Chapter 1050: The Rhythm of Elegant Hashira

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Moraine couldn’t think properly.

She could hardly see, hear, or feel.

But the world had never presented itself clearer to her.

There was a rhythm to it; a rhythm with which she breathed; with which she slashed; with which she killed.

A rhythm that told her what to do in the next moment; whom to kill.

As she stood surrounded by nothingness, Moraine heard that rhythm again.

Her eyes were unfocused.

Her gaze was blurrier than ever.

There was a pain in her bones that refused to go away.

Her head felt hot, hotter than ever, as if someone had lit her hair aflame.

Yet, the rhythm had taken hold of her senses, letting her see the world with different eyes.

It had also given her the next targets.

So, trusting the rhythm blindly, Moraine stepped forward, her fingers loosely wrapping around the sword, which pulsated like an icy moon experiencing several eclipses per second.

In the last month, after constantly devouring Aragamis, the Phantom Moon God Arc of hers had already risen to the C+ Grade as a Magical Creature, while standing at Top-level Rare Grade as an Item.

The way it pulsed with Moraine’s every step also followed the same rhythm now.

It knew her.

It shared her feelings, emotions, and traumas.

It breathed the same air, drank the same blood, and lived the same life.

It was no mere Magical Creature or Item. Not anymore. It was an extension of her — bonded for life.

And so, when Moraine broke out in a run, the God Arc began humming with the same rhythm, its icy, pristine pulses taking a demonic, reddish-black tinge.

No words were shared between Moraine and God Arc.

Yet, in this moment, the rhythm told them everything they needed to know.

Right in front of them, several hundred meters away, lay their next targets — targets that needed to be devoured to grow strong; stronger than ever.

Together, Moraine and Phantom Moon God Arc must kill.

Suddenly, a blurry image of an altar, decorated with several beastly skulls, appeared in the sky.

With a crackling sound, another Aragami was summoned.

The entire bloody battlefield became an ocean of lightning as the Aragami landed on the ground.

It was a medium-sized Aragami that closely resembled an ancient female Samurai.

For hands, the Aragami had two massive greatswords, pulsating with a blue light, sparks of lightning coursing within the blades. For legs, it had two bulbous wheel-like organs, thunder crackling around them. It was these wheels that had turned the land into an ocean of lightning, letting out a rumbling buzz.

It was Havakiri!

The rhythm recognized the Aragami.

Moraine didn’t feel anything or show any reaction.

The God Arc she wielded resonated with her, continuing its demonic humming.

Nothing had changed.

Only the number of targets had gone up.

One of the targets shouted a command, but the rhythm caught the panic buried in that voice.

This was it.

There would be no more Summons, it seemed.

And that observation by the rhythm... brought out a smile on Moraine’s face, the God Arc smiling along with her, glowing bluer and redder and blacker than ever.

The Havakiri let out a cry like a banshee.

A RUMBLE overwhelmed the surroundings.

Bolts of lightning, as thick as several-meter-large Aragami itself, came sprouting out of the wheel-like organs.

It was coming, the rhythm said.

It would surpass her reaction speed by far.

It would slash right through her neck, ignoring all defenses.

So, when the Havakiri blurred with a CRACK, becoming lightning itself, and its massive sword appeared right against Moraine’s neck in the very next moment, she... let out a breath.

Moraine’s entire existence became moonlight itself, petals blooming around her filthy appearance.

Havakiri’s greatsword rumbled as it cut nothing but air.

The God Arc bit into the Aragami’s stomach, butchering its way to the other side, devouring its Oracle Core.

Moraine’s movements were so smooth that, from her dodging to attacking to reappearing behind the Aragami, it all felt like a single sequence.

A crackling, munching sound came out from the icy-blue God Arc.

The reddish-black pulses coming out of it intensified.

Moraine lifted her right foot.

When it landed, she was already on top of the next target.

BOOM!

The titanic Susano’o blocked the attack with its scorpion-like claws, the red-robed target on top of its head faltering.

A crack echoed, then.

It was small; barely audible.

But the first crack followed more, a purplish glow seeping out of Susano’o’s cracked claw.

The Deusphage Aragami ROARED, blasting Moraine away with the force of an entire world.

But the rhythm picked up on the greed its roar had carried. The Aragami wanted to devour the God Arc. More than its power, it wanted the potential the God Arc held.

Moraine’s feet landed on the ground.

And the world squeezed around her, space itself restricting her movements.

The Divine Aragami had planted all its feet on the ground, setting its menacing gaze upon her. Its massive, spear-like tail moved, then. It came for her at a speed several times above the speed of sound; all-annihilating.

There was so much the rhythm could do, though.

All Moraine could do was to held the God Arc in front of her.

When Susano’o’s attack landed, the BOOM seeped into the seams of the dimension.

It sent Moraine flying far into the distance before she crashed to the ground, bounced off, and then continued to do so for several hundred meters or so, a massive boulder arresting her momentum with a crack.

The crack... hadn’t come out of the boulder, though.

Moraine coughed up blood.

The God Arc’s blade cracked, oozing icy blue blood as well.

And, for the first time, the rhythm told her to open her mouth.

"... Power..." Moraine said, getting up, her unfocused eyes finally gaining the barest hint of sanity, yellow crystals dancing in her eyes. "I... demand it."

A demonic purpleness took over her pupils.

Her torn, bruised, and battered skin gained a pale, whitish tone.

The rhythm thrummed in joy, taking hold of the hidden power imbued within the transformation.

An icy-blue carapace began appearing on Moraine, then.

It covered her from top to bottom, like a bony armor, extensions protruding out from her back, elbows, and soles — all burning with the hottest, brightest bluish-white flames.

It was like she had regained her modified Iron Armor, but better; much, much better.

Elegant Breathing Style: Ninth Form —

Petals of infinite color rained around her.

Power surged within the icy-blue carapace, all the thrusters spewing blue fire, melting the earth and air.

She lifted her sword above her head, wielding it with both hands, and stepped.

She couldn’t see the targets, but all she needed to do was follow the rhythm’s voice, which was screaming in joy.

The very space stretched around her in the next moment.

Moraine’s entire figure lengthened, like an icy-blue strand of moonlight.

And, as her purple pupils burned gold behind the plain mask, she hacked, the petals around her blooming, becoming the brightest flowers.

— Eternal Bloom Finale!

A thin, icy line appeared on the two targets, ignoring the disparity between their statures, running right through their middle.

Slowly, with an extremely unbearable squelching sound, the two halves of their bodies parted.

Before the strands of flesh could even give out, though, they became a block of ice.

Through the thin gap between the slashed, frozen halves, a figure became visible.

Standing still behind the two massive icebergs, the demonic Hashira stared at the sky.

The God Arc in her hand rose to Epic Grade and a B- existence as it devoured Susano’o’s core, instantly regenerating itself.

Moraine wanted to scream.

She wanted to raise her God Arc and roar in victory.

The rhythm was making her heart pound against her chest, pleading her to laugh and cry in joy.

But Moraine held herself together at this moment, ascending to the 4th Set in silence.

Because, at the end of the day, she was still...

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AN: Scenic Character Image of Moraine [with Ice Carapace Armor and God Arc) while executing Eternal Bloom Finale is available

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