"What is that…?"
Rumble!
An endless roar filled his ears.
Tanjirou had just reached the mountainside when he suddenly saw a mountain collapse.
The mountain split in the middle, and countless rocks rolled down from both sides, like a mudslide, covering all the swamps below the mountain.
The ground trembled faintly, and the trees swayed, rustling.
Seeing this…
Tanjirou's words caught in his throat.
Behind him.
Inosuke Hashibira shouted, "Ahhh! The Mountain God is angry!"
"Forehead Taro! Quickly think of something!"
Something?
Tanjirou slowly turned around.
His ruby-like eyes quietly looked at Inosuke Hashibira, and a huge question mark slowly appeared above his head.
Seemingly aware that his words were a bit whimsical, Inosuke Hashibira took a deep breath, deciding to challenge the Mountain God alone.
He fiercely drew the Nichirin blade from his waist.
Clang!
The moonlight spilt onto the earth, covering the entire mountain forest with a silver veil.
Although the twin blades were severely worn, they still emitted a sharp light.
Where the blade pointed, he was full of momentum.
Thump!
His whole body's muscles tensed, his feet gripped the ground tightly, and a clear white steam rushed out along his wild boar headgear:
"Ahhhh! Watch my Boar Rush!"
With that said.
He rushed over without hesitation.
Tanjirou saw this.
Bang!
Stepping forward, one hand pressed on his shoulder, stopping him.
"Inosuke, don't be reckless!"
"That's a cliff!"
At this moment, he didn't care about Inosuke's incorrect address for him. If his carelessness caused Inosuke to fall off the cliff and die…
He would probably regret it for the rest of his life.
Just at this moment.
Azuma Zenitsu rushed up.
His face was filled with terror and tears, his pale expression as if he were dead, yet his body still charged forward without hesitation.
He also shouted, "Ahhhh! Tanjirou, give me back my Nezuko !"
"…"
The madness of the two at the moment left Tanjirou slightly speechless.
The scent in the air suddenly changed slightly.
He furrowed his brow and sniffed lightly…
"Hmm?!"
His bright eyes, following his intuition, suddenly looked in one direction.
There…
About two seconds ago.
The scent of a demon suddenly disappeared.
Not just one demon.
But all the demons in this place, at the same time, their scent completely vanished.
Like a basin of water extinguishing a fire.
Only a faint afterglow remained.
…
While pondering.
On the mountain.
Yoriichi slowly sheathed his blade.
Reflected in his vision was the scene of Rui, not very reconciled, and somewhat fearful.
He didn't quite understand why these two expressions would appear on a demon's face at the same time…
He asked for Muzan's location.
It didn't answer either…
Its loyal performance truly tired Yoriichi.
But…
Yoriichi believed.
Muzan couldn't escape.
Because his current self was completely different from the past; the experiences of two worlds had transformed him.
"Lower Rank…"
"Very good."
"You'll always show your true colours."
"I'll wait for you."
With Zanpakuto in hand, Yoriichi looked at the Spider Sister, who was curled up not far away, her body also collapsing as Rui collapsed.
His brows furrowed slightly.
His mood lightened with the disappearance of the source demon.
He walked forward.
His voice was calm:
"You probably haven't eaten humans, have you?"
There was no stench of a demon having eaten humans in her scent.
Her aura was almost identical to Nezuko's.
Although it was possible.
This change was due to the short time since she became a demon.
But the fact was so, undeniable.
Spider Sister slowly raised her head.
In her eyes, she looked at Yoriichi.
Tears were almost welling up.
She had done nothing; she was captured by Rui five days ago and forcibly turned into a demon.
Until now, she hadn't adapted to this change, and suddenly she was going to die…
The feeling it gave her was no different from suddenly getting a terminal illness during a warm moment.
Yoriichi didn't speak.
His blade pointed at her.
He chanted, "Bury him, Karmic Fire!"
Boom!
Third-grade spiritual pressure instantly erupted, and a crimson chain instantly pierced through the Spider Sister's body. There seemed to be a flash of fire before his eyes.
Above the void, a gate slowly appeared.
—Hell Gate.
The skeletons on both sides were as grotesque as ever, however, at a glance, their colour was very dim, appearing and disappearing, as if they could vanish at any moment.
Finally.
As expected.
Ripples appeared in the air, as if disturbed by something, and the Hell Gate slowly disappeared.
In its place.
It was an ancient wooden door surrounded by blooming blue spider lilies.
The wooden door slowly opened, revealing an endless white light.
Yoriichi raised his blade, and Spider Sister stood up, walking towards it.
The chain on her chest was still attached to the Zanpakuto.
As she pushed open the gate.
Yoriichi saw her, and everything he saw.
Before him was a river.
A bridge spanned both banks of the river.
Countless figures lived on the opposite bank of the river, seemingly shouting something towards his side.
Every moment, some figures disappeared and then reappeared.
The Rui he had just slain was not here, but he saw several others—the Demon Slayer swordsmen who had died from Spider Mother's sneak attack.
They were now crossing the bridge, their gazes puzzled, yet they still moved forward by instinct.
On the other side of the bridge stood several people.
They looked somewhat similar to them.
With just one glance.
Yoriichi knew.
Those were their deceased relatives.
Without hesitation.
The chain passed through Spider Sister's chest, instantly splitting into five in mid-air, binding all five of them.
Before they could react.
Yoriichi tightened his grip on the Zanpakuto and gently pulled backwards.
Clatter!
Amidst the clanging of chains.
All five of them flew backwards, along with Spider Sister, directly passing through the wooden door and returning to the Human World.
And at the same time.
The wooden door closed with a bang.
The light disappeared, somewhat muffled.
Yoriichi seemed to hear dissatisfaction.
But he didn't care.
His spiritual pressure decreased by a few points.
He lowered his brows and looked at his body.
He swept his gaze to the Spider Sister not far away, whose ashes had gradually stopped forming, and whose body was regenerating strangely and returning to human form.
His eyebrow slightly raised.
Indeed…
Although this world had no hell, there still existed another place similar to hell.
The people there were not reincarnated, or rather, they were reincarnated after a very long time.
In other words…
If he could go deeper.
Perhaps he could truly find his wife and child…
Of course, the child might not exist since it was not born.
But it was also a glimmer of hope.
His breathing became heavy.
…
Infinite Castle.
Feeling Rui's disappearance, Muzan decided to kill rather than let go.
Whether that guy was Tsugikuni Yoriichi or not, he had to send someone to investigate.
It's decided…
Kokushibou!