On the other side of the battlefield, far from where Akira and Akaza clashed.
Erika now stood face-to-face with a new demon.
Just moments earlier, Tanjiro had been inches away from severing the head of the tiny main body of Upper Rank Four. But before the blade could fall, the anger clone, Sekido, suddenly raised his hands.
In an instant, the other three emotion demons, Urogi, Karaku, and Aizetsu, were dragged toward him like puppets. Their bodies twisted, absorbed, and devoured into Sekido's own form as if melting into him.
What emerged was something entirely different.
A single demon.
A single presence.
A crushing pressure that made the entire battlefield feel heavier.
It was overwhelming. Far stronger than anything the four clones had shown individually.
Erika didn't know how she was supposed to defeat something like this.
Then she heard a familiar voice inside her mind.
"Erika-chan, he finally reached it. This is the final stage. Zohakuten".
Selena's telepathic voice chimed in, almost casually.
Erika mentally replied, "Zohakuten? What's that supposed to be?"
Selena answered without hesitation.
"It's the name of the form you're looking at. Upper Moon Four Hantengu's most powerful form. He has all the abilities of the emotion clones… and the wooden dragons. He's extremely strong.
Erika sighed. "Of course he is…"
"How are we supposed to beat him then?" she asked telepathically, her eyes never leaving the monstrous figure.
Selena's reply came calmly, almost cheerfully.
"To kill him? Oh, that's simple. You just kill the main body. That tiny demon".
Erika's eyes widened as she noticed Hantengu, the tiny, frail main body, being encased inside a thick, bark-like trunk by Zohakuten.
Tanjiro, seeing the tiny main body being sealed away, shouted desperately:
"W-Wait…!"
But Zohakuten slowly turned toward them.
The air instantly thickened, crushing down on everyone like an invisible mountain.
Killing intent surged out of him, cold, suffocating, and hateful.
His voice rumbled.
"What is it, you wretch?
Do you have a problem with what I am doing?
You… awful villains."
Just those words alone made Tanjiro, Nezuko, and Genya flinch.
Their knees trembled. Their breath hitched.
It felt like their lungs were being squeezed shut.
Everyone shook under the pressure.
Everyone except Erika.
For a girl with so little actual battlefield experience, she stood strangely, impossibly calm. Not even a shiver.
Selena's telepathic voice whispered curiously.
"Erika-chan… how are you this calm right now?"
Erika answered without hesitation.
"Well… have you met my mother?"
A bead of sweat rolled down her cheek as she continued:
"The amount of pressure she gives off is way worse than this guy. Even Akira is afraid of her."
Selena giggled.
"I wouldn't say 'afraid'," Selena telepathically corrected, "more like… he seriously doesn't want to meet her if possible. She kinda doesn't like him much".
Erika frowned slightly. "I never understood why she hates Akira. He's always polite to her,even the few times he met her".
"Well", Selena said, that's a long story. "I'll tell you later. First, you need to focus on beating that demon".
Erika exhaled slowly and turned her attention back to Zohakuten.
Tanjiro continued screaming at the demon, demanding answers about who he called "villains," but Erika tuned him out.
At the same time, she whispered telepathically. "Selena, how do I beat him? Does he have a weakness?"
Selena paused. "Honestly? I don't think you can beat him with the way you're fighting now. Especially you, Erika-chan".
Erika frowned. "Huh? What do you mean?"
Selena's voice came gently but firmly into her mind.
"Your device, Églantine…The ribbons are mixed with your blood, right?"
Erika answered without hesitation.
"Yes."
Selena continued, almost exasperated.
"And this demon has Sekido's lightning powers. Actually… even stronger than Sekido's.So tell me, Erika-chan…What do you think will happen if your blood-soaked ribbons touch his lightning?"
Erika's eyes widened.
The realization hit her like a physical slap.
"Oh."
Selena did not mince words.
"Yes, you'll be toasted. Crispy Erika. Burnt to a golden brown".
Erika swallowed hard.
"Then what should I do…?"
Selena answered gently. "You can't beat him with just your device and Blood Breathing techniques. They're too dangerous against lightning. Use your Noble Art, Erika-chan. That's how you beat him."
"Can I even do it properly?" Erika hesitated. "I'm not confident…"
Selena laughed softly, warm, reassuring. "You can. Just remember your training. I'm sure you can beat him, and besides… It's the only way."
Erika clenched her fists.
"Alright. I'll do it".
Tanjiro finally finished shouting, "You won't get away with this, you evil demon! I'll be the one to behead you!"
And with that, he launched himself forward to start the fight.
Zohakuten didn't even flinch. He raised the bone dagger and slammed it into one of the drums embedded in the wooden ring behind him.
BOOM!!
All five wooden dragons roared awake, their massive heads twisting toward Tanjiro as they lunged.
But before they reached him.
Erika shut her eyes for a heartbeat.
She inhaled.
Then opened them again.
Her once-blue eyes glowed a crimson red.
"Terra Gravitas."
In an instant, all six of her ribbons shot into the earth like stakes. The ground trembled.
KRSHHHH!!
Five enormous stone spears erupted upward, perfectly aimed, driving straight into the wooden dragons' open maws and stopping their charge cold.
Her first Noble Art.
With her ribbons acting as conduits, Erika could command the earth itself, shaping it, shifting it, attacking with it. But it came with limits: she needed to stay still, and her control only extended so far. That was why she rarely used it in direct combat.
But Zohakuten wasn't moving much either.
So this time… she could fight him head-on.
Everyone stared, stunned by how drastically the tide shifted in a single moment.
Erika turned to Tanjiro and the others.
"I'll keep him busy. You three find a way to kill the main body."
Everyone nodded without hesitation.
Zohakuten's eyes narrowed on her.
"You don't feel like a demon… nor a human. What exactly are you?"
Erika met his gaze head-on.
"I am your worst nightmare."
"Erika-chan, that's so cool!" Selena cheered telepathically.
"It doesn't matter," Zohakuten said coldly. "I will find out after I beat you."
He slammed his bone dagger into another drum.
The wooden dragons, impaled moments ago, broke free, the stone spears cracking off their regenerated bodies as they fully healed.
Erika raised her hand.
The shattered stone pillars she'd created moments earlier floated, then reshaped into dozens of sharp stone bullets.
She launched them.
Zohakuten struck another drum.
One dragon head opened its jaws.
SKREEEEEEE!!
A sonic blast shattered every stone bullet mid-flight.
He struck another drum.
A second wooden dragon opened its maw and fired a barrage of blue spear-shaped projectiles toward Erika.
Erika reacted instantly, raising an earthen wall that burst out of the ground to block it.
But Zohakuten was already striking a third drum.
"Crazed Cry of Thunderdeath."
Two wooden dragons opened their mouths at once, one unleashing roaring thunder, the other sonic destruction.
The combined assault shattered Erika's earth wall like brittle clay.
She knew she couldn't block that with another wall in time, so she didn't.
Instead, she clenched her fists and invoked her control.
Gravity surged.
A heavy gravitational field crushed downward, bending the wooden dragons' twin attacks away from her.
But the effort sent a sharp drain through her entire body.
Still, she didn't falter.
More stone bullets shot forward like cannon fire, but again, the wooden dragons intercepted them, smashing the projectiles apart.
Erika retaliated by raising more stone spears from the ground, thrusting them toward Zohakuten.
He struck a drum.
A wooden dragon opened its jaws. A maple-leaf shaped wind pattern flashed.
WHOOOOSH!!
The gust carved cleanly through the pillars, scattering them.
But Erika didn't stop.
Stone bullets.
Stone spears.
Wave after wave.
Yet Zohakuten's wooden dragons intercepted everything.
Not a single attack reached him.
Zohakuten's dragons countered all of them.
Zohakuten sneered.
"It's useless. None of your attacks worked. You will exhaust yourself first."
And truthfully, Erika was exhausted. Her breaths were growing heavy, her ribbons trembling from the strain.
But even through the fatigue, she smiled.
"Who said they're useless?" she replied. "They kept you distracted."
Zohakuten's eyes widened because he finally sensed it.
Floating high above him were countless rocks, large and small, suspended like a miniature asteroid field.
Erika had used her continuous barrage as a smokescreen, manipulating gravity the entire time.
And now
Erika grinned.
"Meteor Falls."
The gravity reversed, then slammed downward.
Hundreds of rocks crashed toward Zohakuten like falling stars.
"RRRAAAHHH!"
He struck drums rapidly, sending wooden dragons to intercept them, but,
BOOM! BOOM! BOOOOM!
It was too much.
One by one, the wooden dragons were buried under the strikes.
Dust exploded outward in a massive shockwave as Zohakuten disappeared beneath the impact.
The forest shook.
A long silence followed.
Genya stared at the dust cloud. "Did… did it get him?"
Erika thought the same.
And if Akira were here, he would've said:
"Don't raise a flag like that".
Because.
CRACK… GRRRRK…!
The wooden dragons surged upward from the rubble, battered, broken, but regenerating rapidly.
And Zohakuten emerged as well, body heavily damaged…Yet knitting itself back together at a frightening speed.
Tanjiro gritted his teeth. "He's still alive…"
Then.
RUSTLE! THUD!
The burl containing Hantengu's true body moved.
Realizing the danger, the tiny demon panicked and began fleeing deeper into the forest.
Erika's eyes widened.
"Everyone! The true body is escaping! Go!"
Tanjiro, Nezuko, and Genya nodded and sprinted after it.
Hantengu tried to stop them, directing wooden dragons to block their path.
But Erika stabbed her ribbons into the ground.
SHOOM!
A stone wall erupted to intercept the dragons.
And she raised her hand, and More spears followed, forcing Zohakuten to defend.
For a moment, they were locked in a stalemate.
Neither of them could land a finishing blow, as both countered each other's attacks.
But the demons have infinite stamina, and Erika, being half human, can't go on for a long time, and with using powers like these, her stamina will soon run out first.
Her lungs burned.
Her arms trembled.
Her vision throbbed from overusing gravity.
Erika knew that at this rate, she would run out first.
"I can't win like this… what should I do, Selena?"
Erika's thoughts trembled as she blocked another barrage of spear projections.
Selena's voice came instantly, calm and annoyingly cheerful.
"Well, you just need to buy more time. They'll kill the true body soon. Not just that, the sun is about to rise too".
Erika blinked. "HUH, That much time passed already?"
"Time passes fast when you're having fun", Selena teased.
"I am NOT having fun", Erika shot back mentally. "Just tell me what to do. Where is Mitsuri-san?"
"Oh, her? She just reached Akira's battlefield. He told her to help you, so she should be here soon", Selena said. "So for now, just buy some time. Do your best and remember your training!"
Erika let out a small sigh. "Easier said than done…"
Because Zohakuten was no longer waiting.
DON! DON! DON! DON! DON!
He relentlessly struck the drums behind him, each hit creating a shockwave.
"Blood Demon Art — Countless Striking Trees!"
All five wooden dragons rushed toward her, their range so massive they seemed to swallow the entire forest.
And Erika braced herself as the next furious clash began.