Chapter 253 - Hard-Earned Breakthrough (1/2)

I would like to welcome 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 village finally entering the phase of cleaning due to the villagers under Ray's efficient mind control waking up, Nik was continuously pestered to move near the forest outside the village 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 breasts upward, attracting everyone's attention before the back of Nezuko's head nuzzled right in between the clothed valley of epitome comfort 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 her large round eyes finally narrowed down in comfort.

”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't completely 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 manipulation of Hamon allowed her to achieve the physique that deludes many cultivators, leading her to one-shot Gyomei, the pillar of earth, the moment he tried to kill an innocent demon boy.

Of course, by now, the news of that particular demon boy has eluded many of the demon-slaying pillars, 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 oddly comfortable by the scene, Nezuko looked nothing but enticed by the scent of blood in the surroundings.

There, in front of Nik, stood two completely 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 explain 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 might commit 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 when compared 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.