The Curious Bond Between a Human and a Demon

Deep within the realm of consciousness.

Everywhere there were dark red ashes drifting in the air, and scalding lava beneath one's feet that seemed like it would never solidify.

Tanjiro Kamado had been sitting alone in this desolate place of his own mind for a very, very long time.

He never left.

Ever since that "demon" took control of my body in the garden of Ubuyashiki...

Tanjiro... was ruthlessly dragged into this "little dark room".

He was like a desperate audience member who had been forcibly placed in the front row of a movie theater.

All I can do is watch helplessly as everything unfolds outside from a bystander's "first-person perspective"!

He saw "himself" break Mr. Shinazugawa's ribs with a single punch;

He saw "himself" arrogantly mocking all the pillars;

That moment,

Tanjiro frantically pounded on the invisible barrier.

He cried, pleaded, and even tried to bite his tongue to commit suicide, just to prevent that tragedy from happening.

Thank goodness!

Giyu saved everyone, including Tanjiro's soul, which was on the verge of collapse.

What followed was the scene of a one-sided crushing defeat.

As the medicine took effect, the outside world was plunged into complete darkness.

Tanjiro knew that the one who had taken over his body was coming back.

"Buzz--!"

The previously lifeless space of consciousness suddenly began to shake violently!

The crimson magma beneath our feet churned wildly like boiling water, with huge magma bubbles bursting open.

The gravity of the entire space seemed to be distorted in an instant!

"They're here!"

Tanjiro suddenly stood up from the ground, his wine-red eyes fixed on the very center of the space.

"Boom!!"

With a deafening roar, the space in front of them was forcibly torn open by brute force.

Countless black lava swelled up from all directions, rapidly piecing together and piling up in mid-air with an extremely wild and domineering momentum.

In just two seconds.

A colossal throne, radiating an aura of destruction, was suspended in mid-air!

And on that throne.

That [Demon Tanjiro] who just went around wreaking havoc, clamoring to destroy the world, and even rubbing the seven Pillars into the ground,

A terrifying pressure descended upon them!

The Demon Tanjiro leaned back on the throne in an extremely languid posture.

His long, dark red hair cascaded wildly like raging flames, and the materialized flame demonic mark on his forehead gleamed with a dangerous red light in the dim space.

The air was deathly still for a second, a silence that was maddening.

Tanjiro held his breath.

He could clearly sense the other person's mania, frustration, and the terrifying aura generated by being forced offline.

"How?"

Demon Tanjiro was the first to break the silence.

He slowly lowered his head, looking down at Tanjiro below.

"You cowardly mortal, squatting here like a turtle, just waiting for me to come back so you can show off your power to me?"

The Demon Tanjiro shifted his posture, resting his chin on his hand, his tone filled with undisguised mockery.

"If you're here to laugh at me for being defeated by that damned, expressionless swordsman..."

The demon's vertical pupils narrowed slightly, and a murderous aura poured down.

"Then you can get out now!!"

"I'm in a really bad mood right now, and I don't have time to play house with an idiot like you."

Faced with this oppressive force capable of driving ordinary people mad.

The eldest son, who was usually honest and unassuming, was now biting his lower lip tightly.

His fists were clenched so tightly that his nails dug into the flesh of his palms, even drawing blood.

There was no fear, no hesitation, in those clear, wine-red eyes.

"Tread--!"

Tanjiro took a big step forward, facing the crushing pressure that seemed capable of crushing a person.

He looked up at the demon on the throne and asked a question:

Why did you lose control?!

"You clearly told me you wouldn't lose control!!"

"You clearly possess such immense power!"

Tanjiro's eyes instantly turned red, and hot tears welled up in his eyes.

"Don't you pride yourself on being Perfect Lifeform?! Don't you always refer to yourself as a god?!"

"Since you are so arrogant, since you think you are above all things in the world..."

Tanjiro became increasingly agitated as he spoke, his chest heaving violently.

"Why can't you even overcome the most basic cannibalistic instinct?!"

"Do you know that if Mr. Giyu hadn't been there, if he hadn't risked his life to stop you..."

Tanjiro's voice choked with emotion; a deep-seated fear made him tremble all over.

"I will struggle in the Eighteen Levels of Hell for the rest of my life! I would wish I could tear myself to pieces to atone for my sins!"

"You big liar! You're just a bunch of big talkers, a stupid monster who can't even control his own instincts!!"

This heart-wrenching and frantic accusation echoed for a long time in the empty space, causing ripples to spread across the surrounding lava.

Faced with this extreme outburst, comparable to a mother's lecturing.

The sneer on Demon Tanjiro's face, who was sitting on the throne, gradually froze.

???

He was completely stunned by these words.

Those blood-red vertical pupils widened slightly.

It was like hearing the most absurd joke in the world.

"Ha?!"

Demon Tanjiro laughed, then dropped his hand that had been supporting his chin and abruptly stood up from the throne.

"Whoosh--!"

Without any warning, he seemed to disregard the distance in space, instantly traversing the void and appearing directly in front of Tanjiro!

The two were less than half a meter apart.

He grabbed Tanjiro and roughly lifted him into the air!

"What the hell is going on in your head?!"

Demon Tanjiro was even a little vulnerable.

"You actually asked me why I lost control?!"

He pointed to his nose with his other finger, his eyes filled with an absurd sense of being amused by someone's idiocy, and his saliva almost sprayed onto Tanjiro's face.

"By your ridiculous human biological standards, I'm not even a one-month-old baby!"

"I'm still a baby! A baby whose umbilical cord was just cut!"

"What kind of bullshit moral bottom line do you expect me to have?!"

The more he talked, the more frustrated he felt. He almost wanted to pry open the head of this stubborn person in front of him to see if it was stuffed with the savior's foot bindings.

"Besides! What right do you have to criticize me?!"

"How was I even born?! Do you think I wanted to be born into this world to take your beatings every day?!"

"It's all because your true form is too weak!! So weak it's outrageous!"

The Demon Tanjiro's vertical pupils stared intently into Tanjiro's shocked eyes.

"If your will is strong enough, if you can withstand the corrosive effects of Muzan Kibutsuji's blood on your own, there's no way I could have been separated!"

"It's precisely because you subconsciously can't resist that force, precisely because you can't overcome that extreme pain and mutated instinct!"

"To protect your spirit from being completely torn apart, this body's survival mechanism was forced to give birth to my 'substitute' personality, to bear all the rage for you!"

To put it bluntly...

The Demon Tanjiro threw Tanjiro to the ground, clapped his hands with a look of disgust, as if he had just touched something dirty.

"I'm just a piece of indigestible shit that your weak host produced when he was powerless!"

"You can't even overcome something yourself, and now you're asking me to restrain myself? What kind of morality and ethics do you want me to preach to you?"

Are you seriously ill?!

Boom--!

Tanjiro slumped onto the black rock, his previously confident and aggressive expression completely frozen at that moment.

His wine-red eyes trembled wildly, his pupils completely dilated, his mouth slightly open, and he stood there dumbfounded.

One second... two seconds... three seconds...

There was a full half-minute of silence.

"Wait a minute... wait a minute?"

Tanjiro's brain CPU started working at full speed.

"Less than half a month old..."

"Because I'm too weak, in order to protect me, they were forced to create a 'substitute' to take the pain for me..."

"If we use human biological standards..."

Tanjiro swallowed hard, feeling a sudden dizziness.

"In a sense, he... he really is just a newborn baby?!"

Tanjiro's worldview was subjected to an unprecedented and intense upheaval!

If we follow this logic...

The terrifying demon before me, with its own face on its head, constantly clamors to destroy the world and beats all the pillars to the ground.

Actually... in terms of seniority and mental age, he's a complete, utterly immature (or even still immature) little kid!

Not only that!

Since it split off because my body couldn't handle it, it's my own doing.

Wouldn't I, as the original body, be essentially this evil spirit's... guardian?!

You could even say... an old father?!

"Oh my god..."

Tanjiro covered his mouth in horror and gasped for breath.

He seemed to have suddenly discovered an incredible, earth-shattering secret!

At this moment.

The deep-rooted sense of responsibility of being the eldest son that had been lurking within Tanjiro has awakened once again in an extremely bizarre way!

"So that's how it is..."

The way Tanjiro looked at the Demon Tanjiro underwent a dramatic change.

The initial anger, vigilance, and hatred melted away completely, like ice and snow meeting the warm spring sun.

Instead, it took its place.

It was a mixture of deep pity, heartache, and love, as well as profound self-reproach, like that of an elderly father!

"Sorry!"

Tanjiro suddenly slid to his knees, his head slamming heavily against the black rock in a perfect 90-degree kotatsu.

I misunderstood you!

"You're right! You're still a baby less than two weeks old!"

"I forcibly brought you into this world, made you suffer the torment of that raging blood, and even made you bear the infamy of cannibalism, and take beatings for me..."

"All of this is because my original body is too useless!"

Tanjiro clasped his hands together, his eyes radiating a chilling, saintly glow.

"Don't worry! From today onwards, I will definitely fulfill my responsibilities as a guardian!"

I will use all my love and patience to teach you what is right and what is wrong!

"Even though you're currently a severely twisted, foul-mouthed delinquent baby..."

Tanjiro flashed a bright, sunny smile.

"But I believe that as long as we communicate well, you will definitely become a gentle and kind ghost!"

"..."

Faced with this sudden reversal.

Demon Tanjiro was completely stunned.

"You son of a bitch..."

Demon Tanjiro felt that his mind had been severely corrupted.

He was absolutely furious!

Who wants your love and patience, you weakling!

"Shut up! You disgusting, nauseating, sanctimonious idiot!"

Demon Tanjiro, enraged, waved his hand.

He feared that if he stayed any longer, his intelligence would be assimilated into a negative value by this entity.