Obanai froze, his mismatched eyes filled with disbelief. "How could this happen? My dream was troublesome, but I woke up naturally as soon as the rope snapped. Can that demon's technique actually vary from person to person? Why is she trapped so deeply?"
Rokuya fell silent.
Images from a few days earlier, at the Toxicology Research Institute on the outskirts of Osaka, rose uncontrollably in his mind.
Shinobu's broken sobs and cries, the glass shards scattered across the floor, her profound despair over her own lack of talent, and... the word "family" he had cruelly spoken to protect her and sever her unnecessary attachments, pushing her away completely.
-I was the one who shattered her mental defenses with my own hands.
Rokuya clenched his fists tightly at his sides, his knuckles cracking as the bones ground together. The demon Enmu's hypnosis was certainly strange, but what truly trapped Shinobu was no invincible Blood Demon Art. It was the abyss deep within her heart, already torn open by Rokuya and filled with inferiority and despair!
The demon had merely keenly sensed that crack, then slipped through her defenses and magnified her nightmare without limit.
"This is my responsibility." Rokuya drew a deep breath, his gaze turning cold and resolute once more. He turned toward Obanai, his tone carrying an unquestionable command, making no attempt to show him the courtesy due a Hashira.
"Obanai, I'll leave the demon on the train to you."
"I'm going in." Rokuya looked at Shinobu's agonized face and said gravely, "I'll use arcana power to reestablish a mental connection and enter her dream myself. I'll pull her out from within."
"Are you insane?!" Obanai sucked in a sharp breath and snarled in a low voice, "Entering someone else's nightmare willingly? That's completely different from being dragged in