Perhaps because of his deathmatch experience with Akaza, Taka had been very cautious ever since entering this courtyard.
He carefully observed whether there were any other demonic auras nearby, cautiously probed the Reiatsu Fluctuations of the Upper Moon before him, and carefully avoided the range of Doma's Blood Demon Art.
Compared to taking the initiative to attack, he spent more time trying to protect his teammates, trying to prevent Rengoku's near-death situation from recurring.
He had been waiting for the perfect moment, waiting for the instant that demon revealed an opening to strike him down.
But now, Shinobu lay behind him like this, her fate unknown.
The glaring scarlet was like a loud slap, viciously striking Taka's face.
[I'll help you kill that demon with blood on its head, wielding twin fans. I promised you.]
The memory, carrying an unbearable scorching heat, surged from the depths of Taka's mind.
It was uncontrollable anger, and even more so, extreme disgust with himself:
"What am I doing...."
He gripped the sword hilt tightly, his knuckles white, blood seeping from his palm.
Perhaps Tonan sensed its master's anger, or perhaps this extraordinary grip resonated with the blade-
Tonan was burning.
"Tomioka!!"
Taka's eyes were now completely bloodshot. He shouted at Giyu, who was dodging Doma's attacks.
"Coordinate with me!!"
Although Giyu hadn't seen Taka many times, he had never felt such violent killing intent from him before.
Before he could even speak, he watched the bricks and stones beneath Taka's feet shatter in an instant!
Bam—!
Taka concentrated the Reishi around his body beneath his feet, compressing it to the limit!
His entire figure transformed into a black lightning bolt. In almost an instant, he crossed the dozen meters and appeared directly in front of Doma.
"Oh my, what a frightening expression." Doma tilted his head. His rainbow-colored eyes were full of mocking compassion: "Angry? How pitiful...."
"Second Form: North Wind—!!"
Taka didn't want to hear another word from him. The long sword in his hand unleashed a storm of fierce slashes.
The power of this sword form far exceeded anything before. The killing intent emanating from it made Doma frown slightly.
"Blood Demon Art: Barren Hanging Garden!"
His golden fans flipped, transforming the cold wind into nine entangling slashes, trying to freeze Taka along with that strange sword.
In Doma's combat logic, as soon as they touched his ice, a human's lungs would necrotize, and their power would rapidly decline. Whether they fought or fled, they would eventually become his meal.
However, Taka's sword momentum was not slowed in the slightest.
The ice that Doma unleashed, enough to instantly freeze the air, melted the moment it touched that scorching blade!
Like throwing a red-hot branding iron into a pile of snow, the ice formed by the Blood Demon Art completely dissolved under the high heat.
'What's going on? Wasn't he a Wind Breathing swordsman?'
Doma didn't understand. His elegant figure was forced to drift backward, but Taka didn't intend to let him go.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Taka clung tenaciously to Doma's retreat path, forcing him to use his golden fans to barely parry the other's ferocious pursuit.
Although Doma continuously fanned out ice mist, trying to slow Taka's attacks, that terrifying sword of the other seemed to directly devour most of the ice shards, never able to effectively....
Actually, it did cause damage.
Blood seeped from Taka's nostrils. His breathing was as hoarse and heavy as a broken bellows. He just no longer cared.
Wave after wave of immense force traveled along the fan handles, making even Doma, a demon, feel his arms go numb.
The high temperature of the Crimson Blade scorched the fans, causing wisps of blue smoke to rise. He felt a strange suction force through the contact of the two weapons, madly devouring the demonic power within him!
'.....What is this memory?'
In the midst of the fierce battle, Doma even experienced a moment of distraction.
He seemed to see a blurry figure deep within a soul.
Holding a Crimson Blade, wearing sun-shaped earrings, with ferocious marks also spreading across his face.
In the presence of this figure, he felt an uncontrollable fear....
'No, it was Muzan-sama trembling?'
'Is this... Muzan-sama's memory?' He was startled, realizing that the black-haired swordsman before him might be troublesome beyond expectations.
"Water Breathing: First Form: Water Surface Slash!"
Just as the two were locked in combat, Giyu, seeking an opportunity, also moved.
His figure transformed into a blue water ripple. His Nichirin Sword traced a winding trajectory, precisely cutting towards the back of Doma's neck.
"Blood Demon Art - Lotus Vines!"
Doma sensed the crisis behind him. Several barbed ice vines instantly sprang from the ground, densely entangling towards Giyu.
"....Gale Wind - Tengu Wind!!"
With Taka at the center, a huge red cyclone roared forth.
This cyclone was mixed with the spiritual pressure emitted by Tonan, like a great millstone, instantly shredding the surrounding ice vines!
But even so, one extremely concealed ice vine dodged the Tengu Wind's attack, thrusting out from a dark corner!
If Giyu delivered this slash, he would also be pierced!
This was a killing strike.
Giyu's cool eyes held a desperate fighting spirit.
He knew that Taka was using this suicidal fighting style to create an opportunity for him. If he couldn't seize it, all three would die here today.
At the moment of life and death, for the first time, Giyu's expressionless face showed fluctuation.
He heard his heartbeat, a frequency so fast it felt like it would leap from his chest. His body temperature climbed in an instant to a level unbearable for a human.
In that instant, he suddenly remembered many people, many things.
'Oyakata-sama.... Instructor.... Sabito, Makomo.... Tanjiro....'
'Nee-san....'
'When it comes down to it, I'm not fit to be the Water Hashira at all, not qualified to stand shoulder to shoulder with the other Hashira....'
'I'm different from them... I only joined the Demon Slayer Corps by luck....'
'If it were Sabito, he would have killed this demon long ago, wouldn't he....'
"Don't waver!!"
Taka, vomiting blood as he roared, awakened Giyu:
"Strike—!!"
Just as Doma's ice vine was mere centimeters from Giyu's chest—
A deep red, wave-like pattern suddenly appeared on Giyu's left cheek!
Hum!
Giyu's mind instantly cleared. His speed elevated to another dimension in an instant.
His movement, which had already slowed by a beat, was able to forcibly reverse at the critical moment, transforming his Nichirin Sword into a pure, ultimate blue light.
"Eleventh Form: Dead Calm!"
This was Giyu's original sword form.
The deadly ice vine, the moment it approached Giyu, was sliced into primordial dust by invisible sword aura.
Doma's attack missed. Not only that, Giyu's counterattack followed like a shadow.
Shing—!!
The power brought by the mark made this slash heavy and forceful, directly carving a bone-deep wound into Doma's neck!
"What?!"
For the first time, Doma let out a surprised voice.
Using the demon blood spurting from his neck, he sharply shook his fans—
"Blood Demon Art - Scattering Lotuses!"
The demon blood condensed into countless tiny, blade-like ice petals, shooting out from his fans. Each one contained a deadly cold air enough to cause cell necrosis.
Although this technique was quickly overwhelmed before the now bloodthirsty Taka, it still bought him a little time to create distance.
He retreated several steps before steadying himself, somewhat blankly touching the wound on his neck.
"Another one?" His rainbow pupils spun rapidly, constantly surveying the marks on Taka's and Giyu's faces: "This thing... does it spread?"
The smile on Doma's face completely disappeared. Perhaps this expressionless, joyless, sorrowless face was his true form.
He couldn't prolong the fight any longer.
If it were merely a physical enhancement for two Hashira-level swordsmen, that would be one thing. What truly made him feel uneasy was the feeling Taka gave him....
As the battle continued, the other party's strange blade seemed to continuously devour trace amounts of his demonic power from the dispersing ice crystals and the parrying clashes.....
Even though he had been careful enough so far and hadn't been cut by Taka's blade, Doma could feel that his stamina was slowly declining, while the other party's aura was steadily rising.
Doma brought the fans in his hands together, placing them before his chest.
An unprecedented terrifying aura rose from within him. The entire mountain shrine began to shake violently. Frost started spreading across the walls and roof on a large scale.
"Since you're trying so hard, then I'll... show a little sincerity too."
"Blood Demon Art - Rime - Water Lily Bodhisattva!"
In the center of the courtyard, the ground split open with a roar!
A colossal Bodhisattva statue, made of transparent ice, was slowly rising.