72. The Strongest Demon Till Now (8)
The injury burned each time he moved. Never did Kotaro think he would be harmed in such a way. It was fortunate that he was a Hamon wielder; otherwise, he would have been a goner.
Mitsuri was about to lose her husband there.
But still, it was important to consider how to face it. For now, he was somehow alive, but unless he could break through this move, Kotaro doubted he'd be able to kill this demon.
"Should I predict it?"
Kotaro considered trying to predict it. Instead of seeing the move and reacting to it, he would assume where the Nue would move and attack there, just like the time when the Nue was a monkey and dodged all of his strikes.
"No. It won't work."
In addition to reflexes, this Nue also had the tiger's limbs. Damn! This animal was causing all the problems. The snake wasn't an issue, since its poison didn't work on him. The tanuki was nothing noteworthy for him, as thick fur or fat wouldn't be a problem for a Hamon user like him.
The monkey was annoying, but still bearable. But the tiger… All the difficulties he faced were because of it.
Kotaro doubted that even if he reacted, using the Nue's reflexes and the tiger's short-burst-speed limbs, the Nue would still dodge him.
"Damn! It's coming again."
[Tiger Dash]!
Once again, the Nue disappeared, and Kotaro gripped his staff with full caution. As he thought before, it was silent. And then…
"It's here!"
The paw came from his side, hitting him again. Using [Tiger Dash], the Nue attacked him from different angles, making it difficult to predict, which led to multiple injuries. But the scratches weren't as severe as the first one.
The Nue was also cautious about staying in contact with Kotaro for long. It understood that the Hamon surrounding Kotaro was dangerous.
Still, bleeding wasn't good for him at all.
To generate Hamon, blood is a necessity. If Kotaro bled too much, he wouldn't be able to generate Hamon anymore.
That's why, when the Nue's attack made a huge lesion on him, he concentrated on stopping the bleeding.
"Damn!"
At this point, Kotaro was annoyed. Nothing seemed to be working. He even spread out [Hamon Detector], but it showed nothing but fleeting signs, just like the time he chased Kamanue on the rooftops.
Was there nothing he could do?
[Tiger Dash]!
And once again, with the roar of a tiger on a monkey's face, the Nue disappeared, ready to attack Kotaro from an unknown angle.
"I have to be calm. Calm."
Since randomly swinging his staff wasn't working, Kotaro decided to stop making unnecessary movements. And an inexplicable silence fell over the scene.
Whoosh~
A wind blew, and the Nue's figure appeared, pouncing on him under the moonlight. But this time…
"Here!"
Kotaro felt something. And with no options left, he moved his staff in the direction of that feeling.
And…
Ting!
As the claw fell, Kotaro's staff blocked it with precision. This sudden failure made the Nue flustered, and it bounced back to get out of the staff's reach, but as if Kotaro would give up this chance.
This is it. This is the chance!
"It's all over now, demon!"
Kotaro gripped his staff, and aiming at the Nue, pulled his arm back as if drawing a bowstring, then swung the staff with all his strength. Every bit of Hamon he had left after all the bleeding was poured into the staff. The red staff turned bright yellow, like thunder, due to the intense infusion of Hamon, and it struck the Nue's body.
"Die!"
At that moment, the Hamon Kotaro infused in the staff concentrated at its end, where it made contact with the Nue, and exploded!
[Hamon Technique: Explosion]!
Boom!
"Roar!!!"
A cry echoed through the forest, the Nue's voice reverberating. A huge hole appeared in the Nue's body, as if something had scraped through it.
Spark!
The Hamon continued to spread through its body, and as Kotaro tried to stand using his staff for support, the Nue fell with a thud.
Its body slowly melted as the Hamon spread, eventually turning to ashes.
"I did it."
A smile appeared on Kotaro's face as he looked at the clear night sky. Damn! That mother was indeed a liar. What cloudy night!
"Ack! My head… Did I bleed too much?"
And Kotaro blacked out.
…
"Kotaro-sama!"
That familiar cry… Kotaro chuckled dryly. He was lying in a bed at the Butterfly Mansion, recovering from his injuries. Mitsuri… she had come running when she heard the news. And her face… she could've made a river out of tears.
"Kotaro-sama! T-This injury…"
Her gaze fell on the huge scar left after the Nue's attack, stretching from his cheek to his chest. The sight of it made her eyes fill with tears, and she couldn't help but cry again. Kotaro-sama had been hurt so badly!
"Sniff! I'll kill that demon!"
"I already killed that demon, Mitsuri. Don't cry. Look, I'm alive, right?"
"Waaa! Kotaro-sama!"
Mitsuri jumped up and hugged him, making him groan a bit in pain, but… that's Mitsuri. Kotaro smiled and held her close, patting her head. He understood her emotions.
After all, he had lost someone dear to him before. The thought of someone so precious to him dying… it was terrifying.
Even more so for Mitsuri, since her world began with him.
"Don't worry, Mitsuri. I won't die."
===
A/N:
The fight is over. Looking back at the chapters, I realize I could have written the fight better. It is over, but I'll improve in the future.