Four people surround Tanjiro who is still motionless even though his pulse is still there.

One or two sob, and Giyu looks resigned.

Was it because of exhaustion after a night of fighting? Or was it because of sadness? Whatever the reason, no one realized that at this moment, Muzan's whispers echoed in Tanjiro's ears until—

“Huh?”

—The new demon king opened his eyes.

The first thing that stimulated him was the shocked voice of the person who had cried earlier, and he responded by grabbing his neck.

Giyu gasped in surprise.

Even so, he still moved fast enough to save the masked man from danger.

“Wha.. What?”

Another black clothed person stammered.

“Tanjiro, why?”

And the new demon king turned to face him with a sticky smile.

“GET BACK!”

Giyu shouted but it's too late. Or it should have been. However just before Tanjiro's attack lands, light so bright pierced darkness from the east, and it causes destructive burning effect on the new demon king skin, making him growling in pain.

“Don't just stand there, get back!”

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“B-but Tanjiro is—”

“GRAAAHHH!”

Seeing Tanjiro clouded in smoke from his own burning body, Giyu gritted his teeth and screamed for help.

“Anyone who can still fight, grab a weapon and get here!”

His voice grave, loudly reverberating. It causes those who rest, Zenitsu who's being treated, tired Inosuke, and many others feel like falling into freezing pond.

“Tanjiro has become a demon! We have to keep him under the sun and kill him before he kills anyone!”

Giyu move to stop Tanjiro who's trying to get under the shade, but then, be noticed something terrifying, his burning has stopped. It's like the sun had no effect on him no more.

Tanjiro attacks Giyu, but Inosuke manages to block it just in time before it becomes fatal.

“What are you doing?! This guy is out friend!”

“Tanjiro!”

But even when Zenitsu called, Tanjiro showed no clarity. Instead, his expression become more hostile and he even activated his mark.

The situation became grave in an instant.

Everyone was either tired or injured, basically who could still fight? But at this moment, they had to do it. They had no other choice.

However, just as the new demon king set his target—

Tap.

Tap.

Suddenly they heard footsteps. In a grim situation like this, normally no one would pay attention to such a sound. But this time it was definitely not normal. There was something unnatural about this sound. It was too clear. They were out in the open, with dirt instead of ceramic beneath them. How could someone walk and make such a sound?

Not only Zenitsu or Giyu, even the new demon king was drawn to this voice.

East.

Why didn't they notice it?

They all suddenly had a bad feeling, because they were clearly sure, the sun was shining brightly just a moment ago.

But where did the black clouds and thick fog come from?

“Black clouds..?”

No.

It was not black clouds.

Not even close, not even a bit.

“What is that?”

It was something gigantic, bigger than trains, bigger than Ubuyashiki's castle. Something black in color with full metallic structure—Alien, it was like something alien had caught their souls, making them unable to avert even their gaze.

The first to reacted was the new demon king. It was not that he's not captivated by wonder, but his instinct, Muzan clearly feel what Tanjiro felt.

Danger.

“So, you're this Verse's main character.”