On the narrow paths of the Swordsmith Village, the tranquil night was completely torn apart by a nauseating stench of blood.
"Something's wrong… Tanjiro, something is really wrong!"
Zenitsu clutched his ears tightly, his face deathly pale, cold sweat dripping from his chin.
His hearing had picked it up—
"Not one… not two…
It's all over the mountains! Countless demons are swarming this way!
"The sounds are a complete mess! And mixed in with all those footsteps—there's one crying… crying so badly it makes me want to throw up!"
"Right ahead!"
In the middle of the path, a withered old man with a huge tumor on his forehead was curled up beneath a tree, trembling violently.
"Eek… so scary… so scary…"
The old man covered his face, murky tears seeping through his fingers.
"Why are you bullying me… I'm just a passing old man…"
"Liar!!"
Tanjiro shouted. The stench coming from that old man was so thick it was suffocating—
the heavy blood-soaked smell of someone who had eaten countless humans.
"You're an Upper Rank!"
"Eeek! I've been found out?"
The old man suddenly opened a malicious eye through his fingers.
"I was just too scared… I heard Lord Gyokko died…
He was killed… how terrifying…
"So I called over all the demons from several mountains…"
Hantengu gestured toward the surrounding darkness, a sinister smile curling at his lips.
"As long as they're here… as long as we all bully the weak together…
I won't be scared anymore, heehee."
"ROAR!!"
As his words fell, countless crimson eyes lit up in the darkness.
"Caw! Enemy attack! Enemy attack!!"
"The Swordsmith Village is under large-scale invasion! All units on alert! Protect the village chief!!"
The crows' shrill cries tore through the night sky.
"Die! All of you bad people!"
Hantengu screamed—crying even as a killing intent colder than ice radiated from him.
But just as the horde of demons was about to surge forward—
"You're too loud."
A flat, emotionless voice drifted down like passing clouds.
Mist Breathing, Fourth Form: Shifting Flow Slash.
No one saw what happened—only a mist-like flash of blade light.
Shhk.
Hantengu's crying head, along with his raised arm, suddenly flew high into the air.
Tokito Muichiro stood behind him, expressionless, his Nichirin sword slowly sliding back into its sheath with a soft click.
"If you're scared, then just die."
"W–We won?!" Tanjiro's eyes went wide.
That was it? Was this the power of a Hashira?
"Watch out!!"
Zenitsu let out a shriek, clutching his ears as if he'd heard something unbearable.
"It's not over!! The sound got louder!! It split!!"
The severed head and body didn't turn to ash. Instead, the flesh writhed and expanded the instant they hit the ground.
BOOM! BOOM!
As the dust cleared, the single old man had split into two young, powerfully built demons radiating terrifying pressure.
One wielded a staff, his face twisted in rage—Sekido.
The other held a fan, grinning with delight—Karaku.
"Interrupting me at a time like this—how infuriating!!"
Sekido raised his staff, violent lightning instantly engulfing the street.
"Hahahaha! That slash felt great! Come again!"
Karaku laughed as he swung his fan, a gale powerful enough to tear houses apart rising from nowhere.
"Damn it! Cutting the head makes it split!"
Muichiro's eyes sharpened as he retreated.
"That regeneration speed… definitely Upper Rank."
Meanwhile, on the other side of the village, the residential area—
Countless demons drooled as they smashed through the craftsmen's doors.
"Meat! Human meat!"
"Eat them!"
Just as a demon's claws were about to tear through a young craftsman's throat—
"Ahhh! No!!
You absolutely can't bully these adorable villagers!!"
A pink afterimage, accompanied by a girl's shrill cry, burst into the battlefield.
Love Breathing, First Form: Shivers of First Love!
Swish swish swish!
Her blade moved like a whip, like a ribbon—
in her hands, it seemed alive.
At angles that defied physics, pink arcs of slashes filled the air.
Shhk! Shhk! Shhk!
More than a dozen demons were diced apart before they could even react.
Kanroji Mitsuri landed lightly, her sakura-mochi–colored hair fluttering, cheeks flushed from exertion—
yet her blade was spotless, not a drop of blood clinging to it.
"Everyone, run! I'll protect you!
"Anyone who dares touch even a single blade of grass here—
I'll make them feel the pain of heartbreak!!"
BOOOOM!!!
Sekido's lightning crashed down, aimed straight at Zenitsu, who looked frozen in terror, eyes shut tight.
"Die, coward! Your voice sounds the weakest!"
But the charred corpse never appeared.
Bzzzz!!
The roar of a thousand birds.
Zenitsu lowered his head, golden bangs shadowing his eyes.
His legs were shaking—instinctive fear.
Tears clung to the corners of his eyes—fear of death.
But his hand gripped the sword hilt with iron resolve.
"Inosuke isn't here…"
Zenitsu muttered, his soft voice cutting through the thunder.
"That idiot… always pushing himself.
That guy who calls me useless and steals my rice balls…
"He's not here right now.
He's charging ahead alone again… just like always."
Peach Mountain flashed through his mind—
Inosuke, who turned his most terrifying senior, Kaigaku, into someone who apologized, someone who could see him off.
Inosuke, who looked like a bully yet recorded every debt, never truly forcing him to repay a single coin.
Inosuke, who changed everyone's fate just so Grandpa wouldn't be heartbroken.
"I don't have any regrets anymore…"
"Grandpa is safe. My senior is getting better."
"I'm not the useless coward who only cries behind others anymore!"
"This… is what Inosuke gave me!!!"
Sekido's staff slammed down.
"Die!!"
Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash — Godspeed!
BOOOOM!!!
Zenitsu vanished.
In his place—
a golden lightning bolt that tore through the night!
He didn't dodge.
He charged straight into Sekido's lightning!
"What?!"
Sekido stared in shock as the boy appeared right before him.
Slash!
One strike—just one.
Sekido's arm, the one holding the staff, was severed clean off.
Using the momentum, Zenitsu spun through the air like a golden cyclone and slammed a kick into Karaku's face as he tried to ambush Tanjiro!
"Tanjiro! Don't worry about me—go for the neck!!"
Zenitsu roared, blood streaming down his face, his golden eyes burning with unprecedented resolve.
"Hurry! Inosuke is fighting alone over there!
"We have to finish off these trash mobs and go help him!!"
Seeing Zenitsu's explosion of strength, Tanjiro's blood boiled.
"Right!"
But at that moment, Muichiro suddenly appeared between them.
"You two—stand down."
His voice was still calm, his brow furrowed.
"This is an Upper Rank. Not something your level should handle.
"And… I can feel it too.
There's an even stronger presence outside the village.
"You'll only get in the way. Go protect the village chief. Leave this to me."
"Are you kidding me?!"
A hoarse shout cut him off.
Tanjiro—normally gentle to a fault—was now red-eyed, blocking Karaku's attacks as he yelled:
"Then what are we supposed to be?!"
"If it's to protect others, even if we're weak, we have to fight!"
He pointed toward the direction of that terrifying presence outside the village, tears mixing with blood.
"Muichiro! You're a Hashira—you feel it too, right?!
"Inosuke's presence… it's with that stronger demon!"
"That aura is even more terrifying than this one! He's fighting alone!!"
"This is the second time! The Mugen Train, and now here!"
"He always says he's using us, that we owe him money—
but he's always the one standing in the most dangerous place!
"He always faces the strongest enemy alone!"
"If we can't even beat these clones—
how are we supposed to help him?!"
"We're… his partners too!!"
Muichiro froze.
The mist in those empty mint-green eyes shattered under the force of that shout.
"Partners…
Doing it for others… is doing it for yourself…"
Fragments of forgotten memories overlapped with the sight of these boys before him.
Muichiro tightened his grip on his sword.
"I understand.
"In that case… don't slow me down.
"…We finish this quickly."
At the edge of the village, amid the ruins—
this battle was true hell.
"Haa… haa…"
Inosuke knelt on one knee.
His gorgeous haori had been reduced to tatters, his body carved with bone-deep wounds.
Blood poured from every cut—he didn't even have time to use his ice physique to stop it.
Across from him, Sasaki was still smiling, mockery thickening in his single eye.
Inosuke stared him down.
Through the slaughter just now, he had finally seen through Sasaki's Blood Demon Art.
A despair-inducing causality-based technique—
one that twisted probability within a small range.
Inosuke's blade would clearly aim for the neck, only to slip off-course because of some tiny chance event—like his foot slipping.
Sasaki's blade, even when perfectly dodged, would land anyway due to bizarre ricochets or flying debris.
Even worse—after being hit, Inosuke's vision would lag and distort.
"What's wrong, young master?"
Sasaki stepped closer, savoring the cat-and-mouse game.
"Is this all you've got? Without Upper Moons backing you, you can't even touch me?
"Divine child… genius…
in front of absolute luck, you're just a joke."
Seeing Inosuke silent, head lowered, Sasaki grew bored.
He wanted to crush the boy's spirit completely.
"Hey, Inosuke."
Sasaki leaned close, lowering his voice like a snake flicking its tongue.
"Before coming here… I visited the Eternal Paradise Cult."
Inosuke's body stiffened violently—his breathing faltered for an instant.
"Your mother… is really beautiful."
Sasaki licked his lips, deliberately making a disgusting slurping sound.
"Such a slender neck. Such fair skin.
That scent—her blood smelled so sweet it made me drool."
"At that time, my blade… was right against her neck."
"Just a little more… just a little more, and I could've tasted her flesh."
Inosuke slowly raised his head. His multicolored pupils rapidly filled with red.
"Such a shame…"
Sasaki shook his head, feigning regret.
"Your father stopped me."
"But I did see a great show."
Pointing at Inosuke, Sasaki laughed so hard he bent over.
"That so-called father of yours—Upper Rank Two, Doma."
"He usually acts like a god, but in front of Lord Muzan, his head got blown off again and again."
"Like a dog protecting its master—smashed to pieces, kneeling on the ground, wagging his tail, saying that woman was his believer!"
"Hahahaha! Divine Child! Your family is really a bunch of pitiful worms!"
"All thanks to Lord Muzan—your good luck is about to run out!
Your father, in front of him, really looked like a dog~~"
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump…
Inosuke heard the thunderous pounding of his own heart.
His temperature soared. His blood boiled.
The final thread of reason snapped.
Calm. Analysis. Tactics. Luck.
All of it could go to hell.
"What… did you say about my mom?"
"What… did you say my dad looked like?"
Inosuke stood up.
His voice was terrifyingly calm—
the stillness before a typhoon.
HISSS—!
Massive amounts of white steam erupted from his body.
The cold within him vaporized instantly.
He was engulfed in scalding white mist, the air around him warping from heat.
Sasaki's laughter cut off.
Instinctive terror flooded him.
"Y–You… what is this?!"
At Inosuke's bare collarbone, an alluring deep-red lotus-shaped mark bloomed and spread at visible speed.
Mark — Awakened.
Inosuke raised his twin blades. He didn't even look at Sasaki anymore.
The blade in his left hand no longer radiated ordinary cold—it condensed into black ice.
Even the surrounding air froze into black crystalline shards.
The blade in his right hand turned a blinding fiery red, heat crackling loudly through the air.
Rin-Sun Breathing — Ultimate Art.
"I shouldn't have wavered because of trash like you…"
Sasaki felt true fear of death.
"Who are you pretending to scare?!
You think you can beat me?!
"I don't believe it! I'm an Upper Rank! I have luck on my side!!"
Blood Demon Art: Great Misfortune — Ten Thousand Deaths!
Sasaki swung his bone blade wildly, endless black calamity slashes exploding toward Inosuke!
Too slow.
With the Mark active, Sasaki's movements were snail-like in Inosuke's eyes.
So-called luck, in the face of absolute speed and power, was a joke.
Inosuke vanished—
leaving only steam behind.
Rin-Sun — Solar Eclipse: Twin Poles of Ice and Flame!
No flashy dance.
Just a single crossing slash.
The blazing-hot blade instantly incinerated Sasaki's bone armor.
The extreme-cold blade froze every regenerating cell at the same moment, sealing all life.
Crack!
A sound impossibly crisp echoed through the night.
Time seemed to stop as the two passed each other.
Inosuke stood with his back to Sasaki—
the twin blades in his hands… shattered.
Unable to withstand the ultimate clash of ice and fire, the old swords snapped clean in half, leaving only bare hilts.
Inosuke stared at the broken handles, exhaling a blood-tinged plume of steam, his eyes indifferent.
Behind him—
Sasaki remained frozen in his attack stance, terror and disbelief still etched in his single eye.
The next instant—
a thin red-and-blue line appeared across his neck.
Then, that massive one-eyed head…
slowly slid off.
Thud.
The head rolled to a stop at Inosuke's feet.
The severed head's lips suddenly curled into a bizarre smile.
"Hehehe… your blades broke, huh…"
"Looks like… luck is still on my side…"
"You think… this is the end?
"I ate three whole villages."
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