When Asuna learned that Kirito and Sachi had officially become a couple, she sincerely offered them her blessings.
Meanwhile, Akimi teased Kirito while also presenting two small gifts prepared by him and Asuna.
Only Argo's expression seemed a little off—she hastily left her blessings and gift, then departed, claiming she had something important to attend to.
As for the members of the Moonlit Black Cats… they had only just found out that Kirito wasn't actually dead, but had faked his death to teach Ducker's trio a lesson.
They had no idea that the only delicate flower of their guild had already been plucked by Kirito.
In the end, it was Keita who noticed that Kirito and Sachi both wore matching rings on their middle fingers, finally realizing that they were now a couple.
————————
After another half month of training, Akimi finally managed to master Total Concentration Breathing: Constant.
Though it sounds light when put into words, the suffering he endured over that month was anything but light—while SAO's mechanics prevented players from feeling real pain, the mental exhaustion was simulated by the sensory adjustment system, making it feel very real to the player's body.
But all of his hardship had been worth it.
In just one month, his Water Breathing proficiency had increased by more than fifty points—an absurd rate compared to before.
Akimi's progress was already impressive, but compared to Asuna… well, let's just say that's another story.
With half a month of attempts and Urokodaki Sakonji's guidance, Asuna's Water Breathing proficiency had reached 150.
She had also integrated Water Breathing with system sword skills, creating her own modified sword forms.
These were:
First Form: Modified – Flowing Wave Thrust
Second Form: Modified – Swirling Current Turn
Fourth Form: Modified – Tidal Fold Leap
Sixth Form: Modified – Reverse Whirl
Eighth Form: Modified – Cascading Waterfall Drop
As for the Third, Fifth, Seventh, and Ninth Forms, they already suited Asuna well enough, so she left them unchanged; the Tenth Form didn't inspire any modification ideas, so she kept it as is.
She could still use Constant Flux normally—just not as effectively as Akimi.
Of course, Asuna could still use the original Water Breathing forms as well, meaning she had mastered a total of fifteen sword forms.
Such results left Akimi shocked for quite some time—even with in-game system assistance, this speed of progress was incredible.
For reference, even someone who already knew Water Breathing in real life and had the necessary quest items in-game hadn't improved this fast.
Urokodaki was naturally very pleased with their progress, even showing a faint smile.
Although that smile disappeared quickly, Akimi still keenly caught the moment.
Curious, he looked at Urokodaki, rubbed his chin, and said:
"Eh—so Master Urokodaki can smile… Your face already looks so gentle, and your smile is really nice. Why don't you smile more often?"
"Hmph."
Urokodaki only gave a short grunt in reply, then turned his head and said, "Since your training is now complete, it's time for you to go and slay that demon, isn't it?"
"Mm, naturally."
"…Very well. Then I shall tell you some information about that Lower Moon demon now—"
With that, Urokodaki took out a scroll from his robes, stained with blood and tied with a strip of white cloth.
From the relatively clean areas, it was clear that the scroll's surface had originally been blue.
However, because of the large patches of bloodstains covering it, the blue had long since turned into a muddy brown, and the white cloth strip binding it had not been spared either—its original color drowned in blood.
Urokodaki gave the scroll a complicated look before handing it over to Akimi.
Akimi accepted it, gently untying the cloth strip, and began reading the scroll together with Asuna.
It contained detailed information about the demon:
Lower Rank Three — Wakuraba.
Its Blood Demon Art was extremely versatile, and its regeneration ability surpassed any Lower Rank demon they had ever killed before—possibly reaching Upper Rank level.
It could release countless large leech-like creatures that drained their blood to restore its own vitality.
Any area bitten by these leeches would continue bleeding without stopping; Water Breathing could not stop the bleeding, and the blood that left their bodies would be manipulated by the demon.
The demon could also share vision with its leeches, making it hard to ambush.
Its body was coated in a transparent slime that caused Nichirin blades to slip upon contact, making it extremely difficult to sever its neck directly—though Water Breathing could apparently dilute the slime.
A companion using Stone Breathing had once tried striking it with a blunt weapon, but after only a brief deformation, the demon fully recovered without any injury.
For future subjugations, Flame Breathing, Thunder Breathing, or Wind Breathing swordsmen were strongly recommended.
The handwriting on the scroll was messy and rushed; many sentences had disordered word structures and unclear meanings.
It was clear that the writer had deliberately used the shortest words possible—as if the time they had to write was desperately short.
"This scroll is…"
After reading, Akimi and Asuna realized something.
They looked at Urokodaki and spoke in a low voice.
"…Yes," Urokodaki lowered his gaze, sighed deeply, and said,
"It's just as you think—this scroll was left by the last team that attempted to slay Lower Rank Three.
"At the time, for various reasons, there were very few swordsmen of Wind, Thunder, and Flame Breathing left, and all of them were occupied with other demon hunts elsewhere. So the subjugation team only had Water and Stone Breathing swordsmen. This scroll was written by a close friend of mine—he was part of that team…
"Although I later used every means I had to trap the demon in this forest, I no longer had the strength to kill it."
The old man paused.
"In that battle, the entire squad was wiped out, and the demon escaped. At the time, those swordsmen represented most of the Demon Slayer Corps. After their deaths, our numbers dwindled rapidly… Now, perhaps only you remain."
As he spoke, Urokodaki's fists slowly clenched, then he let out a bitter smile and loosened them again.
Lifting his head to look at Akimi and Asuna, he said:
"You're probably wondering why, aren't you?"
The two remained silent but nodded.
"…Because… forty years ago, in that battle, the Oyakata-sama—our master—died.
He tried to perish together with the Demon King, but the king's regeneration was too strong—he only suffered a minor wound.
Worse, he used our master's scent to find the young successor…
"Without our master's leadership, the fall of the Demon Slayer Corps was inevitable. Honestly, I never thought we would last this long… But it seems the struggle between humans and demons is finally nearing its end."
He smiled faintly at Akimi and Asuna, then turned his gaze toward the labyrinth tower in the distance, murmuring softly:
"Even if my body is reduced to dust, I will see the demon slain."
------------------
At six in the evening, after making all their preparations, Akimi and Asuna entered the Maze Forest, officially beginning the thirty-fifth floor's demon-slaying mission.
Unlike before, this time the demon hunt posed far more challenges—one of the biggest being stamina.
Because of the Maze Forest's unique nature, they had to maintain high-speed movement all the way until they reached the demon's location.
Even after arriving, they would have little to no rest, since that area was filled with countless leeches the demon used for surveillance.
The moment they entered that zone, the demon would immediately know.
Stamina is a special attribute in addition to Strength and Agility.
It can't be increased with points, and its maximum value is determined by both Strength and Agility—the higher those two stats, the higher the stamina.
Whether moving, using sword techniques, or performing other actions, stamina is consumed.
When it runs out, movements become extremely slow.
Those leeches were also somewhat aggressive.
While not as dangerous as the ones created during battle by the demon, it was still unpleasant to get bitten every now and then.
Fortunately, the leeches could be detected with search skills, and their HP was very low—just one normal attack was enough to kill them, like so—
Swish!
The rapier's blade sliced precisely through a leech midair, cutting it in half.
Asuna gave a slightly disgusted look at the creature as it writhed on the ground for a moment before shattering into light particles.
She flicked her rapier twice before sheathing it.
"Creatures like leeches—covered in slime, all soft and squishy—are the worst," Asuna said as she struck again.
Akimi only shrugged at her remark, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
Animals like that certainly weren't easy to like—surely no one would love leeches or earthworms the way they loved cats or dogs, right?
Fortunately, each section of the forest wasn't too big.
Within five or six minutes, they found the location of Lower Rank Three.
Around them was the signature wisteria barrier—a full wall of flowering vines forming a circular enclosure about forty to fifty meters in diameter.
In front of them stood a wooden lever mechanism, used to open the floral wall.
By now, demons of the Twelve Kizuki level weren't really afraid of ordinary wisteria anymore.
To them, wisteria might be as harmless as a mild inconvenience.
In other words, Wakuraba could easily get out with a bit of effort.
However, Urokodaki checked the wisteria wall every day, repairing any damage immediately.
After trying for a while without success, Wakuraba had simply given up.
Gazing at the wall of wisteria, Akimi took a deep breath, then turned to Asuna. "Ready?"
Asuna drew her rapier and gave a light nod.
Akimi tightened his grip on his Nichirin Blade with his right hand and pulled down the wooden lever with his left.
With the sound of leaves brushing together, a two-person-wide opening appeared in the wisteria wall.
At the same moment, countless leeches shot toward them, thick slime splattering onto the ground and making the soil take on an odd texture.
"Water Breathing, Fourth Form: Striking Tide!"
"Water Breathing, Sixth Form—Modified: Reverse Whirl!"
As the rapier and Nichirin Blade swung in a crisscross of strikes, not a single leech broke through their defense—every one was sliced to pieces.
The leech attack lasted for a full thirty seconds, and by the time Akimi and Asuna had finished clearing them out, a figure had silently appeared not far from them.
"Well well~ after all these years, finally someone other than that old geezer Urokodaki Sakonji has come here…"
A lazy, drawling, and deeply unpleasant voice gurgled from the throat of that "person."
Bathed in moonlight, its appearance was revealed in full before Akimi and Asuna—long, tangled black hair hung messily from its head, damp and dripping with strands of viscous fluid that occasionally stretched into sticky threads before falling.
Beneath the curtain of hair, a pair of dark green eyes flickered faintly.
If one looked closely, one could see two characters etched into the iris of its left eye: "Lower Three."
It had no nose. Its mouth, packed with sharp teeth, seemed incapable of fully closing, thick, slimy drool spilling from the corners.
Deep in its throat, at the root of its tongue, were three larger, dark-red, hook-shaped fangs—like the jaws of a leech.
Its body twisted and squirmed with an unnatural rhythm, as if it had no bones at all.
Each time it wriggled, its skin became moist, then quickly dried, only to grow damp again.
Its naked upper body displayed a grotesque contrast—a bloated belly sagging beneath its midsection, but above that, a chest shriveled to a frightening degree.
The skin there resembled a leech's, marked all over with ringed segment patterns.
Seeing Akimi and Asuna ready for battle, the demon—Wakuraba—opened its mouth wider, emitting a strange laugh before speaking mockingly:
"Well now~ I know that look all too well—ten years ago, that lot looked just as scared when they saw me. Their sword hands shook so hard, it was as if they'd drop their blades any moment…"
Its tone suddenly dropped into a cold, sinister register:
"But… they're all dead now~ All became my food… all ended up inside my stomach. And now… it's your turn!"
The moment the words left its mouth, Wakuraba lunged at them.
Just before reaching Akimi, it slowed, staring wide-eyed at him, anticipation gleaming in its gaze—eager to see fear and panic twist his expression.
Unfortunately for it, that wish never came true—Akimi simply regarded it with a cold, flat look, lifting his Nichirin blade and speaking calmly as he swung:
"First, let me correct you—you're not scary. Aside from your laughable face, you're completely random-looking. I imagine those swordsmen's trembling hands back then were just them holding in their laughter. Second… rather than becoming your food, I'd much prefer to turn you into my experience points."
With the sound of surging water, the brilliant blue Nichirin blade slashed toward the demon's seemingly fragile neck.
But Wakuraba was no low-level minion—it raised an arm to block.
Against an ordinary demon, its arm might have been severed outright, but just as the scroll had recorded, when Akimi's Nichirin blade struck its arm bone, there was first a crisp clink before the edge slid off, merely shaving away a layer of flesh.
A smug grin spread across Wakuraba's face as it opened its other hand and thrust it toward Akimi.
In the center of the palm, a mouth suddenly formed, revealing three hooked fangs.
Shhhk!
Just then, a rapier shot in from Akimi's side, piercing through the palm.
Asuna twisted the blade, slicing off half the demon's hand before darting back, calling out "Switch!" as she retreated.
In the brief moment of Wakuraba's surprise, Akimi struck—first using Surface Slash to carve a massive wound into its body, then flipping back and kicking its grotesque face, sending it flying five or six meters.
"Thought you'd be impressive," Akimi said, gripping his sword and staring Wakuraba down.
"Turns out you're just a slimy mudfish that's been in seawater too long."
Noticing Wakuraba's expression — a mix of anger and confusion — Akimi raised an eyebrow in disdain and said:
"Tch—looks like your intelligence isn't high enough to understand what I'm saying… What, when you turned into a demon, you didn't bother to expand that tiny brain capacity of yours? Or did you try, but it's still the same as that of an idiot?"
Akimi's words, dripping with contempt, instantly enraged Wakuraba, making its already greenish face look even greener.
"You bastard—" Wakuraba roared with venom in its voice.
"I'll tear you to pieces and eat you bit by bit!"
"…As expected, with your IQ, you can't even come up with a halfway decent insult."
At those words, Wakuraba felt a sudden chill run through its body, trembling uncontrollably—rage mixed with humiliation.
Low demon IQ—who said you could insult it? When will demons finally get some respect?
"Blood Demon Art: Myriad Leech Domain!"
As the words fell, thin wisps of red mist drifted from its body, sinking down into the soil.
Seeing its actions, both Akimi and Asuna silently heightened their vigilance, ready to dodge at any moment.
Gulu gulu…
From beneath the ground came the sound of soft, slimy bodies writhing and pushing through the soil, while countless uneven mounds swelled across the surface.
Every sign indicated there was something moving underground.
Sure enough, the next moment, countless enormous leeches burst from those mounds, gaping their jaws as they lunged at Akemi and Asuna.
They were clearly modeled after small leeches — creatures that lived in damp places and fed on blood — but now they had grown into massive beasts capable of tunneling through soil.
The sense of wrongness and unreality was deeply unsettling.
"Water Breathing, Ninth Form: Splashing Water Flow!"
"Water Breathing, Fourth Form — Modified: Tidal Fold Leap!"
Among the columns of giant leeches erupting from the ground, Akimi and Asuna moved with constant agility, dodging attacks while slashing open wound after wound on the creatures' bodies.
But the damage seemed meaningless — as soon as the leeches withdrew back into the ground, their HP would instantly recover, and they'd burst out again.
Meanwhile, Wakuraba kept up a steady stream of harassment attacks, preventing the two from properly analyzing the leeches' attack patterns.
After two full minutes of this stalemate, Akimi finally noticed a pattern — when he coated his legs with the effects of Water Breathing, the leeches directly beneath his feet seemed unwilling to attack.
After thinking it over briefly, Akimi quickly understood the reason.
Narrowing his eyes, he said in a low voice,
"Looks like these leeches, even though their size has changed, still sense the outside world the same way they do in reality."
It was well known that leeches primarily used two sensory methods: one was direct observation through the 2–10 eye spots located on the dorsal side of their heads; the other was through clusters of sensory cells spread all over their bodies.
However, because the eye spots were so simple in structure, their effectiveness was poor.
In other words, a leech's main method of sensing was through its sensory cell clusters.
These clusters were more advanced, capable of detecting a variety of things in real time—temperature, acidity or alkalinity, chemical signals, smells, changes in external pressure, and so on.
Leeches relied on these cells to locate their prey.
That said, the leeches summoned by Wakuraba seemed slightly different from real ones—their sensing ability appeared weaker.
When Akimi's legs were covered with the effect of Water Breathing, they could no longer detect his position and thus would not launch an attack.
After a brief test, Akimi confirmed his conclusion.
Leaning in close to Asuna, he whispered,
"Asuna, cover your legs with the breathing technique. As long as you don't step on the raised spots, these leeches won't attack us."
"Got it."
Thanks to the Water Breathing's effect and their precise movements, the leeches beneath them were indeed unable to pinpoint their location and attack.
As a result, Wakuraba's move was rendered useless.
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