"Thanks, Asuramaru!"
Tanjiro shifted his grip, both hands closing around the hilt.
Water surged along the edge of his sword, gathering with his breath. In the next instant, his body spun, the blade drawing a perfect arc through the darkness.
"Water Breathing—Second Form: Water Wheel!"
The strike descended.
Below him, the locomotive's deck split open with a wet, tearing sound. Fleshy arms burst from beneath the floorboards in a grotesque wave, linking together, twisting around one another, trying to form a shield.
Eyes opened across the mass.
Dozens of them.
Hundreds.
They stared up at Tanjiro, trembling with hatred and terror.
It ant nothing.
The Water Wheel carved straight through.
Flesh, bone, and demon growth split apart beneath Asuramaru's edge. The outer layers were torn open in a single breath, and the massive cervical spine hidden beneath the locomotive was exposed.
Then severed.
The force of the blow did not stop there.
tal scread.
The coupling between the locomotive and the first carriage snapped under the strain, sparks bursting from the joint like scattered fireflies.
The instant Enmu's true neck was cut, the entire locomotive let out a horrific wail.
It was not the sound of machinery.
It was a demon screaming.
The flesh clinging to the engine convulsed, cracked, then sloughed away in chunks. Pieces of at fell from the iron fra, drying and turning to ash before they even struck the ground.
Tanjiro did not have ti to watch it die.
He kicked off the collapsing deck, grabbed the conductor by the collar with one hand, and leapt back toward the first carriage. As he landed on the roof, he drove Asuramaru into the tal to steady himself.
Behind him, the locomotive bucked violently.
Enmu's last roar echoed into the night as the engine tore free from the tracks and lurched into the wilderness. Dirt, gravel, and splintered wood exploded into the air.
The remaining carriages shook with terrifying force.
Passengers scread inside.
For a few breathless monts, it seed the entire train would roll over and crush everyone within.
But Enmu had not completed his fusion.
With the head severed and the demon's control collapsing, the trailing carriages slowed, shuddered, and finally ground to a halt in the middle of the wilderness.
The locomotive lay ahead, half-buried in torn earth.
Flesh writhed across its broken fra. One remaining chunk still clung to consciousness, twitching as if unwilling to die.
"No… no… my dream…"
Enmu's voice dissolved into a miserable shriek.
Then even that fragnt crumbled into ash, scattering on the night wind.
On the roof of the first carriage, Tanjiro turned to the conductor he had rescued.
The man was pale, shaking, his eyes wide with terror.
Tanjiro softened his expression and gave him a gentle smile.
"It's alright now. Please don't be afraid—"
The conductor's face darkened.
A dagger flashed in his hand.
"It's because of you…"
He lunged.
"Why did you do this?!"
The blade stabbed toward Tanjiro's chest.
Tanjiro's smile faded.
For an instant, sadness crossed his eyes. He could sll it—the fear, the confusion, the lingering influence of the dream. The man was not thinking clearly. He had been dragged through sothing cruel and could not tell who had saved him from who had ruined everything.
Tanjiro did not explain.
He simply stepped aside, avoided the thrust, and chopped the back of the man's neck with the edge of his hand.
The conductor collapsed unconscious.
"I'm sorry."
Tanjiro lowered him carefully onto the roof, then leapt down to the wilderness below.
One after another, the others erged from the train.
Kyojuro Rengoku jumped down first, his haori settling behind him like a fla. Sanemi Shinazugawa followed, sword still in hand, his sharp gaze sweeping the area for any surviving threat.
Zenitsu stumbled out after them, clutching his head.
"Are we alive? We're alive, right? Please tell I'm alive…"
Inosuke landed heavily beside him and raised both blades.
"Of course we're alive! A train could never defeat Lord Inosuke!"
Nezuko appeared last, slipping out from the carriage and hurrying toward Tanjiro. She stopped beside him without a word, her pink eyes scanning everyone as if confirming they were safe.
The tension finally began to loosen.
Inside Asuramaru, a system notification rang through Alex's mind.
[Ding! Detected intense negative emotions from Lower Rank One, Enmu, before death. Obtained 5,000 emotion points.]
[Total Demon Power obtained: 3,000.]
[Automatically providing 30% Feedback to Tanjiro.]
The mont the notification faded, Tanjiro's body changed again.
Warmth spread through his muscles. His breathing deepened. Strength flowed into his limbs as if the exhaustion of the battle had been washed away by a clear stream.
He felt stronger than before.
Far stronger.
Yet Tanjiro did not smile in triumph.
He turned toward the place where Enmu had perished, bowed his head slightly, and whispered, "Thank you."
Inside the sword, Alex fell silent for a mont.
Killing the demon, then thanking it for the power it provided.
If Enmu had not already turned to ash, he might have dragged himself back to life through sheer rage.
The night was still.
For a few short breaths, it seed the battle had truly ended.
Then Alex's perception rippled.
His expression sharpened.
"Tanjirou."
Tanjiro's hand moved to his sword before Alex even finished speaking.
"There are demons approaching from the north and south. Both are extrely powerful. They should be Upper Ranks."
Tanjiro's face changed at once.
He drew Asuramaru again, the blade catching the moonlight in a dark gleam.
"Mr. Sanemi! Mr. Rengoku!"
The two Hashira looked over.
"Two demons are coming," Tanjiro said, voice tense but steady. "Asuramaru says both of them are likely Upper Ranks."
"Upper Ranks?"
Kyojuro's bright eyes narrowed.
Sanemi's grip tightened around his sword.
Neither of them retreated.
Not one step.
For a thousand years, the Upper Ranks had remained like mountains standing over the Demon Slayer Corps. Countless Hashira had challenged them. Countless Hashira had died.
And now, two had appeared at once.
Sanemi stepped forward, scarred face hardening.
"Tanjiro, take your sister and get out of here. With your current strength, you should be able to escape."
Kyojuro raised his Nichirin sword, flas seeming to gather in his gaze.
"Leave the passengers to us. Your safety cos first!"
Zenitsu had only just recovered when his face collapsed into despair.
"Upper Ranks? We're fighting Upper Ranks? No, no, no, I can't do this! I'm going to die! I haven't even gotten married yet! I haven't even held a girl's hand properly! This is too cruel!"
"Shut up, brat!"
Sanemi's glare snapped toward him like a drawn blade.
Zenitsu shrank back with a squeak.
Inosuke, however, stepped forward.
His hands tightened on his twin swords.
"I'm the boss!" he barked. "Underlings are supposed to hide behind the boss!"
Even through the boar mask, his body betrayed him.
His shoulders were tense.
His fingers trembled.
But he did not step back.
Tanjiro looked at them all.
Then he shook his head.
"I'm not leaving."
His voice was quiet.
Unshakable.
Sanemi's eyes sharpened. "This isn't the ti to be stubborn!"
"I'm not being stubborn." Tanjiro looked toward the darkness. "If Upper Ranks are here, then everyone is in danger. The passengers. My friends. Nezuko. You. Mr. Rengoku."
He raised Asuramaru.
"I'll fight too."
Before Sanemi could shout again, Alex's voice cut through Tanjiro's mind.
"They're here."
The wilderness ahead seed to darken.
From the night, a figure walked slowly toward them.
He wore a martial arts uniform, his bare upper body marked with deep blue lines that traced across his skin like tattoos. Beneath short pinkish hair, his face was firm, almost calm, and the sa blue markings curved across it.
His golden eyes were the most striking part.
The characters engraved within them burned clearly beneath the moonlight.
Upper Rank Three.
Akaza.
He stopped at a distance and looked over the group with open interest.
"Oh?"
His gaze moved from Kyojuro to Sanemi, then to Tanjiro.
"You're all quite strong."
His voice was calm, almost admiring.
"I can tell at a glance. Your fighting spirits have been refined well. You're all close to the Supre Territory."
Then his eyes settled on the fox-masked Tanjiro.
"You're a little weaker than the other two, but still far stronger than the Hashira of the past. Interesting. I didn't expect to draw out three Hashira at once."
Kyojuro's hands tightened around his sword.
So this was an Upper Rank.
The pressure alone was unlike anything he had faced before. Akaza's demon aura pressed against the air like a living thing—dense, violent, and honed through countless battles.
Sanemi felt it too.
His eyes narrowed.
The demon before them was smiling, yet every instinct Sanemi possessed scread that the smallest opening would an death.
Zenitsu's legs shook.
Inosuke's breathing grew rough beneath the boar mask.
Their bodies understood before their minds could accept it.
This enemy was different.
Completely different.
Tanjiro glanced back at them and spoke quickly.
"Zenitsu, Inosuke, protect the passengers on the train. I'll leave them to you."
Zenitsu swallowed hard.
For once, he did not complain.
"…Okay."
Inosuke clicked his blades together and growled, "Fine! But don't you dare die before I beat you!"
Tanjiro nodded.
"As for the other Upper Rank…"
Alex's voice rang in his mind again.
"The other one is in the woods on the left."
Tanjiro turned.
At the edge of the trees, half-hidden behind a trunk, stood an elderly-looking demon.
He had two horns, a swollen lump protruding from his forehead, and a hunched, trembling posture. His wrinkled face peered out from behind the tree with an expression that looked almost fearful.
But the demon aura coming from him was unmistakable.
It was deep.
Ancient.
Rotten.
Tanjiro's gaze hardened beneath the fox mask.
Another Upper Rank.
The old demon stared back from the shadows, as if spying on prey while pretending to be the one afraid.
The night wind swept across the broken train.
Two Upper Ranks had arrived.
The real battle had only just begun.
.....
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
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