With Ope Ope no Mi in Marvel (Resident Evil, Marvel, Harry Potter)

Daniel Davis's words filled Kaigaku, who lay on the ground slowly regenerating, with a mix of hatred and rage. His eyes were twisted with malice, glaring at Daniel with a murderous intent that seemed to want to tear him apart.

He had sacrificed all his dignity, pleading for his life to gain the power of a demon, only to be called worthless by Daniel. That look of disdain, as if Daniel were staring at trash, reminded Kaigaku of the Thunder Hashira who had once taught him.

Kaigaku's twisted mind had warped the Thunder Hashira's look of disappointment into one of contempt. Zenitsu Agatsuma, a cowardly and fearful character, had gained the Thunder Hashira's favor because he could master the first form of Thunder Breathing. The Hashira focused on Zenitsu's training, even dragging him back when he tried to escape, while seemingly ignoring Kaigaku.

In truth, the Thunder Hashira had high hopes for Kaigaku as well, but his own inability held him back. However, Kaigaku never saw it that way; to him, everyone else was at fault, and the world was wrong.

A twisted mind sees a twisted world. No matter how kind the gesture, Kaigaku's heart twisted it into something malicious.

"Indeed, a waste. I must say, your judgment isn't very good to have brought in such trash," Upper Rank Two Douma said with his usual gentle smile, addressing Upper Rank One Kokushibo.

Kokushibo merely cast Douma a cold glance without responding. He had made Kaigaku a demon on a whim, seeing a resemblance to his former self. He didn't care about Kaigaku's abilities.

Douma's words filled Kaigaku's eyes with a flash of resentment. He vowed that when he became stronger, he would kill everyone who looked down on him, both humans and demons.

But for now, Kaigaku showed no reaction beyond the initial flash of anger in his eyes. Concealment was Kaigaku's specialty when he lacked power.

Even though Daniel had shown the ability to easily defeat Kaigaku, the other five Upper Rank demons didn't seem to care.

"The new guy is useless," Upper Rank Five Gyokko said, bouncing forward. He had no legs, so he bounced. Eight jars suddenly appeared around the hall as he came within seven meters of Daniel.

Gyokko's abilities involved his body moving freely between the jars he created.

"Your strength is impressive, perfect for an art piece. Look at this one I made, it suits you," Gyokko said, presenting a jar with wave-like patterns.

"Your jar doesn't look symmetrical. Do you have a problem with your eyes?" Daniel said calmly, staring at Gyokko's jar.

Daniel's words twisted Gyokko's expression. As a self-proclaimed artist, he couldn't tolerate anyone mocking or defiling his creations. In his eyes, his jars were the most perfect in the world.

"You're dead."

Gyokko, who had planned to make Daniel into an art piece, changed his mind. He decided to kill Daniel painfully to make him pay for mocking his art. He aimed the jar with wave patterns at Daniel.

"Blood Demon Art: Hellish Pots."

A massive white wave surged from the jar, rushing toward Daniel. This was Gyokko's Blood Demon Art. His jars could summon various objects and creatures to attack his enemies.

Though the jar looked small, it produced an endless stream of water, aiming to form a suffocating water prison around Daniel.

Even Hashira trapped in this technique struggled to escape. Gyokko had killed many Hashira over the years with this move.

Thud.

Suddenly, Gyokko heard a jar shatter and felt excruciating pain as his body fell to the ground in pieces.

"Looks like a salted fish," Daniel's sudden voice made Gyokko's eyes bulge. Daniel, who should have been trapped by the white wave, was now beside him.

As Gyokko fell, the floating water crashed down, turning into a stream flowing to a corner of the hall.

"I told you all to attack together. You're too weak," Daniel said, appearing beside an old man, the only demon without a number in his eyes. He swung his sword.

The agonizing scream that filled the hall was a hundred times more intense than those of Kaigaku or Gyokko. Anyone hearing it would think the person was being horrifically tortured.

In truth, Daniel had only cut the old man in half. For an ordinary person, it would be an unbearable torture, but for demons, it was nothing. Yet the old man's screams were excessively dramatic.

His agonizing cries and rolling on the ground made Daniel frown.

"This is disgraceful—no, it's disgraceful for demons."

"Destructive Death: Flowing Edge Flash."

As the old man screamed, Upper Rank Three Akaza finally attacked. He leaped high and aimed a powerful punch down at Daniel. This was a new technique Akaza developed after becoming decapitation-proof, far stronger than before.

"Hmph."

Facing Akaza's powerful punch, Daniel countered with his red-flamed Nichirin sword. Though Akaza's power had increased, Daniel was far beyond him, not the same as the former Water or Flame Hashira.

Swish.

Akaza's right arm, shoulder, and head were sliced off by Daniel's blade. Since Akaza was now decapitation-proof, Daniel didn't hold back.

He had avoided attacking the heads of Kaigaku, Gyokko, and Hantengu earlier.

Whether a demon could become decapitation-proof depended not on strength alone but on their will to live. Only demons with a strong survival instinct could reach this stage.

Kaigaku had a high chance of achieving this. In the original story, he hadn't yet because he was newly turned and not strong enough. With a few decades or a century, his cowardly nature might have made him decapitation-proof.

While Akaza could survive decapitation, Upper Rank Two Douma couldn't, despite being stronger. He lacked the will to live, having no normal human emotions.

Akaza's breakthrough had been a dire situation for the Demon Slayer Corps. Without his fiancée holding him back, he might have killed the Water and Flame Hashira.

"Blood Demon Art: Wisteria Vines."

As Daniel finished Akaza, Douma attacked. His golden fan summoned four vines with ice lotus flowers to entangle Daniel.

Douma's Blood Demon Art combined the cold of ice and the poison of his blood. Prolonged battles with him led to poisoning, which had killed Shinobu's sister, the Flower Hashira, due to inattention.

"Time for you to go down too." Daniel used Soru to appear beside Douma and swiftly cut him down, leaving him limbless.

"Now it's just you. Ready for a one-on-one?" Daniel asked Upper Rank One Kokushibo, having defeated the other five Upper Rank demons.

"Thunder Breathing, Sixth Form: Thunderclap and Flash."

"Blood Demon Art: Thousand Needles, Deadly Fishes."

"Blood Demon Art: Illusory Pine."

"Destructive Death: Final Form, Compass Needle."

Kaigaku, Gyokko, Hantengu, and Akaza attacked Daniel simultaneously with ranged techniques. Douma would have joined if he had recovered.

"Recovered already? I'll just kill you again." Daniel dodged their attacks with Soru, first cutting down Kaigaku, who fell in a pool of blood once more.

Gyokko retreated into his jar, trying to move to another. Daniel shattered the surrounding jars with his sword, revealing Gyokko's true form and cutting him down again.

Third, Daniel went for Akaza, who also fell again. Finally, he targeted Hantengu, standing with five drums on his back.

Hantengu's Blood Demon Art allowed him to split into four clones, each representing an emotion: anger, joy, sorrow, and pleasure. These clones could merge to form a stronger entity.

The previous Blood Demon Art, Illusory Pine, summoned tree-like dragons to attack. Typically, Hantengu fought as the clones, merging them only when necessary. This time, Daniel's pain had forced him to merge immediately.

But the merged clone wasn't Hantengu's true body. He had another clone hiding.

Hantengu's true form, a tiny demon, was incredibly weak and hid among the trees, making him difficult to detect.

But Daniel's Observation Haki easily spotted him hiding among the trees.

"Think you can hide?" Daniel set the tree-merged clone on fire with Flame Alchemy.

"Aaah!" Hantengu's true form jumped out of the flames, screaming, "You bully! I'm an innocent old man, and you're so cruel."

"Monster, huh? What an honor, being called a monster by a demon." Daniel skewered Hantengu on his sword, lifting him into the air. The red-hot blade caused immense pain, especially for the cowardly Hantengu.

"Enjoy the monster's treatment."

Hantengu, like Kaigaku, blamed everyone else for his actions, never admitting his own faults.

Daniel wouldn't let such a demon die easily. As Hantengu writhed in pain, he couldn't even help his merged clone recover.

"Keep cursing. I enjoy it," Daniel said with a smile, watching Hantengu scream and curse him.

The saying "It takes a villain to deal with a villain" held true. Daniel's ruthless treatment of Hantengu made even the other Upper Rank demons hesitate to attack, including Kaigaku.

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