While talking to himself, Maple pondered the battle experiences of the past two months. Soon, his excellent memory allowed him to notice some details he had not paid attention to.
"It seems that every time I put on my persona, my digestion speed generally increases?"
Thinking of this, Maple realized his mistake.
Indeed, the so-called "potion" was intended to enhance one's humanity, while "absolute rationality" could be described as "inhuman." Using the "inhuman" to understand "humanity" is fortunate if one can avoid not only gaining more emotions but also descending into madness!
Maple breathed a sigh of relief as he looked back at his changes in the last two months. Thanks to his accumulation in the past few years, there was not much problem in his spirituality.
"Next, as long as the persona was not taken off, there should not be any problem."
It was only after adding an important note to the decision-making model that Maple was completely relieved and let out a sigh.
"Sure enough, the path of the soul is really dangerous."
"!"
After he finished speaking, [danger sense] was suddenly triggered, immediately alerting Maple.
"There is an attack, coming from behind around 50 meters, expected to hit within 1 second."
The warning was immediately interpreted, while at the same time, Maple's evasive action was not slow at all. He grabbed the nichirin blade he found earlier and performed the familiar action of the "lazy donkey roll," followed by an immediate draw of his blade to meet the attack.
"Clang!"
"Clang!!"
"Clang!!!"
In the next moment, loud sounds of clashing blades resounded in the forest, only the battling form of Maple and a strange figure were seen.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
In the midst of a rising rabbit and a diving falcon, Maple, who had lost his initiative, quickly retreated. Bright blade lights flashed around Maple and the demon, accompanied by the thrilling sound of sharp weapons slicing the wind.
"Clllaaannggg!"
The two blades collided again. Thanks to his higher physical attributes, Maple finally got a breather. With a turn of his wrist, Maple deflected the opponent's continuous attacks. He stepped hard and produced a muffled sound as he pulled back and distanced himself to confront this "uninvited guest."
"Demon?"
"Demon-slayer?"
Maple and the young demon questioned at the same time and remained silent at the same time, both having confirmed each other's identity.
To be more precise, Maple had confirmed the enemy's attributes. If his prediction was correct, this demon should have noticed the nichirin blade by his side and mistook him for a demon-slayer and thus launched the attack.
Maple's eyes slightly shone with spirituality, a characteristic of having three accumulated [dark] sequences, which made him seem like a descendant of darkness.
The demon in front of him did not look like an ordinary demon. If seen from afar, it would look like a young man.
Unfortunately, Maple was able to see in the dark.
Short dark hair, cyan eyes, ferocious tiger stripes on his normal-looking face, pointed ears, extremely pale skin all over his body, a mouth with fangs that continuously released a rust-like bloody breath.
However, Maple's attention ultimately fell on the flesh-and-blood blade, which was similar to the nichirin blade, in the demon's hand.
Dark metal body with lightning-like blade patterns, this demon used this blade to attack him.
"Physical attributes at a lower rank with exquisite swordsmanship, this type of swordsman as an enemy with "additional advantage" is a little bit tricky."
Maple narrowed his eyes, his mind racing, considering the next battle strategy.
He knew his own situation, although he had more than a month of battle experience, Maple was not stupid enough to believe that he could compare to a well-trained sword-demon.
It was not a matter of talent; it was simply the disadvantage of not having undergone systematic training.
"Battling against this type of lower-ranked demon, I definitely could not maintain my [danger sense] to cover my whereabouts."
However, Maple did not dwell on this matter…
Two months of sharpening had been obtained, to continue covering his whereabouts would only be counterproductive. Now was an opportunity to "debut."
The spiritual power began to converge and accumulate in Maple's soul. At this moment, he was in his peak fighting state.
A lion would use all his strength when fighting a rabbit, not to mention whether the opponent was a pig or a tiger was still unknown.
However, the demon did not have a calm mind like Maple.
"A mere demon slayer! How can you block my Kaigaku sword moves!"
The demon, who called itself Kaigaku, had veins popping on his forehead, he bit so forcefully that the fangs made an ear-piercing noise.
He was a demon! This was a strength gained by "enduring humiliation"!
Kaigaku would never admit that his sword move just now was blocked by this unknown young man! This "shame" had to be eradicated!
"Go to hell! You weak insect!"
Along with the roar, Kaigaku seemed to have opened some kind of valve. From within the dark woods, thunderous breathing sounds were heard.
"Hiss…Hoo…"
As soon as this sound was heard, Maple's spirituality immediately released a warning, and his own eyes suddenly shrank, as he thought of an extremely small possibility.
"Damn! Breathing technique! A lower-ranked demon that knows breathing techniques!"
Maple had heard about the power of the breathing technique in these months. This kind of boosting combat technique, when used by a demon who had inhuman energy, the effect would definitely be astonishing.
Although Kaigaku's basic attributes did not break through the mid-sequence, Maple would never doubt that the demon's three attributes had reached the peak of the lower sequence.
Furthermore, considering the sword arts accompanied by each of the breathing techniques, Maple knew, if he was even slightly careless, there was definitely a chance that his boat would capsize.
The thoughts in his mind disappeared in a flash; Maple had firmly grasped the nichirin blade in his hand.
He had no thoughts of escape because Kaigaku's next words had informed him of the breathing style he used.
"Thunder breath 4th form! Distant Thunder!"
"Boom!"
A sound of thunder was heard; countless black flashes of thunder exploded from Kaigaku's body. In the next moment, the demon's body turned into a terrifying thunder flash, which went straight towards Maple's vital spot.
"So fast!"
Maple's eyes focused; he caught the speeding figure in his sight and quickly took a parrying stance to defend with his blade.
"Clang!"
A dull metal collision echoed in the night sky. The sound formed did not sound like the clash of swords and blades; instead, it sounded more like a collision of two battering rams.
"Is this thunder breathing?"
Veins burst out of Maple's arms; he raised the blade with two hands and held down Kaigaku's decapitating sweep.
"The style is really 'passionate.'"
Streams of jet-black lightning burst out of Kaigaku's blade, wantonly burning Maple's skin, leaving a series of hideous scars.
"There's also 'magic injury.'"
Seeing this, Maple did not dare to take it head-on, immediately got rid of the stalemate and pulled away.
"He called himself 'Kaigaku,' good at swordsmanship, and mastering thunder breathing techniques after becoming a demon. He should be that 'traitor.'"
After taking a quick glance at the bloody injury and confirming that it would not affect his battle, Maple had basically determined the opponent's identity…
A "paranoid" who "deceived his master and betrayed his ancestor," the senior brother of Agatsuma Zenitsu.
~~~
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