Chapter 253: Hard-Earned Breakthrough


    I would like to wee Johnny (Ria), Andres Rojas and Zelx to the patre on family. Thank you for such a wonderful contribution.


    ***


    As much as Nik wanted to sleep, he simply couldn''t. Not with Saya continuously calling him to stand up. As it turns out, Shinobu didn''t merely leave to train, but also woke Saya, Rei, Aoi and Kanao for him to train and with the entire vige finally entering the phase of cleaning due to the vigers under Ray''s efficient mind control waking up, Nik was continuously pestered to move near the forest outside the vige to continue the training.


    Nezuko''s presence, however, demanded adoration and anger from the crowd. With her only family member turned into a demon, Saya could now gracefully adore Nezuko''s beauty, but Rei and Aoi still had a little trouble admitting the fact that they did want to try and cuddle with the little demon at least once.


    Kanao, meanwhile, remained inexpressive.


    "I''ll join you, too."


    Shizuka stretched her arms high in the air, pushing her enormous b.r.e.a.s.ts upward, attracting everyone''s attention before the back of Nezuko''s head nuzzled right in between the clothed valley of epitomefort as Shizuka stood up while hugging Nezuko from her back. Due to the difference in height, Nezuko''s feet left the ground, but under the astonished eyes of the girls- Shizuka included- Nezuko''s body shrank visibly while herrge round eyes finally narrowed down infort.


    "Are you sure about that?" Nik raised his eyebrow. After he got together with Shizuka, he reckoned that all her energy got consumed during their intimate sessions for he never saw Shizuka voluntarily willing to do something during the daytime. Of course, Nik understood the fact that his own presence seems to bring out a different behavioral pattern from his partners. And Nik''s guess wasn''tpletely off the track. Even if Shizuka couldn''t master the breath of the War God, her talents made her monstrous in every other department.


    Just using the Breath of Happiness, a breathing technique derived from the breath of earth, Shizuka grew into a being capable of rivaling the weakest Cultivator and with a bit of fortune, a being capable of defeating one. Her medical skills pulled out a stream of envious sighs from Elizabeth''s lips while her talent in the maniption of Hamon allowed her to achieve the physique that deludes many cultivators, leading her to one-shot Gyomei, the pir of earth, the moment he tried to kill an innocent demon boy.


    Of course, by now, the news of that particr demon boy has eluded many of the demon-ying pirs, but only a few know the existence of a special demon that broke free from Muzan''s control aside from Nezuko. Of course, Muzan''s existence now did not threaten any human in any form. It was a horde of zombies that would grace the entire state with a mind-numbing terror.


    As Shizuka joined in on the fun, Nik led the group towards the area under the temporary observation of Elizabeth and the moment Nik and his troop of girls reached the destination, their spines tingled with terror, even Nik trembled for a moment. The only ones unaffected by the scene were Shizuka and Nezuko. While Shizuka remained oddlyfortable by the scene, Nezuko looked nothing but enticed by the scent of blood in the surroundings.


    There, in front of Nik, stood twopletely beaten and bloodied women standing in a stance practically screaming of death and malice with their calves bulging to the extreme while veins popped all over their body. Even then, they both stood motionless. Their blood-soaked hair covered a better half of their face while their shaggy appearance made the duo look even worse than a pair of beggars. And past the duo sat a beautiful female untouched by any blood with her silky brown hair cascading over to her waist through her right shoulder while her blue eyes failed to register the new party.


    Instead, Elizabeth''s words rang within Nik''s consciousness.


    ''As worse as your timing got this time around, don''t speak, don''t utter a single word until Saeko and Shigure make their moves.'' Elizabeth''s calm tone didn''t seem to match the tense situation.


    Nik, presently, felt many emotions. Anger and confusion being one of them.


    And as much as he would like to say something in this situation and get some answer, the better half of him knew to trust Elizabeth''s judgment and the fact that she would probably exin her reasoning after all of this is over. From the corner of his eyes, he could observe Shizuka standing still with a look of interest on her face. Shizuka definitely knew something. Next, afraid that the other girls mightmit the very thing Elizabeth has been trying to prevent.


    But, what graced his eyes was a group of sweat-soaked girls that couldn''t move a single inch. Quite fortunately, they could still breathe.


    Minutes turned into hours and strangely, even if the group- excluding Shizuka- felt tired, they still couldn''t move. At least, it was true for Rei, Aoi, Kanao and Saya. Nik, on the other hand, could move and he understood the fact that Shizuka could move, too, yet she chose not to. By now, Nik could already feel the stifling pressure exuding from Shigure''s and Saeko''s bodies. It wasn''t Hamon. If anything, the duo seemed to be running low on their Hamon reserves.


    Even Elizabeth kept her silence and continued to focus on the duo.


    Still, Nik had a feeling that if he faced any of them the way they are now, they could easily kick his ass.


    Finally, as the trees surrounding them rustled for the umpteenth time, Shigure''s and Saeko''s bodies shuddered for a moment before they fell on the ground.


    The moment the duo fell, the pressure vanished almost instantly while the girls behind Nik fell on the ground simultaneously. Yet, Nik paid them no heed and made his way towards Shigure since Shizuka was already zooming towards Saeko and instantly let a torrent of Hamon loose while controlling his energy to cover every inch of Shigure''s body with his pheromones to ease the pain and the natural irritation of the skin during the quick recovery of injuries. Of course, Nik also made sure to do the same to Saeko while Shizuka treated her.


    ''Want to fill me in with what happened here?''


    Nik''s voice erupted within Elizabeth''s consciousness and while his tone did contain a tinge of anger and indignation, Nik reigned in on his emotions.


    ''They entered into a brief moment of breaking through''


    As if unaffected by their current state, Elizabeth continued with a calm note in her voice, but her actions indicated nothing of the sorts. Her body reached Saeko''s while an amount of mind-boggling Hamon erupted from her body. And while Nik remained under the impression that his stats had already reached the limits assigned by the world, Elizabeth''s actions managed to break his beliefs.


    ''What do you mean- Breakthrough? And it didn''t feel like just a ''brief'' moment at all.''


    ''A breakthrough in their technique. No, possibly, their mentality. We all felt that earlier pressure suddenly disappearing, right? It wasn''t due to Shigure and Saeko falling unconscious, no.


    They managed to control their ''intent'' right at that moment simultaneously. And whenpared to many records, the time spent for them to gain such an achievement qualifies it to be considered as- brief.''


    Taking a deep breath of exhaustion as he felt his entire energy reserves depleting at a fast pace, Nik couldn''t help but pursue.


    ''I don''t care about that at all. Was is really necessary for them to reach such a stage. If''


    "Nik."


    Elizabeth confronted Nik while turning on her heels and matching her gaze with his as they both continued treating the injured duo.


    "Shigure and Saeko didn''t sleep at all. Their bodies overworked to produce Hamon out of their own fats and they bled and fought just to reach this stage.


    A stage of mentality and Technique that only a few suicidals could reach. And they survived.


    Please, do not tarnish their efforts."


    Shizuka continued the treatment while her lips parted for a moment.


    "I understand that worrying about something or someone is really difficult." The buxom beauty opened, attracting Elizabeth''s and Nik''s attention, "But, I think that Shigure and Saeko wanted to do this with all their heart But, I cannot forgive the fact that you let them do such a thing, Master


    I just can''t."


    While her voice remained impassive, Nik and Elizabeth felt waves of sorrow emanating from Shizuka. Elizabeth could feel it due to being heavily involved with her childhood while Nik could just feel it through his connection.


    "If they asked me to do this again, I''ll send Shigure and Saeko off with my blessings." Elizabeth refuted calmly, causing Shizuka''s body to shudder for a brief moment. The brte''s words silenced the surroundings as the trio continued treating the unconscious duo without exchanging any words for the moment- vocally or mentally.


    ***


    It was after quite some time that Kanao finally came to be when her gaze instantly found a little child with long ck hair standing right above her while gazing down at her.


    With a soft groan escaping her lips, Kanao sat up and looked around. Aside from Nezuko still maintaining her stationary position, she could observe her counterparts lying on the ground and also the two figures that she had met a few times before.


    Saeko and Shigure.


    But just like them, the two horrifically outstanding women were also unconscious, except for all the blood that soaked their bodies previously and their shredded clothes reced by a fresh pair of light green yukatas. Before she could make any other observation, a soft groan grazed past her ears as Kanao turned her head to see an irritated Rei slowly sitting up while ruffling through her long orange hair.


    "What happened?"


    Rei whispered in confusion as her recent memories seemed to be jumbled up. Thest thing she knew was that they decided to leave the atrocious vige only to find herself lying unconscious on the ground.


    But her questions remained unanswered as Kanao didn''t seem to be inclined to respond to her queries, something well within Rei''s expectations as she had never seen Kanao speak a single word from the moment they both got to know each other. But Rei did get better at reading the inexpressive Kanao and from the looks of her face, Kanao seemed to be as confused as herself.


    "N-Nezuko do you know what happened?"


    Rei inquired with a momentary pause as she finally observed the unconscious body of Shigure and Saeko. A fleeting scene finally entered her consciousness- the bloody and haggard figure of the duo and a particrly staggering pressure stemming from unknown origins.


    "Nau ghty!" Nezuko smiled and nodded her head. Her body grew to her usual parameters as she tilted her head around before turning on her heels and skipping on her toes towards the inner region of the forest.


    "Does she want us to follow her?"


    Rei looked at the silent Kanao with hesitation rippling in her tone, but now being able to read Kanao''s expression, Rei knew that the Butterfly Estate''s sessor was definitely inclined to follow Nezuko. While Kanao didn''t seem the curious type, anyone with a little experience of living with Kanao would understand that the silent girl could be considered extremely curious.


    The decisive motion of standing up to follow Nezuko by Kanao only affirmed Rei''s suspicion. Of course, Kanao also had the strength to back her decision up. After all, Kanao was the only person closest to the rank of pir that Rei knew of. But what if


    Rei gulped and looked at Nezuko''s back with hesitation.


    What if Nezuko was actually capable of harming Nik?


    Could Kanao truly beat Nezuko then?


    But still, Rei stood up instantly and felt her mind go nk due to the sudden rush of blood.


    But by the time she finally came to be, Nezuko and Kanao had already disappeared somewhere.