Kanao ignored him. After wrestling with it for a long time, she still could not bring herself to take a step back.
Truthfully, she ought to retreat from an opponent she clearly could not defeat. After all, Tetsu no Sosuke had always taught her one rule: if she could not win, she should run...
But that lesson had never really stuck.
Tetsu no Sosuke himself rarely managed to follow it.
If he only told others to do it but could not do it himself, what child would listen?
"So I'm being ignored." Flames licked at the sky, and an even crueler smile spread across Akaza's face. "I thought I'd have to go in and destroy the seeds, but they came out on their own. You've saved me a great deal of trouble. Good. In that case..."
A crushing sense of danger descended at once. The gap between them was simply too great.
The killing intent and fighting spirit Akaza unleashed were enough to leave Tanjiro and the other two struggling to breathe.
"We're dead, we're dead, we're dead, we're dead!"
Tears streamed down Zenitsu Agatsuma's face. He suddenly turned to Kanao. "Since I'm about to die, could you grant me one wish?"
Kanao silently drew her sword.
When Zenitsu Agatsuma said nothing more, she asked, "What is it?"
"Never mind." Zenitsu Agatsuma stared at her sword and gave the answer reluctantly.
Kanao looked utterly baffled. What was that about?
"There's only one of him, and three of us..." Tanjiro took a deep breath. "I'm going in!"
"Going where?"
"Of course I'm—huh?" The voice sounded wrong. Tanjiro whipped around and saw a figure sprinting toward them. In the blink of an eye, the newcomer reached the three of them and pushed Tanjiro's sword hand back down. "You're not going anywhere. Stay