After slumbering for who knew how long, Riezel's consciousness began to return.
As the dream faded away, Riezel could clearly feel himself returning to reality, back to the state of sitting on the train.
It was as if he had been dozing off, his body gently swaying with the movement of the train, the sound of the train whistle becoming clearer in his ears. Everything became real again, unlike in the dream where even the wind and sunlight had no sensation.
However, with the return of sensation and senses coming back, Riezel was surprised to find that his surroundings had drastically changed.
*BOOM!*
A tentacle resembling a meat pillar swung past him, hitting an empty seat and smashing it to pieces.
The once somewhat desolate wooden carriage now resembled the inside of a giant intestine, with wooden walls transformed into fleshy walls from which flesh-like tentacles sprouted and thrashed wildly.
"What the hell?" Riezel looked at the scene with a hint of astonishment.
"Hey! You finally woke up, Bento Boy!"
Just as Riezel felt perplexed, a familiar hearty voice reached his ears.
Not far away, Kyoujurou stood, wielding a Japanese sword known as katana with a black and red blade, fighting off tentacles attacking from all directions.
"Huuu... Haaa..."
Kyoujurou assumed an Iai stance, lowering his body, inhaling a large amount of air, simultaneously breathing and murmuring.
"Flame Breathing - Fourth Form - Blooming Flame Undulation."
Flames erupted from Kyoujurou's sword as he swung it like a windmill, slashing extremely fast in all directions.
In an instant, a vortex of flames appeared in the carriage filled with flesh walls and tentacles, blasting outward with his slash.
*Pu-chi!*
All the incoming tentacles were instantly cut into pieces as if melted by the high temperature of the vortex of flames.
Kyoujurou continued to wield his blazing sword, relentlessly cutting through the attacking tentacles.
*Swish!*
*Swish!*
Even so, the tentacles on the train seemed endless. Just as they were cut off, new ones immediately sprouted from the flesh walls and swarmed toward Kyoujurou.
Just as Kyoujurou was about to counterattack, a silver flash of light passed by at a high speed.
*Pu-chi!*
Although the silver light merely grazed the tentacles, they were immediately shredded into countless pieces as if cut by a cutting machine.
Riezel, holding a bright silver short sword, appeared behind Kyoujurou as if teleporting, his speed too fast for Kyoujurou to react.
Seeing Riezel, Kyoujurou's pupils contracted for a moment before a big smile spread across his face.
"Ohh! Just like Young Mizoguchi, Crying Boy, and Boar-Head Boy said, Bento Boy, you're really something!"
After saying that, Kyoujurou directly exposed his back to Riezel, swiftly slicing through the tentacles that attacked him with a flick of his blazing sword.
Riezel seemed even more relaxed than Kyoujurou, just standing still, casually swinging his sword with fast slashes. Each tentacle that came at him was effortlessly sliced into pieces by the silver light flashing extremely fast.
"What's the situation now?"
Riezel took a moment to ask Kyoujurou behind him.
"Umu! It's not good at all!" Kyoujurou responded straightforwardly. "In short, it seems we've been targeted by the demon hidden on this train since we boarded. When the conductor checked our tickets, we all got ensnared by the demon's Blood Demon Art and ended up in some kind of dream. If Young Mizoguchi hadn't snapped us out of it, things could've gotten messy!"
While everyone was trapped in the dream, Tanjirou was the first to figure out how to break free and return to reality, thereby awakening everyone else.
In truth, the reason everyone was under remote hypnosis was because the tickets were contaminated with demon blood.
Tanjirou managed to burn everyone's ticket, allowing them to wake up except for Riezel. Since Riezel was not truly under the demon's hypnosis, he remained in the dream, causing Kyoujurou to stay and fight the tentacles to protect him.
Without a doubt, this development was almost identical to the original work.
Nevertheless, as Riezel suspected, the demon behind the scenes didn't just tamper with the tickets but also manipulated the entire train.
The reason the train looked grotesque, turning into flesh walls with tentacles everywhere, was that the demon on this Mugen Train had merged with the train itself, turning it into his own body.
In other words, where Riezel and the others were now was not the Mugen Train, but within the demon's body disguised as it.
"It seems the demon wants to devour all two hundred passengers on the train at once, so we decide to split up. Some are going to find that demon and behead them, while others are protecting passengers in other carriages!"
Kyoujurou explained as he pushed forward like a pillar of fire, slashing through countless tentacles all the way, even cutting through several other carriages.
In these carriages, where tentacles were reaching for sleeping passengers, they all turned into meat chunks shattered by Kyoujurou's swift charge and slashes. He continued to charge and slash through several carriages in succession, then in the blink of an eye, turned back like a pillar of fire, his speed leaving people amazed.
"That's it! The situation is very serious!"
Despite saying that, the smile never left Kyoujurou's face, giving off not a hint of tension but rather a feeling of being in complete control.
Seeing this, Riezel responded with a faint smile as well.
With a flicker of his body, he turned into a hurricane, rushing out in an instant, and passing through several carriages.
*Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!*
Where the hurricane passed, sword lights burst out like a storm, slashing through tentacles reaching for passengers, reducing them to pieces.
In no time, Riezel returned to his original position.
Along the way, not only were the tentacles sliced apart, but even the flesh walls were cut into a bloody mess, temporarily preventing their regeneration.
"Huh?" Kyoujurou's expression changed once again, clearly shocked.
It couldn't be helped, since the strength displayed by Riezel greatly surpassed his imagination. Such strength would undoubtedly qualify him as a Hashira within the Demon Slayer Corps.
No, even as a Hashira, it seemed that Riezel at this moment surpassed even that.
"I told you, didn't I?"
Riezel paid no heed to the surprise he caused Kyoujurou with his performance.
"Fighting a powerful demon while protecting two hundred passengers at the same time is challenging even for you."
"Yeah! I admit my shortcomings!" Kyoujurou nodded in acknowledgment before exclaiming loudly. "But it's alright! No matter what, I will protect everyone here! I won't let anyone die, definitely!"
In the next moment, the flames on Kyoujurou's body suddenly burned even more fiercely. As he prepared to exert himself both mentally and physically, ready to make a desperate effort, Riezel stopped him.
"No need for that..." Riezel said frankly. "We're inside the demon's body, so as long as we stay on this train, we'll be constantly fighting this demon and struggling to protect the passengers inside. Instead of just defending, we should focus on finding a way to evacuate them."
As if understanding Riezel's words, the surrounding flesh walls writhed, immediately sprouting countless tentacles, attacking him.
*Whoosh!*
A silver light suddenly flashed, cutting off all the tentacles in one strike, causing them to fall to the ground.
*BOOM!*
Meanwhile, Kyoujurou once again transformed into a fiery pillar, dashing extremely fast through several carriages, cutting off tentacles one by one, before returning to Riezel's side.
"I understand what you mean, but the train is moving at its fastest speed. How do we evacuate two hundred passengers from here?" Kyoujurou asked, his sword ignited, raising the temperature inside the entire carriage.
"Simple, let's stop the train first."
Riezel answered calmly, swinging countless sword lights to cut off tentacles and flesh walls, then turning his head to Kyoujurou.
"Later, I will stop or even dismantle this train. When that happens, you must evacuate all the passengers as soon as possible. Is that all right?"
"Hmm? Do you have a way to stop this train?" Kyoujurou paused for a moment, then without hesitation, he promised. "No problem! I'll get all the passengers out as soon as the train stops!"
"Good."
After cutting off several tentacles, Riezel turned around, looked at Kyoujurou, and warned.
"Be careful."
"Ouh!" Kyoujurou grinned, without looking back. "You too!"
Riezel smiled softly, then disappeared on the spot.
Feeling Riezel's aura disappear behind him, Kyoujurou's smile grew stronger on his face.
'The journey this time is truly amazing! Getting to know such an outstanding friend, I, Rengoku Kyoujurou, feel deeply honored!'
Inside his mind, Kyoujurou was overjoyed but at the same time, he also felt a bit puzzled.
'But... I can't help but feel that Bento Boy's breathing has changed somehow... What a strange feeling... Maybe just my imagination?'
As Kyoujurou thought like that, tentacles came at him again.
'Umu! Let's focus on completing the mission first!'
Kyoujurou concentrated, pushing away distracting thoughts, enveloped by flames, rushing toward other carriages.
===
*Toot—!*
In the wilderness, atop the railroad tracks, a train sped through the darkness, emitting bursts of steam whistles and the sound of its wheels. However, this train was now covered in flesh walls everywhere, looking somewhat grotesque and nauseating.
"Inosuke! Hurry up!"
At this moment, Tanjirou was running on the roof of the train, shouting at the boar-headed youth beside him as he ran.
"I know! Watch me!"
"Boar Rush!"
Inosuke wielded two saw-like swords, charging recklessly toward the front of the train.
*BOOM!*
However, just then, a figure smashed through the train's wall, leaping onto the heads of the two.
"Eh?"
Tanjirou looked up, astonished.
"Bi-Big Brother?"
Support and read advanced chapters at:
pat*reon.com/VALRRR
The one who flew out from the Mugen Train was naturally Riezel.
He broke through the train's flesh walls and soared out from within, leaping high in front of Tanjirou and Inosuke, like an arrow released, slicing through the night sky and landing ahead on the train tracks.
*Toot—!*
At the same time, the train, with its long whistle and the sound of its wheels, rushed like a rampaging steel beast toward Riezel, who had landed on its tracks.
"Danger!"
Seeing this scene, Tanjirou, standing on the roof of the train, was greatly terrified.
"Oy! Bento Eater! Get out of there fast!"
Even Inosuke was panicked, roaring angrily in Riezel's direction.
Although both of them were from the countryside and grew up in the mountains without much exposure to the world, it didn't stop them from understanding how dangerous Riezel's current actions were.
It was obvious that being hit by such a large steel vehicle would result in serious injuries, not to mention that the train was still moving at an astonishing speed. Once hit, it was absolutely impossible for Riezel to survive without severe injuries.
Moreover, the train was now merged with a demon, making it basically impossible to stop, not even to slow down.
Riezel's act of landing on the train tracks and standing in front of the train was tantamount to seeking death.
Even so, Tanjirou and Inosuke were shocked to find that Riezel not only didn't choose to evade but instead stood firm, facing the rampaging steel beast heading toward him with an extremely calm expression.
"Dammit!" Inosuke couldn't help but rush forward.
Not only him, but Tanjirou also drew his black sword and charged forward.
"Inosuke!" Tanjirou shouted anxiously. "We have to cut off the demon's head before Big Brother gets hit!"
"I know!" Inosuke responded loudly.
Both of them tightened their grip on their swords, emitting a barely noticeable warmth.
Their swords were known as 'Nichirin Swords', weapons specially made for the Demon Slayer Corps, forged from special materials called 'Scarlet Crimson Iron Sand' and 'Scarlet Ore' that absorbed sunlight, possessing properties that emitted energy similar to sunlight.
The reason why the Demon Slayer Corps could hunt demons was two—firstly, because its members all mastered the 'Breathing Style', which allowed them to unleash powers comparable to those of demons, and secondly, because of these Nichirin Swords.
Generally speaking, demons were unkillable as long as they were not exposed to direct sunlight. Not only their injuries would quickly heal, but even limbs could be reattached or regenerated effortlessly. It was accurate to say they had an immortal body.
However, if their head was severed by Nichirin Swords, they would be killed instantly, without a chance of recovery.
After all, this weapon was forged from special ore that absorbed sunlight, cutting off a demon's head with a Nichirin Sword was almost the same as exposing them to sunlight.
Therefore, when Demon Slayers were successfully selected to join the Demon Slayer Corps, they each received a Nichirin Sword tailored for them as their weapon for slaying demons.
Now, since the demon controlling the Mugen Train had merged with the train itself, turning it into the demon's body, there must be a vital point somewhere on the train similar to a demon's neck. By severing this point and cutting off the demon's head merged with the train, they could kill him and stop the train.
Tanjirou and Inosuke had climbed onto the roof for this purpose, while Zenitsu remained inside the carriage, protecting the passengers.
However, now that Riezel suddenly appeared and was about to be hit by the train, the two of them had to behead the demon as soon as possible and slay him; only then could they save Riezel.
Unfortunately, they barely had time to find the demon's vital point, let alone cut off his neck.
Tanjirou and Inosuke knew that the demon's neck was likely buried under the front of the train, so they tried to locate and sever it as soon as possible, but time simply didn't allow it.
"No! It's too late!"
"Quick, dodge! Bento Eater!"
Tanjirou and Inosuke could only run on the roof of the train, shouting urgently.
In this situation, Riezel, bathed in the glaring light of the charging train, slowly raised one hand.
"Decompose."
A red vortex surged in Riezel's palm.
*Toot—!*
With the whistle of the roaring locomotive, the train finally collided, hitting Riezel's body hard.
Tanjirou and Inosuke showed expressions of despair one after another.
However, the scene of blood splattering and flesh being torn apart they imagined did not occur.
*Buzz—!*
With a sound resembling a tremor, Riezel's hand, reaching out toward the oncoming train, first made contact with the locomotive, allowing the red vortex to pass through his palm like a hurricane, instantly transmitting to the entire body of the train.
Following that, Riezel suddenly punched with his fist.
*BANG!*
Amidst an ear-splitting roar, the train, completely covered by red waves, was dismantled under the influence of Riezel's fierce punch.
*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*
With a series of exploding sounds, the train burst apart section by section, the front separated, and the carriages disconnected from each other, becoming fragmented.
Riezel did not completely decompose the train into nothingness; he just roughly dismantled it. After all, there were passengers on the train, including Kyoujurou and the three main characters. He didn't want to risk decomposing them all into nothingness.
Therefore, he only dismantled the train, causing the front to separate, the carriages to disconnect, and the wheels to burst, turning into fragments falling all around the train tracks, making various parts fly in the air.
Undoubtedly, this scene was an exceptionally magnificent sight.
Of course, Tanjirou and Inosuke, standing on top of the train, naturally were thrown off.
"AAAHHHHHH—!!!"
"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME—?!"
Witnessing the spectacular scene of a train being crushed by a punch before their eyes, Tanjirou and Inosuke found themselves flung into the air, screaming in shock as their shouts echoed far into the distance.
Naturally, neither of them knew what 'magic' was.
In their eyes, Riezel appeared to have punched the oncoming train with his bare fist, causing it to fall apart.
In reality, when Riezel used decomposition magic on the train, it had already begun to decompose. However, because he only broke down its structure, the train hadn't completely decomposed yet.
It was like a set of building blocks; before being knocked over, it could still maintain its train appearance. Consequently, Riezel simply punched it, breaking apart the blocks and causing the train to be dismantled.
Nonetheless, Tanjirou and Inosuke were oblivious to the complexities of the situation. All they knew was that Riezel had punched the train and it fell apart.
"That was way too strong, right?! Too strong, wasn't it?! Too strong!" Tanjirou continued shouting like crazy while still in midair.
"That guy is amazing! Amazing, I tell you! Mwahahaha! He blew up the Lord of the Land, Santarou!" Inosuke danced around in midair excitedly, thoroughly thrilled.
"I'm Tanjirou!" Tanjirou protested.
After flying through the air for a while, the two of them finally landed on the ground together.
"Tanjirou! Inosuke!"
At this moment, Zenitsu emerged from the wreckage of the train carriage, carrying a wooden box on his back, tears streaming down his face in a mixture of fear and relief.
"T-T-T-T-The train fell apart! It derailed! Am I missing any body parts?! Am I?! Please tell me I'm not! That was scary!"
Zenitsu cried out in a dramatic display, genuinely believing that the train had derailed and worried he might have lost a limb.
Meanwhile, Kyoujurou, upon sensing the train start to stop just as Riezel had said, wasted no time in unleashing the full power of 'Flame Breathing - Fourth Form - Blooming Flame Undulation'.
A vortex of flames spiraled through every carriage, stabilizing the derailed train with the impact on each carriage, bringing it to a halt on the train tracks.
"So it really did dismantle!" Kyoujurou remarked, emerging from one of the carriages.
He strolled leisurely as he surveyed the chaotic scene around him, especially the dismantled train before letting out a hearty laugh.
As for Riezel, he glanced briefly at the locomotive, which had been flung off the train tracks and lay beside him.
"Ugh... AAAHHH...!"
In the next moment, flesh walls surged continuously from the locomotive.
"How is this possible?! How could something like this happen?!"
Within the flesh walls, a boy's voice cried out in agony and disbelief. Without a doubt, this was the demon's voice that merged with the Mugen Train.
Riezel happened to know the identity of this demon.
Lower One, Enmu, the most powerful Lower Rank among the Twelve Kizuki, second only to the six Upper Ranks, possessed the power to hypnotize people and manipulate dreams at will.
On top of that, he was the only surviving Lower Rank at present.
Due to the Lower Five being indirectly defeated by the three main characters and some Lower Ranks eventually being hunted down by the Hashira, Enmu was the last of his kind. This was because the Demon King, the progenitor of all demons in this world, had recently disbanded the Lower Ranks, executing most of them, except for Enmu.
As the only surviving Lower Rank, Enmu indeed had some amazing abilities. Being able to hypnotize the Flame Hashira and the three main characters, as well as merge with a train, this kind of ability was beyond the reach of ordinary demons.
Unfortunately, this last surviving Lower Rank would also meet his end here.
"Impossible! I haven't lost yet! I must devour everyone here! Kill the Hashira and that little rascal with earrings!"
"GAAAAAHHHHH—!"
Enmu struggled, causing the locomotive to lurch.
*Tap* *Tap* *Tap* *Tap*
At the same time, Riezel calmly approached the locomotive step by step, his face serene like a still lake.
Support and read advanced chapters at:
pat*reon.com/VALRRR