Before any demon could answer, a familiar voice cut through the chorus like a blade through silk.
"Violence is not our nature, children. It's our cage."
Auburn hair caught the phosphorescent light as a figure stepped from the deeper shadows. Nezuko's breath caught in recognition.
Akira moved with the same fluid grace she'd displayed at headquarters. But here in this place of darkness, her appearance carried subtle wrongness.
Her amber eyes reflected light like polished metal. When she smiled, her canine teeth seemed slightly too sharp.
"You," Nezuko breathed.
Recognition flooded through her like ice water.
"But you're supposed to help my brother."
"I am helping him." Akira's voice carried that same hypnotic quality Nezuko had noticed during her introduction ceremony. But amplified until it resonated through bone and blood. "I'm showing him the truth about what demons can become."
"I chose to be human!"
"Did you?" Akira stepped closer.
Her movement was predatory despite its seeming casualness.
"Or did you simply accept the cage they built for you?"
The gathered demons pressed closer. They formed a circle around Nezuko with coordinated precision that spoke of practiced organization.
Their eyes reflected the fungal light like stars in a poisoned sky. When they breathed, the sound created an unsettling harmony.
"You've been taught that hunger defines you," Akira continued.
Her voice took on the cadence of a teacher addressing devoted students.
"That killing is your purpose. But what if your true nature was stolen, not revealed?"
One demon—its features unnervingly human despite the claws and fangs—raised a hand.
Like a student seeking permission to speak.
"Teacher, what about the slayers? They hunt us."
"Because they fear what we represent—evolution beyond their understanding." Akira's smile turned cold, calculating. "They've built their entire identity on the lie that we're mindless beasts."
"But we were human once," another interjected.
Its voice carried genuine confusion.
"We remember our families, our lives before."
"Exactly." Akira's eyes gleamed with triumphant fervor. "And humans can become demons. So why not the reverse? Why not something better than either?"
Nezuko felt herself nodding along. The logic was seductive despite the horror clawing at her consciousness.
The reasoning made sense in the twisted way that all dangerous ideas made sense. Built on truth but leading toward darkness.
---
The cave system seemed to expand around her.
Her consciousness jumped between chambers as urgent whispers spread through interconnected tunnels. Dozens of demons moved with military precision.
Carrying messages. Reporting intelligence. Coordinating activities with the efficiency of a well-trained army.
"Find the Hashira with the scar," Akira's voice echoed across multiple chambers simultaneously.
Her words carried the weight of absolute command.
"Kamado Tanjiro. Watch him. Learn from him."
"The one who saved his sister?" a demon asked from somewhere in the network.
"The same. He's partnered with me now. Perfect for gathering intelligence on Corps weaknesses."
"What about the sister? The one who changed?"
Nezuko's dream-consciousness recoiled as attention focused on her. Dozens of red eyes turning in her direction with hungry interest.
"She's the key to everything," Akira's voice carried predatory satisfaction that made Nezuko's skin crawl. "Her transformation proves our philosophy correct."
"And if she resists?"
"She won't. The network calls to its own. She'll hear us eventually."
Nezuko tried to scream, to warn someone, to break free from the nightmare.
But her dream-voice produced only demon growls that harmonized perfectly with the chorus around her.
The sound of her own inhuman voice sent terror through her consciousness, but the demons around her nodded in approval. As if she'd finally spoken in her native tongue. As if she was coming home.