Chapter 50: Superficial Guy
The battle on the other side was equally intense, but presented an unusual situation.
Muichiro Tokito's battle with Gyokko had a feeling of being pushed to the brink of death only to find new life, and the final result was Muichiro Tokito's complete rebirth and recovery of his memories.
However, this side was temporarily caught in a bitter struggle.
As an Upper Rank demon, Hantengu, who ranked even higher than Gyokko, seemed to have unique abilities but had not displayed overly powerful strength.
It was clear that even if Tanjiro and his companions combined their strength at this point, they probably wouldn't be stronger than Muichiro Tokito.
This must be a suppression of his power!
Readers, from a God's-eye view, arrived at this answer.
From the attitudes among the Upper Ranks, it could be seen that the ranking of the Upper Ranks was absolute, and Izumi Masamune had no intention of being 'unexpected' in this regard, such as a setting where 'he looks like he's ranked 10th, but he's actually hidden his strength and is even stronger than number 1.'
Hantengu's four clones—Sekido, Karaku, Aizetsu, and Urogi—held a certain advantage with their immortal bodies that couldn't be killed by decapitation, but they were consistently unable to win the battle.
At this moment, Tanjiro received a boost from Nezuko's Blood Demon Art, 'Exploding Blood.' His nichirin blade ignited with flames, and as he swung it, in the memories of Muzan's cells within Hantengu, it seemed to overlap with the figure of [that man].
"Why is it [that man] again? How deep of a memory did he leave for Kibutsuji Muzan? Could it be that he was severely tormented before? Kibutsuji Muzan is really going to be Muzan'd..."
Eriri couldn't help but complain, then continued to flip through the pages.
Thanks to his innate keen sense of smell, Tanjiro finally found Hantengu's true body, grasping the key to victory.
With Genya Shinazugawa's cooperation, he finally had a chance to slay Hantengu's main body, 'Zohakuten,' but ultimately did not achieve complete success.
Sekido, sensing his main body was in extreme danger, directly absorbed the power of the other three clones and evolved into the even more powerful 'Zohakuten.'
"He looks quite handsome, but what he says... tsk tsk."
Eriri commented.
She saw Zohakuten's illustration, with devil horns on his head, a somewhat refined face in some respects, and a thunder drum wheel on his back, giving him an imposing aura.
However, what Zohakuten said made her feel very speechless.
Zohakuten actually claimed that Tanjiro and the others, who wanted to slay 'Zohakuten,' were 'evil people who harm the weak.'
This was truly hilarious.
This was simply a fallacy!
Even the readers felt this way, let alone Tanjiro.
However, Zohakuten's power was undeniable, and he immediately displayed his true strength, effortlessly using all the Blood Demon Arts of his previous clones!
He could even use 'Wood Release' and summon wooden dragons.
In the blink of an eye, Tanjiro was about to be annihilated there.
Fortunately, the Love Pillar, Mitsuri Kanroji, arrived in time to save them and began to fight Zohakuten.
After experiencing a similar near-death awakening and a flashback, she also finally activated her demon slayer Mark and engaged in a fierce battle with Zohakuten.
Tanjiro also finally found an opportunity to go and slay Hantengu's main body!
But he immediately faced a human choice.
The sun was about to rise!
Hantengu was desperate to kill and escape, while Nezuko behind him was about to be exposed to the sun...
"Damn it, it's not going to be Nezuko, is it!"
Eriri cursed.
Muichiro Tokito had already survived, and Mitsuri Kanroji seemed fine, but suddenly the target of the 'werewolf game' shifted to the beloved Nezuko!
Of course, she would be nervous.
Because the Flame Pillar really did die, what if that Chihiro guy went crazy and wanted to kill his sister to prove his path? It wasn't impossible!
Such a human choice...
At this moment, they suddenly wished Tanjiro could be a little more selfish, turn around, hug Nezuko, and shield her from the sun.
As a result, it was Nezuko who made this difficult decision, kicking Tanjiro out.
"Ah, did she really die? Just kidding... Sure enough, I knew it, how could that Chihiro guy dare to lay a hand on Nezuko! He'd probably want me to send him razor blades to his door!"
Eriri's right hand trembled slightly as she turned to the next chapter, then breathed a sigh of relief, beginning to mumble again.
The illustration on this page specifically used a color drawing, with the cute Nezuko bathed in sunlight, opening her mouth with a flower-like smile.
From the text description above, it could be inferred that this was a greeting—Good morning.
Readers were satisfied with such a greeting.
If she had turned into a pile of ash, someone might have actually called the editorial department to report it.
However, this scene was not the final ending of this volume.
The ending of Volume 4 of demon slayer was set on the ecstatic smile of Kibutsuji Muzan.
Before his death, Hantengu informed him that Nezuko had overcome the sun.
This also indicated that the Demon Slayer Corps finally had the qualification to be noticed by Kibutsuji Muzan.
And next, it seemed there was only one final battle left!
"Huh? Is that all... Strange, this pace, could it be nearing the end? Hmm, that seems right, the Lower Ranks were long ago laid off by the scummy boss, Upper Rank Six rose in the last volume, and two more Upper Ranks died in this volume. It seems the scummy boss's side doesn't have enough combat power anymore, so it really is time to wrap things up, but... it's so fast, it really feels like it's ending in the blink of an eye, that Chihiro guy is updating too diligently!"
Eriri thought dazedly, then fell into a deep sleep.
The next day.
Izumi Chihiro noticed a lot of new fan comments under his Twitter post.
"It seems everyone reads very fast. They just bought it yesterday and finished it in one night. Did all these people stay up late?"
He thought to himself.
After all, it's not like web novels where you can speed-read; the reading speed for physical light novels is usually a bit slower and more meticulous, with readers putting more thought into it.
"Let me see what everyone is curious about."
Izumi Chihiro opened the comment section, ready to check out his fans' thoughts.
["Please, Izumi-sensei, could you ask Ero-manga-sensei when he will finally debut like Kashiwagi Eri-sensei?"]
["Izumi-sensei, give up, you're not worthy of Ero-manga-sensei. He has a vast sea of stars ahead of him!"]
["From today onwards, I'm only supporting Ero-manga-sensei! Izumi-sensei is just an accessory."]
["That man named Yoriichi looks really impressive! Could he be the founder of Sun Breathing? And did he beat the scumbag boss before?"]
["The experience of this volume is also good. Although it's not as exciting as the previous one, I'll give it full marks for the fan service."]
...
"Are there really so few people discussing the plot? These guys! They used to disparage Sagiri, but now they've suddenly changed their tune... Betraying for lewd pictures, ha! As expected, they're all shallow people."
Izumi Chihiro let out a cold laugh upon seeing such comments.