Chapter Forty-Two

Chika was completely unaware of this sudden change.

As Doma let out that feigned doubtful murmur, one of her hands was still affectionately wrapped around his neck, while the other hand was rudely pulling his ear, muttering curses under her breath.

To anyone else, this scene looked exactly like lovers playing around.

Kanae, who stepped into the dream world, was no exception.

"Oh dear~" She hovered in mid-air, holding a knife in one hand and lightly covering her lips with the other, chuckling softly, "It seems I've come at a really bad time. If I could, I'd really like to avoid this for a while."

Despite saying she wanted to avoid it, she didn't stop walking towards Chika's direction.

"Kanae-neechan!" Upon seeing the newcomer, Chinatsu's eyes lit up. "How's the situation outside? Has Muzan started his attack?"

She asked anxiously while pushing against the arms that were wrapped around her waist, her legs kicking restlessly, eager to land.

However, it seemed the person had no intention of letting her go. The arms binding her didn't loosen; instead, they tightened their grip even more.

"What's wrong with you? Why are you so agitated?"

He lowered his head and asked curiously, "I am your most devout follower, but who is she? Is she more important than me...?"

"Doma...you're hurting me! Let go!"

The arms tightened suddenly, making Qianxia's waist ache and almost unable to breathe. Qianxia frowned and scolded, her voice becoming somewhat hurried due to her difficulty breathing, "I have important business to attend to now. Once I'm done, you'll regain your memory. Don't... Ouch—!"

Doma's smile vanished, and he refused outright, "I don't want to... I always feel like the God of Bliss is lying~"

"Whoosh—!"

The blade whistled through the air. Kanae's figure appeared like a phantom, her Nichirin Blade piercing Doma's seven-colored eye with pinpoint accuracy, interrupting his words.

She said, "Let her go!"

Kanae's voice remained as gentle as water, but with a swift twist of her wrist, the blood-stained blade was as fierce as thunder.

She stirred the knife in one hand, while her other hand gripped Chinatsu's wrist like an iron clamp, and with a sudden burst of strength, she violently pulled the girl away from Doma's suffocating embrace.

Qianxia staggered backward from the force, warm blood beads sliding down her cheeks. The hot, sticky sensation made her freeze instantly, her mind going blank.

She looked up in disbelief at Kanae's profile, which still held a faint smile.

Such a gentle face, yet she can unleash such a decisive and ruthless strike? Really?

In stark contrast to Chinatsu's shock was Doma's.

His eyeballs were shredded, and blood gushed out, but he didn't even flinch, as if what was destroyed was just an insignificant object.

The only sign of his emotions was the sudden tightening of his fingers when Qianxia was pulled away. The force was so great that it almost crushed her wrist bones, leaving a shocking ring of purplish-blue marks.

"Oh my, what a fierce young lady!"

Doma looked at his empty palm and sighed dramatically, his tone carrying a hint of regret for having his toy taken away.

"However, it is extremely rude of you to casually damage someone's eyes and steal their treasures."

As he spoke, he raised the corners of his mouth again, and his golden folding fan opened with a snap, a chilling aura suddenly erupting from his body.

"Doma!" Chinatsu instinctively tried to stop him.

"Whoosh—!"

The attempt to block her failed. With a swing of the fan blade, a chilling icy aura swept out like an invisible ice tide, instantly condensing into countless fine, sharp ice crystals in the air, producing a sharp, teeth-chilling "crackling" sound, which then enveloped Kanae in a devastating barrage.

Kanae and Chinatsu took a few steps back gracefully, their clothes fluttering like butterflies, and landed steadily, skillfully avoiding the most deadly ice storm.

"Wow, that's quite agile."

Doma clapped his hands loudly, and his pierced eyeball instantly writhed and recovered, completely intact. Only the blood remaining on his cheek proved that the attack was not an illusion.

Just as Chika was about to say something, a sharp pain suddenly swept through her body.

"Bang—!"

Countless wounds burst open on her body; her palms, arms, and waist were instantly torn open, the flesh gaping deep enough to expose bone. A chill seeped wildly from the deepest part of her marrow, and her blood almost froze.

"Doma!" Chika knelt on the ground, cursing angrily, "Are you sick in the head?"

She trembled violently, each breath carrying icy shards, her exhaled breath condensing into a pale white mist in the air.

"Don't go~ My dear God of Bliss~ If you try to abandon your followers and leave alone... you'll really die~"

With a smile, Doma waved his golden fan, and countless crystal-clear ice lotuses with sharp, knife-like edges bloomed in the air and rushed towards Chinatsu and Kanae.

Each swirling petal reflected his smiling eyes, beautiful, yet exuding the fragrance of death.

Without hesitation, Kanae turned to the side, completely shielding Chinatsu behind her. With a flick of her wrist, her Nichirin Blade shattered the attack.

"Muzan has indeed launched an attack on the Demon Slayer Corps. Chika, try to leave first, I'll take care of things here."

Her breathing was steady, but her eyes were sharp as an eagle's, yet she still urged Qianxia to leave.

Qianxia was no longer listening to anything. She curled up and coughed several times. After a while, she finally absorbed the dung in her body, and the terrible wounds on her body slowly healed.

She looked up at Doma, who was still smiling nonchalantly, and felt a surge of anger.

Now she had to be certain that the person in front of her was not the Doma she knew.

In the instant her thoughts became clear, a certain resolve also solidified. Chinatsu stood up and stood side by side with Kanae.

"His attacks are unpredictable and erratic; I didn't even see how he injured me. Here, he's in control, holding the advantage. We can't separate; we must join forces to find a way out!"

"It's alright, you can go first," Kanae said calmly, holding her Nichirin Blade steadily at her shoulder and adopting a standard offensive stance. "I have experience fighting him."

As soon as she finished speaking, she lightly touched the ground with her toes and shot forward like an arrow, heading towards the sky full of ice lotuses.

"Breath of Flowers - Second Form - Shadow Plum!"

The Nichirin Blade danced, creating a dazzling curtain of light. The blade's light intertwined to form blooming plum branches, shattering the incoming ice lotuses. Ice crystals scattered like a winter rain.

"What beautiful swordsmanship!" Douma exclaimed sincerely, waving his golden fan once more. "Then I'll show you something nice. Heave-ho!"

A giant ice cone materialized out of thin air, accompanied by a whistling wind, and pierced towards Kanae from all directions like a falling icy spear.

Kanae's figure was elusive, like a flower in the wind, her blade flashing as she precisely severed the unavoidable ice pillars.

Her attacks were not purely defensive; in the gaps between parries, she would also cunningly stab at Doma's vital points.

Why struggle so much? Wouldn't it be better to stay and enjoy eternal bliss?

Doma effortlessly parried Kanae's rapid and fierce attacks. The fan and the blade collided, producing a crisp and rapid sound, but his gaze remained fixed on Chinatsu, past Kanae's shoulder.

Chika ignored him completely. Kanae said that she must have her reasons for having experience, so she would focus on finding a way out.

Since pain cannot awaken me, I can only try to break the boundaries of the dream!

She closed her eyes again and leaped into the chaotic void behind her, which was constantly distorted by the battle and resembled the edge of a dream!

"No, that won't work."

Doma's gentle voice, like a whisper, rang in her ear at the same time.

Chika immediately felt her ankles being tightly wrapped by cold, slippery tentacles.

Looking down, she saw two pale arms formed from extreme ice, eerily emerging from the rainbow floor, like shackles, firmly binding her movements!

At the same time, Doma's figure vanished like mist in front of Kanae.

That was actually an ice clone!

His true form, taking advantage of the dream's home turf, had silently teleported to the void beneath Chika.

"You are mine, Elysium God."

He smiled and opened his arms, as if waiting for her to walk right into his trap.

Chika's pupils contracted sharply, a powerful intuition sending a frantic warning through her.

It's a warning that once you're caught by him, you'll be imprisoned forever and never be able to escape.

But at this moment, without telekinesis or blood demon magic, all her strength had been used for this jump, and there was no way to reverse it.

In a flash, a ruthless glint appeared in Qianxia's eyes.

Since that's the case...

Then...

Let's get him!

Her brows furrowed, a resolute glint flashed in her eyes, and the short sword given to her by Shinobu Kocho, which had been hidden in her boot, slid into her palm.

Twist your waist and swing your knife.

"Whoosh—"

The blade traced a chilling arc, slicing precisely across Doma's neck.

In dreams, one cannot kill anyone. Chika had always known this, which was why she had never held back any tricks. This strike was the strongest she could muster at that moment.

Without encountering any resistance, Doma's head simply separated from his body and rolled to the ground.

A trace of that fake, gentle smile, which hadn't yet changed, still lingered on his face.

The dream began to tremble violently, and the bizarre and fantastical scenery around it began to peel away and disappear like a faded oil painting, quickly returning to the original quiet and simple courtyard.

Chinatsu deftly sheathed her sword, turned around and walked towards Kanae. "Kanae, let's go!" She wanted to see Doma back to normal as soon as possible.

"Chika-chan..."

My ankle was gripped by cold fingers.

It was that headless body that was still struggling instinctively.

At the same time, the head on the ground vibrated and emitted a faint but persistent hissing sound, like the mournful cry of a dying swarm of bees.

"I've been waiting for you... for so, so long..."

His voice carried a chilling mix of grievance and longing, "Someone told me... you are a god who came specifically for me... a bliss that belongs only to me..."

Her head turned with difficulty, her seven-colored eyes staring blankly upwards, trying to catch her gaze. For the first time, a crack appeared in that perfect smile, revealing an almost childlike confusion and vulnerability.

"You will love me, cherish me, and never abandon me..."

He murmured, his last words so soft they almost dissipated in the wind, yet they carried a piercing, agonizing question.

So... was all of this a lie?

Is Muzan really that secretly passionate?

They fed him some truly absurd and ridiculous ideas.

Qianxia was speechless for a moment.

"Chika, let's go." Kanae sheathed her sword. "Don't be fooled by this guy, it's just a dream."

Chika knew perfectly well that this was a dream, but... even if it was a dream, she didn't want to see Doma like this.

Thinking this, Qianxia slowly squatted down. She gently lifted the headless body, aligned the severed head with the neck section, and steadily pressed it back together.

"Chinatsu?" Kanae's voice behind her carried a hint of confusion. She seemed a little puzzled by what she was doing.

Chinatsu didn't know what she was doing, but....

Who cares...

His head and neck were tightly fastened together, and the wound was slowly healing. As Chika looked at Doma's familiar appearance, her expression softened.

"You've waited so long for me... So... have I disappointed you?" she asked softly, her voice as if afraid of disturbing something.

"No." Douma's arms naturally wrapped around her, pulling her into his embrace, tightening slowly and firmly, as if trying to imprint her into his body. "Just as wonderful as I imagined, my goddess of bliss."

Chika clearly felt the strength of his embrace. She did not struggle, but instead raised her hands and gently cupped his face, looking intently into his seven-colored eyes that were gradually regaining their luster.

“Doma-chan, listen to me,” her voice was so soft that only the two of them could hear it, “your memories have been altered, misinterpreted. You haven’t been waiting for me alone for a very long time. From the moment we met, we’ve been together.”

She paused, then declared clearly, word by word: "We are very much in love. You like me, and I like you too."

"This is just your dream, a prison set up by others, not reality. In the real world, the real you is still waiting for me to save you. So I must leave."

"This string of prayer beads was a gift from you, so I'll leave it with you for now."

As soon as she finished speaking, Qianxia gently removed the Buddhist beads from her wrist and slipped them onto his arm.

"Wait for me. I promise you, I will come to pick you up, get the bead back, and then we will be together forever and ever."