A bizarre, otherworldly scene unfolded as a blue-haired girl stepped out from Kochou Kanae's body—a low-dimensional phenomenon via a higher-dimensional space.
Her raven-black hair, like soft, precious silk, cascaded down, her face exquisitely beautiful, long lashes curling, skin pale as snow.
Kochou Kanae, clad in a butterfly haori, gazed quietly at Reverie with her rose-pink, near-purple eyes, her lips curving into a gentle smile.
"Welcome, welcome~!"
Reverie flashed a dreamy, translucent smile, winking at Kanae with a radiant grin.
"Honkai energy really doesn't cut it, huh."
The potent Honkai energy surging within her upon entering the mysterious space was stripped clean by the world's rules the moment Reverie stepped into Demon Slayer's universe.
Outside the Imaginary Tree system, that stuff was universally despised!
Reverie checked her condition further. The Void Authority, reliant on Honkai energy and deep physical permissions, was also unusable.
"Tch." Reverie let out a faint sound of disdain.
As expected, the powers stacked from Sirin were likely limited to the Imaginary Tree system and the universe of *Honkai Gakuen 2*.
"Whatever, at least my physical prowess is intact."
If she leveraged the mysterious space's power, Reverie could forcibly shatter Demon Slayer's rules, bringing Honkai energy and the "Honkai" mechanism into it.
But she wasn't some world-destroying fiend!
It wasn't just Honkai energy—all cross-world stacked powers couldn't manifest perfectly as is. The myriad phenomena rested on rules, and different worlds had different rules.
Luckily, the powers of weapon races and holy war angels stemmed from bloodlines, and wind attributes weren't balance-breaking forces, so Reverie was barely affected.
Plus, Demon Slayer's power system wasn't as low-tier as imagined.
The wildly varied Blood Demon Arts covered basic elements like ice and fire, and Blood Demon Art: Infinity Castle could manipulate space to an extent, with confirmed souls existing.
That already surpassed low-martial boundaries.
Especially since this world had a total cheat!
If Muzan Kibutsuji was Demon Slayer's power ceiling, then Tsugikuni Yoriichi stood atop it, treating the ceiling like his floor.
Born with the Mark, Transparent World, and Sun Breathing as natural as daily breath, Yoriichi came equipped with Demon Slayer's three godly skills. Utterly absurd!
Why was Sun Breathing called Sun Breathing?
Daily breathing, that's why~!
Even scarier, when Muzan exploded into 1,800 flesh fragments, Yoriichi slashed over 1,500 in an instant!
Let's say he cut 10 per swing—that's 150 swings in a moment.
A "moment" in normal terms is a second. Swinging 150 times in a second—what's that mean?
In the Honkai world, Previous Era's Fusion Warrior Sakura, famed for speed as Setsuna, could she swing 150 times in a second?
By Shenzhou's knowledge, Breathing Techniques were akin to "martial arts," making Yoriichi practically a cultivator!
The last guy with this template was Zhang Sanfeng.
What's dimensional crushing?
This is dimensional crushing!
No wonder Muzan's fear of Yoriichi was etched into his bones and genes, hiding like a coward while Yoriichi lived, and tiptoeing even after his death.
Who wouldn't fear dimensional crushing?
And now, the scummy boss was about to face his second dimensional crushing!
Syncing with herself, Reverie could fully unleash the power of the Seven Royal Treasures: Mezaranth, a force that'd rank Herrscher-tier in the Honkai world!
Not the pathetic, Titan-thrashed Wind Herrscher, but at least Flame Herrscher level.
"Are you on a mission now?" Reverie naturally took Kochou Kanae's hand.
The girl's hand was fairer than snow but not silky, bearing faint calluses.
Even with Breathing Techniques, this world's people were ordinary, lacking omnipotent Honkai energy. Constant sword training and fighting inhuman monsters—smooth hands would be a miracle.
Feeling the soft, warm touch, Kanae blinked, glancing at their clasped hands.
With physical contact, Reverie sensed Kanae's thoughts, smiling lightly. "No worries. Once more 'selves' join in the space, those calluses will vanish quick."
Shiraki's memories in this world were fully eroded before entering the space, forming Kanae's consciousness. Even with memories restored, her self-perception leaned female.
Beauty was human nature.
"Mm-hm~!" Kanae's face bloomed with a gentle smile, then she looked toward a nearby village.
"I asked Oyakata-sama to assign me any missions tied to the Eternal Paradise Cult."
For research, the closer to Muzan's blood, the more data it held. Ordinary demons had too little of Muzan's blood for viable samples.
Ideally, Kanae wanted to drag Reverie to behead the scummy boss, but she couldn't find a trace of Muzan.
Demon Slayer's story unfolds in Japan's Taisho era, roughly 1912–1926, when transport and communication lagged far behind modern times, making searches painfully slow.
Didn't the Demon Slayer Corps hunt Muzan for centuries without a lead?
With no choice, Kanae targeted the Upper Ranks.
Having regained Shiraki's memories, she knew the "plot" had her dying to an Upper Rank during a mission.
After some thought, Kanae decided: As the price for "killing" me in the future, it's you!
Upper Rank Two, Douma.
This guy was a pure psychopath!
As a human, Douma couldn't grasp emotions, showing no joy, anger, or sorrow from childhood.
Believing women's nutrients enabled pregnancy, he favored eating females, especially pregnant ones.
His chaotic evil nature made him a better villain than Muzan!
All Muzan had was his scumminess.
Kanae once dreamed of humans and demons coexisting peacefully, but that dream excluded such pure evil.
She still held that ideal—Nezuko proved emotions could overcome demonic instincts.
But for regular demons, pity aside, killing was non-negotiable!
Though, she'd give uneaten demons a small chance.
Now, with memories restored, Kanae would never let the tragic future unfold!
Including Tanjiro's family's massacre—she'd change it all!
Those kids… and countless others killed by demons, she'd save them!
"Whatever you want to do, I'll back you without reservation."
Sensing Kanae's thoughts, Reverie squeezed her hand.
Reverie knew many in Demon Slayer's world… well, one-sidedly, but it counted!
For those with fervent hearts, she'd lend a hand to save them.
"Mm!"
Kanae's lips curved into a gentle, pure smile, like an unpolished pearl gem.
They were one person—it was only natural!
"Douma's parents founded a religion called 'Eternal Paradise Cult.' With his rainbow eyes and pristine white-blond hair, Douma was revered as a 'child of god.'"
Reverie and Kanae walked hand in hand down a path of purity.
"Since the scummy boss sticks to his cowardly ways, acting too flashy gets scolded, so Douma keeps his 'stockpile'—the cult's followers—around 250."
The cult's members were mostly young women, whom Douma ate and replaced.
To him, consuming humans entirely, blood to flesh, let them live eternally with him—a path to salvation!
"A 250-person scale isn't small. The cult's more noticeable than an individual."
Reverie nodded. In this era's rural Japan, some villages didn't even hit 250 people.
"So the Demon Slayer Corps easily caught wind of the cult, and there's demon intel here too."
Kanae squeezed Reverie's soft hand—so squishy~!
"That means…!"
Her words cut off, and both Kanae and Reverie froze mid-step. Reverie's toes tapped the ground, her petite frame flitting out like a light butterfly.
Blood's scent!
Reverie's delicate brows furrowed, leaping after Kanae. With Total Concentration Breathing: Constant boosting her already superhuman physique, her abilities surged.
Even without other worlds' energies, fully synced memories were cheat-level, with all skills perfectly shared!
Reverie's prior knowledge of Breathing Techniques was just the term itself; now, she was a master of self-created Flower Breathing.
In the village, every household's doors were shut tight, dim lamplight seeping through paper windows.
In this era's countryside, beyond baby-making games, nightly entertainment was scarce, and people rested early.
Kanae and Reverie darted toward the blood's source, one after the other.
In a shadowy alley untouched by moonlight, a grotesque man with a maw of sharp fangs tore into a corpse.
For a fleeting moment, a flower bud unfurled in the space, tender petals blooming.
The man-eating demon froze, his head rolling to the ground, scarlet eyes wide with shock.
Against a man-eating demon, even gentle Kanae offered no mercy.
The demon's body disintegrated in moments, as if scorched by sunlight, leaving only its head tumbling on the ground.
Reverie didn't even glimpse the demon before the "fight" ended.
As a Hashira, one of the Demon Slayer Corps' pillars, the Flower Hashira one-shotting a demon weaker than a Lower Rank was par for the course.
Kanae stayed alert, turning to look behind, her peach-pink blade glinting under moonlight.
Rainbow-hued eyes and a carefree smile adorned a man who adjusted his black gold-trimmed hat, approaching under a black crow's gaze.
Kanae's smile was gentle, like petals hidden in a bud: "Oh my, is this what they call a fateful encounter?"