Sizzle!
The moment the crimson blade made contact with Doma's flesh, the razor-sharp edge sliced through his raised left arm with almost zero resistance, like a hot knife through butter.
As the strike landed, Doma didn't feel the sharp sting of a cut. Instead, a violent, searing sensation of being incinerated by the sun itself surged through his arm.
The blade acted like a red-hot branding iron. Upon making full contact with Doma's palm, the fat within his hand seemed to render and cook, emitting a series of stomach-churning "hissing" and "sizzling" sounds.
Doma attempted to regenerate instantly, but as he felt the agonizing heat radiating from the wound, he realized with a flicker of astonishment that this sudden, scorching power was fundamentally suppressing his regenerative abilities.
"Whoa... that's quite a brutal way to act. Honestly, you're a terrifying child."
Doma finally couldn't help but let out a soft groan of pain. For the first time, that false, compassionate smile vanished completely from his face, replaced by an expression of numb, hollow indifference.
Without a moment's hesitation, feeling the wound on his left arm still throbbing with heat, Doma swung his metal fan and lopped his own arm off at the shoulder. He wasn't sure if the attack Izumi Kiyokazu had just landed would spread through his body like venom, so he decided it was safer to simply sever the entire limb. He could always grow a new one later.
The moment the severed arm hit the ground, it melted into a pool of thick, viscous sludge under the influence of the surrounding wisteria smoke.
"A Breathing Style as terrifying as you are... and that strange red Nichirin Sword of yours can actually inhibit a demon's regeneration? No wonder Lord Muzan is so wary of you..."
Doma continued to retreat, but he found it impossible to shake Kiyokazu's pursuit. His rainbow eyes remained locked on the boy. Granulation was writhing frantically at his shoulder, but the speed of his regeneration was noticeably slower than before, and the newly formed tissue was an unhealthy, charred pink.
He glanced at the burning piles of wisteria nearby. The drifting smoke made his body feel weak, causing waves of nausea and discomfort. Inhaling that smoke felt as though his very internal organs were beginning to dissolve.
The boy with the bizarre swordsmanship, the scorching and painful Breathing Style, the troublesome wisteria smoke...
Everything here had become more difficult than anything he had ever faced.
Izumi Kiyokazu had not spoken a single word to Doma from start to finish. He knew that against someone like Doma, who possessed no real emotions, psychological warfare was a waste of breath. Moreover, speaking would only disrupt his breathing rhythm, and Sun Breathing demanded perfect synchronization.
As he raised his Nichirin Sword once more, the muscles in his legs exerted a sudden, violent burst of force.
By utilizing the movement patterns of Thunder Breathing, Kiyokazu accelerated his speed to yet another level. However, the price he paid was immense pressure on his legs, which were now nearly seeping blood through the skin.
The strike that had severed Doma's arm had already cost Kiyokazu dearly. To ensure that the blow would one hundred percent claim Doma's limb, he had forcibly fused the explosive burst of Thunder Breathing with the sheer ferocity of Flame Breathing, placing a severe burden on his muscles and internal organs.
My body hurts... my consciousness is fading... I just want to collapse right here.
But looking at the still-unconscious Roaring Hashira behind him, and thinking of Rengoku Mujuro still fighting at the foot of the mountain, Kiyokazu gritted his teeth and charged forward again.
However, even Kiyokazu knew he was reaching his absolute limit. His body would not allow him to maintain this offensive much longer. This would be the end.
"Sun Breathing, Eleventh Form: Dragon Sun Halo Head Dance!"
This was the most powerful slash Kiyokazu could currently unleash. It was his final strike, a gamble where he staked every remaining drop of his stamina. In an instant, the Nichirin Sword seemed to come alive in his hands. As he swung it, the blade transformed into the shape of a roaring, dark-gold dragon head!
But that wasn't all. One of the reasons Kiyokazu chose the Dragon Sun Halo was because the technique allowed him to wrap the surrounding air around the blade. To be more precise, it wasn't just wind, but a solidified form of "Sword Intent."
As he manifested this intent, Kiyokazu intentionally drew the dense wisteria smoke gathered behind him into the spiraling form of the dragon. At this moment, the Solar Halo Dragon looked like the Nine-Tails clad in a Susanoo!
In the next heartbeat, under Doma's slightly stunned gaze, the hideous dragon head lunged forward with a bite! Its speed and power were on a different scale compared to all previous attacks.
In that fraction of a second, Doma's rainbow pupils contracted to the size of needlepoints. No matter how devoid of emotion he was, he could smell the scent of death radiating from this move! Whether it was the blade heated to its absolute limit or the purple dragon head carrying a massive amount of concentrated wisteria smoke—if he was touched, there was a high probability he would die here tonight!
And there was no way to escape!
Looking at the dragon head closing in—the head that was about to sever his own—Doma experienced the emotion of "impatience" for the very first time.
In the next instant, the temperature around them plummeted. The ice crystals of Doma's Blood Demon Art finally managed to condense in that life-or-death moment, forming a thick shield engraved with the elegant form of a woman's body to block his path!
BOOM!
The dragon's jaws snapped shut! As the dragon's teeth collided with the ice shield, the concentrated wisteria smoke exploded outward!
Amidst a series of ear-splitting blasts, Doma's entire body was sent flying backward. A Nichirin Sword was now plunged deep into his chest, right through his heart.
Kiyokazu stood where he was, his breathing ragged. Half of his body was now encased in frost. If it weren't for the scorching breath constantly flowing from his mouth and nose, he would have looked no different from a corpse. Fortunately, aside from the ice, he hadn't sustained any other major injuries.
Doma lay on the ground, his chest already a mass of charred flesh. Deep wounds that reached the bone covered his body, revealing his pulsing internal organs through the gashes. The wisteria smoke clinging to him was continuously corroding his insides and his frame.
Even so, his powerful demon constitution kept him alive. However, because the sword was pinned through his heart, Doma found himself unable to stand for the moment.
Watching the speed of the wisteria's corrosion versus Doma's regenerative speed, Kiyokazu's heart sank. At this rate, Doma might recover before dawn. They were still in grave danger!
But just then, a voice rang out that sent Izumi Kiyokazu spiraling into a pit of absolute despair.
"Sun Breathing... Where did you learn it?"
The voice was slow, possessed of a steady, aristocratic weight.
But it was those six crimson eyes that made Kiyokazu's heart sink to the very bottom of the abyss.
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Demon Slayer: Starting by Snatching Daki(175 Chapter- Ongoing)
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