Chapter 97: Gyokko
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Aoki was like a huge bat, his silhouette quickly cutting across the night sky.
Suddenly, he stopped and looked down.
Next to the sea, there was a quiet and peaceful small village. There were lights on at the pier, and a young couple was busy.
Although such a life was poor, there was also happiness in it.
Aoki's eyes quickly scanned the entire village.
"It seems that Gyokko is not here either"
That was good news, but there was also a downside.
According to his guess, this was already the outermost village within the suitable range.
But no trace of Gyokko was found.
"I don't know if I guessed wrong or if Gyokko is in the direction of Shinobu's search."
Aoki looked thoughtful, changed direction, and quickly disappeared into the night sky.
...
In the dense jungle, a pot appeared out of thin air.
Black liquid emerged and turned into a twisted monster.
It stared at the village ahead and swung its body. "This is it! I hope the defectors can appreciate the art I left behind! Phew!"
All the arms on its head spread out as if to embrace the village ahead.
At that moment, it paused and looked outside.
"Huh? Is someone here? Another demon slayer. He seems to be stronger than the previous one. It seems I can't start making artworks right away."
A cruel smile appeared on its mouth. "But, this is not bad."
...
Kocho Shinobu ran quickly.
Although she was far away, the hellish scene in the village and the broken body of the team member whose name she didn't know still flashed in her mind.
The intense anger threatened to burn through her chest.
The more powerful the demon, the more severe the damage it caused.
Newly born demons can easily kill humans, stronger demons can easily kill an entire family, and at the level of Upper Moons, they can massacre a village without any effort.
At this moment, Shinobu was grateful for the existence of Mr. Aomura as never before.
For hundreds of years, they had not been able to kill a single Upper Moon. Instead, a large number of Hashira had died at their hands.
The Demon Slayer Corps tried their best, but reality was cruel, and the Upper Moons continued to commit atrocities.
And now, in less than a year, four Upper Moons had died at the hands of Mr. Aomura.
How many lives had been saved? How many people would not have to suffer the tragedy of that village today?
"We must find Gyokko!"
Shinobu looked up.
Ahead, a village was in sight.
This was one of the suspicious targets selected by Mr. Aomura.
What made her feel a little at ease was that the village was dark, and she could only vaguely see a few lights, occasionally hearing the barking of dogs and the crowing of chickens.
No smell of blood.
It showed that at least the villagers had not encountered Gyokko's wrath.
Suddenly, Shinobu's expression changed. She twisted her steps, changed direction, and her sword suddenly came out of its sheath.
Poof!
A strange fish with four limbs was nailed to a tree, its mouth full of jagged teeth, and a blue pot embedded on its back.
A strong killing intent suddenly appeared Shinobu's eyes. "It's Gyokko! Is he nearby?"
She had already obtained detailed information on each Upper Moon from Mr. Aomura.
Although this was the first time she had seen this kind of monster, with such an obvious style, she could recognize the mastermind at a glance.
Shinobu retracted her long knife and flicked it gently. The blood fell off, and the blade became clean.
The place where the strange fish was struck turned purple and quickly spread outward. The body began to rot, turning into a pool of black water in just a few seconds.
She could not behead demons, which was her weakness. She could only rely on poison to kill demons, but sometimes there were benefits.
Like now, even if the enemy's vital points were not hit, it could still kill the enemy.
But she didn't let her guard down.
The monster created by Gyokko had appeared, and he was probably nearby.
Whoosh!
A ball of water suddenly flew out from the side.
Shinobu was stern and quickly jumped away without any carelessness.
The water fell to the ground and made a sizzling sound.
Shinobu turned her head and saw a beautiful pot in her field of vision.
"The Fifth Upper Moon, Gyokko?"
Streams of black water emerged from the mouth of the pot, and a twisted monster emerged from it.
It was all white, with yellow eyeballs, green lips, and purple fins on the top of its head. It only had its upper body, which was very muscular, and had no arms, but there were several small arms on its head.
The eyes turned into two mouths, and there was one eye each in the mouth and on the forehead, with the words "Upper Moon" and "Five" respectively engraved on them.
It looked twisted, weird, and disgusting.
"You managed to escape. You are indeed stronger than the previous demon slayer, but you are still too weak!"
The two mouths at Gyokko's eyes opened and closed, the arms around him waving, and his voice was full of ridicule.
"Got you!"
Shinobu's eyes boiled with murderous intent.
Gyokko turned his head, and three thick arms sprouted from his strong body. "You came here with the defector, right? Let's make you into a work of art and give it to the defector together!"
Shinobu didn't waste any time and suddenly drew her sword. "Dance of the Bee Sting: True Flutter!"
Poof!
The tip of the knife passed through the eye on Gyokko's forehead, and the purple venom spread quickly. The surrounding flesh and blood began to rot.
The smile on Gyokko's face froze, and the next moment his figure disappeared and reappeared more than ten meters away.
"It's an ability similar to Mr. Aomura's!" Shinobu frowned.
"It turns out it's poison. Such an unartistic way of attacking But, it's not bad at all!"
Gyokko's eyes were cruel and filled with anger. The rot of flesh and blood on his forehead was slowing down, and soon it stopped completely, then quickly returned to its original state.
"It decomposed so quickly. Sure enough, as Mr. Aomura and my sister said, it is impossible to kill an Upper Moon with my current poison"
Shinobu held the handle of her knife tightly.
"Actually, I can also use poison!"
One of Gyokko's palms melted and turned into a pot with water grass patterns on the surface.
Two goldfish came out and opened their mouths.
Puff puff puff puff!
A stream of sharp needles shot out, covering Shinobu.
Blood Demon Art: Thousand Needle Fish Kill.
The sharp needles carried toxins that could paralyze nerves.
"Dance of the Centipede: Hundred-Legged Zigzag!"
Shinobu's eyes narrowed, and the sand under her feet suddenly exploded. Her body rushed out instantly, causing all the sharp needles to miss.
Boom, boom, boom!
The sand exploded everywhere.
Shinobu's figure flashed back and forth while quickly approaching Gyokko.
"Blood Demon Art: Octopus Pot Hell!"
Gyokko was a little annoyed, and when he stretched out his hand, another pot with octopus patterns appeared.
With a crash, huge purple octopus tentacles emerged from the pot.
Boom!
Shinobu was hit by one of the tentacles, flew out, and fell heavily to the ground, with a trace of blood flowing from the corner of her mouth.
Gyokko looked at Kocho Shinobu with cruel eyes. "Let me think about it. What kind of art should I make of you? How about cutting off your limbs, stringing them together with a knife, and inserting them into your head?"
Shinobu grabbed something and threw it at Gyokko.
A stream of high-pressure water spurted out from the pot, and the wooden board instantly fell apart. Gyokko mocked, "With such a weak counterattack, you are worse than the demon slayer just now
Before her death, her struggle and screams inspired me to create the great work before. You can see it. Isn't it shocking? Isn't it—"
He stopped suddenly and turned to look to the side.
A figure with black hair and golden eyes was outlined in the air.
The next moment, Gyokko flew directly out, and his upper body instantly exploded into a bloody mist.
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