The air seemed to have been clenched by an invisible hand, turning thick and heavy.
Tanjiro felt as though his lungs had been drained dry. Every breath brought a knife-like pain.
It was more than fear.
It was a sense of absolute submission, rooted in life itself, of an inferior before a superior.
Beside him, Inosuke, that beast who feared nothing, had also frozen in place, his body beneath the headpiece trembling violently beyond his control.
"What magnificent fighting spirit..."
At the center of the deep crater, the demon covered in blue tattoos-Akaza-finally spoke.
His voice had a peculiar, magnetic resonance, but his words sent a chill down their spines.
His gaze ignored Tanjiro and Inosuke completely, as though they were merely two stones by the roadside.
It passed straight over them and locked firmly onto the gold-and-red figure ahead.
"Honed through countless trials, you've already approached the supreme realm. Truly perfect."
A pure smile appeared on Akaza's face, like a child's upon seeing a beloved toy.
He was praising Kyojuro Rengoku.
Then, as though only just noticing an ant at his feet, he cast a casual glance at Tanjiro, who could barely stand because of his injuries.
The smile vanished from his face in an instant, replaced by undisguised disgust.
"The weak are such an eyesore."
"You're too weak. Disappear."
Before his words had faded.
Akaza vanished from where he stood.
It was not speed, but a true disappearance, as though he had teleported.
Tanjiro's eyes failed to catch even an afterimage. All he felt was the blast of a fist, mingled with the scent of death, rushing at his face to smash his skull like a watermelon.
But he did not die.
Because at that same instant, a blaze even hotter and more domineering blocked his path.
**"Flame