Chapter 219: Riezel and Yoriichi

Chapter 219: Riezel and Yoriichi

At this moment, there was about half a month left until Riezel's dimensional travel would come to an end.

Having bid farewell to all acquaintances from the Swordsmith Village and the Demon Slayer Corps, Riezel had done everything he could.

Since there were no more demons left for him to kill and his status had also reached the limit of Level 5, with all basic abilities at SSS, further growth was difficult.

As a result, Riezel planned to simply wander around this world and give himself some relaxation during this half month's time.

Since arriving in this world, he had endured three months of suffering for the evolution of Sun Breathing, followed by two months of training the Hashira without any real rest.

It was the same in the world of Danmachi—for a hundred consecutive days, he fought in the dungeon almost without rest.

Even in the Akasha Continent, he honed his swordsmanship and trained relentlessly, rarely stopping.

When this dimensional travel ended and he returned to the Akasha Continent, he felt that he might once again have to hustle for something. Given the situation, the remaining half month of dimensional travel was probably his rare opportunity to relax.

With such a rare chance, Riezel didn't insist on doing anything else, only wanting to stroll around and then bid farewell to this world completely after half a month.

However, as he made this decision, during a certain night, a voice sounded in his ear.

*Ding—ling—*

It was the familiar sound of wind chimes.

When the sound of the wind chime rang out, Riezel, who was already asleep, found himself in a place he had been to before.

It was the mountaintop that faced the sun, towering into the clouds, making the sun appear very close, as if within reach.

"Wait... this dream again?" Riezel muttered in a surprised tone.

"You know, this is the mountain closest to the sun that I've ever seen, and it's also my favorite place."

Accompanied by these words, a figure seemed to emerge from the sun itself and approached Riezel slowly from the front.

He had black hair edged in red, tied up high in a ponytail, maroon irises in his eyes, and wore a yellow kimono with a red haori draped over it. He also bore a flame-shaped mark on his forehead and had a sword at his waist.

Seeing the figure's appearance and demeanor, Riezel instantly knew who he was.

"Tsugikuni Yoriichi..."

Yes, he was none other than Tsugikuni Yoriichi.

"Hello."

Yoriichi greeted Riezel with a typical samurai bow, his face displaying a composed expression.

"This is our first time speaking face-to-face, isn't it?"

Upon hearing this, Riezel smiled faintly.

"Can't help it..." Riezel shrugged casually. "Last time I was here, you only demonstrated Sun Breathing to me unilaterally and then left. When else would we have had the chance to talk?"

In the first place, the fact that the two of them could converse like this was, in a sense, quite bizarre.

After all, Yoriichi was someone from the Sengoku period, who had passed away centuries ago.

For him to appear in someone else's dreams, engage in conversation, and even pass on his Sun Breathing to others—Riezel knew that if he were to mention this to others, they would undoubtedly think he was losing his mind.

"In my life, I failed to protect everything I cherished and couldn't fulfill my duties as a human being. Even though I was born strong, possibly to defeat Kibutsuji Muzan, I messed up at the most crucial moment."

"If I had slain him back then, the tragedies of the next few centuries wouldn't have happened. My elder brother wouldn't have turned into a demon, Master wouldn't have died, and all those who knew Sun Breathing wouldn't have been killed because of my failure."

"Everyone said I'm powerful, even revering me like a god, but I couldn't even accomplish the one thing that absolutely had to be done..."

"Someone like me, who is useless in every way, doesn't deserve to be mourned by future generations."

Yoriichi's only and greatest regret during his lifetime was not being able to kill Muzan.

As a result, when he saw Riezel, he finally decided not to stand idly by, not to go with the flow, and not to just let things happen naturally anymore.

In short, he decided to take a bet.

Needless to say, the reason he appeared in Riezel's dream and demonstrated Sun Breathing to him was for this purpose.

In the end, his bet was right.

Yoriichi tilted his head slightly toward Riezel.

"You are someone more competent than I am. You've fulfilled the trust to carry out my decision, even when I had given up on myself."

"I'm glad I entrusted everything to you back then."

"So before I leave, I want to thank you, no matter what."

After hearing Yoriichi's words, Riezel nodded slowly.

"So... are you leaving now?"

"Yes." Yoriichi replied with a faint smile on his composed face. "Now that my regret and obsession, which kept me lingering in this world for centuries, have vanished, it's time for me to move on."

In this world, although souls could linger and spectate the living, speaking in dreams was all they could do. After all, the dead should not continue to linger but should instead enter the cycle of reincarnation.

Now that Yoriichi's regret and obsession had disappeared, he was ready for the next phase of his life.

If it weren't for wanting to thank and bid farewell to Riezel, Yoriichi might have left long ago.

"Is that so?"

Riezel pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked something surprising.

"Before you leave, could you help me with something?"

Such a sudden request took Yoriichi aback.

"My help?" Yoriichi replied, somewhat troubled. "While I'd like to agree outright, I've been dead for many years. What help could I possibly offer you?"

Upon hearing this, Riezel smiled faintly.

"Don't worry, it's a simple one, and we can do it right here."

With that, Riezel extended his hand, and soon enough, Hermit materialized in his palm.

"Could you spar with me, just this once?"

Gripping the hilt of Hermit, Riezel asked with a hint of excitement in his voice.