Hard!
The skull of this man in front of him was abnormally hard.
So hard, in fact, that it surpassed the limits of a human body. The impact of Akaza's punch failed to shatter his opponent's head—instead, the entire blow was absorbed by it. As a result, the man's body was sent flying backward.
At that exact moment, a liquid with a strange odor was flung from the Insect Glaive in his hand, splattering directly onto Akaza's body.
Instinctively assuming it was some form of attack, Akaza punched the strange liquid, shattering it—only for its pungent scent to envelop him.
"What is this?!"
As he was about to chase after the airborne Kairo Retsu, Akaza suddenly saw an abnormally large and bizarre insect flying straight toward his face—and launching an attack.
"!"
Akaza reacted on reflex and attempted to strike the insect. But just as his fist neared it, the bug suddenly beat its wings at high speed, dodging like a blur—and tore a chunk of flesh from his cheek.
Its speed was so incredible that even Akaza, despite his heightened perception, couldn't fully react.
Although the bite didn't cause serious injury, the sheer inability to stop it in time startled even Akaza.
The moment that Kinsect landed a hit, it scattered an orange, glowing powder into the air—and the very next instant…
The Insect Glaive came crashing down!
Akaza dodged on instinct, but when the glaive's attack struck the airborne powder—
A violent explosion erupted.
The shockwave from the blast inflicted some damage, and though it was healing quickly, it left Akaza momentarily confused.
What in the world was that bug?
It didn't have a demon's aura—yet it could dodge his punches and release powder capable of explosions…
As Akaza contemplated this, Kairo Retsu, still panting and gripping his glaive, spat onto the ground and yelled at him:
"Can't wrap your head around it, huh?! That's a Kinsect, kid!"
"You and Joseph Joestar both have those weird regeneration abilities," Akaza glared at Kairo. "So what if that bug can create explosive powder? You think that is enough to threaten me?"
"Of course!" Snap—Kairo snapped his fingers. "...Nah, not really."
"I still suck at direct combat." Kairo grinned cheerfully. "So I've got no choice but to resort to some good old underhanded trickery!!"
Just as Kairo said that, Akaza suddenly heard a crack—the ceiling above them began to fracture, weakened by the earlier explosion.
Then—
A torrent of blood came pouring down from above.
The red flood nearly drowned Akaza's entire field of vision.
He instinctively tried to disperse it with a gust from his punches, but the moment the blood neared his body, he realized…
It was all infused with a massive dose of wisteria poison!
The deluge of blood instantly soaked both him and Kairo. Akaza couldn't even fathom—how could such an enormous amount of wisteria poison exist in the Infinity Castle?
Was it brought in by Nakime? Impossible. She couldn't smuggle wisteria poison in here.
Could it have been the Demon Slayer Corps? But they were transported here unexpectedly—and the sheer quantity didn't add up. How could that much wisteria poison be stockpiled above his head and used so extravagantly?!
And why blood? When did they set this up—?
"An ultra-lethal dose of wisteria poison! A joint creation of Miss Shinobu Kocho and Lady Tamayo! Pardon the rough welcome!!!"
Kairo Retsu stood amid the raining toxic blood, his expression wild and boastful.
"So?! Akaza!! Can you feel the fighting spirit in this poison?! Every drop of this blood—carries Miss Kocho's hatred for demons!!"
"You…!"
Akaza now felt the poison beginning to take hold of his body—his strength had already started to decline.
Poison again. Always poison!
Enraged, he failed to realize he had subconsciously thought the word "again."
"I'LL KILL YOU!!!!"
A string in Akaza's mind snapped.
Though his entire body was soaked in wisteria-laced blood, he still roared in fury and charged at Kairo.
"As a demon who eats humans, you don't get to talk about anger!" Kairo shouted back, rushing forward to meet Akaza head-on. At the same time, a brown glow representing enhanced defense flickered faintly around him—evidence that his potion had taken effect.
Kairo had consumed an armor-enhancing potion before the battle, and coupled with the Insect Glaive's innate defensive traits, he now had enough resilience to withstand Akaza's blows.
Amid the poisonous blood, Kairo's goal in rushing in was to inflict as many wounds as possible—so that more poison could enter Akaza's body.
Everything he had done—the provocations, the taunts—had been to prevent Akaza's hallucination-weakened brain from thinking clearly.
Like: what were the others doing right now?
"Kairo Retsu has started fighting that Akaza guy."
Kazuma said, holding a pair of binoculars.
"Wouldn't it have made more sense to let Joseph Joestar fight him?"
"I'm a bit worn out from battle too," Joseph replied, resting as he regulated his breathing.
"Even though my injuries heal quickly and my stamina recovers fast, fighting that guy really takes a mental toll."
He tugged at his hair with frustration.
"That's why I hate fighting these serious types! They're so hard to exploit!"
"If we need more poison blood, I can continue."
Though her face had grown pale from prolonged bloodletting, Shinobu Kocho still stood firm.
To kill demons, she would never hesitate to sacrifice her own body—otherwise, she wouldn't have considered the plan to turn her body into poison to kill Doma.
"We'll stick to the plan, Miss Shinobu."
Tanjiro, supporting the weakening Kocho, spoke calmly:
"Let's trust in the Hunter's Grand Guildmaster. He… really is serious about every plan he puts forward."