Hantengu truly felt like he'd had eight lifetimes of rotten luck.
Dealing with the Stone Hashira and those two little brats was already hard enough, and then Uzui came crashing down from the sky.
The four of them working together completely suppressed his original four clones. He could have kept dragging things out, but that damned Sound Hashira insisted on destroying every clone he had. Forced into a corner, he had no choice but to throw out another clone as bait to escape, and only then managed to gather himself into his strongest clone, Zohakuten.
But things only grew worse.
No matter how rampantly the wooden dragons created through his Blood Demon Art lashed out, they could do little against the Stone Hashira's giant flail and Uzui's twin blades. And those two identical little brats, even when they occasionally failed to cut through the dragons, would slip through the gaps like eels, making themselves endlessly irritating.
[ In the end, I'm only stuck in this desperate fight because of Nakime's mistake! Why should I pay for that ugly woman's blunder? It's all her fault, all her fault! All her fault!! ]
Yet no matter how much he raged or how desperately he attacked, the four fighters showed no sign of slowing their assault.
Gyomei, the strongest offensive force among them, took the lead. The twins, using the experience from their previous teamwork, guarded themselves while also intercepting attacks from behind so Gyomei could charge forward without worry.
Uzui pushed his speed to the absolute limit. Using the cover provided by the chained flail, he slashed through Zohakuten's neck again and again.
As the tug-of-war continued, Uzui's attack rhythm grew faster and faster. Even the twins began struggling to keep up, while only Gyomei could still match the pace and keep the pressure on.
Finally, the heavy, savage flail smashed into Zohakuten's head.
Though it regenerated in an instant, all four of them immediately fixed their eyes on his chest.
"So you were hiding there! Finally found you!"
Uzui laughed wildly and sprang forward. He neither dodged nor blocked the branches whipping toward him.
At the same moment, Yuichiro and Muichiro burst from behind Gyomei, rushing forward together and cutting apart the branches from both sides before they could reach Uzui.
Gyomei once again displayed perfect control over his unusual weapon. Gripping the chain in his left hand, he snapped his forearm with explosive force, whipping the flail that had nearly hit the ground back upward. As he reeled it in, it slammed into Zohakuten's left arm and shattered it completely.
With the arm destroyed, Uzui clearly saw the tiny demon curled up inside the chest cavity, no larger than a palm.
He gave it no chance to struggle or pull any tricks.
His twin blades came down in a ruthless arc and cleanly severed its head.
As the demon's body and the surrounding wooden dragons finally began to crumble away, Yuichiro's taut nerves at last relaxed.
"It's finally dead... Muichiro, how's your hand?"
"Feels like I twisted it a little... but it won't affect the fight."
Muichiro rotated his wrist.
"Who was it that told me everything looks cute when it gets smaller? That thing just now was ugly as hell, wasn't it?"
"At least most things are cute when they're small."
Yuichiro took out some ointment and handed it to Muichiro, then turned toward a narrow crack nearby.
"You've been hiding there this whole time. Did something happen to the others?"
As he spoke, a Kasugai Crow cautiously poked its head out from the gap, then flapped over and landed on Muichiro's head before rapidly reporting the situation.
...
At the same time Uzui and the others killed Hantengu, Tanjiro finally reached the battlefield where Kyojuro and the others were fighting.
Without the slightest hesitation, crimson flames flickered up along his blade. His once-black Nichirin Sword turned blazing red in an instant.
Tanjiro drew a deep breath and shouted loudly,
"I'm going to ambush you now! Please be careful!"
[ Is this idiot serious? If you announce it, it's not an ambush anymore, is it? ]
That was the shared thought of Akaza, Kyojuro, and everyone else present.
Akaza, whose Compass Needle let him sense changes in fighting spirit around him, had paid Tanjiro no attention at all.
Just as he was about to continue attacking Kyojuro and the others, an indescribable sense of danger stabbed through his instincts.
He would rather take several slashes from Sabito than risk it, so he desperately ducked.
Even so, a fierce burning pain tore across the back of his head.
Only then did Akaza truly take Tanjiro seriously.
With a swing of his arm, he forced Kyojuro and the others back with the shockwave of his punch, then lightly leaped aside. His face was furious, but his voice remained calm.
"You are... that demon brat from that day. Why have you become human? You were already a powerful demon, weren't you?"
"Yes, it's me."
Tanjiro stood with sword in hand, his dark red eyes locked unblinkingly on Akaza.
"Demons really are powerful! But for me, what I seek is to live together with my family, and to fight as a human! Because I am human, and that will never change!"
"Umu! Well said, Kamado boy!"
Blood still ran from the wound on Kyojuro's forehead, yet he burst into laughter.
"To think I would fight alongside you one day! Is this fate? How exhilarating!"
"Tanjiro, you idiot, if you're going to ambush someone then don't yell it out first! We could've won just now!"
Sabito never took his eyes off Akaza for even a second.
"Do it again, and don't shout this time, got it?"
"Sorry! I can't do that! I still think ambushing someone is wrong!"
Tanjiro bowed apologetically toward Sabito.
"My teacher also told me I don't need to show demons that kind of courtesy, but I think demons were once human too. They deserve the same respect, at least."
Giyu tightened his grip on his sword, pulled his gaze away from Tanjiro, and spat blood from his mouth.
"...You're painfully honest."
"You're mistaken. Demons and humans are completely different."
Everyone turned toward Akaza.
His expression had gradually calmed.
"Tanjiro, humans and demons are entirely different creatures. Demons are naturally powerful. We are superior to humans. What humans spend their whole lives trying to reach, demons can achieve with ease.
You felt it yourself when you were a demon, didn't you?
No matter how badly demons are wounded, they recover. No matter how far beyond the limit, they can move. If they wish, every part of their body can become a weapon.
Humans are not even worthy of comparison with demons. They are lower beings, far inferior to us."
"How could that be?"
Tanjiro's voice was firm.
"Even a demon's strength is built little by little, through eating humans and training, just like humans who constantly hone themselves.
Whether human or demon, everyone has times when they're weak. Everyone needs help to survive. Everyone needs help to grow stronger.
In that, humans and demons are no different."
Tanjiro showed a troubled smile, but there was not the slightest shadow in the eyes he turned toward Akaza.
"And demons may be able to regenerate endlessly and never get sick, but they can never walk in the sunlight, and they're always burdened with the urge to eat humans.
My family are all human. Humans are creatures who rise with the sun and rest when it sets. Creatures who can die from their wounds. They are the ones I want to protect no matter what.
I don't want to wake up one day and realize I've done something I can never undo. That's why I chose to become human again.
Even if that means falling gravely ill one day, or dying from my injuries, I don't mind.
Because everyone has something they would protect with their life. Even you must have something like that.
For me, that is my family."
"...Kamado Tanjiro."
"Yes?"
Tanjiro looked at the bulging veins on Akaza's forehead, momentarily confused.
"Does that mean we can start fighting now?"
"Has anyone ever told you," Akaza said through clenched teeth, "that you are an exceptionally irritating person?
As I thought. Of everyone I've ever met, only you disgust me enough to make me sick."
"Uh... sorry?"
Tanjiro gave an awkward smile.
"Maybe we just had different lives? I've met many kind people. I received so much help that I'm able to stand here now, fighting to protect others. So I naturally end up thinking about other people too.
But just like I completely disagree with your beliefs, you don't have to force yourself to accept mine! We're enemies, after all. I understand that!
And you may not realize it, but you actually like humans more than you think.
You might even like them more than Hiru-san does."
Sabito stared at Akaza, whose teeth were grinding audibly, then finally turned toward Tanjiro with a stunned expression.
"You brat... who taught you to talk like that?"
"My parents, of course."
Tanjiro was still smiling.
"Isn't it said that a person's first teachers are their parents? Though I learned many important things from my teacher too. Ah, and Hiru-san as well. Those two really helped me a lot."
Sabito wanted to ask more, but Akaza had already surged forward.
His target was clear. Tanjiro, who had just arrived as reinforcements.
But the moment he faced Tanjiro, Akaza realized Tanjiro's presence had vanished.
Tanjiro was standing there calmly in plain sight, yet his aura had disappeared completely.
Within those crimson eyes there was no hatred, no anger, no killing intent, no fighting spirit.
And yet it felt as though every move Akaza made had already been seen through.
In an instant, Akaza understood what state Tanjiro had entered.
The supreme realm he had once desperately pursued.
The state Kokushibo once described to him.
The Selfless State.
[ Why can he do this? ]
[ If he were a demon, that would be one thing. But he's only human, so why can he do this? ]
Even while fending off the attacks of four opponents, Akaza kept his eyes locked solely on Tanjiro, never letting him leave his sight for even a moment.
Yet the more he looked at Tanjiro's calm expression, the more it felt as though his organs were being rasped apart by a file.
Even Akaza himself could not understand why he felt such intense fury.
Then, in the middle of the high-speed battle, he saw the four of them suddenly leap back.
Instantly enraged, he roared,
"What are you doing?! Do you think this is enough to end the battle?!"
"But... the battle already ended, didn't it?"
Tanjiro held his sword loosely in one hand, his crimson eyes still tranquil.
"I already cut off your head."
Only then did the burning pain spread from Akaza's neck.
He grabbed his head in shock.
"What whe-"
"Even if you hold it there, it'll be hard to reconnect."
Tanjiro looked at him steadily.
"What I learned from my teacher wasn't only the Mark and the Transparent World. I also learned the Red Blade made to kill demons.
I used that to cut your neck just now.
No matter what you try, we won't let our guard down until you turn to ash.
We will destroy you."
Just as Tanjiro said, even while pressing his head back onto his neck, Akaza could already feel faint crumbling spreading from the wound.
I can't lose.
I absolutely cannot lose.
I can still fight.
Even without my head, I can do it.
[ Please stop. ]
Who...?
[ Please stop, Hakuji-san. ]
No. I have to kill them.
[ Why? ]
I have to become stronger. Anyone who gets in my way dies.
[ But why? Why do you want to become stronger? ]
Because...
Because of what?
[ Please remember, Hakuji-san. Please, remember quickly. Then we can go to the other side together. ]
I...
What did I forget?
Ah...
My lord seemed to say something like that too...
What... did I forget?
Akaza's body stopped moving.
But his head continued slowly turning to ash.
Seeing this, Sabito quickly walked over to Tanjiro's side.
"Is it really fine to leave him like this?"
"He's probably trying to break past the limit of the neck," Tanjiro said, tilting his head slightly.
"But it's fine. Even if he overcomes that limit, we can still kill him as long as we destroy all of the brains and the heart at the same time."
"Umu, are we really just going to stand here and watch?"
Kyojuro walked over while adjusting his breathing.
"It feels like we're the ones being stalled."
"It's better not to attack right now," Tanjiro explained, still watching Akaza closely.
"Hiru-san said that once a demon's head is cut off, the body's obsession reaches its peak.
At that moment, their physical instincts become strongest and hardest to control.
If you rush in carelessly, you might get hit by a barrage of powerful Blood Demon Art attacks."
He continued calmly,
"So to avoid a final counterattack, you should pull back immediately after cutting off the head.
If they break through the limit, then just destroy the brains and heart at the same time and kill them again.
There's no need to risk your arms, legs, or life for an enemy that's already doomed."
"Come to think of it, I was wondering about that earlier..."
Sabito lowered his gaze toward Tanjiro.
"Who exactly is this Hiru-san? The way you talk about him, he sounds like a demon no matter how I hear it."
"Hiru-san is Hiru-san. And Hiru-san really is a demon."
Tanjiro glanced at Akaza's headless body, still standing silently in the field while holding its head in place, then looked back at Sabito with an apologetic expression.
"Sabito-san, I know you're curious right now.
But Hiru-san privately told all of us who know who he is that even if you asked, we must wait until after the final battle before explaining anything.
The only thing I can tell you now is that Hiru-san really did alter your memories."