บท 70: Hunter [70]: The Cruel and Merciless Reality
[Muzan Kibutsuji, the Progenitor of Demons]
Health: 100%
Strength: 25
Agility: 24
Stamina: 30 (World's limit)
Intelligence: 15
Charisma: 10
[Skill 1: Demon Progenitor Lv.Max (Passive). Strength +15, Agility +10.]
[Skill 2: Primal Demon Blood Lv.Max (Passive). Health recovery speed increased by 300%.]
[Skill 3: Five Brains Seven Hearts Lv.Max (Passive). When receiving physical attacks, a strength check is performed. Immune to physical attacks from those whose strength doesn't exceed one's own.]
[Skill 4: Medical Knowledge Lv10.]
[Skill 5: Blood Consumption Lv.10 (Active). Can be used after consuming a creature's blood. Restores 10%~50% health based on the size and strength of the consumed creature.]
[Skill 6: Self-Division Lv.15 (Active). Can freely split one's body into 1800 pieces, like self-destruction. As long as one piece survives, can fully recover using unparalleled regeneration ability.]
[Skill 7: Shapeshifting Lv.15 (Active). Can transform body parts into bizarre mutated limbs, which can be used as the main means of combat. Unpredictable and strange transformations.]
[Skill 8: Blood Demon Art ???]
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"State your request."
Muzan Kibutsuji said calmly to Lin Jiu.
Lin Jiu thought for a moment and said, "How about you kill all these subordinates here, and I'll have the Demon Slayer Corps withdraw from this place?"
Muzan frowned, not expecting the other party to avoid his trap. He deliberately let the other side make a direct request. If they asked him to kill the demons ambushing in Asakusa, it would show that they weren't as indifferent to those lives as they claimed, giving him the upper hand again.
"That's impossible. You're only offering to withdraw from here, that's not enough," Muzan said. Although he didn't care about the lives of these ordinary demons, he couldn't let the other side take advantage.
"Is this enough?"
Lin Jiu had one hand gripping the stem of a nearby blue spider lily.
"I can agree to eliminate half."
"Plus withdrawing from the village."
Lin Jiu immediately added.
Muzan remained silent, activating the curse in his demon blood. Half of the group of demons instantly died, and he ordered the remaining terrified demons to withdraw from the village.
Having such a boss, these little demons are pitiful. But since they're man-eaters anyway, they should die.
Lin Jiu waved to Shinobu Kocho and the others, signaling them to move away. The Nine Hashira followed Lin Jiu's command completely, gradually retreating to a far distance. They had discussed this during the day, planning to ignite the bombs here, so naturally, they had to evacuate their people first. Then they would lure Muzan Kibutsuji over.
However, someone needed to stay behind to entice Muzan. At the time, everyone volunteered to stay and hold off Muzan. But Lin Jiu overruled them all and stayed behind himself because he wasn't comfortable entrusting this task to anyone else.
Even if he told the Nine Hashira about Muzan's experiences, they couldn't do better than Lin Jiu. Because the Demon Slayer Corps had always been dedicated to protecting civilians, there were psychological points that could be exploited. Therefore, Lin Jiu himself was the most suitable candidate.
Due to the limitations of the era, the gunpowder still needed to be ignited manually. So Lin Jiu had the fuse extended to a distance, and after the Nine Hashira retreated, they immediately lit the fuse from afar.
As for timing control, Lin Jiu had to manage it himself. They calculated that it would take about half a minute from ignition to explosion.
The position under Muzan's feet would also be affected by the blast, but compared to the explosive power at Lin Jiu's location, it was far less.
"Move away from that cluster of flowers."
Muzan said. Lin Jiu had already nearly ruined two flowers in the short time he was there, and there were only seven or eight in total. If he stayed longer, they might all be destroyed.
Hearing this, Lin Jiu moved two steps to the side.
"What else do you want?"
"Let's duel. If you win, this cluster of blue spider lilies is yours."
Lin Jiu said, pointing his sword [Dawn Shadow] at Muzan.
"..."
If the Hashira who had just retreated said this, Muzan might have believed it, but he didn't believe a word from the person in front of him.
However, he hadn't planned on expecting Lin Jiu's side to give in. He had already instructed Nakime, hidden among the demon group, to activate her Blood Demon Art. Nakime's Blood Demon Art could freely manipulate the space of the Infinity Castle, but that didn't mean she was completely powerless outside.
She also had a teleportation ability, but because they weren't in the Infinity Castle and the target was Muzan, who was far stronger than her, it needed more preparation time.
While Lin Jiu was looking for an opportunity, Muzan was also stalling for time to allow Nakime to activate her Blood Demon Art.
'It's about time, I need to let him come over.'
Lin Jiu estimated the time. As long as he showed a weakness, making Muzan feel confident about getting the blue spider lily cluster, he would naturally rush over.
Moreover, if Lin Jiu retreated at this point, Muzan wouldn't pursue it. Because Muzan didn't want them to start fighting on the spot and destroy the flowers.
The blue red spider lilies were the most important thing for Muzan. Even if there was some trap here, he would still pounce in. Lin Jiu's request for him to kill those little demons was also to prevent him from using them as cannon fodder.
Before Lin Jiu could act, Muzan moved. He suddenly teleported next to the flower cluster, and a blood whip as thick as a head lashed violently toward Lin Jiu.
Instinctively, Lin Jiu wanted to cut the blood whip, but then thought he could use its force. So he raised his left arm, using the arm guard to block in front of him. The blood whip hit Lin Jiu, sending him flying.
Muzan also knew that killing Lin Jiu instantly was impossible, so he planned to severely injure him, or at least drive him away from the flower cluster.
Boom! Boom!
Just as Lin Jiu was in mid-air, the blast's shock wave flipped him even further away. As soon as he landed, Lin Jiu saw that his health was only at 50%.
At that time, he had already used the force to move more than ten meters away, yet he was still blasted to half-health while in mid-air. Although the gunpowder's power in this era wasn't as strong as in later times, the sheer quantity that Kagaya Ubuyashiki had procured made up for it.
He injected himself with an [XT-12 Life Vitality Serum], then took out a portion of [Golden Fried Rice] and wolfed it down. The Nine Hashira, hearing the explosion, approached and saw Lin Jiu just swallowing the last mouthful of rice and drinking a bottle of water.
Although [Golden Fried Rice] could restore up to 40% health, it needed time. Lin Jiu's health had only recovered to 70%, so he took out some other white recovery items to bring his health above 90%. Fortunately, he had saved enough recovery items before!
"Are you alright?"
Lin Jiu stood up and shook his head. The upper part of his Demon Slayer uniform was already in tatters, so he tore it off.
Looking ahead, the air was filled with dust kicked up by the explosion, obscuring the view.
"Wind Breathing, Seventh Form: Gale - Sudden Gusts!"
Knowing that this level of attack couldn't kill Muzan, Sanemi Shinazugawa took action, using his sword to create a whirlwind to disperse the dust, preventing attacks from beyond their line of sight.
As the dust was gradually clearing, Lin Jiu said to the Nine Hashira, "Among the demons outside, there's a female demon holding a biwa who possesses a Blood Demon Art with spatial abilities. With her around, Muzan could escape at any time.
Later, Shinobu, Mitsuri, Obanai, and... oh right, Uzui-san, your bombs are very suitable for dealing with those demons. You four go handle that group of demons and the biwa demon first. Leave this to us."
Lin Jiu kept the Flame Hashira, Wind Hashira, Mist Hashira, Stone Hashira, and Water Hashira, plus himself - six people to surround and attack Muzan should be enough.
At this moment, they saw a large black flesh ball standing in the large crater created by the explosion, with some vine-like blood whips extending from the flesh ball, swaying.
This scene suddenly became somewhat Lovecraftian. Those who knew this was a derivative world might think so, but those who didn't might think this world had been invaded by an Eldritch God. It's just that this Eldritch God was a bit too weak.
The flesh ball split open and retracted inward, gradually revealing a human figure. Muzan stood in front of a cluster of flowers, his face even paler than before, with large areas of burn wounds on his body rapidly healing.
"Hahaha, I've finally obtained it! Once I become a perfect being, no longer fearing sunlight, that will be the death of you demon slayers!" Muzan had used that fleshball form, which hadn't appeared in the original story, to protect this cluster of blue spider lilies.
The Stone Hashira and others were shocked. Only now did they realize that what Muzan had been searching for all along was something that would allow him to survive in sunlight. If sunlight became ineffective against him, wouldn't their Nichirin swords be useless too? At that point, they couldn't imagine how the Demon Slayer Corps could win.
Seeing that Muzan was about to leave to study the blue red spider lilies before dealing with them, Lin Jiu frowned. If Muzan was determined to leave, they really couldn't stop him. It seemed he had no choice but to reveal the cruel and merciless reality to this scummy boss!
"I regret to inform you that these flowers are fake. According to my research, blue red spider lilies are plants that only bloom during the day." Lin Jiu said with a smile, spreading his hands.
Hearing this, Muzan's blood-red eyes suddenly contracted. He immediately ate several flower petals, but there was no reaction with his cells at all.
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