Bathed in the Morning Sun

Douma severed his own head at incredible speed, then grabbed it and swiftly put distance between himself and Tsugikuni Kuuga.

With a single stride, Tsugikuni Kuuga caught up to Douma again. In that instant, ten Ice Crystal Figures blocked Douma's path.

But against Tsugikuni Kuuga's Mark and Scarlet Blade, the Ice Crystal Figures shattered like tofu. Still, that instant was enough. A gigantic Ice Figure over thirty feet tall emerged behind Douma.

The Ice Figure took the form of a Bodhisattva with its palms pressed together, and its enormous body also blocked Sanemi Shinazugawa's uncontrolled Ninth Form: Idaten Typhoon.

Before the Ice Giant, humans seemed as tiny as ants. A whole herd of alpacas stampeded through Tsugikuni Kuuga's mind. What the hell, he just summoned a building out of flat ground.

Though he knew something about the Blood Demon Arts of these Upper Rank Demons, this height was honestly ridiculous.

Douma raised his right hand in a chopping gesture, and the Ice Giant mirrored him, swinging its enormous hand down at Tsugikuni Kuuga.

But "chopping" was no longer enough to describe it. This was clearly more like being smashed by it. Tsugikuni Kuuga had already activated Eight Trigrams, pushing his swordsmanship to its absolute limit.

Watching Tsugikuni Kuuga vanish beneath the giant hand, Douma remained expressionless. Instead, he looked up at the sky, where a pale glow had begun to appear.

The sun was about to rise. It seemed he would not be able to eat those sisters today. What a shame! Still, killing the one Lord Muzan had put out a bounty on was worthwhile enough. Either way, he had not come away empty-handed.

Yet what Douma had not expected was for a pillar of flame to shoot into the sky. The Ice Giant's massive hand split cleanly in two, while Tsugikuni Kuuga ran up along its arm toward him.

Not one of the things Douma had wanted to do had been accomplished. He leaped from the Ice Giant and ran toward the distant woods, where shadows kept out the sunlight.

At the same time, the sun rose. In the first rays of dawn, the Ice Giant instantly dissolved, as though it had never existed.

Tsugikuni Kuuga shouted at the distant Douma:

"Why are you running, you little freak? Are you scared? Going home to cry to Mommy Muzan?"

"Stop right there!"

But Tsugikuni Kuuga was only roaring in frustration. Maybe he could have provoked a man like Akaza, who cared so much about combat honor, but Douma, who had no emotions, was hardly the sort to cherish his boss.

After all, he did not even have emotions. He was also the only one Scum Boss truly disliked, because he held no reverence for him.

Watching Douma disappear completely from sight, Tsugikuni Kuuga leaned on his sword and gasped for breath. A heart rate of two hundred really felt awful—worse than pulling ten all-nighters in a row.

For a moment, Tsugikuni Kuuga felt like he was about to drop dead. His body temperature had also reached thirty-nine degrees Celsius, and he was burning hot. He had always bragged about how high his fever had been as a child, but today, that dream had finally come true.

Sanemi Shinazugawa was exhausted as well. He had effectively held off ten Doumas all night. The Ice Crystal Figures were not particularly strong, but Douma would not die, which meant they kept respawning endlessly. How was anyone supposed to deal with that?

Fortunately, everyone had survived. And the first ray of morning sunlight truly felt wonderful—it was a treasure that dispelled gloom and cold.

Sanemi Shinazugawa sat on the ground with his legs spread apart and said to Tsugikuni Kuuga with a smile, "We all survived. That's great!"

"Yeah! We survived!" Tsugikuni Kuuga replied with a smile.

When people experienced intense stimulation, they secreted large amounts of adrenaline. It sped up their breathing, heartbeat, and blood flow, dilated their pupils, supplied more energy for physical activity, and made their reactions faster.

But once the danger had passed, the body relaxed. All the pain from Tsugikuni Kuuga's injuries flooded in at once, and his limbs went weak as he collapsed onto the ground.

"Hey! Are you okay, Kuuga?" Sanemi Shinazugawa shouted, dragging his exhausted body toward him.

"Do I look okay? I'm out of strength, so you'll have to carry me back!"

"Uh... fine." Sanemi Shinazugawa paused before adding, "But I still have to carry Kanae. Her injuries are much worse than yours!"

"Damn it! You're choosing girls over your friends!" Tsugikuni Kuuga shot back immediately.

"I'm not. I'm just stating the facts. Shinobu Kocho can probably support you so you can still walk. Otherwise, how could she carry Kanae?" Sanemi Shinazugawa explained reasonably.

"I don't care. You're carrying me today, or I'm not moving. I'm not moving!" Tsugikuni Kuuga shouted.

"You..." Sanemi Shinazugawa wore an expression of helpless disgust.

Shinobu Kocho smiled as she watched the two bicker. This is wonderful. We can stand in the sunlight again. Thank you, Kuuga.

In the end, under Tsugikuni Kuuga's shameless persistence, Sanemi Shinazugawa reluctantly carried Tsugikuni Kuuga on his back while holding Kanae in his arms.

Tsugikuni Kuuga kept talking away from atop his back. "As a man, what's wrong with carrying this much weight? It's way lighter than your usual training!"

"If you keep yapping, I'll throw you down!" Sanemi Shinazugawa said darkly.

"Thank you both so much for this," Shinobu Kocho said gently.

"Oh, come on! Saying that to me is too formal. We're family, aren't we? It's only natural!"

"And if Shinobu feels bad seeing how badly I'm hurt and wants to offer herself to me, I wouldn't mind that either!" Tsugikuni Kuuga said with a grin.

"You really should just die!" Shinobu Kocho's face reddened again.

After all, they were not alone here. At that moment, Sanemi Shinazugawa added at exactly the right time, "Seeing the Insect Hashira act gentle and shy in the same day, and fighting an Upper Rank Demon too—it really is worth commemorating!"

After all, in his eyes, the Insect Hashira was completely different from Kanae. One was gentle to the extreme, while the other was overly lively and even somewhat hot-tempered.

"Ow, ow, ow! I wasn't the one who said it, so why are you hitting me? Hit Sanemi!" Tsugikuni Kuuga rubbed his poor lower back.

"If you weren't injured, you'd definitely be getting beaten up!"

"I'm so miserable," Tsugikuni Kuuga began to play the victim.

"Sure enough, everyone was right. The strongest Hashira in the Demon Slayer Corps isn't the Sky Hashira—it's the Insect Hashira, who has the Sky Hashira completely locked down!" Sanemi Shinazugawa said with a laugh.

Tsugikuni Kuuga suddenly felt his lower back come under attack again. Sanemi was unusually talkative today. If you keep talking, not even kidney supplements will save me.

Tsugikuni Kuuga seriously suspected that Sanemi was taking revenge for personal grievances. And so, the four of them headed toward headquarters amid laughter and conversation.

Meanwhile, Douma remained hidden in a shadow-filled forest. He could not even return to his Eternal Paradise Cult now. How depressing. He would probably get scolded by his boss, though it was not as though Lord Muzan would actually kill him.

Just then, the sound of a Biwa rang in Douma's ears. Of course, what he feared most had come true. After the Biwa's notes faded, Douma vanished from where he stood.