The enormous palm grew rapidly in Tanjiro's vision. The shadow of death swallowed him completely, and the wind pressure nearly forced his eyes shut. Was this the end...? The faces of his family, his master, and Nezuko in the box on his back flashed through his mind. "I'm sorry..." Tanjiro slowly closed his eyes.
But just as the enormous hand that could crush him into pulp was about to touch him, a shrill cry sharp enough to seemingly tear through eardrums rang without warning throughout the forest: "Chirp-!"
It sounded like a thousand birds screaming shrilly at once. Then a streak of Lightning Release, more dazzling than lightning, shot from the depths of the dark forest. Though it came later, it arrived first, moving faster than Tanjiro's eyes could track.
"Squelch!" The crushing force and excruciating pain he had expected never came. Instead, there was the dull sound of flesh being pierced.
Tanjiro's eyes flew open, and the sight before him left him utterly stunned. The enormous demon hand that had been about to slap him to death had frozen in midair, less than half a meter above his head. A gaping hole now ran clean through that thick, indestructible arm.
The edges of the hole were charred black, still hissing and trailing wisps of smoke. The smell of burnt protein spread through the air.
"ROAR-!!!" A roar mingling incredulous pain and fury erupted from the "Father" Spider Demon's mouth. He jerked his arm back and stared at the hideous wound. For the first time, an emotion called horror appeared in his enormous compound eyes.
What happened? What was that just now? Tanjiro could not understand it either. He looked in the direction the Lightning Release had shot from. At some point, a black-clad figure had appeared before him.
It