"Huh!?"
Deep within the mountains, inside a temple.
Rui suddenly realised that his bloodline connection with Spider Mother and Spider Sister had been severed.
The emotions that had remained unchanged for so long now rippled slightly.
He sat stiffly in the main seat, his gaze icy.
Suddenly, he stopped weaving the spiderweb with his hands and slowly lowered his head.
"Dead?"
Bang!
The steel-wire-hard spiderweb in his hands exploded, its blade-like fragments scattering in all directions.
Not far away, a bloodstain suddenly appeared on Spider Sister's face.
Though the mark was tiny, the pain was unbearable, and she couldn't help but let out a muffled groan.
Then, sensing Rui's sinister gaze fall upon her, she swallowed hard, decisively shut her mouth, and lowered her head.
However, her pale face, dripping with cold sweat, constantly reminded her that the flesh and blood within her body were being rapidly destroyed by that slender silk thread…
She trembled violently.
The bloodline connection constantly informed her of what was happening outside.
—Mother and Sister are dead!!
Unbelievable.
One must know that they had been Demons for far longer than she had.
They had eaten at least fifty, if not a hundred, humans in their lives; even an average Rank Ot-su Swordsman would find it difficult to slay them…
Why… would they die!?
Is there a Hashira outside?
She lowered her breathing, trying to make no sound, lest she disturb Rui, who was in a furious rage.
Rui valued bonds above all else.
It was fine if he killed his own family…
But if someone else killed them…
"Sister!" A low shout suddenly interrupted her thoughts.
Spider Sister decisively looked up, her instinct under fear making her unconsciously blurt out: "Yes!"
After speaking, she sensed something was amiss.
At this critical moment…
Calling her…
Sure enough, after seeing Sister respond, Rui's first words were:
"Take Father and Brother, and kill them all in the shortest time possible, leave no one alive!"
"…"
Are you serious? Spider Sister was stunned.
Me, fighting a Hashira-level Swordsman…
Is this real or fake?
Even with Father and Brother, it wouldn't be enough. The strength of these two Demons is only slightly stronger than Mother and Sister…
"Rui…" She quickly spoke, trying to avoid a fatal outcome.
However, just as she uttered a single word, Rui mercilessly interrupted her: "No refusal, otherwise, death."
"As family, protecting me is your duty."
Although he was a Demon, Rui valued every emotion, just like a child facing a toy.
It didn't matter if the toy was broken, but it couldn't be broken by anyone other than himself.
The Demon Slayer Corps' actions had already touched Rui's bottom line.
Facing this situation, Spider Sister, left with no choice, could only call upon Father and Brother to act together.
Father was a humanoid giant spider, with little intelligence, bulging muscles, and a formidable aura when he set off.
Brother was a small spider, emitting a foul odour, with a human-like head replacing his spider head.
He liked to hang upside down from trees; although his fighting spirit was not as high as Father's, he also wore a mocking, excited smile on his lips.
In his worldview, humans were a group of weak and pathetic creatures; even a Hashira would die from his poison…
That's what he thought.
The result…
"Boom!"
Brilliant flames illuminated the sky.
He watched helplessly as Father went from being outmatched, transforming, then charging, and finally, turning into ashes…
The brilliant smile on Spider Brother's face suddenly froze at the corners of his mouth.
Then, regaining his senses, a human-like panic instantly replaced his smile.
His eyes darted around, and he quietly retracted the silk thread hanging from the tree, attempting to hide inside the tree…
—Something's wrong, something is very wrong!!
Father's punch could even cause a river to stop flowing.
His three-meter-tall body, with steel-like muscles, not to mention instantly killing a Hashira, at least his strength was difficult even for Rui to resist.
Yet he was instantly killed… Is this a human?!
He quickly lowered his breathing, but even the smallest sound could not escape Yoriichi's keen five senses.
He casually swung out a single strike.
Kucha!
The tree behind him, along with the spider himself, was instantly cut in half.
Looking out, the falling trees almost formed an arc-shaped shockwave.
The bare terrain extended for dozens of meters before finally stopping!
"…"
Standing there in a daze, Spider Sister didn't know how to react to any of this.
She only felt her worldview had suffered a tremendous impact.
Her thoughts fell into a brief stagnation.
If… this is the strength a human should possess.
Then what are Demons!?
Immediately after, she noticed that Tsugikuni Yoriichi's gaze was directed at her.
Her body felt as if it had fallen into an ice cellar; bone-chilling cold instantly permeated her entire being.
Her rapid breathing abruptly ceased at that moment.
However, what responded to her shortly after was not a swift and powerful strike.
But Yoriichi's clear, indifferent voice:
"He is your Father… and that one over there is your Brother. Are you a family?"
"Who is the source of your bloodline?"
"That Lower Rank Demon?"
"Demons… can they also form families?"
The similar appearances and faces of the few Demons appeared one by one before his eyes, and Yoriichi's emotions gradually sank.
An extreme indifference slowly crept into his eyes, along with a long-absent killing intent.
He hadn't been this angry in a long time.
For Demons, these extremely evil creatures, to form a family, was undoubtedly a trampling of moral values!
It was like savage beasts, who ate raw meat and drank blood, learning etiquette from humans—how hypocritical!
He thought of poetry.
Spider Sister was stunned for a moment, somewhat puzzled by Yoriichi's words.
She wanted to escape… but.
"Demon Slayer, were you the one who killed my family?"
An equally extremely cold voice came from above.
Even without looking up, Spider Sister knew it was Rui speaking.
Two invisible killing intents instantly collided.
The air was as cold and stinging as a knife.
Her eyes unfocused, she slowly squatted down and curled up.
The current situation caused her strained nerves to go into a state of shutdown.
Like an ostrich, she tightly buried her head in her arms, trying to ignore her surroundings.
—It's too terrifying!
…
"Source…" Tsugikuni Yoriichi stared intently at Rui's appearance; in his sight, the aura of that Demon almost shot straight into the sky.
Without needing to think, he knew that this Demon was the source of all the spider Demons here.
He possessed the same ability as Kibutsuji Muzan.
Combining the information previously obtained from the Demon Slayer Corps, the words "Lower Rank Five" were inscribed in his eyes.
Presumably, he was Rui, as described by Spider Sister.
"Very good!" Yoriichi nodded.
"Tell me!"
"Where is Kibutsuji Muzan!"
This sentence almost interrupted all of Rui's thoughts.
Muzan-sama?
The clouds dimmed the moonlight; as the clouds rolled, the moonlight gradually brightened.
A gentle breeze blew, and Rui, standing on a silk thread, gazed down at Tsugikuni Yoriichi.
When a ray of moonlight shone on Yoriichi's face.
In Rui's eyes, the pupils inscribed with "Lower Rank Five" began to tremble violently, like an earthquake, like an epileptic seizure!