In all his past battles against demons, Himejima Gyomei had never encountered enemies like these.
The demons he faced before were either clueless about technique and only knew how to charge forward mindlessly, or had short attack ranges and got smashed to death by his flail before even touching him.
More importantly, he had never faced two demons at once before!
And tonight's battle had brought all of that together at once!
Two demons who could coordinate came at him simultaneously, and both possessed techniques no less refined than his own—one providing long-range support while the other broke through in close combat, beating him to the point where he simply couldn't respond!
In terms of pure strength alone, Himejima Gyomei felt he could defeat these two demons.
From this exchange he had already roughly sensed that the long whip demon's strength was roughly on par with the other Hashira in the corps, far below his own.
And while the dual-wielding demon's strength far surpassed the long whip demon, it was still somewhat inferior to his own—if they fought a prolonged battle, he could win.
He could defeat either of these demons in single combat. Only when they coordinated was he overwhelmed.
To think that such combat-proficient beings existed among demons... truly unexpected...
And with this level of strength, they were only Upper Rank Six...
In a daze, Himejima Gyomei suddenly completely understood what kind of desperate situation Kyojuro had faced when confronting Upper Rank Three at the Infinity Villa earlier...
[No good! Focus on the battle! Don't get distracted! Right now I must find a way to separate these two demons!]
"Lord Stone Hashira! I'll help you!"
Just as Himejima Gyomei was thinking this, behind him, Tanjiro, who had finally caught his breath, shouted as he prepared to join the battle once more.
"Tanjiro! You go pin down that long whip demon!"
"Yes!"
Receiving the order, Tanjiro didn't hesitate, immediately circling around the battleground where Himejima Gyomei and Gyutaro were fighting, charging straight toward Ume in the rear.
"You again?!"
The moment she saw Tanjiro, Ume's expression instantly changed!
On her other hand, flesh once again formed another long whip, which she swung unceremoniously at Tanjiro!
"Scar-faced ugly brat! Don't come over here!"
"I'm really sorry for not being good-looking! But right now I must cut off your head again!"
While blocking Ume's attacks, Tanjiro shouted as he pressed forward.
Under the night sky, human and demon chased each other around the battleground where Himejima Gyomei and Gyutaro were fighting.
Thus, with Tanjiro's interference, Ume's disruption of Himejima Gyomei began to weaken, while Gyutaro's pressure started to intensify.
More importantly, Ume, who was being chased by Tanjiro, was constantly diverting his attention.
[No good, if we keep fighting like this we'll be worn down to death...]
[Especially that brat—he seems to have touched the threshold of the supreme domain. Although it's still unstable, as long as he can trigger it for an instant, he could very likely seize Ume's opening and behead her again...]
[Furthermore...]
Gyutaro's gaze quickly glanced at Kanae in the ruins nearby, who was still treating Uzui Tengen.
[And they still have one person who hasn't joined the battle. The current situation is already quite troublesome for me to handle—if one more person is added, Ume and I will definitely be defeated!]
[I must seize this final opportunity to reduce their numbers first! Time to use full strength!]
Having made his decision internally, with one blade deflecting the flail Himejima Gyomei swung at him, Gyutaro suddenly abandoned continuing his advance, instead beginning to rapidly retreat.
[He's retreating! Could he be planning to flank Tanjiro?!]
"Tanjiro! Come back immediately!"
Sensing Gyutaro's movement at the first moment, Himejima Gyomei shouted while swinging the chain flail in his hands to intercept him!
Instantly, layers of chains along with the flail and hand axe attacked Gyutaro simultaneously, determined to keep him pinned in place!
"Such a hassle!"
His expression growing increasingly impatient, facing this dense offensive, Gyutaro lightly exhaled a breath. He gripped his dual swords and suddenly swung them fiercely toward Himejima Gyomei's position!
In the next instant, two crescent moon-shaped blood-colored slashes were swung out, charging rapidly toward Himejima Gyomei!
[Strange, what is he doing... wait! Could it be?!]
Reacting instantly, Himejima Gyomei hurriedly retracted his chains to block before him, managing to intercept these two slashes at the last moment!
And Gyutaro took this opportunity to break free from his interception, retreating back to Ume's front.
Meanwhile, Tanjiro also quickly retreated to Himejima Gyomei's side.
[Was that his Blood Demon Art just now?]
Having also seen the slashes Gyutaro swung out just now, Tanjiro was somewhat shocked.
[No, it shouldn't be completely that, his move just now was clearly...]
"Demon, you seem to understand our Demon Slayers' Breathing techniques?"
Beside him, Himejima Gyomei spoke in a deep voice, asking the question that was also in Tanjiro's mind.
Actually, during their exchange just now, he had already sensed something.
In Gyutaro's moves, there were shadows of Breathing technique sword forms.
Not just him—even Ume was the same.
Demons actually knew how to use Breathing technique sword forms?
Could it be Tsugikuni Mitsuba?!
Suddenly, both Tanjiro and Himejima Gyomei had this name appear in their minds.
Upper Rank One of the Twelve Kizuki, the younger sister of the original Breathing technique swordsman—if she knew Breathing techniques, it wouldn't be surprising at all...
So, was it actually she who taught Breathing technique sword forms to these two demons before them, and designed such a perfect offensive-defensive system for them?!
"Hmph, whose Breathing techniques these actually are, that's still uncertain..."
Showing no intention of answering their questions, Gyutaro merely adjusted his breathing, slowly raising his dual swords and exhaling a turbid breath.
"Sorry, I have a gathering to attend tonight, so... I can only ask you to hurry up and die!"
As his words fell, in the shocked gazes of those around him, Gyutaro swung his dual swords down with force!
Immediately, two giant blood-colored crescent moon slashes accompanied by numerous smaller crescents were instantly swung out!
They shattered the floor tiles, tore through the air, and with unstoppable momentum, came chopping down fiercely toward Tanjiro and the other opposite them!
[What is this?!]
...
[Coming up next—Upper Rank One's closed-door head disciple · Warring States veteran swordsmanship's sole inheritor · Blood Demon Art mutated version Moon Breathing master · Councilman Michikatsu's personal secretary · Ume's older brother · Twelve Kizuki Upper Rank Six—Super Evolved Gyutaro (Tsugikuni Tarou)!]