Kyogai's severed head and body slowly crumbled into ash, scattering into nothingness.
"Ding! Host has slain the demon Kyogai.
Reward: +100 Stamina Enhancement.
Bonus: One Thunderburst Talisman."
An image of the Thunderburst Talisman flashed through Aoyama's mind.
Attach it to an opponent—
Release immense lightning power—
Instantly blast the target into pieces.
Not bad.
He sheathed his blade. Time to retrieve the children.
Inside the room, the drum in the boy's arms vanished along with Kyogai. The mansion had returned to normal.
The two children were still on edge. When the door suddenly slid open—
They hurled whatever they could grab without even looking.
Aoyama sidestepped behind the door frame.
"It's me."
Silence.
No more objects flew out.
Only then did he step in.
"It's… you… We thought it was another monster…" the boy whispered.
Aoyama extended his hand.
"Come on. I'll take you outside. There are no more monsters."
He lifted the boy with one hand, held Shoji's hand with the other, and led them out.
Without Kyogai's Blood Demon Art, the mansion behaved like a normal house again. Opening the entrance door led directly outside.
Outside, chaos.
"Boar Rush! Boar Rush! Get out of the way! Fight me properly! Stop protecting that box!"
"There's a demon inside that box! Let me slice it open!"
Zenitsu, face bruised and swollen, was desperately guarding Nezuko's box.
Tanjiro, already injured and now worse off after fighting inside, could barely restrain Inosuke, whose brute strength was overwhelming.
Shoichi stood frozen by a tree, too young to intervene.
Then—
"Kiyoshi! Shoji!"
Shoichi ran toward his siblings as they emerged.
Zenitsu looked up with one swollen eye.
"Senior Aoyama—!"
He burst into tears.
He had survived the mansion only to get beaten senseless outside.
Tanjiro smiled in relief upon seeing Aoyama safe.
Aoyama took in the scene instantly.
He released Shoji's hand and strode forward.
"Tanjiro. Let him go."
Tanjiro froze.
"Senior Brother… members of the Demon Slayer Corps aren't allowed to fight each other."
Aoyama cracked his knuckles.
"Who said anything about drawing a blade?"
A chill ran down Tanjiro's spine.
Slowly… he let go.
Inosuke laughed wildly.
"Ha! It's you again! Let's finish this properly!"
Dual blades flashed as he leapt into the air, aiming straight for Aoyama's shoulders.
Just before the blades struck—
Aoyama lowered his stance and slipped right.
Inosuke tilted his head instinctively.
He'd learned from earlier—protect the head.
Thud.
A solid fist drove straight into Inosuke's exposed abdomen.
"You dumb boar. Did you think I only aim for your pig head?"
Aoyama flexed his fist calmly.
"Cough—!"
Blood sprayed from Inosuke's mouth.
Zenitsu went completely still.
His exceptional hearing had caught something horrifying—
The crisp crack of ribs breaking.
Not Aoyama's.
Inosuke's.
Tanjiro couldn't hear bones snap like Zenitsu could, but seeing Inosuke cough blood made him wince.
One punch.
Just one.
And he was spitting blood.
"Still want to go?" Aoyama asked coolly.
"They're not drawing blades. You waving two around and yelling 'duel'—does that seem fair?"
Inosuke pushed himself up.
"Oh? So that's how it is? Fine! I won't use my blades either!"
He tossed them aside and sprang up like a carp flipping from water.
"Stop fighting!" Tanjiro shouted. "Corps members aren't allowed to battle each other!"
Zenitsu didn't care about regulations.
All he knew was—
He had genuinely been beaten into a swollen mess.
And the one responsible was this ultimate hotheaded idiot.
Inosuke Hashibira.
The guy who climbed Final Selection Mountain before everyone else and left before anyone else.
Which was why Tanjiro had never seen him during the selection of Nichirin ore.
A true, unfiltered, reckless hothead.
And now—
He'd just met the wrong senior to provoke.
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