Butterfly

Pushing his Breathing Style to its limit, Kanzaki Kumo became a blur wreathed in incandescent lightning and vanished into the distance. Flying overhead, Ink Shadow beat his wings so fast they almost blurred, yet could only watch Kanzaki Kumo pull farther and farther away.

Ink Shadow: I haven't even gotten on board yet!

As he raced along, Kanzaki Kumo soon picked up the demon's trail with his vision.

It was a village near a town, and the demon was heading into it.

Presumably, a nearby Kakushi had happened to spot the demon and sent a signal, which Ink Shadow, the closest, had received.

Since Kanzaki Kumo made no attempt to conceal himself, the demon noticed his approach from some distance away and turned to look, meeting his eyes.

Both froze for a moment.

Kanzaki Kumo saw the words "Lower Three" in its left eye, while the demon sensed that Kanzaki Kumo was very strong.

The next moment, a little excitement joined the anger in Kanzaki Kumo's eyes, while a hint of panic appeared in the demon's.

Lower Rank Three, Byōyō, was a male demon with short black hair and an X-shaped scar on his forehead and beneath each eye. He also wore distinctive gold earrings in both ears, seemingly the same style as those worn by Tengen Uzui, the Demon Slayer Corps' Sound Hashira in the original story.

Byōyō: Guys, can anyone relate? I came out looking for a meal in the middle of the night, and before I even found any food, someone came charging at me trailing sparks and lightning.

Realizing that Kanzaki Kumo was very fast and therefore certainly no weakling, Byōyō began thinking of retreating.

After all, he had only come out for a meal. There really was no need to risk his life.

Kanzaki Kumo: A Lower Rank, and this is your attitude when you meet an opponent? No wonder that scumbag boss Muzan laid you off outright in the original story.

The next instant, Byōyō turned and fled at full speed away from the village.

But Kanzaki Kumo did not even glance at the retreating figure. Instead, he accelerated into the village.

For Kanzaki Kumo had seen another figure rush into the village under cover of the departing figure when Byōyō turned to flee.

Clearly, the figure running away from the village was merely a diversion.

The instant Kanzaki Kumo stepped into the village, several darts came flying at him from the side.

At that moment, Byōyō became the first demon to truly experience the powerful effect of Kanzaki Kumo's Super Vision in combat.

After all, practically every demon before him had been killed the moment Kanzaki Kumo encountered them, with no time to experience it.

Byōyō watched as the absurdly young man before him avoided several darts from his supposedly foolproof ambush with a slight tilt of his head, then turned his wrist and precisely deflected the other two with his Nichirin Blade.

In an instant, Byōyō knew he was no match for him and had to escape.

Just as he realized this, a streak of incandescent lightning shot straight toward its face.

On the brink of death, it twisted its upper body aside with all its strength. The blade aimed at its neck fell just short of severing it completely, cutting off its left arm and half its shoulder instead.

Byōyō used the momentum to flip away from Kanzaki Kumo and fled with everything it had, occasionally throwing darts behind it with its right hand in an attempt to slow Kanzaki Kumo's pursuit.

A few seconds later, Byōyō's arm regenerated. At the same time, a girl who had heard the commotion and come outside to investigate entered its field of view.

It knew its chance had come. If it could seize this person as a hostage, that would surely create an opportunity to escape.

As these thoughts flashed through its mind, Byōyō hurled another handful of darts behind it with its right hand and reached toward the girl with its newly regenerated left hand.

Before the girl who had just opened her door could react, she saw a hideous, sharp claw right before her eyes. All she could see was that coldly gleaming claw and the viciously grinning face behind it.

But immediately afterward, a streak of incandescent lightning appeared in her vision.

"Thunder Breathing, Seventh Form: Roaming Dragon!"

In an instant, the incandescent lightning seemed to become a roaming dragon. With a flick of its tail and a rushing sound like a dragon's cry, it broke through the dense barrage of darts, severed the demon's head, and stopped before the girl.

Byōyō's head flew high, the cruelty in its eyes not yet gone as fresh terror appeared.

Its headless body slowly collapsed, gradually disintegrating beneath the girl's startled, frightened gaze.

"Are you all right?" Only after confirming that the demon's body had disintegrated did Kanzaki Kumo turn and speak softly to the girl.

"I... I'm fine." The girl stared blankly at the disintegrating demon, then looked at the fine-featured boy before her, who seemed quite young. Her pinkish-purple eyes widened slightly, as though she had yet to recover.

"Ah! You're hurt!"

Only then did the girl notice a bleeding wound on Kanzaki Kumo's left shoulder.

In his urgency, Kanzaki Kumo had used a newly developed Sword Form. It was already the move that best allowed him to avoid or block those darts while accelerating forward.

Even so, Byōyō's final attack had been too dense, and he had ultimately failed to dodge them all.

After all, Byōyō's left hand had almost touched the girl at the time. Kanzaki Kumo could not simply stand by and watch a demon hurt someone right in front of him.

"It's fine. Just a scratch." Kanzaki Kumo shook his head slightly and prepared to turn and leave.

Ink Shadow had caught up while he was watching this Lower Rank Three's body disappear. The Kakushi responsible for the cleanup should be arriving soon as well, so there was nothing more for him to do here. He needed to find somewhere to treat his wound quickly. The demon's darts had been poisoned, and a patch of his left shoulder was already completely numb.

"Oh, wait! Come inside and get that wound treated first. My family runs a Clinic, so we have medicine." The girl called out to stop Kanzaki Kumo as he was about to leave.

Kanzaki Kumo thought it would take quite some time to return to the Demon Slayer Corps' Medical Department. Since there was a doctor right here, it would save him the trouble, so he followed the girl inside.

"Dad, come quickly! Someone's hurt." As the girl ushered Kanzaki Kumo to a seat inside, she called toward a room off to the side.

The commotion from Kanzaki Kumo's final move had woken several nearby households, but because Byōyō had disintegrated quickly enough, they had no idea what had happened and could only return to bed.

This family had clearly been woken earlier as well. Now, hearing the girl's call, they all came into the room together.

There was a scholarly-looking middle-aged man who also seemed somewhat familiar to Kanzaki Kumo, a gentle woman who looked very much like the girl, and a younger girl rubbing her eyes.

"Kanae, what happened?" The middle-aged man spoke first, and the name he uttered stunned Kanzaki Kumo.

He took a closer look at the girl before him: pinkish-purple eyes filled with gentleness, long, straight black hair, and delicate features arranged in perfect proportion on her fair, lovely face.

The younger girl beside her had clear purple eyes, much like the middle-aged man's, and short black hair that barely covered her ears, with purple tips. Her still-childish features held a touch of tomboyish spirit.

Familiar faces, coupled with a familiar name.

For a moment, Kanzaki Kumo did not know what to say. The Butterfly Family, whom he had searched for so long without any news, was actually right here.

"Dad, leave the questions for later. Please look at this gentleman's wound first."

"All right, all right." The man glanced at the sword Kanzaki Kumo had made no attempt to hide. There was resignation in his voice, but he still stepped forward and carefully examined his injury.

At the same time, Ink Shadow flew toward the Demon Slayer Corps with news that Kanzaki Kumo had slain Lower Rank Three. He had only just arrived when Kanzaki Kumo beheaded Byōyō and had seen the words "Lower Three" in the latter's eye.