was.
Before the wound could even recover, another swift and fierce slash came.
'Is this a joke? How can his speed be faster than mine? Why?'
In his haste, Gyokko raised his arm, relying on the crystal-clear fish scales covering it to defend himself.
It had to be said that his subconscious reaction was extremely correct.
Using a nichirin blade that wasn't his own just wasn't as smooth.
The second nichirin blade was also borrowed, its blade also shimmering with a faint blue—the user was a Water Breathing Swordsman.
Just as the thought finished, the arm, with hardness comparable to diamond, was incredibly severed.
At this moment, both sides of Gyokko's neck were bleeding. Although the wounds were recovering rapidly, Kiyokawa Izumi's attacks were clearly faster.
An incomprehensible and bizarre situation was occurring with this human.
Is it the Demon Slayer Mark?
Could it be the Demon Slayer Mark that Lord Muzan spoke of?
But there were no strange patterns on his face or body. Could they be hidden under his clothes?
The battle with Kiyokawa Izumi had been extremely difficult from the start. He was constantly suppressed and thwarted. Given Gyokko's extremely conceited and twisted personality, his first instinct when faced with such an incomprehensible situation was naturally to flee.
How could he possibly be willing to fight to the death with Kiyokawa Izumi here?
Don't be ridiculous, nothing is more important than staying alive! Only by living can I continue to pursue art!
Without any further testing, after those two strikes, Gyokko fled without hesitation.
It wasn't that he had no chance of winning at all. On the contrary, in a war of attrition, he would win 100%.
Kiyokawa Izumi, driven purely by willpower, was essentially just holding on by a thread. No one knew how long he could last; he might collapse the next second.
If it came down to exhaustion, Gyokko would definitely win.
But he wasn't a pure warrior, after all.
Driven by fear, he didn't even notice that Kiyokawa Izumi hadn't used any Sword Techniques.
After switching Breathing Techniques, most of the Sword Techniques matched with Dark Breathing couldn't be used.
It was understandable that Gyokko would be frightened. Just two strikes had made him feel the threat of death. If you told him he could win if he just held on a bit longer, would he dare to believe it?
He even suspected he would die under the third strike.
He would be dragged out by this unkillable bastard until the sun rose.
This guy's ribs should have been broken already, so why can he still stand? Who exactly is the demon?
_________
Okay, I've finished publishing the chapters. Of course, the competition isn't over yet because I'll extend it a little longer until tomorrow so you can all relax.