Chương 130: Introduction

[Seiji's POV]

We talked...

I had so much to say and he was the same.

And violence was the language we were using.

*BOOOOOMM!!!*

Disgustingly fast. I had never encountered such speed in all my life. To be completely honest, I had not even imagined an entity moving that fast.

And this was coming from a man who slayed the Upper Moon 2.

Yet my body moved without command. My mind was simply not fast enough to intend for any action in that gap between milliseconds.

My eyes glazed over with mystic purple as I took in action Muzan made. The sudden tightening of his back leg, the lag of regeneration in his arm and the gritting of teeth, as we locked in a clash, told me that he never expected me to be able to react to his attack.

His body language told me that he charged at me with the only intention of running through me. He never expected to be pushed back.

To be frank, I couldn't blame him because I never expected to be able to react to him as well. I had simply never encountered this kind of speed before so I was just as surprised as he was.

I was never tested to my limit again after my fight with Douma. I guess you never knew how strong you are until being strong is your only option.

Muzan clicked his tongue and pushed himself against my sword, sending us both flying away. My feet sank on the snow and I slid a long distance until I came to a stop.

The ground was slippery, I observed, that could be a problem.

Muzan started a new chain of action immediately. His shoes exploded, unable to bear the force of his sudden burst of speed as he shot at me like a bullet train. His speed was so ridiculous that I could see his body puncturing the atmosphere and the air screamed while filling the vacuum.

But although Muzan was so ferociously fast, he still moved in slow motion in my eyes and that was my comfort. My body and mind were just still lagging behind, but with the help of my eyes, I could keep up with Muzan.

It was as if my perception was already at its maximum level, waiting for my physique and mind to catch up.

And so even as Muzan came at me with his ungodly speed, I could comfortably raise my sword and swing an arc that completely halted his approach.

A shockwave erupted, revealing the earth under the snow. His hand wrapped in crimson blood to form claws clashed perfectly with my purple blade.

"So it was not a fluke," he said.

It was a strange situation even for me. He was incredibly fast and slow at the same time. I could barely keep up with his attacks, but there was no danger all the same.

I released the tight grasp I had on my sword and allowed it to bend under his demonic weight. He was caught off guard as his body sailed in the trajectory it was supposed had I not stopped him.

I gripped my sword in reverse and my body knew to attack at his weakness even without wasting a moment to think. The hilt of my sword was long since it was meant for a two-handed grip. So I slammed the end of my sword at one of Muzan's hearts located in his abdomen.

The momentum of his body combined with all the force my body could exert. Muzan literally folded like paper when the hilt of my sword stabbed his abdomen.

A shower of blood erupted from his mouth as his heart ruptured inside his body.

"Stone Breathing : Rupture,"

There was a beat of silence before a shockwave exploded from the point of contact. Muzan was sent flying away like a bullet and he crashed into the forest.

If you remember, Stone Breathing had no proper form. The Stone Hashira of each generation used varying weapons like a mace or hammer so although Stone Breathing was rigid, it was also quite flexible.

I was able to create my own forms because of this. The forms of my Stone Breathing ranged from unorthodox styles of sword-fighting to barehanded attacks.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this," I spoke while getting into a stance.

"Let me tell you how much I hate you,"

My reply came in the form of a bulldozer made of flesh. Muzan emerged from the forest at a much tamer pace but not because he was slowing down. It was because his arms had elongated to a preposterous degree and they were dragging the snow as he crossed the distance.

He was hidden behind a shower of snow in an attempt to disrupt my sight. He had seen me fight many times from the memories so he knew what my main strength was.

But he did not know the extent of my abilities, or else he would realize the futility of his effort. I saw different layers of the world constantly when I activated my eyes, I simultaneously saw what the normal eyes were supposed to see, then I saw Muzan clearly while looking through the snow, then I saw him without his first layer of skin, and I saw him without the first layer of his flesh and so on.

They were like different layers of vision overlapping with each other. His strategy was utterly pointless.

I told him just that with my next attack.

"Water Breathing : Sixth form," I pushed my sword forward in a quick stabbing motion.

"Drop Ripple Thrust,"

I skewered the Demon Lord in his chest. My long sword allowed me to stab through him without getting into his attack range even with his long arms. I stabbed right through another heart and a brain.

!!!!

I noticed almost immediately how my attack never disrupted his flow of action even when it landed. This told me that he was expecting this, it was all part of his plan.

Muzan's hand grabbed my blade and he did not let go even when his palm started burning from the touch. A crimson layer of blood covered his hand and then with enlarging muscles, he lifted me off my feet.

It was a strategy hidden in a smaller strategy. He displayed in full his experience that spanned over a thousand years.

Releasing my sword was not an option so Muzan was able to fling me towards the forest. My body sailed across the sky and even before I started falling, Muzan was already running below me.

"Wind Breathing : Third form," I spun my body, entering a Beyblade state when I began falling from the sky.

When I was in a state of rapid rotation, it synched with Muzan who jumped up and connected both his feet with the trunk of a tree. His body contracted like spring and he remained horizontal on the tree.

When I finally fell into the forest and fell past the top of the trees, Muzan burst into action and so did I.

"Clear Storm Wind Tree!!"

My body spun rapidly, a green arc of wind blades surrounded my body and I blocked the barrage of attacks that came from all directions. Muzan exploded from tree to tree, quickly changing direction and attacking me from everywhere.

He didn't bother searching for opponents and attacked every possible inch of me. But he was met with the chilling fact that I had no openings even while in the air. When you achieve as close to perfection as I did in the art of fighting, openings cease to exist.

My feet touched the ground and I was unharmed. Our surroundings were not so much as the trees either turned apart or exploded from the sheer force they withstood from Muzan launching himself off them.

There was no pause in battle. Muzan launched himself from one place to another, rapidly changing directions using the trees as a foothold. His speed was unlike anything I had ever dealt with and coupled with the impossible change in trajectories, my instincts screamed at me to run.

Muzan knew beforehand exactly what my style of fighting was. His unimaginable experience backed up those facts and he was fully exploiting my weakness from the start.

'Fear me, I know your weakness,' his action seemed to say as his bulletin body brushed past my blind spot more than once yet he did not attack immediately.

He was poking for a reaction. I was fast in my own right so I could block an attack from a blind spot if I went from inaction to action. But if I were to make a move or leave an opening while taking another action, he would have a certain victory.

Unfortunately for him, this was not the first time someone had taken advantage of my limited sight. Douma did too and he did it better.

So I blurred into action as well, using the trees as a foothold to shoot around just like Muzan was. The only way to deal with my blind spot was by constantly moving it.

'No, fear me, I know my weakness,' was my reply as I blurred, even faster than he did with my perfect footwork and movement.

He had no fitness, he never found the need to acquire such skills because he could power through every weakness. That was the curse of being too strong, you never learned to utilize it properly.

While he blurred in different directions in the forest, the trees he used as a foothold exploded from the force but mine did not because I was applying the right amount of strength and I did not move in opposite directions. It was almost like I was slipping off the trees just enough to change trajectory instead.

Physics might as well have died there as we moved around each other like unstable forces of nature. But in this situation, I had the advantage because I memorized the forest like the back of my hand. I knew the exact location of each tree from the countless hunting I did in the past week.

My eyes also saw the world in slow motion and I could predict actions. Muzan put me into this situation, threw me into this forest to put me at a disadvantage,

But I turned it into an advantage.

The dark forest began lighting up with different explosions of light and shockwaves when we started meeting in a clash. All the animals in the forest fled as we destroyed the forest in our battle.

Trees were uprooted, the earth scarred with craters and everything else ripped apart from our clash.

Our battle imitated a natural disaster at that point and that was only the beginning.

Fighting was a conversation and we were only just about done with our respective introductions.

In the next moment, it was like we both agreed simultaneously to start fighting seriously. Muzan was completely naked, his clothes had long been cut into a million pieces by my blade.

Therefore, I saw it so very clearly when red marks started appearing on his body. They seemed to creep out from his pores and his red eyes burned with demonic power.

I reply, a demonic mark starts appearing on my body as well. It started from half my face and went down to my neck. They were purple lines that imitate the pattern of computer circuits.

Time slowed down to a slow crawl and I felt my strength go many folds. I was in a different realm of power entirely.

The moment was so intoxicating that I nearly forgot to hate my opponent. It felt like I was going through another enlightenment.

If my eyes were not playing with me, I also saw the purple of my sword dull. It looked like the shallowest layer of red was on my blade.

But I no longer kept that on my mind because a tendril made of blood came my way. In a world that looked like it had stopped completely, the tendril moved fast.

I took in a deep breath.

'Not yet,' I told myself. I needed the right time to use Sun Breathing. If I used it now, Muzan could be wary of it and I would find no openings.

But that's okay.

Because what I used was not light stuff anymore either.

"Thunder Wind Breathing,"

The introduction was done.

Now let's talk.

[IMAGE]

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Author : I just woke up and then saw 1000 stones. bruh

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Chương 131: Seiji Shigan

[3rd POV]

The human was not weak.

He was not particularly strong either but Muzan concluded that the human was far from being a vulnerable prey.

It was nothing worth a real threat, but Muzan could understand now - how this human was killing his Upper Moons.

Even without his true form, Muzas was superior in every aspect which is important for combat. He was faster, stronger, smarter, and more experienced, and he could heal from injuries considered fatal by human standards in the blink of an eye.

Yet somehow, they were fighting on equal ground.

The human just understood fighting. That was the only way Muzan could describe it.

They shot around the forest like living bullets, razing the trees down and leaving a trail of destruction in the wake of their battle. Somehow the weaker and slower human could keep up with the battle.

No, it would be more correct to say that the human was winning the fight. Muzan was simply covering up every mistake he made with his regeneration. Thus making the fight equal.

If not for that he would've died ten times over. A hundred times even.

Although impressed, Muzan also felt annoyance brew in his heart, which is why in the very next moment, demonic markings started appearing on his body and he felt a surge of his true power in his veins.

Doing that was akin to releasing a handcuff. He felt his power free from the confines of self-suppression, and he allowed it to run wild.

But in the next exchange, Muzan did not find the overwhelming advantage of power. Instead, he found that he was repelled by just as powerful of an attack.

'Demon Slayer mark' Muzan observed the markings that appeared on the human. 'A cheap imitation of the demon mark on a human,'

Yorihii was born with it but other humans could acquire it by sacrificing their lifespan over 25. Demons faced no such problems because they were practically immortal.

Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Muzan manipulated his arm to turn it into a sharp blade and he blitzed at the human. He mowed down the towering trees like they were grass and he came upon the human like an unrelenting force of nature.

*BOOM!!!*

And yet....

"Thunder Wind Breathing," Muzan heard the faintest whisper amid the explosion.

Muzan was aware of the breathing techniques that humans often used to fight demons. But he had never heard of a particular style that combines two elements. So he threw out a tendril made of blood to test the water.

You didn't survive hundreds of years without being cautious.

Muzan's demonic eyes widen and his pupil shook at the scene he beheld. The human blurred into an afterimage. It was so fast that Muzan himself was barely aware of it it even after unleashing his full power.

Such raw speed.

By the time he marvelled at the sheer speed, the attack was already done. The human was already behind him, Muzan could feel the heat on his skin. It was like the human teleported in an instant.

There was no sound, no disturbance in the air nor an image to be seen. By the time Muzan's five brains process what happened, it already happened. He was only just fast enough to know how he was sliced apart.

The world was even slower to react. It started from the long tendril he shot at the human. The rope of blood was sliced right in the middle and when it finally reached his arm, it carved a nasty circular line.

The line extended, curving and flowing all over his body before those lines erupted. It was like many zippers materialized on his body and they opened up.

That day, Muzan got to experience first-hand the fastest Breathing Style in existence, It was easily faster than even the likes of Sun Breathing.

To be completely honest, even the human had no control over himself while using the technique and all actions were predetermined.

"AHHHHHH!!!" A guttural scream erupted from Muzan when he felt the searing pain in his body. It was then that he realized the lines on his body were not random at all. They all targeted his vital organs, his five brains and seven hearts.

Only half of them were damaged but that act alone spoke volumes of the danger the human posed to him.

"You..!!!" Muzan chanted with immense hatred and his red eyes burned upon the enemy.

Now Muzan changed his mind on how he saw the human. He no longer saw a mortal with adequate strength.

He saw danger, he saw a threat.

A human that had somehow mastered violence.

"Seiji Shigan," Muzan spat out in acknowledgement.

The last time he called out a human by their name in acknowledgement was five hundred years ago.

Yoriichi Tsugukuni.

And now Seiji Shigan.

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[Seiji's POV]

"Muzan Kibutsuji," I cursed out his name in return.

I felt my body heat up to unhealthy temperatures. It was like I had ten layers of fever, but instead of being sick, it filled me with unmatched vigor.

I had prioritized only speed in my last attack and it showed. My attack barely did any damage to the demon lord. A cut like that was akin to a scratch to him.

I was trying to cut through him but I had to resort to craving at his weakness instead. The violent nature of Wind Breathing still showed though, as Muzan's wound exploded in blood and flesh.

Wind Breathing could make a sharp blade violent like a chainsaw.

Right after that, a shockwave erupted. A high-pitched sound that managed to tickle my dead ears, exploded. They could break any glass.

Sound finally caught up to us and it declared my attack way after it was already done. That was one characteristic of Thunder Wind Breathing.

There was no exchange of attacks after that and we both landed on the ground with a thud. Muzan held his stomach and bent over. His wounds were already healed and the markings in his body grew redder and covered more of his body.

His current appearance was pretty tame compared to what he looked like in the final battle in the manga. His hair was still back and other than the markings and the demonic eyes, there were no flesh configurations yet.

'So he is transforming,' I concluded in my mind when I saw him bending over and his demon marks grew.

Before those thoughts even finished in my mind, my body was already moving. I would be one stupid motherfucker to stay still while he transformed into something I could not fight.

"Storm Breathing : First Form," I bit out and moved at a speed almost equalling Thunder Wind Breathing.

"Tempest Fury!!"

My body did not resist nor hesitate as I executed the movement like it used to. Instead, it was roaring with life, as if encouraging me to use more powerful moves. It was fully embracing what I wanted it to be - a battle machine.

I did not need comfort, I did not need to store energy for later use nor did I need to care what my own strength would do to my body.

Just fight.

And I did. The ferocity and the ease at which I moved was a far cry from when I would still every time I use three breathing styles at once.

This time, I minced the Demon Lord into tiny pieces of flesh.

The earth shattered and everything in the vicinity was ripped apart. When I stopped a few meters away I only left a hollow land devoid of life. Even the algae undee a layer of snow was sliced apart.

But Muzan somehow remained in one piece.

I gritted my teeth.

My attacks landed and I minced him into tiny pieces but his body healed before it could have the chance to fall off. He was already done healing half his injuries by the time my attack was done.

I see now.

So that's why Sun Breathing and a red blade is needed to finish him. Muzan healed far too quickly.

Nevertheless, my attack seemed to piss him off beyond words. I knew this because of my eyes. Outwardly, he looked calm and stoic, like my attacks did not even bother him.

"Your attacks are strong but...futile," he said and then I saw his shoulder muscles move as if they were alive.

His deltoid muscles ripped themselves from their insertion. The muscle elongated and turned into a tentacle that had a blade made of bones at the end.

The rope of muscle moved like a whip, many times faster than the speed of sound. Normal civilians could make a whip move faster than sound so imagine what the Demon Lord could do.

It was fast enough to appear like a blur to my eyes. But fortunately, they were predictable. My eyes could predict where they would hit from the beginning of the tentacle when the speed was not as fast.

I shifted my blade to block the attack and a bright spark was produced. It was so bright that it almost looked like a flashbang. I also noticed my sword chipping at the impact.

'Not good,'

Then the tentacle blurred into speed and delivered around a hundred strikes in one second. It was an insane speed that could not be put into words.

I lept away from my position immediately and I was glad to see that the tentacle had a range.

But that relief was broken and the frustration doubled when Muzan burst into speed. My eyes also saw that the other shoulder ripped itself out from his arm to create another tentacle.

I branded my sword in front of me, its giant length covered much of my body and I was glad I chose a long sword as my main weapon.

"Thunder Wind Breathing : Flash,"

It was like fireworks happening in the dark and chilling forest. Our battle was no longer as destructive as before since we did not focus on power.

Instead, it was now a battle of speed.

My title as the faster Hashira was being tested.

The quick impact of our clash was so fast that it released constant vibrations that looked like soundwaves. I imagined it would sound like an engine to others, a literal roar of the battle.

I could feel my body tightening as the battle went on. Even a few seconds of the battle was intense enough to wear me down.

I could only hope that Raven had delivered her message and he was on his way.

That's right.

The plan was never to try and defeat Muzan alone in the first place. It was not me against Muzan.

This war was humans against Demons.