Beheading the Two Demons

"That's not the point. Anyway, it's someone with black hair, a tall build, skin as pale as paper, and plum-red eyes. Just remember those features."

Chinatsu awkwardly raised a finger and hurriedly changed the subject. Tanjiro and Tamayo thought nothing more of it, and the features Chinatsu described largely matched Tamayo's image of Muzan.

"Muzan can change his appearance, though the changes aren't especially drastic. I've heard he's even appeared as a woman before," Tamayo shared what she knew.

Having lived for several hundred years, Tamayo taught Tanjiro a great deal about demons, giving him a basic understanding of the Twelve Kizuki's strength. He would no longer embarrass himself by suggesting that every powerful demon he encountered might belong to the Twelve Kizuki, as he did in the original story.

"The Twelve Kizuki are powerful. Fortunately, I've heard the Pillars of this era are far stronger than those of the previous few generations. Most earned their positions by killing a Lower Rank, rather than through the merit of killing fifty demons. But the Upper Ranks are several times stronger than the Lower Ranks, and not one has been defeated in over a hundred years."

Tamayo spoke calmly, until Tanjiro's exceptionally keen nose picked up the scent of demons again.

It wasn't faint like Nezuko's or Miss Tamayo's scent, nor did it carry the nauseating stench of blood that accompanied Muzan. What Tanjiro smelled now was the ordinary scent given off by ordinary demons.

The foul stench of demons that had eaten humans!

"Chinatsu!"

"Right."

Chinatsu and Tanjiro rose from the floor, ready to leave immediately. Nezuko was still asleep, so they could only ask Tamayo to look after her.

It's all right. This will be over soon.

"We'll be right back!"

With those words, the two turned and rushed out of Tamayo's residence. Tanjiro led, with Chinatsu behind him, as they raced toward the demons' location.

Muzan was currently living in this city while posing as an ordinary human, but they had come here because a crow had reported the presence of demons.

The crow certainly hadn't meant Muzan. If a crow could discover his whereabouts, Demon Slayer Corps headquarters would treasure that bird like a priceless jewel.

The demons discovered by the crow-or rather, the Demon Slayer Corps' intelligence division-were actually Muzan's attendants, who had accompanied him on this little incognito excursion to the city.

If demons below the Lower Ranks were divided into low-, mid-, and high-level demons, then the owners of the scents Tanjiro had picked up definitely fell into the high-level category.

In a dark corner of the city, two figures ate as though they were enjoying a buffet, each holding a human thigh and nibbling on it with perfect manners.

"I'm so bored~ So bored~ So bored~"

"Shut your mouth and eat quietly."

"How am I supposed to eat with my mouth shut? Are you an idiot?"

"..."

The two demons feasted on human flesh. One was female, named Susamaru, and the other male, named Yahaba. They were Muzan's attendants, ranked below the Lower Ranks but above the other ordinary demons.

Muzan toyed with both of them like children, leading them to believe they were members of the Twelve Kizuki.

"Ah~ Sometimes I really don't understand what Lord Muzan is thinking. Playing house with humans, of all things~"

"Lord Muzan must have his reasons! Don't go speculating about his thoughts behind his back!"

"Heeheehee, I'm not disrespecting Lord Muzan. I'm praising him!"

The two demons chatted at their leisure, completely unaware of the two people approaching them.

Water Breathing was the gentlest of all Breathing Styles, with the most well-rounded training. Silent footsteps were a basic skill. While it couldn't erase one's presence completely like the Transparent World, it still gave its users finer control over their presence than practitioners of other Breathing Styles.

Only when the two reached a point three or four meters behind the demons did the demons notice that something seemed to be moving nearby.

They whipped their heads around, only to find Chinatsu's and Tanjiro's Nichirin Blades already sweeping toward their necks. At the very last moment, they barely escaped the strikes that had nearly killed them outright, though both had their necks cut two-thirds of the way through.

"The Demon Slayer Corps?!"

With no time to think about anything else, the two demons hurriedly assumed fighting stances.

Temari Demon: Susamaru.

Arrow Demon: Yahaba.

"Too bad. The sneak attack failed. Let's finish them quickly head-on."

"Right!"

Chinatsu and Tanjiro had no intention of dragging this out. Hearing that the pair intended to dispatch them quickly, the two demons immediately lost their composure.

"You're looking down on us!!!"

Susamaru sprouted four more arms on the spot. Each of her six hands conjured a temari ball, which she hurled at Chinatsu and Tanjiro with astonishing force.

Yahaba opened his palms. He could conjure countless arrow markings invisible to ordinary people, using them to control the direction and trajectory of objects.

Working together, they sent the balls hurtling back and forth through the air at high speed without losing any force. An ordinary person would have struggled to track their trajectories with the naked eye.

"Well?! This is the power of the Twelve Kizuki!!!" Susamaru laughed maniacally. To her, the two people surrounded by her temari balls were already trapped like fish in a barrel, and she could take their lives whenever she pleased.

Yet neither of the two looked troubled as the balls surrounded them. They merely tilted their heads up calmly to observe them.

"Tanjiro, what do you think?"

"These balls... I think I should be able to cut through them." Tanjiro watched the balls and tightened his grip on his Nichirin Blade, expressing his confidence.

Chinatsu wasn't particularly satisfied with his answer, however, and slowly shook her head.

"Why are you watching the balls? Just as you said, they pose no threat to us at all, so there's no need to pay them any attention."

Chinatsu didn't so much as look up at the balls hurtling around them. Instead, she fixed her gaze on the demon ahead.

"Hinokami Kagura: Mirage Sun Rainbow."

Before the demons' eyes, Chinatsu suddenly vanished from within the ring of temari balls. Susamaru frantically looked from side to side, trying to find where she had hidden.

But Chinatsu wasn't hiding. She was closing in on the demon at a speed too fast for the naked eye to follow, leaving an afterimage behind.

With a swish, crimson flames traced an arc through the air. Susamaru's head separated from her body and flew into the air, while a long sword mark appeared on the wall a short distance behind her.

"When you're fighting a mage using skills, targeting the caster first is the right move. Even an idiot knows that," Chinatsu said calmly, flicking her Nichirin Blade toward the ground and scattering demon blood across it.