I Became a Demon Sword and Traveled the Anime Worlds Chapter 67 67: The Dream Shatters, Everyone Awakens

Asuramaru stared at the boy trembling before him, then let the black thorns dissolve into smoke.

He had lost interest in killing him.

Instead, he raised his slender right hand.

"Then I won't kill you this ti."

His crimson eyes narrowed.

"Scram."

Snap.

The crisp sound of his fingers rang out across the boundless sea and sky.

The boy's consciousness plunged into darkness.

…

Elsewhere, within another dream, Tanjiro had already realized sothing was wrong.

Snow crunched beneath his feet as he ran alone through the forest.

Behind him, familiar voices called out.

"Tanjiro?"

"What's wrong?"

"Where are you going?"

His mother. His siblings.

Voices he had missed so badly it hurt to hear them again.

Tanjiro clenched his fists and kept moving, his head lowered as snowflakes drifted past his face.

"I wanted to stay here forever," he whispered.

The words left his mouth with a tremble, but his steps did not slow.

"This place is so warm. Everyone is alive. Everyone is smiling…"

His throat tightened.

"But it's fake."

The truth cut deeper than any demon's claw.

"I lost all of this long ago."

His breathing grew sharper. The grief in his chest twisted into sothing harder, sothing that burned.

"All I can do now…"

He lifted his head, eyes blazing with resolve.

"…is avenge you."

The forest opened before him. Snow swirled in the air.

Tanjiro shouted with everything he had.

"Asuramaru!"

The mont his voice rang out, a figure appeared behind him.

Asuramaru stepped forward at an unhurried pace, his dark hair drifting despite the stillness of the dream. His tone was almost teasing.

"You want to leave already? I deliberately didn't wake you right away."

Tanjiro turned toward him.

There was sadness in his eyes, but no hesitation.

"My heart is set. Right now, all I can think of is revenge." His voice was steady. "Please, Asuramaru. Let leave this place."

Seeing his family again had not weakened him.

It had sharpened him.

It had reminded him of everything Muzan Kibutsuji had stolen.

Asuramaru looked at him for a mont, then gave a faint, helpless smile.

"Since you asked."

He lifted his hand.

"Wake up."

The dream shattered.

Tanjiro's eyes snapped open.

He was back on the train, seated in the carriage as the wheels thundered over the tracks beneath him. His body jolted upright, and his gaze swept his surroundings at once.

Rengoku was asleep.

Zenitsu and Inosuke were asleep.

Sanemi was asleep as well, though even unconscious he looked ready to kill soone.

And there were strangers in the carriage.

Tanjiro looked down and saw a hemp rope tied around his wrist. The other end was connected to a pale, sickly-looking boy sitting behind him.

"Who are these people…? And this rope…"

His mind cleared.

No ti.

"Asuramaru, please wake everyone up!"

Inside the sword, Asuramaru did not waste words.

Black threads spread from the sword like smoke, silently reaching toward the others.

One by one, they pierced into their dreams.

He shattered Rengoku's dream.

Then Inosuke's.

Then Sanemi's.

But when he reached Zenitsu's dream, even Asuramaru paused.

In the dream, Zenitsu was running through a bright, ridiculous fantasy landscape, laughing with an expression that deserved to be reported to the nearest authority.

"Asuramaru! Nezuko! Wait for !"

In front of him, dream versions of Nezuko and Asuramaru were running away while Zenitsu chased after them with both arms outstretched.

Asuramaru's eyelid twitched.

For a mont, he considered leaving him asleep just so natural selection could take its course.

Instead, he released his power and took control of the dream version of himself.

Just as Zenitsu was about to pounce, dream-Asuramaru spun around and kicked him squarely away.

Zenitsu flew back like a kicked ball.

While he lay dazed on the ground, Asuramaru walked up to him, crimson eyes looking down with rciless contempt.

"Actually," Asuramaru said coldly, "I'm a man."

Zenitsu froze.

His entire face collapsed.

Then ca the scream.

"Aaaaaaaaaaah! No! No, no, no! Asuramaru can't be a boy! This has to be a dream! It's fake! Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

The dream broke beneath his shriek.

Zenitsu shot awake in the train carriage, eyes wide with horror.

"It's all fake!"

Everyone turned to look at him.

The silence that followed was rciless.

Zenitsu's face flushed red.

Only after realizing he had woken from a nightmare did he finally exhale in relief. Then he looked down and saw the hemp rope tied to his wrist.

The other end was connected to another boy.

"Huh? Who is this? And why am I tied up?!"

The others had begun waking as well, confusion flashing across their faces.

Tanjiro quickly explained, "We were caught in a Blood Demon Art and forced into a deep sleep. The tickets carried a demon's scent. They must have been the dium."

His expression turned serious.

"If not for Asuramaru, we might not have woken up."

"Has the demon appeared?" Rengoku rose at once, his bright eyes scanning the carriage like an owl searching the night.

Zenitsu, surprisingly, did not panic this ti. He clenched his fists, his expression dark with rare indignation.

How dare that demon make dream sothing so horrible?

Unforgivable.

I'll cut it down!

Inosuke, anwhile, was still half-lost in his dream, crouched in his seat and muttering beneath his boar mask.

Sanemi had already drawn his Nichirin sword.

"Where is the demon?" he demanded, eyes sharp and vicious. "I'll kill it now."

Before anyone could answer, three of the strangers who had been asleep nearby suddenly sprang up in the aisle.

Each held a sharp awl.

One girl glared at the pale boy connected to Tanjiro, her face twisted with desperation.

"What are you staring for? Help us!" she snapped. "If you don't, I'll tell him! Then you won't get any more good dreams! Don't you have tuberculosis?"

The boy did not move.

He only sat there, tears sliding silently down his cheeks.

The other three rushed forward.

Tanjiro moved before they could take another step.

He slipped between them with swift, controlled movents and struck each one on the back of the neck with the edge of his hand.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

The three collapsed unconscious.

Tanjiro looked down at them, sorrow flickering across his face.

"I'm sorry," he murmured. "Dreams can be beautiful. I know that better than anyone. But we still have to face reality."

Zenitsu pointed toward the pale boy behind him.

"Tanjiro, there's still one more."

Everyone turned.

The boy slowly stood. His face was weak and bloodless, but he forced a faint smile.

"Thank you," he said hoarsely. "Please be careful. The demon is at the front of the train."

Tanjiro looked at him and rembered what the girl had said.

Tuberculosis.

His eyes softened.

"Asuramaru," he thought, "please cure him."

Asuramaru did not argue.

Black threads stretched from the sword, touched the boy's body, and sank into him. Demon Power spread through his lungs, clearing the disease that had been eating away at him.

A mont later, Asuramaru's voice sounded in Tanjiro's mind.

"It's cured. But I should remind you—the demon has already fused with this train. You'd better hurry."

"Thank you, Asuramaru!"

Tanjiro imdiately looked toward the others.

"Everyone, Asuramaru says the demon is fusing with the train. We don't have much ti. Follow !"

He rushed toward the front carriage without hesitation.

The mont he opened the carriage door, the stench of demon flesh struck him head-on.

Tanjiro's eyes sharpened.

The scent was coming from above.

The roof.

Without a second thought, he leapt up, pushing through the opening and landing on top of the train.

Night wind slamd against him.

The Mugen Train roared beneath his feet, racing through darkness under the cold moon.

And there, standing atop the first carriage, was a pale young man with dark hair, a sickly smile, and the markings of Lower Rank One in his eyes.

Enmu.

.....

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