boyutpedia Page 35
Page 35
After the old monk died, eighteen-year-old Kyōmei Himejima also adopted and cared for many helpless children, living a poor but happy life.
But this peaceful life was shattered.
A demon attacked the temple where they were staying. The monk from Beiming Island tried to protect the children, but they did not trust him. They thought he was weak and blind, so they all ran away on their own.
To protect the only remaining child, he repeatedly smashed the demon's head with his bare hands until dawn.
When the police arrived, the child was too young and in a state of fear to speak clearly.
He simply said something that could be easily misunderstood, such as "That person is a monster, and everyone was killed by that person."
The temple was littered with the corpses of children. Of the 793 people present, only Himejima Gyomei and the young child remained alive. The demon's body turned to ashes in the sunlight.
As a result, Gyomei Himejima was imprisoned as the murderer.
Although all of this was caused by Gyomei Himejima's misunderstanding, the children did not run away because they distrusted him, but because they wanted to protect him.
The "person" the girl was referring to was not Himejima Gyomei, but the evil spirit that had already turned to ashes.
However, none of these ghosts from Beiming Island knew this.
He felt that his kindness and desperate fighting had only resulted in repeated betrayals, and from then on, Hisumi Gyomei's heart was filled with vigilance and sorrow.
Perhaps only when he sees the girl he protected again will he be able to truly find peace in his heart.
Unlike the Sound Pillar and the Rock Pillar, who both expressed their opinions again, Yoshiyuki Tomioka seemed to have learned his lesson this time and did not express his opinion.
After all, he still has a head full of messy hair.
He has naturally thick hair, making it difficult to change his hairstyle under normal circumstances.
However, when Xia Yan was rubbing his hair, she secretly poured most of a bottle of hair gel and used it to style his hair.
Now his hair is all angular and stiff, like a Super Saiyan.
Kanae Butterfly cast a worried look at Natsuhiko.
She had witnessed Xia Yan's fighting style firsthand.
The main point is to highlight one word.
浪！
They could have easily solved the problem, but they insisted on playing around with it until they were done, and in the end, they even forced the Lower Moon demon to commit suicide before it finally ended.
Whether this behavior is cruel or not is secondary; the main issue is that it is extremely dangerous. If something goes wrong, the situation could easily reverse, putting you at a disadvantage.
But at the same time, she also knew that Xia Yan had already made his decision, and it would be useless for her to voice her objections.
After all, he had already said that he would not accept opinions offered as a friend.
Does that mean I have to offer myself up first before giving him my opinion?
Although I don't dislike the other person after spending this time together, isn't it a bit too early to talk about marriage...?
Thinking of this, Kanae Kocho opened her mouth, but in the end she didn't say anything, only turning her gaze to Kagaya Ubuyashiki.
After all, if the lord doesn't agree, Xia Yan's suggestion will remain just that—a suggestion.
Seeing all the pillars looking at him, Kagaya Ubuyashiki knew it was time to make a decision.
He frowned, and hesitated before speaking:
"It's still too dangerous. After all, if you go deep into enemy territory alone, you won't even have time to call for help if something unexpected happens."
Although most ordinary swordsmen carry out demon-hunting missions alone, and are only temporarily called upon in special circumstances, the Pillars generally operate in small teams.
It's not because the Pillars have a more noble fate; in fact, every Pillar has the determination to sacrifice themselves to protect others.
Many pillars even sacrificed themselves to protect the lower-ranking swordsmen they were working with.
This is mainly because the lower-ranking swordsmen operate within the areas guarded by the pillars, and if any dangerous situation arises, the pillars will come to their aid.
Moreover, most demons are not really strong; even ordinary people with the will to fight and a Nichirin Blade have a chance to kill them.
Lower-level swordsmen rarely encounter powerful demons, and teaming up would only result in a useless waste of manpower.
The tasks that require the deployment of Pillars, even if not the Twelve Demon Moons, must be demons that ordinary swordsmen cannot defeat by sheer numbers.
If the battle becomes really intense, they will need to evacuate the surrounding population and send reinforcements to headquarters.
Kagaya Ubuyashiki's words were not an excuse.
He wasn't worried that Xia Yan would find excuses to deliberately avoid fulfilling his duties as a pillar.
To be honest, although the Pillar-level fighters are incredibly powerful and important, the Demon Slayer Corps is currently at a disadvantage overall. However, Kagaya Ubuyashiki would never force others to fight against demons in the name of righteousness or anything like that.
Even if Xia Yan were to leave the Demon Slayer Corps now, he would only offer his blessings.
What Kagaya Ubuyashiki was really worried about was that if Natsuhiko went on a demon-hunting mission alone and encountered real danger, and died in that deep mountain forest, there might not even be anyone to send a message.
The Demon Slayer Corps was originally an unofficial organization with no official status, doing the most dangerous work but without corresponding honor.
Therefore, he would engrave the name of every fallen team member in his heart and try his best to maintain the team members' high treatment, even the lowest-ranking Gui-level swordsmen received high rewards.
It would be truly tragic if someone died while fighting against evil spirits, and no one even knew of their death.
Xia Yan, however, didn't seem to care at all.
So what if he dies? You're kidding, he's the kind of person who values his life!
To be honest, that's really true.
The reason he can act so recklessly is twofold: firstly, he genuinely possesses the strength; in terms of raw power alone, he is capable of taking down any demon below Upper Moon One in a one-on-one fight.
If Muzan were to reveal his Ripple, he could potentially kill him in an instant.
More importantly, he knew he wouldn't die.
At most, he'd be like himself in the One Piece world or the Ajin world, sitting in his spatial dimension like a roast duck in a hanging oven, reading novels.
However, he couldn't tell anyone else about this. If others found out, he might really end up as a roast duck.
Chapter Seventy: Methods of Proving Strength
Of course, he could still feel Kagaya Ubuyashiki's heartfelt concern.
After all, although he wasn't a good person, he wasn't the kind of heartless bastard who could tell who was genuinely good to him.
With this in mind, Xia Yan had an idea.
"If my lord is worried that I might be in danger, then as long as I prove that I have enough strength, that should put your mind at ease."
"Worrying is only natural... after all, the one you killed was only the weakest of the Twelve Demon Moons, the Lower Moon Six."
Uzui Tengen thought to himself, but he didn't say it aloud.
After all, not everyone is as tongue-tied and unable to organize their thoughts as Giyu Tomioka, yet still able to say whatever comes to mind.
Perhaps this kind of setting can be considered cute in the world of anime, but if you actually had someone like that in your life, unless they were a childhood friend, you'd probably want to beat them up eight times a day.
'Only someone as ridiculously strong as the monster next to me would probably put my mind at ease...'
Thinking of this, Yuzui Tengen glanced at Himejima Gyoumei, who was sitting next to him, silently chanting sutras with his hands clasped together.
Then Xia Yan stood up and walked to the enormous figure that resembled a bear.
"Then let me prove it to you! Xingming, let's have a spar!"
Xia Yan's words immediately drew the attention of everyone present once again.
The Stone Pillar, Gyomei Himejima, was born with an extremely exaggerated physique and body, and his height alone exudes an unparalleled sense of oppression.
It's important to understand that the average height in island nations these days is only around 1.5 meters. In such an environment, anyone who sees Himejima Gyomei would think they're seeing a standing brown bear, not a human.
Despite never having exercised, being constantly hungry, and being so thin that even speaking loudly was difficult, he was still able to smash the ghost's head with sheer physical strength.
Moreover, since he didn't have a Nichirin Blade, he hammered away all night long, only stopping when the sun rose.
Furthermore, his terrifying strength is not only due to his physical talent; through diligent training, his physique has been honed to an extreme and complete form.
Every muscle was as solid as cast iron forged through countless hammer blows.
Before Xia Yan arrived, even if the other three pillars attacked together, they couldn't do anything to Himejima Gyomei.
It is universally acknowledged that they are the strongest Demon Slayer Corps member.
Its power is almost comparable to that of the first generation's breathing technique, "Pillar".
Kagaya Ubuyashiki looked at Natsuhiko with some surprise, then smiled.
If it were Xingming, he might be able to dissuade Xia Yan from his overly self-centered behavior and prevent him from overestimating his own strength.
Even if he were to display astonishing strength, or even defeat Xingming, I would still feel at ease letting him kill ghosts according to my own ideas.
Whatever the outcome, it will be acceptable.
Furthermore, sparring between teammates won't actually cause any danger, and it can also help them understand each other's strengths, enhance friendships, and learn from one another.
It's safer than Xia Yan having to go find the other twelve demon moons to prove his strength.
With that thought in mind, Kagaya Ubuyashiki nodded.
"Xingming, then I'll leave it to you."
"As ordered."
Himejima Gyomei simply nodded silently, then pulled out his strikingly designed Nichirin Blade from his four-dimensional chrysanthemum.
It's more accurate to describe it as a Nichirin meteor hammer or a Nichirin axe than a Nichirin sword.
The axe looked like an oversized one-handed battle axe, but the hammer looked extremely terrifying; it was a round meteor hammer with a diameter of nearly thirty centimeters, covered with sharp spikes.
This single hammerhead alone must weigh over 100 kilograms.
Adding the equally heavy axe and the iron chain in the middle, the entire weapon must weigh no less than three hundred pounds.
If Xia Yan's weapon is a heavy weapon, then Himejima Gyomei's weapon can be described as a siege weapon.
If you swung this thing around and smashed it down, it would smash a hole in the city gate.
Since there was no suitable training ground at headquarters, the two simply found an open space on the surrounding mountains and set up their stances.
"Come on horseback!"
Xia Yan still didn't set up any framework; for him, the so-called framework of swordsmanship was even a burden.