Chapter 94: Stance and Core Integration
Aside from certain... delicate areas, the human face is one of the most
nerve-dense regions of the body. Kyojuro's punch had squarely shattered the
demon's nose. A surge of intense, stinging pain and muscle spasms exploded
across the monster's features, erupting into a massive flower of gore.
Stunned by the impact, the demon's head snapped back, causing its Blood Demon
Art to collapse instantly.
Obanai didn't miss the opening. His blade blurred like a silver serpent,
surgically severing both of the demon's arms. Kyojuro pivoted smoothly into his
next move.
"Flame Breathing, First Form: UNKNOWING FIRE!"
A straight line of fire tore through the demon's legs. The monster collapsed
onto the bridge with a heavy thud.
Damn brats... I'll make you feel my pain in a second... just one more warp...
It tried to focus its mind to trigger the Blood Demon Art again. But Kyojuro
didn't give it the chance. He reversed his grip and slammed the heavy metal
pommel of his sword directly into the demon's shattered nose.
Another shockwave of blinding pain hit the demon's brain. The warp-calculation
failed again.
"NATSUYA-ANIKI! WE'VE PINNED IT DOWN!"
Kyojuro shouted enthusiastically while raining a relentless barrage of punches,
kicks, and pommel-strikes onto the demon's face.
Obanai: "..." This fighting style... why does it feel so familiar? He touched
the faint bruise on his own forehead, which began to throb in sympathetic pain.
"Kyojuro, you can probably stop now," Obanai whispered. "The demon... it's
already unconscious."
The Owl Cub didn't slow down. He continued to hammer away at the monster. "ANIKI
SAID THAT DEMONS DON'T FEEL PAIN AND ARE INCREDIBLY CUNNING! WE MUST MAINTAIN
TOTAL SUPPRESSION TO PREVENT A WARP-OUT!"
He punctuated the sentence with a heavy downward strike to the demon's jaw. The
monster didn't even groan.
Demons don't... feel pain? Obanai looked at the demon, whose face had been
beaten into an unrecognizable pulp, then back at the high-energy Kyojuro. He was
speechless.
Natsuya walked over, his boots clicking on the bridge. "Good work, both of you.
That was a solid team effort."
"Kyojuro's punch was the turning point," Obanai said, looking away.
Kyojuro beamed. "We almost lost for a second! Aniki!"
Natsuya looked at the demon. Its body was trying to knit itself back together,
but its consciousness was locked in a hard stun. Natsuya raised his right hand.
Flame Breathing began to circulate through his system.
A heat much denser and more searing than Kyojuro's began to coil around his
fist. Power rose from his heels, traveled up his spine, and funneled into his
arm, concentrating entirely at the knuckles of his Wind-Breaker gauntlet.
Falling Star.
"Style: HELL-SENT BURIAL STRIKE!"
BOOM!
A sound like a thunderclap detonated on the bridge. The wooden planks and the
demon's skull shattered simultaneously under the impact. In the resulting
crater, nothing was left but a few flecks of meat and a spray of blood.
It was a technique Natsuya had totally made up on the spot, but backed by the
massive multiplier of his Breathing Style, the raw DPS was beyond human
comprehension.
Obanai Iguro stood there, frozen. ( ° _ ° )?
He just... punched the head into nothingness? He was used to Natsuya "stealing
the last hit," but the sheer violence of this one was a bit much.
Noticing the boy's shock, Natsuya offered a patient explanation. "Breaking a
demon's head with your bare hands isn't as hard as you think. Just treat it like
smashing a ripe watermelon."
"Honestly, compared to that, you Water-users trying to slice through two-meter
boulders without chipping your swords? Now that sounds difficult."
Obanai blinked. "What are you talking about? Slicing boulders?"
Since when was that part of the Water Breathing curriculum? He thought the
training was just about meditating by the lake and mastering the forms. The
"Boulder-Cutting" part sounded like a Stone Breathing quest.
Seeing the boy's confusion, Natsuya realized the truth. I guess Urokodaki's
'Boulder-Test' is a special legacy mod he only uses for his own kids.
Natsuya stood up. The headless demon body was already beginning to turn to ash.
Since decapitation via Nichirin-steel killed demons, crushing the skull with a
Nichirin-forged gauntlet achieved the same objective.
"NATSUYA-ANIKI! TEACH ME THAT MOVE!"
Kyojuro accepted the logic instantly. He was fascinated by the way Natsuya had
funneled his entire body weight into that one point.
"Don't worry about copying my build," Natsuya said. "If you master Flame
Breathing, you'll be able to hit just as hard. It's all about kinetic
efficiency."
In Natsuya's view, any style could reach the peak if the user understood the
"Source Code" of their own anatomy.
"Can... can Water Breathing do that too?" Obanai asked.
He doubted himself. His physical strength was lower than average. Could a
"fluid" style like his ever reach that level of crushing power?
Natsuya thought for a second. "Water Breathing relies on flow and
transition—soft power meeting hard force. You can reach the peak, sure. But if
you focus too much on the flowy, flashy parts, your strikes become
'noodle-armed'."
Natsuya had noticed Obanai's style was heavily skewed toward [Tech] and
[Evasion].
"If you sacrifice the body-stat boost of the Breathing Style for just the fancy
movements, you lose your 'Oomph.' You become all 'Show' and no 'Go'."
Obanai perked up, sensing a lesson. "How do I stop being... noodle-armed?"
Natsuya demonstrated a few stances. Each was rooted, his muscles coordinated as
a single unit.
"You have to integrate the core. Stance Unity. Power starts in the feet, is
guided by the hips, and delivered by the hand. If your core isn't solid, your
'Flow' is just a leak."
He suddenly drew his sword.
[Iaijutsu: Quick Draw]
Even without a Breathing Style, the speed of the draw was so fast it made
Obanai's eyes sting.
"Demon slaying," Natsuya explained, sheathing the blade, "is fundamentally about
destroying the body with an anti-regen tool. Sunlight, Nichirin steel, Wisteria
poison—it's all just 'On-Hit' effects. Theoretically, if your stats are high
enough and your weapon is good, you don't even need sword techniques."
"Did you catch the kinetic flow?" Natsuya asked.
Obanai: "The silver blade... it was beautiful." Kyojuro: "ANIKI'S DRAW IS
INCREDIBLE!"
Natsuya: "..." I was asking about the body mechanics, you idiots.
"Um... excuse me? Lords? Before you continue your meeting..."
A weak, trembling voice interrupted them. Nobuko approached timidly, pointing to
the bleeding gash on her neck where the demon had grabbed her. Her face was
deathly pale. "I think I'm dying. Can someone please heal me...?"
The cut looked shallow but nasty. In the eyes of a civilian, it was a horror
show. The two boys looked at Natsuya.
"You aren't dying," Natsuya said.
Still, he pulled out his medical kit and began to patch her up with practiced
ease. His movements were so efficient and steady that Nobuko stared at him in
awe. He was, without a doubt, the most capable person she had ever seen.
A bold thought began to form in her mind.
A legendary warrior... a secret unit... and he's an expert doctor? The rumors
about the 'Phantom Physician' that spread with Section 9...
It's him! He's the one! Sayo... there's hope for Sayo!
The moment Natsuya finished the final bandage, he felt a tug on his sleeve. He
looked down to see the girl clutching his fabric, her eyes full of desperate,
tearful pleading.
"Lord Physician! Please... I beg of you! Save my friend!"
☆☆☆
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