"Blood Demon Art: Thread Cutting Prison," Finally, as his charge reached its peak, Rui directly released a spiderweb-like blood-red steel wire towards Takeru, intending to cut him into pieces.
Facing the rapidly approaching spider web, Takeru walked straight towards Rui as if he didn't see it.
Almost instantly, the Thread Cutting Prison touched Takeru.
But the scene of Takeru being cut into pieces that Rui imagined did not appear.
Instead, the threads were bounced back, not even making Takeru pause.
"Sun Breathing: First Form, Dance."
As he approached Rui, the Holy Sword appeared in Takeru's hand. With a simple swing, dazzling, scorching flames surrounded the sword, forming a giant flame slash that flew towards Rui.
Because of the gravity, Rui could only watch as the giant flame slash quickly tore through his tough threads and then passed through his neck.
Passing through Rui's neck was not the end. The flame sword energy continued flying, cutting a large swath of the forest behind him in half. The forest was also ignited by the scorching flames, instantly becoming a sea of fire.
As Rui's neck was severed, his body and head were quickly consumed by the flames, his life force rapidly dissipating.
But just before disappearing, he seemed to finally remember his memories as a human.
He recalled that he had always wanted to apologize to his parents, but it seemed too late...
"Fire! Put out the fire!" Over here, after Rui's death, feeling the intense heat, Tanjiro finally came back to his senses and shouted in panic for help.
"Don't make such a fuss." Seeing Tanjiro's excited state, Takeru patted his shoulder.
The strong force nearly knocked him to the ground, but the accompanying pain made Tanjiro alert.
Seeing Takeru's confident expression, he stared intently at Takeru, hoping for some way to put out the fire.
"Freeze Moment!" Seeing the raging fire, Takeru was very direct. With himself as the center, he released a freeze over a one-kilometer diameter. The forest that had been burning was instantly transformed into a frozen forest...
"Thank you for your help. But could you tell me your names? And are you also members of the Demon Slayer Corps?" Watching Takeru easily kill Lower Rank Five, then the fire and ice, Tanjiro was completely bewildered.
Inosuke silently watched Takeru. His beastly instincts told him the gap between himself and Takeru.
But after a brief moment of frustration, he perked up again, making Takeru his pursuit target.
"My name is Nara Takeru. This is Takanashi Rikka. As for being Demon Slayer Corps' members, we are not." Hearing his words, Takeru shook his head slightly.
"Nara Takeru? Not a Demon Slayer Corps' member?" Hearing Takeru's words, Tanjiro was stunned again.
"Aren't you a [Hashira] of the Demon Slayer Corps?" At this moment, seeing Rui dead, Murata finally dared to come out. As he emerged, he looked at Takeru curiously.
"No." Hearing his words, Takeru still shook his head.
"Takeru, there are two more people over there who aren't dead." At this moment, Rikka, who had been watching, pointed to the Demon Slayer Corps' members who had been controlled by the Spider Mother.
"Healing!" Hearing her words, Takeru nodded slightly and cast healing on them. As the green light enveloped them, they felt warmth, and their pain quickly dissipated.
"Thank you." Soon, a girl stood up, moved her limbs, and finding the pain gone, she was very pleasantly surprised and thanked Takeru and Rikka.
"Such means, even a Hashira couldn't use them." Seeing Takeru casually heal the two, Murata realized that Takeru and Rikka were probably not Hashira.
With such healing abilities, the Demon Slayer Corps wouldn't have such high casualties.
"By the way, Takeru-san, you just said he was the [Twelve Kizuki's] Lower Rank Five?" Soon, Tanjiro reacted and asked Takeru again.
"Yes. Although Lower Rank Five is dead, there are still many Demons in this forest. Among them, a few are relatively powerful." Hearing Tanjiro's words, Takeru reminded him calmly.
"That's right, we need to completely kill these Demons now." Hearing Takeru's words, Tanjiro understood.
"There's no rush. Speaking of Demons, isn't there one behind you?" Hearing Tanjiro's words, Takeru narrowed his eyes and looked at the box behind him.
"Takeru, Nezuko, she..." Hearing Takeru mention the Demon behind Tanjiro, Rikka wanted to speak for Nezuko.
In the last mission, if Nezuko, Tanjiro, and the others hadn't helped, Rikka and the others who fell into the trap set by Lower Rank One might have died in that world.
Although that world was no longer the same one they had experienced before, she still felt some goodwill towards them. So, she wanted to plead for Nezuko. But before she could finish, Takeru stopped her.
"This is my sister. I guarantee she will never harm anyone!" Hearing Takeru mention his sister, Tanjiro's pupils contracted. He quickly hugged the box and explained nervously.
"A Demon Slayer Corps' member carrying a Demon?" Murata beside him also stared blankly at Tanjiro, his heart filled with shock. At the same time, he was very wary of Nezuko.
"You're looking for a way to turn your sister back into a human, right?" Looking at Tanjiro's nervous expression, Takeru continued softly.
"Can you restore my sister?" Hearing this, Tanjiro asked nervously.
"This is not difficult. Or rather, even if I can't completely turn her back into a human, I can at least free her from sunlight and the need to eat humans." Hearing his words, Takeru said calmly.
"Please, help me!" Hearing Takeru say this, Tanjiro dropped everything and directly knelt before Takeru. For his only surviving sister, he was even willing to trade his own life for hers.
"Get up first. And let Nezuko come out." Seeing Tanjiro's actions, Takeru felt a bit helpless but could understand Tanjiro's deep affection for his sister.
"Yes." Hearing Takeru's words, Tanjiro quickly let Nezuko out. Just out, Nezuko looked around confused, then looked questioningly at Takeru. Takeru gave her a very special feeling, very gentle and approachable...
"Is that a Demon?" Looking at Nezuko's well-behaved appearance, Murata and the others, who had been very wary, were a bit stunned. Nezuko indeed didn't seem very dangerous.
However, they knew very well that one of the Demon Slayer Corps' rules was absolutely not to harbor Demons. Tanjiro openly carrying a Demon around was a serious offense.
But even so, seeing Takeru nearby, and that he seemed to like Nezuko, they didn't dare say anything. They just moved slightly further away.
"Nezuko, come here." Ignoring the Demon Slayer Corps' members' racing thoughts, looking at the somewhat dazed Nezuko, Takeru showed a gentle smile and beckoned.
Hearing Takeru's words, Nezuko looked directly at Tanjiro. Seeing him nod, though tense, she came to Takeru's side.
Takeru looked at the curious Nezuko and gently placed his hand on her head, softly rubbing. The feeling was similar to Filo and the others.
Although Nezuko didn't understand why Takeru was touching her head, his gentle movements made her feel the same care as Tanjiro's.
"Alright, Tanjiro, Inosuke, leave Nezuko with us for now. Two kilometers straight ahead, in the rocks, is the Spider Mother manipulating the others to kill each other. Although she is also pitiful, since she has already eaten and killed so many people, she can only atone with her own death."
Looking at the tense Tanjiro beside him, Takeru pointed ahead and spoke.
"Well..." Hearing Takeru reveal the location of the Demon controlling everything, although Tanjiro wanted to go kill it, he was more concerned about Nezuko.
"Don't you trust me? You know, if I really wanted to do something, even with you here, it couldn't be changed, right?" Looking at the worried Tanjiro, Takeru said calmly.
"I understand. I'll leave Nezuko in your care." Hearing this, Tanjiro took a deep breath. Thinking of Takeru's supernatural abilities just now, he again performed a dogeza to Takeru.