Beheading Akaza

"Big Brother Rengoku!"

Tanjiro stared wide-eyed at the figure slumped on the ground before him, tears streaming down his face.

Kyojuro's abdomen was blasted open, with most of it blown off, and blood was flowing out of the wound continuously.

Kyojuro Rengoku raised his head with some difficulty and looked at Tanjiro had come to his side.

"Definitely... definitely..."

"Definitely what?" Tanjiro leaned down slightly, bringing his ear as close as possible to Kyojuro's mouth.

Kyojuro opened his mouth and spoke with all his might:

"We absolutely... absolutely... have to win!"

After he finished speaking, Kyojuro's head seemed to lose its support and fell limply to the ground.

Looking at the scene before him, Tanjiro's jaw started trembling uncontrollably.

His hands clenched so tightly that his fingertips dug into his palms, and a trickle of blood flowed down his sides.

After a long while, he slowly got up from the ground, turned around and walked towards Akaza.

During the scene, Akaza, Obanai, Zenitsu, Inosuke, and Giyu, who had just arrived, faced off.

"Ha... Foolish, risking your life to save someone!" Akaza said disdainfully.

"I absolutely... absolutely... absolutely will not allow you to say that about Big Brother Rengoku!" Tanjiro raised his head, his gaze fixed on Akaza.

Looking at the Demon Slayer before him, Akaza frowned, pointed at Tanjiro, and said:

"This is all because you're not strong enough!"

"If you were strong enough, you could have blocked my attack just now! Kyojuro wouldn't have died saving you!"

"It's all because you're too weak!"

"Weakness is the original sin!!"

"Big Brother Rengoku did die because I was too weak, so today, no matter what, even if it costs me my life, I will keep you here!" Tanjiro stared at Akaza with bloodshot eyes.

Having said that, he slowly raised the long sword in his hands.

"Dance..."

"Tanjiro, don't let the death in Rengoku cloud your judgment!" Giyu shouted anxiously.

However, Tanjiro completely ignored what he was saying, his eyes fixed on Akaza.

"Flash!"

The crimson flames instantly reached Akaza's front.

Akaza raised his hand.

Clang!

"Look, this is what a weakling looks like! He's blinded by hatred. What good is it if you're angry? You still can't beat me!" Akaza said disdainfully, looking at Tanjiro with his Nichirin Blade in his hand.

Having said that, he clenched his right hand.

"Destructive Death - Disorder!"

A fist carrying blue light kept swinging towards Tanjiro.

Tanjiro was completely unable to defend himself and could only desperately protect his head.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Bang! Clang! Bang! Bang! Bang!...

The ear-piercing metallic clanging was interspersed with a few sounds of metal hitting flesh.

"Water Breathing - Seventh Form - Drop Ripple Thrust!"

"Serpent Breathing, Second Form: Venom Fangs of the Narrow Head!"

Akaza frowned as he watched the attacks hurtling towards him.

"Destructive Death - Annihilation Style!"

Ignoring the attacks from the others, he once again hurled his fist at Tanjiro.

Clang!

The fist slammed into the Nichirin Blade.

At the critical moment, Giyu abandoned his attack and grabbed Tanjiro behind him.

However, in the rush, he didn't have time to exert much force. His fist, bracing against the Nichirin Blade, slammed into his body, and the two of them flew out and crashed into the wall.

"Puff!"

Tanjiro spat out a mouthful of blood, and pain radiated from his body.

However, Tanjiro paid no attention to any of that and immediately turned to look at Mr. Tomioka beside him.

Looking at Mr. Tomioka, whose clothes were also stained with blood, the hatred and anger generated by the death of Big Brother Rengoku seemed to completely subside at this moment.

"Tan... Tanjiro, calm down!" Giyu said, taking a breath.

Tanjiro looked at Giyu quietly, and after a moment, he slowly nodded.

"Okay, I understand!"

Giyu looked at Tanjiro with some oddity. The calm words made him feel uneasy, even though he was the one who calmed Tanjiro down, the effect was...

The two of them pushed themselves up from the ground.

Giyu said, "Quick, let's go! Iguro and the others won't last much longer!"

"Mr. Tomioka, you go first, I... I'm feeling strange..." Tanjiro stood there, speaking expressionlessly.

Upon hearing this, Giyu looked at Tanjiro with an even stranger expression, then turned to glance at the battlefield in the distance, gritted his teeth, and, having no time to worry about Tanjiro for the time being, quickly rushed over.

Tanjiro stood still, quietly watching the people entangled in the distance, observing the art style that kept switching between perspective and normal.

Finally, the art style settled on perspective. Tanjiro arrived at Kyojuro's corpse, glanced at Kyojuro one last time, and then bent down to pick up Kyojuro's Nichirin Blade.

Hiss! Hiss!

On the battlefield.

"Destructive Death - Disorder!"

"Water Breathing..."

"Serpent Breathing..."

"Beast Breathing..."

"Thunder Breathing..."

Five colors—fluorescent blue, azure, pale white, silver, and orange-yellow—were constantly intertwined on the battlefield.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!...

Akaza kept swinging his fists to fend off the attacks from the group.

At one moment, a calm sound suddenly entered his ears.

"Hinokami Kagura - Beneficent Radiance... Kindly Light!"

Ignoring the attack in front of him, Akaza quickly turned around, and was taken Akaza when he saw the state of the person in front of him.

That emotionless gaze, that near-perfect physical condition...

However, he reacted quickly and threw a punch.

Tanjiro slightly turned his body to the side, trying to minimize the damage he would take while still being able to attack Akaza.

Whoosh!

The fist swung past Tanjiro, spraying blood everywhere.

However, Akaza showed no joy on his face; his golden pupils reflected the blazing blade.

Whoosh--!

The head bearing the mark of Upper Rank Three flew into the air.

Giyu, Obanai, Inosuke, Zenitsu couldn't suppress a look of joy on their faces.

"Quick, Tanjiro, cut off the rest of his body too, or he'll regenerate!" Giyu hurriedly reminded him.

Upon hearing this, Tanjiro twirled his Nichirin Blade, about to act as Giyu suggested, when the headless body moved first.

"Quick, stop him!!" Obanai's pupils contracted slightly.

At Obanai's prompting, the others immediately realized what was happening.

The Nichirin Blade, which Tanjiro had wanted to retract after beheading Akaza, slashed out again.