"....."
Ume was hiding in an intact house far away from her unconscious older brother.
She didn’t think for a second that Escanor would lose to that thing, but she couldn’t help feeling uneasy.
Boom!!Bang!!Crash!!
"!!! What was that?!"
As the ground trembled, huge explosions began echoing across the entire village.
"U...Ume...?"
At the sound, her brother Gyutaro, who had been unconscious, opened his eyes.
"Big brother! Are you okay?"
"...Looks like I’m still alive..."
At Gyutaro’s words, Ume let out a sigh of relief.
"Haa... Thank goodness..."
Ume hugged Gyutaro tightly. Her family, the one thing that had always supported her, had nearly died. Of course she would be scared.
"Ume... Don’t cry...."
"...I’m not crying..."
Gyutaro gently patted her head. As he tried to calm her down and soothe his little sister as much as he could, he then...
KWAOOOOONG!!!!!!
""!!!!!""
A far louder roar than before spread in all directions, and the sound of multiple buildings collapsing followed.
Rumble...
Even though they were far away, the building Ume and Gyutaro were in began to shake little by little.
"Eh? What is this?!"
"Ume... Let’s go outside..."
At Gyutaro’s words, Ume took his hand and headed outside.
"......Huh?"
"....Eh?"
What they saw was a scene of collapsed buildings and dust swirling everywhere.
"Hm? So you were here."
And in the middle of it all was Escanor, strolling toward them as if nothing had happened.
"Escanor!"
As soon as Ume saw him, her face lit up and she ran over to hug him.
"My, my. Since when do you get so clingy with me?"
"But! It’s only natural to be scared when I run into someone like that!!"
When Ume said that with tears in her eyes, Escanor burst into laughter, clearly not expecting it.
"Hahahahaha! So the one who was shouting and throwing stones at that being was actually scared all along!"
"Ughhh... Don’t laugh!"
Seeing Escanor laugh so heartily, Ume puffed out her cheeks and started hitting him.
"Hey..."
"Hm? Are you awake?"
When Gyutaro called out, Escanor looked over at him as if noticing him for the first time.
"Where did that guy go?"
But Gyutaro didn’t care about Escanor’s attitude. What mattered more was whether that thing that had nearly killed him was dead or alive.
"...I killed him."
Escanor said it as if it were nothing, and Gyutaro wore the expression of someone who had expected exactly that.
"As expected of Escanor!"
Ume smiled proudly as she looked at Escanor.
"...Still, at this point, we can’t keep living here anymore, can we...?"
Gyutaro said, looking around at the collapsed buildings. Only then did Ume seem to remember and glance around as well.
"Wh... What should we do...?"
At Ume’s words, Escanor spoke to the two of them.
"Ah. Come to think of it, I have a proposal for both of you."
""???""
At Escanor’s words, the two tilted their heads and looked at him.
...
Ding...
With the sound of a biwa string being plucked, the Upper Rank oni arrived at a place where space itself seemed warped.
"...This is..."
Upper Rank 2 Doma quickly realized where he was.
Infinity Castle.
A place created by the biwa oni’s Blood Demon Art, where "that person" summoned the Twelve Kizuki whenever needed.
"Eek... "That person" is furious...!"
Hiding there was Upper Rank 3 Hantengu.
"Well, well, Akaza-dono! I’m relieved to see you looking well! Has it been 84 years? I was worried you might have been taken out, so I was dancing... ahem... no, worrying about you."
Upper Rank 4 Gyokko spoke unpleasantly to Akaza.
And then...
"Everyone, quiet..."
""!!!""
Upper Rank 1 Kokushibo sat in seiza with perfect stillness.
"Muzan-sama has... been here since earlier."
""!!!!""
As soon as Kokushibo finished speaking, a red-eyed man with white hat and black hair appeared.
At his arrival, everyone dropped to their knees.
"Muzan-sama... I’m relieved to see you looking well."
Akaza greeted Muzan, but Muzan ignored him and said,
"Upper Rank 6. Doma is dead."
""!!!!!""
The news Muzan brought was shocking beyond belief.
"And not even by the Demon Slayer Corps... but by some bizarre muscle-bound man...! What exactly are you all doing?!"
At Muzan’s rebuke, none of them could lift their heads.
"You can’t find the Blue Spider Lily... you get killed by some strange bastard... How far are you going to disappoint me...?"
"Th... This is... I have no excuse..."
Slash!
"....Huh?"
"I never gave you permission to speak."
In Muzan’s hand was Gyokko’s head.
'Haa... haa... Muzan-sama’s hand is on my head... his hand...!!!'
Yet Gyokko wasn’t frightened at all. Instead, his face flushed red with delight.
"I’ll give you all a new mission. Investigate that man and bring me his head..."
As soon as Muzan finished speaking, the sound of a biwa string rang out and the Upper Ranks scattered in all directions.
....
Meanwhile, the news that an Upper Rank had been killed spread all the way to the Demon Slayer Corps.
Of course, the matter was discussed at the Hashira Meeting.
"After hundreds of years, an Upper Rank has finally been killed! Muzan... I will see you die in our generation..."
Ubuyashiki Kagaya, the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps, began the meeting in a state of excitement completely unlike his usual self.
"A civilian, not even a Demon Slayer, killed an Upper Rank... Or was he not exactly ordinary...?"
"From what I’ve heard, even Blood Demon Art didn’t work on him. If it’s that man..."
The Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps discussed the man who had killed an Upper Rank, and came to one conclusion.
"First of all, it would be best to bring that man into the Demon Slayer Corps..."
Comments (0)
Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register