The deathly silence lasted only a few seconds.
When the first swordsmith hiding indoors tremblingly poked his head out and saw that the two Upper Rank demons had indeed vanished, he let out a cheer, weeping with the joy of having survived the disaster.
"We won! We won!"
That single cheer was like a fuse being lit.
Then thunderous cheers and cries erupted throughout the Swordsmith Village.
"We survived!"
"Thank goodness! Thank goodness!"
The villagers poured out of their hiding places and embraced one another, pouring out the excitement and joy of having escaped death.
Amid that sea of cheers, the two Hashira, Muichiro Tokito and Mitsuri Kanroji, walked toward the figure standing at the center of the battlefield without either prompting the other.
Mitsuri Kanroji's cheeks were flushed, her eyes full of admiration and affection. She wanted to say something, to express her gratitude and excitement.
Muichiro Tokito had regained his usual indifference, but deep in his eyes was a trace of an emotion that had never been there before: awe.
Yet when they reached Uesugi Sasuke and looked at his profile, as cold as a sculpture, and those indifferent black eyes that seemed capable of seeing through everything, all the words they had prepared caught in their throats.
In the end, all those words became a single gesture, the simplest and most solemn of all.
The two Hashira bowed deeply to Uesugi Sasuke.
It was the tribute of the weak to the strong, and the highest expression of gratitude from comrades to the man who had saved their lives.
Sasuke did not turn around. He merely cast a dispassionate glance their way, then looked toward the morning sun slowly rising in the distance, seemingly unconcerned by any of it.
Elsewhere, after a brief daze, Tanjiro was finally roused