The lone moon hung high, its silver light spilling onto Upper Rank Three's body, reflecting a deadly cold.
He walked forward slowly. With every step he took, Taka felt the pressure on him increase.
'This guy, he's strong!'
"Beautiful fighting spirit." The other party spoke with a smile, pointing at Taka and Kyojuro. "I could tell at a glance. You two are Hashira, aren't you?"
"Careful, Taka boy. Upper Moon Kizuki are not to be taken lightly."
Kyojuro ignored Upper Rank Three's approach, standing shoulder to shoulder with Taka as he drew his Nichirin Sword. "For over a century, the Upper Moon Kizuki have never changed. Every single one of them has the blood of many Hashira-level swordsmen on their hands. They are very difficult to deal with!"
"I know. I'll give it my all."
Hum—!!
Right in front of Kyojuro, Taka tried to release Tonan's form.
Strangely, Tonan did not transform into that serrated greatsword shape. Instead, its divine essence was withdrawn, its Reiatsu more condensed, still maintaining the form of a Nichirin Sword.
Apart from the red-black serrated patterns that flowed continuously like living things across the blade, it looked no different from an ordinary Nichirin Sword.
'Tonan... had changed again?'
He didn't dwell on this trivial matter, but focused all his attention on the Upper Moon Kizuki before him.
"Nice blade. What's your name?"
Shing—!!
Taka had no intention of exchanging a single word with the demon before him. From such a distance, he directly swung an air slash!
A Reiatsu Slash, cleaved forth using a Wind Breathing sword form, howled towards the Kizuki, irresistible and unstoppable!
Upper Rank Three's eyes narrowed slightly. The corners of his mouth curled up in satisfaction, revealing sharp fangs.
He stamped the ground forcefully, pouring out his demonic power without reservation—
[Technique Activation - Destructive Death - Compass Needle]
In an instant, a huge snowflake-shaped formation pattern appeared beneath his feet, emanating a dangerous and deadly aura.
This was his Blood Demon Art, his perception domain.
Within the compass's range, all flow of fighting spirit would be sensed by him. The stronger the opponent, the faster the compass would react.
Then, he forcefully threw several punches. The punch wind condensed into shockwaves, directly clashing head-on with Taka's Reiatsu Slash!
Shrrrk—!!
It was hard to imagine that mere fighting spirit projected through the air by two powerful beings could erupt with such terrifying friction, like blades clashing!
Sparks flew, the air distorted. Even Tanjiro and the others, rescuing people in the distance, noticed the situation and wanted to come support.
"This is not your fight! Stand down!" Taka's expression was grave as he sternly ordered Tanjiro back.
But merely relying on punch wind seemed insufficient to resist Taka's Reiatsu Slash. This made the Kizuki's gaze even more excited:
"Destructive Death - Disorder!"
He stepped forward, his fists striking at high speed, forming an impenetrable curtain of punches before him!
Boom Boom Boom—!!
The punches and slashes collided, producing intense explosions. Taka's probing attack was thus shattered by his fists!
As the dust cleared, he shook the blood from his hands, looking at the slowly healing wounds, and sneered:
"Young man, you are very strong. Would you like to become a demon?"
Taka's eyes flickered.
He had heard from his teacher that all the demons in the world were created by the progenitor of all demons, Kibutsuji Muzan. If he wished, the demons under him could also distribute their blood to create new demons.
'This Kizuki... wanted to recruit me to become a demon?'
"I am Akaza, Upper Rank Three. What is your name?"
Taka said nothing, but Kyojuro spoke for him: "We are Demon Slayers. For no reason would we ever become demons!"
"Why not?" Akaza was completely unconcerned with Kyojuro's resolve and patiently explained. "Being human has many disadvantages: you age, you get sick, you die. When can you ever reach the supreme state like that? But becoming a demon is different...."
"Eternal life, you can train as long as you want. Someday, you will surely reach the strongest realm...."
"I say, become demons, you two. Let's train together and fight eternally!"
Faced with such twisted logic, Kyojuro would naturally not agree. He righteously raised his Nichirin Sword:
"Aging and dying, cherishing the present moment, feeling the heat of life… that is precisely the beauty of humanity's fleeting existence."
"So-called strength is not just a word describing physical prowess. The strength of the heart is even more important. And you do not understand this."
"I am the Flame Hashira, Rengoku Kyojuro. I will never become a demon!"
Akaza's expression darkened. His smile faded. He once again clenched his fists in an attacking stance, the snowflake pattern blooming once more:
"In that case, I'll just have to kill you...."
"Destructive Death - Disorder!"
With a roar, Akaza charged straight at the two!
"Unknowing Fire!"
"Whirlwind Cutter!"
Without a moment's hesitation, Taka and Kyojuro swung their sword forms and met him head-on!
Faced with their heaven-and-earth-shattering momentum, Akaza did not dodge or evade, but laughed wildly as he stepped forward:
"Good! Excellent! This is the kind of battle I crave!"
Boom! Clang! Shrrk—!
Three terrifying forces collided violently!
Kyojuro's Nichirin Sword slashed with gold-red flames, directly cleaving through Akaza's arm. But with a simple turn, it regenerated, and he continued throwing punch winds to clash with Kyojuro!
Although Taka's blade didn't have such terrifying momentum, Akaza didn't want to directly engage it. Instead, he used dodging and counterattacks, constantly striking Taka's blade or his next sword path to interrupt his offense.
Akaza could feel that Taka's Nichirin Sword was a bit unnatural. If it cut him, even as an Upper Moon, his recovery would be somewhat slowed.
He knew it was better not to touch it rashly.
The three clashed like this, flames and hurricanes, ice and fist momentum fused into a single mass, sending up sky-filling stone chips and dust, leaving Tanjiro and the others in the distance utterly stunned.
This was a Hashira, this was an Upper Moon's battle!
"Rising Scorching Sun!"
Seizing an opening, Kyojuro immediately changed his form. Flames surged from below!
At the same time, although Taka dodged a punch that grazed his cheek, the corner of his eye immediately burst open, blood blurring his vision!
Fortunately, he could rely on Reiatsu Perception to track Akaza's movements, and also noticed Kyojuro's change of form.
He spun, craftily thrusting Tonan towards Akaza's weakly defended ribs!
However, Akaza, as a centuries-old Upper Moon, had combat instincts unimaginably fast!
Almost instantly, he found the optimal solution. The fighting spirit at his fist's edge was highly compressed. A terrifying aura surged around him:
"Destructive Death - Crushing Type: Ten Thousand Leaves Flashing Willow!!"
He violently punched the ground with overwhelming force! The earth groaned under his fighting spirit!
Boom—!!
The ground shattered, rocks flew!
A huge shockwave boldly erupted, directly blasting back the two swordsmen attempting to jointly crush Akaza!
Taka and Kyojuro tumbled backward several times before lightly landing on the ground, calming their somewhat disordered breathing rhythms.
"Exhilarating!" Akaza laughed wildly as he walked out of the shattered crater. The deep blue tattoos seemed to come alive, flowing and flickering beneath his skin. "You really should become demons! Become demons, and we can fight like this forever!"
Having said that, he stamped his foot and his figure vanished in an instant!
"Destructive Death - Air Type!"
The next second, he appeared in mid-air, madly throwing punches! Invisible shockwaves, like heavy artillery, continuously blasted towards Taka and Kyojuro!
"Taka boy! Together!" Kyojuro roared, and Taka immediately understood.
"Flame Breathing: Fourth Form: Blooming Flame Undulation!!"
Kyojuro swung his blade, unleashing a huge fan-shaped flame sword aura, as if a surging sea of fire had ignited from nothing!
This not only canceled most of the punch wind impact, but also obscured part of Akaza's vision!
"Oh? Going for a combination technique? Let me guess, where will it come from? The left? Above?"
Akaza was not only unafraid, but very excited to see how the two would fight.
Shing—!
Taka's figure appeared beside him like a phantom, just as he had expected.
But what he hadn't expected was that the compass couldn't detect Taka's fighting spirit at all.
At this moment, Taka had pushed his Reiatsu Perception to the limit, doing his utmost to track every detail of Akaza's movements.
In his eyes, Akaza's movements began to slow, and his exquisitely marvelous boxing techniques showed openings.
"Haah....."
He changed his breathing rhythm. His lungs swelled with an unprecedented throbbing melody—
"Storm Breathing: First Form: Sky Rend!!"