"Shinichi-senpai! Are you alright?"
Seeing Shinichi break out of the tentacle holding him, Tanjiro's face was full of joy.
Without turning his head, Shinichi swiftly swung his Nichirin Sword to shatter the tentacles in front of him while shouting loudly.
"Tanjiro! Don't get distracted! That ugly demon is an Upper Rank! Stay fully alert and watch out for those hideous vase!"
"Upper Rank!?" Tanjiro's eyes widened, looking at Gyokko with shock.
It was actually an Upper Rank?
"WHO! ARE! YOU! Calling! UGLY! VASE!??"
Boom!!
Like Mount Fuji erupting, Gyokko's anger was completely ignited by Shinichi's comment about ugly vase.
Anyone could insult it, but absolutely not its vase! Those were art! ART!
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Arm after arm grew out of Gyokko's body, the number almost surpassing the Hand Demon from back then.
Bang! Bang bang! ...
One oddly-shaped porcelain vase after another appeared in Gyokko's hands.
Thoroughly enraged, even Gyokko's tone became grim, losing its previous slimy and disgusting tone.
Its voice, filled with fury, now had quite an oppressive might.
"Now, I'm really angry, brats. Go! Die! Blood Demon Art: Ten Thousand Seas Purgatory!"
BOOM!!
With Gyokko's roar, countless black shadows frantically gushed out from those oddly-shaped vase.
Shinichi and Tanjiro were both stunned for a moment.
By the moonlight, the two could roughly make out what was coming out of those pots.
Basketball-sized puffer fish, giant crabs with only two large pincers, octopuses with hands and feet, four-legged sharks and countless other deformed deep-sea monsters.
These deep-sea monsters, covering the sky and earth, came to kill Shinichi and Tanjiro.
Tanjiro's nostrils were filled with the salty, damp scent of the sea.
Although his sword-holding hand trembled slightly, he didn't take a step back.
But Shinichi's figure suddenly moved in front of Tanjiro, the red and green Nichirin sword in his hand emitting a faint glow in Tanjiro's eyes.
"Tanjiro, stay close to me, don't worry about your back, just charge forward. No matter what happens, remember, charge forward! Then swing your sword, understand?!"
Shinichi's words sounded very serious and strange, but Tanjiro naturally wouldn't have any doubts.
He nodded firmly, "Understood, Shinichi-senpai!"
"Good! Then let's go!" Shinichi turned his head, facing the countless deformed deep-sea monsters summoned by Gyokko.
Alright, Shinichi admitted that he had indeed underestimated Gyokko.
Although he always felt this ugly demon's strength wasn't much, undeniably, to become an Upper Rank, Gyokko wasn't relying on its disgusting appearance; it did have some tricks up its sleeve.
The countless deep-sea monsters before them, though not strong in aura, were still troublesome due to their overwhelming numbers.
Most crucially, Gyokko itself, after summoning countless deep-sea monsters, had its aura completely disappear, like a drop of seawater melting into the deep ocean, making it completely impossible to grasp its whereabouts.
Since that was the case, Shinichi decided not to hold back anymore.
An Upper Rank was indeed an opponent worthy of facing his true strength.
Gripping the hilt of his Nichirin Sword with both hands, Shinichi slowly closed his eyes, then whoosh!
He opened them again, a point of crimson light quickly lit up in Shinichi's right eye.
The blood vessels inside his body swelled and bulged, his heart beating rapidly, pumping out boiling hot blood continuously, flowing to all the blood vessels in his body.
The rapidly rising body temperature even made the Nichirin Sword in his hand become scorching hot.
Tanjiro also noticed the suddenly rising temperature beside him.
However, with his mind highly tense, he didn't notice anything unusual.
His eyes were fixed solely on the countless approaching deep-sea monsters, with nothing else in sight.
The rising temperature was subconsciously attributed by Tanjiro to his own nervousness.
Crack! Crack!
In front of Tanjiro, unseen by him, Shinichi's body was undergoing dramatic changes.
On his face, cracks appeared and one could vaguely see blood flowing like magma in the blood vessels beneath his skin.
Elongated fangs protruded from his lips and his black hair stood up slightly, seeming to be entwined with a faint crimson glow.
At the fingertips of his hands gripping the Nichirin Sword, black claws continued to extend.
In just a moment, Shinichi had completed his demon transformation state.
"Blood Demon Art: Raging Blood: Second Stage!!"
BOOM!!
The suddenly erupting aura sent debris and gravel flying from around Shinichi's feet.
Bang!
Taking a step forward, a roar erupted from his mouth with sharp fangs, as Shinichi charged head-on towards the countless deep-sea monsters.
Tanjiro didn't disappoint Shinichi either, gripping his black Nichirin Sword and following closely behind Shinichi without falling behind.
Crunch!
The moment Shinichi and Tanjiro's figures collided with the countless deep-sea monsters, there wasn't any particularly big commotion at first.
Those countless deformed bodies almost instantly engulfed the two, densely submerging them.
But immediately after.
Boom!!
A crimson sword light suddenly exploded from among the countless monster fragments and foul-smelling blood, bursting forth with an eye-catching radiance in the dim night.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Terrifying rumbling sounds continued to ring out, crimson and blue-green sword lights constantly flashing among the pile of monsters.
One grotesque and deformed monster after another was either sliced into pieces by the blue-green slashes of the Nichirin Sword, turning into strange black water, or ignited and scorched by the fire-glowing Nichirin Sword.
From time to time, slender water dragons also rose up, reaping the heads of monsters.
"Forest Breathing: Seventh Form: Wood Dragon Slash!"
"Forest Breathing: First Form: Iron Birch Slash!"
"Blood Demon Art: Forest Blaze Sword!"
"Forest Breathing: Tenth Form: All Creation!"
In a trance, the roaring illusory blue-green giant dragon and the rising forest illusions were massacring Gyokko's summoned monsters in swathes.
As Shinichi unleashed his power, Tanjiro was also striving to slay the demons, using Water Breathing more and more proficiently.
However, unlike Shinichi with his almost limitless stamina, Tanjiro was still human after all.
After intense consumption of energy, his sword-swinging motions began to slow down.
And Shinichi, in order to cover and protect Tanjiro, swung his sword faster and faster, gradually exposing some flaws.
Among the countless monsters, a slippery and dark figure was constantly lurking like a hidden venomous snake.
Suddenly!
At a certain moment, Tanjiro's Nichirin Sword struck the shell of a crab monster but was deflected.
To cover Tanjiro and help him dodge the crab monster's pincers, Shinichi had to abandon the monsters behind him, turning to slice the crab monster in half with one stroke.
But it was at this moment that Shinichi's back exposed a weakness.
"Kekeke! Now's the time!"
Whoosh!!
Like lightning, a blue figure quickly rushed out from the pile of monsters, a claw covered in dense scales and with fish fins aimed directly at Shinichi's heart.
As the claw touched the back of Shinichi's haori, a strange scene occurred.
The green fabric, upon contact with the claw, suddenly turned into numerous lively little fish, along with a large part of Shinichi's Demon Slayer Corps uniform.
"Blood Demon Art: God Hands: Wrath! Hehehe! Brat! Die!"
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