"You're not getting away…"
The demon behind them caught up quickly, its excited roar echoing across the wilderness. But the moment it noticed the figure standing not far away—especially the haori that symbolized a Hashira—its entire body stiffened.
Without the slightest hesitation, it turned and fled.
Yet before it could escape more than a few steps, the sound of approaching footsteps reached its ears. An overwhelming sense of danger stabbed into its back like needles. The demon spun around instantly, crossing its claws in front of itself in defense.
But it was already too late.
The girl's black hair fluttered gracefully through the night, her butterfly hairpin swaying with it as though a real butterfly had come alive. Before the demon's hardened claws could fully rise, the blade in her hand had already swept gently through the air.
"Flower Breathing, Fourth Form: Crimson Hanagoromo."
Under the dim moonlight, the sharp Nichirin Sword sliced cleanly through the demon's neck. Blood burst outward in a crimson spray as its severed head flew from its body.
Kanae Kochō's figure landed softly on the ground, her haori drifting down behind her with the wind.
The demon that had forced Tamayo and Yushirō into desperate flight could not even survive a single exchange before a Hashira.
"So this is the strength of a Hashira from the Demon Slayer Corps…"
Yushirō's pupils shrank involuntarily.
Tamayo also turned her gaze toward Kanae. She had once witnessed swordsmen far stronger than this—men before whom even Muzan Kibutsuji could only flee in humiliation. Kanae was undoubtedly powerful, but compared to that existence, there was still an immeasurable gap.
A demon decapitated by a Nichirin Sword could never survive. In the instant before death, perhaps recalling memories from its human life, the demon's eyes filled with pain and lingering regret as it died unable to close them.
Kanae calmly sheathed her sword and stepped forward. Gently, almost tenderly, she reached out and closed the demon's eyes before rising once more.
There was none of the exhilaration many Demon Slayers felt after killing a demon. Instead, her expression held only quiet sorrow and compassion.
To Kanae, she was not slaughtering demons.
She was saving them.
These beings had once been human—people who should have walked beneath the sunlight, yet now feared it; people who could never return to who they once were; people who fed upon their own kind. Every demon she killed was one less sin added to their burden, one more soul released from an endless cycle of suffering and bloodshed.
Only after finishing did Kanae turn back toward Tamayo and Yushirō.
Compared to the vicious demons driven by endless hunger, these two felt distinctly different. Their eyes lacked that uncontrollable bloodlust so common among demons.
Still, between the two of them, Yushirō appeared restless and impulsive, almost childish at times, while Tamayo carried herself with elegance and calm rationality.
Kanae's purple eyes quietly studied them both, surprise deepening within her.
"You wish to meet the Master?"
"Yes."
Tamayo nodded gently.
"The current head of the Ubuyashiki family… it should be Ubuyashiki Kagaya, correct?"
Kanae's heart shook at those words, though none of it appeared on her delicate features. Instead, she calmly asked in return,
"You've met the previous Masters as well?"
"I have maintained contact with the Ubuyashiki family for many years," Tamayo replied. "Demons live far longer than humans, and the Ubuyashiki bloodline has always been short-lived. Over the years, I have met several generations of Masters."
This was clearly a secret Kanae had never known.
She had never imagined that the Ubuyashiki family—the very leaders of the Demon Slayer Corps—would maintain ties with a demon, the sworn enemy of demon slayers everywhere.
Still, Kanae never once suspected the Master of betraying the Corps. If such a relationship existed, then there had to be reasons and truths she did not yet understand.
"I will report this matter to the Master," Kanae said softly at last. "But whether he chooses to meet you or not… I cannot say." Kanae said in a low voice after studying Tamayo for a long moment.
"Thank you."
Tamayo gave a gentle nod. Her calm, elegant eyes rested on Kanae, carrying a trace of relief.
"If it had been another Demon Slayer who found us," she said softly, "I doubt they would have listened to us for this long."
Given the hatred the Demon Slayer Corps held toward demons, most swordsmen would have drawn their Nichirin Swords the moment they saw them.
"If my younger sister were here," Kanae replied gently, "things might not have gone so smoothly."
Though her tone remained warm and courteous, there was unmistakable caution in the way she looked at Tamayo and Yushirō. Even so, she released her Kasugai Crow into the night sky.
"Until the Master sends his reply, you will remain under my supervision."
"That is perfectly acceptable." Tamayo agreed immediately.
...
Not long afterward, Kanae brought Tamayo and Yushirō to a nearby residence. She had them hide inside the cellar beneath the house while she herself remained crouched at the entrance, quietly standing guard.
"Lady Tamayo, she doesn't trust us at all. How irritating."
Yushirō glanced toward Kanae sitting watchfully at the doorway, his tone filled with resentment.
Tamayo, however, showed no anger. She simply lowered her eyes calmly.
"When it comes to demons," she said softly, "any amount of caution is only natural."
"But Lady Tamayo and I are different from those other demons!"
Yushirō still sounded indignant. Neither he nor Tamayo had ever harmed humans, nor had they devoured people the way ordinary demons did.
Tamayo lifted her eyes briefly toward him before lowering them again.
Yushirō had never eaten a human after becoming a demon.
But she was different.
After turning into a demon, she had once completely succumbed to that terrible bloodthirst. With her own hands, she had killed the son she once wished to protect for the rest of his life—the child she had wanted to watch grow up little by little. She had killed her husband as well.
And afterward, consumed by a demon's hunger, she had gone on to kill many more.
The sins she had committed were already enough to condemn her to hell.
In truth, she should have died long ago.
At the end of the day, she was no different from the other demons.
Even if she had now overcome the urge to consume humans, did that erase everything she had done in the past?
Of course not.
At the very least, she herself could never forget.
She could never forget the things she had done, nor the agony that came with remembering them day after day.
And she could never forget the one who had caused all of it—
Muzan Kibutsuji.
If she had known from the beginning what becoming a demon truly meant, she would never have chosen this fate.
And there were countless others just like her.
As long as Muzan continued to exist, tragedies like hers would continue to repeat themselves endlessly. Some would suffer even worse fates than she had. At least she had managed to break free from that endless cycle of bloodlust and reclaim her sense of self.
Most demons never could.
They sank forever into the abyss of hunger, losing every trace of the person they once were.
"Have you met Muzan Kibutsuji before?"
From the doorway, Kanae turned her head slightly and looked toward Tamayo in the cellar below.
"I have."
Tamayo nodded slowly.
Hatred filled her eyes… but so did fear.
"Then can you tell me," Kanae asked quietly, one hand gently resting on the hilt of her Nichirin Sword, "what kind of demon he truly is?"
Her purple eyes remained soft and compassionate as always, yet deep within them lurked an astonishing killing intent.
Because if they truly wished to free the world from all sorrow and despair—if they wished to release every demon from that endless hell—
Then there was only one answer.
Only by killing Muzan Kibutsuji could everything finally come to an end.