Chapter 142: Sun Breathing

Words : 1124 Updated : Oct 5th, 2025

Chapter 142: Sun Breathing *Ding—ling—* Suddenly, the sound of wind chimes could be heard. Somewhat distant, yet also strangely close. *Ding—ling—* *Ding—ling—* The rhythmic tinkling of the wind chimes seemed to stir and call out to Riezel, it sounded pleasant and captivating. In a daze, Riezel followed the sound of the wind chimes, slowly walking in a particular direction. "Wait a sec... Where the hell is this...?" As Riezel snapped back to reality, his mind emerging from the haze, he suddenly realized he was in an utterly unfamiliar place. "Mountaintop?" Indeed, Riezel found himself atop a mountain. It was a seemingly lofty peak, almost touching the sky, bathed entirely in the sunlight, making the sun appear larger than it actually was. "How did I end up here?" Riezel frowned. Wasn't he on the Mugen Train just a moment ago? One second he was getting his ticket checked by the conductor, and the next moment he was in a place like this. "Don't tell me I get hypnotized... Is this inside a dream?" Realizing what had happened, Riezel felt a twinge of amazement. He, with the highest rank of Abnormal Resistance development ability and immunity to mental interference from Self Redemption, got hypnotized by a demon? He couldn't believe it. Yet, the undeniable reality before him told him that whether he believed it or not, he had indeed entered a dream. The evidence was clear—despite being on the mountaintop with strong winds and intense sunlight, he couldn't feel the breeze brushing against his body, nor could he sense the warmth of the sun. "Fascinating..." Confirming this, Riezel murmured to himself. After observing his surroundings for a moment, Riezel quickly reached out his hand and grabbed his own neck, preparing to snap it. This was the most effective way to break free from the demon's dream—killing oneself in the dream would lead to waking up. However, just as Riezel was about to snap his own neck, a deep voice suddenly reached his ears. "Sun Breathing consists of thirteen sword forms." When this unexpected voice echoed in his ears, Riezel's movement to snap his neck halted. It was only then that he noticed he wasn't alone on this mountaintop. Seemingly out of nowhere, a figure of a man appeared not far from him, facing away, exuding a mysterious aura. He had black hair tied up in a high ponytail with red edges, dressed in a red haori, holding a sword in hand, and standing against the backdrop of the sun in the sky. *Ding—ling—* The familiar chimes sounded again, but this time it came from the earrings of the mysterious man—no, mysterious swordsman. On the swordsman's ears were a pair of hanafuda earrings with sun symbols. When one looked carefully, these earrings were undoubtedly identical to the ones Tanjirou wore on his ears. "You..." Riezel paused his words, staring at the swordsman standing before him, facing the sun, unable to move. "Huuu... Haaa..." It wasn't just high temperatures that evaporated matter, but a holy light that purified vile darkness. "Huuu... Haaa..." As the swordsman danced amidst the billowing flames, he continuously unleashed sharp and powerful swordsmanship while breathing rhythmically. Although the breaths were not very pronounced, they echoed distinctly in Riezel's ears, allowing him to directly feel the intricacies of this breathing. Watching all this, feeling all this, unknowingly, Riezel slowly released his hand from his neck. He immersed himself in the swordsman's sword dance. He was deeply attracted by the swordsmanship practiced by the swordsman, unable to look away, unable to remember anything else. Every slash, every sword form wielded by the swordsman, resembling the sun spirit, deeply imprinted in Riezel's mind, imprinted deep in his heart, making him unable to forget no matter how hard he tried. Gradually, even Riezel was drawn by the wondrous breathing sound echoing in his ears, unconsciously mimicking it. "Huuu... Haaa..." Just as he had imitated Kyoujurou's breathing on the train, Riezel began to mimic the swordsman's breathing. Regardless of frequency, number of times, amplitude, timing, quantity, or rhythm, Riezel unintentionally drew closer and closer to the swordsman. *Ba-dump!* *Ba-dump!* Eventually, the beating of his heart began to accelerate, while the flow of his blood also quickened. His lungs expanded continuously, allowing Riezel to inhale larger and fiercer air. Breathing in such large quantities of air, under normal circumstances, he might have worried about oxygen toxicity, but at this moment, he abandoned all thoughts and focused wholeheartedly on following the swordsman's breathing, immersing himself in the other's sword dance, almost unable to control himself. In this state, Riezel failed to notice that as his breathing changed, the power surging from within him became stronger and more intense. It was a power far beyond what he had experienced while imitating Kyoujurou's Flame Breathing. A breathing style far more powerful than Flame Breathing, far surpassing the breathing style mastered by any Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, appeared before Riezel's eyes. It seemed as if the swordsman intentionally wanted to pass on this breathing style to Riezel, moving over and over again, demonstrating tirelessly. After hundreds of repetitions, the swordsman seemed to have endless energy, not tired at all, not fatigued in the slightest. His hand holding the sword didn't even tremble, and his posture remained flawless from start to finish. However, there was only one problem. "Sun Breathing consists of thirteen sword forms." Every time he moved, the swordsman mechanically uttered that sentence, but from start to finish, only twelve sword forms were displayed in front of Riezel by the swordsman. 'Dance', 'Clear Blue Sky', 'Raging Sun', 'Fake Rainbow', 'Fire Wheel', 'Burning Bones, Summer Sun', 'Sunflower Thrust', 'Solar Heat Haze', 'Setting Sun Transformation', 'Beneficent Radiance', 'Sun Halo Dragon Head Dance', and 'Flame Dance'. Clearly, the sword forms demonstrated by the swordsman remained only these twelve, never reaching the thirteenth sword form after countless repetitions. Yet, the swordsman repeated that sentence time and again, telling Riezel repeatedly that the breathing style named 'Sun Breathing' indeed consisted of thirteen sword forms. Why? Perhaps only Riezel, who was familiar with the original work would know why. Just as Riezel's breathing synchronized completely with the swordsman's, and all the swordsman's sword forms were engraved into his mind, etched into the depths of his heart, the swordsman finally stopped moving. "...I'll leave it to you." At the very end, Riezel heard that barely audible murmur from the swordsman. *Ding—ling—* As the swordsman's earrings swayed, the sound of wind chimes resounded again. Riezel felt as if the scene before him was fading away, his consciousness gradually drifting, slowly disappearing from this dream.

Chapter 142: Sun Breathing

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