The first pale light of dawn appeared in the sky.
Yet that faint light brought no hope. Instead, it illuminated a scene of despair.
Uesugi Sasuke, the man who had descended like a god, single-handedly turned the tide of battle, and even driven the Demon Progenitor into a corner, was falling from the sky.
The majestic purple Susanoo armor around him had long since dissipated, and the light of the Six-Tomoe Rinnegan in his left eye had dimmed, as though it had burned through its last trace of energy. His black robes fluttered in the wind as he plummeted straight toward the ground like a raven with broken wings.
"Mr. Sasuke!"
Tanjiro Kamado's cry was heartrending. He had only just barely clawed his way back from the brink of death thanks to the opening Sasuke had created. Now, witnessing this, he felt as though an invisible hand had seized his heart in a crushing grip.
Should he rush over to catch him, or keep attacking the monster pinned firmly at the bottom of the meteor crater?
Tanjiro's mind went blank, but his body already instinctively wanted to rush toward where Sasuke would land. Reason and emotion battled furiously in his mind, leaving him frozen in place.
In that thousandth of a second of hesitation, a figure in blue moved.
Giyu Tomioka.
He did not hesitate in the slightest. The instant he saw Sasuke fall, this Water Hashira, normally a man of few words who never quite fit in with others, made the swiftest decision.
He abandoned the encirclement of Muzan Kibutsuji and turned. Tremendous power erupted beneath his feet, and he shot like an arrow loosed from a bow toward Sasuke's falling trajectory.
The roar of Water Breathing's tides thundered in his ears as he pushed his body's potential to