"How strange..." Obanai frowned deeply at the endlessly repeating scenery. "It feels like we've been going in circles."
"Eh? Eh. Is that true?" Mitsuri looked a little flustered. "I didn't even notice! What should we do now, Iguro-san?"
Obanai looked at the crisscrossing doors around them, let out a long breath, and finally stopped on a patch of wooden flooring.
"We should be close to the demon controlling the Infinity Castle. Otherwise, there's no explaining why we were only attacked by demons when we first entered, then didn't run into even a single one afterward. We haven't even seen a single Kasugai Crow. That demon is trying to trap us."
Mitsuri was just about to say something when her eyes swept over a window that only revealed a tiny corner of the view beyond it. She froze for a moment, and what she had been about to say changed instead.
"Um... Iguro-san..."
"Hm?"
"I think I found that demon." Mitsuri raised a hand and pointed at the window. "It's a female demon with only one eye, and she's playing a biwa."
"A biwa... come to think of it, I heard music too when we fell." Obanai looked in that direction, only to find that the window had already turned into a wall. "What an irritating Blood Demon Art... Mitsuri, do you remember what we were taught before in the Corps about how to use aura?"
"Yes, I do, but I still can't properly grasp it. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, I'm so very sorry!" Mitsuri grew flustered again. "I'm so useless, I must be holding you back, Iguro-san, right? I'm really sorry..."
Obanai thought, no, I didn't say all that... though this is cute too.
"No, I haven't fully mastered it either. I need time to get into the right state." Obanai deliberately softened his voice. "I can't think of any other way to break this deadlock right now, but while I'm preparing to sense aura, my reactions will be much slower than usual. Mitsuri, can I ask you to protect me?"
"Yes! I'll protect you, Iguro-san!"
"Mm, then I'm counting on you, Mitsuri."
...
While all the Hashira were busy fighting to kill the Upper Moons, Sanemi felt like he had been cursed.
The Kasugai Crow had clearly said Kyojuro and the others were nearby, and he had even run into an Upper Moon and a desperate battle, yet here he was, running around like an idiot and unable to get out.
"Tell me... whose Kasugai Crow are you?" Sanemi raced through the Infinity Castle at high speed, glancing sideways at the crow perched steadily on his shoulder. "Do you actually know the way? If you don't, spit it out now. At a time like this, don't make me keep getting tangled up with useless small fry."
"Caw, no comment!" The Kasugai Crow shook its wings.
"And compared to the battlefield where the Flame Hashira and the two Water Hashira are, the other location is even more critical! Reinforcements are needed there more urgently! The Flower Hashira, the Insect Hashira, and Water Hashira Makomo have encountered Upper Moon One, and an extremely unexpected situation has occurred there. With the slightest mistake, they could die on the spot, caw!"
"Tch..." Following the Kasugai Crow's directions, Sanemi sped up again and cursed under his breath. "How long until we get there? What unexpected situation? If I go, can I handle it?"
But the Kasugai Crow fell suspiciously silent for quite a while before finally speaking.
"Rather than that, if you can make it there in time, then those three will definitely survive..."
"Just whose swordsman are you following, you damn crow?! You haven't said a single clear thing from start to finish! Hey! Tell me your name! After I kill these demons, I'm absolutely going to go make trouble for your master!"
"Caw... my name is Kitaro, but I still suggest you don't go looking for trouble with that swordsman. You probably couldn't beat either of them even if there were two of you, caw."
The veins on Sanemi's forehead bulged, and his teeth ground audibly, but right now all he could do was keep slaughtering demons while charging ahead.
"Kitaro, huh! I've remembered that name! Just you wait!"
...
After killing another five or six waves of demons, Tanjiro and Takeo finally managed to reunite with Nezuko and the others in a spacious room.
The moment they met up, Takeo immediately went over to Nezuko with obvious concern. After confirming that she had only a few scrapes, he let out a long sigh of relief.
But when Tanjiro also tried to go over, Zenitsu threw his whole body at him and started bawling.
"Tanjiro. Thank goodness! You finally made it! I've really had it rough! I forced myself to use Godspeed Flash so many times, my legs feel like they're about to break! It hurts so much!!"
Tanjiro raised a hand and patted Zenitsu on the back, smiling helplessly.
"Is that so? Zenitsu really worked hard... but could you let go of me first? I'm human right now, so I'm really... kind of having trouble breathing."
Nezuko looked at the scene in front of her, pressed one hand to her face, and couldn't help smiling.
"Come to think of it, I've never seen Zenitsu or Takeo act spoiled before. Even though Takeo is pretty popular with kids too, right?"
Takeo let Inosuke snatch the water bottle from his hand. At that, his expression turned especially disgusted.
"I don't want that guy to like me at all..."
"He'll punch me flying! He'll definitely punch me flying!" Zenitsu started yelling again. "Look, Tanjiro! Your little brother is patient even with that wild boar! But he's especially cruel to me! Look at that expression! He obviously wants to kill me!"
"Takeo would only think about it at most. He wouldn't really attack a companion." Tanjiro's gaze swept toward the corner of the room, where several Kakushi were bandaging the swordsmen's wounds. "But... why are there Kakushi here? The Kakushi aren't supposed to take part in battle, are they?"
"We ran into them while moving forward." Nezuko frowned. "By the time we got there, some Kakushi had already been killed. According to them, the Infinity Castle seems to be expanding further. These Kakushi were apparently helping distribute medicine earlier, so they weren't able to withdraw in time."
"I see..." Tanjiro sniffed. "There aren't many demons nearby, and the room is wide enough. For now, let's set up a small rest point here. Takeo, Nezuko, and Inosuke, stay here and protect everyone. Zenitsu, come with me and clear out the demons around the area.
We also need to let the swordsmen know to watch out for Kakushi who may have been dragged in here. My nose and Zenitsu's ears are both very sharp, so that'll also make it easier for us to find our way back."
"I'm really at my limit!" Zenitsu instantly let go of Tanjiro, grabbed his hair, and screamed. "I'm seriously about to die!"
"Eh?" Tanjiro tilted his head. "But Zenitsu, you're not even asleep yet, are you?"
Zenitsu's expression went blank for a moment.
"...Tanjiro."
"Hm?"
"Your medicine definitely only worked halfway, right? Your heart is basically that of a demon. No, you're even worse than a demon! Are you saying I haven't gone all out unless I fight until I pass out? I'll really die like that! Someone's going to end up dead!"
"Eh? But Hiru-san told me that Zenitsu can still fight after he falls asleep, and that he's even stronger then..."
"Don't believe anything that guy says! Who can still fight after falling asleep?! If anything, anyone who can still fight while asleep is definitely some kind of battle-obsessed psycho! That's way too scary!"
"I don't know whether he's obsessed with fighting..." Takeo walked over. "But on the psycho part, I completely agree."
"Alright, Takeo, don't say that."
When Tanjiro frowned, Takeo finally folded his arms and looked away, his voice dropping noticeably.
"…He said it himself."
"That still... doesn't... make it okay." Tanjiro let out a long sigh and turned to head outside. "If Zenitsu really doesn't want to go, then stay here and protect everyone. I can manage on my own."
"Don't make me sound that pathetic!" Zenitsu scrubbed hard at his face and hurried after Tanjiro. "I'm going! I just wanted to complain! I really hate fighting! It's bloody, exhausting, and the worst! I hate it!"
"Well, well, but isn't Zenitsu really amazing? It's not just Hiru-san. Takeo told me too about how you fight while sleeping..."
"You can't trust either of those two! And I absolutely do not fight while sleeping! I'm a normal person! Do you understand what normal means?!"
After watching the two of them run out of the room, Nezuko let out a soft sigh.
"In the end, it's still onii-chan protecting us..."
Takeo grabbed Inosuke, who was about to charge out after them, and smiled too.
"Yeah. No matter how hard we try, it feels like we just can't catch up to onii-chan... Alright! Inosuke, let's have a competition before they get back!"
Seeing Takeo so easily distract Inosuke, Nezuko couldn't help laughing, but before long she looked back in the direction the two had gone, worry creeping onto her face as she prayed silently for them.
[ Please come back safely. ]
...
Kanae looked at Hiru, who had already entered a state of complete demonization, and her expression grew heavy.
Just moments ago, the two demons who had been talking like old acquaintances had suddenly started fighting.
It was obvious that the so-called Upper Moon One had been at a disadvantage from the very start, but just as Hiru was about to land the decisive blow, his movements had suddenly stopped for some unknown reason, and signs of his demon nature had begun surfacing across his body.
Doma used that opening to pull away. At the same time, with a sweep of his folding fan, he summoned countless massive icicles above them, forcing them to scatter. In the very next instant, those rainbow-colored eyes filled Kanae's vision.
"Before Akiwa recovers, we should still have a little time~ So first, let's just make it impossible for you to move."
Kanae bent backward as far as she could and flicked her sword up in a reverse slash. As a peach-colored blade flash swept out, a form like falling blossoms unfolded with it, knocking aside Doma's incoming fan.
Makomo and Shinobu moved in to support her at once, but Shinobu was far faster than Makomo. In the blink of an eye, her Nichirin Blade, already shifted for a thrust, pierced straight through Doma's temple, and with the mechanism activating, all the poison inside the blade was injected into his body in one burst.
"Oh my~ I didn't expect you to use poison~" Doma's eyes turned bloodshot the instant the toxin entered him, but even so, he still reacted quickly enough to evade Makomo's attack. "Looks like you should be dealt with first, then~ Blood Demon Art: Withered Garden, Drooping Snow."
Fine frost gathered into a torrent of biting cold and swept toward Shinobu along the path of Doma's folding fan.
Shinobu still remembered the Blood Demon Art Hiru had blocked for them at the very beginning, the one called Frozen Clouds, so she did not dare be careless. She immediately held her breath and leaped back with all her strength.
Kanae also steadied her breathing and escaped the range of the Blood Demon Art. She was just about to take a breath and charge in again when she saw Hiru, rushing over after recovering, seize Doma by the head.
All five of Hiru's fingers had already sunk into Doma's forehead, but just as his other hand came down onto Doma's shoulder, about to tear his head off, that vicious motion stalled once again, and the demonic aura around him surged several times over.
Standing off to the side, Makomo saw it clearly.
At the exact instant Hiru's movement froze, about a quarter of the paintings on the opposite wall turned to dust.
[ Those paintings... are this demon's Blood Demon Art? ]
Makomo's pupils tightened as she swept her gaze over the paintings densely layered across the dome and walls, then looked toward Hiru, whose demon aura had already begun surging explosively. A chill spread through her whole body.
[ So that's it… I kept wondering before, if these were meant to be appreciated, why would he layer them on top of each other like this? So it was arranged this way to make it easier to destroy them quickly.
Not even a tenth of the paintings were destroyed just now, and the demon in the Corps uniform is already on the verge of losing control. If they're all destroyed... no, I have to think of something. If this keeps going, none of us will have any chance of surviving at all! ]
"Wow~ that was close."
Doma was now standing in the corner of the room, smiling brightly at the stiff, unmoving Hiru.
"You almost got me, Akiwa. But really, it's your fault for scaring me. Otherwise I wouldn't have destroyed so many paintings all at once. You must be feeling awful right about now, hm? Sorry about that~"
But Hiru gave Doma no reply.
He was only gasping for breath, veins standing out across his forehead and cheeks, sweat beading heavily before running down his face. The cross-shaped pupils in his gray eyes had shrunk to their limit, so narrow they looked almost like intersecting carved lines.
Even Hiru himself had never imagined that so many destroyed paintings in a single instant would cause him this much trouble.
When a little of his reason finally returned, Hiru lifted his head, looked at Doma, who had just fully broken down the poison in his body, and bared his teeth in a grin.
"...This really is a headache."
...
After leaving the rest point, Tanjiro and Zenitsu split up, but neither of them slowed down in the slightest. If anything, they were even faster alone than when working with others.
After cutting down another three or four waves of demons, Tanjiro was found by a Kasugai Crow.
"Caw! Kamado swordsman! Please come with me! There's a battle that needs your support!"
"Eh?" Tanjiro looked thoroughly puzzled, but he still nodded quickly. "Yes! Please lead the way! If possible, tell me about the situation there too!"
"Flame Hashira Kyojuro, Water Hashira Sabito, and Giyu are locked in a hard battle against Upper Moon Two! The enemy appears to have a Blood Demon Art that can predict movements! Since the Stone Hashira is fighting another Upper Moon, we cannot approach! We have no choice but to seek your aid, caw!"
"I understand. I need to use the Transparent World to block the enemy's perception and make the kill possible, right?" Tanjiro's expression was grave as well. "I'll do my best! But afterward, please go to the rest area where my younger brother and sister are and pass along a message for me!"
"Yes! It will be delivered for certain! Caw!"