"Not good. It has to be that bastard's poison from earlier."
Vincent Fox reacted instantly.
Then Inosuke collapsed too.
Vincent rushed over, a bad feeling punching straight through his chest.
Sure enough.
Inosuke's heartbeat was weakening as well.
Inosuke always bragged about being raised in the mountains, tough as nails, but Gyutaro's poison was not ordinary poison. He was Upper Rank Six.
The toxin he carried could kill an elephant on the spot.
Now Inosuke was unconscious, his life force draining away by the second.
"What do we do?! If this keeps going, Lord Tengen will die!"
Suma sobbed as she clung to Tengen Uzui's body.
"Hang on! Please hang on!"
Vincent pressed a hand to Inosuke's chest, but that kind of basic emergency help did nothing for a wound like this.
"Tengen!"
Suma cried even harder, tears and snot streaking down her face.
"We finally beat them… we finally made it this far… please, don't do this!"
Even Hinatsuru, usually the calmest of the three, panicked when she saw how quickly Tengen's condition was worsening.
"What are we supposed to do? He's… he's not going to make it!"
"Even the antidote isn't working. This is insane!"
Surrounded by his three wives bawling, Tengen was strangely composed.
"Quiet down. I have something to say… cough!"
He forced himself upright, using sheer muscle control to temporarily suppress his heart's erratic rhythm.
When he opened his eyes, Tengen knew he didn't have long.
He wanted to leave final words.
"My life up to now…"
He didn't even finish the sentence before Suma cut him off with a howl.
"If Lord Tengen dies, I'm never praying with my hands together again!"
"I'll never forgive him!"
Makio smacked Suma on the head and barked, "Shut your mouth, you idiot! Lord Tengen is talking!"
Hinatsuru blinked, stunned by the chaos. "Um… can you two calm down? He's trying to speak…"
Makio glared. "If you don't stop screaming, I'm stuffing rocks in your mouth!"
Suma burst into louder sobs. "Waaaah! Makio's bullying me!"
Tengen stared at them.
He'd just gotten them back alive, and now he felt his brain short-circuiting.
What is this?
Seriously?
Am I going to die without even getting one proper last line out?
The poison has my tongue going numb, but I'm not dead yet!
What is wrong with you two? Maybe don't hover over me right now. I actually had the strength to say a few dramatic final words…
On the other side, Tanjiro rushed in, only to find the fight already over.
"What… it's done?"
He had wrapped cloth around his left hand and Nichirin Blade so it wouldn't slip during combat.
Looks like all that preparation was wasted.
"You're here at the perfect time. Where's Nezuko?"
Vincent called out like he'd just spotted a lifeline.
Tanjiro froze, then hurried to Vincent's side.
"I left Nezuko on the street back there. But… Inosuke… what happened to Inosuke?! Inosuke, wake up!"
Seeing Inosuke's condition, Tanjiro shouted in panic.
"Stay here and do chest compressions on Inosuke. I'm going to bring Nezuko."
Vincent gave the order and vanished on the spot.
Tanjiro froze again.
Isn't the battle already over? Why bring Nezuko?
Even if those two demons somehow weren't dead, Nezuko's combat strength wouldn't change much…
But there was no time to think.
Tanjiro could only obey.
He unwound the cloth from his left hand and immediately began pressing on Inosuke's chest.
A few breaths later, Vincent returned.
Nezuko had shrunk to about a meter tall, sitting on his shoulder.
Vincent gently set her down beside Inosuke and patted her head.
"It's up to you now."
"Mmmhmm."
Nezuko answered around the bamboo muzzle.
Then, under Tanjiro's stunned gaze, pink flames poured from her palm and wrapped around Inosuke in an instant.
Under the burn of that soft pink fire, Inosuke's shredded skin began healing at a visible speed.
The body that had been scrambled by poison slowly regained life.
"Damn it… I'm starving to death! Food! I want food!"
"That's… that's great!"
Tanjiro grabbed him in a fierce hug, practically shaking with relief.
Vincent lifted Nezuko again.
There was still someone else infected by Gyutaro's poison and on the edge of death.
"Shut up already, you two! Can you let Lord Tengen speak?!"
"Makio, stop bullying me! Waaaah!"
Vincent walked right past the arguing pair and stopped in front of Tengen.
"Next up, it's your turn."
He said it quietly.
Nezuko nodded and placed her hand on Tengen's shoulder.
Whoosh.
Pink flame surged out, instantly engulfing Tengen Uzui.
"Ahhh! What are you doing?!"
Suma shrieked.
Makio snapped, "If you're cremating him, it's way too early! He's not even dead! Is that your hometown custom or what?!"
Suma grabbed Nezuko by the collar, mouth wide like she was about to scold her to death.
"Big sister's angry! I'm gonna spank you!"
"Wait."
Tengen suddenly stood up.
The flames faded away.
"What… what just happened? The poison inside me is gone. Completely."
"Thank goodness!"
All three women swarmed him, crying again, this time with relief.
Meanwhile, Tanjiro settled the badly injured Inosuke, then followed the lingering scent of demon aura.
"That's… a pool of demon blood?"
Something clicked.
He pulled out a special straw from his pocket.
He drew a sample.
The tube filled with blood.
"This way, Lady Tamayo will have more material for her experiments."
He was just about to put it away when a cat's meow sounded beside him.
"Meow."
Tanjiro turned.
A tabby cat padded up, wearing a talisman around its neck marked with a single eye.
"So it's Yushiro's little messenger."
Tanjiro placed the vial of Upper Rank blood into the cat's tiny pack.
"Please deliver this to Lady Tamayo."
The cat trotted off, light-footed.
When Tanjiro looked up again, he realized everyone had already left the area.
"Did they go back to treat their injuries? That makes sense… everyone was badly hurt…"
He scratched his head.
"But why does it feel like we're missing something?"
Then he slapped his palm into his fist.
"Zenitsu! Where did Zenitsu go?!"
----------------------------------------------------
The deeper he goes, the more the truth unravels. Don't wait read ahead and witness Vincent's rise before the world catches up!
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