“What was that feeling just now?” Tetsuya Kamihara and Kanae Kocho exchanged a glance, both seeing the shock and suspicion in the other’s eyes.
With just that one look, they understood that the other had felt the exact same thing—a sensation as if their very minds were being pried open.
An inexplicable, creeping dread bubbled up from the bottom of their hearts.
Kanae’s hands and feet turned to ice.
“Was that the legendary—” Before she could finish her sentence, Tetsuya clamped a hand over her soft lips, shooting her a sharp, warning glare.
Saying the name “Muzan Kibutsuji” out loud meant instant death!
“Haa…” Kanae drew in a deep breath, forcing her racing heart to calm down.
She shot Tetsuya a look of profound gratitude.
She had almost blurted the name out on pure reflex.
She was a demon now, no longer human.
Over the past thousand years, barely anyone in the Demon Slayer Corps had actually seen Muzan Kibutsuji face-to-face.
This was Kanae’s very first time personally experiencing his suffocating terror.
It was an abyssal, unfathomable horror that made her feel as if she were walking on thin ice, her very soul trembling in its wake.
Tetsuya’s expression darkened.
As the progenitor of all demons, Muzan Kibutsuji’s blood not only transformed humans into demons but also etched a lethal curse into their cells.
If a demon ever leaked information about him, their body would violently collapse and self-destruct.
Beyond that, he could actively read a demon’s thoughts.
However, there were hundreds, if not thousands, of demons scattered across Japan.
Muzan didn’t have the free time to sit around sifting through every single demon’s head one by one.
After all, in Muzan’s eyes, these demons were nothing more than disposable tools to search for the Blue Spider Lily.
Unless, of course, something genuinely caught his interest…
Tetsuya shifted his gaze to Tamayo.
Before this exact moment, Muzan had never actively descended into their minds.
That changed the second they met Tamayo.
‘I underestimated the situation,’ Tetsuya realized.
He hadn’t expected Muzan to harbor such an intense obsession with Tamayo.
“Was that His perception?” Seeing Tetsuya and Kanae’s sudden, highly strung reactions, Tamayo easily connected the dots.
She let out a soft, melancholic sigh.
Of course Muzan Kibutsuji hadn’t let her go.
Muzan didn’t know anything about her research into a cure to turn demons back into humans.
The only reason he was so deeply fixated on her was pure, unadulterated fury over an anomaly.
He simply could not tolerate a demon breaking free from his absolute control.
A trace of bitter irony flashed across Tamayo’s face.
Centuries had passed, yet that man hadn’t changed in the slightest.
“It’s gone!” The invasive sensation of being watched quickly faded from Tetsuya and Kanae’s minds.
Tetsuya frowned.
Looking through their shared visual feed, Muzan had definitely seen Tamayo.
Given his insanely cruel and vindictive nature, there was no way he would just let Tamayo off the hook.
Yet, he hadn’t forcefully commanded Tetsuya and Kanae to attack her.
That left Tetsuya with only one logical conclusion.
They were coming!
The direct subordinates of Muzan Kibutsuji—the Twelve Kizuki!
Rustle!
Rustle!
Before they could even brace themselves, an agile, slender silhouette blurred through the night sky like a nimble monkey, landing lightly on the branches of a large tree by the road.
The tree branch swayed, the dense canopy of leaves rustling loudly.
Tetsuya, Kanae, Tamayo, and Yushiro snapped their heads toward the sound, their expressions changing instantly.
It was a young male demon with dark hair tied into four short braids at the back of his head.
He had pale skin marked with green vein-like tattoos and bright blue irises.
Etched directly into his left eye was the kanji for “Lower Six”.
Lower Rank Six, Kamanue!
Tetsuya’s expression sank.
He recognized the demon’s identity immediately.
It was the same Lower Rank who had been casually purged by Muzan in the original timeline.
But just because Muzan treated him like garbage didn’t mean they could take him lightly.
Tamayo and Yushiro had very little actual combat power.
Kanae was a Hashira, but she was on the verge of falling into her comatose sleep—and she didn’t have her Nichirin Sword!
The other three quickly realized this harsh reality as well.
The Lower Rank demon standing before them was not an enemy they could easily defeat.
“Heh!” Kamanue looked down at Tetsuya and the others from his perch, a wild sense of euphoria blooming in his chest.
He couldn’t believe his luck!
He just so happened to be right near the target That Man had ordered them to kill.
Kamanue’s cold, predatory gaze locked onto Tamayo.
As long as he killed this woman, he would earn That Man’s favor, receive more blood, and become even stronger!
He had to do it before the other demons arrived!
“Die!” Kamanue’s leg muscles exploded with force.
He dove from the tree branch, rocketing toward Tamayo like a missile.
Tetsuya scooped Kanae into his arms and swiftly dodged to the side, but Tamayo and Yushiro simply didn’t have that kind of reaction speed.
“Tamayo-sama, watch out!” In the absolute nick of time, Yushiro threw himself forward, shoving Tamayo out of the way and directly exposing himself to the attack.
Boom!
Kamanue slammed into the ground, the entire earth trembling upon impact.
Kicking up a thick cloud of dust, he threw a devastating punch the size of a clay pot.
The terrifying kinetic force crushed into Yushiro, instantly obliterating his upper torso and sending blood and flesh flying in all directions.
“Yushiro,” Tamayo called out to him, her expression largely unchanged.
She knew Yushiro wouldn’t die that easily.
The remaining half of Yushiro’s body crumpled to the ground.
Even for a demon, regenerating from such massive trauma took time.
Not every demon was built like Akaza, after all.
“Tetsuya, what do we do?” Kanae looked up at him, a trace of worry shimmering in her beautiful eyes.
Despite staring down a lethal crisis, a heavy wave of drowsiness was already washing over her.
Her body simply couldn’t muster any strength.
It was exactly as they had predicted.
Her exhaustion wasn’t a simple physiological issue.
Her current state was closer to a human who had been starved for seven days and seven nights.
Her limbs felt like lead, and she desperately needed sleep to replace the energy normally gained from food.
Tetsuya’s expression was grave.
Tamayo and Yushiro could only play a supporting role at best.
Dealing with Kamanue was entirely on his shoulders.
Fortunately, compared to an absolute monster like Akaza, the Kamanue standing in front of him was worlds apart.
They actually had a chance!
“Kanae, lend me your soul!” Tetsuya demanded.
He needed her power.
“Okay!” Kanae nodded without a second thought.
Soul Manipulation: Reaper!
Tetsuya grasped Kanae’s soft, delicate hand and activated his Blood Demon Art.
Kanae completely opened her mind, offering zero resistance.
Her soul materialized as a brilliant azure sphere of light, traveling up Tetsuya’s arm and sinking directly into his body.
A complicated look crossed Tetsuya’s eyes.
Under normal circumstances, his Blood Demon Art could only harvest the souls of the dead—because the dead couldn’t put up a fight.
They were fish on a chopping block.
If he tried to use it on the living, even the slightest trace of resistance from the target would cause the soul harvest to fail.
Yet, using it on Kanae had worked flawlessly.
It proved that Kanae’s trust in him had reached its absolute peak.
She hadn’t harbored a single shred of defensive caution.
Deprived of its soul, Kanae’s eyes instantly lost their light.
Her body slumped backward, and Tetsuya carefully caught her, gently lowering her to the ground.
A body without a soul was nothing more than an empty shell.
She would sleep indefinitely, like someone in a deep vegetative state.
Soul Manipulation: Puppeteer!
A sharp, icy glint flashed in the depths of Tetsuya’s eyes.
A profound, deeply familiar sensation flooded his veins, transforming his entire presence into a sharp, unsheathed blade.
Borrowing Kanae’s power, at this very moment, he possessed all the refined swordsmanship and combat experience of the Flower Hashira.
He had instantly become a Hashira-level swordsman!