The atmosphere at the Butterfly Mansion was unbearably oppressive.
Shinobu Kocho, Kanao Tsuyuri, and the rescued Inosuke were all waiting anxiously in the courtyard.
An entire night had passed since their withdrawal.
The news that Uesugi Sasuke was facing Upper Rank One, Kokushibo, alone weighed like a boulder on everyone's hearts.
He was a legendary demon, a being no member of the Demon Slayer Corps had seen and lived to tell of for hundreds of years.
"He... he'll come back, won't he?" Aoi Kanzaki hugged her arms and paced uneasily back and forth.
"Of course he will! Mr. Sasuke is so strong!" The three little girls, Kiyo Terauchi, Sumi Nakahara, and Naho Takada, encouraged one another, but they could not hide the worry in their eyes.
Shinobu said nothing. She merely clenched her fists tightly, her gaze fixed on the entrance to the Butterfly Mansion.
That man had promised her, "You don't need to die."
That man, with the bearing of a god, had forcibly pulled her back from a tragic fate of self-sacrifice.
So you absolutely cannot die, either.
Just then, a figure appeared at the courtyard entrance.
It was a staggering figure, as though he might collapse at any moment.
His uniform was already in tatters, hanging from his body like strips of cloth. Crisscrossing wounds covered his exposed skin, and dark red blood mingled with dirt, making him look like a demon that had just crawled out of hell.
But everyone recognized him at first glance.
Because those eyes remained as sharp as a hawk's, even in such a wretched state.
"Mr. Sasuke!"
"Lord Uesugi!"
Everyone at the Butterfly Mansion cried out in alarm.
Shinobu's body reacted before her mind did. She became a purple blur, rushing to Uesugi Sasuke's side in an instant and firmly supporting