Chapter 21
"Clang, clang, clang—"
A storm of clashing metal rang out.
The noise echoed in Giyu Tomioka’s ears, making him feel as though he stood in the heart of a heavy downpour.
Fast.
Far too fast!
The speed was so intense that even he would need to push himself past his limits just to keep up.
And yet, Kiriya traded blows evenly with such a monster!
"As expected, that guy is a monster too," Giyu murmured.
"Impossible! This is impossible!" Daki screamed in disbelief. Kiriya’s wooden vines kept her pinned to the ground.
"He is just a human! A weak, fragile human! How can he keep up with my brother’s speed?!"
"Ah—"
Daki’s shrill voice snapped Giyu out of his shock.
Looking at this Upper Rank demon, he found her face hateful beyond words.
The stronger a demon was, the more humans they had devoured.
Given the strength of these twins, they must have eaten hundreds, perhaps even thousands of people.
For crimes like that, being cut to pieces was too merciful!
"Water Breathing, First Form: Water Surface Slash."
Giyu’s feet slammed against the ground.
His body shot toward Daki like an arrow leaving a bowstring, unleashing a devastating strike.
As the Water Hashira, he had honed his Water Breathing to a flawless state.
He had long since surpassed even his master, Urokodaki. With this serious strike, he felt certain he could sever the female demon’s head.
However...
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—"
Over a dozen obi sashes burst from behind Daki. They rushed in from every direction like giant pythons, aiming straight for Giyu’s vital points.
Faced with this, Giyu had no choice but to change his move mid-attack. He swung his sword to block the incoming sashes.
"Clang, clang, clang—"
The sashes clashed with his Nichirin sword, creating the sound of striking metal.
Giyu felt his hands go numb and he looked at Daki in surprise.
’Was this female demon always this strong?’
Only then did he notice something strange about her.
An eye had opened on her smooth forehead.
Inside that golden pupil, the kanji for "Six" was engraved.
’A third eye? And it bears the number Six?’
Giyu’s heart tightened. Connecting this to the bond between the twin demons, he guessed the reason.
’That man shared his power with his sister?’
"Hahahahaha, bastard! You dared to damage my beautiful body! I am going to strangle you alive... no, I will carve you apart piece by piece!"
After receiving her brother’s power, Daki’s confidence swelled.
When she looked at Giyu, her gaze was like Guan Yu looking down at Yan Liang and Wen Chou—seeing nothing but easy prey.
Facing that look, Giyu smiled.
Daki froze.
She found it hard to believe such a bright, open smile could appear on his usual expressionless face.
"What are you laughing at? Has fear made you stupid?" Daki quickly regained her arrogant tone. "I thought you were impressive, but one little scare turned you into an idiot."
"Foolish."
Giyu spoke those two words, making Daki furious.
"Who are you calling foolish?!"
"To face that man and still dare to divide your power."
As Giyu spoke, he charged forward again.
...
On the other side, a pause appeared in the fight between Kiriya and Gyutaro.
This was not because Kiriya lacked strength.
Rather, Gyutaro had stopped moving, a look of certainty resting on his face.
"What’s wrong? Done fighting? Thinking of surrendering?" Kiriya asked, tilting his head.
"The outcome is already decided."
Gyutaro’s hoarse, sinister voice rang out as he pointed at the wound on Kiriya’s chest.
"You have been cut by my Blood Sickle. You are poisoned now, You’re dead for sure!"
As he spoke, he threw his head back and laughed, his ugly face twisting.
"Humans have such weak bodies. Soon, the poison will enter your heart through your blood. Then it will reach your brain and spread through your entire body. Once that happens, even a god descending to earth could not save you."
"You are so blessed, aren’t you? Your skin is smooth and delicate and that face—if you walked down the street, I bet girls would scream over you. That tall, straight figure too... So nice. So damn nice! So nice it makes me sick with envy."
Gyutaro’s voice rose from a low mutter into a sharp scrape against his throat.
The fingers of his left hand, still gripping his weapon, dug three deep bloody lines across his own face.
"Oh..." A shy blush appeared on Kiriya’s face. "Even if that is true, if you keep praising me like that, I will get embarrassed. Also, let me tell you a little secret. I already have a woman! She is super beautiful too. A goddess, actually."
"..."
Gyutaro’s crazed laughter stopped.
His already ugly face twisted further.
The look he gave Kiriya burned with enough fury to reduce him to ash.
"You have a woman? You actually have a woman? A guy like you... a guy like you... How can you be that happy?!"
As he spoke, he raised his Blood Sickles and charged again.
The twin weapons in his hands swung fast enough to almost break the sound barrier, carving a dense chain of afterimages through the air.
"Clang, clang, clang—"
Kiriya swung his Nichirin sword, blocking the attacks one by one.
He even found room to counterattack, leaving wounds across Gyutaro’s skinny body.
If those strikes had landed on a human, they would have bled out and lost the ability to fight.
But on Gyutaro, they felt no different from mosquito bites. In less than a blink, every wound on his body healed.
The rhythm of their battle grew faster.
Gyutaro’s excitement climbed higher, until he began using a style that traded injury for injury. He no longer cared about defending against Kiriya’s attacks.
He only focused on landing as many cuts on Kiriya as possible.
"Hiss, hiss, hiss—"
After several exchanges, the two brushed past each other. More wounds appeared on Kiriya’s body, and the spraying blood dyed him crimson.
"Hahahahaha! That is it, that is it! Grow weaker. Run out of strength. Then die in endless agony!"
Gyutaro laughed toward the sky, as if he could already see Kiriya dying in boundless regret and despair.
"Water Breathing, Tenth Form: Constant Flux."
Just then, Giyu arrived.
The Nichirin sword in his hand unleashed a continuous stream of light, layered like the ocean tides, seemingly without end.
However, Gyutaro was prepared.
After sharing his power with Daki and helping her open a third eye, he and his sister gained shared vision.
Because of that, even though Giyu chose a clever angle and moved with clean precision, Gyutaro still noticed him.
He blocked the attack and forced Giyu back.
"Hey, are you all right?"
After retreating, Giyu looked at Kiriya, who was covered in blood.
A ripple stirred deep within his calm eyes.
He should not have let Kiriya face an Upper Rank alone.
They could have withdrawn safely, but now Kiriya was in danger because of him. As a Hashira, he felt incompetent.
"Why are you here?" Kiriya was stunned. "Weren’t you supposed to keep an eye on that demon woman?"
"We can talk about that later."
Giyu focused his entire attention on Gyutaro.
"Adjust your breathing first. Try to slow the spread of the poison."
"How nice. How wonderful. That kind of comradeship is so wonderful!"
Gyutaro stretched both arms and let out a delighted laugh.
"Then, if your comrade dies right in front of you and you cannot do a thing about it, you will feel guilty, regretful, and miserable, won’t you?"
"No one is going to die!"
Giyu held his sword in both hands, his gaze firm.
He had fought, trained, and grown with all his strength for moments like this.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—"
At that moment, over a dozen sashes descended from the sky, stabbing toward Giyu like spears.
Giyu dodged, blocked, cut, and redirected, doing everything he could to avoid the strikes.
If it had only been Daki, Giyu’s movements would have remained calm and effortless.
But Gyutaro was right beside him.
While Giyu dealt with Daki’s attacks, Gyutaro appeared behind him like a ghost, thrusting his Blood Sickle toward Giyu’s heart.
"Clang—"
Every hair on Giyu’s body stood on end.
Through pure instinct and a flash of insight, he turned and blocked, barely avoiding a pierced heart.
But Gyutaro’s strength was too much to withstand. In the end, the Blood Sickle cut through his flesh.
Soon, numbness spread from the wound. Giyu could feel the strength draining from his body.
"Hoo..."
He adjusted his breathing, using his muscles to compress his blood vessels and slow the bleeding. Only then did his body feel slightly better.
’What a vicious blood poison. Kiriya was fighting while enduring this?’
Giyu sighed, realizing today’s battle would not end easily.
But that was fine.
From the day he became a Demon Slayer, he had prepared himself to die in battle.
So he was not afraid. Nor was he anxious.
Before he died, no matter what, he would drag this Upper Rank down with him!
"Hahaha, so weak. Truly weak."
Gyutaro mocked Giyu while attacking, trying to break his mental defenses.
As for Daki, there was little need for words.
Her dozen sashes acted like hidden venomous snakes.
They darted out to bite whenever an opening appeared, multiplying the pressure on Giyu.
And Kiriya...
Neither sibling paid him much attention.
After all, someone cut that many times and poisoned so deeply was no longer worth the worry.
They only needed to take down the Hashira in front of them, and then they could enjoy their meal in peace.
Facing the siblings’ full assault, suffering from lethal poison, and worrying about Kiriya, Giyu soon found himself struggling to cover every angle.