Doma, the Ice Bodhisattva, slammed his palm heavily towards the direction where Chinatsu and Inosuke were. With a loud bang, countless crystal-clear ice fragments filled the air.
As the visible layer of mist on the surface of the air dissipated, Chinatsu and Inosuke appeared on either side of the palm that Xuanbing Bodhisattva had slapped onto the ground.
Chinatsu was in a half-squatting position, while Inosuke was lying on his side with both hands covering his stomach, his face under the boar head mask twitching slightly.
This wasn't caused by Doma's Ice Bodhisattva, but rather by Chika instinctively kicking Inosuke in the stomach just before the Ice Bodhisattva was about to strike them, sending Inosuke out of the Ice Bodhisattva's attack range.
Um... I think I used a bit too much force... but it's still much better than getting slapped!
Chika coughed awkwardly as she looked at Inosuke, who was clutching his stomach across from her.
Inosuke, who had been clutching his stomach, suddenly froze and quickly pulled out a hand to cover his nose and mouth.
"Ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh (Big Sister! There seems to be something in the air!!!)" Inosuke shouted at Chinatsu in a language that no human could possibly understand.
Although she didn't understand his meaning in language, Chika did. She turned her head slightly to look at the smiling Doma not far away and the tiny ice crystal fragments floating in the air around her.
Doma's Blood Demon Art is "Ice," which he condenses into ice crystals using his own Demon Moon and then unleashes through his golden iron fan, creating various ice artifacts.
His ice can cause frostbite or even freeze people into ice sculptures the moment it touches their skin. If the ice crystals are inhaled into the lungs, they can indirectly damage the lungs, making it difficult to breathe and eventually causing alveolar necrosis.
The greatest reliance of a breathing swordsman is "breathing." If one cannot concentrate fully on breathing, then one has completely lost the right to fight demons. Therefore, in a sense, Doma's Blood Demon Art can be considered the "strongest."
At that moment, Douma raised his iron fan to cover half of his face, and said with narrowed eyes, "As expected of a swordsman who could defeat Lord Kokushibo, you were actually able to dodge this attack. I'm really looking forward to your taste~"
With a wave of his golden iron fan, countless sharp ice spears appeared above Doma's head, aimed at Chinatsu and Inosuke, and were swiftly unleashed.
With a swift step, Chika arrived in front of Inosuke. A flash of flame slashed through the air, and the sharp ice spears were cut down and melted one by one.
Standing behind Chinatsu, Inosuke's body trembled slightly, not from fear, but from blaming himself for holding Chinatsu back.
"Inosuke!"
"Yes...yes!"
Chinatsu suddenly shouted, forcefully waking Inosuke from his despondency.
"Inosuke, I'm giving you a mission. This Infinity Castle is controlled by a demon. If we kill that demon, we can directly destroy the Infinity Castle. Your task is to find that demon and kill it. You... can you do it?"
"sure!!!"
Inosuke gripped his twin swords tightly and replied earnestly to Chinatsu. He knew he couldn't help Chinatsu, and staying here would only become a burden to her.
But he didn't come here to be a burden to everyone; rather, he wanted to do what he could and make a contribution to the community.
If we simply compare their perception over a wide range, even those few Pillars who have mastered the Transparent World among the Nine Pillars might not be stronger than Inosuke in this respect.
Inosuke turned to leave the battlefield. Although Doma had no interest in Inosuke, he wouldn't let the Demon Slayer Corps escape from his sight.
"Blood Demon Art: Manjusaka!"
With a flick of his iron fan, Doma sent out icy vines wrapped around ice lotus flowers flying straight toward the running Inosuke.
However, before these ice vines could hit Inosuke, they were chopped into pieces and turned into ice crystal fragments.
Chinatsu took a step to protect Inosuke, and with Inosuke's departure, the situation on the battlefield turned into a one-on-one duel between Chinatsu and Doma.
Doma watched Inosuke walk further and further away, pouting his lips, crossing his arms, and looking puzzled.
"Hey~ that one that ran away shouldn't be a wild boar, right? What a strange kid, I feel like I've seen him somewhere before... No, I shouldn't have seen him before, since I didn't even see his face."
Doma revealed an expression of trying hard to figure it out but being completely baffled, while Chinatsu's eyes, which were fixed on him, grew increasingly cold and sharp.
Where have I seen this before?
Of course he had seen it, because Inosuke's mother had died at the hands of Doma.
Inosuke's mother, Kotoha, was a stunningly beautiful woman. After giving birth to Inosuke, she ran away from home with the infant Inosuke because she could no longer endure the domestic violence from her husband and mother-in-law.
While Kotoha was running hard, she got lost in the forest, and then unexpectedly encountered Doma.
However, because of Kotoha's stunning beauty, lovely voice, and adorable personality, Doma did not kill Kotoha. He even deliberately concealed his identity as a demon, intending to raise Kotoha as a pet until she died of old age.
Until one day, Kotoha witnessed Doma eating people. Although Doma smiled and offered an explanation to Kotoha, the idea of demons eating people was not something that could be easily accepted.
Kotoha angrily cursed Doma as a liar and rushed out of the temple where Doma was with the still young Inosuke.
"I'm sorry, Inosuke, I'm so sorry for being so stupid... I always fail... I always take the wrong path... As a mother, I should be more reliable... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."
Kotoha apologized to Inosuke in her arms as she ran, but she was no match for Doma, who was determined to catch her.
Kotoha was forced to the edge of a cliff, where she was eventually killed by Doma. Meanwhile, Inosuke, whom she was holding, fell off the cliff and landed in a pool below, where he miraculously survived.
At this moment, Inosuke has almost completely lost his childhood memories, because he not only suffered a severe mental trauma as an infant, but also lived in the wild ever since he could remember.
Oh, and Shinobu's older sister, Kanae Kocho, was also cruelly killed by Doma...
Chika stared intently at Doma before her, the Nichirin Blade in his hand transformed into a crimson blade by the intense heat of her grip, and he assumed a fighting stance.
Since we've run into each other, let's settle both old and new scores!
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