The appearance of that voice drew everyone's attention on the scene. "These local demons are truly impolite, always trying to snatch people's sisters. Did they ask me first?" (Tanjiro: ?)
Fang Hao traveled very quickly. Eager to save someone, he didn't care about conserving his stamina and rushed in the direction he had chased Inosuke earlier.
Upon arriving at the scene and seeing that Tanjiro was only slightly injured, Fang Hao felt relieved. He had long considered this gentle young man a friend.
But when he noticed Nezuko hanging there and the white-haired young man demanding Nezuko to be his sister, Fang Hao couldn't tolerate it anymore.
What standing do you have to even think that?
Tanjiro being injured is fine.
Nezuko being tied up is not!
Want to be Nezuko's brother? You are courting death!
In the original story, Rui was a pitiful person.
When he was human, he was sickly, even walking was a problem. Born with a weak body, he had never run, and even walking was painful for him.
One day, Rui heard a story about a father who died saving his son from drowning in a river, considering it a beautiful bond, and felt that this father who died in the river had fulfilled his "father's duty."
This story also shaped Rui's worldview. He believed fathers should protect their children, mothers should cherish their families, and older siblings should care for younger ones. But besides that, his life remained as calm as ever. Until…
Kibutsuji Muzan's arrival. Kibutsuji Muzan, who had similar experiences to Rui, bestowed his blood upon Rui in the name of sympathy, and Rui indeed had the potential; he became a demon. However, though Rui gained a strong body and was no longer tormented by illness, he also began a life that required him to eat humans.
After Rui killed someone, his parents felt extremely guilty. They believed they could not let Rui continue to harm innocent people. So, his father, with the resolve to kill Rui and then atone with his own death, attempted to go to the underworld with Rui.
But Rui, as a demon, recalled the stories he had heard in the past because his father wanted to kill him, and this contrasted sharply with his father's murderous intent and his mother's protection of his father, leading him to believe that the bond between him and his parents was false.
Ultimately, Rui, consumed by rage, killed his parents. However, his mother, before dying, expressed her guilt towards Rui. Afterward, Rui realized his father's determination to kill him and atone with his death, understanding that he had personally destroyed the true bond among his family.
Just then, Kibutsuji Muzan appeared and encouraged him. Unable to accept reality, Rui gradually lost his memories and sought to restore them by experiencing true family bonds, trying to remember what he truly desired.
Thus, Rui began to build his own "family" on Natagumo Mountain. However, because Rui established bonds through terror, and the demons who gathered were weak, far inferior in strength to him, who had become one of the Twelve Kizuki, this so-called "family" was incredibly false. How could something fake move him?
Ultimately, Rui began to change families on Natagumo Mountain again and again, for decades. As for his family members, they were naturally humans he had turned into demons…
And now, the bond between Tanjiro and Nezuko allowed Rui to see a true bond, and he therefore wanted to take Nezuko, who had shielded her brother from fatal harm.
To this, Fang Hao stated: No.
Fang Hao still had an impression of Rui's past. Fang Hao admitted that Rui was indeed a pitiful person. But if Rui was pitiful, weren't the people he turned into demons and killed also pitiful? Weren't the people he had eaten over the years also pitiful?
So, Fang Hao felt no sympathy for him.
Tanjiro was very happy to see Fang Hao arrive, but listening to Fang Hao's words, he felt that something was amiss.
Fang Hao drew his nichirin blade, its blue-white blade appearing exceptionally cold under the moonlight.
Seeing Fang Hao draw his blade against him, Rui's normally calm eyes showed a hint of mockery. He suddenly raised his hand, and several flashes streaked through the darkness.
Fang Hao sidestepped, his eyes still fixed on Rui, a sharp whoosh of wind passed by his ear, and the large tree beside him snapped and then shattered into pieces from the attack…
"It is rude not to return a favor." Fang Hao also raised his hand, then a large amount of air rushed into his body. Feeling the boiling blood within him, Fang Hao moved.
"Thunder Breathing, Sixth Form: Rumble and Flash." Dozens of slashes were unleashed in that instant. "Boom!" The roar of thunder echoed through the forest, and at the same time, dozens of intertwined lightning bolts roared and hissed like dragons towards Rui.
"What?!" Under this overwhelming momentum, Rui, whether startled or unable to dodge or defend in time, was severed into several pieces by this attack…
"Fang Jun, Fang Jun has gotten so much stronger!" Tanjiro looked at the scene before him with surprise and delight. The demon was dead, and Nezuko was saved.
Fang Hao, however, showed no joy. He glanced at the shattered pieces of Rui's body, then quickly went to the tree where Nezuko was tied. With a "swish, swish" of flashing silver, the cocoon encasing Nezuko split open, and Nezuko fell into Fang Hao's embrace.
This was the reward for saving her. Earning money through work; this statement holds true.
"I am one of the Twelve Kizuki! What are you?!" He was not angry about Fang Hao's previous attack on him. In fact, although Fang Hao's attack had hurt him, he could stitch his body back together with his threads, and with his regenerative abilities, such a minor injury was nothing.
What truly enraged him was that Fang Hao, clearly seeing he wasn't dead, not only didn't follow up with a killing blow but instead released the girl from the cocoon, completely disregarding him. Even Rui was broken by this behavior. I am one of the Twelve Kizuki!
"Blood Demon Art: Thread Rotation!" With intense fury, a massive amount of spider threads instantly erupted from Rui's fingertips, and the sky above Fang Hao and the others was covered by a giant cocoon made of spider threads.
"Thunder Breathing, Seventh Form: Fiery Thunder." Crimson-gold lightning instantly filled the entire space, electric currents danced around Fang Hao, yet cleverly avoided Tanjiro and Nezuko. As soon as the spider webs touched these crimson-gold lightning bolts, they dissipated without any sign of burning or electrocution…
"Here's a new one for you." The sky full of lightning surged forward, transforming Rui's position into a sea of thunder, and Rui vanished under this crimson-gold shroud…
"Let's go. I hope reinforcements have arrived by now." Fang Hao's mood was not high. The mission was completed, but this mountain had already buried too many lives. He only hoped that Zenitsu and those who were poisoned were alright.