Chương 29: Against Upper Rank Three Akaza

"Before that, can you tell me how you, a human, reached a realm humans should never be able to reach?" Akaza did not rush to attack. Instead, he asked the question that filled his mind. As a demon, he understood that realm very well. A human body should not be able to reach it. Humans grew sick, suffered injuries, and gradually lost vitality with age. Their strength declined as they grew old. That was why humans should never be able to reach the Supreme Territory. Yet someone had suddenly appeared before him.

And he was so young, at the age when human life force burned brightest. It shattered Akaza's understanding.

"Humans are born weak. That is exactly why they possess growth potential that can astonish even gods. The moment you became a demon and obtained power, you lost humanity's infinite potential." Cael fully activated Transparent World and stared at Akaza. Aside from malice and pressure, the demon's body also erupted with fighting spirit. In martial arts, he possessed tremendous destructive power. A demon of battle.

"Among the Twelve Kizuki, you are the one I dislike least. You also have the bearing of a strong fighter. But that is all." Cael's gaze sharpened.

"Enough talking. Now that you have met me, your end is already written in the stars." When Akaza had still been human, he had kept growing stronger in order to protect his precious family and the woman he loved. That part of him deserved respect. But after becoming a demon and losing all his memories, only his obsession with becoming stronger remained. In order to grow stronger, he came to love fighting strong opponents while looking down on the weak, even despising them.

Still, twisted as he was, Akaza retained one warped line he would not cross: he refused to kill or eat women. Cael acknowledged that point. But as long as Akaza was still a man-eating demon, he remained humanity's enemy.

"Is that so? Then I cannot wait to experience the Supreme Territory reached by a human body." Akaza half narrowed his golden eyes and stepped down. A twelve-point snowflake formation appeared beneath his feet, and fighting spirit flowed visibly from his skin.

"Technique Development: Destructive Death: Compass Needle."

"Just as I thought. My Compass Needle cannot sense your fighting spirit at all." Akaza looked at the man before him with admiration. There was no visible aura around Cael, yet there was not the slightest opening anywhere on his body. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. His Blood Demon Art, Destructive Death: Compass Needle, could sense an opponent's fighting spirit like a compass. It made his attacks and evasions as precise as if they were pulled by a magnet.

The stronger the opponent's fighting spirit, the stronger the Compass Needle's response, and the greater its accuracy and power. But against an opponent who completely hid his fighting spirit, the effectiveness of his Blood Demon Art was greatly reduced. Whoosh. The sound of air splitting rang out. In an instant, Akaza appeared in front of Cael, as if the dozens of meters between them had never existed.

"Heh. Too slow." In Cael's eyes, with Transparent World open, everything had slowed by more than ten times. Akaza's muscles, heartbeat, blood flow, and bioelectrical signals were all visible to him. Every movement could be predicted instantly. A fist as hard as steel shot toward Cael's face. He tilted his head slightly, letting the fist wind brush past his hair, then swung his sword toward Akaza's neck. The opening was right there. Akaza's face tightened.

By reflex, he snapped his head upward and threw his body into a backflip. The blade tore across his throat, but he avoided the decapitating blow.

"That is not a demon-slaying blade. You are not a Demon Slayer?" After exchanging one move, Akaza flipped back several dozen meters and landed on the ground. Disbelief filled his golden eyes.

"An ordinary sword? You are not a Demon Slayer. An ordinary blade cannot kill me, even if your martial arts have reached the Supreme Territory."

"Oh? I do not think so." Cael grinned. His figure vanished from where he stood and appeared before Akaza an instant later, his right-hand sword cutting toward the demon's head. He did not have any refined foundation in swordsmanship. What he did have was a cutting technique forged by killing countless monsters. In that first exchange, he understood that he was inferior to Akaza in speed, strength, and technique. But his various Skills closed the gap.

This was his first true battle against a person, and the opponent was not so overwhelmingly beyond him that he could learn nothing. For Cael, Akaza was the perfect whetstone for sharpening his combat skills against human-shaped opponents. In a flash, Akaza's fist struck the white blade. After a clear metallic clang, his right fist, hard as iron, was cut off. His left fist immediately followed, but Cael's other sword met it, severing that wrist as well. What a sharp sword.

But no matter how sharp it was, if it was not a demon-slaying blade, it could not kill him. In the blink of an eye, both severed hands regenerated.

"Useless. Completely useless. Even if you see through my body and my weak points, a blade that cannot kill demons is meaningless. No matter how many limbs or pieces of flesh you cut off, they will regenerate instantly." Metallic clashes rang through the rising dust. Blue sword light and sparks flashed inside the cloud, and ordinary eyes could not follow the movements of the human and the demon at all.

"Oh? Then let me see how many hands and feet I can cut off." Cael's voice rang out from within the dust....

"Mr. Rengoku..." Before Tanjiro could finish, Rengoku interrupted him.

"I am fine, Kamado boy. You are badly injured too. If you move too violently, your wounds will open and become fatal. Besides, this is not the time to relax. The battle is still continuing. Do not come closer." After saying that, Rengoku adjusted his uneven breathing and straightened his back. Tremendous fighting spirit erupted from his body. Even while heavily injured, he still stood tall and unyielding.

"I do not know the strong fighter who came to help us, and he is not a swordsman of the Demon Slayer Corps. But we are involved in this. We absolutely cannot let him face a demon alone. I will fulfill my duty as a Hashira."

"But your body... You cannot fight anymore." Tanjiro looked at the blood dripping onto the ground from Rengoku and choked on his tears.

"As long as my fighting spirit remains, I can still grip my blade and slay demons as a Demon Slayer." Rengoku looked at the tearful Tanjiro.

"Kamado boy, can you lend your sword to that strong fighter?"

"Of course." Tanjiro hurriedly handed his Nichirin Sword to Rengoku. Only Nichirin Swords could kill demons. He had wanted to bring the blade over for a while. He looked toward the sword light and sparks flashing through the rising dust. He could not see anything clearly. He could only hear the piercing sound of metal striking metal. Helplessness pressed down on him. Right now, he could do nothing. He could not even perform the tiny task of delivering a sword.

"Mine too!" Inosuke, still wearing his boar-head mask, quickly handed over his own sword as well.