Chapter 53: Broken Blade

Words : 1395 Updated : Sep 10th, 2025

Chapter 53 - 53: Broken Blade "I'll beat you to death, you little bastard!" The police officer swung his baton, but hit only air. His whole body spun around and he fell to the ground. "Damn you, your grandmother!" He held his head and looked around, there wasn't even a shadow of anyone nearby. He rubbed his eyes in disbelief, making sure he wasn't seeing things. 'A hallucination? Damn, could it be there are more deer lately?' After three time-stops, Jotaro had already bypassed the other officers and arrived beside the corpses of the family of three. At this moment, they hadn't been moved yet. The officers were still recording the crime scene's information. Jotaro took one look at the girl's and the mother's bodies. Both had been instantly killed, aside from the holes pierced through their chests, the rest of the bodies were completely intact. He lifted the white cloth covering the bodies and focused his attention on the girl. Noticing the tragic condition of the girl's lower body, Jotaro's expression instantly darkened. 'There's no mistake, that guy is near the post town.' The girl's important pelvic organs were missing. "Hey! Who are you!" A patrolling officer saw a stranger standing next to the corpse and instantly shouted. At the same time, the sound of clock gears ticking rang out, then abruptly stopped, like the gears had jammed. The stranger's intrusion into the crime scene immediately put the nearby officers on alert. But while they scrambled to search for the intruder, Jotaro had already walked alone onto the street. Shinobu's disappearance was very likely related to that person. In the system-provided records of Takakura Ken's life, over ninety of his victims were girls under the age of ten. For a girl like Shinobu to become his target wouldn't be strange. Now that he knew there was such a dangerous individual near the post town, Jotaro naturally wouldn't ignore it. However, trying to find the missing Shinobu and the murderer was a very difficult task. He had absolutely no clues about the whereabouts of either of them. Yet, he suddenly thought of a way. "Kujo-san!" Yae waved and ran over with Taro. Jotaro said somewhat sternly, "I think I told you not to come out." He was a little angry now, his face quite unpleasant. This angry expression scared Yae so much that tears welled up in her eyes. "I... I..." "Good grief." Jotaro closed his eyes and said somewhat helplessly, "Just don't run around again." "Woof woof woof!" Seeing his master bullied by an enemy, Taro barked in protest. Jotaro's light green eyes glanced at him. The fear deep in his heart made Taro shrink back, hiding behind Yae. "He's a hunting dog, so his nose should be very sensitive, right?" "Of course! As long as he's smelled the scent of his prey, no matter how far it runs, Taro can find it!" Talking about the partner she had grown up with, Yae's face was full of pride. "Oh?" Jotaro had been planning to find a dog, he didn't expect one would deliver itself right to him. "Looks like this stupid dog isn't completely useless." "Kujo-san!" Yae pouted slightly, annoyed. "What's this?" Looking at what Jotaro threw over, she was confused. It was a piece of clothing with a faint floral fragrance. She had been in close contact with Shinobu during the day, so naturally she recognized the scent as that of the girl. "Have the dog find the person who wore this." Jotaro said calmly. "Ehhhhh!!" Yae unfolded the clothing, and her face turned bright red with embarrassment. It was a small piece, a girl's undergarment. How did Kujo-san get this... 'So embarrassing.' Yae glanced at Jotaro's completely expressionless face. 'Kujo-san... probably isn't that kind of person, right?' "What's wrong?" Seeing her not moving, Jotaro urged, "Hurry up." "Oh." Flustered, Yae quickly let Taro smell the scent on the clothing. Taro, who had grown up with the girl, understood her thoughts and immediately crouched on the ground, searching around. "Kujo-san, this clothing..." Blushing, Yae hesitated whether to return the item. "Do as you please." Leaving those words behind, Jotaro had already followed Taro toward the place where Shinobu had encountered Kaigaku. ——— "Kaigaku, you!" Shinobu clutched her neck. The fair skin of her neck was now beginning to show green veins spreading. She was filled with shock and couldn't understand Kaigaku's actions. A Demon Slayer Corps member sneak attacking his teammate from behind while they were confronting a demon, she couldn't believe anyone would actually do such a thing. Kaigaku grinned wickedly, still holding an empty syringe. The liquid inside had already been injected into Shinobu's body. Shinobu wanted to ask for a reason, but now was clearly not the time. She quickly took out an antidote and swallowed it. The poison in her body was a type she had never seen before. The antidote had only limited effect. 'Total Concentration Breathing, Constant!' A high-level breathing technique that can elevate the activity of body cells to the maximum. But the rise in body temperature would also speed up the spread of the poison. She had no other choice, if she wanted to survive, she had to eliminate her enemy as fast as possible. Every extra second would be extremely disadvantageous for her. 'Insect Breathing, Dance of the Bee Sting, True Flutter!' Shinobu's body vanished from where she stood. The next second, she appeared right in front of the demon. Her sword strikes lacked strength, but the force of her thrusts was astonishing, powerful enough to pierce rock. Although piercing damage meant nothing to demons and would be healed in moments, as long as she could inject lethal poison into the demon's body with her Nichirin blade during that gap, even a Lower Moon demon would die instantly. "How could this be!" Just as the sharp blade stabbed the demon, it shattered into countless fragments and scattered to the ground. "So this is a Hashira?" Takakura Ken said with some surprise and confusion. "My Blood Demon Art controls bone structure, which can form armor on the surface of my body." "The hardness of my bones is several times stronger than diamond. Your attack cannot possibly pierce my body." "I've encountered Demon Slayer swordsmen before. Even if their blades couldn't hurt me, they weren't this fragile." Shinobu stared blankly at the fragments on the ground. In that split second, the blade had been covered with cracks, the pattern was exactly the same as when Kaigaku's blade broke the other day. Demon Slayer swordsmen often fought demons, so their blades would naturally wear out. If they weren't maintained regularly, they could break during crucial battles. Because of that, she had always taken good care of her Nichirin blade. Since her last demon-slaying battle, she hadn't used it at all. She had thought Kaigaku's broken blade was due to poor maintenance. But now it was clearly not the case. A well-maintained Nichirin blade had great toughness, it could bend up to 30 or even 40 degrees and still spring back. Her own blade was especially tough due to its unique shape, much stronger than normal blades. This demon's Blood Demon Art was indeed her natural enemy. But even if her blade couldn't pierce the demon's body, it shouldn't have shattered. 'Could it be, that time!' To break like that, it would require tremendous force applied from the side of the blade. When Nezuko awakened as a demon, her blade had been blown away by a tremendous force, causing the blade to vibrate violently. The sound wave from the vibration had made her ears ache. At the time, she thought it was Nezuko's Blood Demon Art ability, so she didn't think too much of it. But now that she thought about it... combined with the scene of Kaigaku's broken blade... 'No way, could it be that Kaigaku's sword didn't break due to poor maintenance, but because of that man?' ═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═ patreon.com/XenosX ????Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.????

Chapter 53: Broken Blade

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