I Became a Demon Sword and Traveled the Anime Worlds Chapter 42 42: Consecutive Kills

Several shuriken tore through the darkness from his flank.

Alex did not even turn his head.

Asuramaru flashed once in his hand, and the incoming weapons split apart mid-flight, their broken pieces scattering into the grass with a faint hiss.

"Is hiding in the shadows all you know how to do?"

He glanced sideways.

That single look made Wakuraba's spine go cold.

The demon had concealed himself among the trees, his presence thin and hard to catch, but in that instant, he felt as though he had been dragged out beneath the moonlight and laid bare. Those red eyes did not search for him.

They had already found him.

Not far from the battlefield, Zenitsu and Inosuke had also arrived, though neither of them rushed out imdiately. They crouched behind a thick tree trunk, peering through the branches.

"Tanjirou is way too strong right now, isn't he?" Zenitsu whispered, clutching his sword so tightly his knuckles turned white. "He's going to win, right? Also, why is his sword on fire? Isn't he a Water Breathing user? Since when does water burn? That's illegal. That has to be illegal."

Inosuke stared at Tanjirou's back without blinking.

The boar mask hid his expression, but his voice had lost its usual wild confidence.

"Sothing's wrong with Tanjirou."

"What's wrong with him?" Zenitsu asked, imdiately panicking again.

Inosuke paused.

Then answered with complete confidence.

"I don't know!"

Zenitsu nearly fell over.

Alex paid them no attention.

His enhanced perception had already picked up several powerful presences entering the edge of his range. Each aura was distinct, sharp, and clean. Most importantly, they were not demons.

Then there was only one possibility.

The Hashira had arrived.

Since that was the case, there was no need to waste any more ti here. The fear, despair, and hatred from these demons had already been squeezed out almost completely.

Now ca the harvest.

The only issue was Tanjirou's body.

Even after awakening the Hinokami Kagura, this body still could not fully bear its power. If Alex tried to push it too far, Tanjirou would be the one paying the price.

In that case, he would end this with sothing else.

A perfect chance to test its power.

Alex raised his left hand.

The simple motion made every demon present freeze.

Rokuro narrowed his eyes. Mukago stiffened. Wakuraba, hidden in the shadows, almost stopped breathing.

None of them understood what he was about to do.

Then lightning gathered in Alex's palm.

Violent arcs of electricity burst from his hand, crackling and shrieking through the night. The sound was sharp and piercing, like a thousand birds crying at once.

The dark forest was lit in blue-white flashes.

Rokuro's eyes widened.

"How is that possible…?" His voice shook despite himself. "That is not a Breathing Style. It is not a sword technique. How can a human command lightning?"

The answer stood before him, undeniable.

Mukago trembled so hard that her shoulders shook. Tears gathered in her eyes again as she looked toward Rokuro like a drowning child begging for rescue.

"We'll be fine, right?" she whispered. "We'll definitely be fine… right?"

Rokuro said nothing.

That silence was answer enough.

Even Wakuraba, still crouched in the shadows, felt his hands begin to shake. Every instinct he had honed in life and death scread at him that the lightning in that hand was dangerous.

Alex lowered his gaze to the massive Treant before him.

Lightning shrieked in his palm.

"Chidori Sharp Spear."

He swung his left arm down.

A blade of lightning shot out like a spear from heaven.

Thunder cracked.

The lightning tore through the Treant from crown to root, splitting the massive wooden monster cleanly in two. For a breath, the entire battlefield turned white.

Then the Treant collapsed.

The trees that had ford its body broke apart and scattered. The vines coiled around it were annihilated along with it, burnt and shredded by the violent current.

Rokuro and Mukago both staggered as the backlash struck them. Their Blood Demon Arts had been crushed head-on, and their bodies weakened at once.

That single attack shattered the last of their will to fight.

This was not a gap in technique.

It was destruction.

Alex stepped forward with Asuramaru in hand.

Rokuro stood closest.

The older demon tried to move, tried to raise his hands, tried to force out another Blood Demon Art.

Too slow.

Alex arrived before him in a flash. He gripped Asuramaru with both hands and swung.

The burning sword crossed Rokuro's neck in a clean arc.

His head flew.

For a mont, Rokuro's face showed neither anger nor fear. Instead, a bitter, exhausted smile appeared on his lips.

"You truly aren't human…"

His head fell through the air.

"Perhaps only a monster… can defeat a monster…"

His words faded with his crumbling body.

The monster he spoke of was Muzan Kibutsuji.

Mukago could no longer endure it.

She forgot Muzan. Forgot orders. Forgot everything except death standing in front of her.

Dragging her weakened body, she turned and tried to run. But her legs gave out beneath her almost imdiately. She collapsed into the dirt, trembling so badly she could barely crawl.

"No…" Her fair, delicate hands clawed at the ground as she dragged herself away. "Don't kill … please don't kill … I'll change. I'll do anything. Please…"

Alex looked down at her.

Her voice was pitiful. Her expression was pitiful. If this had been before, perhaps he might have hesitated.

But Tanjirou's nose could sll it.

Beneath her terror, beneath her fragile appearance, was the thick stench of blood and human flesh. She had eaten many people. Far too many.

In Tanjirou's words, it would probably be—

"You are pitiful," Alex murmured, "but I cannot forgive you for killing people."

Mukago looked up.

The sword fell.

Her pleading stopped as her head rolled from her shoulders.

Alex did not spare her another glance.

The mont Mukago died, Wakuraba struck.

He burst from behind, leaping down from a tree with a scythe gripped in both hands. Its edge was coated in dark green poison that smoked faintly in the moonlight.

"Blood Demon Art—Scythe of Withering!"

The poisoned scythe swept toward Alex's neck.

From the trees, Zenitsu scread.

"Tanjirou! Behind you! That bastard is ambushing you! I'll tear him to pieces!"

Beside him, Inosuke had already drawn his twin swords.

"Hey! Tanjirou, move!"

He rushed out, but he was still too far away.

Alex had already reacted.

He turned in place, sword rising from below.

"Hinokami Kagura—Burning Bones, Sumr Sun."

The upward slash blood into a ring of fla around his body. The fiery arc pierced through the poisoned scythe, snapped its path apart, and drove straight into Wakuraba's body.

Wakuraba twisted at the last possible instant.

The sword missed his torso.

But his right arm was pierced.

Alex applied force.

The arm ca off cleanly.

Wakuraba flew backward and landed several paces away, clutching the stump where his arm had been. His face contorted in pain, his breathing ragged.

Alex walked toward him slowly.

"Not running?"

Wakuraba's expression turned uglier than if he had swallowed mud.

Run?

If he could run, would he still be standing here?

Muzan Kibutsuji would never allow it. If he turned his back now, Muzan would kill him before this monster even had the chance.

Stay and die.

Run and die.

Why was everyone making things difficult for him?

Wakuraba's small eyes widened in fury. He drew several shuriken with his remaining hand and roared, his voice cracking under the pressure.

"If you're going to kill , then kill ! What's with all the talk?!"

The words had barely left his mouth when Alex vanished.

Wakuraba's pupils shrank.

Alex appeared before him, Asuramaru already cutting toward his neck.

The sword passed through.

Wakuraba's head flew.

Yet at the instant of decapitation, his body underwent a grotesque change. Flesh bubbled, cracked, and burst apart as if so violent reaction had been triggered from within.

A massive wave of dark green poison exploded outward at point-blank range.

It ca from every direction, overwhelming and unavoidable.

Alex's lips curved.

"You think this can kill ?"

His free hand imdiately drew Tanjirou's Nichirin Sword from his waist.

"Water Breathing—Sixth Form: Whirlpool."

He spun.

Water surged around the blade, forming a roaring spiral that wrapped around his body like a tornado. The poisonous liquid was caught in the current, pulled into the vortex, and swept away before it could touch him.

The last of Wakuraba's body dissolved into ash.

The forest fell still.

Only the fading hiss of poison and the crackle of dying flas remained.

Alex loosened his grip.

Then he released control over Tanjirou's body.

The red in Tanjirou's eyes vanished.

His entire body went limp and collapsed straight to the ground.

"Tanjirou!"

Zenitsu and Inosuke rushed out at once.

But they were not the only ones who had witnessed everything.

At the edge of the devastated battlefield, several other figures had appeared beneath the moonlight. Their haori stirred faintly in the night wind as they stared at the fallen boy, the scorched forest, and the ashes of the slain Lower Moons.

The Hashira had arrived.

.....

[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]

[[email protected]/FanficLord03]