In a forest covered with thick snow, a red-haired boy was running desperately with a girl on his back, like demons were chasing them.
"Urg!"
Suddenly he tripped over something, and the girl went flying off his back.
"Nezuko! Nezuko!" Tanjiro scrambled to his feet, shouting her name and looking around frantically. That was when he realized what had tripped him wasn't a fallen branch or a rock. It was a human corpse.
But he didn't have time to care who the dead person was. He was more worried about Nezuko's safety.
"I never should have stayed at that house. I should have returned last night! This is all my fault." Tanjiro blamed himself. His carelessness had led to this tragedy. The memory of his siblings' half-eaten limbs and bloodied bodies felt like knives twisting in his heart.
Right then the poison still in Nezuko's body kicked in. She staggered to her feet, veins bulging around her face.
"Nezuko, are you okay?"
But Nezuko ignored his calls. She lunged at him like a wild animal. Luckily Tanjiro reacted fast and blocked her bite with the wooden handle of his shovel.
Seeing her vampire-like fangs, Tanjiro remembered Grandpa Saburo's words. Demons! Could it be…
The thought that his sister might have turned into one of those demons made big tears pour from Tanjiro's eyes.
Watching Nezuko grow bigger in size and strength, Tanjiro's heart filled with guilt.
This… Suddenly Tanjiro felt a drop of wet liquid hit his face. He looked up. It was Nezuko's tears.
"Pretty rude to knock into someone and not even say sorry."
A strange voice spoke softly. Tanjiro looked behind him in confusion and saw a corpse slowly climbing out of the snow. A hole had been punched straight through the corpse's chest. You could see the tree behind it through the wound.
"Hello there, this place is a bit chilly, don't you think?" Ivan stretched his limbs. In this freezing environment, his arms and legs were stiff from the cold.
"You! You! You're a demon too!"
Tanjiro watched in horror as the wound on Ivan's chest healed at a visible speed. No human could do that.
"Don't compare me to those lowlife creatures." Ivan's figure vanished from the spot. When he reappeared, he had Nezuko by the throat, lifting her feet off the ground. He looked at her like she was an interesting new toy.
"So this is demon transformation?"
Ivan let Nezuko's sharp claws tear at his right arm. Unfortunately her strength and nails couldn't even scratch his skin.
"Let her go."
Tomoka Giyu, who had rushed over after hearing the noise, saw the scene.
Dressed in the Demon Slayer uniform with a haori that was deep red on one side and yellow-green checkered on the other, he held his Nichirin sword that glowed with a blue light. In the falling snow, it gave off a chilling feeling.
"Please save my sister." Tanjiro immediately begged the samurai-like man.
Giyu said coldly, "My job is to slay demons. That includes your sister."
Then he looked at Ivan and warned, "You can only kill a demon by cutting off its head with a Nichirin sword."
"No! My sister isn't a demon. That man is the demon." Tanjiro shouted desperately. He had seen with his own eyes how fast Ivan's wound had healed. No normal person could do that.
"He isn't. He doesn't have a demon's scent." Giyu's expression stayed cold and detached.
"That's impossible! I saw it myself. The wound on his chest healed at an inhuman speed. Even though his scent is different from the one in my house, I'm sure he's a demon too." Tanjiro yelled.
"Could it be a special kind of demon?" Seeing that Tanjiro wasn't lying, Giyu started doubting his earlier judgment.
He suddenly burst forward, body slightly crouched as he closed in on Ivan.
"Not fast enough, but the burst is decent."
Ivan's figure kept switching positions in their eyes. Even when he crouched down to examine the Nichirin sword, Giyu barely reacted. But the moment he swung his blade, Ivan vanished again. At the same time, Giyu felt a massive pulling force on the hand holding his sword.
"How is that possible? There are no Upper or Lower Rank markings in his eyes. Is he ...Muzan?" Giyu nearly lost his Nichirin sword. His face stayed calm, but inside his mind was in turmoil.
If it really was Muzan, then today would be his death.
Finally… had the day finally come? Dying at Muzan's hands might not be such a bad end.
He held his breath. Two faint wisps of white mist leaked from the corner of his mouth. "Don't underestimate me, even if I die today... Water Breathing, Tenth Form: Constant Flux!"
Giyu shot forward like a cannonball. His Nichirin sword surged with violent waves. The speed left Tanjiro stunned.
Watching a dragon head made of water come roaring toward him, Ivan let go of Nezuko, who had returned to normal. He smiled and dodged the attack. But Giyu clearly wasn't done. The nature of Constant Flux meant it grew stronger with every rotation.
The water dragon kept getting bigger until it filled the entire clearing in the forest.
"Interesting."
Ivan kept retreating.
Every tree in Giyu's path was sliced apart.
"I'll end this!" Giyu flipped into the air and brought his long blade down with a massive dragon head. His eyes were resolute. This was nearly his strongest attack!
Boom! The water dragon slammed into Ivan's chest. The tremendous force plowed through the ground. Ivan smashed through several trees before stopping.
"Even steel would be cut in half by that strike."
But to his despair, the man slowly rose from the snow pile in front of him. Besides some torn clothes, there was only a faint scratch on his chest.
"Run! Take your sister and get out of here!" Giyu shouted at Tanjiro.
Right now there was no fear in his heart. Only the determination to die.
"Death is my destination. Water Breathing, Eleventh Form: Dead Calm!" A vast sea of sword energy surged around Giyu. When the word "calm" fell, the previously raging ocean became still as glass. It felt like any attack entering the domain would create ripples.
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Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69