68 Chapter 68: Casual Conversations

Chapter 68: Casual Conversations

___

"So... What's the deal with her?" Shinobu inquired as they watched Yuki and Kanao sparring, with Mitsuri cheering them on.

"You mean Daki?" Ace asked.

"Yeah, you're not planning to take her word at face value, right?" she questioned, giving Ace a meaningful look.

"Of course not. I don't have a solid plan right now. Even though I have another way to locate Muzan's hideout without relying on her, it comes at a high cost. So, for now, I'm willing to place some trust in her," Ace explained.

"And what about after that?" she pressed on.

"After what?" Ace asked.

"Let's say we successfully take down Muzan. What happens to her?" she inquired further.

"Oh, that's your concern. I see," Ace responded, understanding her point. While she supported him in the meeting, there was still lingering discomfort about letting a demon off the hook for killing humans.

"What's your take on it?" Ace asked.

"We eliminate her at the first opportunity," she declared without hesitation, catching Ace off guard.

"I didn't expect that," Ace admitted, giving her a surprised look.

"What did you expect? That I'd suddenly become sympathetic because she helped us kill Muzan? I'm not that forgiving," she stated matter-of-factly.

"Not forgiving, but I thought you'd be more adamant about not breaking the deal," Ace remarked.

"Who cares about a deal when a life is at stake? Do you think her victims will forgive her just because she kept her promise to us?" she argued.

"But a promise is a promise, Shinobu. I don't believe in breaking that," Ace countered.

"But..."

"I think it's better to end her now than betray the promise later. I don't like going back on my word," Ace stated. He didn't appreciate people who easily reneged on agreements after reaping all the benefits from the other party—unless they were outright scum, and Daki hadn't crossed that line for him.

Yes, she had killed and consumed humans, but much of it was driven by their physiology, making them crave human flesh.

But that's no excuse, and it's reason enough for him to end her. However, if she genuinely tries to redeem herself, he can at least consider giving her a chance.

{A/N: I am trying everything to whitewash her. Lol}

Shinobu sighed, taking in Ace's words, before finally saying, "So you plan to release her after she fulfills her end of the deal?"

"If she sticks to our agreement and doesn't betray us, then yes, I'm willing to let her go," Ace firmly stated.

Shinobu fell silent upon hearing Ace's statement and just watched the spar between Yuki and Kanao without saying anything. Neither did Ace.

He allowed her to sort out her thoughts on her own.

"Alright…. I'll go along with your plans, but only if she actually follows through on her word," Shinobu said with a sigh.

"And if she didn't—" Ace cut her off, pulling her as close by the waist and looking straight into her eyes. "If she doesn't, I'll tie her up and send her straight to you."

"O-Okay," Shinobu stammered, a hint of red covering her cheeks as she glanced sideways.

Ace delicately touched her hair, tugging it back to her ear, making her face flush with crimson, and leaned in.

*Cough*

Sighing, they swiftly distanced themselves, noticing that three figures were observing them, each with a distinct expression.

Yuki wore an amused look, as if she had anticipated something like this happening, also giving Ace an 'I told you so' expression.

Meanwhile, Kanao sported a frown on her usual expressionless face, conveying disapproval without fully comprehending the reason behind it.

Mitsuri, on the other hand, displayed a conflicted expression on her face.

"Uhh... When did you guys finish your fight?" Shinobu asked.

Yuki smiled teasingly and chuckled, "We just finished and came here, Shinobu-san. Also…we didn't see anything."

Hearing Yuki's teasing tone, Shinobu grew more embarrassed. Normally not one to shy away from such situations, even though it was her first time experiencing this kind of attention, what made her self-conscious was being caught off guard by Kanao.

"....I didn't notice you guys had already finished your training," Shinobu answered, attempting to deflect the attention.

But Yuki didn't seem to want to back down. "I totally understand. I mean, you were totally lost in something else, right?" she teased with a sly grin.

"Okay, enough, Yuki," Ace intervened, noticing even Shinobu's ears had turned red.

"Hmph! You didn't stop when she teases us, unfair!" Yuki protested with a pout.

Ace ignored her and turned to the other two, who had been silent. "So, how's the training going on?"

Hearing Ace's words, Mitsuri quickly returned to her cheerful attitude and said, "It's going great! My sword slashes have now become even more precise and fast."

Kanao, with her usual calm demeanor, chimed in, "The training has been beneficial. I've been refining my focus, ensuring that every move counts. My hand-eye coordination is improving steadily."

Ace nodded in approval, pleased with the progress. "Excellent. So who is stronger now?" He asked curiously,looking between Kanao and Yuki.

Hearing his question, Yuki quickly shook her head and said, "Kanao-san is still much stronger than me. It's hard to even match her movements with her insane reactions. It's so frustrating."

Ace nodded at her words.

Despite Yuki's exceptional talent surpassing that of a typical slayer, it wasn't enough to surpass Kanao, who had been training since childhood, while Yuki's training time had not even reached half a year.

Kanao shook her head in a similar manner to Yuki. "She is more talented than me. It took her less than half a year to reach where she is, and I had to train my whole childhood. She easily surpassed me in just a year."

"It's not that simple, Kanao-san. The reason I advanced so fast was because of the training Ace gave me and the enhanced breathing techniques which you didn't have before. Otherwise, you'd be much stronger," Yuki explained.

"Let's say you both are equally talented," Ace interjected, putting a halt to their comparisons before it escalated any further.

After that, they engaged in some casual conversation before they retreated to their respective rooms.

Usually, Yuki would stay in Ace's room, but he asked her for some alone time to contemplate certain matters.

As for what those certain matters were? Well, it was obviously about getting stronger. With his current strength, he wouldn't be able to defeat Muzan. Mixing in Kokushibo and Akaza with their enhanced strength, most of the Hashiras would undoubtedly die.

Lets say even if he somehow manages to stall Muzan, he doesn't believe the Hashiras would be able to defeat the duo of Akaza and Kokushibo.

So, the focus should be on making himself stronger, strong enough to kill Muzan.

First was his martial art, {Lunar Illumination}. He was currently about {8.1%} completion of it. As for how he knew it, since it was a skill of his, he could intuitively tell even without seeing his status.

He can guess the most he will be able to reach in this world is about {10%} completion rate. So the first thing he had to do was reach it before the final battle.

The second thing would be something that he noticed when he fought Doma. When he was using his spiritual energy to overexert his Ethereal Eyes, he had noticed something different about the glaive, like some form of resonance or connection.

According to the basic information pack he received from the Library, there weren't many major differences between Soul and Spiritual energy.

That's why, even though his Ethereal Eyes worked on his soul energy, his spiritual energy was still able to reinforce and prolong the duration of it.

He manipulated his spiritual energy and tried to connect it with his glaive. As it touched it, the glaive started glowing and pulsating in a bright golden color. However, that was it; nothing else happened other than it glowing.

"Hmm... So just using spiritual energy is not enough for it; surely there is something more to it. What could that be?" Ace pondered, considering the potential factors that might unlock the full potential of the resonance between his spiritual energy and the glaive?

"Maybe... It is fighting spirit. It's the only supernatural thing, other than spiritual energy, that I can think of that can help me form resonance with my glaive," he speculated, considering the possibility that tapping into his fighting spirit could be the missing link to unlock the full potential of this connection.

But controlling the fighting spirit at will, outside of a battle, was proving to be challenging. He decided to wait until tomorrow to explore this further, eager to see if integrating his fighting spirit could indeed enhance the resonance with his glaive.

There's also the matter of increasing his physical stats to the limit before anything.

"But... let's just relax for a few days until I am fully healed. Too much thinking has been done today," Ace thought, leaning back to relax.

The night enveloped him, and he allowed himself to unwind, setting aside the thoughts of training and strategy for the time being.

In an instant, he lost track of time as sleep quietly swept over him, ushering in an unusual dream.

Within this dream, a dance unfolded between a vibrant, multicolored light and a relentless grey orb within a vast expanse. They pursued each other through shifting realities and vast cosmic spaces.

The multicolored light seemed to exert every effort to elude the clutches of the grey orb, yet despite its attempts, escape remained elusive. Then, out of nowhere, an enigmatic arrow, its shape blurred and distorted, materialized and struck the multicolored light, providing the grey orb with the opportunity to close in.

As the grey orb made contact with the multicolored light, it unfurled its large mouth like a pacman, swiftly engulfing the vibrant hues in a single gulp.

Startled, Ace jolted awake. "What was that?!!"

"What was what?" Suddenly Yuki's voice reached him, and he turned back to see her gazing at him with concern.

"It's... nothing. Just a bad dream," he muttered, attempting to downplay the disturbance that lingered in his mind.

"Okay..." Yuki sensed he was concealing something, but she chose not to pry. Instead, she opted for a gesture she knew would bring comfort.

"Want to cuddle with me?" Her words held a subtle meaning, what it will lead to.

"Yeah..." Ace responded.

- x - X - x -

Join my patreon for Advance and Exclusive Chapters. And fyi there is some new {R-18} content going on currently.

Link: Patreon.com/NexusPrimodius