"Oh?"
Lexon's gaze shifted to Tanjiro's side, and he let out a sound of surprise.
"How did he suddenly evolve?"
Then, a small arc formed at the corner of his mouth.
"This is going to be a tough fight for Tanjiro."
Sheathing his Nichirin Sword, Lexon no longer paid any attention to Susamaru, who was gradually turning to ash in terror. He picked up the burlap sack containing Gyokko and walked towards Lady Tamayo, who was watching the battle.
He had no intention of helping Tanjiro.
Not unless that demon on the other side could power up to an absurd degree.
"He shouldn't lose."
Sensing the demon's aura, Lexon made his estimation.
He still had a great deal of faith in Tanjiro.
If he really couldn't win, at worst he could have Yushiro use his Blood Demon Art to give him a see-through hack.
Or have Nezuko join in for a sibling mixed doubles?
"Mr. Lexon..." Seeing Lexon finish his battle and return, Tamayo's face showed some anxiety. It was clear she had also sensed the change in Yahaba.
"It's fine. He can handle it," Lexon gave her a reassuring look.
"So stupid, being led around by the nose like that," Yushiro muttered, offering his commentary while watching Tanjiro's fight.
At his side, Nezuko could barely contain her desire to go and help her brother.
The situation on the field at this moment was that Tanjiro was being tossed back and forth, up and down, left and right, by dozens of invisible arrows from the now-stronger Yahaba. He could only continuously use his sword techniques to mitigate the impact, struggling to parry, clearly at a disadvantage.
'Looks like he really might not be able to win...'
Just after saying he had faith in Tanjiro, Lexon's own mind was filled with a flicker of doubt.
The fact that the arrows were invisible was a huge disadvantage, and after this demon Yahaba became stronger, his control over the arrows and their quantity had both increased significantly.
"Mr. Lexon, Yushiro's Blood Demon Art can allow Mr. Tanjiro to see the direction of the Blood Demon Art that the demon is releasing..." Tamayo said, her meaning obvious. She wanted Yushiro to use his Blood Demon Art to help Tanjiro.
"Wait," Lexon said, seeing that Tanjiro was gradually adapting to the rhythm of the opponent's attacks in the midst of battle, trying to predict the direction of the arrows. Although it was slow, he was closing in on his opponent step by step, narrowing the distance to the demon.
'Tanjiro is improving.'
'Absorbing, adapting, and thinking in the midst of battle.'
"It should be fine now," Lexon concluded with a small smile as he watched.
Although Tanjiro was still at a disadvantage in his duel with the demon, he had now grasped the rhythm of the fight.
"Water Breathing, Tenth Form: Constant Flux!"
A short while later, as the sound of flowing water rang out, Tanjiro—by dodging, dispelling, or flowing with the arrows—arrived in front of Yahaba and unleashed a stunning slash.
"What?!!" By the time his head was sent flying, Yahaba's face was still a mask of disbelief.
'I had already completely absorbed all the power of the blood Lord Muzan just granted me... why...'
'I still haven't completed Lord Muzan's mission, nor have I killed that other despicable demon hunt—'
His consciousness came to an abrupt end.
The Water Breathing stopped, and Tanjiro sheathed his Nichirin Sword. He let out a sigh of relief and turned to wave happily at his friends who were watching from behind.
Nezuko was the first to run up and throw her arms around her brother.
"Mr. Tanjiro is a powerful demon-slaying swordsman," Tamayo praised, having witnessed the entire battle.
"He still needs to improve," Lexon said flatly, looking at Tanjiro.
In Lexon's eyes, this was indeed the case. Tanjiro's current strength probably wasn't even enough to defeat a single Lower Rank on his own.
"He's already very remarkable," Tamayo said.
Then, she turned to meet Lexon's gaze, a strange, inexplicable meaning in her eyes. "Mr. Lexon, I'm entrusting the matter of defeating Muzan to you."
Lexon's eyes were as calm as ever. "Why would you ask this of me?"
"Because I feel that you are an incredible swordsman, Mr. Lexon," Tamayo lowered her head slightly.
"I will do my best."
Lexon replied calmly.
"Thank you very much, Mr. Lexon."
Lexon ignored the intensely emotional glare from Yushiro and walked towards Tanjiro, carrying the burlap sack.
"Lady Tamayo, why would you make such a request of him!" After Lexon had walked away, Yushiro approached Tamayo and said.
"Because I feel that he is very much like someone..." Watching Lexon's back, Tamayo's eyes became a little hazy, as if recalling the past. "Very much like Mr. Yoriichi Tsugikuni from long ago..."
"Lady Tamayo, his personality is not at all like the man you've told me about before!"
Tamayo shook her head slightly.
'It's not something like personality... but that sense of loneliness as if detached from the world, and an all-conquering atmosphere...'
"Tanjiro, I'm leaving first," Lexon said to Tanjiro.
"Ah? Are you leaving already?" Tanjiro was a little reluctant to see him go. Nezuko also showed a reluctant expression.
"The mission is complete. Of course, I'm going back."
"Then I'll go too—" Tanjiro said hurriedly.
Lexon flicked Tanjiro's forehead with his finger. "You should go say a proper goodbye to Lady Tamayo first. I still have some things to do."
'Tsk, why does my finger hurt a little?'
"Alright then," Tanjiro said with regret.
"See you next time," Lexon said and started to walk away.
Standing on the bustling street once more, Lexon closed his eyes.
His nose twitched.
The sense of smell, created from thestackingof sign-ins from UrokodakiSakonji and Kamado Tanjiro, was released to its fullest extent.
He wanted to search for Muzan's scent, find him, and make contact from a distance to roughly estimate the power gap between his current self and the other.
He focused his mind and spirit.
Tens, hundreds of thousands of scents rushed to Lexon's nose and were automatically filtered for differences.
Two minutes passed.
"Found it."
Lexon opened his eyes, a sharp light glinting within them.
Circulating his breathing technique, his figure instantly vanished from the spot.
A nearby passerby looked as if he had seen a ghost, rubbing his eyes repeatedly.
"The scent of blood? And it's an unusual scent of blood... not a demon, nor a human."
While moving at high speed, Lexon suddenly smelled a strange scent of blood around Muzan.
'In an alley?'
Before long, Lexon arrived at a dark alley.
A handsome man in a proper Western suit was standing by a wall a dozen meters away.
Muzan.
Lexon was well aware of Muzan's current human male appearance and recognized him.
"Who are you?"
Muzan, who had his back to Lexon, suddenly turned around.
His pale face was incredibly gloomy, as if he had encountered something unpleasant.
Lexon didn't answer. His gaze drifted to the two corpses beside Muzan.
'Somewhat familiar.'
Lexon suddenly had this feeling.
Although the light was dim, Lexon had long since signed in for the ability of high visibility in the dark, so by focusing his eyes, he could make out the general appearance of the two corpses.
After filtering through his mind for a moment, Lexon recalled the identities of the two corpses from when they were alive.
They were quite closely related to him.
They were two of the veteran Reincarnators from Zhongzhou Team Four.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]