His feet barely touched the snow as he blasted forward, every step kicking up explosions of white powder behind him.
"ARRGH…! At least give me one damn minute to breathe! Why the hell does this bastard have to show up right now, of all the fucking nights… DAMN IT!"
Muzan's vile presence was streaking toward the house from the back side of the mountain, and at the speed he was moving, he'd get there seconds before Tanjiro.
Tanjiro bit his lip until blood ran down his chin and pushed even harder.
The muscles in his legs coiled and unleashed everything they had.
…
Kamado family house.
Muzan stood in the middle of the room, perfectly calm, one hand wrapped around a woman's throat. She could only glare at him through the tears streaming from the corners of her eyes.
His long, ice-blue nails dug deep into her pale skin, blood trickling steadily down her neck.
He ignored the hatred in her stare and flicked his gaze toward the rest of the "ants" in the room.
The children had been shoved into the far corner, clinging to each other, shaking so hard they could barely stand. All except one pink-eyed girl who stared straight at him with pure loathing. The others had their eyes squeezed shut, too terrified to even look.
The sight made something poisonous twist inside his cells.
He was here for the blue spider lily information, but those squirming, filthy things in the corner were pissing him off.
A twisted smirk curled his lips.
Two grotesque flesh-whips erupted from the back of his neck with a wet snap.
"N-no… p-please…" the woman choked out, voice breaking, face crumpling in desperation.
Hearing her plea, Muzan only tightened his grip, enjoying the way her throat gave under his fingers.
The bony tips of the whips crept closer to the children.
Nezuko's eyes finally flickered with terror.
The instant the whips were about to lash out, Muzan felt every cell in his body scream at once. Goosebumps exploded across his skin; his hair stood on end.
W-What…
In that split second his red eyes caught something impossible.
A boy had appeared right beneath him, perfectly calm. The flesh whips were already cut into countless pieces, the arm holding the woman was gone, and the black blade was swinging toward his body.
"WHICH SCUM—!!" Muzan roared as he yanked himself backward with all his strength, relying only on instinct.
His body crashed through the walls and flew outside, landing on the snow-covered ground.
He gritted his teeth. His pupils twitched in fear that came from the deepest part of his being.
Inside the house, the boy had already saved the others before the roof collapsed.
Muzan burned with rage at his own reaction.
Scared?
Him?
Of that brat?
No… that sensation…
A calm voice rang through the snowy air.
"What do you take a human life for?"
"Is watching others suffer a game to you?"
The boy stepped out of the broken house, holding a pitch-black sword longer than his own arm as if it weighed nothing.
Hanafuda earrings. A flame-like mark blazing on the left side of his forehead. That stance. That overwhelming presence…
Muzan's eyes and mouth opened wide.
"Y-You—! What are you!? How are you related to that man!?"
The scars he had hidden under his skin for centuries flared up again.
Memories buried deep in his five brains resurfaced, shaking him to his core.
This boy was dangerous.
Seeing the boy only stare silently, Muzan felt as if he had been thrown back five hundred years.
His body moved back on instinct.
Then he saw it. The pieces of his whips and his severed arm were turning into blood and being absorbed into that pitch-black sword.
"What… kind of sword is that…!?"
Muzan was left stupefied.
In over a thousand years, he had never once seen such a bizarre weapon.
Nothing was going according to his plans, so right then and there he decided: he had to retreat for now!
…
Tanjiro's POV.
His calm gaze never left Muzan.
The deeper he looked into his opponent's body, the clearer and more elevated his mind became.
Seven hearts and five brains…
An overwhelming physique…
Thick, stinking demon blood flooding every vein…
With the Transparent World, he saw everything: the twisted, bio-engineered structure of Kibutsuji Muzan and exactly how it functioned.
'…Right now, the only ways to kill him are to shred him faster than he can regenerate… or let this sword absorb every last piece of him.'
Tanjiro's grip tightened on the Heavenly Demon Sword until the blade trembled with excitement.
Unexpected, but too useful: the sword could absorb demon flesh and blood the moment it was severed from the main body.
He hadn't had time to test its abilities earlier, so the sudden absorption had surprised him.
Whatever. First, deal with the bastard in front of him.
Muzan was scared shitless and flinching like a beaten dog.
Now...
Tanjiro took a single breath and moved.
He vanished from where he stood.
He reappeared beside Muzan without the slightest hint of killing intent, a ghost in the snow.
Muzan's face instantly twisted with pure PTSD.
The sword flashed.
[Thirteenth Form!]
All twelve forms fused into one endless sequence.
Before Muzan could react, the Heavenly Demon Sword, now edged in bright crimson, sliced through his flesh like cheesecake.
Tanjiro's arm became a blur, relentlessly targeting the vital organs that tried to shift away the instant they were struck.
"ARRRGHHHH!!!" Muzan screamed with every ounce of strength, the shockwave flattening the snow around them.
"NAKIME!!"
Countless tatami doors ripped open in the air.
Muzan's body exploded into thousands of flesh chunks that scattered in every direction.
Some of the pieces shot straight toward the ruined house where his family was hiding.
'Shit…!'
Tanjiro cursed inwardly.
He swung with perfect precision, eyes and senses tracking every fragment.
In three seconds he carved apart over a thousand pieces.
With a burst from the ground he reached the house and erased the rest in a single heartbeat.
Through a gap in the broken wall, Nezuko watched her brother move, completely mesmerized.
"Onii-chan…" she whispered.
A few chunks of Muzan's flesh slipped through the tatami doors and vanished from Tanjiro's perception.
In mere seconds, the fight was over.
With no trace of Muzan left, Tanjiro could only let out a frustrated sigh.
'Fuck… I was so close.'
He turned the Heavenly Demon Sword back into its wrist-guard form and hurried to his family.
The Transparent World deactivated with a thought. Unlike Yoriichi's permanent state, he could turn it on and off at will.
Nezuko spotted him and ran over, throwing herself into his arms.
Even though the sword changing shape had startled her, right now she didn't care at all.
"Onii-chan… M-Mother… she's suffering… what do we do?!" Tears streamed down her face as she clung to him and sobbed.
He held her tightly.
"Don't worry. I'll do something," he said softly, stroking her back.
Muzan's blood had entered their mother's wounds. She was either turning into a demon or dying—the odds of failure were far too high.
At this rate, she didn't have much time.
'What can I even do…?' Tanjiro clutched his head in helplessness.
Then, right at that moment of crisis, the system panel flashed again.
[𖤐 Mission: Hug Kamado Kie's body tightly for 10 minutes]
[𖤐 Reward: Kamado Kie's successful transformation]
Oh, fuck… here we go again.
.....
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