I, the spiritual mentor of beautiful girls from all over the world

The four violent green wind blades made contact with the purple stream of light the instant they struck!

It was as if ice had been thrown into concentrated acid, melting and disintegrating silently, eventually turning into specks of green light that dissipated into the air.

"What……?"

For a moment, Shinazugawa Sanemi's eyeballs almost popped out of their sockets.

His mind went blank; he was completely unable to process what was happening before his eyes.

That wasn't blocking! It wasn't a collision! It wasn't even force deflection!

Is it... decomposition?

Is it... annihilation?!

Breathing techniques... how could that possibly be possible?!

"You...you're a ghost too, aren't you?! You used blood demon magic, didn't you?!"

His voice was hoarse, like a broken bellows, filled with extreme confusion and utter madness.

The object of his roar was no longer Shinobu Kocho, but the "phenomenon" in front of him that he could not understand at all and that overturned his entire understanding of his swordsmanship!

Before he could recover from this enormous shock that defied common sense, Shinobu Kocho's figure had already disappeared again.

No, not disappear.

Instead, it is a more bizarre way of moving, as if folding three-dimensional space, completely violating the laws of physics.

She appeared on the left side of the River of Immortality, in an absolute blind spot.

The Nichirin Blade in his hand was drawn out of its sheath by one inch once more.

【Breath of Karmic Poison - Modified - Second Form - Avici】

A more refined and profound purple blade of light, like a soul-reaping hand reaching out from the depths of hell, silently struck the waist of the Undying River!

"—Stop joking around!!!"

That fear stemming from the unknown and the madness of being crushed to the brink of despair finally transformed into a hysterical roar!

At the critical moment of life and death, Shinazugawa Sanemi unleashed astonishing potential, forcefully twisting his body and swinging his sword to parry!

"sulfuric acid--!!!"

【Wind Breathing - Fourth Form - Rising Sandstorm!】

Boom! ! !

Another deafening explosion!

Two completely different forces collided violently, and the resulting shockwave blew half of the roof off the Ubuyashiki mansion!

Tiles, wooden beams, paper sliding doors... countless building fragments were pulverized in the violent airflow, turning the entire courtyard into a chaotic ruin!

Smoke and dust billowed, obscuring everyone's view.

"Ahem...you're...you're kidding, right..."

Uzui Tengen waved his hand to clear away the dust in front of him. The elegant curve of his lips, which was always upturned and full of confidence and theatricality, was now completely stretched into a stiff straight line.

Instead, a complex expression of pain and horror appeared on his face.

He looked at the courtyard reduced to ruins, his lips twitching as he muttered to himself, "The bill for repairing this place alone is anything but glamorous!"

"...However, that woman, at this moment, is even more ridiculously gorgeous than an Upper Moon demon!"

“Hmm!!”

Kyojuro Rengoku's gaze was more solemn than ever before. He stared intently at the center of the smoke and dust, his voice loud but trembling slightly.

"Such powerful strength! Shinazugawa's fighting spirit has reached its peak! But Butterfly... her fighting spirit, her breathing technique... why is it so strange! Cold, and full of ominousness!"

Everyone held their breath in suspense.

They all thought that under such a terrifying clash, Shinazugawa, who was known for his strength, might be injured, but that slender butterfly was probably... likely to be in grave danger.

After all, the difference in strength cannot be bridged by skill.

This is their deeply ingrained understanding as swordsmen.

……

As the smoke and dust slowly dissipated.

The scene that came into view did not elicit any exclamations or shouts.

What it brings is an absolute, deathly silence, as if time itself could be frozen.

The Demon Slayer Corps' proud and indestructible "Pillars" stood there quietly and motionless.

This is not just simple shock.

This is something... something called "common sense" that's deeply ingrained in their souls...

—The immense sense of bewilderment and weightlessness that followed being brutally torn apart by the dark purple Nichirin Blade before him.

In the center of the ruins where the smoke and dust have cleared.

Sanemi Shinazugawa remained frozen in his sword-wielding stance, his entire body stiff and motionless.

His face was filled with an expression he had never seen before, a mixture of fear, shame, and disbelief.

And in front of him.

Shinobu Kocho stood quietly.

Her haori with the butterfly pattern didn't even have a single wrinkle.

The Nichirin Blade in her hand was already fully drawn, its slender, needle-like tip gently and steadily pressed against Shinazugawa Sanemi's throat.

Just one point short of piercing his throat.

The outcome has been decided.

In a way that no one can understand or accept.

"..."

Sanemi Shinazugawa's muscles were trembling violently, and cold sweat poured down his back like a waterfall.

The approach of death instantly calmed his mind, which had been clouded by rage.

Through the billowing smoke and dust, he saw her profile clearly for the first time.

It was a perfection that transcended the human realm, almost like something created by God.

The light perfectly outlined the sharp and beautiful lines of her jawline, her long, curled eyelashes cast a faint shadow under her eyelids, her nose was high and straight, and her lips were delicately shaped but pressed into a cold, straight line.

That beauty had no warmth whatsoever; instead, it was like an ice blade, polished to its finest, carrying a deadly chill that pierced his perception.

"I lost……"

He squeezed out a few broken syllables from his chapped lips, syllables that even he could not hear clearly.

The loss was inexplicable.

A complete and utter defeat.

He didn't see Shinobu's last move at all.

It was a kind of movement that transcended the concept of "speed" and was closer to a kind of irrational "blood demon magic".

His prized combat instincts proved as fragile as a three-year-old's scribbles in the face of his opponent.

and……

He glanced down at the Nichirin Blade in his hand.

On the blade, where the purple scabbard had struck, a deep, rice-grain-sized crater had appeared, and black smoke was still billowing from it.

This woman... not only in terms of movement and speed, but also in terms of destructive power, far surpasses mine!

Although he still had his trump card up his sleeve, a voice inside him was roaring furiously.

It's useless!

Even if you use it, the result will be the same!

He, Shinazugawa Sanemi, was actually... no match for this woman.

This realization filled him with more fear and despair than having a knife to his throat.

Just as his proud heart was utterly crushed by this absolute difference in strength, sinking into an endless abyss—

A voice, soft as a dream yet cold as a divine pronouncement, rang in his ears.

"Mr. Shinazugawa."

The voice was "polite" to the point of being cruel.

"I already told you."

The voice was so calm, as if it were stating a fact that had nothing to do with her.

"That's it."

These last four words, devoid of murderous intent or sarcasm, are more devastating than any vicious curse.

It was like an invisible, red-hot iron awl, brutally chiseling through his last vestige of dignity as a "pillar".

Chapter 59: Butterfly, where does your power come from?

The courtyard was deathly silent.

Everyone was stunned by what they saw, leaving their minds blank.

But there was one person who felt far more than just shock.

Tanjiro Kamado, who was being protected by Giyu Tomioka, had completely forgotten how to cry and how to be angry.

His heart, which was on the verge of being torn apart by despair, was instantly enveloped by a huge, warm current called "hope" the moment he saw Shinobu Kocho make her move.

Nezuko... is saved...

This thought almost made him faint from exhaustion.

He stared intently at the purple figure, his sense of smell telling him that the woman's scent was incredibly strange—a pure "nothingness" that had burned away all emotions, leaving only absolute zero.

This should have been a terrifying smell, but at this moment, in Tanjiro's perception, this "nothingness" was equivalent to "absolute power" and "absolute reliability".

Is this... the power that can protect Nezuko...?

He looked at Shinobu Kocho like a traveler trekking through endless darkness, seeing for the first time a distant yet incredibly bright lighthouse that could guide his way.

That wasn't a distance that made him despair, but a goal that reignited his fighting spirit!

He wanted to learn that kind of strength from her!

And this power is spreading in different forms in the hearts of the other "pillars".

"Shinobu...chan..."

Love Pillar Mitsuri Kanroji's heart felt like it was being tightly gripped by a hand, both sore and swollen.

She trembled with excitement at Shinobu's strength, yet felt a heartache so intense that she could hardly breathe because of how distant that person was.

No... I need to work harder too!

She clenched her fists secretly, and a resolute light rekindled in her cherry-pink eyes, which had been filled with complex tears.

I must catch up with Shinobu-chan and see... that mysterious 'teacher' who made her so amazing!

"Tsk..."

Obanai Iguro, the Serpent Pillar, noticed Kanroji's lapse in composure. He instinctively wanted to reprimand him, but when his gaze fell upon Shinobu Kocho, the harshness stuck in his throat.

His heterochromatic snake eyes were fixed on the woman, and for the first time, he began to doubt his own judgment.

Is this woman really just a poison enthusiast? No... she herself is the most terrifying poison—more deadly than a snake!

Meanwhile, Muichiro Tokito, the Mist Pillar who had been looking up at the sky as if indifferent to everything, slowly, slowly lowered his head.

For the first time, his eyes, which always seemed empty and lost, had a clear "focus".

He watched Shinobu Kocho's figure, the way she held her sword, and the angle at which she stood. His mind was free of complex emotions, with only one recurring, pure thought.