Chapter 130: Battle

Roa's brows furrowed. He instinctively sensed the situation at Tanjiro Kamado's house and found no strong life forms there, meaning Akaza was not there.

So where could he be?

Roa thought for a moment, sighed, and decided to kill the Upper Moon in front of him first.

He slowly gripped the Nichirin Sword at his waist, taking a deep breath. This time, Roa did not plan to use the Breath of the Sun, mainly to avoid scaring Muzan Kibutsuji.

Muzan had almost been killed by Yoriichi Tsugikuni hundreds of years ago, leaving him with an almost unforgettable psychological shadow. Since then, Muzan had hidden away, only reappearing after Yoriichi had died.

This shows how cautious Muzan is.

Actually, putting aside everything else, Roa was quite impressed by this Demon King. He was truly a survivor; if he couldn't win, he would outlast his opponents.

So, the Breath of the Sun couldn't be used for now. He planned to give Muzan a surprise.

When they fought, he would be able to catch him off guard. Even if Muzan reacted and tried to escape, he could quickly switch to the Light Sword and cut him down in that instant. If that didn't work, he could use some magic power; in any case, he would not let Muzan escape so easily.

So, the only thing he could use now was the Breath of Thunder.

Thunder Breathing - First Form.

Suddenly, Roa's figure vanished from the tree, charging toward Gyokko.

Almost the moment Roa moved, Gyokko's internal alarm bells rang, and it instinctively used its space teleportation ability.

However, even so, Roa's Nichirin Sword was already in front of Gyokko, wrapped in lightning, and the speed of this strike was at its peak.

If the Breath of the Sun represented unparalleled dominance and speed, then the Breath of Thunder was all about extreme speed, even slightly surpassing the Breath of the Sun.

The lightning-wrapped Nichirin Sword quickly pierced Gyokko's skin. Its proud skin only slightly resisted the sword before the immense force easily drove it into its neck.

But it was still a bit lacking.

Roa looked at Gyokko, which had already vanished from its spot, his brows furrowing as he muttered, "Did it manage to escape again?"

Gyokko emerged from the shadows behind it, its grotesque face showing a slightly panicked smile. Then, that panic gradually turned into a grin as it said mockingly, "You didn't really think you could kill me, did you? I sensed something was off long ago. Otherwise, with your mediocre skills, do you think you could get close to me?"

Roa raised an eyebrow. He felt that Gyokko was forcing itself to remain calm. Listening to its voice, which carried a hint of fear, he knew it was just talking nonsense.

Roa didn't waste words, fully aware that villains often perish from excessive talking. He transformed into a bolt of lightning, disappearing from his spot while enhancing his perception with magic power.

Although Gyokko could use its space ability to escape quickly, it was clear that this ability had limitations. Roa had followed it for a while and had hardly seen it use many pots, meaning its teleportation points on this mountain were limited. As long as he found out where Gyokko was, he could take it down one by one, ultimately killing it.

There was actually a simpler method: directly sever its neck the moment it appeared.

However, that wouldn't be possible with Thunder Breathing - First Form; he would need to use the Light Sword.

This move also had to be kept hidden. Previously, when he used the Light Sword to cut down the three clones of Upper Moon Four, although the speed was fast, it wasn't absurdly so. Using it now would undoubtedly reveal his intentions to Muzan Kibutsuji.

In any case, he had his ways.

Stepping forward with his right foot, lightning reappeared around Roa. He narrowed his eyes and said to Gyokko, "How many of my moves do you think you can take?"

Gyokko was furious, fully revealing its upper body from Gyokko.

It stroked its chest proudly and said, "My body is stronger and harder than diamond. Just now, I was careless, which is why you almost cut off my head. By the way, you humans are all filthy creatures, only capable of using sneak attacks like this."

Roa glanced at it indifferently, placing the Nichirin Sword back at his waist and preparing to charge.

Thunder Breathing - First Form, Thunderclap and Flash.

Gyokko frowned, a mocking smile appearing on its ugly face as it said to Roa, "You couldn't even completely sever my head with your sneak attack earlier. Do you really think I'll give you another chance?"

While Gyokko said this, it was actually planning how to escape.

Its perception range was poor; otherwise, it wouldn't have been caught off guard by Roa. But even with its shortcomings, its combat power was still commendable. Gyokko was just not good at dealing with fast opponents.

Although Gyokko was quick, that didn't mean it was adept at handling fast enemies. As long as the opponent was slightly faster than Gyokko, it would struggle significantly.

Compared to the other Upper Moons, it was also the easiest to kill.

After all, if its head were severed, it would truly die; it didn't have as many life-saving tricks as Upper Moon Four.

The yellow-haired boy in front of it made Gyokko feel disgusted. The moment the boy gripped the hilt of his sword, a strong sense of danger surged within Gyokko. Its brain told it that if it was careless, its head would be severed.

"Damn it, of all times, now! I need to inform Muzan!"

While Gyokko was lost in thought, Roa moved, transforming into a bolt of lightning and charging toward Gyokko.

Gyokko reacted almost instantly, but even though it was quick to respond, the feeling of being locked onto was unpleasant. This attack was unavoidable, and Gyokko had no choice but to use its next space teleportation pot.

Gyokko's figure vanished again, but when it reappeared, its brows were furrowed, and its grotesque face showed anger.

Originally, Gyokko had no idea it would be countered.

Who would have thought that the one coming to catch it would end up being countered? More importantly, Akaza was not by Gyokko's side at this moment.

At the beginning of their actions, the two had indeed been together, but unfortunately, Gyokko's incessant chatter had annoyed Akaza, leading them to part ways midway.

Both were Upper Moons, and naturally, they had their pride, believing they could easily handle a human.

Now, Gyokko would have to pay the price.

The figure enveloped in lightning charged forward at an astonishing speed, heading straight towards the position of Gyokko.

The feeling of being locked on did not disappear. This time, Gyokko did not evade. Instead, its entire upper body plunged into Gyokko. The pristine pot clanged and shook violently before finally ejecting a towering, monstrous humanoid figure.

This was the final form of Gyokko after completing its metamorphosis within Gyokko and emerging.

Its hands were webbed, and its lower body resembled a snake.

Its entire body was covered in scales harder than diamond, yet its body was surprisingly flexible. It possessed the "Hand of God," which could transform anything it touched into fish.

The so-called "Hand of God" was actually a high-speed strike with its fish-scale-covered hands. Anything touched by Gyokko, whether living or non-living, would turn into fish.

Gyokko laughed maniacally, "I originally wanted to leave you with a whole corpse, but you, a mere human, are so ungrateful. No, dying under my perfect art, you should consider yourself fortunate. Be grateful for my mercy."

Roa expressionlessly swung his blade.

The lightning enveloping the blade transformed into a swift bolt, slashing towards Gyokko's neck.

"Trivial, trivial. Such a strike is useless against me."

Although Gyokko said this, its neck instinctively shrank back, trying to avoid the direct slash of the Nichirin Sword.

As the lightning dissipated, Roa reversed his grip on the sword, unleashing the techniques of the Sword God Style. The Nichirin Sword, wrapped in lightning, delivered strike after strike.

The snow-white sword continuously swung, the lightning dispersing the surrounding darkness.

Roa's strikes grew faster and more powerful.

A cold smile curled on Roa's lips, "You like to act tough? I'll let you act tough."

With both hands gripping the hilt, Roa once again used the "Draw Sword Technique - Thunder," a circular slash that cleanly bisected the opponent's torso.

The bisected torso quickly regenerated. The Nichirin Sword was no longer as effective against Upper Moon demons, only delivering a fatal blow when severing the neck.

Even so, despite Gyokko's strategy of trading injuries, it still couldn't inflict any significant damage on Roa. In fact, it hadn't even managed to touch a single thread of Roa's clothing.

The battle continued.

Gyokko hastily defended, its hands reaching out to touch Roa, but Roa kicked it with such force that it staggered. In the next moment, Roa's fierce slash was already at its neck.

The immense power nearly decapitated Gyokko once again. Gyokko was now descending into madness, wanting to disable Roa's weapon by touching the Nichirin Sword. Unfortunately, Roa's speed far surpassed its own, making it impossible to even touch the sword.

The more they fought, the more Gyokko realized it was being completely overwhelmed in every aspect.

It wanted to use its Blood Demon Art to escape the battlefield, but the technique required a brief moment of preparation.

At this moment, Gyokko felt as if its head would be severed in the next second.

Gyokko roared, wanting to utter some threats, but Roa, expressionless, clenched his left fist and delivered a powerful blow to Gyokko's forehead.

Gyokko's attention had been entirely on the Nichirin Sword, never expecting Roa to suddenly attack while wielding the sword.

Its head buzzed, the blow lea it dazed.

The strength of Roa's punch was evident from Gyokko's stunned expression.

The blow nearly knocked Gyokko's brains out.

Although demons were not afraid of injuries like fractures, this only applied to general slashes and sharp weapons. Physical impacts still affected them.

Roa's right hand, holding the Nichirin Sword, reversed its grip. Taking advantage of this brief moment, he cleanly severed Gyokko's head.

Although Gyokko claimed its skin was as hard as diamond, in reality, Roa had broken through its defenses.

Gyokko's head rolled on the ground. Roa thrust the Nichirin Sword into the headless torso still standing on the ground, pinning it down.

Roa kicked Gyokko's head, curiously asking, "Your body is harder than diamond?"

Gyokko: .

The usually talkative Gyokko was now speechless.

Its grotesque, ugly face twisted into a sinister smile as it glared at Roa, "You'll die. You'll join me in hell."

Roa remained unfazed, glancing around and asking, "By the way, where is Upper Moon Three?"

Gyokko's face twisted into a grin, "Don't worry, he'll be here soon. Look, here he comes."

From the distance emerged a demon with peach-colored short hair, golden eyes, pale skin, and deep blue tattoos covering its body, symbolizing a sinner. Its nails were blood-red, and it wore a purple-red short robe with prayer beads around its ankles.

In its golden eyes, characters were inscribed.

Left eye — "Three."

Right eye — "Upper Moon."

Upper Moon demons had characters inscribed in both eyes, while Lower Moon demons had them in only one eye.

This demon was undoubtedly an Upper Moon demon.

Roa raised an eyebrow, addressing the figure, "You're Upper Moon Three?"

Akaza glanced at Gyokko's head on the ground, showing a look of disdain. He said to Gyokko, "Trash."

Just two simple words, but they infuriated the already fallen Gyokko.

Gyokko, whose head was almost turning to ash, managed to hold on for another half a minute, hurling insults at Akaza.

Akaza snorted, his figure disappearing from sight. He delivered a powerful kick to Gyokko's head, then turned to Roa with a smile.

The demon named Akaza smiled at Roa, "The nuisance is finally dead. I've been annoyed by him for days. I should thank you. So, human warrior, what's your name? I'm Akaza, as you can see, Upper Moon Three."

Roa nodded, pulling the Nichirin Sword from the ground, "Roa."

Just two short words. Although Akaza didn't seem as foul-mouthed as Gyokko, Roa only engaged in conversation with demons when they were about to die or already dead.

Roa had no interest in small talk, but Akaza did. He smiled again, "Hmm, I can feel it. The aura of someone who has been through countless battles. Human warrior, you're strong."

Roa smirked, "Is that strong?"

With his right hand, he sheathed the Nichirin Sword, his aura reaching its peak.

Akaza, sensing Roa's increasingly powerful aura, smiled and nodded repeatedly. His eyes grew more excited as he murmured, "Hmm, getting stronger. This aura, this level of fighting spirit. You're strong. Such a powerful human shouldn't stop here."

Roa didn't bother with words. Gripping the Nichirin Sword's hilt with his right hand, he took a step forward, determined to decapitate Akaza this time.

Akaza's smile faded, his expression turning cold, "Human warrior, you should learn respect, especially when someone is speaking."

Then Akaza assumed a martial artist's stance, his feet forming a twelve-pointed snowflake array.

Destruction Style: Compass Needle.

This was the core of Akaza's Blood Demon Art.

Like a compass, it sensed the opponent's fighting spirit, making his attacks and evasions as precise as if drawn by a magnet. When activated, a twelve-pointed snowflake array appeared beneath his feet, known as the "Technique Expansion." The stronger the opponent's fighting spirit, the stronger and more precise the Compass Needle's response.

Taking a deep breath, Akaza focused his aura to its peak. But in that instant, his eyes narrowed. He couldn't sense Roa's fighting spirit.

Could this be the Transparent World?

The Transparent World was a realm Akaza had long pursued, a state where one could freely conceal their fighting spirit. Unfortunately, no matter how hard he tried, Akaza had yet to reach the level required to enter the Transparent World.

But after a brief moment of sensing, Akaza smiled.

Roa hadn't reached the Transparent World. Instead, he had concentrated all his fighting spirit into his right hand, specifically the Nichirin Sword.

Roa exhaled deeply, and in the moment he exhaled, lightning flashed. His entire body transformed into a bolt of lightning, disappearing from sight.

Almost the instant Roa moved, Akaza raised his arms in a defensive stance. Suddenly, Roa appeared before Akaza, but instead of slashing with the Nichirin Sword, he delivered a powerful kick.

Akaza blocked with his arms, but the immense force sent him flying, crashing into several trees before landing on the ground.

Akaza's golden eyes flashed with excitement. He quickly rolled to his feet, dodging to the side as Roa appeared beside him once more, delivering another kick. This time, the kick missed, but the force created a massive crater in the ground, causing the earth to tremble.

Akaza looked intrigued, "Roa, aren't you going to use your sword? Your sword skills are your specialty, right? Attacks like this won't work on me."

Roa remained silent, his right hand still gripping the Nichirin Sword's hilt.

Akaza nodded, smiling, "Don't die without using that sword. I'm quite curious to see if you can decapitate me."