Rescue and Broken Fangs

Spider Sister's desperate shriek cut off abruptly.

Azure Star's cold blade swept through her slender neck without the slightest resistance, trailing a spray of dark red blood. Her bewitching head flew into the air, disbelief and terror frozen on her face, along with resentment at being abandoned in the end by "Lord Rui." Her headless body twitched before rapidly crumbling into ash and scattering, leaving behind only a few broken strands of spider silk that quickly lost their luster, proof that she had once existed.

[Defeated Rui's "family member" Spider Sister. Coins +6,500.]

The system's notification rang calmly in Moyu's mind, recording another addition to his earnings, but his heart remained unmoved. He was accumulating Coins to exchange for greater power against the deadly situations ahead, not because they were his priority now.

He sheathed his blade, his Azure pupils not lingering on the scattering ash for even a second longer. The perception of Six Eyes swept toward the next location like a precision scanner: some two hundred meters to the northeast, faint signs of life fluctuated amid the clinging sensation of spider silk and the chill of a Demon. Another place where rescue was needed.

Without pausing for a moment, Moyu's figure vanished once more into the dim forest shadows, moving so fast that he left only a barely visible blue afterimage in the air. The rescue could not wait; every second of delay could mean the loss of a life.

In the time that followed, Moyu became a ghostly god of death and a beacon of hope in the terrifying, web-covered mountain forest. He no longer made a point of hiding, instead clearing the area with maximum efficiency. The panoramic, maplike perception of Six Eyes let him pinpoint trapped team members and lurking Demons every time.

The encounters fell into a pattern. More often than not, Moyu would suddenly appear beside a web trap like a ghost, and before the trapped team members could even make out who had arrived, the tough silk binding them would be severed strand by strand under precise flashes of Azure steel. As for the strange-looking Spider Demons that shrieked and charged at him—most of them humans forcibly transformed by Rui's blood, weak but numerous—they usually couldn't even touch the hem of Moyu's clothes before casually launched slashes of blade energy, or stones and leaves imbued with the power of Blue, pierced their heads or cores in an instant, reducing them to ash.

[Defeated a Spider Demon. Coins +150.]

[Defeated a Spider Demon. Coins +150.]

[Defeated a Spider Demon. Coins +150.]

[Defeated a Spider Demon. Coins +150.]

The system's notifications and the real horrors before his eyes struck Moyu's senses in turn. He rescued more and more people and set up several additional temporary shelters, each marked clearly with Wisteria. But the bodies he found were just as shocking. The mountain had become a vast graveyard. The higher he went, the stronger the Spider Demons seemed to become, if only slightly, and the more frequently they appeared, as though they were preventing anyone from approaching the central area halfway up the mountain.

Moyu's movements remained calm and efficient. His breathing was steady, but icy anger gathered in the depths of his Azure pupils. The blood of these people, whose lives Rui treated as worthless, these young team members who should have had futures, could not be shed in vain. He picked up the pace again, his blade flashing more fiercely as he rescued, slew Demons, marked locations, and moved people to safety in one seamless sequence, like a precision machine.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the mountain forest, Tanjiro and Inosuke were having a much harder time advancing.

The two followed the faint traces of Moyu's scent and the marks they had seen earlier, but they were nowhere near as fast as he was. The forest was dense, the fog thick, and web traps were everywhere, forcing them to remain alert at all times.

"Water Breathing: Third Form: Flowing Dance!"

Tanjiro moved like flowing water, his Nichirin Blade tracing an elegant but deadly arc as it cut in two a Spider Demon that had dropped from a treetop, attempting to ambush him with a sticky web. His movements were steady, possessing the fluidity and resilience unique to Water Breathing, but sweat had already appeared at his temples. The continuous fighting and intense strain were draining his stamina.

"Beast Breathing: Fang Bite!"

Inosuke's style was entirely different. Roaring wildly, he wielded his twin blades like a beast's fangs, smashing a slightly larger Spider Demon blocking his path to pieces along with a web in a display of sheer brute force. His sweeping attacks were full of wildness and explosive power.

"Hey! Tanbachiro! Which way did that blue-eyed guy go, anyway? Why did the marks disappear?!" Inosuke irritably shook the slime off his blades, his eyes scanning the surroundings from beneath his boar's head mask. Moyu was too fast, and his trail was easily lost in the complicated terrain.

"Quiet, Inosuke!" Tanjiro struggled to distinguish Moyu's unique, extremely faint scent in the air while staying alert for possible traps. "Moyu should be just ahead... watch out!"

He suddenly grabbed Inosuke, who was about to charge forward. The layer of fallen leaves in front of Inosuke's feet stirred slightly, and an almost transparent strand of spider silk pulled taut, triggering a simple snare hidden beneath the rotting leaves. If Tanjiro hadn't warned him, Inosuke would likely have been left hanging upside down.

"Tch! These damn ropes are so annoying!" Inosuke cursed, but he did rein himself in a little.

The two continued onward, joining forces to deal with three more scattered groups of lesser Demons. The fights were not easy. The Demons were weak individually, but their webs and bizarre methods of attack made them troublesome opponents. Tanjiro's swordsmanship grew increasingly polished, and he responded with increasing composure; Inosuke relied more on beastlike instinct and brute force, and while he wasn't very efficient, he fought with tremendous force.

Just as they passed through a particularly dense thicket and reached a relatively open patch of forest, an oppressive presence, heavy as a mountain and thick with the stench of blood, suddenly surged toward them from ahead!

"Thud... thud..." Heavy footsteps sounded like a giant hammer pounding the ground.

An enormous figure slowly emerged from the shadows across the clearing.

It was a giant of a man, over two and a half meters tall, his bare upper body knotted with muscles like granite and his skin an unhealthy blue-gray. His head... was no longer human in shape at all, but a hideous spider's head with compound eyes and sharp mouthparts! He had almost no reason to speak of; his scarlet compound eyes held nothing but pure savagery and appetite. He was one of Rui's "family," Spider Father.

"Roar!" Spider Father let out a low bellow. With no intention of communicating, he sent his enormous body charging toward Inosuke, who was closer, bringing a foul gust of wind with him! His power was simple, direct, and devastating.

"Bring it on! Take this... Sudden Charge!" Far from being afraid, Inosuke howled with excitement. Crossing his twin blades and driving Beast Breathing to its fullest, he met the charge head-on!

"Inosuke! Wait, don't take him head-on!" Tanjiro shouted urgently. He had smelled the terrifying power and sense of impenetrable defense coming from their opponent, far beyond those of the lesser Demons they had faced.

"Clang!!"

A deafening crash rang out! Inosuke's twin blades struck Spider Father's crossed arms with all their might, only to send a dazzling spray of sparks flying! Inosuke felt an irresistible force surge through him. The skin between his thumbs and forefingers split, blood streaming out, and he was flung backward as though struck by a speeding carriage. He slammed into a tree, shaking countless leaves loose.

"Ugh!" Inosuke spat out a small mouthful of blood, his eyes full of shock. His full-power attack hadn't even broken the other's skin?! It had left only two shallow white marks!

"Water Breathing: Sixth Form: Twisting Whirlpool!" Tanjiro seized the brief opening after Spider Father's attack, spinning rapidly as he slashed at the Demon's side with the waterlike cutting force of his Nichirin Blade! It was one of Water Breathing's more penetrating forms.

"Rip!"

This time, the blade finally cut through the blue-gray skin, drawing a spray of blood. But the wound was not deep, and Spider Father's muscles were astonishingly dense. Tanjiro felt as though he had struck a tough rubber tire.

"Roar!" The pain drove Spider Father into an even greater frenzy, and his massive fist smashed toward Tanjiro like a heavy hammer. Tanjiro hurriedly used "Seventh Form: Drop Ripple Thrust" to retreat, narrowly dodging. The fist struck the ground, leaving a shallow crater.

"Bastard! Take this!" Inosuke struggled to his feet and charged again. Tanjiro also took a deep breath and adjusted his breathing, joining Inosuke in an attack from both sides.

The battle grew exceptionally fierce. Relying on the agility and precision of Water Breathing, Tanjiro kept moving, looking for chances to inflict more wounds on Spider Father. Inosuke, meanwhile, fought like a tireless berserker, launching fierce attacks again and again. Though most were blocked or deflected, they kept a great deal of Spider Father's attention occupied.

Spider Father's strength and defense were terrifying, and every attack carried tremendous force, but his movements were relatively slow and inflexible. Tanjiro's agility and Inosuke's ferocity gradually came together in surprisingly smooth coordination, suppressing Spider Father and leaving dozens of wounds on his body. None were fatal, but he was covered in blood and looked rather battered.

"That's it! Gonpachiro! Give it a little more! Let's kill this big spider!" Inosuke grew more excited the longer he fought.

Tanjiro, too, saw hope of victory, and his gaze grew more focused. However, he failed to notice that, through their repeated head-on clashes, more and more nicks had appeared on Inosuke's two crudely made, already worn Nichirin Blades, and fine cracks were quietly spreading across them.

Unable to overcome them after a prolonged fight, and with the shallow wounds on his body burning with pain, Spider Father showed a flicker of utterly primal rage in his compound eyes. He suddenly leaped backward, opening a little distance, and the muscles all over his body writhed violently and unnaturally before tensing!

"Gurgle... squelch!"

A grating sound rang out as the skin on Spider Father's back suddenly split open. Like an insect shedding its skin, he tore free of his old shell! His newly emerged body was a size larger than before, its muscles more swollen, its skin bearing a dull metallic sheen and radiating an even more powerful oppressive presence!

Molting Enhancement!

"N-no!" Tanjiro's expression changed as he smelled extreme danger.

Having finished molting, Spider Father surged forward at greatly increased speed, charging Tanjiro, whose movements had slowed slightly in surprise. His enormous fist came hurtling in far faster than before! Tanjiro hastily raised his blade crosswise to block.

"Bam!"

The tremendous force sent Tanjiro and his sword flying. He broke through a small tree before crashing to the ground, the taste of blood rising in his throat as he suffered internal injuries.

"Gonpachiro!" Inosuke's eyes widened to their limit. Seeing Tanjiro sent flying, he was instantly engulfed by rage, losing all reason. "You bastard! I'll kill you!"

At that moment, Spider Father's attention was completely fixed on Tanjiro, leaving his back to Inosuke and exposing a huge opening. Driven by extreme fury and his fighting instincts, Inosuke pushed Beast Breathing to its limit, raised both blades, and poured all his strength into the most powerful attack he had unleashed yet!

"Beast Breathing: Eighth Form: Explosive Charge!"

He became a raging whirlwind, both blades aiming straight for Spider Father's relatively vulnerable neck!

"I've got you!" Inosuke could almost feel the blades cutting into flesh and bone.

And yet—

"Clang!!! Crack!!!"

A piercing, heartbreaking snap rang out through the forest clearing!

Inosuke's twin blades, with which he had been certain of victory, did not sever Spider Father's head. The moment their edges touched that dull skin, the Nichirin Blades, already riddled with cracks and pushed to their limit, could bear no more. Both snapped cleanly at their worst nicks!

The front halves of the blades spun away, burying themselves deep in a distant tree trunk. Inosuke was left holding only two bare, jagged hilts.

Time seemed to freeze for an instant.

The fury and confidence on Inosuke's face froze, replaced by utter shock and bewilderment. He stared blankly at the broken blades in his hands, seemingly unable to understand what had happened.

Spider Father slowly turned around, a cruel light flashing in his compound eyes. He had felt a faint sting on his neck, but it had only broken the very surface of his skin. The little insect that had hurt him and tried to behead him had lost its fangs.

"Roar!" Furious at being challenged by an insignificant insect, Spider Father brought his massive fist crashing down at Inosuke, who stood frozen in place, the air howling with destructive force!

"Inosuke! Get out of the way!" In the distance, Tanjiro, who had just struggled to his feet, saw what was happening and let out a heart-rending shout. His eyes widened to their limit, but there was no time for him to save Inosuke.

Inosuke raised his head and watched the enormous fist grow rapidly in his vision, a fist powerful enough to smash him into a pulp. The shadow of death engulfed him in an instant. His beastlike instincts told him he couldn't dodge. He instinctively raised his arms and crossed them in front of his chest, attempting one final block with the remaining hilts and his body of flesh and blood.