"Get on!"
Riezel’s voice came at just the right time.
"I’ll clear the way!"
Riezel said he would clear the way, and he did.
Having already noticed Artoria’s movements, Riezel immediately cast flight magic and rose into the air.
"Huuu... Haaa..."
Riezel’s breathing rhythm began to change, and the flames entwined around Hermit, as well as the scorching aura emanating from his body, gradually faded away.
In their place came a sense of coldness, solitude, and gentleness.
If anyone knowledgeable about breathing styles had been present, they would have noticed that Riezel was now using a combination of Sun Breathing and Moon Breathing.
In the world of Demon Slayer, Tanjirou, before he had mastered Hinokami Kagura (Sun Breathing), had developed a mixed breathing style that combined Sun Breathing and Water Breathing, which allowed him to blend the power of Water Breathing with the might of Sun Breathing, resulting in attack power greater than Water Breathing alone and more endurance than Sun Breathing alone.
That was Tanjirou’s way of compensating before he could fully control Hinokami Kagura, to avoid putting too much strain on his body by using Sun Breathing.
When Riezel had the idea of incorporating the explosive techniques of Thunder Breathing into Sun Breathing to increase the speed of his Strong Attack Mode, this memory surfaced, so he spent some time considering similar ideas.
For example, he could combine Sun Breathing with other breathing styles, thereby enhancing those breathing styles’ power.
While the other breathing styles were not as adaptable as Sun Breathing and did not have the same potential to let someone fight above their rank, if he could combine two breathing styles like Tanjirou, wouldn’t that also boost the power of those breathing styles?
Of course, doing so would not allow other breathing styles to reach the same level as Sun Breathing, since even when Tanjirou used a mixed breathing style, it still did not match the strength of Hinokami Kagura. Otherwise, after mastering Hinokami Kagura, he would not have abandoned the mixed breathing style.
Naturally, the same went for Riezel.
Combining two breathing styles would never allow the others to reach the level of Sun Breathing, which allowed someone to fight across levels.
Still, if he could not cross a full level, being able to cross half a level was more than enough.
As for Riezel’s current status, among the five basic abilities, both STR and END had reached F-rank, DEX and AGI had reached E-rank, and MAG had even reached D-rank, which put him at the lower-middle of Level 7.
With this lower-middle status, plus all the latent abilities accumulated from the previous six levels and a range of development abilities, Riezel, in his normal state, could already rival someone at the upper limit of Level 7, and even someone at the lower-middle of Level 8.
In such a state, when Riezel combined two breathing styles and unleashed a hybrid style with Sun Breathing mixed in, the resulting combat power boost of half a level was enough to match the lower-middle of Level 8.
Needless to say, with power at this level, he could accomplish many things.
So...
"Moon Breathing - Seventh Form - Mirror of Misfortune, Moonlit!"
As Riezel swung Hermit forward, five massive, crescent-shaped slashes raced along the ground.
*Rumble—!!!*
Where the shockwaves passed, the ground was directly torn open, sending rubble and dust flying everywhere, while the buildings on both sides of the street were also hit, instantly carved with deep, claw-like scars, collapsing piece by piece.
Most astonishing of all, these shockwaves—unlike the usual Moon Breathing that came with many curved crescent moon blades—now surged with burning waves of fire, which caused the ground and the buildings’ walls to be left charred and blackened.
Clearly, this was the result of using Moon Breathing in combination with Sun Breathing.
To open a path for everyone, Riezel had chosen the wide-ranging Moon Breathing and boosted its power with Sun Breathing.
However, to Riezel’s surprise, perhaps because Moon Breathing was directly derived from Sun Breathing, the compatibility between the two was even higher than with Thunder Breathing or Wind Breathing, and when he used both Sun Breathing and Moon Breathing together, it felt like his strength could not just match the lower-middle of Level 8, but the upper of Level 8 as well.
As a result, all the Moss that had surged from the far end of the street were instantly crushed, sliced apart, and flattened by the giant shockwaves, clearing out more than half in the blink of an eye.
"A-Amazing..."
Artoria and the others, who witnessed all this, were naturally all stunned.
They stared as Riezel nearly destroyed an entire road with a single strike—an absolutely explosive spectacle.
Even Oberon froze for a moment, then quickly snapped out of it and shouted,
"Hey, don’t just stand there! Get on!"
Only then did everyone snap out of their daze.
After exchanging glances, they finally climbed onto the carriage.
"Go!"
Oberon flicked the reins, prompting the white Sleipnir to neigh and dash forward, racing down the street now gouged with deep trenches and charred marks.
Seeing this, Riezel glanced back at the Vault Fortress, then mercilessly left it behind and flew after the speeding carriage.
"Damn it!"
From inside the Vault Fortress, Spriggan’s curses could faintly be heard, but they were quickly drowned out by the Moss.
Before long, the Vault Fortress in Norwich was surrounded by countless Moss.
Cursed magical energy filled the area, and soon black magic projectiles erupted, slamming one after another into the Vault Fortress walls.
*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*
*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*
One after another, the sound of explosions rang out from the Vault Fortress, echoing far into the distance.
===
*Rumble—!!!*
Amid the roaring sound of wheels, a carriage pulled by a white Sleipnir raced at an astonishing speed through the ruined roads.
Thankfully, the poor road conditions did not affect the Sleipnir at all since it was a monster.
Summoned through the use of ’Summon Monster 2nd,’ the Sleipnir galloped on the destroyed road as if walking on flat ground. Its speed far surpassed that of any ordinary horse—even the famed steeds said to run a thousand miles a day would struggle to match it.
However, just because the Sleipnir could move so smoothly did not mean the carriage it pulled enjoyed the same ride.
Looking closely, the carriage behind the Sleipnir bounced violently over the rough ground, causing startled cries and shrieks to ring out continuously from within the carriage.
"Slow down! Slow down!"
Artoria clung tightly to the carriage seat, shouting toward Oberon in the driver’s seat.
"Just bear with it! Time is everything right now!"
Oberon did not even look back as he answered, urging the Sleipnir to go even faster.
"Miss Artoria! Please come over here!"
Mash steadied herself with the weight of her shield and reached out an empty hand to support Artoria, preventing her from being thrown out.
"It’s a shame this is a carriage. Otherwise, I’d be the one driving right now."
Da Vinci grumbled as she held down the still-unconscious Ritsuka.
If she had not done so, Ritsuka would have been thrown up to the carriage’s ceiling and crashed into it hard.
’...If Master didn’t get killed by the Moss, but died inside a runaway carriage instead, that’d be way too sad.’
Thinking this, Tristan gripped the window while also helping Da Vinci hold down Ritsuka.
"!!!"
In that moment, another horde of Moss suddenly surged forward from the end of the road.
"Moon Breathing - Eighth Form - Moon-Dragon Ringtail!"
*Whoosh!*
A massive horizontal slash suddenly descended from the sky, carrying blazing waves of fire, unleashing a second shockwave, and swept through the horde.
*BOOOM!*
Moon Breathing’s swift, sweeping strike instantly blasted the ground, sending countless Moss flying.
"Moon Breathing - Ninth Form - Waning Moonswaths!"
While still mid-air, Riezel unleashed a series of overlapping, chaotic slashes down below, each crescent moon blade carrying fire as it smashed into the ground.
*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*
Amid the deafening explosions, the ground looked as if it had been struck by a tornado from above, either caving in or bursting open with deep pits.
Most of the Moss did not even have time to wail—they were shredded by the crescent moon blades and vanished without a trace.
However, this made the road ahead of the carriage even more treacherous, forcing the Sleipnir to leap again and again to clear each new pit.
""KYAAAAAA—!!!""
A chorus of girly screams rang out from inside the airborne carriage, making quite a lively scene.
"Oy! Watch where you’re going, Riezel!"
Even Oberon could not take it anymore and yelled at Riezel, who was flying through the air.
Riezel, however, turned a deaf ear and remained indifferent.
If not for the fact that people like Artoria and Mash would likely not want to see Norwich fall during this Calamity, he would have simply used teleportation magic to send everyone to safety, rather than having to clear a path like this.
Besides, things were not easy for him either.
Even though he was flying above, Riezel himself had become a living target—if he was not careful, the cursed magic projectiles shooting at him from all directions would surely blow him away.
Because of that, Riezel was now dodging barrages from all sides while clearing the path for the others, leaving him no time to worry about the road. Not to mention, once he got Artoria and the others out of the encirclement, he still had other things he wanted to do.
At this point, Riezel ignored Oberon’s shouting and raised Hermit again, but...
"!!!"
Suddenly, Riezel’s eyes narrowed.
*BOOM!*
A deafening, explosive sound ripped through the air as a figure burst out of space and charged at terrifying speed toward them.
"RIEZEL BRYNHAAART—!!!"
A furious roar, filled with anger and hatred, rang out as the attacker raised his claws and struck at Riezel, breaking the sound barrier.
*DING—!!!*
A bell-like metallic clash exploded in the air, mingling with a shockwave.
"Woodwose!"
Oberon saw the attacker’s true form and shouted his name.