Kyogoku House collapsed with a thunderous crash, finally jolting the courtesans and patrons awake. Bleeding and screaming, they fled outward in panic. The massive noise shook all of Yoshiwara, forcing even the most stubborn fools—those Hinatsuru couldn't persuade—to realize that death was already upon them.
The sudden descent of night had already made many uneasy. Now, terror fully boiled over. Crowds surged desperately toward the outskirts of Yoshiwara, toward what little light remained.
Kurosaki Rei turned in midair and landed on a rooftop beside the ruined Kyogoku House, looking down at the five Explorers and Daki, who had been cut cleanly in half at the waist.
"Your reaction speed isn't bad."
Kurosaki Rei's gaze rested on Daki. Her overall stats weren't much higher than Steel Cannon's, yet she had managed to react in time. That meant that even a pampered demon like Daki had, over centuries, honed a certain combat instinct—something stronger than that of most first-tier Explorers.
"Ah—! It hurts so bad! Damn it!"
After being bisected, Daki screamed shrilly. She struggled to reattach her upper and lower halves, only to find that it was incredibly difficult.
In the past, she'd fought many Demon Slayers. Even Hashira—so long as her head wasn't severed—couldn't stop her from instantly reconnecting severed limbs or even recovering from being cut in half. Yet this time, for some unknown reason, regeneration was painfully slow.
"Damn it… the other side has a god-tier carry!"
The Explorer who had charged with a tower shield and missed cursed loudly, finally realizing something was terribly wrong.
They had long felt that this world was strange. The space would never hand out an easy, welfare-tier world. Muzan's faction already had a massive advantage, and thirty-three Explorers had chosen it—eleven times the number on the Demon Slayer side. By all logic, the Demon Slayers shouldn't stand a chance at all.
And yet—reality said otherwise.
The other side only had three Explorers, but at least one of them was a monster like this man—absurdly strong.
It had only been a few days since entering the world! And he'd already mastered Thunder Breathing—using it so fluidly that he'd cleaved an entire building in half with a single slash!
"Steel Plate, don't panic. Trust your durability!"
The white-robed swordsman landed beside the main tank, his expression grave as he stared up at Kurosaki Rei. "No matter how strong he is, he's only one person. We have teamwork."
"But he's too fast. My Blood Demon Art can't even hit him,"
Morl, the team's alluring, curvaceous female caster, crawled out of the rubble, frowning deeply. She had thought that acquiring a demon bloodline meant she'd taken off in the space—but now she was facing an incredibly awkward truth.
Muzan's demon bloodline was one of the best early-game bloodlines for low-tier casters: high regeneration, high resistance, vastly improved survivability, and stat boosts that compensated for a mage's frail body.
She was a top-tier first-rank mage with 30 points of Spirit, the team's main DPS. And yet now she had to face the humiliating reality that her spells couldn't even land on Kurosaki Rei.
"Brother Yu, Thunder Breathing hard-counters the two of us. He's impossible to lock onto,"
The sniper spoke up as well, his expression tense.
"It's fine. Steel Plate, coordinate with me. We'll pin him down. Once he's restrained, you move in."
The white-robed swordsman—Brother Yu—stepped forward. His aura surged upward, and under the moonlight, the numbers in his eyes were revealed:
Upper Rank Nine.
"Looks like it's just you lot."
After sweeping his senses around, Kurosaki Rei spoke with faint regret.
After the chaos he'd caused, the crowds had already fled to the outskirts of Yoshiwara. There were barely any civilians left nearby.
Though Kyogoku House had been cut in half, he had deliberately sensed the people inside beforehand and avoided them. As a wooden structure, the collapse left many gaps—no one had been crushed to death, though injuries were inevitable.
Several figures were already crawling out through the windows, no reminders needed as they ran for their lives toward the outskirts.
"Alright. The field's pretty much cleared."
Kurosaki Rei stood atop the building. Under the moonlight, his zanpakutō trembled lightly. Purple-black mist spread out as chains coiled around his right arm like living vines.
Shikai—released.
In the perception of the Explorers below, Kurosaki Rei seemed to grow taller. Pressure bore down from above; invisible killing intent and murderous aura made their legs tremble uncontrollably.
"The gap's just… too big…"
The sniper's voice shook. He was certain now—this man had killed people even before entering the space. His combat specialization level was extremely high. That kind of presence was fundamentally different from theirs.
Even with higher base stats, they couldn't suppress him.
They had thought themselves hunters lying in wait—but what stepped into the trap wasn't a rabbit.
It was a tiger.
"What's going on…? I've been cut in half, so why can't I recover…?"
Daki, too, felt the intangible pressure radiating from Kurosaki Rei. Her voice was sharp with fear now. At this point, she no longer resented the newly added Upper and Lower Moons for intruding into Yoshiwara—she just wanted this black-clad man dead, so that the suffocating sense of danger in her heart would disappear.
"Big brother, I'm being bullied—!"
She cried out in a spoiled tone. Her back bulged, and another demon manifested from within her.
Unlike his sister's breathtaking beauty, her brother Gyutaro was grotesquely ugly.
His sclera were yellow, and in his left and right eyes were engraved the characters "Upper Rank" and "Six." His hair was streaked black and green. His bare upper body was ash-gray, while his lower half was clad in loose blue trousers. Red-and-black sashes coiled around both arms.
Kurosaki Rei glanced at him with Detection, receiving a full readout.
[Twelve Kizuki · Upper Rank Six · Gyutaro]
Constitution: 36Strength: 33Agility: 33Spirit: 20Charisma: 2
[Because the Pioneer's Spirit greatly exceeds the target's, partial skill and bloodline details are revealed.]
Advanced Man-Eating Demon Bloodline:
Possesses extremely high physical regeneration. So long as the head is not severed by sunlight-based power, or the body is not exposed to direct sunlight, ordinary physical damage will trigger rapid regeneration.
This bloodline grants massive overall stat bonuses. Consuming humans can further increase base strength, though once the upper limit is reached, additional consumption no longer yields gains.
The bloodline also provides powerful defense, allowing resistance to heavy physical attacks, with the neck receiving especially strong reinforcement.
Blood Demon Art · Flying Blood Sickles:
Gyutaro can transform his blood into razor-thin blades and fire them. These blades are highly toxic and can alter their trajectory according to his will.
Blood Demon Art · Baku Arc Jumping:
Encases the body in swirling blood slashes for full defense, capable of blocking large-scale attacks.
Blood Demon Art · Circular Slash Rotation · Flying Blood Sickles:
Spiral blood blades coil around the arms, typically used in close-quarters blade clashes.
One glance at Gyutaro's panel told Kurosaki Rei why Upper Rank demons had dominated for centuries.
Their base stats were simply too high. Coupled with well-developed Blood Demon Arts and hundreds of years of combat experience, ordinary Hashira stood little chance.
That was why the Hashira who managed to kill Upper Ranks in the original story were true geniuses—young humans who had pushed their bodies to absurd heights through Breathing Techniques, briefly matching Upper Rank demons in burst states.
But aside from the Stone Hashira, even the others—no matter how hard they trained—could at best reach something like Upper Rank Four in raw stats. In real fights, they still relied on teamwork or technique.
Before entering this world, Kurosaki Rei's overall stats had already reached around 27, with Constitution boosted to 31 by titles, and Spirit at 30.
Purely in terms of numbers, after Prison Demon's Shikai, he wasn't that far behind Gyutaro.
"Stop crying. Your face is so pretty—crying will ruin it."
Gyutaro separated from Daki, his hoarse voice lazy as he stroked his sister's face. "It's just a waist cut. You can stick it back together."
"But it's really hard to connect, big brother…"
Daki sobbed, tears streaming. "I tried so hard while you weren't here. But he came first thing in the morning and bullied me, even chopped me in half…"
Gyutaro gently patted her back to comfort her, channeling his power to help her reconnect her body. Then he looked up at Kurosaki Rei.
"You're not bad," he said flatly. "To hurt my sister while surrounded like that…"
His tone was eerily calm.
"…You really took good 'care' of my brainless little sister."
"Big brother, it hurts so much… Even after reconnecting, it still hurts."
Daki wiped her tears, unsure whether it was genuine pain or pure whining.
"Yeah… yeah… truly unforgivable…"
Gyutaro's voice gradually rose, his killing intent surging with it. His gaze locked onto Kurosaki Rei.
"Anyone who bullies my sister—
I'll kill them all."
Invisible killing intent collided in midair.
Kurosaki Rei glanced at the crowds fleeing into the distance, baring a mouthful of white teeth in a grin.
"Is that so? Then let me bully her a bit more…"
Lightning exploded across the rooftop, tiles scattering behind him.
With Thunder Breathing's godlike speed, Kurosaki Rei slashed—
Straight toward Daki's slender, pale neck.
🌟 The story is already written… waiting to be unleashed.
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