So-called bonds

Kirishima Bupai sighed as he watched the Boar-Headed Boy, who had become completely trapped in an endless loop.

Still, being stuck in this loop was better than wandering aimlessly through the woods.

Seeing that he was still caught in the loop, Kirishima Bupai nodded in satisfaction and leisurely rested both hands behind his head.

"A brain is a wonderful thing. Too bad..."

Leaving that faint, unfinished expression of regret behind, he flickered away, moving silently down the path deeper into the woods as though melting into the shadows.

After traveling at full speed for a while, Kirishima Bupai crossed a hill and finally reached a relatively open area.

The clearing in the woods had been destroyed beyond recognition, as though an enormous invisible plow had churned through it repeatedly.

Deep, crisscrossing gouges covered the ground, as though countless invisible blades had slashed madly at it.

The hard rock faces were likewise covered in scars as dense as spiderwebs.

Kirishima Bupai appeared soundlessly, like a phantom, on the branch of a relatively intact giant tree at the edge of the clearing.

With his hands in his pockets and his white-and-gold cloak stirring gently in the night breeze, he calmly surveyed the brutal battlefield below through his sunglasses.

The thick branch beneath his feet did not so much as creak under his light weight.

"So what if I have to say it again?!"

A roar filled with anger, pain, and some twisted obsession rose from below, piercing clearly through the deathly silence of the woods.

"Bonds like yours... are fake! Fragile! Completely worthless!"

Following the voice, Kirishima Bupai fixed his gaze on the center of the fierce battle.

Tanjiro, the boy who carried his younger sister on his back and had a flame-shaped Demon Slayer Mark on his forehead, was in a sorry state.

His uniform was torn in several places, revealing bleeding wounds beneath.

His breathing was particularly heavy now, and every swing of his jet-black Nichirin Blade looked unusually strenuous.

Sweat mingled with blood as it ran down his cheeks, but his burning-red eyes remained fixed on the demon before him-Lower Rank Five, Rui.

He was a boy demon whose appearance was exceptionally clean, even possessing a somewhat sickly beauty.

Slender in build, he wore a spotless, pure-white kimono, his long, snow-white hair falling smoothly around him, his complexion pale from long absence of sunlight.

Wound around his pale fingertips were the spider threads of "Thread Prison," almost invisible to the naked eye, yet tougher and sharper than any steel wire.

Every casual sweep of those threads could easily tear through the air and cause considerable destruction.

Clearly, those terrifying scars on the surrounding trees and rocks had all been made by these spider threads.

Weaving a web with both hands, Rui moved with a condescending elegance, as though toying with a moth caught in his web.

Tanjiro was struggling to evade Rui's storm of slicing threads.

"Water Breathing, first form: Water Surface Slash!"

He roared, his Nichirin Blade tracing an arc as smooth as a mirror, its edge carrying the resilience of flowing water as he tried to sever those deadly threads.

Sparks flew, and the grating screech of metal rang out without end.

But Rui's threads were too dense, too fast, and too powerful.

Though Tanjiro's slashes could barely fend off some of them, more followed close behind, continually adding fresh wounds to his body.

Every block and dodge brought him perilously close to disaster. His steps faltered, and his stamina was draining rapidly.

"Answer me, human!"

Rui's voice was cold and obsessive as he pressed forward with his attacks. "Your younger sister has become a demon. What true bond could you possibly still have?"

"One day, she'll lose her mind and eat you! Just like I..."

An almost imperceptible tremor entered his voice before an even deeper chill covered it. "Just like... those false things I once had!"

"Only power! Only absolute control can preserve an eternal, unchanging bond!"

"Give your younger sister to me. Let her become part of my 'family'! That would be the best place for her!"

Hearing such nonsense, Tanjiro clenched his teeth, swallowed a mouthful of blood, and roared, "Shut up! You don't understand anything!"

"Nezuko is my younger sister! Our bond is one of blood, of protection that never gives up!"

"It's nothing like your twisted relationship built on fear and coercion!"

"Water Breathing, third form: Flowing Dance!"

He unleashed the last of his strength, his Nichirin Blade moving nimbly along the paths of the threads like a winding stream, an unbroken series of slashes briefly forcing the dense threads back.

In that brief moment of respite, a sharp gleam flashed through Rui's eyes.

Whoosh-!

Several threads, more tightly condensed than before and carrying a deadly chill, shot silently out of Tanjiro's blind spot.

They were so fast and came from such treacherous angles that Tanjiro, having just exhausted his strength with no chance to muster more, had no way to dodge.

"Mm!" An anxious cry came from the wooden box on Tanjiro's back.

Bang! The lid of the wooden box burst open!

A petite figure in pink shot out like an arrow loosed from a bow.

It was Nezuko. With resolve in her eyes, she threw her slender body in front of Tanjiro without hesitation.

Squelch! Squelch!

The sharp threads instantly pierced Nezuko's shoulder and lower abdomen, their tremendous impact sending her small body flying.

"Nezuko-!!!"

Tanjiro's eyes nearly split with anguish, his heart wracked with pain. He lunged forward and caught Nezuko before she hit the ground.

Seeing the hideous puncture wounds on his younger sister's body, Tanjiro instantly burst into tears.

He frantically tried to press Nezuko's severed limbs back against her wounds.

A demon's powerful regeneration began to take effect, but the process was clearly agonizing.

"Nezuko... hold on... your big brother's here... your big brother's here..."

His voice trembling and choked with tears, Tanjiro held his younger sister tightly and hid behind a huge broken tree.

Meanwhile, Rui stood frozen in the middle of the clearing, as though struck by lightning.

His cold red eyes stared fixedly at the brother and sister holding each other tightly behind the broken tree.

He watched Tanjiro disregard his own injuries, his eyes filled with nothing but anxiety and heartache for his younger sister... watched Nezuko clutch her brother's clothes tightly with her little hands despite the tremendous pain she was suffering...

There was not a trace of resentment in those pink eyes, only attachment to her brother and concern for him...

The sight seared Rui's long-twisted, frozen heart like a red-hot branding iron.

What he longed for... what he pursued... wasn't it precisely this kind of bond?

Unconditional trust, protection without regard for life or death... why...

Why could this human and his demon sister have it? While he... all he had were falsehoods and betrayal...

"Bonds... true... bonds..."

Rui murmured dazedly to himself, his voice carrying unprecedented uncertainty and an almost greedy longing. "I want... I want a bond like that..."