"Oh? Like the view, Tanjiro-kun?"
I asked teasingly. He turned into an actual tomato, and I giggled and jumped into the warm water of the hot springs.
~~
Obanai Iguro was kidnapped by a snake demon, but he's not the only one. What if his twin little...
Douma's face had darkened, and he held his fans threateningly.
"How can you say something so cruel?"
I snickered, which was a show. There was nothing funny here, since I was slowly dying. And I couldn't exactly wait until sunrise, since I would have probably bled to death by then.
"Cruel? Seeing as you've been eating your followers, you're not in a position to be lecturing me on cruelty. Don't you get it already? I hate you. I want to lop your head off right this instant. As I said before, you're not very smart, are you? You're a disgrace, so it's better to send you to hell quickly. After all, your entire existence is utterly and completely pointless, meaningless."
I couldn't even blink before Douma's fan was right behind my neck, about to cut off my neck.
"Ice Breathing, 4th form: Wheel of Ice!"
As I rotated in a wheel-like shape, not only did I avoid the fan, but I also cut Douma's arm in half. Douma quickly regenerated his arm, and I leaped away to gain some space. 'I'm struggling to breathe, even though I know that I shouldn't. I feel like if I relax my muscles for even a split second, my sword will slip out of my hands. I need to keep calm, but still have enough force in my arms and legs. Fuck it, wasn't it enough for me to manifest the demon slayer mark? What more do I need? If I can't even kill someone as fucking weak as upper moon 2, Muzan will absolutely obliterate me inside out.'
I tried to run at Douma, but he closed the gap quicker and put his hand on my face, holding me still.
"Hmm... let's see how quick you can recover. I give you five minutes, and if you're not ready by then, my dear followers can say goodbye..."
And with that, he threw me in a river, the current pulling me down towards town. I would have jumped out, but Douma used his blood demon art to make a thick layer of ice on the top, sealing me in.
I screamed my rage in a flurry of bubbles and sliced at the ice, but I could only make tiny cuts. And it was useless, because the current was pushing me down. I sealed off my lungs so that I wouldn't let any water enter it, but it also slowed my heart rate. I could feel the burning sensation that let me know my mark was active start to disappear.
No. No no no. I couldn't panic. Not against upper two. Not when there was a village at stake. I tried to call out my form, but my words were muffled by the water.
"Ife Bweaving, 4ff form (modifyed): Impwoved, Watewall wheel off ife!" (Ice Breathing, 4th form (modified) Improved, Lateral Wheel Of Ice)
As my body swung in a wheel-like shape, a shallow cut appeared in the ice. Not deep enough.
Fourth form (modified): Improved, lateral wheel of ice. This is like the 4th form except going laterally without stopping.
I screamed out my rage in bubbles, but then a voice that wasn't mine echoed in my head.
'Calm down, Y/N. You're fighting ice, remember that. You use ice, so you should know how it works. Concentrate.'
I recognised it as soon as I heard it, it was Yoriichi-nii. I knew he was right, I needed to calm down. I needed to get my thoughts back in the moment.
It certainly helped me get in the moment when I heard the bloodcurdling screams from the village.
"YOU DIPSHIT!!!!"
I screamed, jumping out of the river. The rage had given me the power to smash the ice with my fists. I sprinted to the village where I saw Douma standing over two people, a woman and a child.
"CUT IT OUT, YOU DIPSHIT!!!!"
I yelled, slicing Douma's neck, but it didn't go through. He turned to look at me, a sadistic smirk on his face.
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"Y/N-chan, the time's up~ so how about you just play with these children? Blood demon art, crystal miko!"
Multiple tiny ice Doumas appeared around me and started attacking me from all sides. I had to use as many forms as possible in rapid succession to avoid all the hits.
9th form: Frost ripple thrust. The user performs a precise, fast and accurate thrust with their blade.
9th form (modified): Frost ripple thrust, curve. A modified strike that hits from a specific angle corresponding to the sword's structure which nearly nullifies the impact and momentum of a moving object.
I was jumping from side to side to avoid the attacks from the crystal miko, but it stopped me from approaching Douma.
"Ice Breathing, 12th form: Freeze!"
As the crystal mikos' attacks fell, I finally managed to land an attack on the true upper moon 2, slicing off one of his arms that was about to kill an innocent.
12th form: Freeze. The user ceases all body movements and enters a state of complete tranquility, deflecting, blocking and cutting any incoming attacks with imperceptible speed with their blade. However, its effectiveness is limited as fast and numerous attacks can break through.
As Douma regenerated his arm and turned to look at me, he swung his arms and fans to cut me up from different sides.
"Blood demon art: Snowfall in a wilted garden."
I quickly saw his movements to determine where he was going to hit me, and bent my body to avoid the attacks that were coming. Seemingly noticing my strategy, Douma aimed his fans at my eyes, planning to gouge them out. But P/N bit my neck, making me duck in slight pain. But I recognised that it was necessary for me to keep my eyes, so I muttered thanks to P/N. I leaped at Douma and almost got to his neck, but he launched me back with another blood demon art.
"Blood demon art: Frozen cloud!"
I instantly sealed off my lungs as to not get any of the freezing air in them, and strengthened my grip on my blade. I needed a strong enough grip to turn it red.
But it wasn't working.
And I had to breathe in air, no matter how cold, to not suffocate.
