I Became a Demon Sword and Traveled the Anime Worlds

He was white.

Deathly white.

His skin, his hair, even the air around him seemed drained of warmth. Pale strands framed his face like the legs of a spider clinging to a human skull, and within his cold blue eyes, crimson rings curled like fresh blood.

The boy stepped out of the forest without a sound.

Lower Rank Five.

Rui.

Alex recognized him immediately.

"Tanjiro," he warned from within Asuramaru, his tone turning sharp, "this one is far stronger than the Lower Rank Six you fought before."

Tanjiro did not need to be told twice.

The scent alone was enough. It was thick, dangerous, and oppressive, wrapped in something cold and hollow. The demon before him looked like a child, but every instinct in Tanjiro's body screamed that this was an enemy far beyond the ordinary.

Compared to Tanjiro's tense readiness, Rui seemed almost indifferent.

His gaze lingered first on the place where the female demon had disappeared. For a moment, he stared at the drifting ash in silence.

Then he spoke.

"Mother is dead."

There was no grief in his voice.

No shock.

No sorrow.

After a brief pause, Rui continued calmly, "Well, if she's dead, then she's dead. At least she fulfilled her duty to protect the family."

Tanjiro's grip on Asuramaru tightened.

Only then did Rui turn his gaze toward him.

His cold eyes swept across Tanjiro's face, then stopped on the Hanafuda earrings hanging from his ears.

Rui's expression changed slightly.

"Those earrings…"

His voice lowered.

"So you're the Demon Slayer that Lord Muzan ordered us to kill."

The moment the words left his mouth, Rui raised his hand.

Several threads shot silently through the air.

They were thin enough to vanish beneath the moonlight, but the danger they carried was unmistakable. Tanjiro's body moved before thought could slow him down.

Asuramaru flashed.

Once.

Twice.

The threads snapped apart midair.

Rui's eyes narrowed.

He cut them?

That brief exchange was enough for both of them to understand one thing.

Neither opponent would be easy to kill.

The difference was that Rui had already received information about Tanjiro, while Tanjiro still knew almost nothing about him.

Far away, hidden beyond sight, Muzan watched the scene unfold.

The instant he saw Rui's threads being cut, his expression darkened.

A command spread through the demons scattered across Mount Natagumo.

The demons guarding different sections of the mountain all received the same order. After confirming the target's appearance, they abandoned their positions and rushed toward Tanjiro.

At the same time, the Hashira hidden around the outer perimeter of Mount Natagumo began to move.

The entire mountain stirred.

From all directions, hunters and demons alike converged on one point.

At the center of it all, Tanjiro stared at Rui with anger burning in his chest.

"Wasn't she your mother?" Tanjiro demanded. "Why aren't you sad at all? Aren't you supposed to be family?"

Rui's fingers moved.

Threads slipped from his hands, weaving into a cat's cradle between his pale fingers. His expression grew colder.

"We are a family bound by strong ties," Rui said. "Someone like you could never understand."

Tanjiro's eyes sharpened.

"No. No one understands the meaning of family more than I do."

His voice was steady, but every word struck hard.

"You don't smell like trust. When you looked at the place where she died, all I smelled from you was disgust."

Tanjiro pointed his sword toward Rui.

"Your so-called bonds are fake."

The forest seemed to fall silent.

For the first time, Rui's composure cracked.

His eyes trembled. His fingers twitched. His jaw clenched so hard that his teeth ground together.

"You…"

His voice was low and shaking with rage.

"What did you just say?"

Killing intent spread through the forest like icy fog.

Tanjiro felt it press against his skin. His body trembled under the weight of it, but his gaze did not falter.

"I'll say it as many times as I have to," he said. "Your bonds are fake."

Rui's anger finally broke through the surface.

"You won't die quickly."

His threads quivered in the air.

"I'll tear you apart slowly. I'll torment you until you regret ever opening your mouth."

Then his voice dropped into something colder.

"But if you take back what you said, I may kill you in one strike."

Inside the sword, Alex clicked his tongue.

Tanjiro, aren't you stabbing him right where it hurts?

You might be more ruthless than I am.

At that moment, Tanjiro spoke in his heart.

"Asuramaru, please lend me your strength."

Alex's voice carried a faint smile.

"You're starting to seek power on your own now? Good. I told you before—if you want it, I'll give you as much as you can take."

Demon Power surged from the sword.

It poured into Tanjiro's limbs and bones, spreading through his body like a burning current. His muscles tightened. His senses sharpened. The weight of the sword in his hands became familiar, almost alive.

Tanjiro raised Asuramaru with both hands.

"I won't take back what I said," he declared. "Because I'm right. You're the one who doesn't understand."

Rui stared at him.

Tanjiro stared back.

Then Rui attacked.

Threads burst forward in a dense wave, glimmering beneath the moon like strands of silver wire. Each one carried a razor edge, slicing through leaves and branches as they flew.

"I'll shred you to pieces!"

Tanjiro stepped in.

The sword flashed.

The threads shattered apart.

"You won't."

Rui looked at the severed threads falling to the ground, his expression darkening.

"So their hardness still isn't enough."

He raised both hands.

"But do you think that was my limit?"

Blood spread across his fingers.

His pale hands turned crimson as blood flowed from his fingertips into the threads. The once-invisible strands became stained red, twisting with a sinister sheen. Their sharpness and durability rose sharply, the air around them humming with danger.

This time, the threads were clearly visible.

This time, they were far stronger.

Rui swung his hand.

The crimson threads lashed out.

Tanjiro met them head-on.

Asuramaru cut through them in one clean stroke.

Rui's pupils narrowed.

"How…?"

His threads were tougher than steel.

Ordinary Nichirin swords would be sliced apart by them. Yet the sword in Tanjiro's hands had cut through them as if they were no more than wet paper.

Rui remembered Muzan's warning.

That sword was sharp.

Abnormally sharp.

But he had not imagined it would be this sharp.

Still, his Blood Demon Art was not so simple.

"Blood Demon Art—Engraved Thread Cage."

Rui pulled one hand back.

The threads scattered throughout the surrounding forest suddenly tightened. They gathered in the air, weaving together at terrifying speed until they formed a huge cage-like net that surged toward Tanjiro from above.

Tanjiro drew in a deep breath.

"Water Breathing—Sixth Form: Whirlpool!"

He twisted with his sword.

Water spiraled around him in a violent current, forming a roaring vortex that swallowed the incoming web. The threads struck the rotating water and were torn apart, scattering into fragments beneath the moonlight.

Only then did Rui's expression truly change.

He was no longer looking at Tanjiro as a troublesome target.

He was looking at him as an enemy.

Neither of them wasted words after that.

The forest erupted into battle.

Threads sliced through trees. Water-shaped sword strikes carved through the dark. Branches fell. Trunks split. Deep cuts appeared across the ground, crossing over one another like scars left by giant claws.

Tanjiro moved constantly, reading the scent of danger, cutting through threads before they could wrap around his limbs. Rui's attacks came from every direction, precise and vicious, each one meant to sever flesh and bone.

A short distance away, Zenitsu and Inosuke finally arrived.

The moment Zenitsu saw the battle, his face went pale.

"We'll die if we get close," he whispered, his voice shaking. "We'll absolutely die. Tanjiro can handle it by himself, right? We should get away quickly so we don't hold him back…"

This time, Inosuke did not immediately argue.

Even he could feel it.

That demon was dangerous.

If they rushed into that fight carelessly, they might be cut down before they even understood what had happened. It was a battle beyond what they could easily join.

Inosuke gripped his twin swords until his knuckles tightened.

"Damn it," he growled. "Just watching is making me furious."

But soon, both of them noticed something else.

Alex had already sensed it first.

"Tanjiro," he said, "more demons are coming. The remaining three Twelve Kizuki are moving toward you, and several other demons are almost here."

Tanjiro cut through another web of threads, then glanced toward Zenitsu and Inosuke.

"Zenitsu! Inosuke!" he shouted. "Demons are coming this way! Please hold off the weaker ones!"

Rui's eyes turned colder.

"You dare look away while fighting me?"

Threads shot out in a surprise attack, aiming to punish that single moment of distraction.

Not far from the battlefield, Zenitsu's knees nearly gave out.

"Let's run," he said weakly. "Both of us. Right now. While our legs are still attached."

Unfortunately, the words had barely left his mouth when three demons emerged from the trees.

All of them were white like Rui, dressed in similar clothing.

One was a young girl.

One was a massive, muscular demon with a spider's head.

The last had a human head attached to the body of a spider.

It looked as if two creatures had been assembled incorrectly and no one had bothered to fix the mistake.

Inosuke's fear vanished at once.

He raised his twin swords and pointed them at the huge spider-headed demon.

"Ahahaha! I'm tearing you apart!"

"Inosuke, don't leave me!"

Zenitsu reached out with trembling hands, but Inosuke was already gone.

The three demons noticed them at the same time.

The young female demon paused when she saw Inosuke.

"That one is human, right?"

Then she turned to the huge spider-headed demon.

"Father, leave him to you. I'll go help Brother."

With that, she left for Rui's side.

The spider-headed demon stepped forward to face Inosuke.

The remaining human-headed spider demon looked at Zenitsu, whose entire body was shaking like a leaf in a storm.

A sinister smile spread across his face.

"It's too late to run now."

Zenitsu froze.

"Are you ready to die?"

"AAAAH?!"

Zenitsu turned and ran at full speed.

The spider demon immediately chased after him, spraying silk from its rear and swinging through the trees with terrifying ease.

Each of them had found an opponent.

As for Tanjiro, the arrival of the young female demon made his situation worse.

She did not attack directly.

Instead, she lurked near the edge of the battlefield, launching sneak attacks whenever Tanjiro was forced to defend against Rui's threads.

Her timing was precise.

Cruel.

Annoying.

And dangerous.

.....

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