Breath of the Void

Breath of the Void: Chapter 19

Life's been kicking me while I've been down but I'll survive. College has changed so I have a different move in time, but I still start classes on the 17th apparently so that's... fun. Anyways, we get to see some more Shinazugawa vs Musashi before the leadup to the final fight kicks off.

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"I couldn't move during the previous battle because I got poisoned," the Mist Pillar started as the others gazed at him. The boy's eyes staid gazing forwards as he spoke despite the gazed on him. "I was using my breaths to try and delay the poison, but a boy who tried to save me nearly lost his life, and my old memories came back. I got so angry that I lost complete control of my emotions."

His brow furrowed a bit as he continued. "I think my heart rate went over 200 BPM... and my body became burning hot. I think my body temperature went over thirty-nine degrees."

Kocho startled as Kyojuro's brows furrowed.

"That's not exactly a good condition to be fighting in. That temperature alone could kill you unless you're part of the Flame Breathing branch. Raising the body temperature is normal for us, but I don't think my father or I have ever reached that number. That's quite dangerous," he remarked as the Insect Pillar nodded.

"It would have been life-threatening," she agreed and Tokito shrugged his shoulders slightly, oversized sleeves shifting.

"Well, it is because of that reason that I think I can be used as a screening test," he suggested, his normally vacant eyes becoming deathly serious. "Will you die or will you not? That's probably the difference between those who have the mark appear and those who do not."

"A heart rate over 200 BPM..." Musashi murmured, "And a body temperature of around thirty-nine degrees... That sounds almost like Mana Burst to me..." Her eye narrowed as the other Pillars along with the Ubuyashiki family looked at her.

"'Mana... burst'?" Kanroji asked and Musashi nodded.

"It's a Servant Skill. As you know, ServantAt its base, it is the increase in performance caused by infusing one's weapons and body with energy— usually magical but in this case, I assume it's one's life energy— and instantly expelling it," the one-eyed woman explained, "High-speed, strong defenses, impossible leaps, flames, gems, light and lightning, water, stars, even condensed beams of energy... the only thing is, no normal human can manage that."

Musashi shook her head. "I have doubts that Magecraft and Magic are as advanced here as they would've been in other worlds, but nonetheless, Mana Burst would simply kill anyone who wasn't a Servant. Or wasn't someone who trained with Magecraft their entire lives... and I've never known any sort of Mana Burst that activates another's."

Ubuyashiki tapped his fingers lightly, seeming to think as the other Pillars glanced at each other.

"That could be the reason for the curse that is affiliated with the Marks," the master of the Slayers said after a long moment.

"Curse?"

The blind man nodded. "Yes. Any Demon Slayers who have awakened the Demon Slayer Mark are said to die upon reaching the age of twenty-five."

Upon hearing that the Pillars all tensed a bit. Of the Pillars assembled, Himejima was older than twenty-five at age twenty-seven. Then there were Kyojuro, Tomioka, Shinazugawa, Iguro, and Musashi to consider— all of them had reached their twenties, though Musashi was unsure of the exact year she knew she was not twenty and not twenty-five but somewhere in the middle.

Kocho and Kanroji would be in their twenties soon, so even if the Marks assisted in the end of Muzan, it was highly unlikely that any of them aside from Tokito would live long enough to see any longer-term impacts from it. If they all survived that was.