"Mr. Rengoku, Mr. Asuka! Wake up! We're under attack!"
Inside the carriage, Tanjiro, who had broken free from his dream, swiftly knocked out several accomplices connected by Blood Demon Art ropes, trying to attack his companions from within the dream. At the same time, he shouted loudly to the two Hashira-level swordsmen.
For some reason, Mr. Rengoku showed a faint reaction to Tanjiro's voice.
But Asuka was completely silent. Even his breathing was extremely weak.
What's going on? Was Mr. Asuka attacked inside his dream?
Alarmed, Tanjiro quickly examined the rope tied to Asuka's wrist.
To his shock, the other end of the rope was connected to the conductor who had checked his ticket.
And he was already dead.
No, I can't waste time here!
If Nezuko hadn't headbutted him and made him smell blood, he might still be trapped in the dream.
"Nezuko, stay here. It's dangerous outside. Don't go anywhere!" he ordered sternly to the still-dazed Nezuko.
Making up his mind, Tanjiro decided to find the Demon controlling the dreams on this train and wake everyone up!
He rushed out of the carriage, climbed onto the roof, and was immediately struck by a dense, suffocating wave of demonic aura.
At the front of the train stood the mastermind behind everything.
Enmu.
"Oh? You're awake? Good morning."
Enmu's voice, dripping with sickening affectation, pierced through the roaring wind and reached Tanjiro's ears. "Why wake up so early? I even made such a lovely dream for you."
He curled his lips into a sinister grin.
"Or would you prefer a nightmare where your entire family is slaughtered in misery?"
Veins bulged on Tanjiro's forehead, and the hand gripping his Nichirin Blade turned pale from the force.
"Hehe, actually, my favorite thing is to let someone have a beautiful dream first, and then immediately follow it with a nightmare," Enmu continued, utterly ignoring Tanjiro's reaction. "That twisted expression humans make is the most exquisite delicacy."
"Shut up!" Tanjiro roared, flames of fury igniting in his chest. "Don't toy with people's hearts! I will cut you down!"
Even though the Demon before him was one of the Twelve Kizuki, Tanjiro would not retreat.
Everyone else was still trapped in false dreams. Who knew what danger they might face?
He had to defeat the Demon before him as quickly as possible!
"Water Breathing, Tenth Form: Constant Flux!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Tanjiro unleashed the form. His Nichirin Blade traced a cold, water-blue arc beneath the moonlight.
Battling against the gale, he charged straight at Enmu at the front of the train!
Yet Enmu only gave a contemptuous smile and didn't even move his feet.
"Blood Demon Art: Whisper of Slumber. Sleep."
Buzz—
Just as the blade was about to touch Enmu's skin, Tanjiro felt the world before his eyes twist violently, his mind going blank.
An irresistible wave of drowsiness surged over him like a tide, instantly robbing him of balance as his consciousness plummeted into darkness.
"Sleep… return to that happy dream…"
Enmu's whisper was like a curse, dragging Tanjiro down in an instant.
The Kamado household. A snowy night.
"Big Brother, try this!" Nezuko held a roasted sweet potato up to his mouth, smiling sweetly.
Tanjiro opened his mouth reflexively. Warm sweetness melted on his tongue.
No!
A voice in his heart suddenly awakened him.
"Don't be fooled! This is a dream! We're fighting a Demon!"
"Our family… was slaughtered by Muzan!"
Overwhelming grief surged forth, piercing through the false warmth of the illusion.
The violent tearing sensation made Tanjiro curl up in agony.
"What's wrong, Tanjiro?" his mother asked anxiously.
"Big Brother, are you not feeling well?" Nezuko's pure eyes were full of concern.
Tanjiro, be strong.
His father's voice came calmly and distantly, as if penetrating the barrier of the dream.
Sever it.
An unprecedented resolve and courage surged within Tanjiro's heart.
He abruptly opened his eyes, looking at the false family beside him—the ones he yearned for day and night.
"I'm sorry…" he murmured.
The next second, under their stunned gazes, Tanjiro drew his Nichirin Blade without hesitation.
He swung the blade in reverse, the cold steel carrying the resolve to sever everything, and decisively cut across his own neck!
Slash!
Pain exploded forth—not just from his body.
The decision to abandon this warm moment with his family, to shatter the comforting illusion, stabbed straight into his heart!
On the roof of the Mugen Train.
"Gah—!"
Tanjiro's eyes snapped open. His body convulsed from the intense mental pain.
But he could not fall. He was still fighting. He was still on the roof!
Forcing himself steady, he once more invoked the flowing momentum of Constant Flux and charged at Enmu again!
"Impossible?" Enmu muttered in disbelief, immediately raising his left hand. "Sleep!"
Buzz—
The fierce mental shock struck, and Tanjiro's eyes rolled back as he fainted.
Yet almost instantly, he stabilized himself again, breaking free from the nightmare!
Again and again he charged, and again and again he was hypnotized.
On the roaring roof of the train, Enmu and Tanjiro performed a deadly waltz of flashing blades and shifting shadows, constantly weaving past one another.
"Not ineffective… you lunatic…"
Enmu finally understood. It wasn't that Tanjiro wasn't being hypnotized—each time he fell asleep, he immediately realized it and slit his own throat!
In other words, within these short dozens of seconds, he had already cut his own neck countless times!
Even in a dream, the pain was real.
Was he not afraid?
"If that's the case, then I'll make you suffer the most painful nightmare!"
Buzz—
The warm hearth abruptly went dark, turning into cold ashes.
The sweet aroma of food was replaced by an overpowering stench of blood.
The entire Kamado family lay collapsed in pools of crimson.
His mother Kie's gentle smile became a hollow stare. A deep, bone-revealing gash in her neck oozed black blood.
His younger brothers Takeo and Shigeru were no longer playing. Their small bodies were covered in savage claw marks, their eyes wide open in death.
His sister Hanako and baby Rokuta in her arms were cold corpses.
And Nezuko, seated beside him—her black hair stained dark red with blood—no longer had innocent eyes. Only endless hatred and pain remained.
"Tanjiro… why… why are you the only one who survived?"
"Tanjiro…" his mother's head tilted at an unnatural angle, hollow eyes staring at him. "You useless child… why didn't you protect us…"
"It's all your fault…" Takeo and Shigeru whispered.
"You let yourself live alone…" Hanako sneered.
Even innocent Rokuta's voice turned cold.
"When we were killed, what were you doing?!"
"You even have the face to keep living?!"
The venomous voices gathered into sharp, curved blades, relentlessly shredding Tanjiro's heart.
"There's no way my family would ever say such things!"
In reality, Tanjiro's eyes split with fury as he roared, breaking free from Enmu's hypnosis!
"You will not… insult them!!"
His Nichirin Blade howled downward with unrestrained rage, carving a powerful rippling slash through the air!
Slash—!
Steel bit into flesh, striking deep into Enmu's neck!
The deep-blue spiral blade light surged unstoppable, cleanly severing Enmu's head and sending it crashing onto the train roof!
Huff… huff…
Breathing heavily, trying to calm the fury in his heart, Tanjiro still felt unease lingering.
He didn't feel as though Enmu had died. The demonic aura hadn't dissipated.
"Was that a dream too?" he wondered uncertainly.
Just then, the severed head spoke.
"The Master said… aside from the Hashira, the most important thing was to kill you—the one with the earrings—and a black-haired boy…"
"I understand that feeling very well now…"
Gurgle…
A horrifying change began.
The steel body of the train suddenly emitted a grotesque, fleshy squirming sound!
The cold metal exterior was rapidly covered in dark red flesh slick with mucus!
At the connections between carriages, thick, pulsing tendrils like blood vessels sprouted!
In mere moments, the entire Mugen Train transformed into a colossal, monstrous mass of flesh radiating terrifying aura!
Enmu's head, after writhing amid the flesh, reattached to a massive tentacle and grinned wickedly.
"How unfortunate… while you were all sleeping, I already fused with the train!"
"Pathetic Demon Slayers… everything on this train is my blood, my flesh! How do you plan to kill me?!"
"Can you protect the hundreds of people on board… hehehe…"
He leered, savoring Tanjiro's despair.
"I will kill every last one of you!"