"Ara ara, not thirty-five people, it's thirty-seven people~"
"You bastard!!"
Although Akanuma's tone remained frivolous, her body had already begun to slowly retreat towards the water's edge, looking as if she might flee at any moment.
She did have some strength, but the reason she could commit massacres in various places and escape unscathed was not through brave fighting. What she was best at was running away when things looked bad.
Being able to devour thirty-seven people in one go this time was also a matter of luck. She happened to encounter a village holding a festival, with most of the villagers drunk senseless, allowing her to have a good feast.
Calculating it this way, over the years she must have eaten over fifty people.
'Was that enough to complete the task?' She wondered when she would be able to find that lord and beg him to grant her some of his blood....
"Hey! Join forces with us! Kill this demon! We can't let it escape!"
"That's right! If it completely digests the power of that flesh and blood, it will become more and more troublesome. We have to kill it here!"
The three Demon Slayer Corps' members were agitated, gripping their swords and preparing to surround Akanuma.
"There is no need for that!"
Taka's voice was cold and hoarse, carrying an aloofness that kept others at a distance.
"This is my fight. I will handle it myself."
"What did you say!" The short-haired corps member couldn't help but exclaim, his face filled with disbelief and anger. "What kind of game do you think this is! Do you have any idea what a major demon that has eaten dozens of people is..."
"Rintaro!" The young man in the lead stopped his companion, hinting with his eyes for him to look in Akanuma's direction.
He had already noticed that Akanuma was slowly moving her feet towards the stream, looking as if she would flee at any moment, and that boy's gaze was also locked onto Akanuma's movements....
"He noticed too... so he's worried that if the demon gets startled, it will run away...." The young man frowned, watching Taka with some concern in his heart. '....This is too risky. How can one person deal with a major demon like this....'
He was right. Taka had seen that Akanuma wanted to escape. If a group swarmed her, the other party simply wouldn't engage.
To keep her here, he had to use his own life as provocation.
"Hehehe.... Looks like the little ones are having a disagreement? How wonderful.... really!!"
Akanuma let out a delighted laugh, suddenly clasping both claws together!
"Blood Demon Art: Thousand Needle Prison!"
Hum—
Shing! Shing! Shing!
The dark red slime carpet still covering the ground suddenly began to boil violently!
Countless sharp blood spikes, formed from sticky blood mud, erupted wildly from beneath the feet of Taka and the three corps members without warning!
Besides that, countless more blood spikes were gathering, preparing to pour down in a sky-filling shower!
The young man in the lead reacted extremely quickly… "Second Form: Water Wheel!"
His Nichirin Sword swung, waves surged.
The young man instantly cleaved through countless blood spikes, clearing a patch of ground to stand on, but he could barely protect himself, unable to also look after his companions.
That short-haired corps member, Rintaro, swung his sword and cut through several blood spikes, but one crafty spike grazed his arm, causing his movements to falter. The other female corps member cried out in surprise. Though she barely dodged, she was also forced into a miserable state.
As for Taka, although the slime carpet around his feet had been cleared, being closest to Akanuma, he endured the fiercest attack!
Taka flicked the Asauchi, and emerald green ring-shaped wind blades erupted from him once again!
A violent whirlwind shot into the sky, instantly shredding and blowing away the dozens of blood spikes aimed at his body, but the quantity of blood spikes was simply too many, their range too wide!
Thud! Thud!
Two swift blood spikes broke through the gaps in the wind blades, stabbing deeply into his body!
"Tch...." Taka staggered, blood instantly staining his clothes. The immense impact force nearly knocked him over.
Seeing Taka injured, the lead corps member's eyes flashed with anxiety. He desperately cleaved through the blood spikes still shooting from other directions, wanting to rush over and help.
"Don't come near!"
Taka straightened his body despite the pain, roaring with a terrifying aura that made the corps members who intended to help freeze.
Akanuma was also stunned, then burst into a twisted laugh. "Haha! Good, good! I was originally thinking of making a run for it, but I didn't expect to meet such a stubborn little one! You must be absolutely delicious!"
Her hands danced again, and more blood spikes condensed in the slime carpet.
Taka no longer paid attention to the reactions of the three behind him. All his focus sank into the Asauchi in his hand.
[....Call out, my name....]
'....Not yet!'
He felt the Asauchi's emotion but did not act according to its instruction.
His lungs had been pierced by the Blood Demon Art just now, now burning like red-hot branding irons. Every breath brought a tearing pain.
But Taka on the contrary breathed deeper, fiercer!
"Total Concentration...."
All the surrounding wind began to tremble, greedily drawn into Taka's body! Emerald green whirlwinds violently spun and compressed around him, emitting sharp hisses!
Mixed within the whirlwinds... were also grey-black, violent powers originating from the deeper parts of his soul!
"Oh? Ready to risk your life?" Akanuma also sensed the suddenly surging dangerous aura from Taka. Her pupils contracted slightly, her playfulness fading somewhat.
Her hands manipulated the countless blood spikes on the slime carpet, and in an instant, all shot into the sky, like poised venomous snakes, aimed at Taka's body!
"Die! Brat!"
"Wind Breathing: Eighth Form...."
Taka's figure blurred, his entire body shooting out like an arrow from a string!
In that instant, he ignored the suction of the sticky slime carpet beneath his feet, ignored the blood flowing from his body, ignored the countless blood spikes stabbing towards him!
There was only one target… Akanuma's head!
"....Primary Gale Slash!"
Whoosh… Boom!!!
An extremely violent hurricane suddenly erupted from flat ground!
Taka's entire body transformed into a violent black-green tornado, rapidly charging towards Akanuma with an aura that tore the world itself, continuously executing spinning slashes!
Bam bam bam—!
Countless blood spikes stabbing at Taka were utterly shattered the moment they touched this violent wind drill! For the first time, Akanuma's face showed a look of terror!
She had already realized the danger, and being adept at escape, she immediately activated all her power, intending to leap into the stream and transform into an undercurrent to flee!
However, it was too late!
A flash of blade light appeared!
The violent wind drill, with lightning speed, instantly caught up to Akanuma's fleeing figure and smashed through the armor covering her body, formed from flesh and blood energy. A tearing pain, penetrating to the bone, surged into every cell!
"Ughhh—!!!"
Demons attacked by Wind Breathing suffer greatly, because those who trained in Wind Breathing are pure individuals who abhor evil and would torture demons to death.
Besides that, Taka's Wind Breathing also contained his terrifying Reiatsu that seized everything, tore everything apart, causing Akanuma to let out the most miserable howl of her life, sending chills down the spines of the three Demon Slayer Corps' members in the distance.
One after another, horrifying tearing wounds rapidly appeared on her pale neck.
Taka knew that to quickly kill a demon, relying solely on Breathing Style was not enough. And his Asauchi was not released, so it's only a somewhat special Reishi Sword. If he failed to decapitate her, it might cause more trouble.
So, while Akanuma was powerless to resist, he once again drew the old Nichirin Sword and, using the remaining momentum of the Eighth Form, slashed at Akanuma's shattered neck!
Shing!
Taka's figure appeared several meters behind her, his back to her, flicking the filthy blood from his Nichirin Sword.
Hiss...
The blood line on Akanuma's neck finally completely tore open. Her head slowly slid from her shoulders.
The moment her head hit the ground, her body, like a lit wax figure, rapidly began to disintegrate, transforming into a thick plume of black smoke and a pungent burnt odor before vanishing.
And until she turned to ashes, she never imagined she would die so suddenly, at the hands of a nameless brat.
Sheathing the sword, returning it to its scabbard.
Only Taka's calm, indifferent back remained in the field.