Chapter 78: Fear
Enjoy~~~
In an unknown corner of the hell known as the Infinity Castle, where the laws of gravity and logic no longer existed, two shadows dashed at blinding speed through twisted wooden corridors.
It was Tokito Muichiro, the Mist Hashira, and Zen'ichiro, the user of Light Breathing and Ren's disciple, running at the fastest speed they could manage.
Their focus was entirely on avoiding the sudden obstacles appearing from nowhere and trying not to lose their path amidst the constant and irritating interference of Nakime's biwa.
They were trying to find any other Hashira, or even any possible exit, instead of wasting their energy fighting the hordes of lower-ranked demons multiplying everywhere.
"This place is like some insane maze!" Zen'ichiro shouted while jumping aside to avoid a wall that suddenly rose from the floor. "That woman playing the instrument... she's manipulating distances and directions! Every time we feel like we're getting closer to a familiar aura, our route gets completely changed. She's intentionally separating us!"
"Yeah... very annoying," Tokito replied with his usual coldness while slicing apart a demon that tried to pounce on them without even slowing down. "The paths are changing too fast... I can't determine the correct direction."
"We need to find the others, Tokito-sama!" Zen'ichiro continued, his eyes watching every corner. "Do you remember Ren-sama's strict orders before the battle? 'Never fight an Upper Moon alone unless you want to die pointlessly and stupidly.' Muzan knows that, which is why he's trying to isolate us and turn us into easy prey for the Upper Moons!"
Tokito silently nodded. Zen'ichiro's analysis made sense. There was no need to fight the Hashira together... killing them while separated was far easier.
After running and changing paths for some time, they suddenly reached a dead end. Tokito did not hesitate and leapt high into the air to scout the area. His clear eyes quickly scanned the surroundings. The end of the path resembled a massive unfinished wooden bridge... or perhaps half of it had been destroyed.
While suspended in the air, he saw the absurd scene around him: endless buildings and pathways stretching in every direction, and directly below... there was an enormous traditional Japanese paper door (shoji).
The moment Tokito and Zen'ichiro—who jumped after him—laid eyes on the giant shoji door, it slowly began to open with an unpleasant creaking sound.
"It's a trap! Tokito-sama, we need to change our cour—!" Zen'ichiro shouted midair.
But before he could finish, the air around them violently trembled. A loud and horrifying sound pierced through their eardrums.
They looked upward and saw a gigantic demon nearly three meters tall, grotesque in appearance, its face covered in mouths and its body wrapped in distorted muscles, standing upside down on a ceiling above them.
Tokito frowned, but before he could finish warning Zen'ichiro, the giant demon opened every mouth and roared.
ROOOOOOOAR!
A terrifying sonic wave exploded forth like an invisible storm. Tokito barely managed to cover his ears with his hands, narrowly avoiding ruptured eardrums. The massive shockwave caused them to lose balance in midair and sent them plummeting uncontrollably toward the giant open shoji door below.
During the fall, Tokito quickly turned and grabbed Zen'ichiro by the collar after the latter briefly lost consciousness from the force of the soundwave, preparing himself for the worst. The door fully opened, and the two fell into pitch-black darkness.
During the long fall, they passed through countless other doors opening and closing. With every sound of the biwa, the world and buildings continuously shifted and rotated around them.
Zen'ichiro suddenly woke up, gasping as he regained consciousness. Looking around at the freefall and darkness, he deeply frowned and realized the bitter truth. They had completely fallen into the trap. They were being dragged into the lion's den against their will.
Moments later, they saw a faint yellow light below. In the next second, they fell through an opening in the ceiling of an enormous room.
To avoid death or broken bones from falling at such a height, the two immediately coordinated flawlessly; Tokito pushed his feet against Zen'ichiro's in midair, and from the impact, each launched themselves in opposite directions.
They rolled across the smooth wooden floor and rose the next instant with complete focus, backs to one another, swords drawn and ready for battle.
"Welcome... Demon Slayers."
A rough, deep, terrifying voice filled with dignity, calmness, and absolute power echoed through the room. The sound alone made the air feel heavy.
Both instantly looked toward the source of the voice at the end of the vast room lit by dim yellow light. There... they saw him.
The moment Zen'ichiro looked at him, his eyes widened, and he whispered with a trembling voice:
"We're... dead..."
Their bodies began trembling uncontrollably. Fear... fear is a basic instinct in humans and every living creature to warn them of danger.
Through harsh training and facing death repeatedly, a warrior can sometimes suppress or ignore fear. But before this being... fear screamed within every cell of their bodies.
Kokushibo, the Upper Moon One with the terrifying six eyes, looked calmly at the two.
He began speaking slowly, as though thinking aloud:
"A Hashira... at such a young age. It is... impressive. However..."
Kokushibo closed some of his eyes and swallowed.
"However, you do not compare at all... to the one called Yukihara Ren."
His gaze focused on Tokito's white blade.
"From the color of your sword and your movements... you likely use Mist Breathing."
Then his gaze shifted to Zen'ichiro.
"And the other one... uses a breathing style derived from Thunder Breathing? Hmm..."
Kokushibo shook his head with slight disappointment.
"The strength of a breathing style weakens... the further it is derived from an older style. You should have trained in the original Thunder Breathing and mastered it to its utmost limits alone... then... perhaps..."
While speaking, he began walking with silent steps. The next moment, without warning or visible movement, he stood directly before the completely frozen Zen'ichiro.
Kokushibo calmly finished his sentence while looking down at Zen'ichiro's trembling eyes:
"...perhaps... you would not die this quickly."
After saying this, Kokushibo simply and coldly placed his hand on the hilt of his flesh sword.
For Zen'ichiro, his fear had reached its absolute limit. Every cell in his body screamed at him to run... to move... to raise his sword and defend himself! But he was paralyzed. All he could do was freeze in place, eyes wide, as Upper Moon One prepared to draw his terrifying blade and cut him down.
"I'm finished... this is where I die," Zen'ichiro realized, closing his eyes in surrender.
The memories of his life flashed before his eyes in a split second. Thoughts of his little sister waiting for him to return home... thoughts of his friend and rival Sakurai... Hakouji... and the rest of his comrades in the Corps. Zen'ichiro felt immense sadness, unwilling to die like this.
And then... a clear memory flashed before him.
It was during an ordinary training day with Ren-sama. Zen'ichiro had just woken up, and after stepping outside the wooden cabin, a breathtaking sight greeted him. Mount Sagiri, covered in pure snow, towering trees, and the sun rising behind the peak. The mountain was not frightening as usual; it overflowed with the enchanting beauty of nature.
And before his eyes was the strangest and warmest sight:
Sakurai sat on a nearby rock, clutching his stomach while laughing mockingly with tears in his eyes.
Meanwhile, in the middle, Yukihara Ren had pinned Hakouji to the ground and sat comfortably on his back while tying his arms with a thick rope, mocking him with a wide grin.
"Let me go, you little bastard! I'll crush you!" Hakouji shouted and trembled, his face red with anger and embarrassment like a volcano about to erupt.
"Ah, look at the angry kitten! Do you need some milk, Hakouji-chan?" Ren laughed carefree.
That boy, who carried the immense responsibility of being the strongest Hashira, laughed innocently with a beautiful smile.
In the memory, Ren suddenly turned toward Zen'ichiro, stopped laughing for a moment, and while looking at him with his emerald eyes, smiled calmly and said:
"This isn't the time to dwell on memories... come back to your senses... Zen'ichiro."
"Huh?" Zen'ichiro was startled inside his mind.
The next instant, Zen'ichiro violently opened his eyes and found himself thrown backward away from Upper Moon One!
Standing before Kokushibo, who had already drawn his sword and was about to slash, was Tokito Muichiro. Despite his small frame, Tokito stood there challengingly, intercepting the blade's path, expressionless and perfectly calm.
Kokushibo looked at Tokito with slight surprise.
"You overcame your fear of me?... Impressive."
Tokito coldly replied:
"No... I think I simply forgot how to be afraid."
Kokushibo was shocked by this cold response, just as Zen'ichiro was. But in the next second, Upper Moon One's eyes widened slightly. Tokito suddenly vanished from before him!
The sound of clashing blades echoed through the room. Rather, Kokushibo had moved elsewhere in the room, and Tokito attacked him ferociously.
Kokushibo blocked the strikes while Tokito continued bombarding him with extremely rapid attacks, making his white blade appear like a dancing beam of light while Kokushibo calmly parried them.
Meanwhile, Zen'ichiro's breathing grew heavy as he lay on the floor.
"Nii-chan? What are you doing... will you stay behind... forever?"
He didn't know what happened to him, but he saw a hallucination before his eyes. His eleven-year-old little sister, with black braids and teary eyes, stood before him looking at him with concern and disappointment.
Fear is a natural instinct, and nobody can simply erase it. But in extremely rare cases... when facing life-or-death situations, and when fear becomes the only obstacle between you and protecting those you love, the human mind may deceive itself.
The mind creates illusions or completely severs emotions so that fear can no longer be recognized. To fear so much that you forget how to fear... to fear so much that your perception breaks and you become a machine built only for survival!
Zen'ichiro slowly rose to his feet. His eyes became hazy and lifeless, his pupils narrowing before glowing with bright golden light. The air around him trembled, and golden sparks wrapped around his kimono and sword, accompanied by a buzzing sound like muffled thunder.
He whispered in a mechanical, emotionless voice:
"Light Breathing — First Form: Flash."
All expression vanished from Zen'ichiro's face as he entered his own world, seeing everything in slow motion. The next instant, he transformed into a zigzagging golden flash.
Zen'ichiro appeared directly behind Kokushibo!
At that moment, Kokushibo was about to inflict a severe wound on Tokito after parrying three consecutive strikes from the boy.
Sensing Zen'ichiro behind him, Kokushibo immediately and without fully turning used Moon Breathing. With a swift, elegant, beautiful, and calm draw of his blade, he spun rapidly, creating the image of a brush slowly painting a crescent line across a canvas.
Random crescent blades erupted with the attack. Tokito agilely leapt away to avoid them, but Zen'ichiro, who was charging forward...
"Hmm... fast," Kokushibo murmured.
Upper Moon One looked at the tiny shallow cut in his flesh blade. Turning, he looked at the two. Zen'ichiro had retreated and now stood beside Tokito, surrounding him together.
Kokushibo spoke:
"Your teamwork is... excellent. However..."
BOOOOM!
Dust exploded through the room. In the next second, Kokushibo and Tokito vanished! They appeared at another corner of the room exchanging strikes.
Zen'ichiro instantly turned toward them, and without hesitation or expression, lowered himself into a ready stance before once again using the First Form of Light Breathing. In a zigzagging golden flash, he appeared behind Kokushibo again.
At that moment, Kokushibo unleashed an enormous slashing attack at Tokito. Tokito blocked Upper Moon One's strike with his blade at the last possible second, but due to the demon's terrifying physical strength surpassing humans, Tokito was blasted backward and pinned into the wooden wall while Kokushibo choked him with his free hand, lifting him off the ground.
At that moment, Zen'ichiro appeared behind Kokushibo to save Tokito. But Kokushibo did not even turn around. He merely said coldly:
"Do not annoy me."
With imperceptible speed, Kokushibo swung his sword upward behind his back. A giant crescent-shaped purple slash formed, nearly cutting Zen'ichiro in half.
But Zen'ichiro, in that fearless state, did not panic. Without hesitation, he twisted and bent his body in a horrifyingly unnatural way midair, avoiding the slash by mere millimeters, suffering only a shallow wound on his shoulder.
Using the force of his spin, Zen'ichiro struck at Kokushibo's blade, but the latter smiled faintly in mockery and lowered his sword, blocking Zen'ichiro's descending strike.
The blades collided.
BOOOOOOM!
A massive explosion of force erupted where Zen'ichiro stood. Had he not reacted instantly and retreated while absorbing the shock, he would have become part of the shattered crater in the wooden floor.
But the price was severe; Zen'ichiro's sword was heavily damaged, and the muscles in both his arms tore as he dropped to one knee, panting heavily.
Zen'ichiro stared calmly with dead eyes at Kokushibo, who had not moved from his place while pinning Tokito against the wall with one hand. Zen'ichiro was in a terrible position; with his current strength and damaged blade, he could not approach Kokushibo. But he had to... or Tokito would be strangled to death.
"What is your name... young Hashira?" Kokushibo suddenly asked while loosening his grip slightly on Tokito's throat so he could speak.
Tokito frowned, his face red from suffocation, but he thought quickly.
"This is a chance... a chance to distract him and give Zen'ichiro time to recover and attack."
So he answered hoarsely:
"Tokito... Muichiro."
Upon hearing Tokito's name, Kokushibo fell silent. He thought for a moment, looked at the boy's features, then slowly nodded.
"I have confirmed it... you are from my bloodline. My blood... flows through your veins."
Hearing this, Tokito was utterly shaken. Him? Descended from this monster?!
But at that moment, from the corner of his eye, he saw Zen'ichiro taking an ultimate attack stance despite his injuries and gave him a faint nod.
Thus, Tokito looked directly into Kokushibo's six eyes and said with a trembling yet hatred-filled voice while gripping the arm choking him:
"It has been far too long since then, monster... not a single drop of your blood... flows through my veins anymore!"
The moment he said that, Tokito's eyes sharpened like blades. Gritting his teeth with immense force, a red cloud-like mark slowly appeared on his cheek — the Demon Slayer Mark.
Seeing the mark appear so quickly, Kokushibo frowned. But before he could speak, Tokito's grip suddenly exploded with strength, enough to force Kokushibo's loosened hand away from his throat while Tokito's entire body trembled from heat and pressure.
Witnessing this rebellion and sudden power, Kokushibo stepped back and released a deep sigh that shook the room.
"Such tremendous resolve... Demon Slayers," Kokushibo said, his voice growing colder and deeper. "I will abandon my respect for you... and truly fight you... now."
Hearing this, and feeling the pure aura of death exploding from Kokushibo, Tokito sensed danger unlike anything he had ever experienced before. He shouted in panic:
"Zen'ichiro! Stop! Don't come any clo—!"
But... it was already too late. Zen'ichiro had already launched himself forward.
Darkness swallowed the area from the sheer speed of the counterattack. And all that could be seen... was blood flying and scattering through the air.
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