As the controller of the Infinity Castle, Nakime's Blood Demon Art seemed like a bug to Lynn.
With preparation, the opponent can quickly change the structure of the Infinity Castle and teleport the enemies' positions, gaining absolute initiative.
If one wants to approach Muzan before he finishes decomposing the toxins and before his true strength is understood, one must find a way to break the stalemate and take the initiative from Nakime.
After much contemplation, Lynn proposed Plan B at the strategy meeting—Brute Force!
"Lynn, I'm ready."
After Lynn took out two tennis rackets and held them in each hand, Kocho Shinobu put the remaining two boxes on her back.
One on her front, one on her back.
Pressing the set switch, two hand-cranked wheels popped out from the box on Kocho Shinobu's chest.
"Next, I just need to turn these two wheels, right?"
"Yeah, you can try it first."
"Then I'm starting."
Kocho Shinobu placed both hands on the wheels and quickly rotated them clockwise once.
Click! Click! Click!
A crisp sound rang out from inside the wooden box.
As the set mechanism was activated, two fingernail-sized marbles shot out instantly.
Aided by the force of Kocho Shinobu turning the wheels, the speed of these two marbles was astonishingly fast, reaching Lynn in the blink of an eye.
At that moment, Lynn, who had been maintaining the State of Selflessness, took a deep breath, and everything in his vision began to become transparent.
Transparent World.
As one of the cheats in the Demon Slayer world, the essence of the Transparent World is ultimate focus.
Discarding useless movements and breathing, using the smallest actions to exert the greatest power, and pushing one's own strength to the limit—that is the Transparent World.
Relying on the help of the State of Selflessness, Lynn mastered this power in a near-cheating manner after several attempts.
After activating the Transparent World, Lynn's concentration rose to the extreme, and his five senses surpassed the limits of a normal state to an incredible degree, rapidly receiving and filtering information from the outside world.
In just an instant, he locked onto the few demons closest to him.
Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash!
Bang! Bang!
The rackets made of Scarlet Crimson Iron Sand and Scarlet Crimson Ore turned into afterimages, striking the two nearby marbles in an instant.
Following the trajectory of the marbles, Kocho Shinobu hurriedly ran to the window, just in time to see the two marbles cross a hundred-meter distance and pierce through two ordinary demons wandering on a distant corridor.
"Eh? Are you serious?!"
Kocho Shinobu, who originally didn't know what Lynn was going to do with two tennis rackets, was now deeply shocked.
This... this isn't right, is it?
Can a tennis racket even be used like this?
And this speed and power, it's clearly abnormal no matter how you look at it!
"It seems the effect is quite good."
Lynn also came to the window.
Looking at the demons that were gradually turning into black ash and dissipating after being hit by the marbles, Lynn nodded with satisfaction.
In fact, he had noticed it as early as when he first got his nichirin blade.
The raw materials of the nichirin blade, Scarlet Crimson Iron Sand and Scarlet Crimson Ore, which can absorb and store sunlight, have extremely strong Ripple conductivity.
By crafting marbles and tennis rackets from these two materials as weapons, Ripple can be transmitted through the racket to the marbles in an instant, dealing damage to enemies.
After that round of testing, confirming that the Ripple attached to the marbles could cause fatal injuries to demons, Lynn's battle plan was fully established.
"Let's go, Shinobu."
Lynn's gaze crossed the street, looking towards the distant platform located mid-air.
"Let's go play ball somewhere else."
...
Deep within the Infinity Castle.
After teleporting the most threatening Lynn to the hall where Kokushibo was located, Nakime's attention shifted to Tomioka Giyuu and the others.
Currently, the high-end combat power of the Infinity Castle, excluding Muzan who was decomposing toxins and Kokushibo who was dealing with Lynn, only Akaza and Hantengu remained.
In the past, Nakime would have unhesitatingly split the enemies into two waves and dropped them into the areas where Akaza and Hantengu were located.
But this time, she hesitated.
Relying on the power of her Blood Demon Art, she could clearly see images of Tomioka Giyuu and the others traversing the Infinity Castle, rapidly clearing out ordinary demons.
Although they were just slaughtering weaklings, the strength and speed displayed by Tomioka Giyuu and the others in the process seemed no less than those of the Upper Ranks to Nakime.
Especially Himejima Gyomei; after activating his Mark and receiving the enhancement from the Demon Transformation Surgery, his physical fitness was among the best even among the Upper Ranks.
Throwing these people in two batches before Akaza and Hantengu, no matter how they were distributed, would result in the deaths of the two Upper Ranks and a heavy blow to the demon side.
"It seems I have to find a way to stall for time."
After a bit of thought, Nakime made a decision.
Duang~!
A crisp sound of plucking strings rang out, and the positions of Uzui Tengen and the others changed once again.
"Tsk, what a troublesome Blood Demon Art."
The surrounding scenery changed rapidly, and Uzui Tengen arrived on the roof of a building.
His gaze swept across the surroundings, and he looked at the figure not far away that exuded a terrifying aura.
"Finally arranged an opponent for me, huh."
Akaza cast his gaze over at the same time.
The two stared at each other for a moment, and a satisfied smile appeared on Akaza's face.
"You look quite strong."
"Likewise."
Uzui Tengen slowly drew his twin blades.
In the next instant, violent booms rang out one after another in the sky above the Infinity Castle.
Boom—! Boom—! Boom—!
...
"Hmm? It's Uzui-san's signal!"
On the other side of the battlefield, Rengoku Kyojuro, who had also been teleported, looked behind him.
Knowing the information about the Infinity Castle, the members of the Demon Slayer Corps had made many preparations before the battle began.
For instance, the three consecutive booms ringing out now meant that Uzui Tengen had encountered Upper Three.
According to the plan, he should head in the direction of the sound to provide support.
However...
"It seems an opponent has been arranged for me as well."
Looking at the old man before him, who seemed unremarkable but exuded a strong sense of threat.
Rengoku Kyojuro held his sword with both hands, and a ball of brilliant flames instantly wrapped around the blade.
"Rengoku Kyojuro, please advise!"
Boom—!
...
"Hmm?"
Looking at the flames rising in the distance, Tomioka Giyuu, who was on his way, stopped in his tracks.
This was Rengoku Kyojuro's signal.
Judging by the scale of the flames, the enemy he encountered shouldn't be among the top three Upper Ranks.
Should I go help?
Or go to Uzui Tengen's side?
Looking at the signals coming from both sides, Tomioka Giyuu fell into a brief moment of indecision.
But at that moment, the sound of a biwa rang out.
Like rain falling, demons dropped from the sky one by one, surrounding him in an instant.
"I see."
Tomioka Giyuu seemed to understand something.
In the next instant, the nichirin blade fell, and a massive water dragon lunged toward the army of demons.
...
"Damn, was I seen through?"
Looking at Tomioka Giyuu, who had slaughtered his way through the demon army in an instant, Nakime's expression turned grim.
After completing a new round of teleportation, she had sent Uzui Tengen and Rengoku Kyojuro to Akaza and Hantengu, respectively.
Compared to the others, these two had shown slightly weaker strength in battle.
In a one-on-one fight, both Akaza and Hantengu could hold the upper hand.
As for the remaining Tomioka Giyuu and others, Nakime had originally planned to use ordinary demons to stall for time, and then teleport them over after the battles were over.
But now that her plan had been seen through, she had to continue acting to stall for time.
Duang~! Duang~! Duang~!
The rapid sound of the biwa rang out, and the structure of the Infinity Castle began to change.
Under its influence, Tomioka Giyuu and the others, who were on their way, were constantly teleported to the other side of the battlefield.
However, after being teleported, Tomioka Giyuu and the others were unaffected and immediately confirmed their direction, heading toward the signals.
To stall their progress, while shifting the positions of the Demon Slayer Corps members, Nakime began deploying the demons within the Infinity Castle.
Summoned by Muzan, there were now thousands of demons inside the Infinity Castle, many of whom possessed Blood Demon Arts.
Quantity leads to quality; just as the cooperation of three Lower Rank Demons could stall Uzui Tengen before, as long as there was enough cannon fodder to throw their lives away, the advance of Tomioka Giyuu and the others could be slowed down.
However, just as Nakime was focusing on teleporting the demons, several marbles suddenly passed through her field of vision, piercing through several demons standing together on the street.
After that, as if struck by sunlight, these demons let out a scream, and their bodies gradually turned into black ash and vanished.
"Hmm?"
Seeing this unexpected scene, the biwa demon quickly diverted a portion of her attention to search for the source of the marbles.
Soon, the figures of Lynn and Kocho Shinobu appeared in her line of sight.
Watching Kocho Shinobu, whose arms became a blur as she controlled her box mechanism to shoot out marbles one after another.
And Lynn, who stood before the mechanism, his body swaying and spinning like a top, whipping marbles in every direction, the biwa demon was stunned.
What scene haven't I seen? (Scratch that)
I really haven't seen this scene before!
Staring blankly at the two for a moment, the biwa demon pondered a new question.
Where is Kokushibo?
If she remembered correctly, she had just teleported Lynn and the other to Kokushibo's location, hadn't she?
Diverting a sliver of attention to quickly scan the hall where Kokushibo had been, and seeing nothing, the biwa demon fell silent.
What the hell is there left to fight?!
Our number two combatant couldn't even last a few minutes before being instantly killed.
At this rate, Lynn will soon sweep through all the demons in the Infinity Castle.
"No! I need to find a way to stall him!"
Snapping out of the sudden shock, the biwa demon began plucking her biwa again.
It doesn't matter if we can't win; stalling is enough.
As long as this battle drags on until Muzan detoxifies and emerges, the situation will surely reverse.
Thinking this, the biwa demon no longer cared about consumption and began frantically activating her Blood Demon Art to teleport Lynn and the others.
However, what the biwa demon didn't notice was that at the same moment she focused on teleporting Lynn and the others, two figures quietly appeared behind her.
...