Nestled in Father's arms.
As I gazed upon Mother's gentle smile.
I believed that the path of happiness stretched on and on to a distant beyond.
That happiness—
Heh heh heh.
Would never vanish, not until something trampled and tore it apart.
That the happiness I was so certain would never fade was, in truth, so fragile.
Only after it shattered did I realize that my happiness had been perched upon a thin pane of glass.
When the Demon I had only heard of in tales felled Father with its claws.
When that Demon was feasting on Mother.
When the warmth I thought unbreakable turned into a cold corpse.
My sister and I could do nothing but huddle together in the corner, trembling.
And when the Demon became aware of our presence and turned toward us, I was certain we were done for.
"Too... late?"
Shing...
Until the Demon's head fell to the ground.
I'm a step too late.
I had followed the phantom disturbance of a Demon that appeared out of nowhere, but—
Though I managed to take the Demon's head, I failed to save those people.
If there's any consolation, it's that the children are unharmed.
I sheathed my sword and glanced subtly at them.
The children sank lower, as if aware of my gaze.
Through my [Revealed World], I confirmed, thankfully, there were no wounds.
The Demon Slayer Corps will arrive soon, as a Demon launched an attack, but I can't in good conscience leave the children here beside the corpse.
What should I do...
At that moment, a murderous intent, like a massive boulder tumbling down a slope, enveloped me.
And then I heard a breathing technique, somehow achingly familiar.
Turning toward that murderous intent, what came into view was—
A colossal, gray iron ball looming mere feet away.
It gathered speed.
I had no idea why this iron sphere was barreling toward me, but dodging would destroy the house.
And swinging my sword risked striking the little ones beside me.
So then…
I'd meet it head on.
"Hakuji, lend me your strength for a moment."
The twin Soryu currents of Keijo and Hakuji.
I unleashed a Wave Technique imbued with those currents at the iron sphere.
Kwaaaaang!
When the technique collided with the iron sphere, a tremendous explosion reverberated through the house.
My eyes widened.
It wasn't because I was pushed back by the blast.
"It's scorching hot."
As I countered its iron sphere with my technique—
My flesh, when it touched the steel ball, was seared with the smell of burning, and pain surged.
A quick glance at my palm revealed it was charred dark red, as if thrust into fire.
Fresh flesh would grow soon enough, so it wasn't a lasting problem.
That iron orb is an Ichirin-do.
And it's fashioned from a jet-crimson steel that absorbs sunlight with ferocious intensity.
Granted, an Ichirin-do can burn a Demon's body, but its ability is so feeble that only severing the neck earns any noticeable effect.
Yet that Ichirin-do, despite not being a masterwork blade, was scorching my flesh.
I'd never seen steel of such purity, even in the Sengoku period.
When the iron sphere cleared away, the next thing hurtling at me was a man swinging an axe at my neck.
His empty eye sockets told me he was blind.
A member of the Demon Slayer Corps?
"Move your position; this is no place to fight."
I kicked him in the gut, making sure not to harm his insides, and sent him outside.
He crumpled and slid helplessly out from my kick.
However—
Even as he was sent flying, he let go of the axe, causing the iron sphere and the axe to swing around by their chain, attempting to coil around my arm.
Would you look at that?
I sprinted toward him to slip free of the chain's coil, landed in the yard, and drew my sword.
He, too, landed lightly, yanked the chain to retrieve his axe and iron sphere, then held the axe in his left hand and swung the iron sphere in his right, tracing a circle.
That breathing technique, the flow of how he swung the iron sphere—
[Rock Breathing]
And through my [Revealed World], I saw his body was truly magnificent.
A physique honed to its extreme.
Has it been nearly three hundred years since I last saw a swordsman this powerful?
His body rivaled that of Anji-san before his [Spots] manifested.
And still, there was room for growth.
"A Hashira?"
I was certain he must be the Hashira of this generation.
Judging by the prayer beads around his neck, he seemed to be a monk as well.
I've missed this.
A Hashira… a swordsman seated where he was, and a monk at that.
Seeing him face me, swinging his flail, somehow brought Anji-san to mind.
The iron sphere spun so fast it ripped at the very air.
When the whoosh cut out—
The iron sphere surged toward me at rapid speed.
Despite his blindness, it embedded itself exactly where I had been.
And—
[Rock Breathing]
At my side, the axe flew, aiming for my neck.
The iron sphere was the feint.
The axe was the real strike.
[Rock Breathing] First Form: Twin Pillars of Stone
Did he throw it along with the sphere?
I leaned back, and that was enough to evade his attack.
In that instant—
The iron sphere, which had been lodged in the ground beside me, suddenly shot upward—
[Rock Breathing]
He stamped on the ground with fierce force.
Under his foot was not earth, but chain.
[Rock Breathing] Second Form: Shattering Heaven's Veil
Like responding to his stamping, the iron sphere's descent accelerated.
It plunged down upon my spot with the same fierce force as his stomp.
Though different in form, it was plainly [Rock Breathing] Second Form: Shattering Heaven's Veil.
Then that earlier attack must have been First Form: Twin Pillars of Stone.
Intriguing.
He wields that insane contraption—iron sphere and axe linked by a long chain—with absolute mastery.
All the while, his muscular, heavy frame moves with surprising agility.
What makes him all the more extraordinary is that he is blind.
Despite his blindness, the sound of the chain's swing lets him pinpoint space and motion with uncanny precision.
What might happen if he manifested a [Spot] or activated his [Revealed World]?
Perhaps this man is—
The strongest of the current generation of the Demon Slayer Corps.
I understand that he is a Demon.
Even if he cannot see, all my senses and the experience I've honed tell me he is a Demon.
However—
Why is he so calm?!
He is unlike any Demon I have encountered before.
Demons of the Twelve Kizuki's caliber each radiated a fierce demonic aura with great vigor, yet—
The man before me was calm as a still river.
A Demon with such strength must have devoured an overwhelming number of humans.
Then he would surely be exuding demonic aura as proof of it.
It felt as if a year's worth of experience and common sense was collapsing.
Could it really be that he is a Demon?
It was the first time I'd ever felt my senses—those that had always aided me—deny their own truths.
Besides, even that kick earlier—why do I feel no murderous intent from this man?
But...
The scent of blood and the man before me being a Demon—that much is true.
And it is also true that there are still living humans nearby.
Then—
I must kill him.
Our Demon Slayer Corps is "Unyielding Through a Hundred Generations."
Until every Demon is exterminated from this world.
That is the task and duty entrusted to the Corps.
I spin the iron sphere even faster.
"Namu Amida Butsu!"
[Rock Breathing]
Hooo—!
A breath, drawn from somewhere nearby.
A peculiar sound unlike ordinary breathing.
Total Concentration Breathing?
The sound echoing from my own mouth—it wasn't [Rock Breathing], either.
Could it be...
I prayed it wasn't the worst of possibilities.
[Rock Breathing] Fourth Form: Flowing Gate • Inner Surge
By hurling the iron sphere and hand axe and swinging them in unison, he created a domain in its radius.
A domain like Mount Tai that would crush any Demon.
Yet—
[Moon Breathing]
[Moon Breathing] Second Form: Moonlit Pearl Blossom
He casually deflected that domain with his weapons as though it was a joke.
Absurd.
"Why do you think I would be alive after scrapping with Kibutsuji Muzan for five hundred years?"
"You Demon."
"Because no Demon stronger than me has been born in five hundred years."
He used [Total Concentration Breathing].
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