The mountain road leading to the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters was deathly silent.
Only the distant, muffled thunder-like booms coming from the direction of the Paradise Cult reminded those here that, in a place they could not see, a battle between gods and demons was still raging.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Shinobu Kocho walked at the front, her steps slightly unsteady.
She gripped the sheath of her Nichirin sword tightly.
Even though she was a Hashira.
Even though she knew she had to stay calm right now.
Behind her, Kotoha and Nezuko followed closely.
The mother's face was pale as paper. She didn't speak, only turning her head from time to time to look back toward the sky lit red by flames.
She was trembling.
That instinctive bond between mother and child sent waves of dread crashing through her heart.
"Miss Shinobu…"
Kotoha's voice was so light it felt like a bubble that might shatter at any touch.
"Inosuke… will he… come back?"
Shinobu stopped.
She turned around and looked at the gentle woman whose eyes were filled with fear and hope.
She wanted to say yes.
She wanted to say that idiot was tough as nails, that he wouldn't die so easily.
But when the words reached her lips, they dissolved into a bitter silence.
Just then—
A sudden icy wind swept through the forest without warning.
The temperature plummeted. Frost instantly formed on the roadside grass.
Shinobu's pupils shrank sharply to pinpoints.
This presence…
She would never forget it in her entire life.
It was carved into her bones, the nightmare that woke her from sleep night after night.
"Over there!!!"
Shinobu drew her blade. The purple edge traced a chilling arc under the moonlight, pointing straight at the shadows ahead.
Whoosh!
A white figure appeared out of thin air like a specter.
He was covered in blood.
That face which always wore a smile was now filled with unprecedented dishevelment.
Upper Rank Two — Doma.
He appeared like this—
Right in front of Kotoha.
In front of Nezuko.
In front of Shinobu Kocho, who hated him to the depths of her soul.
Time seemed to freeze.
Shinobu stared at the demon who had murdered her sister.
Her eyes were a storm of emotions.
Anger? Yes. A fury so intense it nearly burned through her reason.
Grief? Yes. Seeing that face brought her sister's dying image back in vivid detail.
Disgust? Yes. Even his breathing made her sick.
But—
When her gaze dropped, landing on the boy in Doma's arms—
The blood-soaked boy who lay completely motionless—
All of those emotions collapsed into a sharp, involuntary gasp.
"Inosuke…?"
Doma staggered.
Thud.
The lofty Upper Rank Two.
The demon who once treated human lives like weeds.
Right there on the mountain road, beneath Shinobu's cold blade—
He dropped to his knees.
Carefully, with movements gentler than anyone could imagine, he laid Inosuke on the ground, as though setting down a fragile porcelain doll.
He lifted his head.
Those seven-colored eyes were filled with real tears.
"Please…"
Doma's voice was broken.
"Save him.
Save my son…"
Shinobu's grip on her sword trembled violently.
The tip of her blade was less than an inch from Doma's throat.
All she had to do was thrust forward.
She could kill him.
She could avenge her sister.
"You…"
Shinobu clenched her teeth, her voice steeped in bone-deep hatred.
"Do you even know who you're begging?"
"I know."
Doma didn't dodge. He met her eyes directly.
No excuses.
No lies.
Only despair.
"You are the Insect Hashira…
You are the younger sister of the woman I killed…"
Doma lowered his head and slammed his forehead heavily against the frozen ground.
"The pain of losing someone you love…
It hurts so much.
You can kill me.
You can cut off my head, torture me—I'll accept it all.
But…"
Doma suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with the desperate pleading of a dying beast.
"Please save him first.
Please… save him."
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