The malice pouring out of Kamanue was thick enough to choke on.
Even Inosuke, who had been burning with fighting spirit a mont ago, felt his body tense against his will.
This was the first ti he had ever felt pressure like this from an enemy.
It was not rely fear.
It was the instinctive warning of a beast standing before sothing higher in the food chain.
His fingers tightened around his twin swords. Beneath the boar mask, his breathing grew heavier.
This is bad.
That thought surfaced before he could stop it.
The pressure alone felt as if it were grinding down his bones. For a single mont, the idea of retreating crept into his mind.
I can't beat this thing.
That faint, poisonous thought had barely taken root when Tanjiro's voice cut through the courtyard.
"Don't give up, Inosuke! We won't lose!"
Inosuke froze.
Then he gripped his swords harder.
"That's right," he muttered, forcing his shoulders to square. "We absolutely can't lose."
He pointed both swords at Kamanue.
"Co on, you demon cat... tiger... whatever you are!"
His voice rose into an angry roar.
"How dare you make think this hard! You're finished!"
Kamanue's cruel smile stiffened.
For a second, even the corners of his mouth twitched.
Is this brat insane?
Tanjiro saw Inosuke regain his nerve and finally let out a quiet breath. Then all his attention returned to the demon in front of them.
"Let's go together!"
He kicked off the ground and rushed in.
Asuramaru glead in his hand.
"Water Breathing—Fourth Form: Striking Tide!"
His sword swept forward in a series of flowing slashes, each one crashing in like a surging current.
Kamanue twisted.
His body bent at impossible angles, soft and supple like a cat slipping through a gap in a fence. The water-like arcs tore through empty air, and in the sa motion, Kamanue drove a fist toward Tanjiro's head.
Tanjiro pulled his sword back in ti and blocked.
The impact still blasted through his arms.
His feet left the ground, and he was sent flying backward.
At almost the sa mont, Inosuke appeared at Kamanue's flank.
"Beast Breathing—Third Fang: Devour!"
He swung both swords in a savage horizontal cross, aiming to tear through Kamanue from both sides.
Kamanue's torso folded unnaturally.
The attack missed by a hair.
Then his fist sank into Inosuke's abdon.
The blow launched Inosuke straight across the courtyard and into the room beyond the veranda. He crashed down near Zenitsu, blood spraying from beneath the boar mask.
"That... really hurt..."
"Eh? Are you okay?!"
Zenitsu was scared half to death, yet he still scrambled closer in concern.
Inosuke lay on the corridor floor, pain burning through his entire body. His lungs felt like they had been crushed. Even breathing was agony.
Then he saw Zenitsu crouching beside him and imdiately snapped, "I'm fine! Why aren't you helping?"
Zenitsu went silent.
"I... I'm scared," he stamred. "I'm not married yet. I don't want to die so soon. Besides, Tanjiro said he would win..."
Inosuke stared at him for a second.
"You really are useless."
It was the first ti Inosuke had ever given anyone such a blunt evaluation.
His own injuries were still bad, but they had not broken him. With a growl, he forced himself up, grabbed his swords, and staggered back toward the courtyard.
Outside, Tanjiro was already fighting Kamanue head-on.
Steel, claws, and water clashed under the moonlight.
They exchanged dozens of blows in a few breaths. Kamanue relied on his flexible body to avoid Tanjiro's sword, constantly twisting away from lethal angles, but in such close combat, no defense remained perfect forever.
Several wounds had already opened across Kamanue's body.
None of them healed.
"Damn you..."
Kamanue's eyes bulged with fury as blood ran down his chest and arms.
"How dare you wound ! Your sins are unforgivable!"
He threw his head back and roared.
"Blood Demon Art—Fierce Tiger Claw Rip!"
His claws stretched violently.
Each claw grew to dozens of centiters long, curving like hooks of black iron. With every swipe, the air scread. Wood, stone, and ground alike were shredded wherever the claws passed.
But against Asuramaru, the claws were still cut apart.
Only this ti, there was a difference.
The claws were not ordinary flesh and blood. Their nature was closer to an extension of Kamanue's Blood Demon Art. Asuramaru's power could hinder their regeneration, but it could not completely stop it the way it stopped wounds in his body.
Kamanue noticed this as well.
He began pouring everything into regenerating the claws as quickly as Tanjiro cut them down.
Even then, his regeneration could not keep up.
"Water Breathing—Third Form: Flowing Dance!"
Tanjiro's footwork shifted.
His body moved like running water, slipping through the gaps between each swipe. The sword's edge flashed in the moonlight, carrying a stream of water with every movent.
In one passing exchange, every extended claw was severed.
Another wound opened across Kamanue's chest.
But at that exact mont, a black shadow shot out from behind the demon.
It was a venomous snake covered in intricate markings.
Its jaws opened wide, fangs bared, lunging toward Tanjiro's exposed back.
Kamanue's lips curled.
Got you.
Inside the sword, Alex's voice rang out at once.
"Behind you."
Tanjiro did not hesitate.
He turned and slashed.
The snake's head split cleanly down the middle.
Kamanue's expression darkened.
Does this brat have eyes in the back of his head?
His carefully prepared sneak attack had been exposed in an instant.
At that mont, Inosuke returned.
He leaped into the air, both swords raised high.
"Beast Breathing—Second Fang: Slice!"
Tanjiro moved with him.
"Water Breathing—Seventh Form: Drop Ripple Thrust!"
The attacks landed together.
Tanjiro's sword pierced through Kamanue's abdon.
Inosuke's twin swords struck his neck.
But the demon's flesh clamped down like iron. Inosuke's swords broke the skin and sank in, only to be caught by the muscle underneath.
"So hard..." Inosuke strained with both arms. "I can't cut through!"
Kamanue began to laugh.
"Hahaha... You're both guilty!"
His head swelled.
His face twisted, bones shifting beneath the skin. In an instant, his head transford into that of a monstrous ape.
His jaws opened wide.
"Go to hell!"
The roar exploded.
Boom!
The sound crashed through the courtyard like a physical blow.
At such close range, Tanjiro's mind went white. His ears rang. Blood flowed from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. His grip on Asuramaru almost loosened.
Inosuke was struck no less harshly.
Kamanue slapped him away with brutal force, sending him smashing through the courtyard wall and tearing a gap straight through it.
This ti, Inosuke did not imdiately rise.
He was badly injured.
For the mont, he was out of the fight.
Tanjiro, however, had Alex.
Demon Power surged through his body, rapidly repairing the damage from the roar. His fading senses returned, and his fingers clenched around Asuramaru again.
He tried to force the sword through Kamanue's body and split him open.
But Kamanue was faster.
His claws drove into Tanjiro's chest.
They pierced deep, digging toward his heart.
Tanjiro's breath hitched.
Kamanue rose slightly into the air, dragging him across the ground as if he weighed nothing. Then, with a violent swing, he hurled Tanjiro straight through the room.
Crash!
Tatami mats tore apart. Wooden beams cracked. Broken furniture scattered everywhere.
Tanjiro hit the floor hard and rolled through the debris.
Zenitsu's face went pale.
"Tanjiro!"
Panic seized his throat.
Tanjiro, didn't you say you would win?
In the wreckage, Tanjiro lay motionless for a mont.
His body had reached its limit.
This demon was not sothing he could defeat as he was now.
His ribs scread. His lungs burned. His limbs felt numb, and the world around him blurred at the edges.
Zenitsu's frightened voice echoed in his ears, but it sounded distant.
His consciousness began to sink.
Then his eyes found Nezuko.
She was in the room, still inside the wooden box.
His sister.
The person he had sworn to protect.
I can't...
His fingers twitched.
I can't lose like this...
Inside Asuramaru, Alex released more Demon Power to repair Tanjiro's wounds. At the sa ti, he reached deeper and pulled Tanjiro's fading consciousness into the world within the sword.
The battlefield vanished.
The ruined room vanished.
The moon, the demon, the sll of blood—all of it fell away.
Tanjiro opened his eyes to a place where sky and sea t without end.
A boundless blue horizon stretched before him.
Standing there was the elf-like figure he had co to know as Asuramaru.
Tanjiro looked at him, breathing hard even in this strange inner world.
His first words ca without hesitation.
"Asuramaru," he said, his voice raw but steady. "I need strength."
He clenched his fists.
"Nezuko and the others are still waiting for ."
His eyes burned with desperate resolve.
"I can't lose yet."
.....
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
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