The demon's laughter echoed across the steel bones of the Mugen Train. Flesh writhed along the walls, pulsing with malicious life. Enmu, Lower Rank One, had fused himself into the very framework of the locomotive—transforming the train into a grotesque, living monster.
"Ahh, your expressions—so precious!" Enmu's voice rattled through the air. "Terror, panic, despair... humans are so beautiful when they suffer."
Tharion watched from above, unmoving, hidden by divine veil. His eyes remained on the battlefield, analyzing every detail. This was not his moment—not yet. The trial had to unfold.
Tanjiro dashed through the corridor, blade in hand, rage burning in his chest.
"I'll never forgive you."
He and Inosuke had split off, tearing through the writhing walls of meat and eyes. Veins pulsed like arteries of madness. Every slash felt endless—Enmu's regenerative power stretched across all eight carriages. Yet Tanjiro didn't stop. His breathing was sharp, controlled—Total Concentration.
"Inosuke!" Tanjiro shouted. "We need to find the demon's neck!"
"He's the whole TRAIN!" Inosuke yelled back, his boar-mask glinting under the dim lights. "We're fighting a FREAKY CARNIVORE CENTIPEDE!!!"
Despite the panic, they fought with synergy—Tanjiro's Water Breathing slicing through demon flesh while Inosuke's Beast Breathing tore into the core-like joints. But there was no neck. No heart. Just pulsing flesh and endless growth.
Tanjiro narrowed his eyes. No… there's a weak point somewhere. There has to be!
Screams erupted as tentacle-like tendrils of Enmu's flesh erupted from the walls. Passengers cowered, and Nezuko stood her ground atop the seats, protecting them with fierce snarls.
Suddenly—SNAP—a mass of tentacles lunged for her.
From the opposite carriage, a blaze erupted.
"FLAME BREATHING, FIRST FORM: UNKNOWING FIRE!"
Rengoku burst into the car, his sword a burning arc of justice, cleaving through the tentacles before they could touch Nezuko. His blade danced in flames, severing the appendages with explosive precision.
Behind him, Zenitsu, still trembling, moved faster than thought.
"THUNDERCLAP AND FLASH!"
Sixfold.
He carved lightning into the air, eliminating the rest of the tendrils and rescuing the terrified passengers.
Rengoku turned to Nezuko and gave her a smile full of fire and respect. "You protected them well."
Nezuko chirped happily before hurrying to Tanjiro's side.
Zenitsu collapsed onto the floor, whispering, "Nezuko-chaaaan…"
Tharion, watching from above, allowed a small breath to leave his lips. So far, fate remains intact.
Tanjiro and Inosuke crashed through the final car, reaching the engine. It was a grotesque cathedral of meat and bone, with Enmu's face grinning wide on the floor like a malformed altar.
"So… you found me," the demon hissed. "But you're too late."
The tracks ahead began to shift and crack as Enmu's full mass surged, accelerating the train to deadly speed.
Tanjiro's body swayed. Pain wracked his shoulder from earlier slashes, and the poison from the dream spell still lingered in his system.
But his spirit burned brighter.
He lunged. "FLAME BREATHING – FIRST FORM!"
Time slowed. His sword glowed—embers trailing behind his slash. Not Water. Not inherited memory.
Flames.
The memory of his father's dance—the Hinokami Kagura—flared to life within him. With each breath, it took shape. With each movement, it defied limits.
"Hinokami Kagura: Flame Dance!"
He plunged the flaming sword into Enmu's exposed spine-like core hidden beneath the engine's steel shell. Inosuke, leaping in from above, added his own savage slashes.
"BEAST BREATHING – FANG THREE: DEVOURING RUSH!"
Together, they struck true.
The train screamed.
The entire structure buckled as Enmu's body convulsed and shattered. Flesh peeled away, eyes melted, and the carriages rocked violently.
Tanjiro's sword glowed white-hot as the core ruptured.
With a final, desperate cry, Enmu's body detonated in a grotesque implosion, and the Mugen Train derailed with a titanic roar.
Metal screamed as carriages flipped and crashed into the earth. Flames and steam burst into the sky.
And silence fell.
Tharion landed softly atop a fallen carriage, his cloak fluttering behind him. His blade remained sheathed, untouched.
He looked out across the battlefield.
The others were alive—battered, but alive.
But in the distance… he could already feel it.
A presence. Cold. Ferocious. Pure malice clothed in power.
Upper Rank Three… Akaza was coming.
And Rengoku's true battle was about to begin.
Tharion's eyes hardened.
The real trial was just beginning.