"Lord Uzui! Hurry!"
"This boar-headed boy is too deeply poisoned! The antidote isn't working—he's not going to make it!"
Uzui's wives shouted as they pulled Inosuke out from beneath the rubble.
Gyutaro's poison had already spread throughout his entire body.
Even breathing techniques could no longer suppress it.
They removed his boar mask.
Inosuke coughed up blood—
Yet somehow still forced out a grin.
"Lord… Inosuke… I… cough…"
"No! No! No!"
Tanjiro shook his head desperately.
"You'll be fine! Stay with me!"
But his words faltered.
He didn't know what to say.
He didn't know how to save him.
What do I do…?
Tanjiro looked around frantically.
Gyutaro's head had already been severed by Aoyama.
Would sunlight help?
But it was still deep night.
By the time the sun rose—
Inosuke wouldn't last that long.
And would sunlight even work?
Tanjiro clenched his fists and struck his own head.
Think!
Think faster!
"Waaahhh—!"
"Tanjiro, do something!"
"Inosuke's heartbeat is getting weaker!"
Zenitsu sobbed uncontrollably, kneeling beside him.
"We should send a crow to get Shinobu—"
Tanjiro started—
Then immediately denied it himself.
There wasn't enough time.
At that moment—
Nezuko, who had been beside Aoyama, turned her head.
She slowly stood—
And walked over.
"N-Nezuko… Inosuke, he…"
Zenitsu couldn't even finish his sentence through his tears.
Nezuko crouched down.
Her small hands rested gently on Inosuke's body.
Suddenly—
Flames erupted across him.
"AHH!!!"
Uzui's wives recoiled in shock.
Hinatsuru quickly pulled Nezuko aside.
"What are you doing?!"
"Even if he's dying, you can't just cremate him!"
Suma nodded vigorously.
"That's not allowed! Big sister will punish you!"
But then—
Tanjiro froze.
Inosuke's closed eyes…
Slowly opened.
Color began returning to his face.
Zenitsu stopped crying mid-sob.
"Huh… his heartbeat…"
"It's normal again?!"
"Cough… cough…"
Inosuke raised his head weakly.
"I'm… hungry…"
"Lord Inosuke… is hungry…"
For a moment—
Everyone stood stunned.
Then—
Relief exploded across their faces.
Tanjiro laughed through tears and hugged Nezuko tightly.
"Hahaha! Was it you?!"
"You saved him, didn't you?!"
"That's amazing!"
Uzui frowned slightly.
"That little girl did it?"
He still found it hard to believe.
"Hey, old man!"
"It was Nezuko-chan, obviously!"
"Don't deny it!"
Zenitsu jumped up to argue.
"You brat! Why are you yelling at me again?!"
Uzui raised his fist.
"Please, everyone, calm down!"
Tanjiro quickly stepped between them.
"Uzui-san… I think it was Nezuko's Blood Demon Art."
"It burned away the poison."
"I don't fully understand it either…"
"But Inosuke is safe now. That's what matters."
Then—
Tanjiro remembered something else.
Blood collection.
It had always been Aoyama who handled it.
Tanjiro quickly gathered samples from the demon remains.
Just then—
A soft meow sounded.
A small cat appeared beside him.
It leapt lightly onto the rubble.
Tanjiro placed the blood samples into the pouch on its back.
"Meow."
With another sound—
The cat vanished into the night.
Meanwhile—
From the ruins came a loud argument.
Gyutaro and Daki—
Even as severed heads—
Were still fighting.
"It's all your fault!"
"Why didn't you save me faster?!"
"My head got cut off again because of you!"
Daki screamed.
Gyutaro snapped back.
"I was fighting a Hashira!"
"I was dealing with three people at once!"
"I was going to help you!"
"But that guy used some weird technique—"
"It was like time stopped!"
"And before I knew it—my head was gone too!"
"You're Upper Rank Six!"
"How could you lose to someone who isn't even confirmed to be a Hashira?!"
Daki continued blaming him.
"You're also Upper Rank Six!"
"Why don't you use that useless brain of yours for once?!"
Tanjiro walked toward them as they argued.
"You're not even my real brother!"
"We don't look alike at all!"
Daki shouted.
She was beautiful—
How could she possibly be related to someone so ugly?
"What are you saying?!"
"How many times have I saved you?!"
"Protecting someone as weak and useless as you—"
"That's my biggest regret!"
Their words cut deeper and deeper.
This was how they had always lived—
An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth.
Even now.
"I'd be better off without you!"
"My life would've been better!"
"Why do I always have to clean up your mess?!"
"If you had never been born—"
Before Gyutaro could finish—
Tanjiro suddenly covered his mouth.
"That's not true!"
"You don't really mean that!"
Those words—
Triggered something.
Memories flooded Gyutaro's mind.
Back when he was human—
His beautiful little sister was his greatest pride.
Because of her—
He no longer felt inferior.
No longer ashamed of his ugliness.
She was only thirteen—
Yet her beauty surpassed grown women.
And he became a debt collector.
Their lives were finally improving—
Until everything collapsed.
His sister stabbed a samurai's eye with a hairpin.
When he returned—
She had been burned alive in retaliation.
"Brother… do something…"
"I don't want to die…"
Her voice echoed.
Then—
Daki's head turned to ash.
Vanishing completely.
"Ume!!!"
Gyutaro screamed.
He remembered everything.
Her real name—
Was Ume.
Not the cursed name "Daki."
Though even "Ume" came from tragedy—
Named after their mother's illness.
As dawn approached—
Gyutaro's head also turned to ash.
This—
Was the fate of demons.
Soon after—
The Demon Slayer Corps cleanup team arrived.
Shinobu Kocho and Kanao Tsuyuri arrived together.
They carefully carried the unconscious Aoyama—
Rushing him toward the Butterfly Mansion.
Meanwhile—
Aoyama felt himself falling.
Into endless darkness.
His body drifted weightlessly.
No light.
No direction.
Nothing.
"…Did I die?"
He paused.
"…No way."
"…It can't be that unlucky, right?"
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