"Very well then," The demon said as she put her head back on "Blood Demon Art: Sighs of a mother"
A deafening pressure slammed into me like an invisible tidal wave. It coursed through every nerve, vibrating my bones as my vision blurred. I stumbled, a sharp pain shooting through my head as I dropped to my knees, vomiting the remains of my last meal. I attempted to stand up but the Endolymph in my ear was displaced after the last attack
"Wha—?" I gasped, blood splattering from my lips as my internal organs screamed in agony. My chest burned, my lungs refusing to draw in air. My heart which had stopped for an entire 3 seconds finally started beating weakly forcing life back into my body.
*Thump*
An emotion I wasn't able to identify stirred in my chest making me grasp my chest tightly as I greedily gasped in fear. The emotion even when drowned out by my adrenaline, oddly felt like...
'Fear? No, this isn't fear, what is this feeling?'
I stumbled, barely catching myself on one knee, my vision swimming. Before my mind could process what happened, my instincts screamed at me as my body forced itself up as if it had its own mind—just before the floor beneath me erupted into an explosion of splinters and debris.
"What the hell...?" I muttered, breathless, my body trembling from the aftershock. Every second felt like a razor-thin line between survival and death. I closed my eyes as I focused on my thoughts
'Think Aoyama, what was that? and why did it do so much damage? It got through my defenses, assaulted my internal organs, and got me off-balance.'
'Wait, balance?'
The Endolymph is a fluid in the inner area of the ear that is responsible for the balance of the body. Sometimes you can displace these fluids, like when you spin around too quickly which could lead to a loss of balance.
Then those invisible vibrations that could somehow enter my body despite me blocking them, severely damaging my internal organs and upsetting the balance in my body, coupled with the knowledge I had about the demon's lullabies.
"Sound waves?"
"Oh? You're more intelligent than you look child" the demoness purred as she licked her lips "You almost make me want to keep you alive... just for myself."
"So what?" I scoffed, trying to stall for time while my body slowly regained control. "You gonna let me go?"
Even though I meant that as a joke, I felt my chest tighten in discomfort as the feeling in my chest amplified. Unconsciously, a tear slipped through my eye.
"Mmm, perhaps you didn't hear me before," she said, her hands raising toward me. "I said almost."
My body moved on its own—instinct taking over and leaping high into the air—just before the floor beneath me erupted into a storm of splinters. Without thinking, I drove my sword into the ceiling, hanging from it to avoid falling into the trap below.
*Thump*
A moment later, the floor magically repaired itself as I twisted my sword falling back on the ground. The weird feeling in my gut tried to burst out once again, sending a weird sense of happiness through my body.
"Seriously?" I muttered as the repaired floor confirmed my hypothesis "Not only does she have invisible unblockable attacks, but she's fused with the mansion itself? No wonder she didn't die, her real neck must be hidden somewhere here"
"What?" The demoness blinked in surprise, a brief flicker of panic flashing across her face before she quickly composed herself. Her smug smile returned, but I'd already caught the slip.
"What a clever boy," she cooed, masking her unease. "I see... perhaps this isn't the first time you've faced a demon like me and the fact that you're alive to tell the tale...you killed it didn't you?"
"Troublesome" I muttered ignoring her and holding up my sword, trying to think of a plan "Sound waves are invisible, the only way I can react to them is by relying on my unnatural instincts and forcing my body to go past the speed of sound."
'But I can only move faster than sound using the 12th form of Water Breathing' I inhaled as I dashed at the demoness 'Using the twelfth form will leave me vulnerable for half a second, more than enough time for me to get attacked by sound'
'Then there's this mansion' I sighed in frustration as she raised her hand 'It's huge, I have no idea where her neck is either'
*Thump*
And yet, despite the unfavorable odds, an odd feeling in my chest only grew stronger bringing more happiness. It was as if the more hopeless the situation became, the more joy I received.
"It's useless" The demoness scowled as the floor below me suddenly shifted, throwing me off into a nearby wall. I slammed against it, feeling the impact rattle my bones,
"Alright" I growled through my clenched teeth as I tightly gripped my sword, the wooden handle on it creaking from the force I applied as I raised my sword "I'm out of patience now"
"Water Breathing: First Form- Water Surface Slash"
The blade roared to life, a torrent of concentrated power erupting from the tip as I unleashed a massive horizontal slash. The demoness barely had time to register the attack before the strike cleaved through her torso, splitting her clean in half. The slash didn't stop there—it surged forward, carving through the mansion's walls behind her, ripping the structure apart and collapsing an entire section of it in an explosion of splinters and dust.
I exhaled slowly, smoke rising from the friction on my blade.
'Instead of all that complicated thinking, I'm just going to cut down the entire mansion'
*Thump*
"Argh" The demoness groaned in pain from a body part of her being cut down, as she slammed both her hands into the ground, fixing the broken-down walls "You dare?"
On command, the entire mansion began to writhe like a living creature. The floor beneath me twisted and buckled as walls shifted violently, reshaping the layout in seconds. Rooms folded into each other, corridors stretched and warped, and doors vanished, replaced by fleshy, pulsating outlets.
*Thump* *Thump*
"A knock-off Infinity castle eh?" I should have been scared, but instead, a grin made its way up my face as my heart started beating faster. "Hehehehe, AMAZING, SHOW ME MORE"
"Gweh"
"Huh?"
I turned around to spot the source of the sound I saw large mouths sprouting from the walls, jagged teeth lining their grotesque openings. The furniture itself mutated—chairs grew fleshy appendages, tables twisted into monstrous forms, each one adorned with wide, gnashing maws.
I dodged back just in time as a nearby cabinet snapped at me, its wooden frame now a grotesque mouth dripping with saliva.
"Welcome to my true domain," The demoness purred as she disappeared, her voice now echoing from every corner of the mansion "You can't escape, little Slayer. This mansion is alive, and every wall, every piece of furniture, every corner... is me."
On command, the mouths on the walls shrieked, sending out large pulses of sound. My body moved instinctively, trying to dodge—
'No.'
I grimaced as everything went black for a split second after the violent rattling of my brain. Pain exploded in my chest as my organs trembled violently, my heart stopping for an agonizing moment before restarting with a weak, sputtering beat.
'I failed to dodge.'
Blood dripped from the corner of my mouth, my knees buckling as I struggled to stay upright. My vision blurred, my head spinning as if the entire world had tilted sideways.
I tried to land upright but failed as I instead skidded to a halt, unable to properly command my body after the rattling of my brain forced it to shut down. It didn't help that I was unable to balance myself either
*Thump* *Thump* *Thump*
'That attack' I thought grimacing as I swallowed the bile that threatened to come out my mouth back down my stomach and gazed upon the multiple walls and dozens of furniture around me 'Don't tell me, can everything here use her Blood Demon Art?'
The demoness laughed softly, her voice dripping with amusement. "What's the matter, little Slayer? Lost your footing? Poor thing, you must be so dizzy."
I gritted my teeth, planting my sword into the ground to keep myself steady. My head throbbed, but I forced myself to focus.
*Thump* *Thump* *Thump* *Thump*
"I'm… not done yet," I growled.
"Clearly so" The Demoness- no, the mansion giggled "I can tell that by your face"
'Damn it, everything UV related of mine is in my backpack. The problem is, I left that bag back in the village. I used up all my UV lamps to secure the village and I ran out of UV flashbangs in the last mission, I'll need to go back home and make more
...
'Wait, home?'
'That's right' I widened my eyes as a ray of thought struck me 'I always forget, but I can just leave this world and come back later can't I? I don't need to be stuck here and wait for my death'
'But... what's this feeling?'
*Thump**Thump**Thump**Thump**Thump*
The feeling in my chest expanded, somehow breaking through the overwhelming fear of death as my body shivered in disgust, my hands clenching into fists as unease washed over me.
'I don't want to leave.'
*Thump**Thump**Thump**Thump**Thump*
Why? Why don't I want to leave? I'm going to die if I stay. And yet... my heart is telling me to stay.
*Thump**Thump**Thump**Thump**Thump**Thump**Thump*
My hand unconsciously rose to wipe the remnants of vomit from my lips—but I froze mid-motion. My fingers brushed against my mouth ,my lips were stretched wide, my cheeks pulled back in a twisted grin
I was smiling.
'Don't tell me... am I enjoying this?'
*Thump**Thump**Thump**Thump**Thump**Thump**Thump**Thump**Thump**Thump**Thump**Thump**Thump**Thump*
A sense of comfort made its way through my body as I unconsciously smiled wider the more I took in my hopeless situation.
"Heh," I scoffed. The sound turned into a chuckle, then escalated into wild, uncontrollable laughter. I laughed as hard as I could as my fingers tightly held my head. Blood started to drip from my skull as I began to roll on the floor
"Hehe… HAHAAHA! HAHAAHAHAAHAHA! I WAS WRONG, HUH? THIS ISN'T FEAR—IT'S EXHILARATION! PURE, UNFILTERED EXHILARATION!"
When was the last time I ever felt like this?
When was the last time a shut-in like me ever gambled with my life? When did I ever push myself to the brink of death and train myself, sweat dripping, lungs burning? When did I ever fight to kill?
'When did I ever truly live?'
Never.
For years, I lived safely behind screens, watching fictional heroes take risks, and imagining what it would be like.
But this... this is real.
Every cut, every scream, every heartbeat. It's real. And I'm alive. Truly, undeniably alive.
I exhaled slowly, feeling the tension dissolve as a wicked grin stretched across my face.
"Now, I'm alive. Truly alive."
The demoness stared, her eyes narrowing. The smugness was gone—replaced by something else. Something almost... afraid.
"What nonsense are you babbling, boy?" she hissed, her voice tinged with unease.
*Thump*
"Wouldn't you like to know"
My voice began to distort halfway through my speech. At this point, I couldn't even tell if the voice coming out of my mouth was mine anymore. it sounded slurred and heavy, something not human.
My blade slashed through the air in a wild arc, spinning faster and faster until a vortex formed around me. The wind roared as the small tornado tore through the room, swallowing everything in its path.
The mansion groaned in protest, furniture and objects twisting and flailing like living flesh, their legs writhing desperately as they were sucked in and flung against the walls. Splintered wood and chunks of muscle-like matter splattered everywhere.
*Tink.*
The distinct sound of metal rang out—soft, but unmistakable. I froze mid-spin, halting the vortex instantly. The room fell into silence. Broken furniture and shredded chunks of the living house rained down around me, only for the pieces to squirm and start stitching themselves back together.
I held up my sword as I saw a thin line tracing the metal part of my Nichrin Katana.
'Over time, your strikes will become so powerful that even the finest Nichirin Blade won't be able to handle them,It will either crack, shatter, or dull too quickly to be effective.'
'That's what he meant huh' I thought as a feeling of annoyance bubbled up in my chest 'But for it happen to this quickly? Tch'
I inhaled, a sense of calm washing over me 'Precise attacks. This blade can't handle much, I need to find the neck now'
'But how do I...?" A sudden idea popped up in my head. No, it was more accurate to say that idea had always been in my head, but the sheer absurdity of the idea made me overlook it, right now, this was the only way to win
'It's a stupid idea' I thought as I focused my eyes around me before I dashed off 'But if I don't, I'll lose, and that's worse than death'
I looked at a certain spot with all my will, squinting my eyes hard. A few moments passed as the mansion itself paused as if confused by whatever I was doing.
"Yep," I sighed as I blinked, rubbing my teary eyes "Didn't work".
I instantly jumped as the floor below me grew a mouth and tried to chomp me.
The air was thick with tension, the faint hum of the mansion's walls vibrating ominously. Mouths on the floor hissed, furniture groaned like living beasts, and the walls twisted, trying to close in around me. My feet barely touched the ground as I dashed through the chaos, narrowly dodging bursts of sound waves that left deep gouges on the wooden floor behind me.
*Thump*
"Why doesn't Water Breathing have defensive moves?" I growled in annoyance while dodging, I couldn't afford to stop moving. One second of hesitation, and I'd be reduced to a bloody heap.
"You're persistent," the demon's voice echoed from every corner, amused yet irritated. "But let's see how long you last when the whole house turns against you!"
The walls convulsed, and dozens of fleshy mouths opened wide, releasing an ear-splitting shriek. My body instinctively reacted before my mind could process the danger, twisting into a roll just as the ground beneath me exploded into a storm of splinters.
'That was close.'
I shot back up and gripped my sword tightly. My breathing was ragged, and sweat dripped down my face. I'd been fighting for what felt like hours, and my blade was starting to wear down—cracks forming along its once-pristine surface.
But despite everything, I couldn't stop smiling.
The thrill of the fight burned in my veins like fire.
"This is fun," I muttered under my breath, a crazed grin spreading across my face.
"UGH, IT HURTS" The Demoness growled in pain "STOP,YOU'VE GONE MAD"
I adjusted my stance, lowering my sword. "Mad? Maybe you're right....NO, YOU'RE SO RIGHT, HEHEHAHAHA"
Despite the hopelessness of the situation I clutched my head, scratching away to induce pain so I could stop this feeling, but it didn't work as giggles uncontrollably began to pour out of my mouth as I hunched over and started laughing.
*drip drip*
"M-MONSTER"
Blood.MY BLOOD. I got so caught up that I didn't even register pain when my fingers tore through my own skin. The sight of my blood calmed me down a bit as I took in a deep breath.
"Water Breathing: Eighth Form – Waterfall Basin"
With a deep breath, I raised my sword, launching myself into the air and crashing down with a powerful vertical slash. The strike cleaved through a mass of fleshy limbs trying to grab me, sending them scattering into chunks that dissolved into nothingness.
"MORE"
Walls?
Floors?
Tables?
I didn't care. My body moved automatically slashing everything I saw. At this point, I wasn't even defending myself. The feeling of cutting flesh was intoxicating as I slashed and butchered everything I could
But the mansion was relentless. No matter how many times I cut it down, it regenerated within seconds, though with how I could hear groaning sounds around me, I knew she was feeling the pain from being relentlessly cut.
"Please" The demoness pleaded, her voice now weary and scared "Stop please, it hurts. I-I'll open up a path for you, please just get out"
'There's no point in wasting energy cutting her limbs. I need to find her real body.'
I glanced around, trying to spot anything out of place, but the constant shifting of the mansion made it nearly impossible to tell where her real neck was hidden.
Suddenly, the mansion itself shifted as dozens-no, hundreds of mouths appeared on the walls.
"YOU FUCKING CHILD, I'LL END YOU"
The mouths on the walls opened, and a wave of sound rippled through the air. My ears rang, and pain shot through my body as the vibrations hit me like a freight train. I staggered, blood dripping from the corner of my mouth.
'This is fun' I thought as I grinned, but a jolt of pain shot through me as I staggered, but unlike the last times, this time I instantly recovered.'Damn… I can't keep taking hits like this.'
The floor shifted beneath me again, and I barely managed to avoid a cluster of tendrils that shot up to skewer me.
"Water Breathing: Third Form – Flowing Dance"
Twisting in mid-air, I countered with the third form of water breathing, spinning through the mass of limbs and severing them in a graceful arc. But even as I landed, more mouths opened around me, preparing to release another devastating sonic attack.
'I need to end this… now.'
I tightened my grip on my cracked blade and exhaled slowly. My heartbeat slowed as I focused every ounce of my willpower on the task at hand.
"Alright… let's see if this works," I muttered.
I dashed toward the nearest wall, slashing my way through the shifting landscape, my eyes darting in every direction as I searched for the telltale sign of her real body. At that moment, my eyes were at 120% of their potential as I did every weird gesture I could with them.
The mansion groaned and twisted in response, desperately trying to throw me off. The walls sprouted arms and mouths, the furniture hurled itself at me like living projectiles, and the ground buckled and folded in on itself.
But I didn't stop.
With each passing second, the chaos around me became more overwhelming. My vision blurred, and my body screamed in protest, but I pressed on, refusing to give up, my eyes painfully focused on the mansion around me as I tried to see through the mansion.
I couldn't explain why, but something inside me urged me to look beyond the surface.
And then, just for a fleeting moment, my surroundings turned gray. Time seemed to pause as the walls of the mansion faded away like mist, revealing a vast network of thousands of pulsating blood vessels and intertwining muscles beneath the walls.
'I did it' I thought as a feral grin appeared on my face 'I see the other world'
I could see it. Every vein. Every muscle contraction. The flow of energy coursing through the mansion like blood through a living body.
But before I could fully comprehend what I was witnessing, the vision shattered, and everything snapped back to normal. Just for a moment, I had tapped into the See-Through World, and the next moment I had tapped out.
But a moment was enough to find out where the neck was.
'There.'
I turned just in time to see a faint glimmer of metal buried deep within the wall immediately disappearing.
'Her neck… it's there!'
I surged forward, pouring every ounce of strength into one final attack.
"Water Breathing: Twelfth Form – Constant Flux!"
For a moment, my blade glowed with a brilliant red light as I unleashed a devastating combination of continuous strikes, carving through the wall with relentless precision. The wall buckled and splintered under the onslaught, revealing a writhing mass of flesh and bone at its core.
But before I could land the finishing blow, the demon shrieked in rage. A massive shockwave erupted from her body, blasting me back and sending me crashing into the far wall.
My vision blurred, and I struggled to stay conscious. My body refused to move, and every breath felt like fire in my lungs.
The demoness materialized as she loomed over me, her eyes blazing with fury and her body badly battered and burned, as if her regeneration wasn't fast enough to keep up with my onslaught.
"You came close," she growled as her burns hissed, unable to regenerate. She merely chopped off the burnt areas, growing new flesh. "But this is where it ends!"
She raised her hand, preparing to deliver the final blow. Time seemed to slow as I stared up at her, my mind racing.
'No… I can't die here. Not like this.'
Suddenly, everything shifted.
My senses sharpened to an impossible degree. The world around me seemed to slow, and I could see… everything.
The muscles in the demon's arm tensed as she prepared to strike, the blood flowing through her veins visible beneath her skin. I could predict every movement, every intention.
My eyes traveled down to my arms as I saw hundreds of blood vessels in my arm. I flexed my muscles and they instantly moved, as if there was no communication time between the body and the brain.
See-Through World.
The world around me slowed down as I "saw" the sound waves coming out of her arm. I moved my arms and unleashed a fast swing. My body surged with newfound power as I slashed her arms off.
The demoness' eyes widened in shock. "Impossible!, I'm faster than you"
"You were" I whispered as I looked down at my body. I twitched all my muscles, comparing them to their previous movements.
'I understand what Himejima-Sensei meant by control now,' I thought, hopping lightly on the balls of my feet. 'So many wasted movements... small delays, unnecessary tension in my muscles, tiny imbalances I never even noticed before.I feel like hitting my past self for not noticing these'
I rolled my shoulder and flexed my fingers, marveling at how clean each motion felt—no lag, no hesitation. Every muscle moved with purpose, perfectly synchronized, and the muscles that weren't required stayed still, muscles that I previously used that wasted time and energy.
*BOOM*
*swish*
A large wave of sound blasted from the demoness' hands, but I easily dodged without looking as I dashed to my right. I turned my body around as I saw the demoness raise her hands again.
*BOOM**BOOM**BOOM*
Three sound waves blasted from her hands as I saw the tiny vibrations in the air. I tensed my body in response as I-
*tap*
Sidestepped them.
"H-huh? That's impossible, my Blood Demon Art travels at the speed of sound, how did you dodge?"
'Before, I wasted milliseconds in every swing by tensing the wrong muscles at the wrong time, or using an unnecessary group of muscles that consumed more time and energy. My body was fighting itself. But now...'
I crouched low, feeling the power coiled in my legs like springs. 'Now, everything is aligned. My body right now can match the speed of my twelfth form in my old body. Meaning...'
'I'm faster than sound now'
A calm clarity washed over me. My eyes looked everywhere as I saw all her internal organs. My eyes focused on all the blood vessels and followed them until they all converged at a singular point.
Her neck.
"Water Breathing: Thirteenth Form- Surging Tides"
*BOOM*
I broke through the sound barrier as I rushed at the neck with my full speed, Then, with a single, precise strike, I severed the demon's neck in one clean motion.
The Demoness wasn't even able to react. By the time she heard the deafening sound of the shattering of the sound barrier, I had already severed her neck. For her, it was as if I had teleported
"You..." The Demoness murmured calmly as if accepting her fate as the mansion around her, and her body crumbled into dust "You would make a good demon"
'You would make a good demon'
The same words that the last demon said.
I stood there, breathing heavily, as the world around me returned to normal. My vision blurred for a moment before settling back into focus. Slowly, I raised my arm to my face, my eyes narrowing as I inspected it.
Sure enough, the skin on my hand had vanished, leaving the muscle fibers and blood vessels exposed beneath the dim light.
"What...?" I muttered, turning my hand over, watching the muscles twitch and contract with perfect precision. Every movement felt unnervingly smooth, almost too natural—like my body was a machine, stripped of unnecessary parts and refined for one purpose.
It wasn't pain I felt. Just... clarity.
The See-Through World hadn't completely faded. No, a fragment of it lingered, merging with my reality. I could see my body—every fiber, every tendon—moving in flawless synchronization.
"Guess… I'm not done yet," I muttered, a satisfied smile on my face as I turned off See-Through World. My eyes then shifted to the Nichrin blade I was holding in my hand and my smile faded.
There was no metal on the handle anymore. I eyed the surroundings around me as I spotted shining metal fragments littered around the ground.I held the hilt up, inspecting it with a calm detachment. For a weapon forged to kill demons, it had lasted longer than most, but even it couldn't withstand the intensity of my last strike.
"Figures," I said, tossing the hilt from one hand to the other, feeling its unfamiliar weight without the blade. My eyes swept across the ground, taking in the shining fragments littering the ground.
"Maybe… it's time I finally learn some martial arts."
After all, if See-Through World let me predict every muscle movement, why not push it further?