Disclaimer: Demon Slayer is not mine. This fanfic is a translation.
Enjoy Reading!
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"Pfft! Finally dead!" Hakuji crouched on a broken wall, gloating and spitting into the icy water below.
The lingering white cold mist around the Eternal Paradise Faith HQ gradually dissipated, revealing several figures standing holding swords.
Tanjiro wiped the melting ice crystals off the Mortal Blade and regulated his breathing.
After witnessing with their own eyes the moment Doma's body turned to ash, the others finally relaxed their tense nerves a little.
The kasugai crows of each slayer fluttered up from their perch and flew to their assigned members to check their condition.
From Doma's remains, since his Blood Demon Art dispelled with his death, his body released a lot of steam that obscured vision. Hakuji instinctively punched the air of the onrushing steam; he really didn't want to get any of Doma's remains on his body.
Sanemi gritted his teeth as he tore away his gaze from Doma's corpse and stared intently at the two demons, Hakuji and Michikatsu, standing together nearby. Just seeing them breathing the same air as him made it hard for him to control himself.
"Upper Moon One is dead, but those two over there… are also demons!"
Hakuji and Sanemi locked eyes; sparks immediately flew as killing intent was released.
"Hmph." Sanemi's mouth curled viciously, unwilling to back down. "What kind of eyes were those, anyway?"
"Hah?!" Hakuji's forehead bulged with angry veins; the pleasure of watching Doma's death was replaced by irritation and annoyance at this brat's rude manners.
"Bastard, do you want to fight?!" Hakuji said, raising his clenched fist.
The Demon Slayer Corp members collectively tensed up at that.
But before they can come to a blow, a heavy voice interrupts, "Hakuji."
Michikatsu said Hakuji's name with authority, silently ordering him to stand down and knock it off.
Hakuji's expression grew even more annoyed, but he stayed his hands.
Tanjuro didn't register any of this encounter since his attention was pulled away by something in the distance.
He had felt... the Hinokami Kagura being used.
Fortunately, a kasugai crow suddenly appeared with fluttering wings that suggest urgency.
"Emergency assembly!! Emergency assembly!!"
The Kasugai crow cawed to all the members of the corps in the vicinity.
"Demon King! Kibutsuji Muzan has appeared at the Butterfly Mansion!!"
"Hurry!! Hurry!!"
The news brought shock to all that were present, except for the demons. Tengen, Shinobu, Sanemi, and Obanai looked at each other and nodded. With one breath, they turned into afterimages as they ran to the Butterfly Mansion.
Only Sanemi still remains as he struggles to stay and eliminate the demons here or provide backup. After a moment, he decided to grit his teeth and pursue after his colleagues.
'I hoped I wasn't too late!!'
Tanjuro offered a nod to Michikatsu and Hakuji before he also chased the Hashira toward the Butterfly Mansion.
Leaving only Michikatsu, Hakuji, and the Tokito brothers, who remained in the ruins of the Paradise Faith HQ, silently staring at each other.
---
"Haa-ck!" Muzan's pupils widened in horror as he instinctively jerked his head backward to dodge the blade that was inches from his neck.
)—Hinokami Kagura!—(
)—Enbu!—(
Muzan's vision was blurred by the dazzling solar flames, but he still caught a glimpse of Tanjiro's earlobe.
The chill of death crept up his spine.
"How—"
He reached up and tightly gripped his gushing neck, trying to heal it.
Even if that man came here immediately after killing Doma, it would still take time for him to come.
Come to think of it, he had never actually determined the man's presence at Doma's domain, did he?
Muzan's expression turned to fear; his nervousness hit high gear as he retaliated against Tanjiro's strike with his own.
Tanjiro had the instinct to protect himself, which sent him airborne into the sky. In the final second before his eyes closed and his vision went dark.
Being able to successfully execute one attack was already his current limit.
Tanjiro had gambled.
And now he found himself reoriented in the air and landed on the wall of the mansion, looking down on the Demon King.
He looked around and saw that Zenitsu was evacuating the staff and patients out of the mansion using the backyard gate, close to the warehouse and supplies.
While Tanjiro regained his bearing, Muzan looked up to him with a shocked expression.
After seeing clearly who the man wrapped in the dazzling flames was, the scar on the forehead, the hanafuda earrings on his ears!
Muzan felt his blood pulsing uncontrollably as veins covered his neck. Fear and panic temporarily robbing him of his ability to think and observe.
Countless thoughts flashed in his mind, with the prevalent one being to flee this location at this instant.
The human scent was strong, mixed with the smells of disinfectant and blood.
'How is that man here?!'
That swordsmanship was so familiar that it induced a reaction from the depth of Muzan's soul, making him instinctively kick his flight reaction.
The man and demon glared viciously at each other.
Tanjiro knew he still needed to buy time for the evacuation to complete. He steeled himself and took a deep breath.
He slid back his right leg and placed his sword horizontally across his torso with its sharp point aimed at Muzan.
White steam erupted from the corner of his mouth.
)—Hinokami Kagura!—(
)—Yōkatotsu!—(
Using his left leg as a launcher, Tanjiro hurled himself toward Muzan, sword first.
His hope was that by connecting this thrust attack, he would use the momentum to drive Muzan away from the evacuating staff and patients.
He instantly covered the distance between them and thrust the blade at the Demon King's collarbone.
Muzan finally snapped out of his daze and tried to dodge valiantly.
Crash!
Blood splattered, and flesh rendered as Muzan's neck was sliced open again!
It seemed Muzan still hadn't regained his composure fully; otherwise, he would have dodged the attack completely.
Which was something that caught his attention during the exchange.
The two fighters separated and distanced themselves across the courtyard.
"My neck... is still there..."
"What is going on...?"
Muzan sensed it.
He glanced at the main gate of the mansion. Since the last time he opened someone's door and came face-to-face with his nightmare from the past, he had been cautious when entering another's home.
But the man in front of him, who wears the earrings of the man he feared, felt different.
Muzan's logical mind processes the encounter and information at lightspeed.
'That man... lent his earrings to the one who went to Doma's territory?!'
Such a despicable plan!
He had given the earrings to someone else, deliberately leaving misleading information at Doma's stronghold, making Muzan believe that the man was somewhere else.
But upon closer looks, the man's earrings were not the same as the one in his memories. In fact, the man was not even a man; it was a child!
The scar on his forehead has a different pattern, and the bloodline gene detection that only a demon could sense further confirmed Muzan's suspicions of this kid's identity.
His eyes trembled as slowly anger replaced fear.
An aura of menace and death exploded from his very being, leaving Tanjiro frozen in his place. Red crimson eyes full of hatred stared right into his own; the eyes seemed to be glowing in the dark of the night.
Dread starts welling up from his stomach to his throat.
Tanjiro found himself with difficulty breathing. The air seemed thin as he panted. The price of executing Sun Breathing on his young body is already catching up to him.
"I see," Muzan murmured in calmness.
"You sticking brat!!"
"How dare you make a fool of me!!"
Two hideous fleshy protrusions writhed out from Muzan's back. It acts like limbs as it presses against the ground and tensing to support Muzan.
Then, it launched its tendril so fast, intending to skewer Tanjiro and tear him to pieces.
Fortunately for him, Shinjuro and Gyomei finally took action.
)—Stone Breathing First Form!—(
)—Jamongan – Sōkyoku!—(
)—Flame Breathing Fourth Form!—(
)—Sei En no Uneri!—(
The two Hashira placed themselves between Tanjiro and Muzan. Gyomei moved to strike the Demon King with his flail weapon while Shinjuro moved to shield Tanjiro from any sneaky attacks.
BOOM!!
Dust and debris clouded Tanjiro's vision as he closed his eyes.
When he opened it again, Shinjuro was standing in front of him while Gyomei had pushed back Muzan to the center of the courtyard.
"Rengoku-san! Himejima-san!" Tanjiro's voice was filled with relief at the sight of these two.
He was really on his last leg, wracking his brain to figure out how to survive this encounter.
He even almost has a flashback about his father's last words before the man went into a coma and how he was the eldest son and how he has to protect the family by growing stronger.
"Good job, Tanjiro-kun." Gyomei said, his flail twirling by his right hand, his presence and back emitting an assurance to Tanjiro.
"Leave the rest to us."
Shinjuro moved his body to completely shield Tanjiro from Muzan's vision as the two Hashira squared up to face the Demon King.
Muzan took in the scenery in front of him.
He had no doubt that Nakime's eye led him to the location of the Blue Spider Lily. This mansion was big enough with a lot of people and supplies to serve as a headquarters for these infuriating Demon Slayer Corps.
He had no reason to believe otherwise, but then the silhouette of that man causes dread in his soul again.
The more he thought about it, the more Muzan became unsettled. That man had even accounted for his appearance while he was away and set up a trap, maybe not to kill him...
He was still confident that these two Slayers don't have the power to end him.
Which meant
"You're stalling," Muzan said.
The kid behind them has an earring similar to the heirloom of Yoriichi, but it was actually only made to look the same with a few differences.
Muzan scowled at remembering his trembling form before the boy when he opened the gate of the mansion.
To think he was scared of an illusion!!
The nerve of these humans!
Muzan unleashed more of his blood-protrusion limbs as he transformed before the eyes of the Slayers. The limbs shaped themselves into 9 whips behind his back, his fangs grew longer, and his pupils turned into cat slits.
Anger and death radiated from his aura.
Gyomei and Shinjuro stood their ground. Both readied their weapons for the first clash.
Gyomei, especially, was entranced by what he saw through the Transparent World.
With his mind's eye, he could see the shadow of Muzan's presence and the inside of his body.
His mind was confused at what he was seeing.
'Seven hearts?? And five brains?'
So fascinated he was by this discovery that he almost missed the attack tunneling beneath them.
"Tanjiro! Jump!" Gyomei shouted.
No sooner than that, the ground below where Tanjiro was standing breaks, and several lumps of flesh punch through with force.
Shinjuro reacted a little too late as he swung his sword against it. The impact from the swing managed to cut down the power of the attack as the lumps bent.
But it still succeeded in sending Tanjiro flying into the air.
)—Stone Breathing Second Form!—(
)—Tenmen Kudaki!—(
Gyomei unleashed a barrage of attacks with both his flail and axe.
But Muzan just calmly deflected all of them using his whip.
"Tanjiro!" Shinjuro shouted.
Before he could ask about Tanjiro's condition, a whip struck the corner of his eyes. He raised his sword to cut them off but found that his sword just ground into the appendage, creating sparks of fire.
"Kgh!"
Shinjuro jumped to the side as he redirected the strike.
'Just one attack... and I already felt my hand going numb.'
Sweat poured from his side and forehead.
However, he has no time for rest.
Muzan launched a high-speed onslaught toward the two of them.
"Shinjuro-dono! Get behind me!" ordered Gyomei.
The two fight off the storm of whips in front of them.
Gyomei did considerably better than his companion. With his Transparent World, Gyomei could see and guess where the attack would land and parried it. In addition, his enormous physical strength let him keep up with the speed of the attack.
So far, Gyomei hasn't suffered any scratch or hand-numbing from parrying Muzan's attacks.
Unlike Gyomei, Shinjuro was in a much worse condition.
His whole body suffered countless cuts and bruises from the whips. Some cuts were shallow; others were deep enough to spill blood.
Shinjuro's eyes are desperately tracking where the attacks are coming from, but to no avail.
More worriedly, he could see that his Nichirin blade started to crack under the assault.
'Such speed and power...'
"Himejima! We need to get out! Save Tanjiro first!"
Knowing they're on the same page, Gyomei nodded. "Hold on!"
)—Stone Breathing Third Form!—(
)—Ganku no Hadae!—(
Gyomei twirls his weapon and wreaks havoc around the incoming whips. He successfully repelled every single one of them to create a chance for them to jump onto the roof.
But Muzan was relentless.
The moment they were in the air, he struck with his punches and kicks.
Using his immense speed, he "teleports" toward them and mercilessly claws his prey with his sharp fingernails.
Shinjuro and Gyomei had to adjust awkwardly, and they were carried by Muzan's momentum in the air and landed on the rooftop of the mansion in a cloud of dust.
Muzan then turned his attention to another target.
Tanjiro, still flying high in the sky.
The two locked eyes.
Tanjiro knew this would be his last moment before he had to cross the Sanzu River.
He closed his eyes and remembered his father's face and voice.
His memories resurfaced on that day, after his father decapitated that bear.
...
"Tanjiro."
"Get stronger so you can protect the family well."
His father looks sickly and thin on his futon. His hand looks as if it were only a skeleton.
He reached out and put Tanjiro's head on his lap. Slowly caressing his hair with his hand.
"Because you are the eldest son."
Those were the words his father had spoken before falling into a deep slumber and entrusting the family to him.
...
Tanjiro opened his eyes with clarity. There was no fear of death and hesitation anymore, only the absolute readiness in facing this monster.
Seeing those eyes, Muzan gritted his teeth. Becoming more angry and hateful, he desires nothing more than to see those eyes lose their fire.
"Despicable brat!"
Muzan focuses his whips to create a large spear of flesh and hurls it straight at Tanjiro.
However, the attack could not find its mark.
Tanjiro was snatched out of the sky by a blurry figure and then landed on the opposite side of the rooftop.
"Who's there!?" Muzan roared angrily at his miskill. He turned his head to look at the figure denying him satisfaction.
The man stood straight with his crimson red haori over his yellow hakama. He held Tanjiro at his waist like a laundry basket.
"Sorry, I'm late."
His hanafuda earrings sway gently in the wind as he faces Muzan, who is increasingly horrified by the figure.
"Good job, Tanjiro."
Tanjiro felt his eyes tear up. His adrenaline and tension in his muscles relaxed suddenly as relief washed over his body.
"Father!"
—Kamado Tanjuro has joined the battle!
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(`@_@*) FUUCKK!!
This chapter was a pain, A PAIN!!!, to translate.
The original chapter is more scrambled than scrambled eggs.
It made the dish's appearance a compliment compared to how messy this chapter is.
Hopefully, it only happens to this chapter, so I didn't waste another two days to translate.
Submit your memes, please. I need a cheer-me-up.