"Hahaha!" The demon laughed, full of confidence. With the hostages in its grip, it felt powerful enough to taunt Shin Arashi once again.
"Look what I have! If you don't want them to die, give me the sword!" the demon ordered, demanding Shin Arashi hand over his weapon.
In the demon's mind, the Demon-Slaying Sword was the biggest threat. It believed that if Shin Arashi lost the sword, he would be nothing more than easy prey for it to kill.
If Shin Arashi was disobedient, it would naturally eat Tanjiro and Nezuko, grow stronger, and then finally kill Shin Arashi.
But of course, this was just the demon's assumption. In reality, Shin Arashi didn't take the demon's threat seriously at all.
First: Even if the demon killed Tanjiro, it wouldn't affect him.
Second: Nezuko was also a demon, so there was no reason to fear that this wild demon could easily kill her.
Third: As a demon, Nezuko's fighting ability was impressive, even though she had never eaten anyone.
"Using them to threaten me is the dumbest thing you could do," Shin Arashi said calmly.
As soon as he finished speaking, Nezuko suddenly went wild and kicked the demon's head clean off in mid-air.
—"How is this possible! This girl is a demon! Why is she working with humans?!"
"Activate Water Breathing!"
As Nezuko moved, Shin Arashi used the Water Breathing technique, which he had received as a reward from a mission. The moment he activated it, his body became much stronger and faster.
In the blink of an eye, Shin Arashi appeared next to the headless demon's body. He quickly swung the Demon Slayer Sword, slicing off the demon's hand that was gripping Tanjiro's arm. The severed hand fell to the ground, and Tanjiro dropped down with it.
The moment he was freed, Tanjiro pulled the demon's hand off his arm and said, "Thank you, senior!"
Shin Arashi ignored Tanjiro's thanks and replied, "The demon's head that was kicked off is now in your hands. Consider it a test for you! Don't let it get away! If you do, more people will get hurt—just like your family did."
Tanjiro froze, surprised by Shin Arashi's request. He hadn't expected to be told to deal with the demon. But Shin Arashi's next words hit him hard, and they stayed with him.
"Senior, what about you?" Tanjiro asked curiously before taking action.
"Of course, we have to deal with this demon's body and protect your sister at the same time," Shin Arashi replied.
Tanjiro quickly realized that Shin Arashi alone couldn't take care of the demon, whose head and body had been separated. If Shin Arashi tried to handle it by himself, he would likely end up leaving part of it behind.
The demon had a very strong regenerative ability. As long as it wasn't completely destroyed, it could heal even from just a small piece of its body.
"I understand!" Tanjiro said, not asking any more questions. He picked up the axe he had used for many years and headed toward the demon's remains, determined to deal with it.
Shin Arashi activated the Water Breathing technique again and swung his sword at the headless demon's body more than a dozen times. His attacks weren't very powerful, and the blade only left scars of varying depths on the demon's body, but it didn't destroy the demon completely.
Of course, this was exactly what Shin Arashi wanted. After all, this demon body wasn't its main body. If it were destroyed, it would only create more clones and increase the chances of the demon escaping.
The reason Shin Arashi didn't kill the demon's main body directly was because of Tanjiro.
After all, Tanjiro was the protagonist in this world, and this was a trial he needed to face. If Shin Arashi did everything for him, it would trigger a butterfly effect—causing unpredictable and possibly serious consequences.
Shin Arashi knew that his role was to guide Tanjiro, not to lead him.
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Author Thought
Sorry, dear readers. Due to a high fever and stomach pain, I wasn't able to post chapters for the past two days. As compensation, I'll be uploading three chapters today. Thank you for your patience and support!