Late at night, on a street on the outskirts of the small town, the red lanterns of a late-night ramen shop still swayed stubbornly in the night wind.
The noodle shop owner, a man in his fifties, was staring wide-eyed at a man and a woman sitting at the long counter.
To be precise, it was looking at that expressionless young man wearing a mismatched haori.
"Snoring--"
Giyu Tomioka held a large, rough porcelain bowl that was almost twice the size of his face, and his chopsticks moved with incredible speed and agility.
The rich tonkotsu broth, mixed with the chewy noodles, was disappearing into his mouth at an incredible speed.
This is the fifth bowl already.
Sitting next to him Kanae Kocho, with only a small bowl of clear ramen in front of her.
She rested her chin on her hand, barely touching her chopsticks, but looked at the man with unseemly eating habits with a smile in her bright pink eyes.
"Boss, another bowl, please."
Giyu put down his empty bowl, exhaled a long breath of hot air, and said in a serious tone, "To be more confident, I must replenish enough carbohydrates and protein."
The boss wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, nodded repeatedly, and went to cook the noodles.
"Oh my, Mr. Giyu has quite a good appetite."
Kanae leaned closer, pushing her almost untouched bowl of noodles in front of Giyu, her voice soft and sweet, "If you're still hungry, you can have this bowl too. Just watching you eat makes me feel full."
Giyu glanced calmly at the bowl of clear broth noodles with his deep blue eyes, then looked up and stared directly into Kanae's eyes.
You should go now.
Giyu's voice was soft and showed no emotional fluctuation.
Kanae's smile paused slightly.
"Let's go? Where are we going?"
She pretended not to understand, even pouting in a wronged manner, "It's the middle of the night, and we've already booked a hotel room. You just displayed your might in the Eternal Paradise Cult, shouldn't you come back to that big pink bed with me and get some rest?"
"Go back to the Butterfly Mansion."
Giyu completely ignored her ambiguous bait. "Doma is dead. Muzan must have received the news. The battle that follows is completely beyond your capabilities."
Hearing this extremely straightforward tactical analysis, Kanae's last shred of hope was completely shattered.
The smile on her face slowly faded.
"Giyu."
Kanae bit her lower lip, a strong sense of reluctance and worry flashing in her pink eyes.
She stretched out her fair fingers and gently tugged at Giyu's sleeve.
"I know I'm not strong enough. But that monster is Muzan Kibutsuji!"
"Do you really want to stay here alone and fight against that Demon King has lived for a thousand years?"
"I can stay and help you! Even if we can't win, I can keep watch or provide support from afar!"
Seeing her anxious expression, Giyu sighed silently in his heart.
If he could, he would certainly want to protect her under his wing.
But when facing a monster of Muzan, any act of sentimentality would become a death knell for eternal damnation.
"Your Breathing Style lacks explosive power."
Giyu's eyes were extremely cold, even carrying a hint of cruel objectivity.
"Muzan's attack range and speed far exceed those of the Upper Rank!!"
"Your sentry duty is meaningless; Transparent World is a thousand times more useful than your naked eye."
"If you stay, Muzan will attack you immediately. At that time, you will only become a fatal weakness that slows down my sword-drawing speed."
"This isn't support, this is suicide missions."
These words are utterly inhumane.
Any girl with a strong sense of self-respect would probably be so angry that she would burst into tears or walk away on the spot.
But Kanae did not.
She knew very well that this man was simply disguising all his protective desires as the most hurtful tactical theories.
He was willing to bear the infamy to send her to the safest rear area.
Kanae gave a bitter smile.
Reason ultimately prevailed over emotion.
As the Flower Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, she knew better than anyone else what her physique meant to her.
For a squishy support hero to insist on staying on the front lines to fight the strongest boss is simply insane.
"I see."
Kanae released her grip on his sleeve, her tone softening once more.
She took out a tissue from her bosom and gently wiped away a drop of noodle soup that had accidentally gotten on Giyu's lips.
"Mr. Giyu's analysis is so insightful; if I were to stubbornly stay any longer, I would seem incredibly ungrateful."
Kanae leaned forward slightly, her forehead gently resting on Giyu's broad shoulder.
"I'm leaving."
Her voice was soft, yet carried an undeniable stubbornness.
"But you must promise me one thing."
Giyu felt the weight on his shoulder, and his Adam's apple bobbed.
"What's up?"
Kanae suddenly raised her head and cupped Giyu's cheeks in her hands.
"Return to the Butterfly Mansion intact!"
Kanae gritted her teeth and warned him, word by word.
Even if you can't beat that old monster, even if you're chased like a dog, you have to come back alive!
"If you dare lose a single hair, or die in this godforsaken place, I swear, I'll chase you to hell and prick you into a pincushion!"
Looking at those red-rimmed eyes so close to his face,
Giyu's heart, which was as cold and hard as iron, suddenly crumbled.
He didn't pull away from her hands; he just looked at her very intently.
"I promise you, I will never die."
Having received this assurance, Kanae finally released her grip.
She took a deep breath, stood up, and straightened her slightly disheveled pink casual clothes.
"Boss, I'll pay for these two bowls of noodles."
Kanae turned her head and gave Giyu a stunningly beautiful smile that could captivate anyone.
"Don't forget your promise, Mr. Giyu. I'll warm your bed for you in the Butterfly Mansion."
After saying that, she turned around without hesitation, walked out of the ramen shop with light steps, and quickly disappeared into the vast night.
Giyu sat on the high stool, not turning around to see her off.
But a faint, eerie blue light flickered in his deep blue eyes.
Transparent World has been opened.
Only after confirming that the energy entity exuding the fragrance of Wisteria had completely left the town and entered a safe route did Giyu slowly withdraw his gaze.
"Sir, your sixth bowl of noodles is ready."
The owner nervously brought out the steaming hot noodles.
Add more chopped green onions.
Giyu added expressionlessly.
Once again, only the sound of slurping noodles filled the noodle shop.
The night breeze blew in through the tattered curtain, making Giyu's unusually colored haori flutter.
While eating his noodles, Giyu began to conduct an extremely calm tactical simulation in his mind.
His decision to stay here alone was, in fact, a huge gamble.
A baseless, purely psychological stratagem—an empty city ploy.
Muzan come?
Giyu recalled the information Tamayo had once provided.
According to Tamayo, although Muzan Kibutsuji possesses unparalleled power, deep down he is an absolute coward who is extremely afraid of death.
Extreme case of paranoia!!
This is Giyu's accurate portrait of the final boss.
That Doma was just killed instantly by me with a single strike, and I even arrogantly sent Muzan a death sentence through cell connection.
Logically speaking, if your beloved dog is killed in front of your house, any boss with a temper would be furious and would instantly teleport over to tear the murderer to pieces.
But Muzan is different.
The angrier he gets, the more suspicious he becomes.
As Giyu chewed on the chewy noodles, he secretly pondered Muzan's thought process:
That rat is probably hiding in the Infinity Castle, going crazy right now.
He must be thinking, what makes an ordinary Pillar who hasn't even awakened his Demon Slayer Mark dare to stay and wait for him after killing the Upper Rank?
This is so unusual!!
Anything abnormal is a sign of evil!!
Given Muzan's cowardly nature, he would definitely conclude that this was an elaborate trap.
He felt that if he dared to show his face, there would be countless Pillars wielding Nichirin Blades lying in ambush around him, and perhaps even deadly weapons that could instantly vaporize him.
"The more confident I appear here, the lower the chance he'll come here to die."
Giyu swallowed a mouthful of thick soup and made his final judgment.
Of course, tactical simulations should never only consider the best possible outcome.
There's always a chance of something going wrong.
Muzan suddenly loses his mind tonight?
What if he not only comes himself, but also brings the remaining Twelve Kizuki for a group team-building event?
Giyu touched the dark blue Nichirin Blade at his waist, feeling as calm as a rock.
He had already prepared for the worst.
If a horde of monsters were to swarm in and attack, with his current strength, it would be a pipe dream to try and fight them head-on.
But if he can't beat them, can't he at least outrun them?
During his extreme training in the deep mountains and forests, he perfectly integrated the continuous nature of Water Breathing into his escape techniques.
If things don't go well...
He was 100% certain that he could activate "Total Concentration - Escape" just 0.1 seconds before Muzan touched the hem of his clothes.
As long as he runs fast enough, Muzan be able to catch him.
This is a deal that you can't lose money no matter how you calculate it.
It can advance to slay lone evil spirits, or retreat to slip away unscathed.
There are no burdens, and no weaknesses.
Giyu picked up the large bowl and drank the last mouthful of pork bone soup in one gulp.
He placed a few coins on the counter, stood up, and walked out of the ramen shop.
The night in the small town grew even deeper.
Giyu walked to the middle of the street, found an open space with no obstructions, and sat down cross-legged.
He placed his Nichirin Blade horizontally on his knees and closed his eyes.
The cold wind blew across his expressionless, emotionless face.
Let me see if you, this thousand-year-old coward, have the guts to crawl out of your shell.