"Hahahaha!! You've been fooled! Fooled!! Haha, this is hilarious! Hey!! You over there—don't just stand there! Keep writing! Write this scene down! Hahahaha!!!"
Seeing Takeo's body pierced by the shadow spear, the shadow demon burst into crazed laughter, his hysterical voice echoing throughout the room.
Takeo didn't scream in pain—but neither did he move.
After stabbing through his flesh, the shadow had solidified inside his body, locking his muscles and rendering him immobile for the mont.
Yoshizuru Asato, slumped across Takeo's back, struggled to fall off, trying to dislodge the shadow spikes by shifting his weight.
But to Asato's dismay, the shadow thorns remained firmly embedded in Takeo's body.
His bloodied face twisted with anxiety and regret. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to stand, barely managing to stay upright as he called out: "Takeo!!"
"I'm… fine," Takeo replied, his voice strained.
His body had been impaled, his internal organs damaged in multiple places. But fortunately, the shadow hadn't pierced his heart. The injuries—lethal to most—would take less than half a minute for Takeo to recover from.
That's right. His regeneration had been enhanced again.
Though still far from the level of Wolverine at his peak, Takeo's healing ability—fortified through Breathing Techniques—was approaching that level.
If only the shadow thorns could be removed, his body would be fully healed in under a minute.
This recovery speed was nearly on par with that of an ordinary demon.
But the most troubleso part was that the shadow thorns weren't willing to leave.
They burrowed deeper into Takeo's body, trying to seize control of him from the inside.
"Are you still pretending to be fine? Hahaha! Stop bluffing! You must be in agony right now! You must be dying inside! I deliberately avoided your vital organs just to make you suffer longer! I'm going to torture you—I want that adult to witness with his own eyes as I kill a Hashira!!"
"This way, I'll receive even more blessings from that adult! I'll beco the new Lower Rank One—or maybe even rise to the Upper Ranks!! Hahaha!! Why do you think I stayed here even after the Demon Slayer Corps discovered ? It was all to kill one of you—a Hashira!"
Convinced that victory was within reach, the shadow demon burst into arrogant, manic laughter.
And with that, the real reason for his presence in Mito was clear: he had deliberately stayed behind to slay a Hashira with his own hands.
Ridiculous.
A real Hashira would be far stronger than Takeo. If a Hashira had co in person, the outco would likely have been decided in an instant.
The only reason Takeo was still struggling against this demon was because his speed wasn't fast enough. If he were quicker—so fast that the shadow demon couldn't react—then the demon wouldn't have had the chance to escape into his shadows in the first place.
And that, ultimately, would be the fate of it if any Hashira ca here.
From this point of view, Takeo was not yet qualified to be a Hashira.
"That adult?" This was the first ti Takeo had spoken directly to the demon since entering the room. He looked straight at the shadow demon—its grotesque mouth protruding from the girl's abdon—and asked:
"Are you talking about Muzan Kibutsuji?"
"!!!"
The mont he uttered the na, the shadow demon's expression changed drastically. All traces of arrogance vanished, replaced by sheer horror. Fear, rage, and panic twisted his features.
"How dare you… how dare you speak that na aloud?! Die!!!"
No longer toying with him, the shadow demon imdiately went in for the kill.
The shadows filling the room transford into deadly weapons in an instant. Even the shadows piercing Takeo's body bristled with jagged spikes, threatening to impale him from the inside out.
But at that exact mont—Takeo forcefully broke free from the shadow thorns' grip!
Blood sprayed through the air, his body beneath the Demon Slayer Corps uniform torn and covered in vicious wounds.
But Takeo ignored the pain.
Wolf Breathing, Second Form —
He drew in a deep breath, strengthened his stance, and charged straight toward the girl bound by the shadow demon!
Lone Wolf's Last Stand!
His twin Nichirin swords thrust forward at once. Takeo abandoned all defense, ignoring the oncoming strike from the demon—he plunged both blades toward the girl's abdon with the fastest, most ferocious strike he could unleash!
Pfft—!
"AAAHHH!!!"
A double scream rang out.
One scream ca from the girl—she cried out in pain, tears flying from her eyes.
The other belonged to the shadow demon. He let out a shriek and was forcefully ejected from the girl's body.
Takeo seized the opportunity. With explosive strength bursting from his legs, he pushed past the girl and lunged toward the fleeing shadow demon!
Wolf Breathing, Third Form – Wolf Hunt!
Countless slashes tore through the air like a pack of wolves chasing down prey, each blade bite aid at the fleeing shadow demon.
But Takeo was still just a little too slow.
Among the Lower Ranks of the Twelve Kizuki, the shadow demon was among the fastest.
And with the ability to ld into and travel through shadows, he could practically teleport within them.
As a result, Takeo's attacks continued to miss by the slightest margins. That tiny difference allowed the demon to escape deeper into the surrounding shadows.
"Damn it! Damn it!! Don't you care about their lives?! If you kill , your comrades will die too!! All of them—everyone in this room will die!!!"
The shadow demon's voice echoed from within the darkness, furious and desperate.
Takeo glanced down at the girl lying in a pool of blood, clutching her abdon.
He clenched his jaw, then said quietly:
"…Sorry."
And with that—blades in hand—he charged once more toward the demon hiding within the shadows.
Perhaps his actions would lead to soone's death. Perhaps that last attack had already dood the girl.
But now that the choice had been made, there was no room for hesitation.
As long as he could kill the shadow demon, even if everyone else here had to be sacrificed—it would be worth it. In this mont, Takeo had only one goal in his sights: the shadow demon.
"Tsk! In that case—"
Seeing that Takeo remained completely unmoved, the shadow demon dropped all pretenses.
He imdiately detonated the shadow bomb planted inside the girl's body.
It was one of his Blood Demon Arts—by embedding a portion of his shadow inside a person, he could control it at will, detonating it from within to shred the host's body.
The attack that had pierced through Takeo earlier was a variation of this very technique.
Now, under the demon's control, the shadow bomb exploded inside the girl.
"AAAAAHHHHH!!! It hurts—it hurts so much…!!"
She writhed on the ground in agony, her screams echoing as shadows burst violently from inside her body, twisting her fra in unspeakable pain.
Takeo didn't look. He couldn't.
In his eyes—now blazing with the flas of fury—there was only a single, unwavering intent:
To kill the shadow demon.
His twin Nichirin swords struck the wall, tearing through countless tendrils of shadow.
The shadow demon continued to flee, but despite his growing fear, he was also thinking of how to deal with this red-haired swordsman.
By all logic, the boy's injuries—especially the internal damage—should have already rendered him immobile.
But why could he still fight as if nothing had happened?
More than that—this boy's heart was like solid stone.
Even the screams of his injured companions hadn't made his sword hand tremble in the slightest.
Are all Hashira in the Demon Slayer Corps like this?
It was the first ti the shadow demon had encountered soone with such strength, so he naturally assud Takeo was a Hashira.
And truthfully, in earlier tis, Takeo's current strength might very well have t the standards of a Hashira. The shadow demon wasn't entirely wrong.
But even if Takeo's power exceeded that of the demon, if his attacks couldn't land, they ant nothing.
On the other hand, this was the shadow demon's territory.
Every shadow projected on the ground or wall was under his control.
Realizing that intimidation and manipulation were no longer effective, the shadow demon abandoned the theatrics and chose to attack directly.
A thick, black shadow surged beneath Takeo's feet. Forced to evade, Takeo leapt upward.
But shadows filled the room—floor to ceiling. The mont Takeo jumped, a mass of shadow behind him twisted into the shape of a leg and swept toward his waist and abdon.
Bang!!
The leg wasn't made purely of shadow—this was the demon himself, using his ability to move between shadows to launch a physical kick at Takeo!
The blow landed hard.
Takeo's body was hurled across the room, blood spraying violently from his wounds. The impact was brutal.
He crashed to the floor with a heavy thud, and the surrounding shadows surged toward him like living creatures, instantly wrapping around his body.
"Go to hell!"
The shadow demon had no interest in wasting more words with Takeo—especially after Takeo had spoken the na Muzan Kibutsuji aloud, which filled him with terror.
Muzan Kibutsuji possessed the ability to monitor all demons he had created—he could see and hear everything they did.
Just hearing soone say his na might have already drawn Muzan's attention to this place.
The shadow demon was terrified. If he appeared to be going easy on his opponent, Muzan might think he was deliberately losing—and if that happened, he'd be killed without rcy.
So regardless of whatever plan he'd had earlier, there was now only one outco:
This boy had to die.
The shadow tendrils wrapped around Takeo surged again, stabbing deep into his flesh.
At the sa ti, the demon conjured a mass of even thicker shadow thorns, aiming them directly at Takeo's head as he lay on the ground.
If this strike landed—it would be fatal.
This is it, the shadow demon thought. He'll die for sure.
But in the blink of an eye, soone burst forward at blinding speed—throwing themselves in front of Takeo at the last possible second.
Pfft!
The shadow thorns pierced through the person's body. Scalding blood sprayed over Takeo from the impact.
It was Yoshizuru Asato.
He had used his body as a shield—standing between Takeo and death.
_________
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