Kanae withdraws from her assault.

Her series of attacks weren't lethal. She knew that. What she only wanted to do, was to probe for the demon's weakness without investing her full strength in the process. 

As she retreated, she witnessed the demon quickly recovering from his wounds.

'I expected, nonetheless, of a high-ranking demon.'

'Still, that regeneration ability is quite something.' 

'Well, it doesn't matter. I can see where to focus my strikes next time.' 

In that previous attack, she had observed that the demon reacted the most pain it ever had when her sword strike landed on his sides.

'His weakness must be somewhere from either side of his upper body.' She noted.

"Szzzzzzt." Kanae regulated her breathing. 

Though, just by awakening a strange mark, her peripheral vision had been enhanced; turning her world in slow-motion, however, Kanae still wasn't in her final form.

"..." Closing her eyes, Kanae once again upped her gear:

'Final Form: Equinoctial Vermilion Eye'

It is an upgraded version of the focusing technique that raises the user's kinetic vision to its maximum. 

Blood circulated in her head, turning her eyes similar to Berserker's bloody-red eyes in rage.

In this state, she could see past the demon's entire biological structure as if an X-ray.

She could track the demon's every subtle muscle movement.

"Heh ~ Why so rude?" He voiced out with a disappointed tone. Then pretended to pat his body to remove the dirt even though there was none. 

"But to think that you were this strong… Why had Shiki-chan not told me about this? Hmm, hmm." He cupped his chin, and his face became thoughtful.

Even though he spoke with a carefree tone, his body suggests otherwise. 

Kanae, in her eyes, saw that the demon's muscles were tensing. This time, he was on guard, expecting her to move and attack.

So with this change, Kanae quickly devised a tricky plan in her mind. 

Then, she moved.

She runs at an extreme speed going right —>

<— to the left, 

and then right.

Kanae made a zigzag movement. 

With every step she made, the more her speed accelerated. 

"..." The demon's face turned to a frown.

He wouldn't stand still this time.

So he held his fan and waved it.

*Wooooosh*

The attack created 2 invisible sharp wind slices that landed at Kanae's right and left pre-landing direction. 

It made her stop momentarily in place.

"..." Kanae looked at the demon's figure straightforwardly without flinching.

Earlier, before she run in a zigzag pattern Kanae telegraphed an attack that would let her land a significant damage. 

Based on her observation, done in that short amount of time, the would-be attack of hers could make the demon feel more hurt. Potentially, finishing him off. 

But was a zigzag move tricky? 

No, it's not.

It's predictable. 

Well, at least to an opponent who had the visual capability to keep up with Kanae's speed.

And the demon was exactly that. 

Kanae expected so.

She knew that his eyes, just like her vision in this state, could keep track of her movement. 

The evidence was that when she sent her final strike from that previous series of attacks, the demon's eyes moved along with her. 

It is important to note that Kanae at that time was in an accelerated motion, at a speed that almost reached Mach 1.

But the thing is, that zigzag movement was just a camouflage. 

When she stopped, Kanae caught in her eyes that the demon, upon sending two strikes, created an opening.

His chest went opened widely — it was unguarded.

'There…' This was what Kanae had been waiting for.

Kanae put more pressure on her toes to increase her speed, and then she darted off heading straight toward the demon.

She held her sword tightly and prepared for a stabbing motion.

She was aiming for the chest. Specifically where the heart lies.

Kanae believed that the effective approach at the moment to make the demon go immobile was to attack his heart.

She could aim for the neck, but with such a repetitive attack, it would be obvious and the demon would completely guard it.

Her sword was approaching fast. 

Coming near — inches away from his chest.

"Troublesome…" He frowned even more.

At this moment, the demon knew that it was too late to move away and dodge. He couldn't evade to the left or right. 

Every option to move from any direction was not good because if he does, the sword by that moment would successfully pierce his heart. 

The demon wanted none of this to happen.

Yet, there was not enough time. 

Kanae was moving so fast and her sword at the same time was approaching quickly after all.

But he wasn't left without an option.

He bends his body backward, successfully buying enough time for him to block. 

He crossed his arms, hardened them, and waited for the tip of the sword to hit.

"..." Kanae could see that the muscles in his arms were extra tense. 

She expected her sword would still pierce his arm. 

Based on the arms muscles being more tensed, it would meet great resistance and that will greatly reduce the momentum of the sword which might not allow her to reach past his chest.

'I won't let you!'

Kanae changed her move.

She quickly pulled back her sword to avoid hitting his arm.

 

She landed smoothly and pivoted her foot to the left, twisting her body along.

Kanae rapidly spun and slashed the demon's side, lopping off his ribs.

"Argh!" The demon shouted in pain. He dropped his hand and kneeled.

Even though she did the attack so fast, Kanae still was able to move graciously — perfectly elegant, noble-like, beautiful as a flower.

Then, without wasting this opportunity, Kanae cut the other side.

"Arghhhhhhhhhhhh!" He groaned loudly, and painfully as ever. He screeched.

The demon screamed at the top of his lungs. 

And with a final blow, Kanae hacked his neck, cutting his head off from his body.

The demon then fell lifelessly to the ground.

Kanae flicked her blade to remove the blood.

*Shaaatt*

She stared down,

"You may have been stronger than me however, you underestimated me too much."

The demon's power, according to Kanae's instincts, was greater than hers by a factor of five.

But in an unexpected moment, she leveled up and equally matched the demon's physical prowess. 

At that point what only mattered was the skill in combat. Kanae could sense that the demon, skill-wise is also greater than her.

But in that fight, what made the demon lose was that he was still looking down on Kanae.

"Initially, instead of assaulting and putting pressure on me to gain momentum, you prioritized stroking your oversized ego."

He talked first — not acted.

He was the very embodiment of: 

"Words speak louder than action."

"I guess, that's reasonable. Having grown strength for years would boost one's confidence."

Kanae reasoned.

His strength had gone over his head.

Being put on top of others made him naive. 

He underestimated Kanae.

Which led to his demise — or so she thought.

'...' Kanae felt a bad premonition.

'Why… what's going on?' She asked in doubt.

Seconds had passed. But the demon's body hadn't still turned to ashes.

In Kanae's years of experience, after cutting a demon's head, their body would immediately start burning to ashes as they enter eternal rest.

Yes, that was the case with normal weak demons.

And yes, Kanae was aware that this demon was different. 

So she expected it wouldn't be simple as 'cutting his head' to effectively kill him.

After all, he was an upper moon.

'Why? I have successfully landed an attack on his weakness…'

Which was his side.

'That should've killed him...'

She believed that if she inflicted damage where it is the most painful for the demon, and after that cut his neck, he would die.

Quote: "Everything has a weakness." 

By Itachi; a side villain character in the anime Naruto. 

Kanae was a follower of this.

She expected that slicing his sides would weaken him. After that, he would be vulnerable and boom! Easy kill.

But Kanae was wrong.

Then all of a sudden —

…