Heading to Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters

"Impossible, impossible, impossible! Why are you so strong? I'm a demon who received that lord's power! A mere human..."

Lying on the ground, Rui still could not accept his defeat. Chinatsu shook her head slightly at the sight of him and interrupted his muttering. "The world is vast. You've been hiding away on one little mountain. Did you really think you could become invincible?"

Unlike Tanjiro, Chinatsu would not offer kind words to a pitiful demon before killing him. If he truly deserved pity, she was not the one who should show him mercy.

Judging your sins is God's job.

Mine is to send you to meet him.

Chinatsu would not give Rui a merciful strike with Blessed Rain After the Drought, but neither would she use Hinokami Kagura to inflict pain worse than death.

With a sharp swish!, a clean slash severed Rui's head from his body. His head rolled twice across the ground before coming to rest with his eyes staring straight up at the sky.

I lost... utterly and completely.

Holding her Nichirin Blade, Chinatsu looked at Rui for a few moments before turning away. Only then did she notice Giyu Tomioka and Shinobu Kocho standing nearby, watching.

"Who are you?"

Chinatsu feigned confusion as she asked. Shinobu Kocho was just about to speak when Tanjiro and the others finally arrived from behind them.

"Chinatsu! Are you all right?"

Tanjiro hurried to Chinatsu's side, looking as though he wanted to inspect her from head to toe.

"I'm fine. You know how my body works. These are just little scratches. It's just... hmm... I'm a little tired... and sleepy..." Chinatsu yawned as she spoke, raising a hand to rub her eyes.

Remembering his older sister's regenerative abilities, Tanjiro finally felt a little more at ease.

Giyu Tomioka and Shinobu Kocho stood to one side, both looking puzzled, especially Giyu.

Giyu Tomioka knew Tanjiro and his demon sister, but who was this "older sister"? Hadn't Muzan slaughtered the Kamado Family, leaving only the two siblings alive?

There were far too many questions, but watching the siblings' warm reunion, they found themselves unsure how to interrupt.

Fortunately, Zenitsu was there to keep things moving. A dozen or so seconds after Tanjiro and Nezuko arrived, he finally came running up, out of breath.

"You... you ran... too fast... wait for me..." Zenitsu reached Giyu Tomioka and Shinobu Kocho, then bent over with his head down and his hands braced on his knees, gasping for breath.

When he lifted his head, he found Shinobu Kocho in front of him. She smiled at him with narrowed eyes and said, "Um~ could you tell us a little about them~?"

As she spoke, she extended a finger toward Chinatsu and the others. The corner of Zenitsu's mouth twitched. If he had to explain those people, there was an awful lot to tell.

Zenitsu then used the simplest words he could to tell the two of them everything from his encounters at the Final Selection to what had happened after their recent reunion.

Giyu Tomioka and Shinobu Kocho had heard about the two prodigies at the Final Selection. When they heard that both had already mastered "Total Concentration: Constant," their expressions visibly changed.

"With talent like that, they're sure to become Pillars someday."

"One of them already is a Pillar."

Giyu Tomioka spoke calmly. Given what they had just witnessed, once they returned to headquarters and reported it to Oyakata-sama, that title was guaranteed.

Shinobu Kocho watched the group with a complicated expression, particularly Nezuko.

She was certainly a demon, but she also showed no signs of hurting anyone. Was she truly a demon who did not eat humans? Did such demons really exist?

Shinobu Kocho lowered her head slightly, conflicted.

Giyu Tomioka slowly walked over to Chinatsu and the others. They turned to look at him, and both sides seemed to be waiting for the other to speak. A minute passed like that.

Finally, after a full minute of silence, Giyu Tomioka opened his mouth and broke it.

"You... should come back to headquarters with us."

Chinatsu and Tanjiro would undoubtedly become core fighters of the Demon Slayer Corps in the future. That meant Nezuko's identity as a demon could no longer remain a secret. They needed to return, meet Oyakata-sama and the other Pillars, and work things out.

The other Pillars probably would not react too strongly, especially the Love Hashira, but the Wind Hashira...

"All right, let's go to headquarters."

Chinatsu agreed to Giyu Tomioka's request, and naturally, Tanjiro and Nezuko would not refuse.

They would go to Demon Slayer Corps headquarters to have Nezuko's status acknowledged and gain more people's acceptance.

Zenitsu felt thoroughly screwed.

Inosuke, lying off to the side as though... no, actually being ignored, felt even more screwed. Just because I'm not saying anything doesn't mean I'm not here!

After briefly getting themselves in order, the group set off for Demon Slayer Corps headquarters. Before they departed, however, the situation on Spider Mountain had already been reported to headquarters by crow.

Upon receiving the crow's report, the Demon Slayer Corps' Oyakata-sama broke into a delighted smile. Although a series of heavy coughs followed, that did not matter.

"Defeated Lower Rank Five... another rising star. Perhaps Muzan can be brought to an end in this era... no, he must be brought to an end in this era. We cannot let this drag on any longer. Muzan Kibutsuji, the disgrace of our family!!!"

Muzan Kibutsuji belonged to the same family as the Demon Slayer Corps' Oyakata-sama. A thousand years earlier, Muzan had been a young man plagued by a grave illness. Many doctors had failed to cure him, and only one unusual doctor had refused to give up treating him.

During that treatment, however, Muzan killed the doctor. Afterward, he discovered that he had become a demon. Searching through the doctor's notes, he learned that it was caused by a special medicine the doctor had developed.

That medicine had turned Muzan into a demon and given him immense power, but it had also made him fear sunlight and crave blood.

When Muzan reached the end of the notes, he discovered that the medicine was still incomplete. If he could find a plant called the "Blue Spider Lily," he would be able to overcome sunlight.

After Muzan became a demon and began slaughtering humans, heaven placed a curse on his entire family. Only after their ancestors vowed to do everything in their power to kill Muzan and to marry daughters of priests in every generation was the curse alleviated. Even so, none of them could live to twenty-five. Only by successfully killing Muzan could they truly break the curse.

Oyakata-sama sat weakly on the ground, gasping for breath, with extensive burn-like wounds covering his face.

"This generation... we must... we must..."