"What is that?"
Unknown things always evoke primal fear, but Douma stayed calm because he lacked emotions.
Still, he didn't understand!
He really didn't understand!
Where did this petite, delicate girl pull out a bizarre weapon nearly half her size?
Even setting that aside, more baffling questions and doubts flooded in like a tidal wave.
What kind of power was that?
It instantly pierced his Blood Demon Art and shattered him—literally pulverized him!
Could it be one of those "firearms" from Western countries?
But compared to the gunpowder muskets he'd seen—short-ranged, their shots barely denting his ice Blood Demon Art by two finger-widths—the black gun in the blue-haired girl's hands, spewing flames and thundering roars, couldn't possibly be the same!
The gun's muzzle warped the air with heat, distorting light's refraction. Flesh was no better than paper against AP rounds. In a fleeting moment, the world in his vision raged into a brutal inferno.
His skull bared white bone, Douma stared at the minced flesh mixed with ice shards and buildings ravaged as if by a monstrous beast, voicing his confusion again.
"What are those weapons?"
"Don't look like you've seen a ghost."
Squeezing blood from intact chunks into test tubes, sealing them shut.
Reverie stood, her gaze on Douma turning subtle.
"I'm the one who's seen a ghost."
"Demons are just absurd! Brain and heart shredded, body smashed to bits, and still alive? What kind of Ultimate Lifeform cells are these?"
"Your vocal cords are wrecked, right? How are you still talking? Or have they already healed?"
Splattered blood, shattered white bones, writhing, twitching flesh—swelling, stretching, merging in constant, twisting motion…
A gruesome, undeniably 18+ scene, yet Reverie felt none of the legendary nausea post-kill.
Partially due to deeply synced memories with Kochou Kanae and Kiana, but mostly her own personality.
Even if demons were humans, even without other Shirakis' memories, she'd stay unfazed.
"Didn't I just say? It's the Great Mercy Gatling Bodhisattva!"
Reverie's blood-stained hands clasped in a cute Amitabha gesture.
The stronger a demon's cell recovery, the more excited Reverie got—it meant crafting a recovery serum for Teacher Himeko would be easier.
"Wanna convert to Gatling-ism~?"
Douma's lone eyeball rolled, scarlet muscles wrapping white bone, regenerating at a visible pace.
"I admit that weapon's impressive, but without the 'sun's' power, you can't kill me."
Douma's tone was flat, stating an established fact.
And it was true. No matter how many times he was torn apart or shattered into countless pieces, without sunlight's power, he'd regenerate—and fast!
In mere seconds, Douma's body was fully restored, showcasing an Upper Rank demon's terrifying recovery!
"Oh? Really? That's pretty cool." A light, deadpan praise.
To Douma's puzzled gaze, a box appeared in Reverie's hands from nowhere, filled with near-cylindrical objects twice the size of an adult fist.
"What's that now?" Douma frowned.
The instant Kanae saw the box's contents, she tapped her toes, swiftly retreating.
After a brief pause upon summoning the box, Reverie shook her head, lips curling. "A gift for you~!"
Pulling a high-explosive grenade from the box, Reverie bit off the pin, aimed at Douma's regenerating body, tossed it, and bolted backward.
Her actions stunned Douma. The grenade entered his abdomen just as his flesh reformed, then…
BOOM!
A deafening blast erupted, brilliant firelight flaring, shockwaves rippling outward.
Douma's restored body shattered again in his shocked expression!
A high-explosive grenade detonating inside a body—imagine the carnage.
Anti-Entropy's finest, no less!
A fine blood rain fell, ice shards, flesh chunks, and dust kicked up, blood curtaining the scene.
"So handy!"
Watching Douma pulverized again, Reverie let out an unladylike 'tch-tch' of awe.
Modern heavy firepower was dimensional crushing against demons, especially with no prior intel—first-encounter kills were terrifying!
Even with foreknowledge, most non-Twelve Kizuki demons would fold, and Upper Ranks could barely resist head-on!
"Shame we can't transport en masse."
When Reverie's origin soul returned and Shirakis' souls stacked, Shiraki's soul stayed overfilled.
Only when Shiraki frequently sent items from the Honkai world did Reverie realize cross-world use of the mysterious space hub drained her soul power.
"Opening a door" required energy—obvious enough.
The soul power cost was fixed per "door," regardless of items sent.
It wasn't much, or Reverie would've noticed sooner. Roughly, she could "open" about thirty times.
That'd knock her out cold.
But soul power recovered slower than mental energy.
To keep both bodies functional and reserve a few uses for emergencies, she'd best limit "doors" to ten over three days.
"What's wrong?"
Kanae blinked, then took Reverie's soft hand. Their telepathic bond let her grasp the situation quickly.
A trace of helplessness crossed her pretty face. Kanae had hoped to arm the Corps into a modern force.
Heavy firepower plus Breathing Techniques and swordplay—even unmarked Hashira could likely solo Upper Ranks.
"Come on~ You're too pretty to dream that big." Reverie chuckled, consoling Kanae.
Kanae's face bloomed with a gentle smile, her bright eyes gazing at Reverie. "Not that pretty."
Amid the blood rain, Kanae and Reverie each grabbed a high-explosive grenade, and then… BOOM! BOOM!
Thunderous blasts roared, dazzling firelight flared, and Douma's rapidly reforming body was obliterated again.
"Even demons can't defy energy conservation. Let's see how much energy an Upper Rank has to heal from pulverizing wounds."
Like a couple playing 'dart the balloon' at a carnival, Reverie and Kanae gleefully wrecked Douma with grenades.
His body was like mud smashed by a child, struggling to regenerate but never fully knitting together.
Each half-reformed body was blasted apart, unable to rely on regeneration or escape.
"Such life force… it's absurd." Reverie gave Douma an 'old man, subway, phone' stare.
Douma's prismatic eyes flickered, two ice lotuses—smaller than his usual—blooming, revealing half-body maidens with closed eyes.
Blood Demon Art: Frostbite White Hime!
One ice maiden exhaled, freezing mist spreading rapidly.
One attacked, the other clutched Douma's baby, head, splitting up!
Reverie and Kanae exchanged a glance. They hurled the remaining six grenades, shattering both ice devils into dust.
The demon-blood-infused ice crystal mist enveloped them, Douma's face wearing a fake grin.
But a figure appeared from nowhere!
A black-haired youth, oddly wearing a black "visor."
What stunned Douma: the youth held two black boxes, each half his torso's size.
He pulled two strange "visors" from a box, handing them to Reverie and Kanae.
Then Douma watched them stroll through the ice mist unscathed.
"Anti-Entropy special gas masks—resists extreme temps, highly breathable. You deserve one~!"
The ad-like spiel deepened Douma's confusion, but his fake smile froze.
Douma saw the youth pull more of those cylindrical objects from the torso-sized boxes, passing them to the girls.
"…" Douma fell silent.
Delivering supplies required "opening a door," and even crossing during one counted as "once," so Shiraki came in person.
"Now, let's test an Upper Rank's recovery!"
Beaming with kindness, Shiraki, Reverie, and Kanae formed a tripod around Douma, arms full of high-explosive grenades.
Should he show panic now?
Douma's flesh writhed on his face.
Forget it…
All expression vanished, and Douma gazed skyward.
He felt nothing—no fear of death, no regret for defeat.
Always had.
What was the point of fake expressions?
But clearly, his blank face couldn't stop what came next.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A gruesome spectacle.
The only thing that faintly shifted Douma's expression was a mental message.
Roughly translated…
Your friend, Muzan Kibutsuji, has left the livestream~!
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T/N: G-R-A-N-A-D-E !