CHAPTER 105: CHAPTER 105: THE FIRST STRIKE

Zenitsu was no ordinary man!

Would he really shut up just because a demon told him to?

Far from silencing him, the demon’s threat convinced Zenitsu that his end was near. He squeezed his eyes shut and began wailing and babbling incoherently.

It was hard to describe how he managed to cry and talk at the same time.

But somehow, Zenitsu pulled it off.

"I’m still young! I haven’t even gotten married yet! I’ve been struggling so hard in this dark world, trying to live up to my grandfather’s expectations! Even though my Senior Brother looks down on me, I still really like him! What’s wrong with wanting to get married? Why do I have to be eaten by a demon? And why is it yelling at me?! I haven’t even become a Demon Slayer Corps swordsman yet, and I’m already going to be eaten? The girls will laugh at me for sure! I won’t even leave behind a heroic legend—I’ll just die silently and forgotten. Life is so unfair! Aaaaaah!"

"Shut up!!!" X2!

The Demon’s fury was uncontrollable. This guy was utterly useless, except for his loud voice.

But just then, all three of the Demon’s eyes noticed someone standing outside the window. A hand reached in, pressed against Zenitsu’s face, and shoved him aside.

Zenitsu’s endless wailing and frantic babbling abruptly ceased.

Staring blankly at the window, they saw a man with a deathly pale face, purple lips, and garish makeup slowly crawl inside, radiating a terrifying stench.

Zenitsu’s despair deepened. "What kind of demon are you now?"

"Shut up, you brat!"

Tengen felt his stomach churning violently. He forcibly contracted a muscle in his abdomen, sealing his defenses, and glared at the Demon across from him, who was holding a rope. ’So, just another small fry.’

"You dare call me a mere minnow? Weak human! You truly deserve to be nothing more than food!"

Zenitsu’s outburst seemed to encompass all of humanity in the Demon’s eyes. He glared fiercely. "Are you afraid of me?"

Despite the turmoil in his stomach, Tengen nearly burst out laughing.

But he held back!

He feared that even a single chuckle might relax a muscle, causing something to surge forth.

That would be utterly unflashy!

Yet his forced composure only heightened the tension.

Especially with his trembling limbs, he appeared to be shaking uncontrollably, reinforcing the Demon’s sense of triumph.

The Demon nodded in satisfaction. "Don’t resist. I will..."

Tengen had no patience for such drivel.

Before the Demon could finish, his twin blades flashed out in a probing strike. Though the Demon seemed peculiar, he might be a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

With Tengen’s vast combat experience, having faced every kind of opponent imaginable, he refused to underestimate anyone based on first impressions.

Yet with a single slash, the Demon showed no intention of resistance. His face still wore that clearly feigned ferocity as his head tumbled to the ground.

"Huh?"

The severed head, still on the ground, let out a confused sound, as if it couldn’t comprehend why a frail human would no longer fear it.

Then, it gradually dissipated.

"So strong!!!!!"

Zenitsu was instantly awestruck by Tengen, seeing him as a god among men.

Moments later, footsteps approached the door. With the demon’s death, its Blood Demon Art naturally dissolved, and the two people in the adjacent room simultaneously opened their eyes.

Before anyone could knock, Jigoro had already flung open the door.

He was greeted by the sight of two pale-faced figures.

"This must have been a fierce battle!" Jigoro’s expression turned grave. "Are you both alright? Any injuries?"

"Grandpa!!!!!"

Zenitsu threw himself into Jigoro’s arms, wailing uncontrollably. "I almost died! I was so close to dying! And I haven’t even gotten married yet!"

Faced with his terrified disciple, Jigoro quickly reassured him.

Then, noticing Tengen’s unusual expression, he immediately asked, "Are you alright?"

He knew of Tengen’s existence. For the current Sound Pillar to be so battered after fighting a demon, the opponent must have been extraordinarily powerful.

Tengen couldn’t utter a word. He felt something inside him pressing downward with tremendous force.

For a moment, he froze in place.

Unable to speak and afraid to move even an inch, he feared that the slightest movement would trigger the most terrifying consequences.

"Poisoned?" Jigoro noticed Tengen’s purplish lips and immediately said, "I have antidote pills I made myself."

He pulled a small bottle from his pocket, poured out a pill, and shoved it directly into Tengen’s mouth.

Tengen wanted to refuse, but he dared not speak.

Who knew what kind of catastrophic disaster even the slightest muscular movement required for speech might unleash within his body?

Left with no choice, he had his mouth forced open, the pill shoved in, and swallowed it dry with a gulp.

As the pill went down, Tengen sighed inwardly, ’It’s over!’

He had just added fresh reinforcements to the foulness within him. ’I won’t be able to hold it in much longer.’

But to his surprise, moments after the pill entered his stomach, the churning chaos within suddenly calmed to a serene stillness.

It was as if the entire ordeal had been a hallucination.

With the internal downward pressure gone, Tengen’s movements were instantly freed. He quickly rolled out of the room, squatted behind a bush, and emptied his bowels within seconds, feeling instantly refreshed.

His legs were a little shaky as he walked, though.

"Are you alright now? What happened here?"

Jigoro followed him outside, his brow furrowed as he surveyed the wreckage on the ground.

Tengen followed the trail of destruction forward, his brow furrowing. "Where’s the Flower Pillar?"

They searched the room inside and out but found no trace of Kanae.

Outside, the battlefield seemed to indicate only two combatants.

Where had the Flower Pillar gone?

As this question surfaced, a bloodcurdling scream suddenly erupted from inside the room— Zenitsu’s.

The two men rushed back inside to find Kaigaku emerging from Sosuke and Kanae’s room, his expression grim. "Master, that useless... Zenitsu, he’s been trapped inside the wall."

"The wall?"

They entered the room to find the wall completely undisturbed, without a single ripple.

Tengen’s face twisted with concern. If the Flower Pillar had also been trapped inside the wall, what was happening now?

What was the outcome of Sosuke’s battle?

And what would Zenitsu face after being dragged inside?

His brow furrowed deeply, Tengen drew his twin blades, ready to attack the wall.

...

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