The Light of Hope

boom! !

Asuka was hit by another kick from Akaza, but he immediately swung his sword down, severing half of his opponent's lower leg with the burning shards!

My chest hurts so much, it feels like it's going to explode!

His consciousness began to blur. The intense spiritual pressure and the forced change in breathing techniques were oppressing his body, causing his brain to feel dizzy from lack of oxygen.

Hang in there! Push your limits!

clang!!

Akaza punched the sword, and although he was burned, he managed to deflect Asuka's attack, leaving a large opening in his chest!

"What a pity! What a pity for the young man!"

He roared and lamented, yet he seemed to unleash a powerful punch without holding back!

If that punch lands, Asuka will definitely be pierced through!

"Ugh—!!!"

Even so, Asuka did not give up. She actually turned her body to meet the attack head-on, minimizing the impact of Akaza's punch as much as possible!

Click!

Although the punch broke two of his ribs, his sword had already slashed Akaza's shoulder!

"Damn! It's off-center!"

Asuka aimed his blade at Akaza's neck, but the intense pain still distorted his movements!

My shoulder, it's just my shoulder, I'll tear you to shreds like this! Ah—!!!

The blade embedded itself into Akaza's body, frantically devouring his blood and demonic power, constantly injecting new energy into Asuka, allowing the blade to penetrate even deeper inch by inch!

The bird became fierce, its eyes turning bloodshot, like a demon god.

"Asuka! Don't let go! Burn!!" Kyojuro Rengoku struggled to get up, enduring the excruciating pain in his chest.

He didn't know if his bones were shattered or his organs were damaged, but he couldn't just stand by and watch Asuka fight the Upper Moon alone!

Such a sudden burst of power must have been achieved by the bird sacrificing its life force; the longer it drags on, the worse it will be!

He roared once more, forcibly summoning his last remaining strength to hold the Nichirin Blade to his shoulder!

"I am the Flame Pillar! Kyojuro Rengoku! I will fulfill my duty as a Pillar!!"

"Flame Breathing - Ninth Form: Purgatory!!"

Kyojuro Rengoku unleashed his Flame Breath throughout his body, and the resulting fighting spirit even shook Akaza, who was locked in a stalemate with Asuka!

He roared, and his entire body transformed into a golden-red fire dragon, charging towards Akaza!

The power gathered on that blade was enough to split mountains and shatter rocks, and tear the sky apart!

"Damn these two humans!"

He roared inwardly, his killing intent boiling to the extreme!

Enraged, he roared, "Destruction Kill - Demon Core Eightfold Core!!"

This time, he abandoned defense altogether, channeling his demonic power into his fist and unleashing a series of devastating punches aimed directly at Asuka's vitals!

Seeing this, Asuka had no choice but to abandon her plan to tear him apart and quickly drew her blade to barely parry!

Boom! !

Two punches still landed on his abdomen, causing him to vomit a mouthful of foul blood!

At this moment, Purgatory had also arrived!

The Nichirin Blade slashed out fiercely, accompanied by a burst of fire that tore through space, and struck Akaza's crossed arms as he parried!

laugh--!!

The ear-piercing sound of bones grinding together, accompanied by the sound of flesh being burned and torn, exploded!

The intense heat from Rengoku Kyojuro's sword instantly tore through Akaza's incredibly tough demon arm, and the fiery dragon-like flames, like the fangs of a ferocious beast, madly cleaved half of his body in two!

"Damn demon hunter!!" Akaza was furious and swung his fist to punch Kyojuro, but an unexpected figure appeared!

boom--!!

"Thunderbolt Flash - Lightning Speed!!!"

Akaza's fist, which he had just raised, was completely severed after a thunderous roar!

Although it was an injury that he could recover from in an instant, it created a huge vacuum in the deadly battle.

Unexpectedly, Zenitsu, who was most afraid of demons among them, launched the most decisive charge at this moment!

"Hinokami Kagura: Yanghua Tu!!"

"Second Fang: Cleave!!"

Even though they were terrified, Mr. Asuka and Mr. Purgatory were already exhausted!

Tanjiro and the others could no longer stand idly by and forced themselves to move. Even if they couldn't kill Akaza, they could at least cause him to slow down for a moment!

At this moment, the east was already turning a pale white!

"What?!" Akaza roared in shock and anger for the first time.

It's unbelievable that it's been dragged on until now!

Sunlight! Deadly sunlight is coming!

Time is running out! We must escape immediately!

In that instant, Asuka caught her breath!

"My teeth are flowing!!"

He roared, blood spurting from the corner of his mouth, but he was completely unaware.

laugh! ! !

The fiery heat of the raccoon plunged into Akaza's body, thwarting his attempt to escape!

"Damn it! Get out of here!!"

Akaza was enraged to the extreme, and his entire body once again erupted with incomprehensible force, actually blasting Tanjiro and the others away! Only Asuka and Rengoku remained, resolutely holding onto his body!

"Destruction Kill - Annihilation Style!!!"

Akaza let out its most ferocious roar yet!

His newly formed fist seemed to transform into a falling black meteor, smashing towards Rengoku Kyojuro with a terrifying pressure that could destroy everything!

Rengoku Kyojuro's pupils contracted sharply, and his survival instinct screamed for him to get away!

As the Flame Pillar, even if he were to die, he would never let go of the evil spirit before him!

"Asuka-boy! Cut him down!" he roared. "Sever his neck!!"

puff--!!

A chilling sound of bones shattering rang out, followed by a spray of blood!

It wasn't Purgatory that got hit, but the bird that stood in front of it at the last moment!

In a flash, the bird pulled out the raccoon, but did not choose to slash at the neck.

He stepped forward and cleaved Akaza's fist, but was pierced through the chest by a broken bone spur.

The team uniform on the chest, along with the inner skeleton, was visibly sunken in a large area!

His face turned deathly pale instantly!

Asuka gripped Akaza's upper arm tightly with her nearly blue, ferocious fingers, standing firmly in front of Purgatory and raising the scabbard once more.

"I told you, I would protect you all, and no one will die!"

"Get out of here!!!"

As dawn broke, Akaza was no longer in the mood to listen to this nonsense!

clang--!!

But before his roar could finish, Asuka, with her last breath, brought her Nichirin Blade down to his neck!

Ouch! It's so hot! Am I going to be cut in half?!

Akaza was shocked and tried to deflect Asuka's sword with his fist, but he found that after a night of fierce fighting, his body had been eroded by Asuka's sword aura and had countless wounds. At this time, his self-healing speed was extremely slow!

"Ah—!!" Asuka roared as the raccoon slowly tore through the flesh of Upper Moon Three, reaching its hard vertebrae!

"Inosuke! Zenitsu! Move!!" Tanjiro, who had been knocked away by Akaza, didn't give up. He wiped the blood from his mouth and got up again: "Help! We have to keep him here!! Help Asuka-san!!"

"Ah—!! Charge forward like a pig!!"

"A lightning flash!!"

The three swords struck Asuka's blade simultaneously, injecting renewed power into the already weakened Asuka!

"ah--!!!"

Amidst the roars of the crowd, the ghoul completely tore open the demon's flesh!

Whoosh—!

Akaza never imagined that his head would be cut off!

At this moment, he suddenly felt a flood of memories come back to him, including the time after he became a demon and was taken away by Muzan-sama... These precious memories all rushed back to him at once!

Love of Snow....

"How can I fall down—!!!"

Akaza's head roared in mid-air, and with the last of his strength, he kicked the heavily injured Rengoku Kyojuro in the chest, tearing off his own upper arm!

His headless body retreated in a sorry state, and his face, which was flying in the air, no longer showed rage, but was completely replaced by extreme fear.

With a leap, it grabbed the head with its newly grown limbs, and before it could even pull out the Nichirin Blade embedded in its body, it fled hastily into the forest!

"How is this possible! Why wasn't he killed?!" Tanjiro exclaimed in shock, completely bewildered as to why Akaza hadn't died!

Asuka stared blankly at the dim raccoon in her hand, and spat out a curse in resentment:

"...At the last moment...did he run out of strength? What a pity..."

The light is rapidly expanding, and the golden dawn, like a sharp sword, is piercing through the curtain of darkness, sweeping across the earth with unstoppable force!

The first ray of sunlight, though faint, yet deadly to the ghosts, had already reached the treetops at the edge of the battlefield!

There's no time left! Hurry! Get out of here!!

"Black-haired swordsman! I'll remember you! Next time we meet, I'll tear you to pieces!!!"

Akaza transformed into a streak of blood at incredible speed, uttering a venomous oath in a frenzy. In no time, he vanished into the depths of the dense forest, leaving behind only a trail of blood that emitted a burnt, foul stench.

As he watched helplessly as the ghost moon disappeared into the shadows of the mountain forest at dawn, Fei Niao's taut nerves finally snapped completely.

He could no longer hold on and collapsed heavily to his knees, vomiting large amounts of blood.

Not far from him, Rengoku Kyojuro was kicked into the remaining carriage of the train, where he also lay unconscious in a pool of blood, his breath extremely weak.

"Mr. Asuka! Mr. Rengoku!!"

Tanjiro rushed to Asuka in a panic to check on her condition.

All I could see was that the bird had closed its eyes and fainted.

[The End] (Just kidding)