Want to Read ahead? Join my Patreon to get early access to 70+ advanced chapters!
patreon.com/cw/MexxyWave
Zenitsu was so frightened he collapsed to the ground. What he'd just witnessed only confirmed his conviction that the forest ahead was dangerous.
"Dead, they're all dead. Did you see that? I told you this forest was dangerous! I... I don't want to go in, I don't want to go in!"
Zenitsu sat curled up on the ground, shivering.
Tanjiro felt uneasy too. That team member had cried out, "Why isn't it a Hashira?" Could there be a demon hidden in this forest that only a Hashira could handle?
The thick stench of blood struck them again, mingled with something twisted and foul, stronger than before.
Tanjiro felt a wave of nausea. After a brief inner struggle, he slowly clenched his fists.
There might still be survivors out there in the woods. Headquarters was more than ten kilometers away; even if word reached them now, it would take two or three hours for help to arrive. By then, it was unlikely anyone would still be alive.
*Now that I've joined the Corps, I can't let fear hold me back.*
"I'm going."
"Tch, I'm going first." Inosuke shoved past Tanjiro and strode ahead.
What bothered Tanjiro most was that Boar Head had gotten there before him. Whatever Boar Head could do, he could do too, and whatever Boar Head couldn't do, he'd manage as well.
"Inosuke"
Tanjiro looked at him, startled.
"Hmph, you two can stay back here and shake in your boots." With that, Inosuke took off running into the trees. Tanjiro glanced back at Zenitsu, said nothing, and followed.
Watching the two of them vanish into the woods, Zenitsu felt abandoned and muttered to himself, "Am I... being left behind? Aren't we supposed to be partners? How could they just go without a word? If they'd at least tried to talk me into it, maybe I would've gone too."
Unable to stand Zenitsu's moping, his Kasugai Crow snapped, "Quit talking to yourself. Aren't you partners? They're already long gone. Aren't you going after them?"
Zenitsu sighed. "I really envy you. Must be nice, not having to understand humans at all."
Offended, the crow pecked at Zenitsu's hand again and again. Zenitsu winced and complained that the crow wasn't cute at all, not like Nezuko, who was adorable despite being a demon.
At the mention of Nezuko, Zenitsu suddenly remembered that Tanjiro had run into the woods with the box still on his back, and Nezuko was inside it.
As though struck by lightning, he bolted into the forest, cursing Tanjiro for his cruelty while shouting Nezuko's name. In his panic, he took a wrong turn and ended up completely separated from the other two.
Meanwhile, Tanjiro and Inosuke followed the scent deeper into the woods and soon found a surviving Corps member huddled beneath the roots of a tree.
Tanjiro crept up quietly from behind and gently touched the man's shoulder. Startled, the man spun around, his hand flying to the hilt of his blade.
"Hello, I'm Kamado Tanjiro, Mizunoto rank. I'm here to help."
*Mizunoto? Isn't that the lowest rank there is?*
"Mizunoto? Why isn't it a Hashira? A dozen Mizunoto wouldn't make a difference here."
"No difference, huh?"
Inosuke arrived just in time to hear that and flew into a rage. He punched the man in the face, ignoring Tanjiro's attempt to stop him, then hauled him up by the hair and snarled, "I'd say you're the one who makes no difference, weakling. Tell us exactly what happened here."
The man stared in horror at the boar's-head mask looming over him, wondering what kind of face lay underneath it and why this newcomer showed no respect for a senior member.
Despite his misgivings, he relayed what his Kasugai Crow had reported.
Once the three of them understood the situation, they set off together to search the woods for other survivors. Along the way, Tanjiro learned the man's name was Murata.
Following his nose, Tanjiro led the other two toward the strongest source of the smell of blood.
After some time, a strange sound rang out around them like the creak of a taut steel wire.
At the sound, Murata's face went white. He looked around wildly and instinctively drew his blade.
"That... that's the sound. Right after that sound, everyone went mad and started slashing at each other."
Tanjiro and Inosuke stopped short, on alert.
A moment later, footsteps rustled through the woods ahead. Several Corps members, covered in wounds, staggered into the moonlight with their heads hanging low.
They raised their arms mechanically and, without hesitation, swung their blades at the three of them.
Tanjiro didn't dare strike back, afraid of hurting his own comrades. Dodging, he shouted, "Hey! What's wrong with you? Snap out of it!"
But the men seemed not to hear him at all, chasing the three relentlessly, striking hard and fast, aiming for vital points every time.
Beside him, Inosuke pushed past his limit and began cursing openly. Unlike Tanjiro, he wasn't soft-hearted; to him, anyone swinging a blade at him was an enemy, plain and simple. He kicked one of the attacking men clean off his feet.
The man landed right next to Tanjiro.
"Inosuke, they're on our side; we can't kill them!" Tanjiro warned quickly.
Inosuke scoffed. "Tch, mind your own business."
Not far off, Murata was locked in a standoff with another controlled comrade. Distracted, he didn't notice a second one closing in from behind, blade raised for his back.
Just as he braced for the worst, Tanjiro and Inosuke arrived in time, each taking down two attackers and pulling Murata to safety.
By the end of it, Murata was certain these two were no ordinary Mizunoto.
The fallen men began to stir, pushing themselves back up.
Then Tanjiro caught a strange scent coming from one man's back and understood at once what was happening.
He swung his blade at the man's back and sure enough, the man who'd just risen collapsed to the ground again.
"They're being controlled by threads. Inosuke, cut the threads on their backs!"
"Got it."
Inosuke swung his twin blades, leaping clean over his fellow Corps members' heads and slicing through the threads controlling them with ease.
Freed from the threads, the men crumpled to the ground.
Several snow-white spiders dropped off their bodies and scurried toward the bushes.
Tanjiro noticed the spiders carried the same scent as the threads. Someone, he realized, was controlling these men by directing the spiders and their silk.
"Inosuke, it's the spiders someone's using them to control people."
"Ugh, I hate spiders more than anything."
Inosuke swung his blade, cutting down every spider that scurried past him.
"Inosuke, forget the spiders for now. What matters is finding whoever's behind this. Otherwise, if a new spider gets to them, they'll just be controlled all over again."
"Hmph, sharp as always. Fine, watch this."
Inosuke flipped backward in a full rotation, dropping to one knee with both palms pressed to the ground.
"Beast Breathing, Seventh Form: Spatial Awareness."
In an instant, the whole forest seemed to open up in his mind, as if made transparent. His senses stretched further and further, until at last he located the one responsible, in a clearing not far away.
There, a woman with white hair, white clothes, and a bone-white face sat upon a round stone. Spider silk hung thick between the surrounding trees and wound around all ten of her fingers, as she guided several spiders back into the depths of the forest.
"You must be tired. But don't worry, Mother will protect you."
---
Visit patreon.com/MexxyWave to get access to 70+ chapters. Thank you so much!