Tanjiro didn't notice the changes happening to his own body. He focused solely on sensing the movements of Kibutsuji Muzan.
From the fact that he couldn't even perceive Muzan's attacks, it was clear the man had the power to kill him with ease. And yet, for some reason, he hadn't.
…No. Judging from the scent of malicious delight wafting off him, it wasn't restraint at all. Rather, he simply didn't want Tanjiro to die quickly.
[I don't know why, but him focusing everything on me really helps.]
Tanjiro carefully tracked Muzan's every movement.
[If I'm the only one who dies, and everyone else is safe… that would be best.]
"Are you thinking something like, 'If only I die, that would solve everything'?"
Tanjiro jolted. His body moved faster than his thoughts. The black Nichirin Blade in his hands burst into crimson flames as he slashed toward the left front.
But before the blade could reach its target, Tanjiro was sent flying once again.
This time, however, he didn't allow himself to collapse helplessly.
Enduring the agony of shattered bones biting into his flesh, he forcibly twisted his body and swung his Nichirin Blade, barely blocking Muzan's follow-up strike. The cost was being flung even farther away, crashing violently into the ground. Even the act of trying to stand became unbearably difficult.
Muzan looked down at yet another tiny wound on his hand. The smile finally vanished from his face. He raised his gaze toward Tanjiro, who was still struggling to rise in the distance.
"As expected… everything connected to that man is nauseatingly troublesome. Well, whatever. That man has been dead for a long time. Taking it out on you won't change anything. I should end this before that annoying puppet arrives."
Tanjiro tried again and again to stand, only to collapse each time. His torn palms could no longer grip the Nichirin Blade.
The pain of broken bones grinding against flesh made him unwilling to move even slightly, and the blood flooding his mouth and nose severely disrupted his breathing. For a moment, he wanted to give up.
But he knew he couldn't.
[If I can't hold him here, my family will be hurt.]
When Muzan finally walked up to him, Tanjiro managed to force himself back to his feet. But now, he truly didn't have the strength to even raise his arms. As he watched Muzan reach out toward him, his mind slipped into a haze.
[After he kills me… will he spare my family?]
Muzan looked at the barely conscious Tanjiro and sneered.
"Don't worry. I'm very kind-hearted. You won't die alone. I'll send them down to join you soon—hm?"
Muzan frowned, feeling his wrist being grabbed. He looked down, meeting a pair of crimson eyes staring straight at him. Tanjiro's hoarse, barely intelligible voice followed.
"Don't… hurt… my family."
"Heh. What can you do now, when you can't even lift your sword?"
Tanjiro felt the grip around his neck slowly tightening, yet his eyes never left Kibutsuji Muzan.
"You… what do you… take life for?"
In that instant, the boy hanging helplessly in his grasp overlapped with that man. Powerless, unable to resist—yet capable of stirring the deepest fear Muzan had buried for centuries.
Realizing that he had been shaken by a mere child, Muzan flew into a rage. His sharp claws pierced straight into Tanjiro's neck, injecting blood as concentrated as poison into his body. With a distorted snarl, he roared,
"You lingering dead soul—disappear!"
Tanjiro felt his consciousness rapidly fading, yet his hand still clenched Muzan's arm tightly. At the same time, his other hand slipped into his chest, then suddenly swung upward with all his remaining strength.
The scattered powder struck Muzan, instantly corroding his handsome face and exposing the crimson flesh beneath.
"You wretched insect—"
"Stop it—enough!!"
Muzan covered his face, ignoring the arm that had been severed. Instead, his gaze fixed on Hiru, now fully demonized. The skinless face looked grotesque, yet his voice carried unmistakable delight.
"You've grown… but it's too late. I already injected that boy with an extremely high concentration of my blood. He can't survive."
The moment Hiru sensed Muzan, he had immediately entered full demonization and rushed over at top speed. Now, however, he could only look down at Tanjiro—the boy he had just torn from Muzan's grasp.
Tanjiro was no longer breathing. The eyes that had always held warmth and kindness were now completely devoid of light.
Hiru's body began to tremble uncontrollably. His lips parted again and again, yet no words came out.
[I should have made them move long ago. I should have done it sooner… Why did this happen? If I'd just been a little faster—just a little…]
"So concerned about this family…" Muzan's regenerated arm hung at his side, though his face was still eroded and unrecovered. "Are you reliving memories of that annoying older brother of yours through them?"
"How pitiful. A perfect being, yet shackled by emotion. After leaving the shelter Tsugikuni Yoriichi built for you, you've truly become a worthless puppet."
Hiru slowly removed the hand clamped around Tanjiro's neck, turning it into a deep crimson crystal before tossing it aside.
He gently laid the boy's already cold body down and reached out to close those lifeless crimson eyes.
"…Do you know where those medicines came from, and why they have such terrifying effects?"
"Hm?"
Hiru stood up, his expression calm as he faced Muzan.
"They contain my blood—compressed and refined from my own body. You said it yourself. As the initial demons, the blood concentrated within us is lethal poison to both humans and demons alike… You felt it too, didn't you? It worked very well."
"Heh… using the very blood that fuels your power for something like that," Muzan sneered through his mangled face. "No wonder you're so weak."
"Yes. Just as you say—I really am weak."
Hiru walked slowly toward Muzan.
"But right now, my body is filled with high-concentration blood."
Muzan's face finally began to regenerate. He frowned.
"So what?"
"Don't you get it yet?"
Hiru stopped less than twenty centimeters away. His gray, cross-shaped pupils stared straight into Muzan's plum-red vertical eyes.
"You couldn't even withstand the erosion from the powder…"
The smile faded from Muzan's face as he withdrew his hand.
"…Are you provoking me?"
"Of course not. I just felt sorry for you, so I thought I'd show a little kindness."
The demonic parts of Hiru's body slowly receded, yet the contemptuous smile on his face remained.
"After all, in a way, I should thank you. If not for you, I wouldn't have become a demon, nor would I have had the chance to see this world more than a hundred years later. But you—the one who started everything—can only cower in the shadows just to survive. Isn't that pitiful?"
"So I've decided to give you a chance. What do you think? Care to try?"
Hiru's calm, unguarded attitude instead made Muzan halt his attack. His expression turned completely cold.
"What disgusting scheme are you plotting now?"
"Hah… don't think of me that badly." Hiru casually adjusted the light-colored kimono he was wearing, his expression utterly composed. "I'm just curious. If my body were filled entirely with concentrated blood, what do you think would happen after you devoured me?
"Would you rot away and die before ever facing the sun? Or would you end up like you did centuries ago—so weakened that you'd lose control over all demons, forced to scurry around like a sewer rat for decades?"
"Oh, right. Right. You must still be bothered by my older brother leaving you, aren't you?"
"By the way, the rift between us brothers has already been resolved. And as for why my brother became a demon… I think you understand that better than I do. He always wanted to surpass that man—the one who scared you so badly that you shattered yourself into more than eighteen hundred pieces, remember?"
"I'm really looking forward to what'll happen after you swallow me. Be sure to tell me all about it when you get to hell."
"What? What's wrong? Such a rare opportunity, and you're not making a move? Dawn's almost here. Don't tell me you're afraid of me now. That'd be hilarious."
Seeing Hiru standing there without the slightest guard up, Muzan's expression darkened—but soon, he laughed again.
"I see."
Instead, it was Hiru who frowned. He had practically handed Muzan the opportunity. Was this man really that useless?
"You're planning to disrupt me while I devour you, forcing me to be completely exposed to sunlight, aren't you?"
A lavish paper sliding door materialized behind Muzan.
"That way, none of my subordinates could reach me in time, and the Demon Slayer Corps would have the chance to kill me… Is that it? You've really gone to great lengths for a bunch of worthless humans."
"No, wait—"
"But unfortunately, it'll have to be another time. I'll soon sever my connection with Kokushibo completely. Once that's done, I'll come for you again."
Watching Muzan retreat so decisively, Hiru stood frozen in place, his outstretched hand still hanging in the air.
[He left? He actually left? Why? I went that far—]
"Tanjiro!"
"Big brother!"
Hiru snapped back to his senses and turned to see Kie and the others rushing out of the house. He vanished in a flash and blocked their path.
"No. You can't go near him right now. If you do, you'll be infected and turn into demons."
"Tanjiro…" Kie grabbed Hiru's sleeve, her pupils shrinking. Her voice trembled uncontrollably, yet there was still a trace of hope in it. "That child… how is he?"
Hiru turned his head slightly away. After a brief silence, he spoke.
"…I'm sorry. I arrived too late."
The faint hope in Kie's eyes faded instantly. Her body went limp as she lost consciousness. Hanako and Shigeru rushed forward at once, catching her before she could collapse onto the ground.
"Mom!"
"Mom, are you okay?!"
Even the youngest, Rokuta—normally the noisiest of them all—seemed to sense something was wrong. He clutched the hem of Kie's clothing, staring at the scene before him with unease and confusion.
Takeo couldn't help looking toward Tanjiro's blood-soaked body lying beneath the tree. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't accept what he was seeing.
[Big brother was so strong… so gentle. Why did this happen? Why did this happen to our family? Is it really impossible for us to just live peacefully?]
He stared wide-eyed, desperately wishing his brother would get up like always, ruffle his hair, and smile at him—instead of lying there, completely devoid of life.
"I'm sorry…" Hiru clenched his fists tightly. "I should have forced you to move sooner. I'll take responsibility for this. I'll take Tanjiro's body away first—"
"Wait! My brother isn't dead yet!"
Hiru turned toward Takeo, who suddenly shouted and tried to rush forward. He stopped him, then looked past him.
The boy who had appeared lifeless slowly opened his eyes. The gaping wound in his neck had healed at some point, and he rose unsteadily to his feet in an unnatural posture.
Hiru's expression darkened instead. He turned and positioned himself in front of Takeo and the others.
"…Go back inside."
"But my brother—"
"He's no longer your brother." Hiru stared at Tanjiro as he swayed on his feet, locking onto those crimson vertical pupils. "That is a newly born demon."
"W-wait!" Takeo grabbed Hiru's sleeve. "My brother—my brother—!"
Before he could finish, Tanjiro lunged.
Hiru lifted Takeo up in one motion, pulling him out of the way, then brought his foot down hard, pinning Tanjiro to the ground as he struggled and thrashed. Hiru's expression grew increasingly grim.
"Do you see now? The moment someone becomes a demon, human emotions begin to fade. Their thirst for blood is driven to its extreme. Go back. I'll give him a quick end."
"Please! There has to be another way!" Takeo, having been set aside, blocked his siblings from rushing forward and looked up at Hiru. "My brother hasn't eaten anyone yet! There has to be a way to turn him back into a human!"
"Please save my brother!" Hanako cried, tears streaming down her face as she was held back. "He shouldn't be treated like this!"
Faced with their pleading gazes, Hiru looked once more at Tanjiro, who was still struggling desperately to break free and attack them.
"…I do have a method."
"Please—try it!" Takeo dropped to his knees. "If there's any price to pay, let me pay it! I'm begging you!"
"…I understand." Hiru sighed, looking at Tanjiro, who was completely devoid of reason. He crouched down and pressed a hand against the back of his neck. "Go to sleep."
Tanjiro's body went limp.
Takeo looked down at his unconscious brother, then up at Hiru, urgency written all over his face.
"Is there anything I can do?"
"Stand up first," Hiru said with a sigh, turning his gaze away. "The custom of kneeling at every turn was abolished long ago. Stand up and speak."
"Yes!"
Takeo scrambled to his feet, not even bothering to brush off the dirt, staring at Hiru anxiously.
"What can I do to help?"
Hiru hoisted the unconscious Tanjiro onto his shoulder and turned to Takeo.
"With this much commotion, Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen will definitely arrive later. I need you to tell them everything that happened here—but remember, you must only tell Hashira-level swordsmen. Only them. For lower-ranked swordsmen, just say your family was attacked by a demon. Do you understand?"
"Yes! I understand! But… how do I tell what rank they are?"
"First, look at their weapons. A Hashira's weapon will have the words 'Evil Demon Slaying' engraved on it…"
After briefly explaining how to identify a Hashira, Hiru frowned at the faint light beginning to appear on the horizon. Carrying Tanjiro, he vanished from Takeo and the others' sight in an instant.
Takeo's heart was still in complete turmoil, but seeing his unconscious mother and his siblings—who were even more frightened and lost than he was—he forced himself to calm down.
"Hanako, take Rokuta back inside first. Shigeru, help me—let's carry Mom inside too. Nezuko should be coming back soon. She must be exhausted as well. We can't let her worry too. We need to clean this place up before she gets back."
"But… Tanjiro…" Hanako bit her lip as tears streamed down her cheeks. "Will Tanjiro leave us too… like Father did?"
Takeo's breath caught. He silently clenched his fists, staring in the direction Hiru had disappeared.
After taking several deep breaths, he forced the unease down. He reached out and gently ruffled Hanako's hair, not daring to let her see his expression.
"No. He won't. Big brother will be fine."
[He'll be fine… right?]