DS Chapter 102: The Barrier Has Been Opened!
"Is... is that Big Brother Ren?!"
Kanao and the three little girls immediately rushed forward.
But it wasn't Ren.
Instead, they found a blood-soaked man whose face seemed familiar, though none of them could immediately place him.
"...Brother Murata?"
Naho was the first to recognize him.
She had seen him at the Butterfly Mansion several times before, but covered in blood as he was, she hadn't recognized him at first glance.
Murata weakly gasped,
"Quick... go inside..."
"Ren... Ren is still in there..."
The moment he finished speaking, his body collapsed to the ground with a thud.
"Brother Murata!"
"What's wrong?! Don't die!"
"At least tell us what happened to Mr. Ren before you pass out!"
"No fair! Don't leave us hanging!"
The three girls desperately shook him.
But Murata had already lost consciousness.
---
Kanao stared ahead with a solemn expression.
Other than the strange distortion she had witnessed moments ago...
There was nothing in front of her.
A Blood Demon Art...
She immediately reached that conclusion.
According to Murata, Ren was trapped somewhere inside.
The tear that had briefly appeared in the night sky...
It must have been created by Ren.
And those grotesque fish-headed monsters...
Ordinary demons couldn't possibly possess such bizarre Blood Demon Arts.
That meant—
One of the Twelve Kizuki.
Judging from how long Ren had been missing...
He had likely been fighting for quite some time.
Kanao's delicate brows knitted together.
Ren is in danger.
I have to get him out.
She slowly stepped back.
Her gaze sharpened.
Without hesitation, she swung her Nichirin Blade toward the invisible wall before her.
Hummm—!
The instant her sword struck...
Nothing happened.
Instead...
Ripples spread across empty space like rings on the surface of water.
Kanao clearly felt an immense force blocking her strike.
So it really is a Blood Demon Art.
She immediately entered Total Concentration Breathing.
Her lungs expanded as she unleashed another slash.
This time...
She poured nearly all of her strength into it.
Yet the invisible barrier remained completely intact.
Something wasn't right.
Kanao forced herself to calm down.
She knew Ren.
If he was trapped inside...
He would definitely have left her a clue.
She couldn't waste all her stamina here.
The demons still had to be defeated.
If she exhausted herself now...
Not only would she fail to help Ren—
She would become a burden.
Closing her eyes, she recalled the moment Murata emerged.
Just before he came out...
She had seen a flash of sword light.
Could that have been...
Ren's message?
Yes...
It had to be.
Think, Kanao.
You can do this.
Ren's life depends on it.
---
Meanwhile—
Inside the barrier...
"Dragon Breathing—Third Form: One Thought, One Hundred Flowers Bloom!"
Ren descended from above.
Countless flower petals seemed to whirl around him.
A brilliant flash bloomed at the tip of his blade—
Elegant.
Deadly.
Slash!
Another horrifying wound split across Gyokko's body.
This was already the third time Ren had cut him.
"You damn brat!"
"Why do you keep targeting me?!"
Gyokko roared in fury.
From the very beginning...
Every one of Ren's attacks had been aimed directly at him.
At this point Gyokko had already revealed his true form.
A massive serpentine tail extended behind him.
Two enormous arms burst forth from his body.
From a distance...
He resembled a grotesque human serpent.
Even so...
He still couldn't catch Ren.
Using Dragon Breathing, Fifth Form — Rising Winds, Gathering Clouds, Ren repeatedly disappeared into the thick mist, weaving through it with Butterfly Dance footwork.
His movements were impossible to track.
A moment later...
Ren blurred past Hantengu once again, effortlessly avoiding another desperate lunge.
Finally, Hantengu couldn't hold it in anymore.
"Why... why won't you attack me?"
Ren answered without hesitation.
"Why should I?"
Hantengu froze.
"Because... I'm a demon!"
"Aren't Demon Slayers supposed to cut down demons?"
"No."
Ren widened the distance between them again and firmly shook his head.
"I don't want to cut you."
"...Why?"
"Because I don't want to."
"That's all."
"..."
Hantengu was on the verge of breaking down.
This was the first time in his entire existence that he had actually begged a Demon Slayer to cut off his head.
Normally...
The moment Demon Slayers saw his frail old-man appearance...
They would charge straight at him without hesitation.
Why was this one so different?
Hantengu couldn't understand.
But Ren's thoughts were perfectly clear.
He had watched Demon Slayer.
He knew perfectly well that Hantengu couldn't be killed in this form.
The instant his neck—or any part of his body—was severed...
He would split into four clones:
Sekido. Karaku. Aizetsu. Urogi.
That, in turn, would eventually allow Zohakuten to appear.
Ren wasn't confident he could defeat Zohakuten in his current condition.
So the simplest solution was...
Never let him appear.
That was why Ren completely ignored Hantengu and focused every attack on Gyokko instead, while allowing the trembling old demon to chase him around helplessly.
To Ren...
Hantengu was little more than an old dog trailing behind him.
Unfortunately...
If Ren could figure that out...
So could Gyokko.
As the Upper Moon responsible for gathering intelligence, Gyokko quickly realized what Ren was doing.
His irritation toward Ren had become so overwhelming that he had momentarily forgotten Hantengu actually outranked him.
Finally he snapped.
"Lord Hantengu!"
"If you really can't do anything..."
"Then just snap your own neck!"
"That brat is obviously making a fool of you!"
Hantengu shivered violently.
"I... I can't..."
"B-breaking my own neck..."
"That would hurt..."
Gyokko exploded.
"You can't?!"
"Then what exactly did Lord Muzan send you here for?"
"To be a decorative demon vase?!"
"I'm working myself to death over here while you're standing around doing nothing!"
"You lazy old fool!"
If Hantengu hadn't ranked above him...
Gyokko would have chopped off the old demon's head and turned it into a vase on the spot.
Then he suddenly shouted toward the mist.
"Hey!"
"Demon Slayer!"
Ren's voice echoed back.
"What is it, ugly?"
"..."
Gyokko twitched.
"...Could you please cut our cowardly old man here a couple of times?"
"No."
Ren refused instantly.
Gyokko's face darkened.
"Do you really think trapping us here will solve anything?"
"If I unleash my Blood Demon Art..."
"Everyone outside will die."
Silence.
That was exactly what worried Ren.
He understood Hantengu's abilities and knew how to keep him occupied.
But the people outside didn't.
If this battle dragged on...
He would eventually collapse from exhaustion.
And once Gyokko and Hantengu escaped the barrier...
Everything he wanted to protect could disappear in an instant.
At present...
The Butterfly Mansion had only one Hashira.
Him.
So Ren had to accomplish two impossible tasks simultaneously:
Keep both Upper Moons trapped...
While somehow warning everyone outside about their abilities.
Then—
Hummm!
A sharp sword cry echoed through the battlefield.
Behind Ren...
A crack suddenly appeared in the barrier.
Someone...
Had broken the Blood Demon Art open from the outside.