Former Lower Rank Six, Kyogai

Zenitsu and Shoichi were flung by the force of the spatial shift into a dusty storeroom thick with cobwebs. Zenitsu landed in a daze, and when he finally managed to get up, he found that Tanjiro and Moyu were gone. Only Shoichi remained beside him, pale with fright and clutching the hem of his clothes.

"Waaah! We got separated after all! I knew it! That bastard Moyu! And Tanjiro too! They left me alone in a hellhole like this!" Zenitsu clutched his head and screamed, fear threatening to swallow him whole. The chill in the air, the smell of decay, and the constant drumming that seemed to come from a different direction each time all made his scalp prickle.

"Zenitsu... my brother..." Shoichi's voice trembled, thick with tears. "Can we... can we still find my brother?"

Zenitsu looked at Shoichi's fearful eyes, with their glimmer of hope, and swallowed the discouraging words on the tip of his tongue. He remembered Tanjiro rushing in without hesitation to save someone, and Moyu saying, "Protect yourself, and keep an eye on this kid too. I believe in you." He gritted his teeth. Though his legs were still shaking, he forced a smile uglier than a cry. "O-of course we can! Just follow me... D-don't be scared! I'm really strong, you know!" Even he didn't believe it.

The two felt their way through the labyrinthine mansion. Zenitsu's extraordinary hearing had become a double-edged sword. He could hear demons whispering in the distance and claws scraping against the floor, and he could even faintly discern the patterns of spatial shifts represented by the different drumbeats. But that flood of information, tangled with his fear, nearly drove him to a breakdown. He could only rely on instinct, moving as best he could toward the faint sound of human breathing and the smell of blood, hoping to find A Qing.

But misfortune caught up with them. As they passed through a narrow corridor, a drum sounded and walls suddenly sealed off the paths ahead and behind them. Sliding doors on both sides flew open, and five Demon Servants of different shapes and ferocious appearance swarmed out with sinister grins, surrounding them!

"Hee-hee, two more snacks!"

"Such soft, tender flesh. They look delicious!"

"Did that yellow-haired brat piss his pants? Pathetic!"

A foul stench filled the air, thick with sinister demonic energy. The five demons slowly closed in from different directions, blocking every escape route.

"I-it's over..." Zenitsu's mind went blank, and the sheer terror made it almost impossible to breathe. His hand shook so badly around his Nichirin Blade that he couldn't even take a starting stance. He knew only one move, and he'd only half mastered it. It was enough to scare people under normal circumstances, but facing so many demons for real... he was dead! And he'd get this kid killed too!

Shoichi collapsed to the floor in terror and shut his eyes in despair.

One demon lunged first, its claws aimed straight at Zenitsu's face! Zenitsu instinctively shut his eyes and raised his blade to block, his movements stiff and clumsy.

Clang! With a sharp ring, Zenitsu and his sword were knocked flying, and he slammed hard into the wall, a metallic taste rising in his throat. His Nichirin Blade flew from his hand and fell some distance away.

"Zenitsu!" Shoichi cried.

"So weak! Hahaha!" The demons burst into laughter and approached even more boldly.

The second demon, the third... attacks came one after another. Zenitsu could only roll and dodge in a sorry state, suffering several more wounds as blood stained his yellow haori red. He felt his consciousness fading. In his ears were the demons' mocking laughter, Shoichi's cries, and his own weakening heartbeat.

"Am I... going to die here..."

"Grandpa... I'm sorry..."

"I really am... a useless loser..."

"I just want... to sleep..."

At the very peak of terror and despair, Zenitsu's mind could bear no more and finally broke. His eyes lost focus, and his body went limp, collapsing to the floor as though all life had left him.

"Haha! Scared to death?"

"How boring. Is he finished already?"

The demons sneered and gathered around, ready to enjoy their "feast."

But just as one demon's claws were about to touch Zenitsu—

Something changed!

Zenitsu, who had been lying limp, suddenly sprang up in a way that defied the laws of physics! His eyes remained tightly shut, but dazzling golden lightning erupted around him! An indescribably terrifying presence swept through the entire narrow space like a storm!

The noisy demons fell silent at once, seized by a fear that came from their very instincts! They stood frozen, staring in disbelief at the figure enveloped in golden lightning.

"Thunder Breathing, First Form..."

A low, utterly emotionless voice came from "Zenitsu's" mouth, as if from the depths of the netherworld.

"Thunderclap and Flash."

Before the words had faded, golden lightning burst forth! Zenitsu became a bolt of lightning that tore through space, flashing past three demons at a supersonic speed the naked eye could never follow!

Time seemed to freeze for an instant.

The next second, the lightning vanished. Zenitsu stood at the other end of the corridor, his back to the two remaining demons and the dumbstruck Shoichi. He slowly sheathed his blade with a quiet click.

Only then did a thin line of blood appear on the necks of the three demons the lightning had passed. Their heads slipped cleanly from their bodies, which turned to ash amid their shock and bewilderment!

Fast! Fast beyond measure! Too fast for thought itself to keep up!

The two remaining demons and Shoichi were scared utterly witless. The demons hadn't even seen what happened before their three companions were killed in an instant! That speed, that power—they weren't even on the same level!

"M-monster!" The two remaining demons screamed in utter terror and turned to flee. But Zenitsu merely tilted his head, his cold "gaze" locking onto them...

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the mansion.

Using his astonishing sense of smell like the finest hound, Tanjiro raced through the ever-shifting maze of rooms. He shut out the chaotic demonic energy, closely tracking the increasingly faint life force of the human boy and the constant drumming that was the source of the spatial shifts.

At last, he burst through a paper door into a spacious Japanese-style room. Inside, more than a dozen short, ugly, dwarf-like Demon Servants surrounded a boy tied to a pillar and barely clinging to life—it was A Qing! In the corner of the room, a huge drum sounded on its own, with no one beating it: "Boom... boom..."

"Let him go!" Tanjiro shouted in anger. His Nichirin Blade flashed from its sheath, and he instantly unleashed Water Breathing!

"Water Breathing, Second Form: Water Wheel!"

"Third Form: Flowing Dance!"

"Fourth Form: Striking Tide!"

Blue blade light swept through the room like surging waves. The Demon Servants weren't strong, but they were numerous and fearless in the face of death. To protect A Qing behind him, Tanjiro couldn't dodge freely and had to confront them head-on. The battle was fierce, with blades flashing and water splashing everywhere. It took Tanjiro considerable effort, and he suffered several shallow wounds before he finally slew all the dozen-odd Demon Servants.

Panting, he quickly cut the ropes binding A Qing and checked his injuries. A Qing was only weak and frightened; his life was not in danger.

"You're all right now. Your younger brother and sister are safe," Tanjiro reassured him. Then his brow furrowed. "We have to find the demon behind the drumming, or we won't get out!"

Moyu, meanwhile, had been like a silent reaper ever since entering the mansion. His Six Eyes pierced walls and spatial barriers, allowing him to clearly "see" the flow of energy throughout the entire mansion. The low-level Demon Servants that tried to ambush or stop him were usually cut down by a streak of azure blade light that swept past without a sound before they could even see what he looked like. His goal was clear: follow the "axis" where the spatial fluctuations were strongest and strike straight at the heart of the enemy.

He scarcely lingered in any room. Like a calculated program, he precisely avoided pointless spatial traps and took the shortest route toward the room deep within the mansion that constantly emanated the central drumbeat and dense demonic energy. He couldn't even be bothered to count the lesser demons he dealt with along the way, only occasionally collecting a few drops of reasonably pure Demon blood in a test tube.

"Just about there." Moyu stopped in front of an especially heavy wooden door painted with twisted runes. Kyogai's hiding place lay beyond it. He could sense a trace of agitation and anger in the demonic energy inside. Clearly, Tanjiro and Zenitsu's actions had attracted its attention.

Moyu kicked the door straight open, his azure eyes locking onto the tall, deformed figure in the center of the room, with several drums embedded in his back.

"Former Lower Rank Six... I'll be taking your blood."