"Ohhh!"
Under the erosion of the suddenly erupted wisteria poison within his body, his form was disintegrating at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Doma looked down at his hands, which had become like melting ice cream, and couldn't help but let out an exclamation of wonder.
"So that's it. I was wondering why they were in such a hurry to have me eat them. Turns out they were hiding poison in their bodies?
How strange. Such a massive amount of toxin—why couldn't I detect it before?
Could it be a situation similar to what the Holy Maiden experienced hundreds of years ago?"
"He's succumbing to the poison!"
Under the erosion of that massive amount of wisteria poison, the two ice dragons Doma had released earlier were also rapidly disintegrating.
"His Blood Demon Art is failing! Kanroji-senpai! Let's go! Take him down in one go and sever his neck!"
Looking up at Doma's body, which had melted to the point where he could barely stand, Tanjiro shouted and immediately charged forward with his blade.
"Okay!"
Beside him, Kanroji Mitsuri closely followed, swinging her flexible blade as she rushed at Doma from another direction.
"Using wisteria poison to create an opportunity for beheading—truly an unexpected yet reasonable choice.
Indeed, when facing an enemy who cannot be defeated on the battlefield, one naturally has to consider targeting them outside the battlefield. This has been human wisdom since ancient times..."
Stumbling, using the only eye still hanging in its socket to look at the two of them, Doma's purple, melted face was still smiling.
Facing their pincer attack, he simply raised the iron fan in his hand and swung it forward forcefully.
"Somehow, if I don't put up some resistance at a time like this, it feels like I'd be letting your efforts go to waste..."
Blood Demon Art: Rime — Ice Lotus Bodhisattva!
Dense ice mist erupted from the fan's surface, and between Doma and Tanjiro's group, an enormous Bodhisattva ice statue over ten meters tall instantly condensed!
The Bodhisattva was entirely crystalline, seated upon a lotus pedestal, wearing a lotus crown upon its head, draped in a kasaya cloak, hands pressed together in prayer, eyes closed in benevolent serenity.
[What... is this thing?]
Tanjiro looked up at this enormous ice Bodhisattva radiating an eerie chill, stunned in place, his mouth falling open subconsciously.
This demon's body was nearly rotted away, yet he still had the strength to create such a massive construct?!
"Tanjiro! Dodge quickly!"
Just as Tanjiro was frozen in shock, the ice Bodhisattva suddenly moved.
Accompanied by earth-shaking tremors, it sat upon its lotus platform and almost instantly charged before Tanjiro, raising one palm and smashing it down fiercely!
Boom!
The entire lotus church seemed to shake from this strike. Barely dodging this palm by a hair's breadth, Tanjiro looked back and saw that the ground where he had been standing just now had been smashed into a palm print nearly two meters long, with countless cracks densely covering the surrounding floor.
The power of this ice Bodhisattva was astonishing. Compared to it, the ice dragons Doma had created before were like earthworms in the mud!
Without a doubt, if his reaction had been any slower just now, Tanjiro would have become Tanjiro paste.
"You two, do your best～"
On the platform behind the ice Bodhisattva, Doma had already sat down cross-legged.
His body, more than half disintegrated under the poison's erosion, was still smiling as he said:
"I'm going to start breaking down the toxin now. If you two don't hurry, you'll miss this opportunity that those two little girls went through so much trouble to win for you～"
Doma's words were full of provocation.
"Senpai! We absolutely cannot let him recover!"
"I understand!"
Not far away, Kanroji Mitsuri charged left and right, trying to circle around this enormous ice Bodhisattva.
But each time, she was forcibly blocked by this high-speed moving ice Bodhisattva, completely unable to approach Doma behind it.
[No good, at this rate...]
"Kanroji-senpai! Together!"
"Okay!"
After several failed charges, the two finally decided to join forces, rushing at Doma from the left and right sides of the ice Bodhisattva simultaneously.
This lotus church was spacious enough, and Doma was now powerless to create another ice Bodhisattva.
Therefore, as long as the two of them kept enough distance apart, with one person keeping it occupied while the other circled around from behind, they would definitely be able to approach Doma!
The question was: who would keep the ice Bodhisattva occupied?
"Oh～so you've left this difficult problem directly to me?"
Instantly understanding Tanjiro and Mitsuri's plan, looking at the two charging at him from both left and right, Doma was momentarily somewhat troubled.
"Then I suppose I should block that physically gifted little lady after all. After all, she does seem stronger..."
But Doma immediately made his decision, commanding the ice Bodhisattva to turn and charge directly at Kanroji Mitsuri!
"Tanjiro! I'm counting on you!"
*Boom—boom boom!*
Behind him, the sounds of the ice Bodhisattva's giant palms striking down rang out in succession. Hearing Mitsuri's shout, Tanjiro didn't hesitate.
"Demon! Take this!"
Seizing this opening while the ice Bodhisattva went to intercept her, he charged at full speed toward Doma before him, raised the Nichirin Blade in his hands, and fiercely slashed at his neck!
Time seemed to become infinitely slow at this moment, his heart pounding in his chest.
Looking at Doma's half-melted face, looking at the smile on his face, looking at his Nichirin Blade drawing ever closer to Doma's neck, Tanjiro's heart was tense to the extreme at this moment.
He didn't understand—why was this demon still smiling at this moment?
Didn't he feel fear? Didn't he feel afraid?
Or could it be that he was actually hiding some trump card, that he had deliberately let him approach?
What could it be? Where?
Even his breathing stopped subconsciously. In this tension stretched to its absolute limit, Tanjiro's blade finally fell.
Nothing.
No hidden trump card, no trap whatsoever.
His Nichirin Blade cut through without any obstruction—even effortlessly—severing Doma's neck?!
[I... cut off his head?]
The blade swept past, and Doma's neck severed with a sound, his head rolling to the ground with a clunk.
[I killed... Upper Rank Two?]
Having personally slain this incredibly powerful demon, looking down at the head falling toward the ground, Tanjiro felt no joy whatsoever in his heart at this moment.
On the contrary, he instead felt something was off.
How to put it... should he say it was too easy?
Although Doma was indeed poisoned and had indeed put up resistance against them.
But Tanjiro couldn't shake the feeling that this demon had never given his all.
Even releasing that ice Bodhisattva felt like he was just going through the motions, proving that he had indeed made an effort—a perfunctory feeling...
Was this his imagination?