"Tch. You talk a big game, but you're not actually much at all!"
Squelch!
Evernight casually withdrew his Bone Blade, and Sanemi could no longer support his own weight, collapsing limply to the ground.
"It's over. Happy times are truly fleeting!"
As he spoke, Evernight had already raised the Bone Blade, swinging it toward Sanemi's neck. However, at that moment, the sudden howl of a powerful wind reached his ears.
"Hm?"
Evernight snapped his head up, only to see Gyomei swinging his spiked flail with one hand, smashing it toward him with the force of an armored gunship.
"Stone Breathing, Second Form: Upper Smash!"
Gyomei leaped into the air. The high-speed rotating flail shone brilliantly, descending like a crimson meteor from the sky as a scorching heat wave billowed outward.
Clearly, after receiving guidance from Ren, Gyomei had managed to activate the Crimson Blade through his own strength.
Tears streamed from the corners of Gyomei's eyes. "I shall use the ultimate move you taught me to send you on your way!"
Whoosh!
The heavy flail moved in Gyomei's hand as if it were an extension of his own arm, hurtling toward Evernight with the devastating power of a shell fired from a cannon.
"Heh, now things are getting interesting."
Seeing Gyomei's ferocious momentum, Evernight quickly raised his Bone Blade to strike the incoming flail.
Clang!
Blade and flail collided violently, sparking a brilliant flash in the dark night sky.
As a clone of Ren, Evernight's strength far exceeded that of ordinary men. He caught Gyomei's strike with ease, but this was only the beginning.
Based on the sound resonating from the flail, Gyomei instantly realized that his heavy blow hadn't actually harmed Evernight.
"As expected of Ren. He truly is formidable. In that case!"
The flail could not be retracted in time, so Gyomei simply abandoned it. Gripping his axe with both hands, he performed a repetitive action, channeling the full strength of his body into his arms.
Sensing Gyomei's power, the Nichirin axe seemed to respond to his conviction, bursting with a dazzling red light and a searing aura.
"Stone Breathing, Fifth Form: Arches of Justice!"
Compared to the flail earlier, this axe strike was undoubtedly more powerful. At the very least, Evernight finally began to take things seriously.
Boom!
An even more brilliant spark flew as Evernight successfully swung his blade to block the attack. The fierce, overbearing force instantly surged through his entire body.
Although Evernight, possessing the body of a Berserk Demon, remained unharmed, the Bone Blade in his hand could not withstand the earth-shattering blow. With a loud snap, it shattered.
Seeing the Bone Blade break, Evernight lunged backward, easily dodging Gyomei's follow-up axe swing.
"Ho? You have quite a bit of power!"
"Shinazugawa, are you alright?"
Although he hadn't managed to deal a heavy blow to Evernight, Gyomei had achieved his goal: rescuing Sanemi from Evernight's clutches.
"Cough... I'm not dead just yet."
After catching his breath, Sanemi dragged his aching body off the ground and pulled out bandages to wrap his wounds.
Ever since the number of Berserk Demons had increased, the Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen always carried hemostatic medicine and medical bandages whenever they went out, even the Hashira.
"Damn it. I didn't think Ren would be this strong. I wasn't even worth a single exchange!"
"Of course. After all, he was once the strongest person in the Demon Slayer Corps. I never imagined the day would come when we would have to fight him..."
"Are you two finished talking? If you're done, it's my turn to make a move!" Evernight smiled faintly. In the time it took for them to speak, his Bone Blade had already restored itself to its original state.
It was important to remember that the Bone Blade had just been severed by a Crimson Blade.
Even for someone like Kokushibo, it took a long time to regenerate his distorted blade after it was cut by a Crimson Blade. Yet, Evernight had done it in an instant.
One could imagine that even a single clone of Evernight possessed power far beyond that of Kokushibo.
Then, Evernight lunged forward, swinging his blade with extreme speed that was invisible to the naked eye. The killing intent on the blade's edge was as sharp as a rainbow.
"Dark Combat Technique: Nightfall Star River!"
'So fast! My eyes can barely keep up?'
'And his strength is overwhelming...'
Seeing Evernight's blade coming for them, Sanemi and Gyomei hurriedly swung their weapons to defend. For a moment, sparks flew in every direction as the sounds of intense combat echoed through the air.
However, under Evernight's powerful offensive, even with the two of them working together, they quickly fell into a disadvantage. Bloody wounds began to appear across their bodies.
"Argh...!"
Before long, the wound on Sanemi's abdomen tore open again. He spat out a mouthful of blood as the intense pain forced a cry of agony from his lips.
"Shinazugawa, be careful! You're already injured, and this guy's strength is—"
"Hmph, I think the one who needs to be careful is you! Dark Combat Technique: Sky-Shrouding Darkness!"
As he spoke, Evernight's assault became even more relentless. A series of violent slashes shot out like a torrential rainstorm, sweeping toward Gyomei.
"Stone Breathing, Third Form: Stone Skin!"
Gyomei grabbed his flail and swung it with all his might. The flail rotated at high speed like a helicopter's rotor, doing its best to block the slashes coming from all directions.
However, in the face of that tempestuous onslaught of slashes, his defense appeared pale and powerless. Before long, he was covered in wounds and collapsed to the ground, exhausted.
"It's time to end this!"
After heavily wounding Gyomei, Evernight swung his blade down with a sudden surge of power, intending to take Gyomei's head.
Just as he was about to slice through Gyomei's neck, a sharp Nichirin Sword suddenly intercepted the Bone Blade.
"You brat, you seemed to be having quite a bit of fun just now!"
"What?"
Looking up, Evernight discovered that Sanemi had stubbornly stood back up, swinging his sword to block the attack.
At the same time, a mark resembling a windmill had appeared on his face. His muscles were bulging across his entire body, and his strength was significantly greater than before.
"A Slayer Mark?" Evernight was slightly surprised. "You actually activated a Slayer Mark? But even so, with your current condition, it should be impossible for you to explode with such immense power..."
"Hmph. It's Kocho's muscle enhancer. Didn't see that coming, did you, kid?"
After the battle with Doma and witnessing the effects of the Slayer Mark and muscle enhancers, Kocho Shinobu had distributed drugs that could force the activation of the Slayer Mark and muscle enhancers to the other Hashira. They could be used to temporarily boost combat power in life-threatening situations.
"Wind Breathing, Eighth Form: Primary Gale Slash!"
Sanemi immediately charged at Evernight. The moment he closed the distance, he swung his blade toward Evernight's abdomen.
With a loud crash, the Nichirin Sword and the Bone Blade collided. Despite Sanemi's fierce offensive, he was still easily blocked by Evernight.
"You activated your Mark. Not bad, not bad at all. But did you really think you were the only one who could use it? Look..."
As he spoke, red cloud-like marks appeared on Evernight's face. His body temperature skyrocketed, and his entire being began to emit a scorching wave of heat.
"You shouldn't have forced me to use my Mark. If I hadn't used it, you might have at least left behind an intact corpse. But now that I have, there will be nothing left of you but a pile of minced meat!"
"Dark Combat Technique: Sun-Piercing Moon-Breaking Strike!"