Chapter Twenty-One: The Hashira Arrive!
『RYON』
I had to rewrite the entire chapter…
Enjoy~~
A suffocating silence filled the crumbling tower, broken only by the hiss of flames coiling around Ren's crimson blade.
The ice was not merely melting—it was sublimating, shifting directly from solid into thick vapor that blanketed the battlefield in an eerie white fog, making the scene look like a fragment of hell hidden within a frozen forest.
Doma stood frozen in place. For the first time in his life as a demon who had lived for decades, he felt something strange crawling through his veins—something he had not experienced since the days when he was human and walked beneath the sun.
Fear.
The cells of Muzan within him screamed, reminding him of a man he had never seen, yet one who lived vividly in his master's nightmares—a man who had nearly erased demonkind with a single strike.
"Sun Breathing?" Doma whispered, his multicolored eyes trembling with shock and terror.
The smile that had never left his face began to fade, revealing features twisted with anxiety.
"This is impossible… Lord Muzan told us that this breathing style had completely vanished. We tracked down everyone connected to it and killed them one by one. So how can a child like you—who hasn't even reached adulthood—inherit such power?"
"Well, it seems you missed a few…" Ren smiled faintly as he stepped forward.
"My name is Yukihara Ren. Remember it well—because it's the name of the one who will kill you."
"Kill me? Hahahaha! You're truly an interesting boy. Even though your body is on the verge of collapse, you're still this confident… how fascinating."
Ren did not reply.
He could not afford to.
His body was screaming in agony. Activating Sun Breathing (Hinokami Kagura) placed an enormous burden on his heart and lungs—far beyond anything he had ever endured.
The temperature of his blood was rising to the point of boiling, as if real flames were devouring him from the inside.
He knew he had very little time before his small body collapsed under the weight of this overwhelming power.
I'm not Yoriichi's successor… Ren thought, blood beginning to flow from his nose and from the wounds on his shoulder—wounds that no longer bled blood, but scalding steam.
I'm the disaster you failed to account for.
"Sun Breathing…" Ren murmured as he closed his eyes and focused for a brief moment.
Then he moved.
This was no ordinary charge—it was a burst of light. Ren became a thread of golden fire that tore through the icy fog.
"Sun Breathing: Second Form—Clear Blue Sky!"
Ren spun at insane speed, releasing a circular wave of scorching flames.
The Bodhisattva statue that tried to shield Doma turned into vapor the moment it touched the fire. This was not simple cutting—it was complete purification of demonic matter.
"Gahhh!" Doma screamed as he leapt backward in desperation, but the flames grazed his face. The cells in that area began to burn and decay instead of regenerating as usual.
"It's not regenerating?! The wound isn't healing?! What kind of technique is this?!"
Through the Transparent World, now amplified as the template synchronization rose, Ren could see everything.
He saw Doma's heart pounding violently. He saw demonic energy desperately concentrating to resist the heat that was beginning to seep into his very marrow.
Ren attempted to inject the wisteria poison he had prepared in advance—but Doma, now terrified of Sun Breathing, did not allow him to use that strange substance.
Ren leapt and appeared slightly above Doma, swinging his crimson blade at a speed that turned it into a bloody red flash.
Doma barely retreated in time, avoiding the sword's edge—but in that instant, he realized Ren had vanished behind him.
Doma turned and instinctively blocked with his arm.
Ren smiled as he drove the needle in with a powerful thrust, injecting the toxin into Doma's arm.
But then Ren's eyes widened.
Doma's arm fell to the ground.
Doma had reacted instantly—severing his own arm after realizing the substance in the needle was a powerful poison. He watched as the severed limb rapidly rotted and crumbled in a horrifying manner.
In the same motion, he regenerated his arm, spun, and delivered a powerful kick that sent Ren flying.
Ren flipped backward in midair, landed on his feet, and immediately charged again—this time even faster.
He understood now. There was no longer any alternative but Sun Breathing. He had to weaken Doma as much as possible—enough for the Hashira to finish him.
Faster… I have to be faster, Ren thought as his vision began to blur red.
My body won't survive more than a few more strikes before my heart explodes.
Ren gathered every last bit of strength he had and raised his sword high.
The air around him began to vibrate, the heat rising to such an extent that the wooden tower around them began to ignite spontaneously without direct contact.
"Sun Breathing: Third Form…!"
Ren unleashed two consecutive horizontal slashes of pure flame.
Doma, gripped by genuine panic, released his strongest remaining defense:
"Demonic Blood Art: Blooming Ice Lotus Trees!"
A forest of solid, poisonous ice erupted to shield him—but Ren's flames pierced through it like a hot knife through butter.
The slashes reached Doma's body, shattering his right golden fan and severing his arm cleanly at the shoulder.
Doma collapsed to the ground, gasping in terror he had never known before. The stench of burned flesh filled the air—a scent utterly alien to a demon who had never experienced burns.
Muzan-sama… save me… he begged silently as he watched Ren approach step by step, crimson eyes gleaming with the chill of death.
But at that moment, Ren felt a sharp удар in his chest, as if a massive hammer had struck him.
His heart skipped a beat—then another.
His sword slipped from his hand and clattered against the floor with a ringing metallic sound. Ren collapsed to his knees, steam pouring from his entire body. His face was pale as death, his veins bulging in a frightening purple hue.
"Hah… hah…" Ren gasped wildly, struggling to draw air into his scorched lungs.
"Damn it… not now… not after I came this far…"
Doma saw a golden opportunity.
Despite his severe wounds and burns that refused to heal, he was still the Upper Moon Two.
He rose slowly, a sadistic smile creeping back onto his distorted face—now mixed with hatred and malice he had never shown before.
"It seems your sun has set early, Ren-kun. Your small body couldn't handle that power, could it? What a shame… I was starting to like you."
He raised his remaining hand and formed a long, thin ice blade, designed to pierce straight through the heart.
"I'll kill you slowly. I'll make sure you feel every second of freezing agony as I drink your rare blood. Perhaps with your blood, I'll become stronger than Kokushibo himself!"
As Doma lifted his blade to plunge it into Ren's collapsed body—
BOOOOM!
The tower's roof exploded apart. Wood and ice scattered in every direction as a massive mass of steel and chains crashed down between Doma and Ren, gouging a deep crater into the floor.
"What a flashy… and disgusting fight!"
A familiar voice rang out, carrying an unshakable confidence.
Uzui Tengen appeared amidst the rising dust, gripping his massive chained blades. He bore signs of battle, yet still radiated overwhelming energy.
Behind him emerged terrifying silhouettes—Gyomei Himejima, clutching his prayer beads with tears streaming as always, and Sanemi Shinazugawa, drenched in blood and brimming with murderous intent.
Gyomei looked at the collapsed Ren with deep sorrow, his booming voice trembling with compassion.
"What a poor child… He bore the weight of the world alone in this dark chamber. Demon, I shall send you to hell at once to atone for your sins."
Sanemi, on the other hand, wore a grin as feral as a demon's, veins bulging with rage.
"So you're Upper Moon Two? Looks like you enjoyed bullying our little one while we were busy with the trash downstairs. Let's see how long you last against real Hashira, you ugly bastard."
Ren, barely conscious, felt warmth return to his heart upon seeing them.
He smiled weakly, a drop of blood slipping from the corner of his mouth as he whispered,
"You're… late, idiots… I almost killed him myself…"
"Ren-shōnen, you did well! Leave the rest to us—I'll burn this demon with my flames in honor of your resolve!"
Rengoku appeared beside Ren, wearing his usual smile.
He examined Ren's body with concern, genuine anger visible as he took in the miserable state he was in.
Doma looked around, and for the first time, truly understood—the situation had completely and irrevocably turned against him.
He was no longer facing a single exhausted child, but four of the strongest Hashira in the Corps, while his own body still suffered from the lingering effects of sun burns that had punched holes through his regeneration.
The battlefield was now set for the final slaughter.
Outside, storm winds began to howl, mixing with the lingering heat of the sun and the collapsing cold of shattered ice.
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End of Chapter Twenty-One.