Kai's Odd Predicament - Incredible Sense of Urgency!

23rd day, 2nd Stage

Tournament of Worth

On the outskirts of a town, there was an inn with several stories.

Not only was it big, but it also had several facilities like a restaurant, bar, swimming pool, an in-garden, lawn, and over a dozen private tea rooms.

Outside the inn, torrential rain was pouring down from the heavens along with the white-purple rumble of thunder. A light sheet of snow had already covered the grounds in the evening.

Yet, it was the sudden intrusion of a hailstorm that had forced Kai and Shinobu to come to this inn full of humans.

As much as the Insect Hashira had hated it, even she had agreed that they wouldn't find a place to wait out the storm better than this. Not unless they were to go miles beyond the town into the jungle, a prospect that had made both her and Kai frown.

The nightly attacks and ambushes of the demons had increased exponentially in the last few days.

It was as though they had teased a beehive, and now the bees were following them with murder infused in their buzzes.

The only way to get some respite was to dive into a body of water, making them lose their sense and smell. This inn was that body of water for Kai and Shinobu.

The Insect Hashira had booked a room on the third floor.

As Kai couldn't show himself to others without scaring the shit out of the people, he had used the window to come into the room.

The room wasn't overly large with space only for one bed, a set of tables and chairs, a wardrobe, and a tall mirror, but it did have a private bathroom and the facility of hot water.

And they both knew that they could use a good bath.

Kai was seated on the chair, listening to the music of thunder and rain.

On the bed, Nezuko was sleeping, covered under a white blanket. Behind Kai, from under the thin gap between the bathroom's door and the threshold, hot curls of steam were seeping out, bringing with it a soothing fragrance.

Kai took a deep breath, taking in a lungful of that fragrance.

The billowing gusts of stormy winds rattled the window shutters. Kai looked outside, eying the intensifying storm.

They were still some 6 days worth of traveling away from the Entertainment District.

If the storm didn't abate by morning, then it would become 7, Kai reasoned. Time was running out, and his heart shuddered as he remembered he had made no headway towards his goal.

Kai was as lost in creating a new Breathing Style as anyone.

There were several Breathing Styles, as told to him by Shinobu, and all were interrelated.

For example, there was the Water Breathing Style, used by Water Hashira Giyu and Tanjiro, the main character and Nezuko's brother. Then there was Flower Breathing Style, derived from the Water Breathing Style. Shinobu's Insect Breathing Style had been further derived from the Flower Breathing Style by her.

Yet, there was one Breathing Style, also derived from the Water one, that the Insect Hashira had recommended to him the most.

The Serpent Breathing Style!

It was a Breathing Style that mimicked serpents, specifically their slithering motions, and replicated it with the user's movements, techniques, and abilities.

Most, if not all, known techniques and forms focused on twisting and bending the sword like the slithering of serpents. The attacks were not direct and constantly meandered, which could ultimately strike anywhere.

This Breathing Style was owned by a single Demon Slayer; the Serpent Hashira, Obanai Iguro.

Shinobu had seen Kai's fight with the Flame Hashira, and the more she saw him in the coming days, the more she had come to understand his fighting style.

Kai was aware of it because he had deliberately shown the ins and out of his Sword Style so that he could get a hint from her teachings.

But it had all been in vain.

From what he had come to know about Serpent Breathing, its foundation lay in the wave-shaped swords and a serpent's movement.

After nights of careful deliberation, Kai had reflected that he could turn his Slither Steps Ability into a Sword Style using the Serpent Breathing Style. It was enticing, but he didn't want that.

His goals was precise — to fuse his movement Ability and the Sword Style into one.

So, Kai had eliminated the Serpent Breathing Style from his list of things to learn from this Verse Fusion Random World.

Yet, the problem persisted with no foreseeable solution.

Hours and days of meditation, practicing Total Concentration Breathing Art, and the Insect Hashira's teaching was useless if he could not even create a Breathing Style, Kai knew.

According to Shinobu, Kai already had the physique and knowledge to start his journey as a Demon Slayer, if he hadn't been so stubborn about it.

How could Kai tell her he was already pressed for time, and if he were to fail in creating a Breathing Style, then he would never return to this world?

Then there was the matter of the Sponsors.

Now, they all knew Kai was hiding a great secret in his Stats.

The best choice would have been to use D-Mail after talking to Shadow Origin, Kai contemplated, drumming his fingers on the chair's arms. In that case, I could have avoided the odd relationship I developed with the other four Sponsors by not replying to their requests related to the Multiverse Id. Sigh!

This sigh wasn't that of regret, but of knowing the limits of D-Mail.

As hideous and indefensible the effect of this ACT was, D-Mail wasn't infallible.

First, if Kai had used D-Mail just after talking to Shadow Origin, it would've changed nothing. Because 24 hours before that moment, he had been unconscious.

Even after receiving the message, he wouldn't have remembered it and instead would have repeated all the actions he had taken after waking up, creating a hideous time loop.

For this very reason, Kai had always been making sure that he was in good condition 24 hours in advance before planning to use the ACT a day later.

Second, as D-Mail could send the mail up to 5 days back in the past, he could also set the timer for him to receive the mail 72 hours before (-as he was unconscious for 48 hours-).

But that would have gone against the self-imposed rule of not using D-Mail over once in a single Random World.

Not to mention, both Rintaro and Meg had already warned him not to use D-Mail twice in a row to send back a message 24 hours in the river of time, as the divergence resulting from those uses could be heinous, to say the least.

Kai couldn't even fathom the changes that would have occurred if he were to send a message 72 hours in the past, especially when he had already used it before.

Third, he could've waited for 24 hours after waking up to contact the Sponsors and use the D-Mail, too.

But after thinking about it for that entire day, Kai had concluded there was no benefit to it.

Even if he could've undone the conversation between him and Shadow Origin, it wasn't the problem he was facing anymore.

It was the fact that they knew it was a Verse Fusion. And no matter what, with the time remaining in this Random World, they would've found it out, eventually.

The thought of the remaining time made Kai wince.

He put his thumb and two fingers on his temples and massaged his head, hoping to ease the headache.

Inside him, Selene's intangible form hissed concernedly, sending a burst of Soul Chill.

A chill ran down his spine, freezing his soul by the faintest amount.

**************

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