Lexon stood by the river, murmuring, "Where is Tanjiro..."
He briefly recalled Tanjiro's scent in his mind, and with a twitch of his nose, his keen sense of smell activated.
The scents of tens of thousands of creatures on the entire mountain seemed to rush into Lexon's nose in an instant.
The scent of a demon he had never smelled before... the scent of a person he had never smelled before... the scent of small animals... Shinobu Kocho's scent... Nezuko's scent... and Tanjiro's scent.
"Found him."
'His condition doesn't seem right.'
Lexon felt that Tanjiro's scent was a bit off, somewhat weak.
'It seems that even though he's much stronger than in the original story, he still can't beat the Lower Rank Five, Rui!'
His breathing grew heavier.
"Total Concentration."
Lexon's figure gradually became illusory and vanished from the spot.
"Water Breathing, Third Form: Flowing Dance!"
Tanjiro swung his Nichirin Sword, kicking up a stream of water, and with skillful steps, he closed in on the distant demon.
That demon had white hair and skin, its eye sockets were entirely red, with white pupils and black irises. On its cheeks were several connected red dots. It had the body of a child, and the characters for "Lower Five" were engraved in its eyes.
This was the Lower Rank Five, Rui.
Several white spider threads bloomed from Rui's hands and shot towards Tanjiro. Tanjiro relied on his footwork to dodge the cutting threads time and time again. The ones he couldn't dodge were severed by the slashes that accompanied his steps.
This was a much better situation than in the original story, where he couldn't cut the threads and his sword was broken in an instant.
"Tsk."
Rui curled his lip. His hands turned bright red as blood flowed down and was injected into the blooming threads. The white threads suddenly turned red.
When Tanjiro's Nichirin Sword struck the now-crimson threads, a chip suddenly appeared on the blade.
'The sword chipped... I can't cut through! These threads are so hard!'
He ducked in an instant, narrowly avoiding a horizontal sweep of the threads, but his Nichirin Sword also broke with a crack.
"It broke..." Tanjiro's face was filled with astonishment.
'What do I do...'
Tanjiro retreated, positioning himself in front of Nezuko, who had been cut by a thread moments ago due to a lapse in attention.
The Nichirin Sword was an incredibly important weapon for a demon slayer. A broken Nichirin Sword meant that one's combat effectiveness would be greatly affected.
Flowing Dance consumed a great deal of stamina. Tanjiro had wanted to close in on the demon at high speed, giving it no room to release its threads, but he had failed, and his sword had been broken instead.
His haori and Demon Slayer uniform were already tattered from the threads, and his stamina was gradually hitting rock bottom.
'Think!'
Tanjiro held the broken sword, his mind racing, searching for a way out.
'Hurry up and think of a way!'
"Let your sister become my sister!" Rui suddenly extended an arm towards Tanjiro.
"Impossible!" Tanjiro responded with an agitated expression.
"Then go and die," Rui said coldly.
He spread his ten fingers, like a spider, and suddenly, many red threads shot out from his ten fingertips at extreme speed, rushing towards Tanjiro and Nezuko.
The countless threads weaved into a large net in mid-air, enveloping Tanjiro and Nezuko. Once it closed in, it would definitely cut them into fine pieces of flesh and blood.
"Blood Demon Art: Cutting Thread Cage."
'Am I going to die?'
Tanjiro was suddenly a little flustered. He couldn't even cut these red threads when his Nichirin Sword was intact, let alone with a broken one.
'I'm going to die...'
Involuntarily, all his past memories flashed through Tanjiro's mind like a slideshow.
'Is this a revolving lantern...'
'Father...'
Memories of his father surfaced in Tanjiro's mind.
In the snowy weather, his father, dressed in ceremonial robes, dancing and offering a sacrifice to the fire god...
"Our family works with fire. So that we won't get injured or encounter disasters, at the beginning of the year, we offer a dance to the fire god as a prayer."
A conversation with his mother appeared.
"There is a way to breathe. A way to breathe so that you won't get tired no matter how much you move..."
A conversation with his father, who was lying on his bedding, appeared.
These memories had clearly been forgotten.
"Breathe, Tanjiro."
His father's heavy voice once again echoed in his mind.
"Hinokami Kagura!"
The circulation of Tanjiro's Water Breathing came to an abrupt halt, switching to the breathing technique his father had taught him in his memories.
On the broken blade, flames instantly appeared. They were flames more brilliant and gentle than those of Flame Breathing.
"Dance!"
In an instant, the flames cut through the crimson thread prison that was about to contract.
In a flash, Tanjiro charged towards Rui.
'I can't stop, or the side effects of switching from Water Breathing to Hinokami Kagura will kick in. I must kill him immediately! I can't stop!'
His heart was filled with the wish to slay the demon before him.
"What?" For a moment, Rui was frightened by Tanjiro's power-up. He retreated at high speed, and midway, he wove a cat's cradle with red threads between his hands and unleashed it at Tanjiro.
"Blood Demon Art: Murderous Eye Basket."
But the red threads were as fragile as ordinary string. The moment they touched Tanjiro's flames, they were instantly burned and severed.
"Damn it!" A look of panic appeared on Rui's face. Just as he was about to make his next move, Tanjiro, with his broken, flaming blade, was already closing in on him.
'I'm going to succeed!'
Tanjiro tightened his grip on the hilt, and the remaining section of the blade was about to swing down violently on Rui's neck.
"Wait."
Suddenly, a voice that felt familiar to Tanjiro rang out.
Lexon's figure suddenly appeared beside Tanjiro, grabbing his arm and stopping his downward swing.
But even so, Rui's head still flew into the air.
"Why?"
Just as Tanjiro was about to ask Lexon's meaning, he saw several threads attached to Rui's flying head.
He immediately understood. 'So even if I had cut him, it would have been useless?'
'But Lexon is here, so it should be...'
Holding his trust in Lexon, Tanjiro's body slowly collapsed.
The side effects of switching breathing styles had left him with no strength to move.
"Good work."
Lexon lifted his foot to catch Tanjiro, said a casual word, and then casually tossed both Inosuke and Tanjiro to Nezuko, who had now fully recovered.
In reality, Lexon had arrived long ago but hadn't made a move.
He knew that this part of the story was a crucial moment for Tanjiro to awaken his Hinokami Kagura breathing technique and that he couldn't just interrupt it.
So he didn't intervene right away, only secretly preparing to save Tanjiro if his life was truly in danger.
As for why he stopped Tanjiro's final blow, it was simply because Lexon coveted Rui's Blood Demon Art.
Although in the original story, Rui had detached his own head in advance, so Tanjiro's blow hadn't landed, Lexon couldn't guarantee that everything would happen as described in the story. After all, the fact that Rui hadn't reacted and hit Tanjiro with a few threads before being cut was already a deviation from the original plot.
And the power of Tanjiro's slash was indeed quite intimidating. Lexon was afraid that he would kill Rui with this blow, so he blocked it in advance.
"And who are you?" The threads contracted, and Rui's head returned to his severed neck. "Why did you block his sword?"
Rui sensed the aura of the person before him. He was definitely human, and yet, why was there the scent of a demon on his waist?
"It might be a little dishonorable to say it out loud," Lexon said, not knowing how to answer.
'Should I say it's for your Blood Demon Art?'
"Then go and die!" A look of anger appeared on Rui's face. The panic he felt from almost being killed just now was an unpleasant memory.
Threads once again surged from his fingertips.
But the next moment, Rui found that the person before him had vanished.
"Behind you." Lexon patted his shoulder from behind.
[Sign in]
[Sign-in Successful]
[Obtained "Blood Demon Art of Lower Rank Five Rui": Usable in demonized state. All of Rui's Blood Demon Arts can be used.]
Seeing the prompt, Lexon felt a trace of surprise. When he signed in on Gyokko, the Blood Demon Arts were given one by one, and sometimes he would even get some inexplicable things. This time, with Rui, his luck had struck, and he had gotten the whole package at once.
Hearing the voice from behind, Rui's expression froze, and he shot forward.
'Such speed!'
He couldn't help but be shocked. His anger felt as if it had been doused with a basin of cold water, and he instantly calmed down.
"Since I got the whole package, I don't need you anymore."
Just as Rui was about to turn and attack with his threads behind him, a cold voice suddenly came from the side.
"Water Breathing, I don't know what form, anyway, it's just a slash."
Immediately after, Rui heard the sound of a Nichirin Sword being drawn and an extremely insulting phrase to a demon.
Then Rui felt his consciousness sink into darkness.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]