173. Chapter 173: The Equally Crazy Hashira! Let's See Who Kills Faster! (Two-in-One)
"You... you guys, you actually plan to gang up on me!" At this moment, Gyokko's mind raced.
Fighting was absolutely out of the question. Although he was an Upper Rank Demon and had killed several Hashira before, this was the first time he had been surrounded by so many Hashira.
"Blood Demon Art: Thousand Needle Fish Kill!"
Summoned by Gyokko, the goldfish nearby rushed towards the Hashira. They spat out sharp needles containing neurotoxin from their mouths, attempting to buy time for Gyokko to escape.
"If I let you escape today, I'll write my name, Sanemi Shinazugawa, backward!"
Sanemi Shinazugawa, in a fit of anger, immediately used Wind Breathing, Eighth Form: First Violent Wind Slash. His figure transformed into a swirling gale. In an instant, countless wind blades shot out in all directions. Sanemi's speed was extremely fast. Every time his figure shifted, a goldfish, along with its waterweed pot, was sliced apart by the wind blades.
Meanwhile, the other Hashira did not stand by idly.
They drew the Nichirin Blades from their waists or backs and sprinted, blocking all of Gyokko's escape routes.
"How dare you shatter my pots! Those were works of art I painstakingly created! You guys, whose brains are filled with nothing but muscle, can't possibly understand the essence of my work. In that case, you shall all be buried with my pots!" Seeing that escape was far from easy, Gyokko decided to kill one of them before leaving! "Blood Demon Art: Octopus Pot Hell! Blood Demon Art: Ten Thousand Gliding Sticky Fish!" Gyokko instantly shrank and drilled into a pot, then spewed out eleven pots from the opening. Ten of them had sticky fish patterns, and one had an octopus pattern.
From the pots with sticky fish patterns, ten thousand gliding sticky fish with sharp teeth surged out. They shot towards the Hashira like arrows.
If there were only one Hashira, it would likely be difficult to deal with so many sticky fish. Once stuck by one of the sticky fish, getting rid of it would be incredibly hard. The sticky fish would bite through the enemy's skin and burrow into their body, gnawing on flesh and blood until the enemy was completely devoured before stopping.
"Your abilities are really troublesome." Xia Shang's expression was calm as he crushed the sticky fish flying towards him. Then, his figure rapidly disappeared from the spot. When he reappeared, he was holding his long saber above Gyokko. Just as he was about to strike down, several extremely thick suction cup tentacles suddenly shot out from the octopus-patterned pot beside Gyokko.
They knocked Xia Shang away and tightly wrapped around him.
"Mr. Xia Shang!" Mitsuri Kanroji, standing nearby, shouted with a nervous expression.
Due to a momentary oversight, a sticky fish with sharp teeth wide open broke through Sanemi's gale and was about to pierce through Mitsuri Kanroji's chest. At this critical moment, thankfully, Kyojuro Rengoku reached out and pulled Mitsuri Kanroji, then swung his blade to cut down the attacking sticky fish.
Before Mitsuri Kanroji could thank Kyojuro, she saw several streaks of blade light overflowing from the surface of the giant octopus tentacles. Immediately after, Xia Shang's voice came from within: "These octopus tentacles would taste great grilled, assuming they're not poisonous."
As soon as his voice fell, the giant octopus fell heavily to the ground like disassembled building blocks.
An extremely sharp blade light sliced across Gyokko's surface.
However, it hit the sticky fish pot instead.
It turned out that at this crucial moment, Gyokko had swapped positions with the sticky fish pot.
Immediately after, a pair of hideous hands with fins extended from the pot's opening and tore the pot body apart. "Quite sharp, aren't they? I wonder if they can cut off my head."
Gyokko's final form looked grotesque, with a particularly robust body covered in scales.
*Clang!* Obanai Iguro, the Snake Hashira, who had launched a sneak attack from behind, was astonished to find that his full-power attack had failed to cut through the opponent's scales. Gyokko turned his head to look at Obanai and sneered, "My scales are harder than diamond. You think you can hurt me with such weak attacks? How ignorant."
With that, he raised his hand to grab Obanai. However, Obanai slid backward like a snake, avoiding the attack.
"This is troublesome now..." A hint of solemnity appeared in Obanai's heterochromatic eyes.
"Is that so? I don't believe it!"
Xia Shang also sneered.
*Bang!* After leaving a deep pit in the ground, his left hand transformed into a blade and smashed directly towards Gyokko's neck. Accompanied by a cracking sound, the fish scales, as hard as diamond, were instantly shattered by Xia Shang. Before Gyokko could react, a glowing red blade directly pierced through its neck.
As Xia Shang gripped the hilt and twisted hard, Gyokko's head, along with its windpipe, was sliced off and sent flying.
"How is this possible? How could you lowly creatures hurt me!"
Gyokko's head, rolling on the ground, still refused to believe the fact that it had been decapitated.
Xia Shang looked at the shocked gazes around him, put away his long saber, and said unhurriedly, "Let's go. The Twelve Kizuki can sense the death of their companions. We need to kill a few more before they react."
As he passed by Gyokko's head, seeing it still constantly yelling, a hint of impatience appeared between Xia Shang's brows. He raised his right foot and stomped down abruptly. "So much nonsense. You should report to Hell."
With a *bang*, Gyokko's head exploded like a watermelon and turned into ash.
"You..." Kyojuro Rengoku, seeing this, was left speechless.
......
On the other side, in the Asakusa district of Tokyo Prefecture.
Under the moonlight, a thin figure holding double sickles was wantonly slicing through the bodies of pedestrians.
The once brightly lit and prosperous Street was now a river of blood, truly a scene from Hell. After cutting off the head of a gunman, Gyutaro looked at the scene before him with satisfaction and sighed, "Working this hard, I'm sure to gain the appreciation of that person."
"Quick! It's over here."
A shout rang out from afar. Soon, a group of well-trained gunmen nervously aimed their gun muzzles at Gyutaro, who was standing in the middle of the Street. They were gunmen sent by the Shogunate, responsible for clearing out the foul demons that had suddenly appeared.
They usually shattered the demon's body with guns, then used a net made of special material to restrain them. When the sunlight rose, the foul demons in the net would be exposed to the sun and die.
The method devised by the Shogunate was quite effective, as ordinary demons could not resist the bullets shot from gun muzzles. Even some powerful demons could not withstand the attack of multiple guns. Therefore, the gunmen at this time were not overly afraid.
"Ready! Fire!" The leading gunman, seeing Gyutaro motionless, immediately ordered his subordinates to open fire! *Bang! Bang!! Bang!!* Iron shots propelled by gunpowder covered Gyutaro in scattered trajectories.
Gyutaro did not dodge, but was curious about the power of the things shot from a metal tube? However, he quickly experienced the power of the gun. *Pfft! Hiss!!* Several iron shots instantly pierced through his right eye and chest, and as they passed through his body, they carried out large amounts of mangled flesh and blood.
"Well done!" The leading gunman excitedly waved his arm.
But Gyutaro lowered his head to look at his wounds. "Truly astonishing. humans can actually develop something like this. It's so clever it's enviable. If they are allowed to continue developing like this, perhaps one day, they won't need Nichirin Blades to kill us."
A frustrated Gyutaro tore at his face, letting out an angry roar: "Why! Why are you more perfect than me! I'm not reconciled! I'm going to kill you all completely."
His injuries healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.
He swung the sickle in his hand, which resembled a bone and was covered in fresh blood. "Blood Demon Art: Flying Blood Scythe!"
"Quick, get out of the way! This is a demon that uses special techniques!"
But how could their reaction speed compare to the high-speed slashes Gyutaro unleashed, which were like a Kamaitachi? *Hiss! Hiss!!* The crescent moon-like slashes instantly cut the fleeing gunmen in half. Some people's lower halves were still running, while their upper halves had separated from their bodies. In an instant, viscous fresh blood pooled into a pool of blood. And their scattered corpses lay in the pool of blood.
On the other side, his sister Daki was also engaged in a frenzied slaughter.
Daki was beautiful, with a long, snow-white ponytail. Her left and right eyes were respectively inscribed with the characters for [Upper Rank] and [Six], and she had pink tattoos on her left face and the right side of her forehead. Some sashes were wrapped around her waist and arms. These red and green sashes were stained with scattered bloodstains. Her killing speed was even faster than Gyutaro's. In her opinion, as a demon who was both beautiful and powerful, she could naturally do whatever she wanted.
Furthermore, she particularly detested ugly people. In her eyes, ugly people had no right to live.
Of course, her brother Gyutaro was an exception.
"Wait, Gyokko is dead." Gyutaro, who had just sliced open a House with a single attack, suddenly stopped his movements.
"Gyokko?"
"That's Upper Rank Five. It's still night, and the only ones who could kill him are the Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps. No, there's also that man who killed Hantengu. It's clear from that person's reaction that guy is probably quite troublesome. To be safe, let's go back. Back to the Infinity Castle."
Gyutaro thought it was better to be cautious.
But Daki was unhappy.
"Isn't it a good thing that Upper Rank Five was killed? That way, brother, you'll be the new Upper Rank Five! Besides, I just came out not long ago and don't want to go back so soon."
Gyutaro had always doted on his sister Daki, so he nodded: "Since that's the case, we'll stay for another ten minutes. After ten minutes, we must go back no matter what."
Soon, less than five minutes passed.
On the wilderness near Asakusa, Kyojuro Rengoku and his group encountered a fleeing crowd. Everyone in the crowd had a panicked expression, their eyes filled with fear. When Kyojuro asked them what had happened, no one would talk to him, only caring about escaping for their lives.
Finally, an old woman leading her granddaughter, who truly didn't want to see them continue forward, walked up to Kyojuro Rengoku and said that two foul demons had appeared in the Asakusa district that even the Shogunate couldn't handle, urging Kyojuro and the others not to go any further and to escape with them.
"According to this elderly person's description, the opponents are likely Upper Ranks. Everyone be careful, Mitsuri Kanroji."
"Here." Mitsuri Kanroji immediately looked at Kyojuro.
"You are responsible for protecting their safety and preventing them from being attacked by demons on the way. After we split up, remember to contact us using your Kasugai Crow."
"I'm not comfortable with Mitsuri Kanroji completing such a difficult mission alone. I'll go with her. Besides, with Mr. Xia Shang here, it doesn't matter whether I'm there or not."
Rather than worrying about the other Hashira encountering accidents, Obanai Iguro was more concerned about Mitsuri Kanroji.
He had figured it out anyway; Xia Shang's purpose in having them accompany him was to prevent demons from escaping. In that case, having Kyojuro, Sanemi, Giyu Tomioka, and Tengen was enough.
"Caw! Caw!! This great me saw an Upper Rank up ahead! It's a Woman, with the characters for Upper Rank Six carved in her eyes." Although Murata didn't follow, Hutaro volunteered, stating that he also wanted to join. If you didn't know, people would definitely think it was Xia Shang's Kasugai Crow, not Murata's.
"Caw, but sir, I think I also saw the figure of another foul demon."
"Lead the way."
"Okay, sir, I'll lead the way for you now." Hutaro called out flatteringly twice.
In less than fifteen minutes.
Hutaro led Xia Shang and his group through twists and turns, finally finding Daki Inside the House, just about to kill someone.
Seeing Daki wrap the sash in her hand around a Woman's neck, watching with an appreciative gaze as she slowly suffocated and lost consciousness.
"Wicked woman, die." Sanemi Shinazugawa was the first to attack.
"Who are you calling?" Daki's anger was ignited by Sanemi's words "Wicked woman." But as soon as she turned her head, her head was severed by Sanemi's extremely fast blade.
"What a flamboyant sword."
Tengen Uzui exclaimed.
The others also didn't expect an Upper Rank to be decapitated with absolutely no defense, finding it a bit too easy.
Even Sanemi, who had swung the blade, was somewhat surprised.
Is it this simple?
An Upper Rank's strength is definitely not this weak.
As expected, Daki, whose head had been severed, did not die. Instead, she looked at the Hashira walking Inside the House and showed an angry expression.
"Sneak attack! You despicable guys."
"As an Upper Rank demon, you're truly pitifully weak. Are you this weak because you haven't worked hard at eating humans?"
Giyu Tomioka was as blunt as ever.
"Don't talk big! I haven't lost yet! I'm an Upper Rank!"
"That's completely unconvincing..." Tengen Uzui said lightly.
"You bastards, my brother will kill you for me! Waaah, brother, someone's bullying Daki!" Daki wailed loudly.
At this moment, the Hashira also noticed something unusual.
"Her head was cut off, but she's still not dead. That's strange. Also, why does an Upper Rank demon have a brother?" Tengen Uzui was somewhat puzzled.
However, his confusion was quickly shattered by the flying slashes.
Kyojuro Rengoku instinctively blocked in front of the Woman, preventing her from being subjected to secondary injury.
"This aura... *this* is what an Upper Rank demon should feel like." Tengen Uzui drew the double swords from behind his back.
His double swords were connected by chains. The blade body was black, with golden-yellow blade patterns on the sides, and inscribed with the four large characters "Destroyer of Foul Demons".
(end of chapter)