The forest surrounding the Swordsmith Village glowed a soft silver-blue under the full moon. The mist hung low, drifting through the trees like pale breath. Leaves rustled quietly as Erika ran beside Tanjiro, Nezuko, and Genya, their footsteps quick and tense as they searched through the fog-shrouded woods for the demon presence they knew was lurking.
Then.
BOOOOOOOOM!!
A massive shockwave ripped through the distant night.
The ground vibrated beneath their feet. Birds exploded out of the treetops in a chaotic cloud, screeching into the darkness.
Genya froze mid-stride.
"W–What the hell was that?!"
Tanjiro inhaled sharply, eyes widening.
"That's probably Akira-san fighting the Upper Rank Three, Akaza… Will he be okay alone?"
Erika felt the same worry twist in her chest, but she knew better. It's Akira. If anyone was fine, it was him.
So she steadied her voice and said firmly. "Eyes forward. We have our own target to find. Akira is strong, don't worry about him. Tanjiro, your nose is the sharpest. Can you find the demon?"
Tanjiro hesitated for only a moment, then nodded.
"Right."
He inhaled deeply, trying to separate the countless scents drifting through the forest. Normally, the entire area smelled overwhelmingly of hot springs, but the massive clash between Akira and Akaza had blasted away the haze. The air was clearer now, fresh and sharp, and it allowed Tanjiro's enhanced sense of smell to cut through the confusion.
"…I've got it." He pointed ahead.
"That way!"
They sprinted through the clearing, branches whipping past them.
Tanjiro's nose twitched again.
"I smell it. It's close, right there."
His finger pointed toward a gnarled tree half-hidden in the moonlit fog.
Everything in the forest fell silent.
Then.
CRACK.
CRACK.
A sharp, brittle snap echoed through the trees.
From behind a trunk, a trembling old man staggered into view, wrinkled, tiny, and shaking so violently his knees nearly gave out beneath him. Moonlight washed over his frail form as he raised both hands in panic.
"Ah… ahh…! D–Don't come closer…!"
Tanjiro instantly stepped forward, blade raised, feet shifting into a proper stance.
"Be careful, everyone. It's definitely an Upper Rank."
No one let their guard down just because the demon looked fragile.
The old man whimpered again.
"Don't! I haven't done anything!"
Genya snorted and raised his gun without hesitation, the firearm Akira had customized for him. It wasn't flashy, just a brutal, efficient pump-action double-barrel automatic shotgun, loaded with Nichirin-infused rounds.
"Yeah, right, old man."
BANG!
In a single deafening blast, the demon's head was separated cleanly from its body, for a normal demon that would be the end.
But Tanjiro didn't relax.
Not even for a second.
He narrowed his eyes, gripping his sword tighter.
"Don't let your guard down. Upper Rank demons won't die even if their heads are severed."
As if responding to his words.
The moment the head hit the ground, its flesh writhed.
SHLRRK!
The severed head sprouted an entirely new body.
And the headless torso sprouted an entirely new head.
Two figures, young, sharp-featured, and brimming with power, stood where the old man had been.
Everyone stared, stunned.
Because the frail old man had vanished.
In his place stood two younger demons, each radiating the overwhelming presence of an Upper Rank.
Everyone was shocked by the new development, but they didn't hesitate.
They rushed in immediately.
Everyone here, aside from Genya, had fought Daki and Gyutaro; they remembered what happened with Daki and Gyutaro, when both heads were cut off at once.
That's the only way to kill them, so they thought the same thing would work here.
But then.
The newly formed demon, created from the severed head, now a youthful figure holding a leaf-like fan, swung it casually.
FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!
A monstrous green wind blast exploded outward.
It hit the group like a hurricane.
Tanjiro, Genya, and Nezuko dug their fingers into the nearest trees, clinging desperately to avoid being blasted away.
But Erika.
She took the full force of the wind head-on.
"Kyaaaa!!"
Her scream echoed as the powerful blast launched her straight into the sky, her silhouette flipping uncontrollably before disappearing into the dark night above the treetops.
If Akira were here, he would have probably joked that Erika is blasting off again, though it's the first time.
"Erika-san!!" Tanjiro shouted desperately as her silhouette vanished into the night sky.
Genya, eyes wide, stammered, "S–She's gone! What do we do now!?"
Tanjiro steadied his breath, forcing himself to focus.
"She can fly. She'll come back. We just have to buy time until then!"
The two younger-looking demons stood before them, both smiling unsettlingly.
The demon with the fan laughed loudly.
"Ha! That girl really went flying! Right, Sekido?"
The second demon, holding a staff and looking enraged, snapped back,
"There's NOTHING fun about this. All I feel is RAGE! And that goes for being paired with YOU, too, Karaku!"
Karaku shrugged lazily.
"Is that so? Well, good thing we split up then~"
Tanjiro, Genya, and Nezuko finally saw it clearly.
The red Upper Rank marks burned in their eyes, Upper Rank Four. A truly formidable foe.
Tanjiro tightened his grip on his sword.
"Let's cut off their heads together! At the same time! Hinokami Kagura—Dance!"
He dashed forward with blazing determination.
Nezuko lunged beside him, claws ready.
Genya raised his pump-action double-barrel automatic shotgun, the one Akira built, aiming carefully.
But Sekido slammed his staff into the ground.
ZAAAAAAP!!
A wave of electric lightning exploded outward, paralyzing all three instantly.
Tanjiro, Nezuko, and Genya jerked as the electricity wrapped around their bodies, locking their muscles.
Even so, Genya managed to pull the trigger.
BANG!
His shot blasted Sekido's head clean off.
The moment the head detached, the lightning dissipated, and Tanjiro moved.
"Go!"
He dashed forward, Hinokami Kagura flaming fiercely.
Nezuko kicked Karaku's fan upward, disrupting his swing.
SLASH!!
Tanjiro cut off Karaku's head in one clean strike.
But the moment he did…A chill ran down his spine.
"That was too easy.As if they wanted us to cut them…"
His fear was confirmed.
Karaku's severed head sprouted a new body, and his decapitated body sprouted a new head.
And Sekido's headless form also grew a new head, while the severed head created another body.
Two new demons formed one with wings and bird claws, and one with a spear.
Four demons stood before them. All of them had Upper Rank Four etched in their eyes, and anger, pleasure, sorrow, and joy etched in their tongues, and all of them looked younger, too.
Before Tanjiro could react, the winged demon grabbed him and soared into the sky.
At the same time, the Spear Demon thrust his spear straight into Genya's chest.
"Genya!!"
Tanjiro screamed, struggling helplessly in the demon's talons.
"Nezuko! Save Genya first!!" Tanjiro shouted from above.
Nezuko looked distressed, torn between instincts and Tanjiro's command, but she obeyed, leaping toward Genya to save him.
Meanwhile, the winged demon beat his wings harder, trying to fly even higher with Tanjiro in his grasp, then.
SHHHK!
A crimson flash streaked across the sky.
A red ribbon sliced Urogi's leg clean off at impossible speed.
"GyaaAAAH!!"
Another ribbon whipped around Tanjiro's torso, catching him mid-air before he could fall.
And then.
CRACK!!
A high-speed kick slammed straight into Urogi's head, launching the demon through the forest canopy like a broken kite.
Tanjiro twisted, eyes wide.
"Erika-san!!"
There she was, back already, hovering in mid-air, wings glittering under the moon, her Device Élagente summoned fully. Red ribbons danced around her like living serpents, holding Tanjiro safely in their grip.
On the ground, even though Genya had a spear lodged through his chest, he gritted his teeth, raised his shotgun, and.
BANG!
He blew the head off the spear demon, stabbing him, and his head exploded into demonic mist.
Sekido snarled at his companion.
"Why are you getting blasted like that, Aizetsu!?"
Before anyone could react.
Tanjiro dropped from the sky, still held by Erika's ribbons until the last second, landing right beside Karaku, who was wrestling with Nezuko.
With perfect timing.
SLASH!
Tanjiro decapitated Karaku in a clean motion.
Nezuko followed up instantly, kicking Karaku's body backward.
The flying body smashed into Aizetsu, knocking the spear demon off Genya and freeing him.
Tanjiro gasped.
"Oh no… they'll divide again!"
But to his shock.
They didn't.
All four demons only regenerated.
None of them split again.
Tanjiro's eyes widened.
"So they can only divide into four!"
Sekido glared upward. "Urogi! What are you doing!?"
Urogi, regenerating his severed leg, hissed angrily, but then he froze.
His eyes locked onto Erika.
"Oh… you're the one Muzan-sama told us to catch alive."
His voice twisted maliciously.
"Fine. I'll just cut off your wings and limbs first."
Karaku and Aizetsu regrew their heads.
Urogi regrew his legs.
Sekido recharged with rage-filled electricity.
The four demons regrouped, standing shoulder to shoulder.
Erika descended swiftly to Tanjiro, Nezuko, and Genya.
"Eat something," she ordered Genya.
Genya obeyed immediately, shoving demon flesh into his mouth, as his eyes turned black with yellow pupils, fangs grew, and hair tips turned yellow—Partial Demonization.
Tanjiro and Nezuko didn't panic; they'd gotten used to this ability during their time in the village.
The group regrouped.
It's Four vs. Four.
And then.
They all charged forward again as the battle erupted anew.
On the other side of the forest, Yoriichi Type Null Alpha thundered through the trees, each heavy footstep shaking the ground. Despite its massive size and weight, it moved with shocking speed, far faster than any machine of its proportions had any right to.
In its six hands, it now carried six Nichirin swords, replacing the wooden training blades it had used before.
Its 360-degree visual system whirred softly, glowing faintly.
Its demon detection sensors pulsed with quiet beeps, scanning, analyzing, locking onto every demonic trace in range.
Alpha was hunting.
Then.
A spike of demonic energy flared on its sensors.
Instantly, the machine shifted direction and sprinted toward the source with inhuman precision, ready to dispatch any threat that stood before it.
Deep in the forest, a wet squelch echoed.
SPLORCH.
From a porcelain jar, something crawled out.
FSSSHH!!
A grotesque, huge fish-monster with stumpy, writhing legs. The pot it had emerged from was still strapped to its back; scales dripped slime, and its fangs clicked as it sniffed the air.
But then it froze.
A shadow stood before it.
The six-armed machine, Yoriichi Type Null Alpha, tilted its head with a sharp mechanical CLACK.
Two of its arms rose in preparation.
The fish demon screeched and lunged forward.
It never stood a chance.
Before the monster could even process the movement, the pot on its back exploded, shards scattering through the trees. The demon collapsed instantly, its body dissolving into nothing.
Alpha scanned the remains, confirmed the kill, then turned toward its next target.
More jars appeared ahead.
Three… five… a dozen.
Fish demons poured from every cracked vessel and flooded the nearby clearing, snarling and gnashing teeth.
Alpha responded immediately.
All six arms unfolded at once, each blade shifting into perfect combat alignment.
The machine entered a full attack stance.
SHHK—SHHK—SHHK—!!
The forest exploded with metallic flashes.
Swords spun, rotated, stabbed, and carved with cold, mathematical precision.
Every movement was exact, and every strike was lethal.
Heads flew. Jars shattered. Bodies dissolved into steaming puddles before most of the demons even understood what they were facing.
Within seconds, the entire swarm lay in pieces at Alpha's feet.
Then.
Silence.
When the last one fell, Yoriichi Type Null Alpha, stopped as abruptly as someone had flipped a switch. Its sensors pinged. It had detected something ahead.
Something stronger.
A porcelain jar sitting crookedly on a tree trunk cracked open. From within, something slithered out.
A grotesque demon emerged, A twisted form with two mouths where eyes should be, and a huge eyeball where the mouth belonged, and another eye on the forehead.
And etched across the iris was the mark of UPPER RANK 5.
The creature smiled with lips that weren't quite lips.
"Kukuku… what a curious creature we have here," it said in a weird, delighted voice. "You are unusual."
Type Null Alpha immediately scanned the demon, analyzing its structure, energy signature, and combat intensity.
Conclusion: Upper Moon confirmed.
Gyokko oozed further out of the jar, like a creepy genie, but it had too many hands and writhing in amusement.
"You killed my pets. How delightful!" he hissed. "A strange doll… a grotesque statue… Ah, what art you shall make!"
But Alpha did not answer.
It simply stared, motionless, an emotionless machine analyzing every movement, every twitch, every ripple of demonic energy.
Then, with a mechanical click, it readied all six Nichirin swords at once.
Gyokko's smile twitched.
"Oh? You're unnerving," he muttered, irritation creeping into his voice. "I don't like that. I'll just have to destroy you."
Alpha made no sound.
Then, with a sudden burst of force.
THUD!
Yoriichi Type Null Alpha launched forward, tearing up the earth beneath it as it rushed straight at the Upper Rank demon.
Another battle was about to begin.