"Hmph, a useless axe!"
The demon touched the rapidly wriggling wound on its neck. Seeing that the newcomer wasn't a demon slayer wielding a nichirin blade, its initial shock quickly turned into a brutal, sneering grin.
"Another annoying little bug! Since you're so eager to die, I'll start with you!"
Initially, Tanjirou had aimed directly for its neck, making it mistakenly believe a Demon Slayer Corps member was attacking with a nichirin blade, which caused its shocked retreat.
Upon realizing it was just an ordinary woodcutting axe, its fear was instantly replaced by furious indignation.
Before its words even finished, its figure transformed into a bluish-grey lightning bolt, instantly closing the distance to Tanjirou! Its demonic claws, like iron pincers, accurately clamped onto Tanjirou's throat, slamming him violently to the ground!
"Ugh!"
Tanjirou was caught off guard, and the intense feeling of suffocation made the woodcutting axe slip from his hand, preventing him from swinging it at the demon again.
Just then, Nezuko, who had been suppressing her bloodthirsty urges and looking towards the shrine, suddenly trembled! She forcibly overcame her innate bloodthirsty instinct.
It seemed her brother's peril had awakened a deeper instinct within her; she forcibly turned her head.
She rushed over and landed a solid kick directly on the demon's head!
That grotesque demonic head was actually kicked clean off its neck, tumbling and landing in the mud a distance away!
The demon's headless body suddenly stiffened, and the demonic claws gripping Tanjirou also loosened, allowing Tanjirou to break free from its grasp.
An opportunity!
Lorne's gaze instantly locked onto the demonic head, still cursing on the ground, and the woodcutting axe that had slipped from Tanjirou's hand.
He watched Tanjirou sit there, stunned, without making another move.
So, without hesitation, he stumbled forward, picked up the heavy woodcutting axe, and, using the momentum of his charge and all his remaining strength, hurled the axe savagely at the demonic head!
Pfft!
The axe blade precisely pinned the still-cursing head firmly to the ground!
"A head… a head can still move even after being chopped off?!"
Tanjirou had just recovered from the suffocation when he saw the headless demonic body once again brandishing its sharp claws, reaching for him, his face filled with shock.
Nezuko stepped forward again, kicking the headless demonic body several meters away.
But the demonic body seemed to have fixated on its target, ignoring Lorne and its own pinned head, and instead furiously attacked Nezuko!
Seeing Nezuko under attack, despite being unarmed, he still unhesitatingly lunged forward, using his body to collide with the demonic body.
On the other side, beneath the pinned demonic head, flesh writhed, and a pair of tiny, baby-like arms grew out at a visible speed!
They frantically clawed at the ground, digging at the mud, trying to pull the head free from its confinement!
"Dream on!"
Lorne fumbled around nearby and found a heavy stone. He rushed to the head, ignoring the wildly flailing small hands and the vicious curses from the head's mouth. He swung the stone and slammed it several times onto the back of the axe!
"Thud! Thud!"
The heavy blows drove the axe blade deeper into the mud, wedging it against the skull, pinning it even more securely!
Then, ignoring the demon's curses and its wildly grasping small hands, he picked up the stone and began to smash it fiercely onto the pinned, still-cursing demonic head!
Lorne knew this wouldn't truly kill the demon, but each heavy blow would inflict intense pain and shock, enough to incapacitate it from trying to break free.
After an unknown amount of time, just as Lorne's arm grew sore from smashing, a dull thud of a heavy object falling echoed from a distance.
Almost simultaneously, the pinned demonic head in front of him suddenly spewed a mouthful of black blood, completely slumped, and its cursing abruptly ceased.
Lorne felt a wave of relief, stumbled back two steps from exhaustion, and leaned against a tree, gasping for breath.
"…It worked!"
It seemed either the body's severe injuries from falling off the cliff had affected this side, or the distance was too great, and the body and head had completely lost connection.
But seeing this situation, Lorne also knew that Tanjirou had likely dealt with the demon's body.
A short while later, Tanjirou returned, supporting Nezuko. Seeing the temporarily unconscious demonic head and the exhausted Lorne, he also breathed a sigh of relief.
Tanjirou's gaze fell on the demonic head, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes.
He stepped forward and slowly drew the short blade he carried for self-defense at his waist.
Tanjirou's hand gripping the blade tightened, then loosened, then tightened again, his breathing becoming short and heavy due to his inner struggle.
His kind nature made him feel a huge psychological burden about ending a "life"—even if it was a demon.
Watching Tanjirou's pained and conflicted expression, Lorne leaned against the tree and spoke in a hoarse voice:
"It's useless… Your short blade, like that axe, can't kill it."
Tanjirou suddenly looked up at him, his eyes full of confusion:
"Then… what should I do?"
Lorne raised his head, looked at the sky still shrouded in darkness, and exhaled a light mist tinged with blood.
"Wait."
"Wait for the sun to rise."
The forest before dawn was bone-chillingly cold.
Tanjirou's voice broke the pre-dawn silence, carrying an uncontrollable tremor:
"Can we only… wait for the sun to rise?"
His tone held hesitation, and also a hint of reluctance at the thought of the demon being burned alive to ashes by the sunlight.
"Is there no way to let it go without suffering, to end it in one go?"
"Don't have pity for them."
Lorne's voice was hoarse and cold, as if tempered by ice,
"When you pity it, think of the people it tore apart. It wouldn't pity them. And, no matter what you think, at least you don't have that kind of thing in your hand right now!"
Before his words finished, an old man wearing a red tengu mask approached them silently. His expression was unclear, but his scrutinizing gaze constantly swept over them.
It's him… Urokodaki Sakonji. The moment Lorne saw this old man, coupled with the current plot, he basically confirmed his identity.
Urokodaki Sakonji, like Tanjirou, possessed a keen, special sense of smell, allowing him to discern human emotions through scent and distinguish demons disguised as humans.
Watching the old man, who was only discovered when he was close to them, Lorne couldn't help but marvel that he was indeed the former Water Hashira; even in his old age, his strength was not weak.
Urokodaki Sakonji's gaze first fell on Lorne, his voice calm as still water:
"You know about creatures like demons, and you understand the sun's effect on them. Have you ever encountered a demon?"
Lorne met the scrutinizing gaze and responded candidly:
"You could say that! I've heard rumors, and I've seen some tragedies with my own eyes."
Lorne responded ambiguously, but without any falsehoods, as he had indeed seen demons, albeit through a screen.
This statement didn't make Urokodaki Sakonji's special nose detect the scent of a lie. He nodded, didn't press further, and turned his gaze to Tanjirou.
Tanjirou looked at the suddenly appearing old man and asked:
"Excuse me, sir… do you have a way to kill him directly?"
"Don't ask others."
Urokodaki's tone suddenly became stern,
"Why don't you use your own mind to think?"
Tanjirou was startled by the reprimand. He looked again at the demonic head pinned to the ground and considered the idea of smashing it completely with a stone.
But that innate kindness, stemming from his very core, prevented him from inflicting such cruelty on a life that was about to turn to ash.
The hesitant and compassionate aura emanating from him caused Urokodaki's brows to furrow slightly beneath his mask.
It made him feel that this child recommended by Giyu… was too weak.