Chapter 51: Hunter [51]: Group Hunting
"Unlucky! Unlucky! My luck has been terrible lately. First, I lost money to avoid disaster, and now I encounter two Hashira at once!"
Contractor 13521 muttered curses as he moved through the forest.
"Ara, it's not just two Hashira at once, you know~"
Contractor 13521 instinctively looked toward the source of the voice from above. A butterfly fluttered gracefully towards him. It was beautiful! The glint of a blade approached his neck, and only then did he realize it was the Insect Hashira, Shinobu Kocho.
He quickly rolled on the ground, barely avoiding Shinobu's blade. However, the tip of the blade still pierced his shoulder, injecting wisteria poison into his body.
Although he had used tools to remove most of the side effects of demon blood, there was still some demon blood in his system. The wisteria poison was effective against him, suppressing the 6 attribute points gained from the demon blood.
Before he could regain his footing, a powerful force struck him, sending him flying into a tree. He then saw that the person who attacked him was the Love Hashira, Mitsuri Kanroji.
Contractor 13521 realized that this was no simple situation. It wasn't just bad luck that he encountered so many Hashira. The reason was obvious: it had to be the contractor from the Demon Slayer Corps he had fought before.
Thinking of this, Contractor 13521's face twisted with rage. He also cursed inwardly, wondering how the opponent managed to summon four Hashira to gang up on him!
Thanks to the protection of his upper body armor, the attack only made him cough up a few mouthfuls of blood. But he needed to find a way to escape. Shinobu's speed was too fast; even though her attack power wasn't high, her coordination with Mitsuri could easily suppress him. If the Serpent Hashira and Mist Hashira arrived, he would be doomed!
"Love Breathing, Third Form: Cat-Like Love Shower!"
Mitsuri Kanroji leaped towards Contractor 13521 like an agile cat.
"Insect Breathing, Dance of the Bee Sting: True Flutter!"
If Mitsuri's movements were agile, Shinobu's sword technique was just one word: fast! So fast that the naked eye could hardly catch her figure.
Even so, Contractor 13521, though his dynamic vision couldn't keep up with Shinobu, was not slow. He barely dodged Shinobu's thrust and used his black rock greatsword to block Mitsuri's attack.
However, Mitsuri's Nichirin Blade, also specially crafted with the Breath technique, bent around the greatsword and struck him.
Contractor 13521 gasped in pain but knew he couldn't afford to falter. A mistake could be fatal. He quickly distanced himself from the two Hashira, gripping his greatsword and gathering strength.
Shinobu immediately sensed the change in his momentum and advanced with another sword technique.
Contractor 13521 had his skill interrupted by Lin Jiu before, and although he had learned from that, his upper body armor's protective skill was now used up.
His necklace still had a protective skill, but even if he blocked Shinobu, there was still Mitsuri. Realizing he couldn't charge his skill, he retreated again!
"This demon is really fast!"
Shinobu couldn't help but exclaim. Although it seemed they had the upper hand, they hadn't inflicted much damage on him. If Lin Jiu were watching, he'd see that the enemy's health bar hadn't even dropped by a tenth!
Contractor 13521's attributes surpassed most of the Upper Moons. Facing the Hashira, he appeared suppressed, but the Hashira's combat experience far exceeded his. Their relentless attacks prevented him from leveraging his strengths.
Contractor 13521's attributes exceeded the Upper Moons, but his overall combat power was inferior to Upper Moons like Doma, Akaza, and Kokushibo.
However, his greatest strength wasn't combat power, but wealth! Lin Jiu didn't know how many tools he still had hidden, which was why he gathered the nine Hashira for the ambush.
The first two groups of Hashira were chosen strategically: Serpent Hashira's ghostly attacks, Mist Hashira's deceptive moves, Love Hashira's agile movements, and Insect Hashira's untraceable speed, all targeted Contractor 13521's lack of combat experience.
Without enough combat experience, he couldn't rely on his basic attributes to counter these four Hashira fighting styles. This maximized the chances of forcing him to use his equipment skills and tools.
"Deadly Combo!"
Contractor 13521 charged at Mitsuri with his greatsword, swinging it wildly like a madman.
His speed and strength were formidable, but his skill's wind-up and clumsy execution were full of openings. As Hashira, both Shinobu and Mitsuri had faced countless battles, easily dodging his slashes while targeting his vital points.
Contractor 13521's pupils shrank. He couldn't delay any longer. He immediately tore open a scroll, and a powerful repulsive force knocked both Shinobu and Mitsuri into tree trunks.
Taking this chance, Contractor 13521 fled deeper into the forest.
"I don't believe anyone can still catch up!"
Contractor 13521 sneered as he watched the dense forest fly past him.
"Catch up? Why chase when I can flamboyantly kill you... I promise your death will be nothing short of spectacular!"
A flamboyantly dressed figure leaped down from above, slashing at Contractor 13521 with dual blades.
The sudden attack forced Contractor 13521 to activate his accessory shield. The explosion outside the shield pushed him back.
"All nine Hashira must be here!"
Contractor 13521's face turned dark with anger and hidden fear as he saw the Sound Hashira, Tengen Uzui, and the Water Hashira, Giyu Tomioka, in front of him.
"You don't need to worry about that. Just obediently become a sacrificial offering under the hand of the God of Festivals!"
Tengen Uzui looked down at the demon with disdain as he spoke.
Giyu Tomioka, on the other hand, didn't say much and had already launched his sword technique.
"Scales of Fire!"
After two rounds of combat, Contractor 13521 realized that although his attributes were much stronger than his opponents, these Hashira had a mastery of combat timing that he couldn't match. If he were like a typical demon with no weaknesses other than decapitation and could recover quickly, he could charge recklessly.
However, when he obtained part of the demon blood's power and removed its side effects, he also lost that ability. He couldn't fight these Hashira head-on and had to rely on his tools.
He used another one-time magic scroll, releasing a large area of dark blue flames that spread toward Tengen Uzui and Giyu Tomioka like butterflies.
"Water Breathing, Eleventh Form: Dead Calm..."
Centered around Giyu Tomioka, a domain formed, with almost imperceptible slashes blocking the scales of fire. The one-time magic scroll that the contractor had purchased wasn't so easily countered, and more scales of fire continued to approach.
"Sound Breathing, Fourth Form: Constant Resounding Slashes!"
Both Hashira present had techniques to deal with wide-range attacks. The remaining scales of fire quickly disappeared in the explosions caused by Tengen Uzui's slashes.
Before the explosions had completely dissipated, Giyu Tomioka had already used his Fourth Form, moving with agile steps to attack the resourceful demon in front of him.
Tengen Uzui jumped onto a tree branch, positioning himself above the battlefield, looking for an opportunity to deliver a fatal blow.
However, Contractor 13521 had no intention of engaging them. He realized that all nine Hashira were likely here, and there was also a contractor who was not weaker than a Hashira. Even if he used up all his resources, taking down two or three Hashira would be a good outcome. If they surrounded him, he was doomed.
Without hesitation, he took out a golden scroll and used it. Contractor 13521's figure instantly disappeared from the spot.
"Damn it, I should have used more tools last time to kill that guy! This is a huge loss!"
Contractor 13521 cursed somewhere in the forest. This scroll allowed him to teleport away instantly, but only within a range of two kilometers, and the destination was random.
He couldn't afford more advanced escape scrolls. The price of each higher-quality tool increased by about tenfold. He didn't know how far he had teleported, but he knew it wasn't safe. He needed to keep running to increase the distance.
"The trees are sparse here, and they get even sparser in that direction, probably leading to the other side of the mountain."
Contractor 13521 judged the direction before continuing to flee. Otherwise, it would be a joke if he ran back towards his pursuers.
Little did he know that his position was already exposed to several Kasugai crows circling above. Lin Jiu had instructed everyone to spread out widely and used the crows to monitor just in case the enemy used teleportation.
Since the first confrontation, Lin Jiu understood that he had to use the strategy for dealing with contractors from the Paradise of Apocalypse to handle this violator.
The Kasugai crows reported, and the Flame Hashira, Kyojuro Rengoku, who was nearest, rushed over. The previously encountered Sound Hashira, Insect Hashira, and others pursued from behind, while the Rock Hashira, Gyomei Himejima, and the Wind Hashira, Sanemi Shinazugawa, moved to intercept him from the front, preparing to encircle him.
Although his combat skills were lacking, his basic attributes were indeed high, making him difficult to catch up with for a while. If it weren't for Shinobu Kocho's wisteria poison suppressing some of his attributes and the Kasugai crows tracking him from above, he might have escaped.
Lin Jiu and the nine Hashira had set up a thorough net, and it was only because this contractor had exploited a bug in the Reincarnation Paradise that he had so many tools. Any other contractor from the demon faction would have fallen in the first wave.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone