Exploding Blood, Hinokami Kagura

Inosuke's pupils reflected the enormous fist bearing down on him, blotting out the sky and radiating destruction. The shadow of death felt so real that he could even feel the sting of the wind from the fist against his cheeks. His arms were crossed over his chest, and the broken hilts pressed coldly against them in a cruel irony.

"Inosuke—!!!"

Tanjiro's anguished scream pierced the forest, full of despair and helplessness. He struggled to rush over, but the searing pain in his internal organs and the distance between them left him able only to watch the tragedy unfold.

At that critical moment—

"Click!"

A faint but distinct latch snapped open from the wooden box that had remained shut on Tanjiro's back!

The next instant, a tremendous force burst the lid open from within! A petite pink figure, swift as lightning and trailing a scorching current of air, shot out like an arrow loosed from a bow! It was Nezuko!

Her once-pure pink eyes now blazed with fury, fixed on the enormous monster about to hurt her brother's companion. Her small body stretched out in midair, and the power of her waist and abdomen drove her right leg into a vicious kick, with speed and force far beyond reason! Her target was not the Spider Father's body, but the side of the elbow joint on the enormous arm he had aimed at Inosuke!

"Blood Demon Art: Exploding Blood!"

A sudden change occurred where Nezuko's kick landed! It was not a physical impact. Instead, the energy contained in her blood was instantly activated, compressed, and violently unleashed! A highly compressed mass of energy, glowing a gorgeous and dangerous pink, burst against the Spider Father's elbow like a small explosion!

"Boom—!!"

It was not a deafening blast, but a muffled, intensely penetrating roar of energy! Pink light swallowed the Spider Father's elbow in an instant, and the powerful shock wave carried intense heat and a purifying force especially effective against demons!

"Aargh—!!!"

The Spider Father let out his most agonized howl since the battle began! His dark skin, tough enough to withstand blows from a Nichirin Blade, turned red-hot and twisted under the impact of Exploding Blood, like scrap iron thrown into a steel furnace, and even developed tiny cracks! Worse still, the burning sensation in that energy, so potent against demons, spread wildly along the channels in his arm, bringing pain far beyond that of physical injury!

The sudden blow not only dealt considerable damage, but, more importantly, completely disrupted the Spider Father's attack and balance. The path of his killing punch veered sharply, and it crashed into the ground, almost grazing Inosuke's body!

"Bang!!!"

The ground shook violently, dirt and broken stones flew, and a huge crater remained. Inosuke was hurled away by the explosion's shock wave, breaking through several bushes like a rag doll before coming to a stop. Blood sprayed from his mouth, an unknown number of his ribs were broken again, and the agony knocked him unconscious at once, but... he had miraculously survived! Had Nezuko's precise and powerful blow not deflected the fist, he would have been reduced to a bloody pulp.

"N-Nezuko!" Tanjiro cried in shock and delight, looking at his sister as she landed steadily in front of him and took a fighting stance. Nezuko's gaze was sharp, and she radiated a formidable aura utterly unlike her usual obedient demeanor. Her small body seemed to contain immense power.

The Spider Father furiously swung his injured arm. His elbow was blackened, and the pink energy clung to it like a persistent affliction, continuing to burn him and causing him unbearable pain. His scarlet compound eyes locked onto the newly arrived Nezuko. From her petite figure, he sensed an entirely different aura, yet one he found just as repulsive!

"Roar!!" The agony drove the Spider Father completely mad. Abandoning the unconscious Inosuke and the injured Tanjiro, he directed all his fury at Nezuko. His massive body charged forward with earth-shaking force, his uninjured fist and the claws made even more savage by his injury striking at once and cutting off every angle of escape!

"Nezuko, look out!" Tanjiro gritted his teeth against the pain, grabbed his Nichirin Blade, and drove Water Breathing to its limit as he prepared to support her.

But Nezuko reacted faster! Facing the overwhelming assault without a trace of fear, she used her body's flexibility to its fullest, slipping through a gap in the wind from his blows at the last possible instant like a nimble cat. At the same time, she unleashed her Blood Demon Art again!

"Exploding Blood!"

This time, Exploding Blood burst beneath her own feet! The opposing thrust gave her tremendous acceleration in an instant, turning her into a pink afterimage. Not only did she evade the attack, she seized the chance to close in on the Spider Father's relatively vulnerable abdomen, smashing her small fist into it with a pink glow wrapped around it!

"Pfft!"

The Spider Father's abdomen burst open, spraying black blood. His whole body convulsed in pain, and his assault faltered once more.

"Water Breathing: Eighth Form: Waterfall Basin!"

Tanjiro seized the precious opportunity, sweeping his Nichirin Blade upward. A massive water-shaped impact surged like a waterfall in reverse, striking the Spider Father's lower jaw and knocking his enormous head back, exposing his vulnerable throat!

Though it was their first time fighting an enemy together, the brother and sister showed astonishing coordination! Tanjiro's steady, powerful frontal attacks and distractions, combined with Nezuko's agile, unpredictable flanking strikes and breaches of his defenses, kept the Spider Father scrambling as wounds accumulated across his body. Although none of the injuries were fatal, the mounting pain and expenditure of energy made him increasingly frenzied.

"Roar, roar, roar—!" The Spider Father roared in defiance, realizing that if this continued, he would be worn down and killed. He resorted to the same trick again: his muscles writhed violently and unnaturally, and his skin cracked as he attempted to molt a second time, seeking greater strength and instant recovery!

"I won't let you!" Tanjiro's pupils contracted. He knew he could not let his opponent complete the enhancement. He drew a deep breath, his lungs pumping like bellows, all the blood in his body seemingly boiling! In his mind, the image of his father dancing in the snow, the rhythm of Hinokami Kagura, the sight of his sister fighting beside him, and the companions he needed to protect... all those emotions and memories mingled!

His footwork changed. It no longer had the steadiness of Water Breathing, but took on an ancient, scorching rhythm! The once-deep-blue waterlight on his Nichirin Blade began to glimmer faintly red with heat!

But someone was faster than him!

"Exploding Blood: Scatter!"

Nezuko thrust both hands forward, flinging dozens of blood droplets containing the energy of Exploding Blood like buckshot at the Spider Father as he writhed in preparation to molt! The droplets exploded in tiny bursts upon touching the cracks in his skin. Though weaker than a concentrated attack, they greatly disrupted the gathering of energy for his molt, making his body go rigid and interrupting the process!

In that instant of stiffness—

Tanjiro moved! His entire body seemed to become a mass of burning flame, the ground beneath his feet lightly scorched by the heat! His Nichirin Blade turned completely crimson and cut through the air, carrying a will to burn everything away and a determination to protect his family as he unleashed a strike beyond the limits of Water Breathing!

"Hinokami Kagura: Dance!!"

The crimson arc of the blade shone like the first rays of the sun rising over the horizon, warm and blazing, yet carrying the resolve to cut through the darkness! The air warped wherever it passed, as though even space were being scorched by the heat!

For the first time, the Spider Father's compound eyes reflected an emotion other than brutality and hunger—utter terror! He wanted to dodge, wanted to block, but the backlash from his interrupted molt and the disruption of Nezuko's Exploding Blood slowed his movements. The power within that crimson blade light, seemingly his natural bane, made even his soul tremble!

"Clang—!"

There was no piercing clash of metal, only a soft sound like a hot knife cutting through fat.

The crimson blade light swept unhindered through the Spider Father's thick neck.

Time seemed to stand still for an instant.

The Spider Father's enormous body froze in place, and his head slowly slid off. Little blood spurted from his severed neck, for the wound had been instantly charred by the heat. Terror froze in his grotesque compound eyes, finally giving way to the stillness of death. His massive, headless body crashed down like a collapsing mountain, raising a great cloud of dust before quickly turning to ash and dispersing.

"Ha... ha..." Tanjiro knelt on one knee, supporting himself with his Nichirin Blade as he gasped for breath, fine beads of sweat covering his forehead. Hinokami Kagura consumed an enormous amount of stamina, far more than Water Breathing, and with his earlier injuries, he felt a wave of exhaustion.

"Mmm..." Nezuko landed beside him and looked at her brother with concern, gently patting his back with her small hand. Using her Blood Demon Art repeatedly had also placed an enormous burden on her. Her face looked somewhat pale, and the sharpness faded from her eyes, replaced by her usual innocence and dependence. She pointed to the wooden box on Tanjiro's back.

Tanjiro understood and managed a smile. "All right, Nezuko. Thanks for the effort. Go back and rest for now." Nezuko nodded obediently and climbed back into the box herself. The lid closed with a click, and soon her breathing grew steady as she fell into a deep sleep.

Tanjiro struggled to his feet and first staggered over to Inosuke to check his injuries. Inosuke remained unconscious, with multiple broken bones and serious internal injuries, but his breathing was fairly steady, and his life was not in danger. Tanjiro breathed a small sigh of relief, gave his most serious wounds some basic treatment, and dragged him beneath a relatively safe tree.

After doing all that, Tanjiro was almost at his limit. He sat with his back against the trunk, making the most of the time to regulate his breathing and recover. He knew the battle was not over. Moyu was still fighting deeper in the mountain forest, and he had to recover as quickly as possible so he could go help him!

Meanwhile, in another part of the mountain forest.

Moyu's cleanup and rescue work was nearing its end. He had just freed two more corps members trapped in spiderwebs and settled them somewhere safe. Through the perception of his Six Eyes, most of the demonic auras and small nests in this area had been eliminated, leaving only one last... rather unusual energy source.

He approached a seemingly peaceful forest clearing without a sound. About seven or eight members of the Demon Slayer Corps stood, sat, or wandered aimlessly around the clearing. Their eyes were vacant and their movements stiff, like puppets on strings. On each of them, nestled in the folds of their clothing, were tiny white dots the size of rice grains, almost indistinguishable from the fabric—the Spider Mother's "Puppet Spiders."

At the center of the clearing, a female demon sat on a moss-covered rock. She wore a plain kimono washed pale, her face was haggard, and her eyes were timid. She looked young, yet carried the sorrow of someone weathered by hardship. She was one of Rui's "family," the Spider Mother.

When Moyu stepped out of the shadows, the Spider Mother started, shrinking back as intense fear flashed in her eyes. But when she saw the Nichirin Blade at his waist and his azure eyes, so calm they were unsettling, that fear was quickly replaced by a twisted malice born of self-preservation.

"Y-you, stay back!" she shrieked, her voice trembling as she struggled to appear fierce. "My children! Kill him! Tear this intruder apart!"

At her command, a red light suddenly appeared in the eyes of the controlled corps members. Growling like beasts, they turned stiffly, raised their Nichirin Blades, and lunged at Moyu from all directions! Their wills had been stripped away, leaving only the command to kill.

Moyu watched quietly, his azure eyes showing no reaction. Under the gaze of the Six Eyes, none of this held any secrets. He could not only "see" the tiny Puppet Spiders on each corps member, but also the countless strands of energy extending from the Spider Mother's fingertips, finer than hair and connected to every Puppet Spider. Those strands were what controlled these pitiful puppets.

"Those deserving pity also have their hateful side," Moyu murmured. He could sense the fear and humiliation deep in the Spider Mother's heart, so intense they had almost taken tangible form. She held a low position in Rui's "family" and was constantly bullied. But that was no reason for her to aid his wickedness and control others, making them kill one another.

Faced with the controlled fighters swarming toward him, Moyu did not draw his blade against them. His figure darted through the crowd like a ghost, moving so fast he left afterimages in his wake. He used Azure Flow Breathing: Footwork: Flowing Cloud Step to its fullest, and every slash and thrust passed his clothes by a hair's breadth.

At the same time, he pressed the index and middle fingers of each hand together, highly compressed azure Cursed Energy gathering at their tips, barely visible to the naked eye. Every thrust of his fingers struck with perfect precision at the tiniest nodes in the energy strands connected to the Puppet Spiders!

"Pfft... pfft... pfft..."

Faint sounds like snapping strings rang out one after another. Under the precise strikes of Blue's power, the invisible energy strands broke one by one! Freed from their control, the onrushing corps members abruptly stiffened. The red light faded from their eyes, and they regained clarity for a brief moment before collapsing limply to the ground, unconscious from exhaustion and mental shock.

In the space of a few breaths, all the controlled corps members had been incapacitated and lay collapsed on the ground. At the center of the clearing, only the dumbstruck, deathly pale Spider Mother remained.

"N-no... impossible! My threads... you... you... how could..." She backed away in terror, waving her hands in a futile attempt to shoot out new threads or summon Puppet Spiders, but under the absolute insight of the Six Eyes, none of her small movements could escape notice.

Moyu gave her no second chance. In a flash, he appeared before the Spider Mother. The Azure Star had not even been fully drawn, only half an inch of its blade exposed.

A flash of steel.

The Spider Mother's movements froze. She looked down at the fine azure cut on her neck, rapidly widening, her eyes filled with disbelief and one last trace of attachment to this cruel world. Unlike other demons, she did not roar in defiance, but murmured in a faint voice, almost relieved, "Finally... can it... end...?"

Her body slowly turned to ash and scattered on the wind. The remaining Puppet Spiders also lost their vitality with their master's death, becoming ordinary dust.

[Killed the Spider Mother, one of Rui's "family." Coins +5,800.]

The system notification sounded.

Moyu sheathed his blade and looked at the unconscious corps members on the ground, then began moving them to a safe area. The Spider Mother's death meant that the outer members of Rui's "family" had been mostly eliminated.

All of Mount Natagumo seemed much quieter now. But Moyu's Six Eyes could clearly "see" a vast demonic aura in the innermost area halfway up the mountain. Cold, viscous, and filled with twisted obsession and loneliness, it quietly radiated a chilling presence like a beacon in the darkness.