"Now! Tomioka!"
Strike while the iron is hot. Taka wasn't kind enough to wait for Doma to figure out what had happened.
"Storm Breathing: First Form: Sky Rend!"
"Water Breathing: Eighth Form: Waterfall Basin!"
The two instantly surged forward. Their Nichirin Swords slashed down with a tearing sound. The fierce, biting wind, carrying surging waves, delivered a deadly strike to the kneeling Doma!
"Ughh.... So powerful.... The poison is even stronger than the one used against Rui-kun's family...."
Doma vomited blood heavily, yet still managed to look at Shinobu with eyes now bloodshot and filled with twisted blood vessels: "I'm sorry though... It seems I have decomposed the poison...."
Just a moment before the blades touched his skin, Doma's body rapidly retreated backward. While dodging the attack, he violently swung his golden pair of fans!
"Blood Demon Art - Frozen Clouds!"
Whoosh—!
A thick cloud of ice mist instantly burst forth, completely enveloping the attack trajectories of Taka and Giyu!
This mist contained Doma's blood. Every tiny ice crystal was saturated with powerful demonic energy.
If the two didn't retreat, they would inhale this ice mist through their Breathing Style into their lungs. Even if it didn't kill them immediately, it would place a tremendous burden on their bodies, completely robbing them of their combat ability!
Faced with this demonic mist, which seemed like a ferocious living thing, Taka didn't dare take the risk. He and Giyu simultaneously retreated backward and used their sword forms to disperse the mist.
'What a troublesome enemy.' Taka thought sincerely.
If his opponent were someone like Akaza, who fought to the death, he wouldn't find it so headache-inducing. But this one constantly used these large-scale, devious tricks, making him feel hamstrung.
'Should I try taking a deep breath and, while holding it, slay him as quickly as possible....'
'No. If I failed, I would still fall victim to the enemy's methods when changing my attack.'
He stroked Tonan's blade and asked with an inner voice: "Can you hold out for me? It doesn't matter if it hurts more, as long as you can repair faster than I fall."
Tonan gave no response. He could only continue searching for an opening to strike.
Having distanced himself from Taka and the others, Doma slowly stood up. The purple-black traces of poison on his face were fading at a visible rate.
His rainbow-colored glazed eyes swept over the thwarted pair, finally settling on the woman with the butterfly hair ornament:
"Eating poison is actually quite fun. I think I'm getting addicted~ Maybe you should try a different poison? It might work."
Shinobu sheathed her Nichirin Sword and subtly turned it, replenishing the poison in the syringe at the tip: "Is that so? I'll oblige you. After all, I anticipated that an Upper Moon wouldn't be so easily poisoned."
"Shinobu, don't let him provoke you." Seeing Shinobu about to be consumed by anger again, Taka stepped in front of her.
"Oh my, was I found out?" Doma folded his golden fans and gently tapped them against his palm.
He looked at Taka standing protectively before Shinobu, his smile growing ever brighter: "You're that unusual one that lord is interested in, aren't you? I heard your blade can eat demons? So scary, so scary. I definitely don't want to be eaten by you...."
Doma lightly waved the handle of his fan, and two crystalline, pure-ice sculptures of beautiful women formed before him:
"Blood Demon Art - Cold White Princesses.... Oh, you can call them Yuki-Onna if you like. That's what the locals call them~"
Seeing Doma about to launch his next attack, Taka nodded to Giyu beside him and quickly spoke: "Tomioka-san and I will be the main attackers. Shinobu, look for support opportunities. Remember, absolutely do not clash head-on with him!"
"Although he looks half-dead, he's an Upper Moon. His strength won't be weak. Your blade can't withstand it."
"Tsk tsk tsk, can you keep your voice down when you're talking behind someone's back?" Doma smiled, directing the ice-formed Yuki-Onna to spew a fierce frost storm towards the three!
These two ice puppets could continuously produce the lung-freezing cold mist on his behalf, allowing him to deal with these swordsmen even more effortlessly.
"Hold your breath!" Taka roared. The three instantly scattered.
"Haha, this is the spirit! Blood Demon Art - Lotus Vines!"
Several huge vines, formed from sharp ice crystals and covered in sharp barbs, shot explosively from his open fans!
The ice lotuses combined with the cold mist. Doma's attack instantly covered the entire battlefield!
The difficulty of the battle exceeded expectations.
Taka continuously used the large-area slashes of Wind Breathing to shatter the ice lotuses for his two teammates and disperse the surrounding ice mist, allowing them to get close to Doma.
"Flowing Dance!"
Giyu's Nichirin Blade traced arcs of deep blue ripples, sliding into the gaps Taka had created.
His sword techniques were cool and concise, without a single unnecessary movement. Every strike aimed for Doma's vital points.
But the other party was, after all, Upper Rank Two. His reaction speed and striking power were not to be underestimated.
The twin fans danced in his hands like the wind, calmly parrying Giyu's slashes, and even deflecting Shinobu's occasional thrusting sneak attacks!
And when facing Taka's occasional Reiatsu Slashes, he was as slippery as an eel, dodging whenever possible. He clearly intended to leave Taka for last.
This battle lasted only a dozen minutes, but the temperature in the courtyard had already plummeted dozens of degrees.
Giyu's and Shinobu's eyebrows were covered in white frost. Maintaining Total Concentration Breathing for so long under restricted conditions had pushed their lungs to the limit.
Especially Shinobu.
Her initial attack had caused her to inhale a small amount of ice shards, leading to dull pain in her lungs. Every exchange of breath carried a thick, bloody smell.
'Not good. They couldn't fight like this!' Taka sensed the danger in his heart.
He could feel that this demon was deliberately using this extreme environment to wear down their vitality....
'This stalemate was meaningless. It would only exhaust us to death.'
"Your alveoli are necrotizing, you know. This way of breathing must be very painful, right?" Doma elegantly fanned himself with his golden fan, dodging another thrust from Shinobu. "Actually, if you'd just stop breathing and willingly accept my salvation, you wouldn't have to suffer..."
"Shut up!! of the Dragonfly: Compound Eye Hexagon!"
"Oh my, what a passionate look. It's like you want to eat me, little Hashira lady."
Her slender Nichirin Sword transformed into a sky-filling blur of afterimages. The wisteria poison tempered on its tip hissed, driven by her anger. The speed of her thrusts increased by another threefold!
Bam Bam Bam!!
Several consecutive thrusts rang out. Shinobu's figure transformed into a purple streak of light, landing on one side of the courtyard.
"So fast. Of all the swordsmen I've encountered, your speed is probably the fastest."
Several wounds blossomed with blood on Doma's body. His face was once again covered in purple-black toxin: "Too bad, though. That's about it~ Your poison is starting to lose its effect."
Pfft—!!
Blood spattered, blooming into dazzling scarlet against the pale courtyard.
The golden fan in Doma's hand, in the instant of clashing with Shinobu, swept across her chest and abdomen at a strange angle.
Even though Shinobu urgently executed an evasive maneuver, Doma still shattered her ribs and left a ferocious, frostbitten gash on her shoulder.
Shinobu's right shoulder was slashed open. Warm blood sprayed out. Her body staggered, about to fall to the ground!
"Shinobu—!!"
Seeing Shinobu severely wounded, Taka rushed to her rescue.
But Doma was relentless. He formed several more ice spikes, preparing to pierce Shinobu's body directly:
"If you could have used decapitation instead of thrusting, I might not have been able to react in time. What a shame, what a shame~"
Hum—!
An uncontrollable surge of anger rose in Taka's heart. He felt his entire body burn. Even the sub-zero temperatures could no longer affect his speed.
Shing!
Clang clang!!
In a flash, he was beside Shinobu, shattering all the ice spikes at top speed.
Ice mist rushed into his lungs. Ice crystals with sharp edges cut his airways, emitting a deep and heavy hum with each breath.
On his right cheek, a cluster of crimson patterns, like burning flames, were rapidly spreading, winding under his skin.
Not only that, Tonan, which had been emitting blue-green arcs of light, also began to flicker with light as his aura changed, emitting a scorching hiss.
"....I was too cautious. From the very beginning, I shouldn't have worried about the burden on my body...."
Taka looked up. A streak of crimson blood flowed from his nostril. Half his face was covered in ferocious patterns. He looked almost like a demon:
"Upper Moon. You will die today."