"Is that so?"
Hearing Akaza's words, Vincent Fox actually looked relaxed.
"Then I just have to not make any mistakes."
That calm confidence made Akaza freeze for a heartbeat. Then a mocking smile crept across his face.
"You really are confident..."
Boom.
The ground under Akaza's feet shattered. Fragments of rock exploded outward.
"Then let me shatter that confidence myself."
His aura surged again.
The snowflake array branded beneath his feet burst into blinding light.
Akaza rubbed his fists and palms together, low thuds echoing one after another.
Vincent stood where he was and slowly slid his Nichirin Blade back into its sheath.
Steel scraping against wood made a sharp, grating sound.
"Sheathing your sword?"
Akaza froze again.
He really was starting to wonder what kind of lunatic he was dealing with.
"Have you given up already?"
"You have that incredible swordsmanship and you are not going to use it?" Akaza's lips twisted into a cruel smile. "You want to fight me with your fists instead?"
"You will die, you know. Hurry up and say you want to become a demon."
Before he finished speaking, Akaza's figure blurred.
In an instant, he was in front of Vincent.
His fist crashed forward, the speed so great it tore a cone of dust in its wake.
This time, he was using his full strength, determined to drown the man in despair.
"Destructive Death, Disorder!"
His arms spread wide as countless shockwaves of focused ki erupted.
They scattered in all directions, invisible blows filling the air from every angle.
Even dodging only half of them would be impressive.
Vincent simply watched.
He stood unmoving, quietly running the basic Total Concentration Breathing he had learned.
His presence went still.
He sank inward.
Feeling himself.
Feeling the world.
His whole being was advancing toward something… sacred.
Just as Akaza's attacks were about to land, Vincent changed.
Silver grey light streamed across his skin. Strands of grey-white appeared in his hair. His eyes took on a pale, misty sheen, and an almost divine calm settled over him.
His heart went still.
No stray thoughts.
Returning to the self.
Ultra Instinct.
Then Vincent's body moved.
It was like someone had cut the strings on a puppet and tied them back in a different pattern.
His posture shifted by the tiniest margins, his body swaying in the narrow gaps between Akaza's attacks, letting every invisible blow slip past him.
Not even the hem of his haori was touched.
"This is…"
Rengoku and the others had rushed over in time to see it, and their jaws nearly hit the ground.
"If I am not mistaken, this should be the legendary Transparent World..."
Rengoku spoke slowly, each word ringing clearly in everyone's ears.
"Transparent World? What is that?" Tanjiro blurted, stunned. He had never even heard the term.
Inosuke and Zenitsu went blank as well. The name alone flooded their minds with a sense of unreality.
Rengoku began to explain.
"This is not a state you can reach yet. The so-called Transparent World is a realm where you can see through everything. You can conceal your own aura and read your opponent's movements before they make them, avoiding attacks in advance and landing powerful counters."
As he spoke, shock flickered in his eyes.
"I never expected to see someone reach the Transparent World in a youngster like this. It is beyond anything I imagined."
The three boys finally understood.
Even the Hashira could not easily touch this realm.
And this boy had stepped into it.
Their pupils trembled violently.
Meanwhile, Vincent's figure became almost hazy.
Silver grey energy thickened around him until it took on substance, cloaking his entire body.
Bathed in that shimmering glow, he looked even more unapproachable as he walked slowly toward Akaza.
Watching him draw closer, Akaza suddenly realized something was wrong.
His Compass Needle no longer worked.
When Vincent first entered that state, the array had spun like mad, reacting as if it had encountered the most terrifying enemy imaginable, pushing toward its limits.
Then, in the space of a heartbeat, it went dead silent.
As if it could no longer sense Vincent at all.
Akaza opened his demon eyes wide and stared at him, but he could not feel the man's presence.
"Stop pretending."
Akaza roared in anger, deciding Vincent had simply hidden his aura.
In his mind, suppressing your presence in a fight was idiocy.
"Die!"
He leaped high, fists raised.
"Destructive Death, Splintering Style, Ten Thousand Flashing Willow Leaves!"
He dropped from above, his punch crashing down.
The impact shattered the ground, sending ripples spreading out like overlapping willow leaves.
Vincent stood there quietly.
He did not budge.
Facing that crushing blow, he only extended his left hand.
Boom.
Fist met palm with a muffled boom. The earth under Vincent's feet splintered, spiderweb cracks racing outward.
Everyone held their breath in fear.
In their minds, his arm should have snapped like a twig.
Yet his arm was still there, steady as stone.
Akaza, on the other hand, had been forced to a dead stop, body hanging rigid in the air.
Vincent slowly clenched his fingers.
Akaza's fist crumpled in his grip.
Blood ran down through the gap between Vincent's fingers and dripped onto the ground.
He looked like a war god, utterly composed in the middle of the carnage.
"What…?"
Akaza stared in disbelief.
His left hand flew forward.
"Destructive Death, Air Type!"
Six invisible punches slammed toward Vincent in quick succession.
Vincent tilted his head slightly, letting the first two strikes meant for his skull slip past his cheek, then snapped his left arm down.
He wrenched Akaza straight out of the air and drove him into the ground.
The already shattered earth split open again with a deafening crash, leaving a man-shaped crater.
When the dust settled, Vincent stood at the rim, looking down at the crumpled Akaza.
Akaza's forearm had been completely torn off by that slam.
Blood gushed at Vincent's feet.
"H… how… how is this possible..."
Akaza struggled to his feet, injuries already beginning to heal.
The severed left arm slowly grew back.
He stared at Vincent's near-divine figure, completely stunned.
This overwhelming pressure, this absolute dominance.
He had only ever felt something like it from Muzan.
That sense of an enemy you could never defeat.
"So this is the true peak of martial arts...?"
Akaza leapt out of the crater and stared at Vincent.
For the first time, the thought of running entered his mind.
Run.
Without hesitating again, he turned and bolted.
Each stride covered more than ten meters, the ground cracking under his feet.
"Do not let him get away. The sun is almost up."
Seeing Akaza flee, Rengoku drew his blade and gave chase.
This was the first time an Upper Rank had been beaten back by Demon Slayers. They had to kill him here.
If they let him escape, every Upper Rank would soon learn about their strength.
And Vincent's Transparent World would be exposed too, painting a target on his back for a swarm of Upper Ranks to hunt.
In Rengoku's mind, if that happened, Vincent would stand no chance against so many centuries-old monsters.
He turned into a flaming tornado and sprinted after Akaza at full speed.
Even so, the distance between them continued to grow.
Just as Akaza was about to pull completely out of reach, a flash of sword light split the night like a bolt of lightning.
----------------------------------------------------
The deeper he goes, the more the truth unravels. Don't wait read ahead and witness Vincent's rise before the world catches up!
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