Night was ink-black, heavy enough to swallow the entire wilderness.
The once steel-beast-like Mugen Train now lay overturned across the barren ground, most of its passengers already unconscious.
The air was saturated with the thick stench of blood.
And over the wreckage, harsh, ragged breathing echoed beneath the vault of the sky.
Kyojuro Rengoku stared hard at the tattooed demon ahead of him, blood dripping from his golden-red hair.
"Kamado boy—be careful. This one is unlike any demon you've faced before."
As he spoke, he used his blade to brace himself and slowly rose, placing himself in front of Yoriichi.
"Leave this to me. Fall back."
Flame Breathing rang out once more in the freezing night.
It had to be said—this man inspired an overwhelming sense of reassurance, especially now, when the light bursting from his sword seemed to ignite the pitch-dark world around them.
But Yoriichi did not retreat. Instead, he stepped forward—past the Flame Hashira.
"If you continue fighting, your body will suffer irreversible damage," he said softly. "So… for now, let me take over."
Rengoku froze, then blurted, anxious, "But—"
This enemy was not like the ones before. The man standing there was an "Upper Rank"—a demon at the pinnacle of all demons.
Yet just as the Flame Hashira was about to speak, the one they'd left hanging—Akaza—finally exploded with fury.
Veins bulged beneath his tattoos. As Upper Rank Three, he could not endure being treated as if he were nothing.
"I said—"
"On the battlefield, pushing each other around like that… what do you take me for, some brat you can deal with whenever you feel like it?!"
Boom!
The ground beneath him shattered into a snowflake pattern. Blue light unfurled from his feet, and a twelve-pointed snowflake formation spread across the area in an instant.
Technique Development: Destructive Death — Compass Needle!
There was no question: this was an extraordinarily dangerous art.
"Compass Needle" was not merely a sensing trick. It was an absolute domain that visualized an opponent's "fighting spirit."
In this world, any living being that wished to fight, wished to win, or even simply wished to survive, would emit an energy known as fighting spirit.
And within Akaza's Compass Needle domain, that fighting spirit became like a magnet in the dark—drawing his attacks to automatically pursue an opponent's blind spots.
The stronger the foe, the more intense the fighting spirit, the more precise the Compass Needle's response.
It was Akaza's proudest mechanism—perfectly designed for hunting the strong.
Over centuries, countless Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps had died to this very move, unable to conceal their fighting spirit.
In the next instant, Akaza vanished in a blur, becoming a blue afterimage as he charged straight for Tanjiro.
Rengoku snapped his head around, his remaining good eye constricting violently.
Too fast—and too decisive!
Realizing the Flame Hashira was too hard a bone to chew, Akaza redirected his spearhead in a heartbeat, choosing to crush the seemingly defenseless boy first.
By the time Rengoku tried to draw his blade and rush to help, Akaza was already behind Yoriichi—his fist wrapped in a gale fierce enough to pulverize a skull, a cruel, demonic grin spreading across his face.
"I don't know what trick you used to block my senses, but standing on a battlefield like this—completely unguarded…"
"You'll die, brat!!"
His punch screamed through the air, compressing it to its limit.
And yet—
Facing that killing blow, Yoriichi continued to gaze calmly forward.
In his dark red, crystal-clear eyes, Akaza's twisted visage was reflected without a tremor.
And in that very instant, Akaza's sadistic smile froze.
A nameless unease flooded his chest.
What… is this?
His fist was about to touch the back of the boy's head—yet the "Compass Needle" beneath his feet still showed no response at all.
In his perception, there was nothing there.
In that boy's emotions, there was no anger, no killing intent, no fear—not even the sense of "I am here."
He stood there like a plant, a stone, a wisp of air.
That profound wrongness caused the slightest, imperceptible hitch in Akaza's movement.
And for some reason, when the boy subtly turned his head and looked at him with those transparent dark-red eyes, Akaza felt as though everything about him had been seen through.
Muscle tension. Blood flow. The seams between bone…
It was as if all of it had been laid bare.
What is this guy?
Not only was my sensing useless against him… it's like he can see through me instead?!
How is that possible?
The unease grew—and like weeds, it spread wild, fanning his brutality into a sharper desire to kill.
"Quit your goddamn act!!"
He roared, forcing himself past the fear, and drove that delayed punch forward at Yoriichi.
In the blink of an eye, the strike multiplied into countless fist-shadows, sealing off every possible escape route.
In that hair-thin moment between life and death, the boy's voice remained steady—still water in an ancient well—carrying clearly through the air.
"So you crave strength… and for that you fell into becoming a demon…"
Yoriichi murmured, "Your power comes from your anger, your hatred, and your contempt for the weak."
The wind of the blow tossed his fringe, and the horrifying force made the very ground around them crack.
"But true strength should be a mind like still water—not emotions of rage."
Just as the fist-shadows were about to reach his face—
Click.
He gently nudged the guard with his thumb.
Almost at the same moment he drew, his breathing synchronized—perfectly even.
Shing—!
As the blade left its sheath, the Nichirin's pitch-black surface was, in an instant, dyed a gorgeous crimson by a heat beyond words.
There were no flamboyant flames—yet all moisture in the air evaporated at once. A scorching presence like the midday sun bullied its way into the icy night.
…What—?!
Akaza's golden eyes, once overflowing with savagery, shrank to needle points.
Even as his mind still screamed with the thought of smashing the boy's head, his body—tempered through centuries as Upper Rank Three—and the blood of that "master" running through his veins, began to blare alarms.
Run.
If you don't run, you'll die.
Don't let that blade touch you—ever.
The soul-deep terror surged so violently that Akaza's punching arm hesitated instinctively in midair.
And in that single flash—
Yoriichi swung.
"Sun Breathing: First Form — Circular Dance."
Still the simplest arc—
And yet perfect to the extreme.
Hiss—!
Akaza's steel-hard arm—prized for being something even a Nichirin blade struggled to sever—was as fragile as paper before that crimson blade.
A severed arm flew high into the air, and the crimson edge did not slow—driving straight for his neck.
"Regenerate! Regenerate, damn it!!"
He howled inside his head, trying to force his demonic regeneration into motion.
But then, a searing agony surged from the stump, and his eyes widened in horror.
The wound… isn't closing?!
It was as if the cut had been scorched by the sun itself—cells thoroughly destroyed by that terrifying heat, utterly incapable of regeneration.
And at the instant the blade was about to meet his neck—before he could even process confusion—the blood of Muzan inside Akaza boiled violently.
His body moved on its own, before his mind could react.
Squelch!
To evade that fatal slash, Akaza relied on raw muscular explosion—twisting his spine backward to an impossible angle, feet crushing the ground as he retreated tens of meters like a hunted dog.
Boom!
Without the slightest hesitation, he crashed into the forest behind him.
Yoriichi's gaze sharpened.
His Nichirin blade still radiated astonishing heat as his foot shifted—
"Kh—!!"
A blood-wrenching cough erupted behind him.
Yoriichi stopped dead.
In his Transparent World, the blazing flame of life within Kyojuro Rengoku was collapsing.
A blood vessel near the heart had ruptured. If it was not addressed within a single breath, the Flame Hashira would die.
Killing a demon would take three seconds.
But saving the man in front of him had to be now.
Silently, Yoriichi sheathed his blade and turned back, catching the Flame Hashira as he swayed.
"…Damn it. He got away…"
Rengoku stared into the pitch-black woods, his lone remaining eye filled with unwillingness and regret. "That was an Upper Rank. If we don't eliminate him here, who knows how many people he'll harm in the future…"
"It's all right, Rengoku-san."
Yoriichi shook his head. A gentle, ripple-like rhythm entered his breath, and he swiftly sealed the bleeding points, voice calm.
"More than slaying demons… protecting the life in front of me is why I hold a sword."
"As long as we live, there are infinite possibilities."
…
Meanwhile, deep within the forest.
"Hah… hah…"
Akaza trudged through the trees, each step stamping a dark, wet footprint into the ground.
From the stump of his left arm, a scorching sensation—like it had come from the core of the sun—kept surging, devouring his demon cells and suppressing his instinct to regenerate.
The pain was bone-deep, yet he seemed almost unaware of it.
More unforgettable than the burning flesh was the image from that single instant of contact.
Even after fleeing several kilometers, he still could not understand why.
The boy had been right in front of him—visible to the eye—so why had he felt, in his senses, as if the boy did not exist at all?
No fighting spirit. No killing intent. Not even the presence of life.
His consciousness began to blur, eyelids growing heavier and heavier.
In that terror and chaos, a long-buried memory flashed through a corner of his mind—nearly forgotten for centuries.
That feeling just now…
He had seen it once before.
A man who ran a shabby dojo.
That man looked frail, always smiling—but when he fought, Akaza had felt an overwhelming helplessness, like facing a vast ocean.
—A realm only those who had reached the supreme domain could enter.
—Shutting down one's fighting spirit, letting killing intent and aura return completely to nothingness.
"…The Selfless State?"
As the term surfaced, an absurd, disbelieving dread flooded his chest.
That man had spent an entire lifetime just touching that threshold—yet that boy, who looked fifteen or sixteen, had mastered it perfectly?!
No. Not just that.
He suddenly remembered the way the boy had looked at him.
It wasn't the look one gave a person.
It was the gaze one cast upon a collection of blood vessels, muscles, and bones.
If his sensation hadn't been mistaken…
Then the boy had truly seen through him.
The moment he realized that, a horror detonated through him—as if he were naked and exposed in a freezing gale.
Twang—!
A crisp biwa note rang out without warning.
The ground vanished beneath Akaza's feet, replaced by endless interlaced wooden corridors and warped, uncanny space.
This… was the Infinity Castle.
Nakime's Blood Demon Art had retrieved the battered Upper Rank Three.
Before Akaza could even steady himself, an infuriating voice slid into his ear.
"Oh my, oh my—if it isn't Lord Akaza?"
With a snap of a folding fan, a frivolous, affected voice echoed through the empty corridor.
A man with rainbow-colored eyes and hair that looked as though blood had been poured over it approached, smiling.
He looked at Akaza—left arm severed, body charred black—and wore a mask of false concern.
"What happened to you? Didn't Muzan-sama send you to kill that brat with the earrings? Don't tell me… you lost?"
Upper Rank Two—Doma.
At that voice, the hollowness in Akaza's eyes focused instantly, swelling with humiliation and violent rage.
"Shut up, Doma."
"Don't be so cold." Doma didn't care. He even leaned closer, hiding his mouth behind the fan, rainbow eyes brimming with mockery.
"I heard that brat only joined the Demon Slayer Corps not long ago, you know? You couldn't even beat a human like that—and you ran back like a dog… Oh dear. If it were me, I'd be so ashamed I'd want to die."
Bang!
The last string of Akaza's reason snapped. He swung his right arm and punched half of Doma's head into a smear of flesh.
But Doma's shattered skull squirmed and reformed instantly, that nauseating smile still pasted on his face.
"So scary, so scary—just joking, Lord Akaza. You really can't take a joke, can you?"
"You don't understand…"
Akaza did not strike again. Instead, he glared at Doma, teeth grinding.
"That thing… isn't human."
"No fighting spirit. No killing intent. He stands there like a void."
"If you met him… you wouldn't last a single exchange."
Silence fell for a heartbeat.
Doma blinked, staring at Akaza in stunned disbelief.
Then—
"Hahahahahaha!"
He burst into raucous laughter, exaggerated enough that tears nearly spilled from his eyes.
After wiping the corner of his eye, Doma looked at Akaza the way one looked at a pitiful creature, fan swaying lightly.
"You wouldn't last a single exchange? Lord Akaza… your talent for making up stories to excuse your failure is getting better and better."
"Or is it… that you're just looking for a fig leaf to cover your weakness?"
Doma closed his fan, cruel excitement glittering in his eyes—the hunger of a predator for strange new prey.
"So you really were scared out of your wits. How pathetic. In that case, next time, I'll go meet him myself."
"I hope that brat's flesh is tastier than those girls'… and while I'm at it, I'll show you just how vast the gap between us really is."
Akaza forced down the rage boiling inside him and turned away.
And above their bickering—high up in the deepest shadow—
A man seated on tatami slowly opened six abyssal eyes.
Upper Rank One—Kokushibo.
He did not join their boring quarrel. He merely rested a hand on the hilt at his waist.
Within those six eyes, a rare flicker of emotion passed.
"…A void, you say?"
-------
My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
I, Herta's Fiancé, the Universe's Number One Male Fist (114 Chapter (Simulpub-Full) )
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Succubus in Sixth Street (400 Chapter)
Reborn in Type-Moon, My Sister is Aoko Aozaki (254 Chapter)
MyGO!! A Story Voiced by Me (140 Chapter)
BLEACH: Blade of Purification (158 Chapter)
Konoha: Starting the Game as Yoriichi (400 Chapter)
My Real Job is Spying on Konoha, but I'm Also its Hokage (140 Chapter)
The Pinnacle of the Navy! Starting from Being Captured by Garp (172 Chapter)
Watching Yu-Gi-Oh! short videos is making the veteran players lose...(80 Chapter)
Uma Musume : The Trainer Who Just Wants to Live (200 Chapter)
Zenless Zone Zero The Random Kamen Rider (200 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: It All Began With Me Being Stepped On by Arlecchino (120 Chapter)
Naruto: I Can Synthesize Summoning Beasts (96 Chapter)
Demon Slayer: The Great Swordsman's System, Disciple of Yoriichi (140 Chapter)
My Wife is a General, but I'm an Emanator of Abundance! (160 Chapter)
Type-Moon: My Nine-Fold Path (140 Chapter)
Uma Musume: They're Peeking at My Diary, and All of Tracen is Panickin (Ending)
The Wild History of Type-Moon world (70 Chapter)
Reborn in Conan, But I Refuse to Be the Bad Guy (80 Chapter)
Ruan Mei is begging me to go back? But there's no going back anymore (140 Chapter)
Just a Slacker at Tracen Academy (165 Chapter)
Survival in Blue Archive (70 Chapter)
Kimetsu no Yaiba: Doma Wasn't Hated Today, Either (100 Chapter)
The Vibe of This Chat Group is a Little Off (100 Chapter)
Heartbreak Simulator: I Broke Them and Made Them Cry (80 Chapter)
The Talentless Trainer Doesn't Want to Restart (80 Chapter)
A Journey Starting as a Quincy (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: The Master of Romance Obstruction (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: You Can't Be a Hero Without a Little Chemical Enhancement (40 Chapter)
Honkai Impact 3rd Your Boyfriend is Really Amazing (40 Chapter)
Warhammer 40K: My Fiancée, Fulgrim (180 Chapter)
Classroom of the Elite: Trying to Capture Me! (120 Chapter)
Genshin Impact My Named Senji Muramas (150 Chapter)
A Chef, the Vice-Captain of the Rocks Pirates? (160 Chapter)
Naruto : My Uchiha Girlfriend is Too Tsundere (130 Chapter)
Type-Moon: Reincarnated in a Lostbelt, I Became the Alien God (90 Chapter)
The Way These Horse Girls Look at Me Is Terrifying! (160 Chapter)
Naruto: Tsunade's Deskmate (130 Chapter)
I Just Want to Live a Normal (50 Chapter).
Genshin Impact: A Hundred Confessions? It's Just a System Task (70 Chapter)
OnePiece : Starting as a Veteran of the Roger Pirates (60 Chapter)
Uma Musume : I Have Special Horse Taming Techniques (190 Chapter)
Uma Musume : My other self is a Horse Girl (130 Chapter)
Jujutsu Kaisen : All Affection Stats Maxed Out (200 Chapter)
Satou Kazuma's Decision to Live by Swindling, Starting from Re:Zero (60 Chapter)
Bleach : Ichigo! Take Over the Soul Society (89 Chapter)
Crossover Anime: The Master of Plagiarism with a 'Love Obstacle (140 Chapter)
Arknights Succubus Nurturing System, But I'm a Quiet Office Worker (90 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: Using My Personas to Break the Hearts of Players (50 Chapter)
One Punch Man : i am King? (150 Chapter)
Genshin: My Stats Are Irresistible (70 Chapter)
Naruto: Master of Dream Fulfillment! (70 Chapter)
Why Are All My Chat Group Friends Spin-Off Characters? (123 Chapter)
Arknights : Batman System (30 Chapter)
Chat Group: Swapping Bodies with the Bad-Ending Herta from the Start (72 Chapter)
DanMachi: Why Did My Dungeon Turn Into a Soulslike Game? (92 Chapter)
Losing Money on Uma Musume...What Do You Mean You Actually Won? (93 Chapter)
I'm Gotou Hitori—Who Are You? (40 Chapter)
Were You Ever Even a Uma Musume? Stop Making Things Up! (75 Chapter)
Moon Project: A Full-Time Love Adventure for the Lobotomy Corporation (75 Chapter)
The Leisurely Days of the Hyuga Main House (65 Chapter)
Arknights : A Draco Surviving in a Matriarchal Terra (115 Chapter)
Arknights: What if My Luck Is Too Good? (105 Chapter)
Honkai: The Romance System Only Shows Up After I Marry Mei (55 Chapter)
Arknights: Who Are You Calling Repressed, X?! (105 Chapter)
The Chat Group Only Arrived After I'd Cleared the Game (42 Chapter)
Gojo Satoru Flat-Out Refuses to Admit He's a Supporting Character (40 Chapter)
Chat Group Isn't Supposed to Be Like This! (30 Chapter)
If You're Moriarty…then Who Am I? (56 Chapter)
Uma Musume: Since I "Can't See," They Take Turns Stealing My Underwear (50 Chapter)
Arknights: Why Are All My "Brothers" Girls? (54 Chapter)
Danmachi: Start Training Haki (59 Chapter)
Emiya Shirou's Rebirth (30 Chapter)
I Can Get Stronger Just by AFK'ing—So I Joined a Chat Group (50 Chapter)
Endfield: I Can Always Pull Out One Yuan (54Chapter)
Limbus Company : I Started a Company in Project Moon (50 Chapter)
Lobotomy: Do Cooks of Alley 23 Dream of Bloodfiend Knights? (50 Chapter)
DanMachi: Freya Familia's "One-Blade Shura" (60 Chapter)
DanMachi: Emiya, the Great Hero Becomes the Protagonist (75 Chapter)
TYPE-MOON: One Special Instance Every Week (40 Chapter)
From Danmachi: The Abundance Apothecary (64 Chapter)
Lord Shadow Descends on DanMachi (64 Chapter)
Fuse with Me, Exusiai! (41 Chapter)
Honkai: Star Rail — After I Die, I Forge Their Madness (50 Chapter)
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it