Chapter 171: Sun Halo Dragon Head Dance
"Deal with all of us?"
Upon hearing Riezel's bold statement, all the demons first exchanged glances, then, except for Sekido and Aizetsu, they all laughed heartily.
"I mean, do you even understand your situation right now?" Daki was the first to mock. "Although you don't look bad, you're being a bit too optimistic, aren't you?"
"Interesting, that's quite a bold statement." Karaku even clapped his hands "Facing three Upper Ranks, a mere human dares to speak such bold words, it's amusing!"
Meanwhile, flying in the air, Urogi burst into laughter.
"I know you, Tsugikuni Yoriichi, you defeated Akaza not long ago and chopped off his head, right? So, you think you can defeat us, who are beneath him in number, just because you handled the Upper Three?" Urogi chuckled. "If that's really what you think, then it's indeed amusing!"
"Indeed, solely based on strength alone, Akaza surpasses any one of us here. If you can defeat him, naturally, you can defeat us." Karaku chimed in.
"But let's not forget, you're not facing just one Upper Rank, but three. Whether you can deal with us or not, it's simply impossible." Urogi continued.
"Do you think we're like Akaza, dead just because our heads got chopped off?" Sekido, gripping his tin staff, glared angrily. "Having such naive thoughts is truly infuriating!"
"Indeed, when it comes to survival capability, whether it's us four, Gyokko, or even Gyuutarou and Daki, we all surpass Akaza..." Aizetsu shook his head, sighing. "Although Gyokko was almost killed by you, saying you could deal with us is truly nonsense. Failing to recognize this reality, as a mere human, is truly sad."
Listening to their mockery and sarcasm, both Kagaya and Kyoujurou felt a sinking feeling.
Riezel also knew that these demons could indeed speak with confidence like this. After all, solely by survival capability, Akaza truly couldn't compare to these three Upper Ranks.
For Gyokko, even though he had just narrowly avoided being killed by Riezel, generally, with scales harder than diamond, he could block a hit from a Nichirin Sword and could even shatter it. Not to mention, even if someone's strength surpassed his, he could just retreat into his vase and teleport to another one.
Gyuutarou and Daki were the same.
Although they were only Upper Six, the lowest among the Upper Ranks, especially Daki, whose strength couldn't even be compared to any Upper Rank, and at most, she was just slightly stronger than a Lower Rank, as siblings, they were demons symbiotic with each other. Killing one of them wouldn't work; only by simultaneously beheading both of them could they be killed.
On the other hand, Hantengu and his clones were even more troublesome. Not only could they not be killed even if beheaded, but when they were beheaded, they only grew stronger as the number of their clones increased.
In terms of survival capability, Upper Five Gyokko, as well as Upper Six Gyuutarou and Daki, could not be compared to Upper Four Hantengu.
In terms of strength, they couldn't match Akaza, but solely based on survival capability, Akaza truly couldn't match them.
Of course, it seemed like Akaza had also achieved a breakthrough in his power since, according to Tamayo, after he was beheaded by Riezel, he should still be alive. Perhaps his survival capability was now no weaker than these three, maybe even stronger.
But at least, before this, Akaza was relatively 'fragile' compared to these three. As long as someone's strength could overpower him, they could kill him.
In contrast, these three Upper Ranks wouldn't be easily killed even if their strength were overwhelmed by someone. Moreover, as long as they did not die, they could just drag the battle out until their enemy tired, and they would emerge as the victors.
"We won't get tired!"
"Our lives are infinite!"
"We'll regenerate even if we're injured!"
"Fragile humans can't possibly win against us in the darkness!"
Karaku, Sekido, Aizetsu, and Urogi spoke successively, their words dripping with superiority and arrogance.
"In this world, no human can fight against multiple Upper Ranks, let alone emerge victorious." Daki remarked, tilting her head while grinning widely. "Though I don't know why Lord Muzan values you so much, if you think defeating Akaza makes you superior, then you're a fool."
*Whoosh!* *Whoosh!* *Whoosh!*
Perhaps bolstered by their comrades' words, Gyokko, covered in burns and scars, struggled to rise, emitting a burst of harsh laughter.
"Hyo, hyo, hyo! That's right! A mere human can't possibly defeat three Upper Ranks alone. We'll drag you down until you're nothing but a lifeless corpse before the sun rises!" Gyokko exclaimed with glee.
"From your attitude, it seems like you've always had people putting high hopes and expectations on you, making life pretty smooth, right?"
Gyuutarou scratched his head, then grasped it while staring at Riezel with a heavy aura of death in his eyes.
"It's nice, really nice, but unfortunately, tonight you'll have to die here."
Clearly, the so-called bullying was probably akin to what Riezel was now facing.
Four clone demons, two sibling demons, and one vase demon—seven demons in total—mocked him, ridiculing him, their gazes upon him as though he were already dead.
Kyoujurou fell silent, gripping his sword tightly and stepping forward, seemingly wanting to fight alongside Riezel.
Shinobu's eyes flickered slightly, refocusing her mind, struggling to stand up from the ground.
Kagaya said nothing, only watching Riezel's back, watching the lone swordsman facing seven powerful demons.
In this despairing situation, the silent Riezel finally moved.
Step by step, he approached the group of demons, his expression calm, appearing utterly defenseless, resembling a warrior about to face death.
Yet, as he drew near, for some reason, a chill crept into the hearts of every demon present.
Opposite this chill was a terrifying heat.
Heat radiated from Riezel's body, distorting the air slightly, leaving behind burned charcoal-like footprints wherever he stepped, causing the demons to feel overheated.
Feeling the chill in their hearts and the heat on their bodies, this alternating cold and heat made even optimists like Karaku and Urogi unable to laugh, while Daki unconsciously took a step back.
"Do-Don't be too arrogant!"
In the end, Daki was the one who couldn't bear the silent pressure first and shouted out.
Immediately, the sashes on her body surged, transforming into steel-like blades, attacking Riezel like snakes while cutting through the air.
As Gyuutarou watched his younger sister make the first move, he immediately followed suit.
"Blood Demon Art - Rotating Circular Slashes - Flying Blood Sickles!"
With a swing of his twin sickles, he shot out numerous crimson slashes, razor-thin like blades of air, flying straight toward Riezel.
This was his Blood Demon Art, capable of turning his own blood into razor-sharp blades and launching them. These blades not only had the power to cleave through the earth but also carried a deadly poison. Once launched, they could change flight paths according to his will, even wrapping around his hands, providing a versatile ability for both close combat and ranged attacks.
"Blood Demon Art - Sonic Scream!"
"Blood Demon Art - Electricity Generation!"
"Blood Demon Art - Spear Projection!"
"Blood Demon Art - Wind Blasts!"
Urogi, Sekido, Aizetsu, and Karaku also unleashed their attacks, each using their own Blood Demon Arts.
Urogi opened his mouth in mid-air, unleashing destructive soundwaves that shook the air, crashing toward Riezel.
Sekido struck his tin staff, summoning thunderous lightning that erupted into towering thunderbolts, bursting from the courtyard.
Aizetsu thrust his cross-shaped spear forward, shooting through the air like shockwaves.
Karaku fanned his maple leaf-shaped fan, creating immense raging winds that swept across the land and enveloped everything in their path.
Clearly, the attacks from the four clone demons were incredibly powerful. Coupled with Gyuutarou's attack, they tore through the earth, lifting, destroying, and ravaging everything in their path, engulfing countless stones, debris, and dust storms.
The entire Ubuyashiki Estate seemed to be struck by a natural disaster, with lightning flashing, wild winds raging, shockwaves, soundwaves, and blood-red blades dancing wildly, lifting the mansion's roofs and shattering its walls, swallowing even Daki's sashes.
"Master!"
Kyoujurou, witnessing this disastrous scene, had no time to think and rushed to Kagaya, shielding him.
"Ugh!"
Shinobu could only protect herself, crouching on the ground and shielding her head, before being blown away entirely.
Facing this disastrous scene, humans indeed felt small and insignificant. Even those revered as Hashira would feel the same.
Amidst such a disastrous attack, Gyokko's attack seemed rather inconspicuous.
"Blood Demon Art - Killer Fish Scales!"
Gyokko, at an astonishing speed, repeatedly jumped amidst the disastrous scene, using his smooth scales to make his movements unpredictable, heading toward Riezel's direction.
He didn't unleash any spectacular attacks like the others but instead, concealed within the disastrous attack, reached out his hands toward Riezel.
If anyone wondered why he used his hands, it was simply because they could turn anything they touched into fish, which was Gyokko's hidden killing move.
In this way, Riezel simultaneously faced the killing moves of seven demons and was instantly engulfed by them.
'We won!'
All the demons witnessed this scene, confirming it in their hearts—
Until a blaze appeared—a dazzling blaze.
*Whoosh!*
Like a fiery dragon, it first emerged amidst the disastrous attack, then, as if dancing, tore through the air at an astonishing speed and roamed extremely fast through the courtyard.
Many demons only saw a sudden burst of sparks before the fiery dragon had already danced around them, leaving behind a dazzling trail in the crumbling courtyard as if frolicking around them in a circle.
A moment later, Riezel appeared in the center of the blaze, transformed into the head of the fiery dragon.
With a sword emitting fierce flames in his hand, Riezel halted his dancing figure as he arrived behind the group of demons.
Soon, the fire dragons that had danced across the courtyard slowly dissipated into the air.
Everything froze in this second.
"Sun Breathing - Eleventh Form..."
Riezel's voice faintly rang in the silent courtyard.
"Sun Halo Dragon Head Dance."
As his voice fell, Riezel sheathed his sword.
*Click!*
*Splurt—!*
One by one, heads flew into the air, blood spattering everywhere.
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Chapter 172: All Dead
"..."
Silence.
A deathly silence.
As the heads of every Upper Rank flew into the air and dropped to the ground one after another, everyone present was stunned by the heart-wrenching scene.
Whether it was Shinobu, who was blown away, or Kyoujurou, who was hiding amidst the debris of the mansion, their eyes were wide open and lost all reaction.
Their minds were blank.
Their hearts stopped.
Engulfed in shock, they couldn't believe what they were seeing.
Especially Shinobu, witnessing Riezel fight against demons for the first time, froze, unable to move.
*Pa—Pa—Pa—*
In the Ubuyashiki Estate, the sound of gravel falling to the ground could still be heard intermittently.
At this moment, the estate had already collapsed completely under the catastrophic thunderstorm, with not a single intact spot left to be found.
However, not only was the Ubuyashiki Estate affected, but the surrounding area was as well.
It was either blasted into huge craters by the relentless thunder or shattered into fragments by the onslaught of hurricanes. Combined with the destructive sound waves, shockwaves, blood-red blades, and razor-sharp sashes, within a radius of several hundred meters, there was surely not a single intact scenery left.
Even the forests near the estate had collapsed over a vast area, the ground seemed to have been thinly shaved, presenting a desolate scene of upturned soil, resembling a piece of undeveloped wasteland.
As scenes reminiscent of post-disaster aftermath unfolded, they were ultimately shattered by screams that pierced the sky.
"IT HURTS! IT HURTS, IT HURTS, IT HURTS, IT HURRRTTTSSS—!"
"Why does it hurt so much?!"
"Impossible! It can't be?!"
"Ca-Can't regenerate!"
Urogi, Sekido, Aizetsu, and Karaku screamed as their heads fell to the ground, rolling in agony, seeming to be in great pain. Their headless bodies also collapsed, unable to split or regenerate, as if suppressed by some mysterious power, causing flames to flicker at their severed necks, burning them.
Not long after, another round of incomparably painful screams echoed.
"HO-HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!"
Gyokko, whose head was protected by scales harder than diamonds, was also beheaded and rolled to the ground, experiencing both pain and disbelief.
'Three Upper Ranks... seven of us... all beheaded in a split second... in just one strike?!'
Gyokko couldn't believe it and didn't want to believe it.
Clearly, their opponent was just one human.
Clearly, the Upper Ranks present were demons with survival capabilities stronger than even Akaza's.
Yet, such a group of demons, working together, were defeated in an instant?
Not to mention Gyokko, even Gyuutarou and Daki screamed in shock.
"Stop joking... STOP JOKIIING—!"
Gyuutarou's nervous expression and aura of death in his eyes had changed, turning into hysteria.
"Our heads... not only mine... but also my little sister's... in an instant... by a mere human?! Impossible!"
He certainly understood the severity of the situation.
The fact that his and his younger sister's heads were both cut off together meant only one thing.
They were going to die.
"Big Brother! Big Brother! Think of something quickly! Think of something!" Daki seemed to realize her fate and finally broke down. "I don't want to die! I don't want to die!"
Hearing his younger sister's breakdown into loud sobs twisted Gyuutarou's face with anguish.
But what could he do? He was also helpless.
Unfortunately for them, times had changed.
Not only had the current Riezel evolved Sun Breathing and acquired his own Nichirin Sword, but he had also awakened a new skill, making him completely different from when he fought Akaza last time.
His new Hermit was created from a gemstone containing the purest essence of Scarlet Crimson Iron Sands and Scarlet Ores in large quantities, resulting in a qualitative change in the sunlight energy within, making it far more lethal to demons than ordinary Nichirin Swords.
Therefore, any demon slashed by Hermit, even if not beheaded, would disintegrate as if exposed to sunlight for too long.
On top of that, with the emergence of the 'Pioneer of the Sun', Riezel gained special attack capability against evil entities, possessing the power to restrain them, resulting in not only the suppression of the demon's regenerative ability but also a significant increase in the damage they received.
Coupled with Riezel's 'Sun Halo Dragon Head Dance', which not only caused intense pain akin to being burned by flames of the sun but also temporarily suppressed their regenerative ability, the demons beheaded by him could no longer stand up.
It was an attack that occurred within a second—from the moment the fire dragon danced out, the fate of these demons was already sealed!
Kagaya was the first to realize this fact.
*Cough!* *Cough!*
The sudden surge of excitement caused Kagaya to cough violently, even coughing up blood.
"Master!"
Only then did Kyoujurou react, quickly supporting Kagaya's body.
However, Kagaya paid no attention to his own body, instead grabbing Kyoujurou's hand tightly, with great strength.
"Did you see it? Did you see it?! Kyoujurou!" Kagaya's voice trembled. "In an instant... it was just an instant... even multiple Hashira couldn't stand up against an Upper Rank, and yet they got beheaded in an instant... seven of them!"
His excitement even made his tone incoherent.
Of course, Kyoujurou saw it.
It was because he saw it that he could understand why Kagaya was so excited.
The formidable Upper Ranks, the most powerful demons capable of overwhelming even several Hashira single-handedly, the nightmares of humanity who had lived for hundreds of years, and the nightmares of the Demon Slayer Corps, were now unable to withstand even a single move from Riezel.
Judging by their appearance, they seemed unable to regenerate, unable to recover.
In Kyoujurou's eyes, this was simply too unreal—so unreal that even he, who had witnessed a similar scene in the Mugen Train incident, still found it hard to believe.
If Kyoujurou felt this way, then so should Shinobu.
"In just an instant..."
Shinobu lay next to the fragments of the courtyard wall, her eyes filled with wonder as she watched the figure engulfed in flames.
In the Ubuyashiki Estate, now transformed into a scene of devastation, only the hysterical angry howls and the agonizing screams of the demons remained, telling others that this was not a dream.
Before long, the bodies and heads of these demons began to turn into flying ash, gradually dispersing.
"Big Brother... Big... Brother..."
Daki, the weakest among them, disappeared first, amidst a chorus of loud crying, turning into ashes.
"!!!"
Watching his younger sister gradually disappear, Gyuutarou stared dumbfounded and seemed to yell something, but as his sister completely disappeared into ashes, he ceased his yelling and wailing.
As if he had lost the most precious thing in his life, Gyuutarou stared blankly in the direction where his younger sister had disappeared before closing his eyes and also turning into ashes.
"Ahh... My body is disappearing... Am I going to die? Why? Why so fast?" Gyokko was still unwilling to accept this reality.
Perhaps it was due to Riezel's 'Pioneer of the Sun', or perhaps it was because of the abundant sunlight energy contained within Hermit. Upper Ranks who shouldn't have vanished so quickly and could have persisted for a considerable amount of time seemed to be dying at an astonishing speed.
"I still have so many artworks to complete... How could I die here... How could—"
Gyokko muttered for a moment, then remembered something and cast his frantic gaze toward Kagaya.
"At least... At least I should take someone from the Ubuyashiki family..."
It was Gyokko's last flicker of resistance.
The task given by Muzan was two—first, investigate Tsugikuni Yoriichi and kill him, and second, bring back the heads of the Ubuyashikis.
Dealing with Riezel, Gyokko didn't even dare to consider. But if it was Kagaya, he felt compelled to drag this weak human down with him before he died, no matter what.
However, as Gyokko began to entertain such thoughts, he realized that someone was standing before him.
Riezel, wielding Hermit, appeared before Gyokko at some point, towering over him. After a moment of silence, Riezel lowered his head and whispered something in Gyokko's ear.
Surprisingly, the whisper made Gyokko's eyes widen in fear as he looked into Riezel's eyes.
Before dying, this Upper Five seemed to foresee something. He foresaw the scene where his supreme king would engage in a full-scale war with the monster before him.
With such foresight, such fear, Gyokko finally turned into a gust of flying ash, dissipating completely.
As for the four clone demons of Hantengu, they had already disappeared, disappearing even faster than Gyokko, as if deliberately fleeing, deliberately escaping this hellish place.
With this, all the Upper Ranks who attacked the headquarters of the Demon Slayer Corps were gone.
Riezel had truly accomplished it.
Just as in his declaration to the Upper Ranks earlier, he could truly deal with all of them.
"They all dead...?" Kyoujurou murmured subconsciously.
However, little did he know, Riezel heard it and responded while shaking his head.
"No, one should have escaped."
Riezel's unexpected words left everyone stunned.
===
Near the headquarters of the Demon Slayer Corps, next to the town.
In a dark corner, a demon, small enough to fit in the palm of a hand, suddenly appeared.
With long horns on his head and a face like a scared old man, it was unmistakably Hantengu.
In truth, this was Hantengu's true form, the Upper Four himself.
Kyoujurou would never have imagined that, although Hantengu seemed to have split into four, in reality, those four clones were in the end just, clones.
Hantengu's true body had always been hiding in the shadows, so no matter how many times the clones' heads were cut off, they could regenerate and split again.
Only by beheading the true body could Hantengu be eliminated.
However, Hantengu's true body had always lurked in the shadows, never appearing on the battlefield.
Hantengu should have been grateful.
Had he not been absent from the battlefield, even if he had become so small, hiding in the corner, Riezel would have been able to find him using the Transparent World.
When the four clone demons representing Hantengu's pleasure, anger, sorrow, and joy appeared at the Ubuyashiki Estate, Riezel realized that Hantengu had already split. He attempted to find Hantengu's true body using the Transparent World, but unfortunately, he couldn't locate it.
As a result, Hantengu escaped unscathed.
Even so, instead of feeling relief and happiness at still being alive, he felt only extreme fear, akin to facing his king.
"It's scary... too scary..."
Hantengu shuddered, overwhelmed by fear.
"I must escape!"
Thinking of that human swordsman wrapped in flames, who resembled a demon more than the demons themselves, his innermost feelings were completely dominated by fear.
In no time, Hantengu began to flee frantically.
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