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Moraine had struck gold with Kai's Verse Fusion, she knew.
Elegant Breathing Style was one of those Abilities that pushed a Contestant beyond, just like Red Sun's Angel Arm, Meg's Origami Tailed Beasts, and Spawn's Necroplasm-powered Byakugans.
Even with the Grim Butterfly Wings and her Iron Man armor, Moraine had always lacked a decisive power that belonged to her alone.
The Verse Fusion Random World gave her a chance that she had always been waiting for.
And the daughter of Tony Stark stood true to her words; to herself.
However, there were some inherent limits to all this, too.
Unlike Kai, whose Verse Fusion it was, Moraine was bound to never know Bankai as known to the Characters within this world.
The timeline laws just didn't resonate with her as they did with her master.
So, even though Moraine had also gained the Standalone Title — Demon Slayer, she would never birth the demon slayer marks, cause resonance between them, and go through a qualitative change about her. Not in this world.
It was for the same reason that, unknown to the Demon Slayers, she never underwent Spiritual Awakening, meaning — Moraine the Elegant had no Shikai.
That's why she had to make up for the gap between the concepts using her Armor, Grim Butterfly's Blessing, and Kai's turning her into a Level 3 Ephemeral Demon.
In all this, the demonic transformation was temporary. Still, in a battle of such stakes, it had been enough.
Or so Moraine had thought after beheading Gyokko.
Or so Moraine had believed when she used the Ninth and final form of Elegant Breathing Style, trying to end Hantengu with one, decisive strike.
She had overestimated herself, and Kai, looking from the sky, knew it as well.
…
The giant Claymore hacked at Hantengu's tiny figure secured within the coiled branches.
Zohakuten's eyes seemed to have gone blank, sight abandoning him.
Moraine had arrived fast; faster than the speed of sound.
Not even a demon of his caliber could stop her now.
Drum-mm-mmm-mmmm-mmm!!!
The sound of drumming echoed far and wide.
Surprisingly, Zohakuten hadn't even moved his hands.
Then who was striking the drums? Where were these drums?
Surrounded by thick, boiling Mana, Moraine was about to finish the job when she paused midair.
Suddenly, a dense sense of fear, doom, and death overwhelmed her senses.
She had felt such things only once before — when her lord had looked at her over his shoulder, ordering her to look after Shinobu.
Moraine couldn't move; couldn't breathe; couldn't tremble even if she wanted to.
"You brutes who torment the weak…"
Zohakuten's voice entered her ears like the strikes on a drum.
Hanging midair, she shifted her trembling gaze and looked at him, but couldn't see anything; other than raw hatred.
Moraine could feel it in her bones.
This hatred was replacing all emotions within her.
Her ears began bleeding. Her skin split apart. The Grim Butterfly Wings shattered.
Even the transformation brought about by Kai's Skill melted away, her skin gaining a bluish, bloodless tinge.
"Unpleasantness…"
Zohakuten spat the word out with pure hatred.
The five drums hanging behind his back fused into him.
"Unhappiness…"
The gold armor Zohakuten donned vanished under his skin as well.
"Extremity…"
Boundless Spiritual Power surged around Zohakuten, draconic roars deafening the ears.
"You awful villains!"
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
The Spiritual Pressure alone flattened Zohakuten's surroundings.
Moraine was sent flying almost as fast as she had approached the demon.
Then, HATRED looked at the Demon Slayers and raged his heart out.
"Incarnate my Rage —"
The world went silent and the colors retreated.
"— Ryūjin Zohakuten!!!"
…
The sky turned red as if hated all beings under it.
Booom!
The leaves, trees, fields of grasses, rives, and even stones puled red in hatred.
Boooom!!
The earth hated everyone the most, oozing redness like eying all standing on it were its mortal enemies.
Booooom!!!
And then, with one breath, all this abundant hatred collapsed at one point.
Booooooooommmmmm!!!
HATRED was standing there, letting out pulses of Spiritual supersonic booms.
Over a thousand feet tall, Ryūjin Zohakuten was a mass of pure hatred, descended into this world to crush the villains.
He had no face, but blackness surrounding two red blobs.
Veins of red hatred were coursing through his body, pulsing with unimaginable dense Spirituality.
His lower half had become a mountain-like abomination, adding to his colossal appearance.
But, even all the hatred and redness and blackness couldn't hide the hole in his chest.
The Upper Rank Four's Resurrección form lifted its head and roared, a giant blob of redness cracking open on his face.
ROARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!
A black and red hole tore through space behind the demon.
From the hole, five black dragons with red bellies came flying out, roaring out their hatred at the world.
One of the dragons twisted its head and planted its pulsating eyes at the Demon Slayers on the ground.
Spatial cracks surrounded the dragon's head as it growled.
Then, in a fraction of a second, it opened its humongous jaw and…
… spat out a pillar of red, laser-like beam.
…
There were no words to describe the bombastic majesty of destruction.
It was like a mini-nuclear bomb had gone off where the demon slayers were, a giant mushroom cloud rising high in the air.
There was no Swordsmith Village anymore.
The blast covered hundreds of meters, vaporizing everything in existence instantly.
…
"What are you doing?!!" The Water Hashira raged. "You bastard! I will kill you!!"
The Wind Hashira was howling like a mad wolf, too.
The Mist and Serpent Hashiras had gone wild as well, slashing at Kai from afar.
Surprisingly, even the Love Hashira was eying him as if she wanted to hack Kai into hundreds of pieces.
Only the Stone and Sound Hashiras weren't moving so sporadically.
However, there was a touch of evil inside their eyes, their teeth grinding against each other.
"Ami… tabha…" The Stone Hashira slammed his palms together. "I… don't… hate you."
The Sound Hashira tried to smile, burying the bubbling hatred. "Now… that was flamboyant!"
The Hashiras had been pleading to Kai for a while to let them join the fight and put an end to all this in one swift attack.
They also wanted to save the villagers as soon as possible before more could get hurt.
However, Kai didn't let them, keeping a calm composure.
Then, things happened too fast for any of them to do anything.
Now, the HATRED was influencing them even though Kai's Calm was actively countering it.
Using Ad Infinitum, Kai sucked out as much hatred from within them as he could.
The Hashiras' faces paled as they realized what they were doing, hatred getting replaced by anger.
"Look at him," Kai said, still smiling and pointing at the colossal demon. "Look at him once more and tell me your answer."
The Hashiras looked at the black-red monster and knew one thing, if not an answer.
Even if they underwent Bankai, at their prime, they would all die against it.
And this was only an Upper Rank Four!
Silence.
Meanwhile, Mayuri marveled at the sight of this strange Resurrección.
Kai faced the Hashiras and his subjects.
"Don't worry," he said, the wind playing with his hair, "everyone's safe. Believe me. But what if I wasn't here…"
Thump!
Their hearts skipped a beat.
"… what if I will not be here the next time?"
Thump!!
"… what if this demon survives today and returns tomorrow?"
Thump!!!
Kai shook his head.
"The choice is yours," he told the Hashiras and then looked down at the two, dying figures. "Same as it was theirs when they made it."
THUMP!
"Nooo… They didn't…" All Hashiras simultaneously hissed, shocked, their heads snapping toward the obliterated ground.
Suddenly, Black appeared behind Kai. He held Kai's hands, put a leg on his back, and pulled.
With a wet squelch, Kai's hands left his torso, dripping blood.
Under the stunned gazes of all, Black threw the hands down.
…
As the hands fell, some unknown force squeezed them, crushing everything.
The pressure was so great, in fact, that by the time they reached the ground, they resembled two drops of blood.
The purplish, blue drops of blood hovered in front of Shinobu and Rengoku.
Their Bankai had vanished. Their hands and legs were gone. Bones were protruding out like thorns.
Yet, there was a smile on their faces.
"Fire against fire…" Rengoku mumbled, remembering the time when Kai had visited him a day ago.
"Venom against venom…" Shinobu whispered, recalling Kai's humble smile.
The purplish drops of blood blurred, entering their mouths, and fused with their bodies.
"And…" the Hashiras said together, their eyes glowing purple, "Demon against Demons!!!"
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