Chapter 18: All Hands in Favor |
All eyes turned to Makomo and Tengen as the Sound Hashira drew his Nichirin Blades.
In truth, few of them completely doubted the strength of the newly appointed Demon Slayer, for she had been appraised not only by their leader but also by the Flower Hashira, minimizing the possibility of an error.
But seeing is believing!
Meanwhile, Makomo placed her palm on the hilt of her sword and stepped confidently toward Tengen.
The girl didn't even consider backing down from the challenge.
Whoosh!
She drew her blade and held the shimmering steel before her with a calm expression.
The spectators' faces shifted immediately.
The Hashira gathered here were warriors who had been through fire and water. Each possessed immense experience and insight. They felt the sharp change—in every sense of the word—that came over Makomo the moment she bared her steel.
'She truly is extraordinary...' Tengen thought, narrowing his eyes seriously. He concentrated fully and lunged forward, making it clear he had no intention of underestimating his opponent.
Sound Breathing, Fourth Form: Death Knells of Avici!
Whoosh!
The Sound Hashira spun his Nichirin Blades and suddenly unleashed glowing arcs that hurtled toward his opponent like bombs.
Some of the Hashira scrambled to the sides, while Gyomei stepped in front of Kagaya with his axe raised to shield the leader's fragile body from the shockwaves of the clash between Tengen and Makomo.
'Sound Breathing, as a derivative of Thunder Breathing, possesses exceptional explosive power and speed. I wonder how she intends to defend against Tengen's long-range explosive assault...' the Stone Hashira whispered to himself, sensing the flow of the duel perfectly despite his lack of sight.
The other Hashira, having avoided the fallout, also began to wonder if the girl would choose to dodge or meet the attack head-on.
A moment later, she gave her answer.
It was an answer that staggered the Hashira's imagination.
The girl simply raised her hands and calmly swung her blade toward the Sound Hashira's bombs, without taking a single step to the side or backward.
It was a completely straightforward movement, but when it landed, every one of Tengen's glowing bombs was neatly sliced in half!
The Sound Hashira's explosive attack was like a masterpiece on canvas, its fabric torn in two by a single, simple stroke of Makomo's blade!
The watching Hashira were left speechless, to say nothing of Tengen himself, who had a front-row seat. A chill ran down the Sound Hashira's spine; a vision flashed before his eyes of his own body being cut in two by the sheer, peerless sharpness before him!
He managed to evade the deluge of Makomo's invisible cutting attacks thanks to his excellent instincts and experience, but Tengen still lost a significant lock of hair.
'She isn't using a breathing technique...'
'What... just happened?!'
Most of the Hashira wore expressions of utter confusion.
They had imagined many things in the space between the start of the attack and the counterattack, even trying to guess her breathing style. However, there wasn't even a trace of a breathing technique; it was a simple sword strike!
An extremely simple and direct blow, delivered without much strain, had effortlessly sliced through one of the Sound Hashira's strongest attacks!
Swoosh!
Makomo took a calm step forward.
In the blink of an eye, she appeared right in front of Tengen!
The Sound Hashira's pupils instantly constricted into thin slits, and his Nichirin Blades snapped up to meet the incoming blade of his opponent.
Clang!
With a bright flash and the ringing of metal, the blades collided.
Two Nichirin Blades soared into the sky.
Makomo stood calmly with her blade raised, just as before, only now she stood over the fallen Sound Hashira.
Not only had the swordswoman effortlessly suppressed her opponent's attack, but the consequences of that blow threatened Tengen directly. Every one of those cutting strikes had been precise yet lethal. With her next move, she had easily disrupted her opponent's momentum and even knocked the Nichirin Blades from his hands. It was peerless swordsmanship!
"Thank you for the lesson..." Makomo said, sheathing her blade and bowing politely to the fallen Tengen.
Silence fell.
Many of the gathered Hashira considered themselves at least as strong as—if not stronger than—the Sound Hashira, but the power of the girl's unmatched sword art still struck them to the core.
No comparison!
The Hashira realized in an instant that they, too, would be unable to defeat Makomo if they were in Tengen's place!
Upon testing, the young swordswoman proved not just stronger than the Hashira, but vastly superior. The gap between the Hashira and Makomo was like the difference between slayers vying for a Hashira title and the true Hashira themselves!
After a while, Kagaya's voice broke the silence. "I assume there are no further questions regarding the appointment? As you have likely guessed, she hones only the art of the sword, without a breathing technique. But her unrivaled mastery would give any breathing master in our organization a run for their money!"
"Therefore, I hope that she... will share her swordsmanship with us in exchange for our breathing techniques. This was the primary reason for my decision to promote her directly."
Following the leader's words.
The Hashira recovered slightly from their shock and exchanged looks, their burning gazes then settling on the girl.
Even the one who had most loudly contested the leader's decision, only to lose hopelessly in two moves, scrambled to his feet and bowed politely to Makomo, still reeling from the shock. "I apologize for my rudeness, please forgive me!"
The ultimate goal of every Demon Slayer's life is, unsurprisingly, the extermination of demons, and nearly all of them—Tengen included—are ready to sacrifice everything to achieve it.
The key to demon extermination is the strength of the slayer.
Thus, gaining power is worth any sacrifice!
The Hashira had reached, or were already very close to, the limit of their potential. Any growth in strength, however small, came only at the cost of immense effort and time.
Each of them hungered for power—power enough to defeat the invincible Upper Ranks—but none had seen a path forward.
Until now.
With Makomo's arrival, hope for growth had returned to the Hashira!
Therefore, her mere willingness to teach the Demon Slayers her sword art was enough to earn the sincere respect and even devotion of every Hashira present!
All hands were in favor.