Demon Capital Slayer

Chapter 11 The Dream of Asura
Madman Ronin: This is the most common monster in the Dream of Asura.

They were short, dressed in tattered clothes, and looked emaciated; their appearance was not even as frightening as the grunts in zombie games.

I actually let this thing chase me so fast and hard?
Watching the monster rushing towards him, Yujian felt a very strange feeling.

Shaking his head, lamenting the changes in things, he casually kicked the other person, knife and all, several meters away.

Yu Jian had never studied martial arts but had played soccer, so he knew how to use his core muscles to power his back and legs.

In addition, he was nearly 1.9 meters tall, while the other was just over 1.5 meters tall. The latter might not have been considered too short in the Edo period, but the comparison immediately made Mitsurugi appear to have a kind of numerical beauty.

In addition, there's the slight physical enhancement brought by the Dream of Asura...

The madman of the city howled as he traced an arc before being pulled down from the highest point by gravity several seconds later.

From a distance, the scene looks like an adult kicking a primary school student—cold, cruel, and brutal.

But considering that he had been killed by similar monsters countless times before, Yujian instantly reconciled with himself, realizing that he wasn't really kicking an elementary school student.

He took two steps forward unhurriedly, then with a backhand slash, precisely plunged his sword into his opponent's eye socket. The rusty blade snapped cleanly in two, and the madman, unable to get up in time, fell dead.

Having grown accustomed to discarding the broken sword, Mitsuki drew another sword from the three katana slung at his waist.

This was a backup plan, and a backup of backups, also a last resort. He couldn't find a better weapon, and the weapons he had taken from the Mad City Ronin were often in poor condition and unusable.

Gazing into the distance, a huge setting sun hangs on the horizon, its dim yellow light casting a slanting shadow of the ancient city. Several wisps of black smoke curl and drift towards the sky, like dying, withered trees, their roots deeply embedded in the ruined capital city, scarred by fire.

So far, Yu Jian has not been able to get close to that ruined city.

From a gamer's perspective, his progress in clearing the content was undoubtedly quite slow. However, the Dream of Asura is far more complex than computer games, and the pain, indistinguishable from real life, further increases the challenge.

The enemy's corpse quickly ignited without fire, and the warmth from the enhanced body vanished in an instant; such ordinary enemies could no longer provide any significant improvement. There was no need to extract their memories either; I simply waved my sword to disperse the mist, essentially pressing a non-existent SKIP button to skip over their lives.

It's time to pave the way to the next level.

A cold wind blew by, and Yu Jian found himself in a bamboo forest. If Shura's Dream were a game, this would be the starting map or the tutorial level.

At first, he feared the bamboo forest, but later he grew accustomed to it, even regarding life-or-death battles as a form of spiritual practice. After all, one doesn't truly die in a dream, and as long as one can endure the pain, there will eventually be something to gain.

Based on the stolen memories, it can be inferred that the madman roaming the bamboo forest was mostly a low-ranking samurai born in Satsuma, Kyushu, and his swordsmanship mainly consisted of Satsuma Jigen-ryu and Yakumaru Jigen-ryu.

The latter is a branch that diverged from the former. The two are not very different, and their core concepts both emphasize explosive power.

In terms of moves, it can basically be summarized as holding the sword high with both hands, then yelling and slashing down with all your might at the enemy's head! If one slash doesn't kill, then another!

It's simple, straightforward, and easy to learn, but the sword user doesn't like strange noises; he only likes to make the enemy scream.

It must be acknowledged that some talents may never be discovered in a lifetime or even two.

Without the dream of Shura, Yujian would never have known that he was actually extremely talented in wielding swords.

He can memorize the moves and formations shown in the enemy's memory after seeing them once, and apply them after seeing them twice. Coupled with the fact that the Asura's Dream is immortal, his swordsmanship improves at an absurd speed.

Now, Mitsurugi has fully mastered the techniques of the Manifestation Style and the Self-Manifestation Style, and can even attempt some of the core secrets that are difficult for lower-ranking samurai to access.

The moment he grasped the weapon, he suddenly realized something.

They were chased by the enemy until they had nowhere to go, neither to heaven nor to earth.

So he grasped the sword...

Tension, anxiety, fear, and all other useless emotions vanished. In their place came a sense of peace, an unparalleled peace, as if the ultimate solution to all problems had been found.

A pure and unadulterated killing intent rose from the boundless, tranquil darkness, like an abyss.

To live, one must kill! That is enough!
The rest is up to courage to fill!

Maybe I'm a very dangerous guy...

Recalling the scene of laughing wildly and slashing at the enemy, Yujian couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness, and then casually swung his sword.

As if he had memorized the order and location of the enemy's appearance, the attacker who leaped out of the shadows ahead was actually half a beat slower than him.

The swift, deadly blade sliced ​​across the opponent's throat with lightning speed, blood spurting out rapidly and hissing softly as it rubbed against the air.

Strangely enough, these swordsmen, who looked like mummies, were all emaciated, yet they were bleeding profusely.

Switching to a reverse grip, the inner turmoil didn't stop him from slashing. Without turning his head, he thrust his sword behind him. The blade grazed his side, precisely piercing the abdomen of the enemy attacking from behind, violently twisting and destroying his liver, instantly draining all his strength.

He drew his sword, slicing half of the dying man's body open, and then swung it forward in a reverse kasaya slash from bottom to top.

With a clang, accompanied by the sound of metal clashing, he forcefully deflected the third enemy's slash by attacking with attack, and also used his strength advantage to throw the opponent off balance.

The sword path flipped, seizing the opportunity, and with both hands gripping the hilt, in a split second before he could even breathe, he unleashed a powerful and heavy kasaya slash!
His towering stature and exaggerated strength were perfectly combined; the speed at which his blade sliced ​​through the air seemed to outpace even the sound of the wind. With a single strike, he cleaved his enemy diagonally in two from his right chest to his left hip.

Such swordsmanship could perhaps be called benevolence.

Thinking of a hellish joke that only he understood, he lightly tapped the blade with his sword to remove the bloodstains, then used his arm to hold the back of the blade and wipe away the remaining bloodstains.

Three corpses lay dead beside him, each occupying a different position and forming a formation—a well-trained team of professional swordsmen.

In the end, the attack was completely ineffective, at most staining Yu Jian's clothes with blood. The white robe, which was already out of place in the surrounding world, actually looked much more harmonious with the splash of crimson.

The ronin's corpse quickly ignited without fire, turning into wisps of smoke that drifted into the air, where fragmented, short characters could be vaguely seen emerging from the mist.

[The Mad Ronin: Having lost his humanity and embraced bestiality, this man, resembling a wild dog, harbors the wildness of one too. He repeats his past assassinations, clad in a tattered, pale blue haori he found somewhere. In life, he was slain by a powerful swordsman dressed similarly, and even in death, he feels an immense fear of that very act. Pathetic? Lamentable?]

In the Dream of Asura, killing monsters has a chance to yield their names or titles, which contain some related information. However, the content is mostly fragmented and even contradictory.

Combining the historical knowledge he had learned in class during the day, Yu Jian did manage to glean some insights. These guys were mostly assassins among the reformers, tasked with carrying out divine punishment. No wonder they were all of humble origins yet so skilled in swordsmanship; even without receiving a complete inheritance of the techniques, they trained extremely hard every day.

Stray dogs...

Wanting to stand out from the crowd is never wrong in any era, but...

Yu Jian shook his head without commenting further, then walked through the bamboo forest to an arched bridge.

This is the furthest place he has explored so far, and he stopped here because of the exceptionally tall and terrifying figure on the bridge.

A hideous demon with two horns and a third arm growing from its back.

In combat, while swordsmanship skills greatly influence the outcome, height and weight are undoubtedly also crucial factors. To give a simple example, people with longer arms have a wider attack range when wielding a sword.

Initially, Yu Jian, who didn't know swordsmanship, relied on his strong physique, honed by modern civilization, to forcibly beat his opponents.

But now the situation has reversed, and the evil spirits blocking the way on the arched bridge are nearly three meters tall, which is inhuman.

Furthermore, there is an insurmountable wall between being unarmed and armed, and an insurmountable chasm between being unarmored and fully armored.

This demon wore a jet-black iron-plated Nanban helmet (a type of full-coverage helmet made by Japanese craftsmen imitating Western armor), a light blue haori on the outside, and three layers of interlocking chainmail on the inside, which could be called 'chainmail' in the local terminology. It was a completely heavily armored unit.

This is basically a tank-and-ball confrontation...

Yujian felt he desperately needed armor-piercing bullets—no, please prepare a machine gun for me.

The reality is that most of the samurai swords taken from the ronin of the mad city are rusty. These kinds of weapons are not meant to be used against fully armored enemies. Against the combination of the chainmail and the Nanban helmet, it is impossible to break through their defenses even with all one's strength.

If it's the Wailing Wall, the overwhelming equipment difference is enough to make people despair, not to mention that the opponent's physical attributes are also superhuman.

Although the demon only has one arm on its back, it can wield a heavy weapon like a nodachi that is nearly two meters long. Its other two arms also hold a katana and a spear. It is practically a breathing and thinking flesh and blood tank.

Unable to fight it or get around it, Yu Jian's progress was completely stalled by this monster, which was extremely frustrating.

Fortunately, the evil spirit will not attack unless you get close to the arch bridge. If you bow to it before the battle, it will even return the bow.

But times have changed. Recalling the sword that slew the evil spirit, the boy has reached a higher level of swordsmanship.

This is the dream of Asura...

Those who wield blades and dance in the courtyard are Asura war demons...

The sword is a medium. The highest level of swordsmanship is to use the sword to convey one's will and a strong desire to change the world.

If the dream of Asura is a region similar to the mortal world, one should not be confined to physical strength, but should also draw upon the power of spirit and will.

When Yu Jian opened his eyes, the weapon in his hand was different from before. It was not because of an improvement in swordsmanship or weapon quality, but because of the transformation of the swordsman's mind and body.

The sword hummed softly, and some power beyond matter began to attach to it.

call--

He let out a long breath, and Yujian's expression became focused and resolute. His pure white hair moved without wind, and the surrounding air seemed to freeze.

"Yu Jianming, come forward!"

The boy suddenly smiled and read the words aloud in a cheerful tone.

Upon hearing this, the evil spirits guarding the bridge seemed to realize something, and their blank expressions came to life.

The heavily armored demon bowed slightly and uttered a muffled shout.

"Many hardships, I am a lone wolf!"

(End of this chapter)