"What's this?"
Ivan curiously picked up the scarlet ore. Hmm, it was pretty heavy. Definitely not ordinary stone.
"This is scarlet ore. A special mineral used to forge Nichirin swords. It increases the blade's toughness. But to make a Nichirin sword that can kill demons, you still need to add scarlet iron sand and scarlet ore that can absorb sunlight. That kind of complicated process can only be done by the swordsmiths in the Swordsmith Village."
Murata explained.
"Storing the power of sunlight inside the blade. Pretty clever idea. But what I'm curious about is why you don't use this special ore to make bullets? That should work on demons too."
Ivan drew the Nichirin sword and swung it a few times. Listening to the whooshing sound as the blade cut through the air, he could tell the sharpness and hardness were far inferior to the blades he could create. Without those ores added, it was at best a pretty good steel sword.
Murata shook his head. "Because the ore reserves are limited. And only the user can bring out the blade's true power."
"I see."
Ivan's Nichirin sword suddenly spread blue patterns from the hilt. Those patterns were like wildly growing vines. In an extremely short time, they dyed the entire blade a deep blue.
This was a characteristic of Nichirin swords. They would show different colors based on the user's attributes.
Seeing Ivan's Nichirin sword turn blue, Murata wasn't surprised.
"W... wait! Why did your Nichirin sword get darker?" Murata looked at the sword in Ivan's hand and couldn't help exclaiming.
Ivan looked down and saw that his Nichirin sword was indeed getting darker. It stopped when it turned a deep blue. At this point, the sword's color was almost black.
Was it because of the Hinokami Kagura?
The night before last, Ivan had gotten the Hinokami Kagura from Tanjiro. Even though it was the Kamado family's ancestral dance, Tanjiro hadn't refused Ivan's request. In return, Ivan promised to help him with revenge and told him that the Hinokami Kagura was actually Sun Breathing. But it seemed Tanjiro didn't really believe him.
After he got the Hinokami Kagura, he tried to comprehend Sun Breathing from it. Unfortunately, he didn't succeed. But it wasn't completely without gains. At least with the help of Water Breathing, he had glimpsed a hint of the secret hidden in the dance. It probably wouldn't be long before he could completely crack it.
Strange. Giyu's sword didn't seem this dark.
This doubt only existed in Murata's mind for a moment. After all, the color of the blade was determined by the user's attributes. There was no uniform standard.
"Let's go." Ivan put on the Demon Slayer uniform, then tucked the Nichirin sword into his belt. At first glance, it didn't look out of place.
After saying goodbye to Mr. Urokodaki, Tanjiro, and Nezuko inside the house, Ivan followed the crow's lead and walked toward the distant ridges between the fields.
"Caw! With you here, I can relax." The black crow flapped its wings and circled above Murata.
"Wait for me."
Mukago under the tree shade quickly took out the large bamboo hat she had prepared earlier and put it on her head. With the bamboo hat on, Mukago looked like a green mushroom as she followed closely behind Ivan. Besides being a bit eye-catching, it didn't have any other downsides.
Watching Ivan's figure get farther away, Tanjiro waved from where he stood and shouted,
"Ivan Onii-sama, don't forget the dance I taught you!"
Ivan didn't turn around. He just raised his right hand to show he had heard.
"Remember, don't tell anyone about this. At least not until you have the ability to protect yourself."
Ivan's voice played over and over in Tanjiro's mind.
Could it be that the dance my father taught me really is Sun Breathing?
...
"Caw, can you guys go any faster? I'm in a hurry to see Rei. Because I had to wait for you, the fresh flowers I picked are already wilting."
Sure enough, Karasu was holding several wildflowers of different colors in its claws. The Rei it mentioned was the crow of the Love Hashira Mitsuri Kanroji. Unlike Karasu, Rei had long eyelashes and three heart-shaped tufts of feathers on her head.
"You should probably stop bothering her. You made Rei cry not long ago. She'll probably hide the second she sees you."
Murata mercilessly exposed Karasu's shame.
"That's all your fault. If you hadn't dragged your feet during the mission, I wouldn't have missed my date with Rei."
Karasu, embarrassed and angry, dropped the flowers from its claws and flew to Murata's head, pecking wildly and turning his center-parted hair into a messy bird's nest.
"Aaaah~! I'm definitely going to catch you and eat you!"
Amid Murata and Karasu's "friendly" interaction, the sky grew darker. The faint moon poked out from behind the clouds.
Half an hour later, the three of them finally saw a small town.
"My lord, we Demon Slayers aren't allowed to carry swords on the streets or use transportation. So you should put away your Nichirin sword."
Murata skillfully took off his Nichirin sword and wrapped it in white cloth. "After all, the Demon Slayer Corps isn't officially recognized by the government. So there are some restrictions when we go out. But as long as we don't walk around carrying swords, we won't attract attention. The government tacitly allows our existence."
"I think that won't be necessary." Ivan said calmly while looking ahead.
Not far away, a short-haired young man was asking passersby with a panicked expression.
"Have you seen a girl this tall with a pale gold hairpin?" The young man raised his left hand and gestured to the people around him.
"I haven't. Young man, maybe try looking somewhere else."
The white-haired old man shook his head slightly, indicating he hadn't seen the girl the young man described.
How could this be! How could she not be here!
The short-haired young man looked around in a daze. A wave of fear slowly crept into his heart.
That's impossible. Keiko was right next to me. How could she disappear in the blink of an eye?
"Keiko! Keiko! Stop playing. Come out already." The short-haired young man's voice trembled. He ran desperately to where Keiko had vanished and shouted around him.
"Don't scare me… Keiko, Keiko!"
"Mommy, what's that big brother doing?" A little girl with her hair in a bun looked up at her mother with confusion.
"Probably lost a family member. Poor thing. Our Rimi has to stay right by Mommy's side, okay?"
"Yeah." The little girl fearfully grabbed her mother's clothes and kept looking back. "Can we help that big brother?"
"My sweet Rimi is so kind. But the government has special people who handle that kind of thing."
No response… How could there be no response? Could it be… Keiko was taken by someone?
This kind of terrifying thing couldn't possibly happen to Keiko. Then the short-haired young man searched everywhere, alleys, under walls, every place a person could hide.
Even when he scraped his head bloody, he still refused to give up looking for her. "Keiko… Keiko, where are you?"
The young man's voice gradually took on a crying tone. His lips were dry and cracked from shouting for so long.
"Tanaka!"
Suddenly Keiko's cry for help came from the distance.
Keiko. It was Keiko's voice. Tanaka's exhausted body suddenly found a new burst of strength. With determined eyes, he sprinted toward where the sound had come from.
You have to wait for me, Keiko!
"Kukuku~ So noisy. Looks like I need a quiet place to slowly enjoy you." In the shadows of a wall somewhere, a girl was being held with a greenish hand covering her mouth.
It buried its head in the girl's neck, greedily sniffing the sweet scent coming from her body.
"Too tempting. Keke~ I can't wait to enjoy this wonderful body of yours." Its hideous face, blood-red eyes, and bulging veins on its forehead all showed it wasn't human but a demon hunting for food.
"She's already sixteen. If I don't eat her soon, the meat quality will change every second."
The Swamp Demon dragged the girl into an extremely deep black swamp.
Every time this happened, every cell in its body trembled with excitement.
"It's here."
Ivan, standing outside the town, suddenly spoke.
The moment he said it, Murata watched in horror as a circular black hole appeared in the road ahead of him, moving at high speed.
"Caw! Careful. A demon is coming toward us." The crow in the sky gave a warning.
"Its scent is so weak. It must have become a demon not long ago." Mukago under her bamboo hat said casually.
After all, she was a demon who had seen real action. How could she take a guy who wasn't even a Lower Rank seriously.
Crunch crunch!
With the sound of grinding teeth, a demon wearing ninja clothing with deep blue long hair rose slowly from the swamp while holding a girl.
It looked at Ivan and Murata with a hideous expression. The veins on its forehead bulged and a single horn grew from between its brows. "Demon Slayers? I heard those guys mention them before. Doesn't look like anything special."
"If you know what's good for you, get the hell out of my way. I'm not interested in your disgusting bodies!"
"Lord Ivan, let me handle this one."
Mukago suddenly thought that this weak guy in front of her was perfect for boosting her own presence. Since it couldn't threaten her anyway, why not?
"You're…"
As she spoke, Mukago took off her bamboo hat.
When the Swamp Demon saw her face, its blood-red pupils contracted rapidly. In a tone of disbelief it said, "L-Lower Rank Four! Why are you with Demon Slayers? Did you betray that lord?"
Then its expression turned both crazy and excited. "Kehehe~ This is great. If that lord finds out you betrayed him, he'll definitely give me the blood in your body! Then I'll become the new Lower Rank Four. How wonderful. I never expected to get an extra surprise while hunting!"
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Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69