Tanjiro's body trembled as he suddenly dropped to his knees, his forehead pressing into the snowy ground.
"Please, I beg you, don't kill Nezuko."
"I've already lost everything I could lose. My family… my older brother left without a word, my mother, my younger siblings… all died at the hands of demons."
"Now, all I have left is Nezuko. Please don't take her away from me, too. I can't lose anything else. Nezuko is everything to me…"
Seeing Tanjiro kneeling on the ground, trembling all over, and crying, Giyu Tomioka's calm expression slowly darkened and turned fierce.
"Why are you kneeling? Why are you begging?"
"Don't wag your tail and grovel like some weakling."
"Why did you protect your sister in your arms earlier? What you should've done was pick up your axe and swing it at me, not gamble on a stranger's mercy."
"Just now, I could've killed both you and your sister."
"You want to turn your sister back into a human? Think a demon will help you? You think begging a demon will make them hand over the answer?"
"No. A demon will never help you. And neither will I."
With that, Giyu Tomioka ignored the confused and pained look in Tanjiro's eyes and stabbed his Nichirin Blade into Nezuko's chest. Nezuko let out a cry of pain and struggled, but she couldn't break free.
With a sigh in his heart, Giyu saw in Tanjiro the weak version of himself from the past.
Back then, it was Sabito, like an older brother, who always protected him from behind.
But because of his own weakness, incompetence, and cowardice…
To protect him and everyone else, Sabito died at the hands of a demon...
Don't cry. Don't despair. That's not what you should be doing right now.
Your family is gone. Your brother might've become a demon and escaped. Your sister has turned into a demon. You must be in pain.
I understand all of that.
If I'd arrived one day earlier, maybe your family could've been saved. Maybe you wouldn't be suffering like this now.
But what's already happened can't be changed. Time can't be reversed.
What you need now is to become strong. You need to make yourself strong, not sit there begging for someone's pity.
Get angry. Let your rage become your strength. Move. Change your weakness. Attack me in your own way.
Show me how far you can go.
Giyu's expression turned grim. The Nichirin Blade in his hand was about to strike down again.
His exterior was as cold as a thousand-year iceberg, but inside, he was gentle as water...
Seeing Nezuko's painful struggle and realizing that pleading was useless, Tanjiro suddenly shot up.
He picked up a rock and threw it hard at Giyu.
Giyu didn't strike Nezuko again. Instead, he knocked the rock away with the hilt of his blade.
By then, Tanjiro had already grabbed the nearby axe and rushed into the shadows of a large tree.
He circled around the thick trunk embedded in the mountain and approached Giyu from behind.
Then, swinging the axe, he charged straight at Giyu.
Seeing this, Giyu was filled with disappointment. He shouted,
"Foolish! Do you think acting on emotion can defeat your enemies?"
"You can be angry, but you still need to think rationally!"
He was furious. Acting on emotion wouldn't defeat demons.
Tanjiro threw another rock.
As Giyu blocked it, Tanjiro charged forward.
Giyu's expression darkened. He raised his Nichirin Blade.
As Tanjiro leaned forward to strike with the axe, Giyu slammed the hilt of his sword hard into Tanjiro's back, knocking him flat to the ground.
The force of the blow drove Tanjiro face-first into the snow.
His body had long since been exhausted, his heart tormented and shaken.
Now, he blacked out completely.
"Huh? Where's the axe?"
Something felt off.
Giyu didn't see the axe in Tanjiro's hands.
His heart tensed, and he tilted his head slightly.
An axe came hurtling from above, slamming into the tree right beside Giyu's head, shaking down snow.
In an instant, Giyu understood everything.
When Tanjiro entered the shadow of the tree, he tossed the axe into the air toward Giyu, throwing the rock as a distraction.
Then he deliberately posed as if he were swinging the axe.
His stance had hidden his hands, tricking Giyu into thinking he still held the weapon.
"Was he planning to get knocked down so the axe could hit me, giving his sister a chance to escape?"
"Good. Very good."
That move from Tanjiro was exactly what Giyu had hoped to see.
Bravery isn't recklessness. True courage requires strategy.
At that moment, Nezuko, held down by Giyu, saw Tanjiro fall unconscious.
Her eyes blazed with fury.
Her body suddenly grew larger. Her strength surged.
Caught off guard, Giyu lost his grip on her.
She broke free and kicked straight at him.
Giyu blocked with the flat of his blade, but the force of the kick sent him flying back several meters.
"Shit. That kid's in danger."
After kicking Giyu away, Nezuko immediately reached out with her clawed hands toward Tanjiro.
Giyu took a step forward to stop her.
But then, he froze.
Nezuko didn't move any further.
She stood in front of Tanjiro, her sharp claws gleaming, and let out a low growl, threatening Giyu.
"A demon... is protecting a human?"
Giyu had seen many cases of family members turning into demons.
He'd seen people beg him, just like Tanjiro now, not to hurt their loved ones.
He'd given in before, only to see those people devoured by the very demons they begged to save...
Hungry demons don't care if you're family. They devour any human around them. Anyone.
The girl in front of him had been stabbed by him. She'd used her strength to heal.
Demonification drains energy. She must be starving.
But even so, she endured the hunger.
She stood firm in front of her brother, determined to protect him, to keep him from harm—even if it meant fighting herself.
This was the first time Giyu had seen anything like it.
Could a demon really retain its sanity in the face of hunger and bloodlust?
Nezuko's face was twisted and feral.
She bared her fangs and lunged at Giyu.
But Giyu didn't draw his Nichirin Blade.
Instead, he delivered a clean karate chop to Nezuko's neck and knocked her out.
Once she was unconscious, he tied a green bamboo gag in her mouth to prevent her from attacking.
After a while, Tanjiro slowly woke up.
He saw Nezuko still breathing beside him and finally let out a breath of relief.
At that moment, Giyu leaned against a tree and spoke to Tanjiro.
"You want me to spare your sister?"
Tanjiro froze, then struggled to sit up and exclaimed with joy, "Yes! Nezuko would never, ever eat people. Please, let her live!"
Giyu stepped away from the tree and slowly approached Tanjiro.
Looking down at him seriously, he said,
"Then I need your promise. If your sister ever loses control and becomes a man-eating demon, you must kill her with your own hands, then take your own life to atone."
Tanjiro fell silent.
Then, with firm resolve, he promised,
"If the day comes that Nezuko eats someone, I'll kill her with my own hands and offer my life to atone for the person she killed."
"Nezuko has always been kind. She'd never want to hurt others. She'd never want to become a man-eating demon…"
Hearing the answer he wanted, Giyu said softly,
"Your sister... she protected you just now."
"If you want to turn her back into a human, if you want the strength to fight demons…"
"Go to the foot of Mount Sagiri. Find a man named Sakonji Urokodaki. Ask to become his disciple."
"Tell him Giyu Tomioka sent you. He'll take you in and teach you how to slay demons."
"Oh, and don't let your sister be exposed to sunlight. Demons die when they touch it. Take her now while the sun hasn't risen yet."
After that brief conversation, Tanjiro carried Nezuko on his back and set off toward Mount Sagiri.
He also stepped onto the path of becoming stronger, the path of slaying demons…
At that moment, Tanjiro finally understood Giyu Tomioka's hidden kindness.
And he couldn't help but feel grateful.
(End of Chapter)
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