Chapter 46: One Man vs. Three Demons
At this moment, nearly every Demon on Fujikasane Mountain had gathered in the clearing near its summit. The atmosphere was thick with blood and frost, and the night wind carried the sound of snarls, footsteps, and clashing steel.
At the center stood Yukishiro, holding down the monstrous Three-Headed Demon. With him anchoring the battlefield, the other contestants finally cast aside despair and fear.
Freed from their paralysis, they rallied together, blades flashing, and began to turn the tide from hopeless retreat into a desperate, but determined, struggle for survival.
Mitsuri, however, still faltered. Even though she knew these creatures were no longer human, her hands trembled when the moment came to sever a neck. The trembling of her blade betrayed her hesitation. Each time she tried to harden her heart, the image of humans who had once laughed and lived returned to her mind.
Meanwhile, two figures that had been watching from the hillside finally moved—the Spider Demon and the Bouncing Demon.
Mitsuri's chest tightened. She and her two companions remembered Yukishiro's instructions: if those two Demons went for him, they were not to interfere. Their job was to prevent them from attacking the others.
But could the three of them really hold back two higher Demons? And if they went for Yukishiro, that meant he would be facing not one but three powerful Demons at once.
Could he even survive such a clash?
Their doubts clawed at them. Yet none dared act against his words. Yukishiro had declared it, and they had chosen to trust him.
The two Demons, remembering the humiliation of being wounded by Yukishiro's Yukishiro breathing before, gave no glance at the other contestants. Their eyes burned with hunger and vengeance as they charged directly toward him.
"Yukishiro! Be careful!" Mitsuri shouted, her voice breaking the din of battle.
Yukishiro, locked in combat with the Three-Headed Demon, felt the sudden shifts in temperature and airflow within the circle of his "Cold Wave" domain. He smirked. They're predictable. Their instincts are crude, but their grudges burn hot.
He cleaved through the Three-Headed Demon's grasping fist, then, as the Bouncing Demon lunged to kick the back of his head, he condensed ice beneath his feet. Tilting his body back at a perfect angle, he slid across the frozen ground, distancing himself just in time.
The Spider Demon leapt in with uncanny speed, aiming straight for his neck. From above, the Bouncing Demon descended with crushing force. Their timing and angles formed a lethal pincer.
Yukishiro, however, was ready. Planting his feet, he raised his Nichirin Blade across his chest, and twisted with explosive torque.
The blade carved across the Spider Demon's chest, sending icy sparks scattering, then whipped downward to gash the Bouncing Demon's calves. Frost bloomed along both wounds.
"Yukishiro—Second Form: Spinning Snow Tornado!"
His body rotated in a blur, ice and mist swirling into a miniature storm that flung him clear of the converging strikes. He landed lightly, his snow-white haori fluttering like wisteria petals in the night wind.
The beauty and precision of the move stunned the spectators. Had it been them in his place, they would already be broken—crushed skull or torn throat.
What baffled them most, however, was his uncanny awareness.
Even with his back turned, he had anticipated the attack perfectly, as though the mist itself whispered the Demons' intent.
Relief rippled through the contestants. Yukishiro could withstand even the combined force of three Demons. With him standing firm, hope was not lost.
The three Demons regrouped.
The Spider Demon's chest smoked with frost, its many eyes narrowing in rage.
The Bouncing Demon snarled as its calves froze, but its dense muscles resisted the frostbite, and the wounds were already knitting back together.
The Three-Headed Demon shrieked with frustration. Six arms writhed, their frozen wounds crackling. In a sudden frenzy, it tore off its own damaged arms—blood splattering like hot rain—only for new ones to sprout grotesquely from the stumps.
Gasps rose from the humans.
Regeneration of that level was monstrous.
Yukishiro's gaze swept over the battlefield. The other contestants, inspired by his stand, were cutting down lesser Demons one by one. But he knew—if he failed to pin these three, chaos would return and morale would crumble.
He tightened his grip on the hilt. "Then I'll end this before they can ruin everything."
"Ice Breathing: Fusion Technique—Illusion: Shattering Rain!"
Mist thickened, forming countless shimmering footholds in the air. His figure blurred, splitting into illusions that danced across those platforms. Each phantom raised a blade, and with a single cry, countless arcs of steel fell at once.
From all directions, frozen blades and ice spears hurtled toward the three Demons.
The Three-Headed Demon panicked, curling its six arms around itself like a grotesque cocoon, shielding its fat body. The Spider Demon shrieked, scrabbling to burrow into the ground, only to be driven back by ice erupting from below. Desperate, it scrambled beneath the Three-Headed Demon's writhing bulk.
The Bouncing Demon chose the air, leaping high, hoping to avoid the barrage.
The storm of strikes crashed down. Dozens of blades and spears pierced the Three-Headed Demon's arms, freezing them solid. Its protective cocoon cracked under the weight of the assault, the frost creeping deeper and deeper.
The contestants gasped in awe at the overwhelming display.
But Yukishiro's eyes narrowed. Too shallow. He can tear his arms off again.
The Three-Headed Demon's resilience made ordinary finishing strikes nearly useless. His Shattering Rain had bought him momentum, but it wouldn't be enough.
Landing in a crouch, Yukishiro's breath misted in the night air. His focus sharpened. "Looks like I'll have to push even further."
The three Demons regrouped again, their snarls filling the clearing. The next exchange would decide everything.