Huff, huff, huff...
Tanjiro's chest heaved violently as he knelt on the ground, gasping for air in large gulps.
At this moment, he felt as if his lungs had become bottomless pits, desperately inhaling air.
His head was fuzzy and the scene before his eyes was very blurry.
All his strength was used for breathing and he didn't even have the energy to move a finger.
Besides the piercing ringing in his ears, he could faintly hear some muffled cursing.
"Damn it! You bastards! Do you know what you've done? You actually cut off my head! Without me, what will happen to those beautiful, exquisite vase? What about that perfect art? No!!"
As expected of an Upper Rank, they were not ordinary demons.
Even with its head cut off and dying, the head could still roar and shout vigorously.
Hiss~
A tiny sound like steam evaporating came from Shinichi's body.
On his bare upper body, the lava-like flowing patterns were slowly fading away.
The fangs in his mouth and the sharp claws on his fingertips were also gradually returning to normal.
His fierce expression softened, and his crimson right eye returned to its normal peach color.
Looking at Gyokko's head still shouting frantically, and then at Tanjiro kneeling on the ground gasping for breath, Shinichi gripped his Nichirin sword tightly and walked step by step to Gyokko's head.
"Ah! It's you! Damn traitor! You're clearly a demon too! Why betray Muzan-sama? Traitor! You should go to... Ugh!!"
Gyokko soon couldn't speak anymore, because Shinichi's Nichirin Sword swiftly cut off the tongues in the two mouths at its eyes.
Near death, Gyokko no longer had the ability to regenerate its body and could only glare at Shinichi with its two fierce eyeballs.
"Chachamaru," Shinichi crouched down and called softly.
Soon, a small cat wearing Yushiro's Blood Demon Art talisman around its neck appeared out of thin air in front of Shinichi.
Taking a test tube from the small bag on Chachamaru's back, he roughly shoved it against the cut on Gyokko's head, collecting a tube of fresh blood from Upper Rank Five.
Then, under Gyokko's extremely resentful and unwilling gaze, he raised his foot.
BANG!!
The scene was extremely bloody.
The deerskin boot stomped down hard on Gyokko head, like crushing a watermelon.
With this, Upper Rank Five - Gyokko, was officially declared dead!
Whoosh!
At this moment, Tanjiro couldn't hold on any longer.
As his body swayed unsteadily, he finally rolled his eyes and fainted.
His physical strength had been completely exhausted, and it was remarkable that he had managed to forcefully hold on until now through sheer willpower.
However, before Tanjiro fell to the ground, Nezuko's figure had already rushed to her brother's side like an arrow and caught him in time with her arms.
But Nezuko's strength was also greatly depleted.
Under Shinichi's gaze, Nezuko quickly shrank from the appearance of a graceful young girl to her common adorable child form.
"Forest Breathing: Second Form - Willow of Life."
Shinichi lightly slashed Tanjiro's arm with his Nichirin Sword.
Soon, an ethereal green willow branch extended from the cut.
A large amount of life force slowly poured into Tanjiro's body.
Tanjiro's pale face looked slightly better after that.
Nezuko watched Shinichi's actions the whole time while tilting her head.
She remained unmoved even when Shinichi pulled out his sword and aimed it at Tanjiro.
It wasn't because she doesnt love her brother, but because the current Nezuko could distinguish between enemies and friends.
There was no trace of an enemy's scent on Shinichi; on the contrary, there was a feeling that made Nezuko instinctively trust him.
After dealing with this briefly, in the corner of his eye, Shinichi also saw Lee's figure hanging from a tree.
With Lee's here, it meant that Lady Tamayo's side should be safe as well.
This suddenly erupted and quickly concluded Upper Rank battle could now be declared over.
******
Soon, Shinichi's kasugai crow, Eizo, flew swiftly towards the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters with the results of this inspiring battle.
"Upper Rank! Cough cough! Really an Upper Rank?! that's, that's great, the first Upper Rank slain by the Demon Slayer Corps in hundreds of years has finally appeared. At last, has a new turning point for humanity emerged? Shinichi, well done, cough cough cough!"
Naturally, the first to receive the news was the Demon Slayer Corps Master, Ubuyashiki Kagaya.
As expected, when the Master learned that Shinichi and Tanjiro had slain Upper Rank Five, he was immediately overjoyed.
These days, due to the worsening of the curse, Kagaya's health had been deteriorating.
For example, now, although excited about the Demon Slayer Corps slaying the first Upper Rank demon, the weakness of his body still made Kagaya cough incessantly, even coughing up two mouthfuls of fresh blood.
Immediately, Ubuyashiki Amane hurried over to him.
"Oyakata-sama, are you alright?"
Smiling and holding Ubuyashiki Amane's hand, Kagaya shook his head and said in a rare lighthearted tone.
"It's nothing, Amane. I was just too excited. But this is definitely a good thing worth celebrating. The Demon Slayer Corps' difficult situation of hundreds of years has finally changed.
With the first Upper Rank being slain, there will surely be a second and even a third Upper Rank slain.
One day, Muzan will also be destroyed by us. I believe in my children."
When Kagaya said these words, his expression was full of confidence.
Moreover, he had already made up his mind in his heart.
'Muzan, our generation of demon slayers will definitely destroy you!'
*****
Meanwhile, the news of the Forest Hashira Shinichi Moriki and Tanjiro Kamado slaying Upper Rank Five quickly spread throughout the entire Demon Slayer Corps.
Slaying an Upper Rank was an extremely good news for the members of the Demon Slayer Corps.
And Gyokko, as the first Upper Rank to be slain by the Demon Slayer Corps in several hundred years, was destined to be nailed to the pillar of shame for a hundred or even a thousand years.
The other Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps also received the news one after another.
In the Butterfly Mansion, the insect hashira Shinobu Kocho smiled and stroked the head of the kasugai crow Eizo.
"Shinichi-kun is really amazing. But why did he go to Tokyo? That doesn't seem to be his jurisdiction."
.....
The Stone Hashira Gyomei Himejima and Sound Hashira Tengen Uzui, who were also stationed at headquarters, expressed their happiness for this achievement.
.....
However, Sanemi Shinazugawa who was out on a mission with Kanae, was particularly displeased.
He directly tore up the information paper and said irritably,
"This guy really loves to show off. And those damn Twelve Kizuki, why do they all cluster around that Moriki guy? Why can't I encounter an Upper Rank?!"
.....
The Maple Hashira Yuichiro Tokito and his younger brother Mist Hashira Muichiro Tokito, who looked almost identical but had obviously different styles and personallity, also had completely different reactions.
Yuichiro was very happy for his master, while Muichiro expressed indifference.
.....
The reactions of the other Hashira - Flame Hashira Kyojuro Rengoku, Snake Hashira Obanai Iguro, Water Hashira Giyu Tomioka, Wave Hashira Sabito, and Love Hashira Mitsuri Kanroji- varied, but regardless, from Gyokko's death onwards, the battle between the Demon Slayer Corps and the demons had entered a completely new stage.
Upper Rank was no longer an invincible existense for them.
----------
Shinichi and gyomei vs Kokushibo was about to begin in my patreon.