Kanae stood before Doma in one of the chambers of the Infinity Castle. Doma smiled with feigned enthusiasm, flicking his war fan open.
"Oh my, I remember you—the Flower Hashira girl, the prey I missed. You know, I was hoping to meet you again, but no luck until now. I will have to thank Nakime-chan for sending you to me," Doma said, his voice a blend of amusement and the joy of seeing her again.
Kanae's eyes sharpened, her grip tightening on her Nichirin sword. "Indeed. I've been searching for you as well. But this time, the fight won't be as one-sided as before."
"Oh?"
With a deep breath, Kanae dashed forward, her Flower Breathing honed to perfection. Flower petals seemed to dance in the air as she moved with unmatched grace.
Her breathing style, refined by Ryou's training, amplified her strength, allowing her sword strikes to flow with incredible speed and flexibility.
In a flash, she appeared before Doma like a petal caught in the wind, her blade aimed directly at his chest.
Doma barely managed to block the attack with his Japanese war fan, the sheer force sending him skidding backward. His usual carefree smile vanished, replaced by genuine surprise.
This was not the girl he had fought before. She was countless times stronger, able to push him back with natural strength.
"Interesting... You've grown much stronger. But it's still no use against a demon like me," Doma smiled again. With a wave of his fan, ice lotuses bloomed, releasing a flurry of ice-cold shards that shot toward Kanae.
The castle walls shimmered with frost, and the floor beneath them glazed over with ice.
"Fourth Form: Crimson Hanagoromo!"
Kanae unleashed a sword slash, twisting gracefully through the air and shattering the ice shards in her path. Without stopping, she slipped past Doma's defenses, slicing through his sleeve and drawing blood across his chest.
The shock in his eyes deepened as he stared down at the blood seeping through his robes. "Such elegance... yet it's still useless!" His wound healed instantly, visible to the naked eye. "You should go for my head!"
Kanae, having faced him before, knew better than others about his Blood Demon Art. The ice created from Doma's Blood Demon Art is extremely lethal to those who inhale it.
Even though Kanae knows and only breathes when away from his attacks, she can still feel the cold air in her lungs. Prolonging a battle against such a demon was nothing short of suicidal.
'I have to end this fast!' Kanae thought, with a determined expression.
"I have to admit, girl, you are stronger than any Hashira I have met before. I'm going to enjoy accepting you within me. We'll live together for eternity." Doma's words were filled with happiness.
Against such words, Kanae remained unfazed. Her grip tightened around her blade as she focused her breathing, planning to end the battle with her strongest move.
Flower Breathing, Final Form: Equinoctial Vermilion Eye.
Her vision sharpened to its utmost limit, time seeming to slow the world around her. Every movement and action became clear in her eyes.
With a burst of speed, Kanae flashed toward Doma, her body a blur of afterimages. With a kick to the floor, she leaped into the air, spinning effortlessly like a flower petal caught in a violent storm, her sword raised high for the strongest blow.
Doma, however, was not as careless as before. With a smile still on his face, he activated one of his most powerful techniques. 'Rime — Water Lily Bodhisattva.'
An enormous ice Bodhisattva statue materialized behind him, its hands in a prayer position, surrounded by beautiful frozen lotuses. From its open mouth, it unleashed a massive gust of deadly ice, enough to freeze everything in its path.
Kanae's eyes, enhanced by her breathing technique, caught the flow of the icy gust. In mid-air, there was no way to dodge. Instead of trying to avoid it, she advanced.
She swung her Nichirin sword countless times in precise movement, slicing through the icy torrent, and creating a gap.
Frost clung to her clothes and skin, biting with piercing cold as she charged forward, undeterred by Doma's attack.
Doma's eyes widened at her advance. Despite the cold freezing the air around her, Kanae continued her attack, her blade gleaming with intent to kill.
Seeing this, Doma swung his war fans, aiming directly for her chest, his attack fast and lethal, laced with a barrage of ice shards.
'Slash!' His strike landed, but even as the fan cut across Kanae's chest, she did not stop. Her form remained flawless.
Her Nichirin blade gleamed in the warm light of the Infinity Castle as she performed her final move. She slashed with strength and perfect form, her sword cleaving downward in a deadly arc.
Doma's smile froze, his body went stiff for a moment as the sharp edge of Kanae's blade sliced through his neck. His fans fell from his hands as his head rolled from his neck, disbelief etched into his expression.
"Impossible..." he whispered, still trying to comprehend how he had been defeated. He had struck Kanae with enough strength to split her in two, yet she was completely fine.
Kanae landed softly behind him, her back turned. The severed head of Upper Moon Two, Doma, tumbled to the ground, rolling until it lay still at her feet.
"Thanks for the suggestion," Kanae remarked coolly as she sheathed her sword. "I went for your head!"
"Good for you. Ah... I remember. That boy used the same method to withstand my attack. How wonderful." Even in death, Doma remained curious, devoid of fear as his body began to disintegrate into fine ash, scattering into the air.
As Doma had guessed, Kanae used Tekkai, hardening her muscles to reduce the force of the attack. The cut was shallow, but frost still spread across her wound; at least it saved her from what could have been a killing blow.
Still, blood trickled from her mouth as she began to cough. Though she had escaped a fatal blow, the force of the attack had still injured her, but it wasn't life-threatening.
"Let's go and help the others!" Kanae thought, using her breathing technique to staunch the bleeding. However, she couldn't do anything about the frost spread across her body.
At that moment, applause echoed through the chamber as a new demon stepped through the door. Following him were two more demons, all resembling humans aside from their distinctive demonic traits: tails, pale skin, markings, and demon eyes.
"Oh, you were simply amazing, Kanae Kocho! Did your lover boy give you some special lessons for that?" One of the demons with a tail remarked vulgarly. He's one of the Earth humans, Ignis.
"Let's not waste time—capture her! He'll undoubtedly make mistakes once she's in our grasp," said another demon, his skin marred by cracks. This one was another Earth human, Raiden.
Seeing their imposing figures, radiating a presence on par with Doma's, Kanae's senses went into high alert. From their words, she grasped the key point. "You're here for Ryou? Who are you all?"