"Tap… tap…"
The sound of footsteps echoed through the darkness as the figure of a man slowly came into view. He had long black hair, a beard along his jaw, dark markings spread across his face, and golden irises that glowed faintly in the dark. In his right eye, the characters for Lower Two were carved clearly.
He was one of the Twelve Kizuki — Lower Rank Two, Rokuro.
A powerful demon… the kind of monster that only a Hashira could stand against.
"Huu..."
Shinobu Kocho tightened her grip on her Nichirin Sword and let out a slow breath. Even without turning around, she could sense someone behind her near the escape passage. They were worried about her… and at some point, they had even stopped running.
"Go. Now."
Without looking back, Shinobu spoke coldly to the person behind her. Her face had become tense, her entire expression unusually serious. Hatred filled her eyes — a hatred directed toward demons that seemed endless.
Even now, Shinobu still remembered the first time she faced a demon.
Back then, right in front of her eyes, the demon had devoured the father and mother who loved her most. She had been too terrified to even resist, trembling helplessly while hiding in her sister's arms.
That scene had never faded from her memory.
"I won't hide anymore. I won't run away again. I'll protect everything with my blade… and I'll kill every last one of you monsters."
Her hand clenched tightly around the sword hilt as she rushed forward, launching herself at Lower Rank Two of the Twelve Kizuki, Rokuro.
"You're not running? And you still dare raise your sword against me? How brave…"
Rokuro sneered as he licked his lips.
"Let me see what your flesh tastes like. You look quite tender."
Before he could even finish speaking—
Slash!
Shinobu had already reached him.
Her blade flashed through the air like blooming cherry blossoms as it cut toward him with deadly speed.
Rokuro simply guarded his neck, ignoring the rest of the attack. Instead, he swung his claws at her. Even if her blade struck him, his claws would land on her just as surely.
As one of the Twelve Kizuki, Rokuro had fought countless Demon Slayer swordsmen before. He understood very clearly how to deal with them.
In his eyes, although the Demon Slayers were powerful and possessed unwavering resolve, even willing to risk their lives in battle… they were still only human.
For example, even if Shinobu's strike wounded him now, as long as his neck was not severed, she could never kill him.
And as for "damage"—with a demon's staggering regenerative abilities, he would recover almost instantly.
But humans were different.
If his claws tore into her body, she would bleed. Once she bled, she would weaken. The weaker she became, the more her fighting ability would decline.
The difference between humans and demons was simply too great.
A sword and a claw struck at the same time, each landing on the other.
Shinobu's blade pierced through the demon's flesh and drove deep into his body.
At the same moment, Rokuro's claws ripped through Shinobu's flesh as well.
Blood poured from Shinobu's wound, but Rokuro's injury was already healing at a speed visible to the naked eye. As one of the Twelve Kizuki, his regenerative ability far surpassed that of ordinary demons.
"Trading injuries with a demon is the worst possible choice for swordsmen like you."
Rokuro lowered his head and glanced at the wound that was already closing up. A cold smile slowly spread across his face.
"You humans are different. Once you're injured, you can't simply recover."
An experienced swordsman would never fight the way Shinobu did.
But Shinobu paid no attention to the wound on her body. Her tense gaze remained fixed on Rokuro as she gripped her sword tightly.
"With a demon's regenerative ability, ordinary injuries are almost meaningless to you… but what about poison?"
"Poison?"
Rokuro almost laughed.
With the monstrous vitality of demons, what poison could possibly harm them? He had never heard of any toxin capable of killing a demon.
But before he could mock her further, a sudden pain exploded through the organs inside his body.
At that moment, panic appeared in Rokuro's eyes.
"It hurts… doesn't it?"
Shinobu watched him clutch his chest, icy hatred flashing through her eyes.
"The poison is spreading through every organ in your body. It's destroying every cell little by little. This is a toxin I developed specifically to kill demons… and you are the first member of the Twelve Kizuki to experience it."
"Damn you…"
As the weakness spreading through his body grew stronger, fear and panic began to consume Rokuro.
"I'LL KILL YOU!"
Almost mad with rage, he launched himself at Shinobu.
"Blood Demon Art: Storm Blades!"
Blood burst out from his body and transformed into countless black-red blades that shot toward Shinobu like a deadly storm.
Thwip!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
The black-red blades flew as fast as arrows, sealing off every direction around Shinobu. The soft sound of butterfly wings seemed to flutter through the air as Shinobu moved gracefully between the attacks.
Then—
Puchi!
One black-red blade pierced her body. Then another.
"Die!"
The growing weakness inside his body drove Rokuro deeper into madness, and his Blood Demon Art became even more violent.
Amid the endless rain of black-red blades, Shinobu's butterfly-like movements gradually slowed.
In the end, like a butterfly with torn wings, she fell to the ground.
At almost the same moment—
Thud...
Rokuro's body collapsed as well.
The poison had finally spread through his entire body, completely extinguishing his life.
Meanwhile, the broken-winged butterfly lay on the ground. Leaning on her sword, she struggled to rise, but her vision had already begun to blur. She could only vaguely sense that the demon before her had finally died.
For once, a faint smile appeared on the young girl's usually tense and serious face.
"So… I'm going to die too?"
Blood covered her entire body as the light in her eyes slowly faded.
Shinobu had never feared death.
From the moment she stepped onto the path of hunting demons, she had already prepared herself to die somewhere along that road.
"Sister… I'm sorry. I fell before you did."
She whispered weakly to herself.
"I'm sorry, Sister... please don't be sad because of me. I'm sorry, Sister... I can never live the ordinary life you hoped for... I can never have the happiness of a normal girl."
As she thought about the happiness her sister once wished for her, a figure suddenly appeared in her mind.
Her location had been attacked... was he doing okay?
He should be fine.
After all, he was much stronger than she was. If even she could kill one of the Twelve Kizuki, then that man who always liked talking badly about her should definitely survive.
She only hoped he would remain safe.
…
"Tap… tap…"
Soft footsteps approached.
At some point, Aoi Kanzaki had returned from the escape tunnel. Her whole body trembled violently, especially after seeing the demon's corpse lying in the distance. Fear filled her eyes as she shakily looked around.
Then she saw Shinobu collapsed on the ground.
The girl's body was small and slender, not imposing in the slightest, yet she had protected everyone in her own way.
Suppressing the terror in her heart, Aoi hurried over and lifted Shinobu's frail body into her arms. Seeing the blood covering Shinobu, tears immediately streamed down her face as she quickly carried her toward the escape tunnel.