To move forward was to die.
To retreat was also to die.
For the demons at this moment, there seemed to be no choice at all. It was just like when they had still been human. They had been unable to choose then, and even after falling into demonhood, they still could not choose now.
Even so, their fear of their lord still outweighed their fear of Soma. In the end, the demons roared and howled, venting the emotions inside them as they attacked Soma.
Perhaps, deep down, they were still hoping that Soma's strength would eventually run out, giving them a chance to kill him.
But—
That was clearly impossible.
As a fellow demon, Soma's stamina would never run dry. This was destined to be a scene of despair, just like the helplessness ordinary people felt when facing demons.
Soma's blade showed no mercy. Every time it fell, another demon's life came to an end.
...
"Sun Breathing, First Form: Dance!"
After resting for a while in the protected rear, Tanjiro returned to the battlefield and swung his Nichirin Sword, cutting off a demon's head.
He panted lightly. In the air around him, the scent of sorrow hung heavy and oppressive.
For Tanjiro, who could smell other people's emotions, sense their feelings, and even place himself in their position, the emotions he sensed right now were not pleasant.
Especially at this moment, Tanjiro could feel the emotions of many demons.
They seemed to have no choice.
They were filled with despair, fear, and pain…
"Hah!"
The gentle Tanjiro swung his blade again, severing another demon's head as he looked at the body before him.
No matter how unwilling someone had been to become a demon, and no matter whether devouring human flesh and blood truly came from their own heart, the sins they committed did not cease to exist simply because they had not wanted to commit them.
No one would forgive those sins. The dead would not forgive them, and neither would the living.
Tanjiro lowered his head and looked at the blood dripping from his Nichirin Sword.
But no matter what sins they bore, everything would end once their heads were cut off.
And after their heads were severed, they would also be freed.
Tanjiro raised his head and looked at the back of the man protecting everyone ahead.
Some people became demons and used their powerful strength to destroy the happiness of others under the scent of blood. They wantonly bullied those weaker than themselves and fed upon those who had once been their own kind.
But some people, even after becoming demons, would not cast aside the identity they once had as humans. They would restrain their desires. They would protect others, even though those people should have been prey in their eyes.
At this moment, Tanjiro could smell Soma's scent.
There was the scent of a demon, but this demonic scent was different from every other demon's. It carried no bloody greed, no hunger to devour. Perhaps, once, there had been something else there instead: a nearly tragic restraint pressed down beneath burning desire.
Yes.
Soma was also a demon.
That was an unchangeable fact.
But Soma was absolutely not a true evil demon.
At that moment, Tanjiro even thought of all the demons he had hunted along the way. Every demon possessed an extreme craving for human flesh and blood. Almost none could overcome it.
In his mind, the scene of his first meeting with Soma surfaced.
Back then, he had not understood much.
Now, however, he understood.
At that time, Soma had been restraining himself all along.
He had restrained a demon's craving for human flesh and blood. Even when hunger had pushed him to the limit, he had never taken a single step forward. In the darkness, he had desperately clung to the identity of a human.
Rather than thinking of Soma as a demon—
At that moment, Tanjiro suddenly raised his head and looked at the tall figure in the distance.
"Do not stand there in a daze. Be careful."
Soma's voice came from ahead. He did not even turn around as he casually cut off the head of a demon lunging in from the side, saving another swordsman who had fallen into danger.
"Sir…"
Tanjiro murmured as he looked at Soma's back.
In his mind, he remembered the first time Soma had visited the Kamado family after moving nearby. Back then, Tanjiro had been terrified of him, deeply afraid of this demon. Yet when he heard Soma invite him onto the path of hunting demons, he had still found it unbelievable. He had once asked Soma, "Are you not afraid that I might…"
At that time, Soma had only asked him one question.
Had he ever seen a demon standing beneath the sun?
Only now did Tanjiro truly understand.
No demon could stand beneath the sunlight.
How had Soma done it?
At first, Soma must have feared the sun as well. The first time Tanjiro met him, it had been at night, and Soma had almost entirely hidden himself within the darkness.
Just like the answer Soma had once given him.
"You may think of me as… the most perfect human in this world."
"Or perhaps, as a god or Buddha walking among men."
Back then, after Soma said those words, Tanjiro had faced the shadow cast by the sunlight falling upon a demon's body. His head had been lowered, and there had only been fear in his heart.
But Kanao, who had stood beside Soma then, had raised her head and looked at him as though worshipping a god.
At that time, Tanjiro could smell and feel it clearly. Kanao seemed to regard Soma as an existence even higher than gods and Buddhas.
Back then—
it had been hard to understand.
Impossible to understand.
But now, looking at Soma's tall back as he protected everyone, looking at the figure fighting for them all...
At this moment, how was Soma any different from a god or Buddha?
Meanwhile, Soma did not know that Tanjiro had begun to sanctify him in his heart. Nor did he know that Tanjiro had developed his own unusual understanding of Soma's identity as a demon.
Right now, Soma only kept swinging his blade.
Again and again, he cut down every demon he saw.
With every passing moment, Soma's strength increased. Yet the vigilance in his heart only grew deeper.
Perhaps at some moment soon, Muzan Kibutsuji would emerge from the darkness where he was hiding, deliver a fatal blow, and force Soma into a dangerous situation.
With Soma's personality, he was deeply unwilling to see such a thing happen. He even wanted to abandon everything before him and leave.
But looking at the swordsmen who worshipped him, Soma found it difficult to simply walk away. Moreover, by now, he had already been completely noticed by Muzan Kibutsuji.
Faintly sensing that demon's gaze, Soma could not help sighing inwardly at his own foolishness.
There was no need to take such a risk.
But—
he had still made this choice.
Since he had chosen this path, there was nothing more to say.
Once that decision settled in his heart, he suddenly felt strangely at ease.
Most likely, this had been the choice hidden within him all along.
It was just that, until now, he had never truly faced himself.
"Ha…"
He breathed out softly, then swung his Nichirin Sword once more.
The blade light became even more striking within the darkness.
Among the demon horde, Gyomei Himejima gradually began to decline as time passed.
But Soma—
grew more and more fierce as the battle continued.
No one knew how long he had fought.
They only knew that even Gyomei Himejima, whose body had been trained to the limit of humanity, had stopped to rest.
They only knew that Soma finally stopped when every demon before him had been cut down.
Although there were still many demons in the distance, by now, not a single one dared step forward.
Some would rather let the curse from their lord's blood erupt inside their bodies than advance.
To these demons, their fear of their lord had long been surpassed by their fear of the asura standing before them.
Beneath the gentle moonlight, the man stood with his blade in hand.
All around him, the demons cowered, unwilling to advance.
Clearly, he was surrounded by demons. Yet the space around him remained utterly silent.
For more than a thousand years, perhaps no one had ever accomplished such a thing.
Even Yoriichi Tsugikuni, the man once praised as a god or Buddha walking among men, might not have been able to surpass such a feat even if he were alive today.
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