Natagumo Mountain—
the air was so thick it felt suffocating.
The surrounding trees twisted into grotesque shapes, and layers upon layers of white spiderwebs stretched between the canopies, blotting out the moonlight.
"Disgusting."
Inosuke covered his mouth and nose with his iron fan in open disdain, his wooden sandals crushing an unlucky insect beneath his feet.
"This sense of taste… figures it's that spider-head's doing. No ventilation at all.
Nothing like my place—"
He nearly let it slip and cut himself off in time.
"In-Inosuke-kun…"
Zenitsu huddled between the two of them, his chattering teeth loud and clear.
"This place is seriously wrong!
That smell, that sound…
That's spiders crawling!
Tens of thousands! No—hundreds of millions!"
Tanjiro's expression was grim as well, his grip tightening on his Nichirin Blade.
"The air is full of… grief that's being controlled.
And there's a very powerful demon presence here."
As he spoke, strange footsteps suddenly echoed ahead.
A Demon Slayer in uniform staggered out from the shadows, his movements stiff—like a marionette on strings.
Terror was written all over his face as his body unwillingly raised its blade.
"Run! Run away!
Our comrades are killing each other!
My body… it won't listen to me!"
Whoosh.
Several threads, thin as spider silk, glinted faintly in the moonlight, connecting to the swordsman's limbs.
"This again?"
Inosuke clicked his tongue, looking at the crude threads with pure contempt.
"You were pulling this crap two years ago, and you still haven't improved.
These lousy strings—I wouldn't even use them to sew my pants. They'd chafe."
The controlled swordsman lunged forward, blade aimed straight at Tanjiro.
"Danger!!!"
Tanjiro moved to block.
"Out of the way. You're blocking traffic."
Inosuke vanished in an instant.
His iron fan snapped upward, slicing with surgical precision through the threads.
Total Concentration · Ice Breathing · First Form — Windmill Fan!
His ice-spirit constitution surged through the fan, and extreme cold raced along the spider silk.
What had once been tough and resilient instantly turned brittle—like frozen glass.
"Shatter."
Inosuke tapped lightly.
Crack! Crack!
The threads binding the swordsman exploded into icy shards.
"Too weak."
He closed his fan and lifted his gaze toward the depths of the forest.
"Hey, spider-head."
Grinning provocatively at the empty treetops, Inosuke's smile was full of mockery.
"Forgot what I can do already?
Sending this kind of trash to welcome an old friend—aren't you being a bit stingy?"
Deep within the forest, high in the air.
Rui stood atop several nearly invisible threads, his pale, childlike face twisted with fury.
"So it really is you…"
His eyes burned as they locked onto the two Nichirin blades at Inosuke's waist—wrapped thickly with his own spider silk.
That was his humiliation.
Two years ago, he'd tried to deal with this human.
Instead, he'd been slapped around—and extorted for silk.
It became a psychological scar he could never erase, even among the Twelve Kizuki.
"This time, you won't escape."
Rui twitched a finger.
"Father. Go kill him.
That rude little brat—and his companions. Leave none alive."
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The ground shook.
A gigantic monster over three meters tall, with a spider's face, smashed through the trees and charged forward, roaring.
Its rock-like muscles radiated crushing pressure.
"Waaaaah! It's here! A huge monster!
What kind of body is that?!"
Zenitsu screamed and scrambled up a tree.
Tanjiro's face tightened.
"Inosuke-kun! Be careful! This demon's scent is incredibly strong!"
"Strong?"
Inosuke looked at the hideous brute, disdain deepening in his eyes.
"This thing that only knows how to roar and flail… deserves to be called 'Father'?"
He thought of his own idiot father—Doma.
Sure, the man was an idiot, but when it came to theatrics and god-playing, he left Rui in the dust.
This so-called family Rui created wasn't even as entertaining as a New Year's gala.
"Hideous."
Inosuke shook his head.
"This kind of kiddie play-acting… it's painful to watch."
At that moment, the familiar mechanical voice rang crisply in his mind.
[Ding! Detecting that the host is facing a false family construct.]
[Story Quest Triggered: What Defines a True Noble Lineage.]
[Objective: Crush this low-grade family game with absolute dominance.]
[Reward Granted: Temporary Activation Permission for Muzan's Blood.]
[Reward Name: 90-Second 'Real Man' Experience Card.]
[Effect: Force-purifies and activates the Demon King's blood within the host.
Combines with the prototype of the Hinokami Kagura learned by the host to unlock a special demonized state.]
[Note: This form fuses the traits of Ice and Sun, creating an extremely rare Eclipse Demonization.
Appearance will automatically optimize into a divine form.]
[Side Effect: Extreme hunger after deactivation.]
"An eclipse…?"
Inosuke's heart stirred.
On the road to Mount Sagiri, he'd once forced Tanjiro to teach him the dance known as the Hinokami Kagura.
At the time, he'd only wanted the breathing method—never imagining how it would affect demonization.
An icy body, Sun breathing, and the Demon King's blood—
what kind of monster would that create?
"Ninety seconds… more than enough."
Inosuke's grin twisted wildly, sharp little fangs flashing.
"Tanjiro. Take the blond and fall back."
He slowly undid the fastenings at his collar, casually sticking his iron fans into his belt.
"Inosuke-kun?"
Tanjiro froze.
"What are you doing?! That monster's charging!"
"Fall back!"
Inosuke barked, then drew in a deep breath.
His eyes snapped shut—then opened again.
In that instant, the emerald green of his pupils was drowned in a dazzling, eerie seven-colored glow.
Deep within that prismatic light, a scorching crimson flickered.
Demonization — Activate!
BOOOOM!!!
A terrifying aura erupted outward from Inosuke's body.
The spider "father's" massive fist froze in place—
less than an inch from Inosuke's nose.
Not because it wanted to stop—
but because every instinct in its body was screaming:
One more inch, and you will melt.
Amid the storm of frost, Inosuke's form transformed.
The blue-black tips of his hair rapidly faded, turning into pure, moonlit silver.
At the ends, faint crimson flames danced—like the first sunrise over snowy peaks.
His skin became crystalline and translucent.
On his forehead, two bewitching ice-lotus markings slowly emerged.
Yet most unsettling of all—
along the edges of those ice lotuses flowed a dark red glow, like a scarlet Nichirin blade.
Extreme cold and extreme heat coexisted perfectly within him.
He was devastatingly beautiful—
like a blazing sun sealed within ice.
"T-that scent?!"
Tanjiro's pupils shrank as every hair on his body stood on end.
He smelled it.
Muzan's nauseating, bloody stench—
mixed with something he knew all too well…
Hinokami Kagura?!
"Hey. Big guy."
Inosuke slowly lifted his eyelids, those glassy, seven-colored eyes gazing coldly at the spider father.
His voice had changed—
ethereal and magnetic, yet carrying scorching pressure.
"Who do you think you're fighting?"
[Countdown: 01:20]
Inosuke raised one hand casually and tapped the air.
He channeled Sun Breathing into condensed ice crystals.
Blood Demon Art · Eclipse · Crimson Lotus of Frozen Sun!
Pshk! Pshk! Pshk!
Countless enormous, crystal-clear ice lotuses erupted without warning—from inside the spider father's body.
But these lotuses weren't purely white.
At their cores burned deep crimson flames—solar power compressed to the extreme.
"ROAAARGH!!!"
The spider father screamed in agony.
The moment the lotuses pierced its body, they brought not only absolute freezing—
but also searing pain, like being scorched by the sun itself.
Under the dual torment of freezing and burning, its body rapidly collapsed.
Ash encased in ice.
Ice sparkling within ash.
"What…?!"
Rui's eyes went wide with horror.
"That power… what is it?!
Why are my threads afraid?
Why does that ice… feel like the sun?!"
A one-sided slaughter. Absolute annihilation.
[Countdown: 01:05]
Inosuke gracefully withdrew his hand, watching a wisp of red steam fade from his fingertips.
"So that's how it works…"
He felt the ferocious yet perfectly balanced power coursing through him.
Muzan's blood provided raw physical strength.
His ice-spirit body served as the vessel.
And that clumsy imitation of Sun Breathing…
…was the ignition.
Even if he could only maintain it for dozens of seconds, the potential was limitless.
He turned and looked up at Rui, frozen stiff in midair.
Silver hair gleamed under the moonlight.
"Hey, spider-head."
Inosuke smiled at him.
"This is real power."
He pointed at his flawless face, voice dripping with mockery.
"Sending your 'father' to die for you and calling that family?"
"If my dad saw your broke-ass setup, he'd laugh himself to death."
Rui's body began to tremble uncontrollably.
[Countdown: 00:50]
"Next—your turn!"
Inosuke kicked off the ground, transforming into a silver-and-crimson streak of light as he shot toward the treetops.
"Hand over all that sturdier wire of yours—
every last bit of it!"
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