Chapter 34: Oh? You seem very angry... "So stupid, just causing trouble..."
Ryuji muttered under his breath, then adjusted his breathing, forcing his body to suppress the pain, at least to move fluidly without stiffness.
As for whether it would leave hidden injuries later, he couldn't care less.
He couldn't just watch these foolish swordsmen all die here!
"Oh? You seem very angry..."
Doma looked at these ugly fellows blocking his path with some confusion, his rainbow eyes swirling with pure curiosity, like a child examining insects.
"How strange, I haven't even done anything yet."
Before his voice had even faded, his wrist flicked ever so slightly.
Whoosh!
A lotus-shaped ice crystal silently grazed the tip of the nose of a member in the front row, cutting off a few strands of hair.
"Why are you pointing your swords at me?"
The fake smile on his face didn't change at all, as if he had just casually fanned the air.
"I just wanted to chat with that handsome young man, hear his thoughts, and then... kill him."
The moment his voice fell, only a patch of crystalline ice mist remained where he had been standing.
"Why be angry? Isn't it good to let him enter the Eternal Paradise?"
The gentle question already sounded in Arai Daisuke's ear.
Doma's figure appeared like a ghost, the tip of his golden fan casually pointing at the center of his forehead: "Don't block me, I can't see the handsome young man anymore."
Arai Daisuke's pupils dilated to the extreme, and past memories began to surface.
From his mother choosing to be eaten by his father who had become a demon rather than reveal his location, to becoming a swordsman and being saved by Sabito... "Get back!"
A hoarse low growl exploded in his ear, and Arai Daisuke only felt his right hand go cold, without a hint of pain.
"Cut off his right hand! Doma's Blood Demon Art is poisonous!"
Ryuji grabbed Arai Daisuke's belt and threw him along with the other members, but his gaze never left Doma, not even for a second.
"Oh?"
Doma tilted his head, his rainbow pupils scanning him up and down: "Young man, you seem to know a lot about me? How interesting..."
Like a child who had discovered a new toy, he stopped looking at the scrambling Demon Slayer Corps members.
His gaze rested on the heavily breathing Ryuji: "You seem to be severely injured. Do you want to talk to me? It can relieve the pain..."
Whoosh!
Responding to Doma was Little Purple's powerful downward slash!
Clang.
Clatter.
"Oh, I didn't mean to break your sword, don't be angry."
Doma retracted the ice crystals on his fan, looking at Ryuji, who was holding a broken sword and had retreated dozens of steps, speaking softly.
Ryuji's hands were trembling slightly; in just an instant, Little Purple had broken!
He gripped the half-broken Little Purple, no time to feel heartache, glancing at the break—it was smooth as a mirror, even with ice shards on it. Attribute disadvantage... elements counter physical!
Moreover, damn it, this Doma seems even stronger than he was portrayed in the original work!
Dammit.
He had to find a way to survive. He glanced out of the corner of his eye at the unconscious Arai Daisuke and the alert Demon Slayer Corps members nearby.
And how to save them... "Hmm, I'm really too lucky to encounter such a toy while out playing... Oh, right, was there something else I was supposed to do?"
Doma looked up at the sky, the smile on his face deepening, but there was no joy in his rainbow pupils.
They were as calm as a pool of stagnant water.
"There's still plenty of time, I'll think about it slowly..."
He closed his fan and poked his right index finger into his temple, stirring it continuously: "Hmm, what was it? Ah, I remember now!"
He pulled out his bloody finger and gave it a light flick, shooting several ice lotuses at the Demon Slayer Corps members: "I need to clean up the Eternal Paradise Cult here."
Doma's tone remained light as he pointed at his head with the tip of his fan: "I heard a self-proclaimed Saintess appeared here? How troublesome, Lord Muzan will scold me..."
Ryuji stepped forward, slicing through the ice lotuses in a few strokes, and the Demon Slayer Corps members behind him also struggled to slash the ice lotuses he hadn't blocked.
"Lord Ryuji, please leave! We can buy you three seconds at most..."
Ryuji crudely interrupted them: "Shut up, I can't afford to be distracted at all!"
Doma didn't attack, just quietly watched Ryuji: "You're making things difficult for me. This is... what's that word? Bonds?"
"You're a demon, how could you understand human emotions?"
Ryuji took a deep breath; he could only take a gamble, using the surprise attack potential of Armament Haki to see if he could injure Doma and then take the opportunity to escape.
Doma wouldn't keep playing with him forever; he had to try during this period while he was underestimated.
Otherwise, once Doma got serious, he would definitely die!
"What? I understand emotions. Look, this is a smile..."
Doma pulled the corners of his mouth up with both hands, then pushed them down: "This is crying..."
But there wasn't a hint of emotional fluctuation in his pupils—just like his Blood Demon Art, cold and silent!
"Stop joking. How could the most complex human emotions be understood by an evil demon who has never felt anything!"
Ryuji hid the broken Little Purple behind his back and roared as he charged forward.
He needed to close the distance; such provocative words were also to distract Doma. Even if only for an instant, his sneak attack plan might succeed.
Doma tilted his head slightly, not quite understanding. He had clearly smiled and cried, wasn't that considered emotion... "I don't understand, but I'm very willing to listen to you explain."
He lightly raised the golden pair of fans in his hands, a nearly compassionate yet cruel light overflowing from his rainbow eyes:
"But human life is too fragile. I've decided... to turn you into a demon!"
Ryuji had already rushed to a short distance in front of Doma. He threw the Little Purple from his left hand and leapt up as Doma's gaze shifted slightly upward, roaring angrily:
"Don't even think about it!"
"Oh? Using your fists? Akaza would definitely like you. Then after I turn you into a demon, I'll give you to Akaza as a gift..."
Doma watched Ryuji and lightly raised his fans. An ice pillar blocked Little Purple, and then these ice pillars continued to grow, stabbing straight at Ryuji!
His glazed pupils grew brighter: "He'll definitely thank me. I'm so kind, thinking of him even while I'm out playing."
Ryuji watched the ice pillar coming straight for him and moved forward instead of retreating.
Hardening his right hand with Armament Haki, he threw a heavy punch at Doma's exquisitely beautiful face: "Fist Breathing Style, First Form: Fist Bone!"
Thrust!
The ice pillar pierced his left shoulder, and his blood was instantly frozen. The bone-chilling pain made Ryuji's temple throb.
But his right fist had already landed solidly on Doma's face!
The beautiful face instantly developed ice-like cracks and shattered into a blood mist, the massive force creating a booming sonic explosion!
Boom!
Doma went flying backward, dragging a long trench of ice crystals on the ground.
Ryuji quickly shattered the ice pillar in his left shoulder and turned to run, without even taking Little Purple, not hesitating for a moment!
He wasn't crazy; he wouldn't fight Doma to the death now. While Doma hadn't recovered, he had to get out of there quickly.
Grabbing the injured and unconscious Arai Daisuke, the other Demon Slayer Corps members saw Ryuji was out of danger and began to retreat.
They ran for their lives, pushing their Breathing Techniques to the limit.
Lying on the ground, Doma's half-shattered head was regenerating. Looking at the Moonlight in the sky, the smile on his broken face slowly pieced itself back together:
"Hmm, that hurts... That black stuff, what was it? How interesting..."
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