'If I left now, all my effort would be for nothing.'
Although he knew that Urokodaki Sakonji lived at the foot of Mount Sagiri and he could go look for him on his own, it was ultimately more convenient to become the former Water Hashira's disciple under the pretense of being with Tanjiro and his sister.
Tanjiro nodded without speaking. His expression was incredibly heavy, clearly still not having recovered from the pain of his family's passing.
Next, the group returned to Tanjiro's home.
They dealt with burying the bodies of his family.
Afterward, the three of them set off for Mount Sagiri.
Along the way, Tanjiro fashioned a bamboo basket for Nezuko, giving the girl who could freely change her size a place to stay, which allowed the group to travel even under the sun.
During this period, Lexon got along quite well with Tanjiro and Nezuko. The siblings were unusually fascinated by the stories Lexon told, and their favorability towards him was constantly increasing.
Furthermore, in the course of their time together, the two received a great deal of care from Lexon. His rich knowledge in various fields couldn't help but make the two youngsters feel a sense of respect.
Lexon hadn't been idle these past few days either. Besides currying favor with the two, he was constantly fleecing them.
He didn't miss a single day's sign-in.
The greatest reward was the skill he obtained from the demonized Nezuko: "Demonization."
At first, Lexon was a bit hesitant, debating whether or not he should sign in on Nezuko, because he wasn't sure if signing in on a demon would cause him to turn into one.
Cause him to turn into a bloodthirsty demon.
However, he only hesitated for a moment before making the decision to sign in.
After all, from all his sign-ins up until now, not once had he obtained anything that had a negative effect on him, so he didn't overthink it.
However, the power of this Demonization ability was somewhat stronger than Lexon had expected.
[Demonization: When activated, you will transform into a demon. Strength and speed are greatly increased, and regenerative ability is massively enhanced.
(Note: ① Demons possess an instinct for bloodlust and cannibalism. This has been optimized to remove the instinct for bloodlust and cannibalism. ② Appearance will change upon activation. ③ The weakness to sunlight still exists and requires you to find the "Blue Spider Lily" to remove it.)]
It was a skill that could be activated and deactivated at will.
Furthermore, it had been humanely optimized to remove the instinct to eat people after becoming a demon. At the same time, this meant he couldn't increase his strength by eating people, but Lexonwasn't particularly keen on that method of powering up anyway, so its absence was no loss.
The weakness to sunlight meant that this skill could only be activated at night, and he could still die if his neck was cut by a Nichirin Sword after transforming.
However, the fact that he could remove the sunlight weakness by finding the "Blue Spider Lily" was quite a good deal for Lexon. This flower, which only blooms in the sun, was quite friendly to him.
When the Demonization skill wasn't active, he was not afraid of the sun. Finding the "Blue Spider Lily" would naturally be much easier for him than for Muzan, who had been searching for hundreds of years without knowing the flower only bloomed during the day, as if fate was playing a trick on him.
If Muzan knew, he would probably explode with rage.
The only regret was that this skill didn't mention anything about a Blood Demon Art.
A Blood Demon Art is a powerful ability that may appear in a demon, and each demon possesses a completely different one.
Ordinary demons do not have Blood Demon Arts; those that do are generally stronger.
'Perhaps it requires an additional sign-in.'
Lexon thought.
'When I get stronger in the future, I'll just sign in on those demons with Blood Demon Arts.'
The current Nezuko was still a fledgling demon; she naturally wouldn't have a Blood Demon Art.
Lexon wasn't sure if Nezuko's ability to change her size counted as a Blood Demon Art. He could only see if he could sign in for it during their time together in the future.
Midnight.
Before an ancestral hall, Lexon and Tanjiro wore grave expressions. While still at the foot of the mountain, they had both smelled the thick scent of blood emanating from the hall.
The area around the ancestral hall was somewhat dark. The wind rustled the leaves of the trees on both sides, making an unsettling sound.
The moment Tanjiro smelled the blood and realized someone had been harmed, he rushed towards the ancestral hall in a panic. Lexon had no choice but to follow this kind-hearted boy.
"Lexon, I think someone is injured," Tanjiro said with a nervous expression, looking at the closed doors of the hall.
"Probably."
Tanjiro quickly approached the ancestral hall and pushed the doors open.
"Are you alright?!"
But what was revealed before them was an unexpected scene.
The doors of the ancestral hall were wide open. Aided by the moonlight, they could clearly see the scene inside. A person was hunched over a corpse, continuously tearing and gnawing at it. More bodies were scattered around the hall.
The feasting demon seemed to hear the sound from behind and said with annoyance, "What's going on? This is my territory. If you disturb my meal, I won't forgive you!"
The demon's face was ferocious, its pupils dilated and its eyes bloodshot. Its sharp fangs, stained with blood and flesh, looked terrifying.
Tanjiro froze on the spot. He hadn't expected it to be a demon!
Nezuko, who arrived right after, saw the blood-soaked corpses inside the hall. Her demonic instincts couldn't help but surface. Hunger and a craving for flesh were fully revealed as saliva dripped uncontrollably from her mouth.
Lexon stood silently at the very back, his expression not changing in the slightest because of all this.
'Seeing Nezuko like this, Urokodaki Sakonji's later hypnotic suggestion to make her see humans as family is definitely necessary.'
"Hmm? You're humans?" The demon licked its lips, sensing something was wrong.
It had clearly smelled the scent of its own kind.
Suddenly, the candles inside the hall were instantly knocked over. The demon rushed towards Tanjiro, its left palm thrusting straight for his neck.
'So fast!'
Tanjiro was startled.
But as the world's protagonist, Tanjiro was no pushover. In that instant, he reacted, pulling out the axe hidden under his clothes and swinging it with great speed.
The reach of Tanjiro's axe was clearly longer. Before the demon's attack could touch him, its neck was met by the axe blade. To avoid having its entire head chopped off, the demon halted its attack and leaped backward.
"An axe, huh? Not bad," the demon praised. Among the people it had hunted before, few had been able to injure it. It was unexpected that this little brat could hurt him. 'But this small wound...'
It grinned ferociously. "A small wound like this will heal in no time!"
The next moment, the wound healed at an extremely fast rate, as if the injury had been a mere illusion.
Tanjiro was stunned. He truly hadn't expected a demon's recovery speed to be so fast.
He unconsciously tightened his grip on the axe in his hand.
Tanjiro stared intently at the demon before him, but in an instant, the demon vanished from his field of vision. By the time he realized it, the demon was already on top of him, one hand choking his neck and the other pressing down on the arm holding the axe.
'Such strength!'
Tanjiro struggled with all his might, but to little effect. He couldn't budge the demon's arm at all.
"Bang!"
A deafening sound echoed.
A spray of blood suddenly erupted from the demon's head.
A small hole had appeared in its temple.
It was Lexon's handgun.
"What the—"
Having fired one shot, Lexon clearly had no intention of stopping. To the demon's astonishment, its voice was drowned out by the resounding crack of gunfire. Lexon held nothing back, emptying an entire magazine.
Continuous sprays of blood burst from the demon's head. A full magazine of bullets had hit nearly the same spot, preventing the demon from recovering quickly.
Although Tanjiro didn't know what was happening, the demon having been shot so many times had significantly weakened the force pinning him down.
He did not let this opportunity go. Gathering his strength in his right arm, he swung the axe with all his might, chopping towards the demon's neck.
However, the axe blade was caught by the demon's arm halfway through, failing to completely sever its head.
"You bastard!" the demon roared, its fury directed not only at the human before it but also at the human who had struck its head with some unknown method.
Just as it turned its head towards the direction of the unknown attack, wanting to burn the image of that despicable human into its memory so it could tear them to shreds after dealing with the one beneath it, it saw something else. What it saw was the sole of a black shoe.
It was the sole of Nezuko's shoe. Although the process had changed, the result was the same as in the story. The demon's head was kicked clean off by Nezuko.