Chương 89: Thirty-One Exchanges

"Your technique is terrible. I am using only one hand. So far, I have only used about twenty percent of my strength. If you work harder, you might make me use thirty percent." Cael strolled leisurely while swinging his sword. Every strike displayed skill at the peak of swordsmanship, drawing out the weapon's power to its limit.

"I will not forgive you. I will not forgive you. Die! Blood Sickles!" Gyutaro's sickles released more than ten bloody crescent blades. The crescents were razor-thin and came from tricky angles, but in Cael's eyes they were full of openings. He casually flicked his sword and scattered the blood blades, severing Gyutaro's control over them. Sword Saint's Blessing could cut things that could not normally be cut.

Even if something was not part of the body directly, as long as it was part of a living being, it could be cut. If Cael had used Sword Saint's Blessing when he cut Daki apart, sibling demon or not, Daki would already have been destroyed. Gyutaro's yellow irises trembled. He stopped attacking and glanced at his two blood sickles. Their once-sharp edges were now full of chips. Strong. So strong. Completely different from the Hashira he had killed before. This man was so strong he hardly seemed human.

And once his blood blades were scattered, he lost contact with them.

"Ah... I am jealous. So jealous it makes me sick. You are young. I can tell by scent. You are this strong at such a young age. Your skin has no scars, your body is healthy, and you're good-looking."

"You are the kind of genius everyone praises from the moment you are born, aren't you?" Gyutaro scratched his cheek in jealousy, leaving bloody marks. Even as blood flowed down his face, he kept scratching. His breathing did not change. The hand holding the sword did not tremble at all. Someone this strong should give off an overwhelming aura, yet Gyutaro could not sense any. Was he too strong for Gyutaro to sense? Or was he using some special technique? Thirty percent? Gyutaro had used sixty percent.

In the past, thirty percent would have been enough to kill most Hashira.

"So jealous. So hateful. I want you dead right now!" Gyutaro scratched his face madly, blood running down his gaunt cheeks.

"Brother, what are you doing? You still have not killed them. Hurry and kill them!" Daki shouted at Gyutaro after chewing through the rag.

"I am trying to figure out how to kill them. I will save you soon. But they are not ordinary Hashira." You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Gyutaro ground his shark-like teeth.

"You bit through the cloth. So noisy. Look, your brother's head works better than yours. After testing us, he understands our strength, so he stopped attacking and started thinking." Cael lifted Daki's head and spoke teasingly, then looked toward Tengen.

"All right. I am done testing him. He is yours."

"Hah? I thought you were going to solve everything at once. What do you mean by tossing him to me?"

"You wanted to fight too, right? You handle him. I will keep this one under control." Cael lifted Daki's head slightly.

"Damn you. Damn all of you. You are completely looking down on us. You do not take us siblings seriously at all. I will collect every debt from you!" Gyutaro saw the two of them treating the fight like a game and exploded in rage. Terrifying pressure burst from him as he vanished and reappeared in front of Cael. Clang. A white semicircular arc flashed. Cael's sword struck Gyutaro's sickle and knocked it upward. Then Cael kicked him in the chest and sent him flying like a ball.

With a crash, Gyutaro smashed into the wooden wall of the house, tearing a large hole through it.

"!" Tengen sputtered in surprise, then vanished from where he stood.

"Now it is just us. Let me show you why that threat failed." Cael lifted Daki's head with a wicked smile.

"Do not look down on me, bastard! I will never forgive you. You had better let me go now, or I will make you regret it!" Daki screeched arrogantly. Damn it. Her body had been cut to pieces, and for some reason it could not regenerate. She could not use her Blood Demon Art either. And he was holding her by the hair. Bastard. Bastard. She would never forgive him.

"Make me regret it? How? Tell me. Maybe I will laugh." Cael tapped Daki's forehead with a finger. Her head jerked back, returned, and he tapped it again. The sight was honestly a little ridiculous and a little unsettling. Still, Shinobu's poison was truly powerful. Aside from the head still being able to talk, Daki's regeneration and Blood Demon Art were completely suppressed.

"Heh. You came here to investigate those missing courtesans, right? I hid all of them. With one order, my other body will eat every one of them. Demon Slayers are supposed to protect humans, right? If you do not want them eaten immediately, let me go." Daki laughed viciously.

"Oh? Is that so? Then eat one. I am curious."

"Fine! Do not regret this, bastard." Daki cursed, but a moment later, the characters in her eyes seemed to shrink. Her whole head trembled.

"Impossible!"

"That expression means Boar Boy did a good job. Hahaha." Seeing Daki's reaction, Cael laughed. He took another white porcelain bottle from his pocket, popped the wooden stopper with his thumb, and poured the medicine into Daki's mouth all at once.

"Aaaaaah! Bastard, what did you put in my mouth? I will never forgive you!"

"Relax. It is good stuff. It will stop you from regenerating or using Blood Demon Arts for at least three days. And not just you. Your brother got the same treatment." As soon as Cael finished speaking, something the size of a basketball landed heavily at his feet. It was Gyutaro's head. Daki's mouth fell open in disbelief.

"Ah, I thought I could subdue him perfectly in thirty exchanges. I did not expect it to take thirty-one. The Insect Hashira's new medicine is brutal. Fighting the Twelve Kizuki will be much easier from now on, almost trivial." Tengen walked over with his arms folded, looking relaxed.

"Brother! Why did you... Impossible! Why did you not kill that Hashira?"

"Damn it. That guy is nothing like the Hashira from before. He is absurdly strong!"

"So what? He is still a Hashira. You must have been careless!"

"I was not careless. These two are different from the Hashira before, and they have poison specifically for demons. Once that stuff touches you, you cannot regenerate or use Blood Demon Arts."

"If you were not careless, why were you poisoned? Why were you beaten?"

"You were careless and poisoned too, and now you are blaming me. You are an Upper Rank too, so at least stop being careless so easily, idiot!"

"You are the idiot."

"What did you say?"