Soma slowly pulled the axe out of the crushed flesh and bone, then casually flung it aside.
Thud!
The axe hit the floor with a heavy, dull sound. Hanako and Shigeru, who had just peeked out from their room because of the commotion, let out terrified screams.
Nezuko rushed forward at once, grabbing her younger siblings and pulling them behind her, shielding them with a face full of fear.
Soma looked at the terror filling the room. Silently, he raised a hand and brushed his face. The torn wound there twitched and squirmed, healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"Tanjiro… getting hit in the face with an axe hurts."
He sounded like he was making a joke.
But no one laughed.
Aside from the children's frightened sobs and the old man's panicked breathing, the room was filled only with trembling bodies.
Tanjiro's face had gone deathly pale.
Soma looked down at Kie Kamado, who was still clutching his leg tightly, and spoke in a very low voice: "Madam, please let go."
Kie's body trembled, yet her grip only tightened. At the same time, she urged Tanjiro and Nezuko to take the younger children and run.
Tanjiro told Nezuko to go with the others—but he himself stepped forward, trembling all over, even his breathing unsteady.
Seeing that Kie refused to loosen her hold, Soma's patience ran out. He raised his hand and struck the back of her neck, knocking her unconscious in a single blow.
"Mom…!"
Tanjiro and Nezuko instinctively moved to rush forward.
"Stop."
Soma lifted his head and looked at them. Then he crouched down, prying Kie's arms off him one finger at a time—even unconscious, she had held on tightly.
"I just knocked her out. She's not dead."
Tanjiro and Nezuko froze, their eyes filled with worry as they looked at their mother lying on the floor.
Once free, Soma stepped forward and walked up to Tanjiro, leaning down slightly.
The stench of blood hit Tanjiro full force, making his heart tremble and his limbs shake. Still, he forced himself to stand firm—forced himself to be strong.
"P-Please… don't hurt my brother."
Nezuko picked up the axe from the ground. Her delicate face was filled with fear, yet she gripped the weapon bravely, standing between the demon and her family.
Soma only glanced at her before lowering his head again, leaning close to Tanjiro and whispering:
"Do something for me."
Tanjiro's body still trembled, confusion flickering in his eyes. He couldn't help but look up—but the moment he met those crimson eyes, he immediately lowered his gaze again.
"Y-You… say it."
"If you can't do it… you'll die. Your mother will die. Your sister will die. Your entire family will die."
His voice was soft—almost gentle.
But to Tanjiro, it felt like a crushing weight, like a mountain pressing down on him, stealing the air from his lungs.
The boy clenched his teeth, pressing his lips together as his fists tightened.
"Tell your sister to put down the axe and go back inside to rest. Tell her you're coming out with me. You have three seconds."
With that, Soma turned and walked out the door, stopping just outside. He stood there silently, letting the wind and rain lash against his body.
Nezuko watched in confusion as the demon suddenly turned his back and walked outside. She didn't know what the creature had said to her brother, but then she saw Tanjiro running toward her in a panic...
…
The cold rain struck his face, soaking his hair.
Standing beneath the downpour, Soma gripped the Nichirin Sword tightly, silent and unmoving.
He stood there quietly, gazing up at the dark, overcast sky.
Before the three seconds were even up, Tanjiro came running out, his face full of panic. Inside the house, Nezuko stood frozen, her expression a mix of fear and worry.
Soma said nothing. He simply grabbed Tanjiro, swung him onto his back in one motion, then casually tossed him a comb wrapped in cloth.
Tanjiro caught it in a fluster, completely bewildered. He had no idea why Soma had given him a comb.
"Smell it. Find the person this scent belongs to."
Soma's voice was calm.
"T-That's… that's impossible!"
As the demon sprinted forward at high speed, Tanjiro clung to his neck with one hand while holding the comb to his nose, inhaling deeply. Even speaking was difficult in the rushing wind.
"If you can't… your whole family dies."
Soma suddenly stopped, his tone still even.
"If you fail, I'll go back and kill them myself."
The boy's face turned deathly pale.
Ever since he was young, his sense of smell had been unusually sharp—sharp enough to pick up countless subtle scents. But tracking someone down using nothing but the lingering smell on a comb… he had never done anything like that before.
But the price of failure—
No matter what, Tanjiro couldn't accept it.
…And how does he know my sense of smell is so strong?
"Can you do it?"
Soma asked calmly, already gripping the Nichirin Sword in his hand.
A bolt of lightning tore through the black night, its flash reflecting off the blade's cold edge. Tanjiro had no doubt—if he said he couldn't, this demon would turn back without hesitation and slaughter his entire family.
"…I can."
Gritting his teeth, Tanjiro forced himself to take a deep breath, pressing the comb to his nose.
Since childhood, his sense of smell had been extraordinary—so keen he could even read a person's emotions through scent alone. Though he had never tried to track someone this way, and certainly not in a downpour like this, he had no choice.
For his family, he had to do it.
He cleared his mind.
He memorized the scent on the comb, then lifted his head, sniffing the air. Countless smells flooded into his senses, layering over one another in his mind.
But that particular scent… was hard to pick out.
Soma simply stood there, silent, his hand idly brushing along the blade. The rain only seemed to intensify the thick, suffocating smell of blood clinging to him.
That silence—
That presence—
It pressed down on Tanjiro like a weight.
"…Haa…"
He took a deep breath, forcing himself to focus. To separate the scents. To find it—
And then—
Finally—
A faint trace of that same scent emerged from the chaos of smells.
"…That way."
Tanjiro pointed in a direction.
Without a word, Soma took off again, carrying Tanjiro as he sprinted through the rain. Still, his low voice cut through the storm:
"If we don't find them before dawn, I'll still go back and kill your family."
Tanjiro flinched, his fists clenching tight. Never before had he hated his own weakness as much as he did at this moment.
Soma didn't care what the boy was thinking. He simply followed the direction Tanjiro pointed, running in silence through the storm.
Each step splashed water high into the air.
Clinging to his back, Tanjiro kept sniffing, chasing that faint thread of scent, guiding the demon forward.
Time passed—Tanjiro didn't know how long—and his face and body felt frozen and stiff from the lashing rain. Finally, he caught the scent from the comb again, but this time it was much stronger.
Up ahead, a house stood in the darkness. The owner of the scent was likely inside.
"…It should be in that house."
Tanjiro spoke in a low voice.
"Good."
Soma set him down.
Now that he was no longer being carried—and realizing the demon hadn't harmed him—Tanjiro's fear eased slightly.
And only then did something occur to him.
He looked at Soma and spoke softly:
"If you were just trying to find someone… you didn't have to do all this."
"I would've helped you if you'd just asked. You didn't have to threaten me like that."
Soma turned back, lifting his gaze to look at the boy.
"Knowing I am a demon, would you still have helped me?"
...
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