In the distance, Genya had circled around to check on Uzui Tengen's condition, while Tanjiro slowed his breathing and watched Gyutaro with full alertness as if facing a great enemy.
But Gyutaro completely ignored them, not even glancing at them, instead turning around to look at Ume behind him.
"Onii-chan!"
Seeing Gyutaro, Ume held her head and cried, getting up and throwing herself into his arms.
"They're the ones who bullied me! Hurry up and help me take care of all of them!"
[Brother?! This demon is her brother?! They're a demon sibling pair?!]
Watching this scene before him, Tanjiro was greatly shocked.
Up until now, this was the first time he had seen demons with a blood relation.
Suddenly, he seemed to somewhat understand why Ume could survive decapitation.
Could it be that between demons with blood relations, there existed some special decapitation mechanism?
Like they had to be beheaded simultaneously to truly die or something?
Speaking of which, if the younger sister was already Upper Rank Six, then this demon who was her older brother, his position would surely be even higher...
[He's also Upper Rank Six?!]
Just as Tanjiro was curious, his gaze suddenly caught the number in Gyutaro's eyes—
It was a number completely identical to the one in Ume's eyes.
[Strange? Why? How could there be two Upper Rank Sixes?]
[Wait, could it be...]
A flash of insight crossed his mind, and Tanjiro instantly thought of a truth that made him somewhat desperate.
Could it be that this newly appeared demon was the true Upper Rank Six?!
And the Ume that he and Uzui Tengen had exhausted all their strength to defeat earlier, was actually only half?!
Upper Rank demons could actually be this abnormal?!
"There there~ don't cry, Onii-chan will take care of all of them right away..."
Completely disregarding Tanjiro's shock nearby, Gyutaro merely doted on Ume, picking up her head and gently placing it back on her neck for her.
"Really now, to actually beat my not-so-bright sister into this state...
You guys, how could you lay hands on such a pretty face? My sister only had her beauty going for her..."
His speaking tone was somewhat gloomy and hoarse, like that old rusty radio at the neighbor grandmother's house.
"Onii-chan, you're calling me stupid again! I've always been very smart!"
To Gyutaro's words, before Tanjiro could say anything, Ume herself couldn't help but retort first.
"This time I used strategy to capture three female demon slayers! They're still locked in my basement right now, and I was going to use them to lure out the snake... oh no!"
Halfway through speaking, Ume suddenly raised her hand to cover her head, shouting anxiously:
"I forgot I retrieved all my silk ribbons earlier! They must have all escaped by now! Onii-chan! What should we do now?!"
"Sigh..."
Gyutaro shook his head helplessly and sighed.
"Alright alright, if they escaped, they escaped. We can just catch them again later... Right, brat?"
Before his words finished, Gyutaro suddenly struck without warning, stepping forward and fiercely slashing at Tanjiro!
[So fast!]
Caught off guard, Tanjiro hurriedly raised his sword to block.
His arms numbed from the impact, Gyutaro's blade deflected Tanjiro's Nichirin sword. Without hesitation, Gyutaro immediately raised his other hand to swing another blade, directly slashing at his neck!
[First blade to break defense, second blade straight for the vital point... As expected, this demon isn't attacking randomly—he also possesses extremely high combat technique!]
Facing this second blade from Gyutaro that was practically aimed for a certain kill, having lost his defensive capability, Tanjiro's vision blurred for a moment.
At this life-or-death moment, his Transparent World opened for an instant.
Taking this opportunity to clearly see Gyutaro's blade trajectory, Tanjiro hurriedly dodged sideways.
"Oh?"
Sharply capturing that instantaneous change just now, seizing the opening from Tanjiro's evasion, Gyutaro kicked out once more, sending his entire body flying far away.
"Cough!"
"Brat, you entered that supreme domain just now, didn't you?"
Slowly stepping forward, looking down at Tanjiro lying on the ground clutching his chest, Gyutaro spoke:
"Ahh~ that's why I said, you guys are truly enviable.
I also trained under the Lord for so many years, practicing day and night to finally touch a bit of the threshold. Why is it that you guys seem to have heaven helping you, slightly comprehending something and then you have everything?
Truly, people in this world are divided into three, six, nine ranks. Some people are born gifted with these things, even heaven is helping you all. Even if we envy it, we can't obtain it..."
Although still in battle, hearing Gyutaro's words, Tanjiro still couldn't help but retort:
"You're wrong! There has never been any such thing as people divided into ranks in this world! And there shouldn't be! Each of us from the moment we're born... *ghk!*"
"There there~"
The blade tip pierced into Tanjiro's abdomen, twisting around in his wound, Gyutaro said indifferently:
"Don't say these merciful words that only protagonists can speak. Be good and obediently die. At most, next year I'll burn some paper money for you..."
Saying this, Gyutaro raised the blade in his other hand, about to cut off Tanjiro's head.
"Onii-chan, watch out!"
WHOOSH!
At this critical moment, a gust of wind suddenly came at the side of Gyutaro's head!
Without the slightest hesitation, Gyutaro immediately kicked Tanjiro away again to prevent being taken advantage of for a sneak attack, while leaning his body backward to dodge precisely!
[A flail?]
In the instant of leaning back to evade, Gyutaro clearly saw what was attacking him—
A flail connected by a steel chain.
And the one who swung this flail was that extremely robust, over two-meter-tall muscular man.
The Stone Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, Himejima Gyomei.
"Amitabha."
The sneak attack failed, but Himejima Gyomei didn't rush to attack again. Instead, he stood in place holding his weapons.
"I originally came seeking Tanjiro, but never expected to also encounter demons here."
Different from everyone else in the Demon Slayer Corps, Himejima Gyomei's "Nichirin sword" was quite special.
One side was a flail, one side was a hand axe, connected by an extremely long chain in the middle. Only he in the entire Demon Slayer Corps could use this unique weapon.
"You, you look quite strong..."
His gaze sweeping over Himejima Gyomei, Gyutaro narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Tanjiro!"
Behind Himejima Gyomei, Kanae also hurriedly arrived, supporting the heavily wounded Tanjiro.