"Don't give up, don't give up!"
Agatsuma Zenitsu lay on the wooden house, which had been pulled into the air by spider silk, trying to regulate his breathing to slow the spread of the poison. Although he had defeated the demon with a human face and spider body, the poison had already invaded his body.
His mind was in chaos, and his hands and feet had lost all sensation. His yellow eyes stared blankly at the bright moon in the sky. The moon was so bright tonight... He couldn't give up. It would be such a waste to die on a night like this!
He should be going on a date with Nezuko-chan.
"Hiss ~ exhale ~ hiss ~ exhale ~"
His body was covered in sores, and even breathing was difficult.
"Grandpa..." "Is there anyone you know?" Shinobu walked up to Giyu Tomioka, who was staring blankly at the corpses of the Demon Slayer Corps members on the ground.
"It seems there are no survivors nearby. The notice mentioned that a few newly recruited Mizunoto-ranked members also entered." Shinobu surveyed her surroundings, her dark purple eyes showing no emotion. "They've probably all died."
Newly recruited members... Giyu Tomioka recalled Tanjirou, whom he had met on that snowy day, and said coldly, "Let's go."
The two ran quickly through the forest, their haoris fluttering in the wind.
"The moon is beautiful tonight, isn't it ~"
"It's rare for us to go on a mission together, so let's get along well ~"
"I came to slay demons." Giyu Tomioka was unmoved, still maintaining that indifferent expression.
"How cold." Shinobu looked to the right side of the forest. Although he was similar to Yoizumi-nii, she still found Yoizumi-nii more interesting, after all, his reactions were always unexpectedly adorable ~
"Then let's split up around here. I'll go check the west side."
"Understood."
Shinobu tapped her toes, and her petite figure disappeared into the trees.
"Ah! That hurts!"
A shrill scream came from not far away. Tanjirou and Yoizumi exchanged glances and approached the source of the sound, carefully hiding behind a bush to look at the two demons in front.
The demons they encountered here were, without exception, all white-haired with pale skin, and their bodies and faces were more or less covered with some red spots. A demon in the form of a young girl knelt on the ground, covering her cheek, blood dripping from between her fingers onto the ground.
In front of her was the demon Tanjirou and Inosuke had encountered shortly after entering the mountain. Although its appearance looked even younger than the girl, it held the dominant position. Spider webs grew from its fingertips, and its indifferent eyes stared at the female demon kneeling on the ground.
"Dad, Mom, and Big Brother are all dead. Big Sister, you won't disappoint me, will you?" His own family members had died, yet he seemed unconcerned, as if it were a normal occurrence, showing no trace of the sorrow he should have felt.
"Rui! Big Sister will do her best, I definitely won't disappoint Rui!"
Upon hearing a satisfactory reply, his silver-gray gaze fell upon Tanjirou and Yoizumi, who were hiding nearby. "What are you looking at? This isn't pretty."
Tanjirou, who had received a good education since childhood, could not comprehend this demon's way of treating family. Family shouldn't be like this; family should be about love, respect, and not about violence and coercion.
"What are you doing? If you're family, why are you treating each other like this?!"
Yoizumi remained silent beside him, but his eyes never left the demon with spider silk wrapped around its hands. This demon was very strong; it was one of the Twelve Kizuki!
"This is a matter between me and Big Sister, and it's not for an outsider like you to butt in. If you meddle, I'll cut you into pieces." With a blank expression, Rui showed no awareness of his mistake. The spider silk at his fingertips seemed as if it would snap at any moment under his tension.
"No! All family members are equally precious! They will never become shallow just because there's no blood relation!"
"Moreover, there's a scent of trust between family members. All I can smell from you is the scent of terror, hatred, and disgust!" Tanjirou clenched his fists. Having lost his family, he valued kinship more than anyone and simply couldn't understand this way of treating family.
"This isn't family at all; it's fake! Fake!" Standing straight, Tanjirou gripped his nichirin blade with both hands, his expression serious, his voice sharp.
The demon's oppressive aura suddenly intensified. The demon named Rui, with a gloomy face, looked at Tanjirou with silver-gray eyes as if he were looking at a dead object, and said in a chilling voice, "If you take back what you said, I'll consider killing you directly. Otherwise, I'll cut you into pieces, bit by bit!"
"I won't take it back!"
Invaded by this oppressive feeling, Tanjirou felt as if even the air had become heavy. Yoizumi stepped in front of Tanjirou, his tall figure blocking most of the pressure for him. He put Tanjirou behind him, his gaze solemn. This demon was very dangerous!
"Yoizumi-nii!"
Rui looked at Yoizumi. Was this guy also a demon? Why was he protecting humans? The human just called him Yoizumi-nii, was he this human's brother?
The spider silk in Rui's hands swept out. Yoizumi and Tanjirou dodged, landing on a tree. The seemingly fragile spider silk, which looked like it would break at a touch, easily cut through the tree like tofu.
Dodging the flying spider silk again, Yoizumi knew that this demon would be very difficult to approach. The sharp spider silk would cut him into pieces the moment he got close.
What should he do now?
The irritating smell had disappeared, and the smell of the spider silk when it attacked was also clear. Now he could fight!
Jumping away from the sweeping threads, Tanjirou launched an attack in Rui's direction.
Water Breathing, First Form: Water Surface Slash!
"No! Tanjirou!" Yoizumi quickly moved to stop him.
"If you don't take it back, then die!" Countless spider webs descended from the sky, leaving Tanjirou no escape.
The spider silk directly cut through his nichirin blade and cleaved towards Tanjirou's head. Stunned, he looked at the broken blade in his hand. Spider silk was everywhere, he couldn't dodge it!
In the nick of time, Yoizumi used his body as a shield, and even Nezuko, who was originally in the wooden box, appeared, together blocking all the spider silk for Tanjirou. A large amount of blood splattered, and both demons suffered varying degrees of injury.
"Yoizumi-nii! Nezuko!" This scene left Tanjirou stunned and at a loss, his body covered in large patches of their blood.
He held Nezuko in one arm and took Tanjirou to hide behind a tree.
"Yoizumi-nii! Nezuko..." Tanjirou looked at the severely injured Yoizumi and Nezuko, heartbroken and unable to breathe. It was all his fault; his recklessness had caused them to get hurt!
Tanjirou's tears welled up in his eyes. Even with half his face sliced off, Yoizumi reached out and patted his shoulder. "Tanjirou, stand up, don't cry."
The horrifying wounds healed instantly, as if they had never appeared.
He squatted down to treat Nezuko. "Why did you come out? I could have handled it alone."
Nezuko looked stubbornly at Yoizumi, her pink eyes lost in thought. After becoming a demon, her ability to think was almost completely gone, but she didn't want Yoizumi to fight alone anymore.
She couldn't be like before.
Unable to do anything, watching him face it alone!
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