As the blood-drenched air thickened with Gyutaro's killing intent, Kanao and Genya found themselves paralyzed, unable to move under the weight of his oppressive aura. The Upper Rank Six demon grinned, his grotesque face twisting into something even more nightmarish as he prepared to strike.
"Hehehe… Looks like I'll be adding two more corpses to my collection!" Gyutaro sneered, his flesh-sickles glowing ominously with deadly poison.
Just as he lunged forward, a calm yet annoyed voice rang out from behind him.
"Oye! Can you not murder my Demon Slayers? Kinda rude, don't you think?"
Gyutaro's entire body froze.
He whipped around, expecting to see another weakling—only to be greeted by the sight of a casually standing Raja, arms folded, eyes glowing with divine energy.
"Huh?!" Gyutaro snarled. "How the hell did you get behind me?! I didn't even sense you!"
Raja just tilted his head, looking bored. "Maybe you should get your demon Wi-Fi checked. Your detection skills are slower than Zenitsu waking up from a nap."
Before Gyutaro could register his anger, Raja vanished—only to reappear behind Daki.
POOF!
Daki's eyes widened in horror as she felt a tiny prick on her neck.
*"Wh-what did you—" she slurred, her body collapsing like a puppet with cut strings.
Gyutaro's face contorted in rage.
"YOU—!" He exploded into motion, his sickles flashing toward Raja's throat at lightning speed.
Raja just sighed.
"Ah, great. Here we go."
Gyutaro whipped his blood sickles toward Raja with blinding speed, his attacks so fast that even Hashira would struggle to follow them.
But Raja?
He yawned.
Then, in a casual flick of his wrist, he raised his divine trident—and suddenly, the entire battlefield trembled.
🔥 Sun Fire Thrust (Flame)!
With a single explosive motion, Raja's trident ignited in holy flames, and he thrust it forward with terrifying force.
BOOM!
A pillar of fireerupted from the ground, engulfing Gyutaro's attack and burning through his sickles like they were made of paper.
Gyutaro barely dodged, his regenerating flesh sizzling from the divine heat.
"Tch… What the hell was THAT?!" Gyutaro growled.
"Oh, just a little thing I call 'Stop Being Alive: Deluxe Edition.'" Raja smirked. "And trust me, there's more where that came from."
Gyutaro roared, his body morphing as his Blood Demon Art surged to new levels.
Flying Blood Sickles!
A storm of razor-sharp crimson blades shot toward Raja, each one dripping with lethal poison.
Raja didn't move.
Instead, he exhaled.
🌊 Dead Calm, Tidal Waves (Water)!
Suddenly, everything went silent.
The air itself seemed to still, and the world slowed down. Raja's movements became effortless, as if he had merged with the flow of battle itself.
He glided forward, dodging each sickle with perfect precision, his trident flashing in smooth counterattacks that neutralized the demon's strikes.
Gyutaro's rage intensified.
"You… YOU'RE MOCKING ME!"
"Oh no," Raja corrected. "I'm humiliating you."
Gyutaro, realizing his usual attacks weren't enough, shifted gears.
With a monstrous howl, he summoned a hurricane of rotating slashes, his Blood Demon Art now completely unleashed.
"Let's see you dodge THIS!"
But Raja?
He just grinned.
🌬️ Rising Dust Storm (Wind)!
WHOOSH!
A storm of trident slashes erupted around him, countering Gyutaro's attack blow for blow.
The demon was overwhelmed, his attacks being torn apart by the sheer ferocity of Raja's divine strikes.
"YOU CAN'T BE THIS STRONG!" Gyutaro screamed, his body regenerating at insane speeds.
"Buddy, I haven't even broken a sweat." Raja smirked. "But let's change things up, shall we?"
🪨 Stone Skin (Earth)!
Raja spun his trident, and in an instant, a barrier of unbreakable earth formed around him, blocking Gyutaro's desperate strikes.
He lunged forward, his trident crashing down like a mountain, shattering Gyutaro's defenses and sending him flying.
Gyutaro, now desperate, unleashed everything he had, using his Rotating Circular Slashes at full power.
"DIE, YOU BASTARD!"
Raja nodded approvingly. "Nice effort. A for enthusiasm."
Then, in a blink, he vanished.
🌫️ Obscuring Clouds (Mist)!
Gyutaro panicked.
"WHERE DID HE—?!"
Raja reappeared directly above him, upside-down, with a cocky smirk.
"Hey there."
Before Gyutaro could react—
⚡ Thunderclap and Flash (Thunder)!
BOOM!
Raja blasted forward at lightning speed, slashing Gyutaro across the chest before the demon could even blink.
A deep gash appeared, and for the first time, Gyutaro's body failed to regenerate immediately.
"H-how—?!"
"Because I'm awesome, that's how." Raja winked. "Now, let's wrap this up."
🐍 Slithering Serpent (Serpent)!
Raja's movements became unpredictable, his attacks coming from every angle.
Gyutaro was completely overwhelmed, his body sliced apart as he tried to keep up.
And finally—
🌸 Flower Petals (Flower)!
A flurry of divine trident thrusts struck every weak point on Gyutaro's body simultaneously, leaving the demon crippled and gasping for air.
"And now, time for your bedtime shot!" Raja grinned.
POOF!
A tranquilizer needlestabbed into Gyutaro's neck.
The demon's eyes widened in horror.
"YOU… BASTARD…" Gyutaro slurred, his body falling limp.
"Shhh… Sleep tight." Raja smirked. "I'll see you in my underground lab."
With that, both Daki and Gyutaro were knocked out cold, and Raja dragged them away like bags of trash.
Kanao and Genya, still standing in the same spot, just stared in disbelief.
"Did… did we even need to be here?" Genya whispered.
Kanao blinked. "I think we were just background characters."
And with that, the legendary smackdown ended, with Gyutaro learning the ultimate lesson:
Never mess with Raja.