Demon Slayer: I am a Demon.

“There really are ghosts inside, child.”

Tanjiro spoke in a gentle tone.

"No, there's only Mom inside."

The child shook his head and, taking advantage of Tanjiro's inattention, lifted the opening of the tunnel entrance and rushed inside.

Tanjiro was startled and immediately followed. The dark tunnel was dimly lit. After walking a few steps, he saw a woman hiding in the darkness holding a child.

At that moment, the woman held the child in her arms, curled up.

"This is my mother, not a ghost."

The child, nestled in the demon's arms, roared at Tanjiro.

Tanjiro stood silently in place, watching the scene before him. He could smell the scent of demons in his breath, as well as the child's feelings for the demons and the demons' feelings for the child.

This genuine emotion touched Tanjiro's heart, but his gaze fell on the dark corridor, where he also noticed the human bones scattered around.

"Please, please, let me go. I don't want to abandon my child."

The demon knelt on the ground, begging Tanjiro for mercy.

The child also begged for mercy at this moment.

Tanjiro placed his hand on the hilt of his Nichirin Blade, but lacked the courage to draw it. In the end, he silently retreated.

When the demon saw Tanjiro's departing figure, it did not attack him. Instead, it held the child and cried out in joy.

Tanjiro stepped outside, stood in the sunlight, basking in its warmth, and thought of the tender love a mother had for her child in the tunnel.

But there were also human bones lying on the ground, representing the dead.

The dead cannot speak.

But Tanjiro could smell the wails, sorrow, and pain left behind by the dead.

"The sins committed cannot be forgiven."

Tanjiro slashed with his sword, cutting through the tunnel's cover and letting the sunlight fall on the demon holding the child.

"what!"

Sunlight fell on the ghost, and it let out a mournful cry, but immediately suppressed its pain, stopped wailing, gently held the child, and softly comforted the frightened child, telling the child that it was going to a very, very far place...

Until it was completely reduced to ashes.

A foul stench began to emanate from the air, the sorrowful aura of demons so thick that Tanjiro fell silent.

Tanjiro, however, simply gripped the hilt of his sword firmly.

Chapter 249 The Hunt

"Breathing of Thunder, First Form: Thunderclap Flash"

He channeled his power into one foot, then unleashed a burst of energy. Zenitsu Agatsuma's body moved with the speed of thunder tearing through the air as he approached the demon. With a lightning-fast, impenetrable strike, he drew his sword and severed the demon's head in one swift motion.

Looking at the fallen head of the ghost, looking at the ghost's hideous head.

Zenitsu Agatsuma was filled with fear and dread. He desperately wanted to escape and wanted to cry.

But all the fear

All negative emotions

Everyone held back at that moment.

Zenitsu Agatsuma used to be unable to face his own cowardice and incompetence, and always liked to run away and escape.

He can no longer... face himself like this.

"I...I admit I'm terrified of death, terrified, but, but..."

Zenitsu Agatsuma raised his head: "I can't be afraid anymore, I can't run away anymore, I can't hide anymore."

When Zenitsu Agatsuma opened his eyes again, they were completely bloodshot, and he stared coldly at the demon whose head he had severed.

The master was killed by a powerful demon. The master who was always proud of him had died at the hands of the demon.

He had always hated and looked down on his senior brother, Kaigaku, and died at the hands of a demon.

There was no longer that strict yet gentle grandfather, nor that disliked and looked down-on senior brother. In the entire Peach Mountain, he was all alone.

"From today onwards, I am no longer that crybaby."

Sheathing his sword, Zenitsu watched silently as the demon turned to ashes and vanished. With his hand on the hilt, he turned and left, heading to find the next demon.

He went to find those ghosts he had once been terrified of and desperately wanted to avoid.

…………

"Pigs chugging ahead, pigs chugging ahead."

A boy wearing a boar's head mask and carrying two swords moved swiftly through the jungle, causing the trees to sway.

Similarly, a ghost was fleeing in a panic ahead, its scarlet eyes already filled with fear.

"Stop and fight me, grandpa."

Hashibira Inosuke, carrying his sword, excitedly gave chase.

"Shh!"

A flash of dazzling twin blades swept past the demon from behind, gazing at the headless demon lying on the ground.

"Really, it's so fragile."

He muttered something, sheathed his twin swords behind his back, and reached up to touch the boar head mask covering his face.

Moonlight filtered through the gaps in the tree canopy, dappling his bare shoulders and back.

The ghost's body began to disintegrate, turning into ashes that were scattered by the wind.

Having killed the demon and exhausted from the strenuous exercise, Hashibira Inosuke simply found a spot where the demon had died and rested with his arms crossed.

Familiar Dreams

He was so tiny, held in someone's arms. Those hands were warm, and something soft was pressed against his cheek, as if it were crying or laughing.

His voice was inaudible, and his appearance was unclear, as if he needed to live a good life.

Someone who is very important to him.

"Why am I having this dream again?"

Hashibira Inosuke stood up and irritably scratched his head.

Suddenly, his beastly instincts tensed all his muscles, his body bent and lowered sharply, and he gripped the two swords on his back and slashed out.

"Clang!"

The metallic clanging sound sparked as Inosuke Hashibira turned around in an instant and launched a counterattack against the attacker.

Having spent years roaming the wild, learning from wild beasts, he mastered his own unique "Beast Breathing" technique. Combined with his extremely strong physique, this makes Hashibira Inosuke's twin swords incredibly fast.

But even the fastest blade couldn't cut the corner of the person's clothes.

The girl wearing a fox mask with her eyes closed and a smiling face dodged while observing the boy in front of her, sensing his strength. She roughly knew that this person was probably the Hashibira Inosuke that her master had asked her to find.

"boom……"

Another slash landed on empty air, then fell to the ground, stirring up a cloud of dust.

Panting heavily, Inosuke stopped and looked up at the girl who had already leaped to the treetop and was standing on it.

"Hello……"

Makomo looked at the boy and spoke.

The girl's voice was soft and ethereal.

Hashibira Inosuke didn't want to listen; he just wanted to have a good fight with this person, but the other person was too fast, and he couldn't hit him at all, which made him very annoyed.

"Come down here and fight me."

Kubihira Inosuke yelled.

"I would like to invite you to join the Demon Slayer Corps and hunt demons together."

Makomo spoke up at that moment.

Hashibira Inosuke scratched his head and gripped his twin swords tightly: "Let's have a fight first."

"Pigs swoosh!"

It crashed into the big tree where Makomo was standing.

'boom……'

His head slammed into a tree with a dull thud, causing the trees beneath his feet to shake.

Seeing this, Makomo's mouth gaped slightly, filled with shock.

Sure enough, just as the gentleman said, this person's mind wasn't working very well.

…………

The basement, filled with disinfectant, was lined with shelves containing numerous reagents. Nearby were also several glass cabinets filled with various petri dishes.

In this basement, a gentle woman and a petite girl are researching a potion.

"Just one last step left, waiting for the cells to completely fuse..."

Shinobu Kocho stood in front of the experimental table, her beautiful purple eyes fixed intently on the continuously merging liquid in the petri dish.

"The cells are merging more slowly than expected."

Beside her, Tamayo spoke softly, but her eyes were bright. With Shinobu's help, her research was progressing very quickly.

As she spoke, Tamayo took the test tube again and carefully added a drop of reagent. As soon as the drop of reagent was added, the color of the entire petri dish changed suddenly, almost instantly from dark purple to nearly transparent amber.

"Cellular activity is declining, and regeneration is also decreasing..."

Upon detecting the condition of the cells, both Tamayo and Shinobu held their breath.

Finally, after an unknown amount of time, a tube of reagents was successfully assembled.