The birth of a Pillar

"Hey, hey~ Wouldn't it be wonderful if humans and demons could understand each other and get along? What do you think, Mr. Tomioka?"

"That's impossible. As long as demons keep eating people, they'll never be able to get along."

Shinobu Kocho and Giyu Tomioka sped toward Spider Mountain, both moving far faster than Bolt. Giyu's feet seemed to have little electric motors attached, while Shinobu kept pace beside him with the kind of light-footed movement found in novels.

For Pillars like them, traveling from one place to another to carry out a mission was no difficulty. Rather than rely on transportation, they trusted their own legs.

To passersby, the two were like gusts of wind, appearing with a whoosh! before vanishing with another whoosh!

Both wanted to reach Spider Mountain as quickly as possible. Every extra person they could save mattered. Over the past few generations, the Demon Slayer Corps had steadily dwindled in numbers, and its members' average strength had declined as well. Fewer and fewer people could shoulder the responsibility of slaying demons, so no member could be casually abandoned.

In Giyu and Shinobu's minds, Spider Mountain must already have been a scene of devastation. Once they arrived, Shinobu would focus on treating the injured members of the Demon Slayer Corps, while Giyu dealt with the mountain's demons.

With their roles clearly assigned, they soon reached the foot of Spider Mountain. They had expected to encounter demons almost immediately, even if only weak ones, but the problem was that they hadn't encountered a single one.

"There aren't any demons, but there are obvious signs of fighting. Mr. Tomioka, those sword marks look like they were left by someone from your school," Shinobu said lightly, pointing a finger at the sword marks on a large tree.

A highly skilled swordsman could identify the sword technique used from its marks alone.

Giyu raised his eyebrows slightly as he examined the marks. He could tell that the swordsman who had left them was quite skilled, probably on the level of a Kinoe swordsman. Did a Kinoe swordsman take care of all the demons around here?

Still pondering this, Giyu continued looking around and discovered many more sword marks that did not belong to that "Kinoe swordsman."

Some came from people whose skills weren't particularly advanced, but whose Sword Techniques were strange and unusual. Others belonged to people who also used Water Breathing and had highly advanced Sword Techniques.

At least two Kinoe members were here. It was only natural that the two of them had arrived quickly, since they were Pillars, but were Kinoe members this fast now, too? If they were young, perhaps they might even become Pillars someday.

While the two were considering this, a tremendous crash suddenly rang out from the distant forest as trees were felled and toppled to the ground. Giyu and Shinobu immediately turned toward the sound and charged in that direction together.

As they raced ahead, the figures of two... no, three people gradually came into view.

Giyu's gaze sharpened, and he accelerated again, landing in front of them with a great leap. The people before him were none other than Tanjiro and his companions, who had dealt with the spider family.

"I'd like to know what's happening."

Giyu spoke succinctly, and Shinobu soon caught up. It had to be said that, judging purely by first impressions, Shinobu was far more approachable and likable.

But Tanjiro knew Giyu. After all, Giyu was the one who had recommended that he go study under Urokodaki.

"Mr. Tomioka! It's me! Tanjiro!"

Excited to see Giyu again after so long, Tanjiro patted his own chest with one hand as he spoke.

Only then did Giyu realize who the people before him were. Shinobu, meanwhile, fixed her gaze on Nezuko at Tanjiro's side.

"She's... a demon, isn't she?"

Shinobu raised her Nichirin Blade, smiling with narrowed eyes. Although she often spoke of whether it was possible to befriend demons, the trauma of her older sister's death at a demon's hands had left her in a constant state of anger. Living peacefully with demons had been her sister's dream, not hers. She was merely pretending to live as her sister had.

Shinobu's sudden move with her Nichirin Blade startled Giyu beside her. He hurriedly reached for his own Nichirin Blade to block her, but drawing it from its sheath and swinging it... he wouldn't make it in time.

A clash of metal jolted everyone back to their senses. Tanjiro, standing beside Nezuko, had blocked Shinobu's strike with his Nichirin Blade.

"Nezuko is definitely not an evil demon! She hasn't eaten a single person, and now isn't the time to discuss this! My older sister might be fighting one of the Twelve Kizuki right now!" Tanjiro shouted through gritted teeth.

Giyu and Shinobu's expressions turned serious the instant they heard "Twelve Kizuki." Even a Lower Rank demon was no laughing matter.

"Let's help first. We'll discuss this afterward."

"All right. I agree with you."

Giyu and Shinobu nodded, then pushed off and continued running toward the place where the tremendous crash had sounded.

Although Tanjiro and the others hurried after them as soon as they started running, they couldn't catch up no matter how hard they tried. The gap only grew wider.

These were the strongest of them all, beyond the ordinary ranks.

Pillars!

In mere moments, the two reached the area where the crash had come from.

Tree after tree had been sliced apart and felled, and the ground could only be described as a complete mess.

Their gazes first landed on the demon. The character for "Five" was engraved in his eye, proof that he was Lower Rank Five, one of the Twelve Kizuki.

Then, a moment later, their gazes shifted slightly upward, and a sight neither had imagined met their eyes.

A girl holding an azure Nichirin Blade stood with one foot planted on the demon, her blade poised beside his neck. Her once-neat hair had become thoroughly disheveled and fluttered in the wind.

There was blood on her, but she showed not the slightest sign of weakness, as though she hadn't lost any blood at all. If anything, she was merely catching her breath.

She was tired. That was all.

Seeing Chinatsu like this shattered even Giyu's icy poker face, leaving him visibly astonished.

He opened his mouth, both surprised and delighted. "Incredible. She actually defeated a Lower Rank."

Shinobu beside him felt much the same. The requirement for becoming a Pillar was to slay fifty demons or defeat a Lower Rank. By that rule, they had just witnessed the birth of a Pillar...