Tanjiro really couldn't take it anymore.
"Isn't this a little inappropriate? And where exactly are you looking?!"
The train sped along the tracks.
Dusk had completely faded into night, and outside the Window stretched endless darkness.
Everyone became more cautious.
Nightfall meant demons would appear.
Just then, the door at the rear of the carriage opened. A thin conductor emerged, holding a ticket punch.
"Tickets, please!"
Tanjiro asked in confusion, "What is this for?"
"The conductor punches the tickets after checking them to prevent fare evasion," Kyojuro Rengoku explained patiently.
The conductor had already arrived in front of them.
Kyojuro Rengoku handed over his ticket, and the conductor punched a hole in it.
But no one noticed something.
The instant it was punched, the writing on the ticket quietly changed.
Tanjiro and the others had their tickets punched one after another, yet none of them noticed the changes.
But Ajuromaru in the blade knew perfectly well.
The tickets were the medium Enmu used to activate his ability. He hadn't warned them simply because he wanted to pass the time.
After all, they still had a long way to go before reaching Akaza.
At a time like this, letting them have a nice dream wasn't so bad. Besides, he could wake everyone up whenever he wanted.
"Have a nice dream, Tanjiro."
The moment their tickets were punched, everyone had already fallen asleep.
Ajuromaru silently watched Tanjiro in his mental world as he enjoyed being reunited with his family.
He simply watched Tanjiro's happy smile.
While he was at it, he studied the structure of the dream. It was nothing compared to his own. He could control the entire mental world.
Enmu, on the other hand, was like someone who had carved out a small room within a mental world. It could be shattered with a single poke.
Enmu's Blood Demon Art forcibly put people to sleep, probably through the same principle. But running into him could only be considered Enmu's bad luck.
With me here, Tanjiro won't fall for your tricks at all. He's completely immune to Enmu's Blood Demon Art!
Meanwhile, in the first carriage, Enmu's severed hand moved independently across the floor. The hand had an eye and a mouth, and four humans stood before it.
Its mouth opened, producing a lazy voice.
"Before long, their sleep will deepen. When that happens, use the ropes I gave you to tie yourselves to each other. But be careful not to touch their bodies.
Powerful demon slayers can easily be awakened by external disturbances. And my dreams aren't infinite. Once you find the boundary, use the awls I gave you to cut through it and destroy the core within their outer subconscious. I can't leave the locomotive for now, so if you want a nice dream, do your best~"
The four people, men and women alike, all looked haggard. Each held a sharp awl that gleamed coldly.
They had already made up their minds.
They went to the carriage where Tanjiro and the others were, each choosing a target. As for Sanemi Shinazugawa, they ignored him for the time being.
Mainly because all those scars were genuinely intimidating.
In the dream, Tanjiro had returned to his former self. He had shed his uniform and Nichirin Blade, kneeling inside the room.
His younger brothers and sisters, who had long since died, appeared before him once more. His mother was there too.
They looked like one happy family.
Yet Tanjiro kept unconsciously reaching for his waist. Something felt wrong, as if he had lost something incredibly important.
Somewhere he didn't notice.
In a corner of the dream stood a frail-looking boy holding an awl. He made his way to the edge of the dream.
"Is this the place?"
He pierced the boundary with the awl in his hand and stepped inside.
The boy entered Tanjiro's subconscious. It was where the sky met the sea, with blue skies and white clouds reflected upon the vast azure ocean below.
It was tranquil and peaceful.
When the breeze brushed against his cheek, he was completely overwhelmed by the sight and couldn't help murmuring.
"Is this his heart?"
The moment he spoke, someone behind him suddenly said,
"It's beautiful here, isn't it?"
Ajuromaru's crimson eyes stared at the boy who had appeared here. He didn't seem to be in a very good mood.
The boy hadn't expected anyone else to be here. Before him stood an incomparably beautiful girl, and for a moment, he was utterly dazed.
He answered without thinking.
"It's breathtakingly beautiful and endless... and... so warm..."
Ajuromaru nodded slightly at that, then stepped forward alone. "Well said. But since you've come here, please die!"
With a raised hand, black mist erupted from around him and transformed into sharp spikes that shot forward.
The boy squeezed his eyes shut in terror, his body trembling uncontrollably. Yet the death he had expected never came.
When he opened his eyes again,
he found only a palm formed of light shielding him. The gentleness it radiated made tears stream down his face...
"Even in your subconscious, you want to protect others? That really is your style, Tanjiro!"
Ajuromaru gave up on attacking again. Instead, he raised his slender right hand and snapped his fingers.
"I won't kill you this time. Get lost!"
Snap!
The crisp snap reached the boy's ears, and his consciousness immediately plunged into boundless darkness.
Meanwhile, in another dream, Tanjiro had already sensed that something was wrong. He ran alone into a snow-covered forest.
"Tanjiro, what's wrong?"
Behind him came the calls of his mother and family.
Even so, Tanjiro merely lowered his head and kept walking, murmuring,
"I really want to stay here forever. Everything was so wonderful. My family was healthy and happy... but none of this is real... I've already lost everything...
All I can do now is avenge you!"
His resolve firm, he ran wildly through the frozen forest and shouted with all his strength, "Ajuromaru!"
The moment his voice fell,
Ajuromaru appeared behind him and slowly approached, teasing, "You're leaving so soon? I deliberately didn't wake you up right away."
Faced with the teasing, Tanjiro looked exceptionally calm. Yet his gentle eyes held nothing but determination.
"My heart is filled only with revenge now. Please, Ajuromaru, let me leave this place!"
His will had never been this firm before. Perhaps seeing his family again had made him understand that, having lost everything,
the only thing he could do now was make Muzan Kibutsuji pay the price he deserved!
Ajuromaru acted as though he had no choice but to comply, waving his hand. "Since you're asking, wake up now!"
The moment he spoke,
the dream shattered. Tanjiro, who had been sleeping in his seat, suddenly jolted awake and immediately looked around warily.
What he saw were his sleeping companions, several unfamiliar people, and a hemp rope around his wrist linking him to a boy seated behind him.
"Who are these people? And that rope... Right, Ajuromaru, please wake Zenitsu and the others too!"
Without time to think, Tanjiro immediately stood up.
Ajuromaru, within the blade, released black mist threads that connected to the other four people and shattered their dreams.
But during that time,
he had witnessed their dreams firsthand, especially Zenitsu's. In his dream, Zenitsu frolicked about with an utterly lecherous grin.
"Ajuromaru, Nezuko, slow down and wait for me~"
Seeing that, Ajuromaru's mouth twitched. He directly released his power and took control of the fake version of himself in the dream.
Just as Zenitsu was about to pounce,
Ajuromaru kicked him flying.
As Zenitsu stared in bewilderment, Ajuromaru walked up to him. Those sharp, blood-red eyes looked down at him as he said coldly,
"Actually, I'm a man!"
Zenitsu froze for a moment after learning the truth.
Then he let out a piercing scream, his expression completely falling apart and becoming grotesque beyond belief.
"Ahhh... no! How could Ajuromaru possibly be a man... This has to be a dream! Impossible... absolutely impossible..."
Amid his screams, the dream shattered.
Zenitsu successfully broke free from the dream. He opened his terrified eyes and shouted,
"It was all fake!"
Once he came to his senses, he saw everyone else staring at him strangely, making him rather embarrassed.
But after confirming that it had been a dream, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. Then he looked down and saw the hemp rope around his wrist.
It was connected to another boy's wrist.
"Who is this guy? And what is this rope..."
The others who had awakened were also confused, but Tanjiro hurriedly explained.
"We were hit by a Blood Demon Art and forcibly put to sleep. The tickets smelled like demons, so the tickets might have been the medium used to activate the Blood Demon Art.
Luckily, Ajuromaru was here. That's why we were able to wake up."
"The demon has already appeared?"
Hearing that, Kyojuro Rengoku stood and scanned the surroundings, his owl-like eyes missing no detail.
Zenitsu, unusually not acting insane, raged inwardly, You dared make me have a nightmare like that. Unforgivable! I'm definitely going to cut you down!
As for Inosuke, he still hadn't recovered from his dream.
In contrast, Sanemi Shinazugawa had already drawn the Nichirin Blade at his waist. His fierce eyes searched the area as he demanded,
"Where is the demon? I'll kill it right now!"
Before you continue