Meanwhile, in the core area of Mount Natagumo.
"Whew..."
Tanjiro gripped the nichirin blade, which had only half its length remaining, with both hands, gasping for breath in large gulps.
His forehead, arms, and thighs were covered in bloodstains, and fresh blood dripped continuously onto the ground from his tattered Demon Slayer Corps uniform.
In the air not far behind him, his sister Nezuko was being held upside down by countless thick white spider silks. The threads bit deep into her skin, oozing striking red blood.
"What a nauseating look in your eyes."
Standing over ten meters opposite Tanjiro was a short, pale-skinned demon with white hair and red dots on his face.
Lower Moon Five, Rui!
Rui's eyes, carved with the characters for 'Lower Five,' were filled with a pathologically cold arrogance. "The bonds of a family should be absolute obedience. A piece of trash like you, who can't even protect his own sister, doesn't deserve to have so-called bonds."
"Hand your sister over to me, and I might consider giving you a quick death."
Hearing these extremely twisted words, Tanjiro's eyes, which had been somewhat glazed over from excessive blood loss, instantly ignited with a scorching fury.
"Stop joking around!" Tanjiro let out a raspy roar.
His legs suddenly exerted force, crushing the withered leaves beneath his feet as he raised the broken blade and charged madly at Rui once again.
"Stubborn."
Rui coldly raised both hands, and between his ten fingers, he instantly pulled out countless tough spider silks glowing with a dangerous red light.
Blood Demon Art: Cutting Thread Rotation!
Boom!
A massive rotating net cage woven from extremely hard blood-colored spider silk, carrying a terrifying cutting force capable of shredding steel, crushed down toward Tanjiro like a collapsing sky.
Water Breathing...
Facing this unavoidable finishing blow, Tanjiro tried to swing his broken blade again, but his lungs sent a tearing pain through him from overusing the breathing style.
'It's no use. I can't even fully execute the Water Breathing forms. Am I going to die?'
Just as Tanjiro was about to fall into despair, countless images suddenly flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern.
On a snow-covered mountain in the freezing cold, his father, who had an extremely frail body, could dance the Kagura all night long in the wind and snow.
"Tanjiro, breathe. As long as you master the correct breathing, you won't feel tired no matter how cold it is."
His father's gentle yet firm voice crossed the boundary of life and death, suddenly ringing in Tanjiro's ears.
Hinokami Kagura...
Buzz!
Tanjiro snapped his eyes open. His lungs, which had been growing cold from lack of oxygen, were instantly filled with a surge of scorching energy.
The blue water flow that had been wrapped around the broken blade evaporated instantly, replaced by a violent, crimson flame as bright as the blazing sun.
Clear Blue Sky!
Boom!!!
Tanjiro roared as he swung the broken blade. That circular fire slash actually sliced through Rui's strongest blood-colored spider silk in an instant.
"What?!"
For the first time, Rui's perennially frozen face showed an expression of extreme shock.
This Demon Slayer was clearly at his limit, why did the power on his blade suddenly explode to such an extent?
Not only that, but Nezuko, hanging in mid-air, seemed to feel her brother's determination and snapped open her pink slit pupils.
Blood Demon Art: Exploding Blood!
Boom!
The blood clinging to Tanjiro's blade ignited instantly, turning into a dazzling flame that burned away all the obstructing spider silk in front of him.
Using this terrifying explosive force, Tanjiro became like a burning meteor, instantly breaking through Rui's defensive net and swinging the broken blade fiercely toward Rui's neck.
"Get... severed!!!"
Ssh—
Amidst Tanjiro's desperate roar, the broken blade, carrying scorching flames, sliced through Rui's neck, which was harder than steel, with great difficulty. A pale head instantly soared into the sky.
"I did it..."
Tanjiro fell heavily to the ground. The intense backlash caused his muscles to twitch violently, and his vision went black.
However, just when he thought the battle was over.
"That was dangerous."
An extremely cold voice suddenly came from the direction of the headless corpse.
Tanjiro struggled to lift his head, his pupils shrinking to their limit. He saw that Rui's headless corpse was still standing firmly in place, and the head that had fallen to the ground was being guided by several extremely thin spider silks, flying back to the neck and eerily reconnecting.
"Did you think you were the one who cut off my head? Foolish."
Rui reached out to touch his newly reattached neck, a violent killing intent surfacing in his eyes. "Before you could strike me, I cut my own neck with my spider silk. How could the neck of one of the Twelve Kizuki be cut off by a piece of trash like you with a broken blade?"
"Now, the game is over."
Blood Demon Art: Murderous Eye Basket!
Boom!
A massive spherical cage woven from countless blood-colored spider silks instantly enveloped the slumped Tanjiro from all directions.
The cage contracted frantically. The sharp spider web, capable of shredding rock, was less than half a meter away from Tanjiro's body.
Tanjiro closed his eyes in despair. His body was completely unable to move. The backlash from Hinokami Kagura left him unable to even lift a finger.
"At least... I must protect Nezuko..." He used his last ounce of strength, trying to curl his body up.
In that moment of despair—
Chirp... Chirp...
A piercing sound, like a thousand birds chirping at once, suddenly tore through the deathly silent night sky of Mount Natagumo.
A deep blue lightning, so dazzling that it was impossible to look at directly, instantly illuminated the dim forest as if it were broad daylight.
"Who is it?!" Rui whipped his head around.
Ssh—
Without giving him any time to react, a violent spear of lightning fell from the sky, splitting the contracting blood-colored spider silk cage in half and instantly blasting it into charred dust that flew through the air.
Thud!
A young man wearing a pure black haori landed steadily in front of Tanjiro. He had one hand in his pocket while the other rested casually on the hilt of the sword at his waist.
His pitch-black eyes transformed into an eerie crimson in a tenth of a second, three tomoe spinning coldly within the pupils as he looked down upon Rui not far away.