[12:00:00]
Tanjiro watched as a timer section appeared on the system screen. It was paused, set to exactly 12 hours.
I'm guessing it only counts the time when I'm actually practising and will pause if I stop too…
Nodding to himself, he could only choose the axe as his weapon for now. It would be better that way for the night when the main event was going to happen.
Without wasting any more time, he started practising the Sun Breathing forms right there on the spot.
He was a good distance away from the house and had deliberately gone off the usual path, so there was no need to worry about someone finding him.
As for food, he carried several rice balls stored inside his robe, which solved the issue. The bamboo container holding water was also secured, though it wouldn't be required in the current cold temperature.
And so Tanjiro continued to train in the chilling weather. The snowfall had been going on nonstop, and dense clouds had covered the sky for ages.
[10:35:12]
Some time had passed, and he wasn't even out of breath.
In the meantime, he found out that the practice was also counted as valid without the axe. However, he still chose to hold it; the weight didn't bother him at all.
If not for the danger to his family, he would have liked to add some weights to his body just to make it harder and grow his already overpowered physique a little more.
Acquiring Yoriichi's powers gave him not only strength but also bountiful experience. The way to use a sword, how to fight, how to sense a demon's presence, and most impressive of all, the overwhelming talent Yoriichi had from birth. Not just absurd talent for swordsmanship, but even the Transparent World, an innate Demon Slayer Mark, and a selfless state refined over years through countless battles.
Obtaining such overpowered strength boosted his morale and confidence to an extreme level. If not for this, he would likely have forced his family to vacate the house at any cost much earlier.
Time continued to flow, and before Tanjiro knew it, the light was gone. Because of the thick clouds, even the sunset was not visible.
During the peak of winter, the cold became even more unbearable and sunlight was available for only a few hours before it was covered by dense clouds.
Since it was the end of December, the winter could still be considered moderate; the upcoming months would be the ones when the season was at its harshest.
For now, it didn't bother him at all.
Even though he had been swinging the axe for more than ten hours straight, he wasn't hungry, thirsty, or losing concentration. The new him felt like he could keep this up for an entire day and still have enough energy left to run a 50 km marathon several times.
No matter what, with his mindset ultimately refined through the training, Tanjiro was ready to take on any challenge thrown his way.
…
Tokyo, inside one of the most luxurious mansions.
A boy sat reading a thick book silently in a dimly lit room.
He flipped the pages one by one after only a few glances, his calm, elongated red eyes devouring the content swiftly.
His skull remained still; only his dark pupils moved.
The more he flipped, the paler his skin seemed to become.
A few terrifying veins popped near his eyebrows as the remaining pages grew fewer and fewer. The menacing veins within his irises twitched on their own, though his face had stayed expressionless the entire time.
Only a dozen pages remained.
The boy calmly flipped them one by one.
Until, on the second-to-last page, where only information was provided, his gaze narrowed threateningly.
"The rare blue spider lily was recently known to have bloomed near the northern mountains of the central prefecture. This information was gathered from an old traveler who unknowingly met a woman claiming to have seen the flower. The information could be false, as there was no proof beyond spoken words…"
Reading it carefully, the boy's mouth opened wide, revealing intimidating fangs instead of canines.
"Central prefecture... that will take an hour or so to reach…"
An unrestrained grin spread across his face.
The next instant, his body muscles swelled and shifted, transforming in seconds.
From a boy who looked six years old, he became a mature man.
Running his hand through his locks, this man, Kibutsuji Muzan, dressed himself in a modern white suit and hat before disappearing out the window in an instant.
....
Near the mountains, just a few kilometres from the Kamado house.
Muzan walked calmly through the snow. A single flesh tentacle grew from the back of his neck and held a woman upside-down by her ankle.
She was shaking hard, eyes wide with terror, but she didn't dare make a sound. He had told her to stay quiet.
Her leg was already broken, yet the fear was so strong she barely felt the pain.
"Where is it?" Muzan asked in a low voice, fangs biting into his own lip as he stared at her.
"Eeeeek—!"
Just his gaze was enough. She wet herself on the spot.
Muzan's frown deepened. He was tired of these slow methods.
The tentacle pulled her closer. She squeezed her eyes shut, and before she could react, his mouth stretched wide and bit her head clean off.
Blood poured onto the snow, turning it bright red.
He threw the body away like garbage.
After chewing the head a few times, he swallowed it whole. Her cells and memories flowed straight into his five brains.
He stood still for a moment, searching.
Soon he found it: a memory from six years ago. She had met a woman who spoke about the blue spider lily blooming somewhere in these mountains.
Muzan turned toward the dark ridge ahead and grinned.
"Her isolated family living all alone up there…
Blue spider lily… I'll get the location no matter what it takes."
....
Tanjiro, still far from the house, finally stopped training.
Steam rolled off his skin in thick waves, clearly visible in the freezing air.
[Mission completed!]
[You may claim your reward now.]
[Claim] [Later]
He tapped [Claim] without hesitation.
In the next heartbeat, a pitch-black sword materialized in front of him. The air itself seemed to bow under its presence, heavy and threatening.
Ancient characters were carved along the blade. Tanjiro somehow understood them instantly: Heavenly Demon Sword.
The hilt was pure black, matching the blade's terrifying sharpness.
He stared in awe as the sword shrank, folding into a sleek black-scaled wrist guard that snapped onto his right forearm.
Holy shit… what a crazy sword!
With a thought, the guard unfolded back into the full sword, settling perfectly in his grip.
The moment his fingers closed around the hilt with his monstrous strength, the blade gave a faint, eager tremble, like it was happy to be held by him.
A small, satisfied smile tugged at Tanjiro's lips.
He was about to test the edge on a nearby tree when his senses screamed.
His head snapped toward the mountain ridge.
Muzan…! He was close!!