Screen 1 – Training Complete (Darker Cut)
The bamboo clearing feels colder at sunset.
The Swordsmith Village looks peaceful on the surface, but the air carries a pressure Tanjiro can't name.
Tanjiro fights Yoriichi Type Zero like he's trying to survive, not train.
Every strike from the puppet can break bone, and every dodge is a breath away from dying.
The puppet doesn't relent. It doesn't understand mercy. It only understands execution.
Tanjiro forces himself forward anyway.
He adapts.
He bleeds.
He learns.
Kotetsu watches with a tense, almost horrified expression.
"He's matching it… but it'll kill him if he slips once."
Sans stands nearby, eye dim but alert.
"Your left step is off again.
One mistake and that thing will take your head."
No softness in his voice this time.
Just truth.
Tanjiro adjusts.
The puppet's blade whistles by his cheek, slicing off a bit of hair.
Kotetsu nearly screams.
Tanjiro doesn't flinch.
Papyrus holds his sign like a shield even though the blows shake the ground.
"KEEP GOING TANJIRO.
PAIN IS TEMPORARY.
SUCCESS IS FOREVER."
It sounds encouraging, but even he's trembling.
After hours of near-death exchanges, Tanjiro finally finds the puppet's rhythm.
His breathing slows.
Everything aligns.
Fire moves through his chest like a second heartbeat.
He cuts the puppet's arms apart.
He stops its neck joint perfectly.
He wins.
Barely.
Tanjiro drops to his knees, exhausted, bruised, bleeding.
Papyrus rushes over with frantic movements.
"TANJIRO. YOU LOOK LIKE YOU FOUGHT A DRAGON."
Sans crouches, voice low.
"You pushed too far, kid.
But you got stronger.
A lot stronger."
Tanjiro nods, barely conscious.
The sun dies behind the mountains.
And something else moves with the night.
---
Screen 2 – The Demon in the Shadows (Darker Cut)
The village grows silent in an unsettling way.
A wind rolls through like a warning.
Papyrus stretches, still hyped from training.
"NOTHING BAD CAN HAPPEN TONIGH—"
Sans steps in front of him before he can finish.
"Stop. Look behind us."
Tanjiro smells it first.
Fear.
Blood.
A heartbeat that doesn't belong to anything sane.
A small demon stands in the shadows.
Shaking like he's frightened.
Skin stretched too thin over bone.
Eyes wet with terror that doesn't feel real.
Hantengu.
Tanjiro whispers.
"Upper Rank… Four."
Muichiro appears, bored and cold.
"That thing?"
Hantengu stammers.
"N-no… don't hurt me…"
Tanjiro's grip tightens.
"He's faking it. He's drenched in malice."
Muichiro moves first.
His blade cuts the head off before Hantengu can blink.
Tanjiro follows with another strike to be safe.
Papyrus cheers too early.
"AMAZING. WE HAVE SLAYED THE COWARDLY DEMON."
Sans doesn't celebrate.
He already knows the truth.
The body splits.
Lightning explodes across the courtyard.
Sekido forms, rage twisting his face.
Karaku appears with a lazy grin that hides violence.
"Humans taste best when they scream," Karaku says.
He swings his fan once.
The shockwave blasts Tanjiro through two houses.
Wood splinters.
Dust fills the air.
If he wasn't trained, he'd be dead.
Papyrus charges and is immediately crushed against a tree by a shockwave, cracking his bones.
He gets up shaking.
"That was… worse than expected."
Sans moves between strikes, teleporting to avoid lethal hits.
He fires a gravity pulse that pins Sekido for a moment.
"Careful," Sans says.
"They're not playing."
The clones laugh.
They enjoy the fear.
They enjoy the destruction.
Tanjiro crawls out of the rubble.
"These two… are monsters."
The fight becomes a mess of blood, broken buildings, and screams.
And that is only the front line.
---
Screen 2 – Gyokko Enters the Village (Darker Cut)
The water behind the workshop ripples even though there's no wind.
A pot rises.
Cracks run through it like veins.
Gyokko slides out.
His movements are unnatural, like a puppet working against its own strings.
He's smiling before anything even happens.
"So many artists in one place.
Hands that create beautiful blades.
I wonder how they'll look when twisted."
He teleports through pots buried all around the village, like a spider in a web.
Inside the workshop, dozens of smiths work with glowing metal.
A pot appears behind them without a sound.
Before anyone reacts, a cold arm reaches out, grabs a smith, and yanks him inside.
His scream cuts off.
The others panic, but they don't even understand what they're facing.
Gyokko pops out upside down from another pot.
"I need more materials."
Fish demons crawl out.
Twisted.
Wet.
Grotesque.
Human faces trapped inside their bodies, still screaming.
They attack the smiths with no hesitation.
Pulling them into pots.
Tearing flesh.
Drowning them in sludge.
Gyokko claps like a child.
"This is better than I imagined."
---
Muichiro Senses the Horror
Outside, Muichiro cuts down a fish demon, then stops.
He feels multiple heartbeats vanish underground.
He feels suffering in the air.
He feels death.
He frowns for the first time in hours.
"This isn't Hantengu."
He runs toward the workshop.
---
Papyrus Senses It Too
Papyrus trembles.
His soul feels cold.
"BROTHER. SOMETHING TERRIBLE IS OUT THERE."
Sans nods.
"Yeah. Something rotten."
Tanjiro's eyes widen.
"Another Upper Rank."
Muichiro appears beside them.
"We're splitting up. If the swordsmiths die, everyone dies."
He disappears into the fog.
Papyrus charges after him.
"I WILL NOT LET ARTISANS PERISH."
Sans watches him go and mutters quietly.
"Please don't get killed, bro."
Papyrus shouts back.
"I MAKE NO PROMISES."
---
Gyokko Waits
Deep in the workshop, the floor is wet with blood.
Half-finished blades are scattered everywhere.
Gyokko admires the smiths he trapped in pots, frozen like statues.
He hears footsteps.
"Oh good. My guests."
Muichiro arrives first, sword ready.
Papyrus steps in right after him, spear raised, eyes shaking with determination.
Gyokko giggles.
"Perfect. A Hashira. And something… curious."
His grin widens.
"Let's make something beautiful."
The second Upper Rank battle begins.
And this one might be worse.
Be continued