Chapter 329

"Those children…"

"Fighting that monster?!"

The passengers stared at them, dumbfounded.

Luo En's mind stirred, and an invisible golden-red ripple spread from his body.

He released his Conqueror's Haki with perfect precision.

In an instant.

The remaining passengers in the carriage were all stunned into unconsciousness.

Tanjiro and Inosuke fought the demon together in the narrow aisle of the carriage.

After Inosuke blocked the demon's strike,

Tanjiro used Water Breathing Seventh Form: Dripping Wave Strike, piercing the demon's neck with one sword thrust, then swung hard to sever its head.

As the demon turned to ash, Tanjiro exhaled in relief and wiped sweat from his forehead.

"Well done, Tanjiro!"

Zenitsu, tears streaming, rushed toward Tanjiro: "I knew you could kill the demon! Thank you for saving me!"

Tanjiro sighed: "Zenitsu, you're a Demon Slayer too."

"But I'm weak!"

Zenitsu said seriously.

Tanjiro had no reply.

He looked at Luo En: "Mr. Luo En, you knew there was a demon here all along, didn't you?!"

"Sort of. Over a short period on this train, more than forty people vanished. The Demon Slayer Corps sent several swordsmen to investigate, and all lost contact." Luo En took a bite of pastry: "Originally, the Flame Hashira was supposed to come with you, but I found it interesting, so I came instead."

Tanjiro nodded: "I see."

"That really scared me. Now it should be safe, right?"

Zenitsu patted his chest and sighed in relief.

Inosuke sheathed his sword, glanced at the unconscious passengers, and asked strangely: "What's wrong with these people? Are they all asleep?"

"I did it."

Luo En said: "Wouldn't it be worse if they panicked too much?"

"Even so, knocking out this many people at once…"

Zenitsu stared at him blankly: "How did you even do that…?"

Luo En looked at him and smiled: "It's simple. Want to feel it?"

"No, no thanks."

After eliminating the demon, the three returned to their seats and gradually lowered their guard.

The train sped forward.

Sleepiness crept over the three; they closed their eyes and fell asleep.

The Lower Moon One, Enmu, stood atop the train and smiled:

"To die in a dream… what bliss."

Inside the carriage, after eating pastries and finishing the sake, Luo En, pretending to nap, sensed the power of Enmu's Blood Demon Art and smiled slightly.

"You think this pitiful power can pull me into a dream?"

"Pathetic."

If he wished, a single release of his Conqueror's Haki would shatter the demon's mental world on the spot.

…………

"No matter how strong the Demon Slayer Corps, their driving force is heart and spirit. Destroy the 'core of spirit,' and they become mere walking corpses."

Lower Moon One, Enmu, stood on the roof, arms outstretched against the wind, smiling.

"The human heart… is nothing but a fragile thing, like glass."

Suddenly.

His expression darkened slightly.

"One hasn't fallen into the dream? How?"

He closed his eyes and carefully sensed.

He was Enmu, master of dreams, skilled in mental attacks, especially able to trap others in his fabricated dreams through Dream Ropes and Nightmare Eyes.

Now, through the conductor, he extended his spiritual energy like tentacles via the Dream Ropes on the tickets of the four passengers.

Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke had all been penetrated by his spiritual energy and pulled into his dream.

The remaining one, however, possessed an unusually hardened inner wall, completely blocking his spiritual intrusion.

"Can't pull him into the dream? Impossible."

Enmu was slightly startled internally.

A dark spiritual realm.

Enmu, transformed into a squid-like spiritual entity, stood before a colossal iron wall—immense, impenetrable, without a single gap—and no matter how hard he tried, he could not breach it at all.

"Impossible! How could a human have an inner world like this!!"

Enmu could not believe it.

You really want to come in, do you…

Inside the carriage, Luo En, pretending to nap, smiled slightly.

Then let you take a look…

A crack suddenly appeared on the massive iron wall before Enmu's spiritual form, and brilliant white light streamed through.

Yenmeng paused, then rejoiced.

"Of course! As long as one is human, the heart must have a crack!"

It immediately extended its tentacles, reaching and invading toward that fissure.

In the instant the mental tentacles passed through that fissure.

Yenmeng saw a scene.

A massive meteor, wreathed in flame, plummeted from the sky; a black slash split the heavens in two; someone held aloft a colossal fireball like the sun; a figure punched forth a volcano of magma; the sea froze solid; islands shattered… One after another, apocalyptic scenes flashed before Yenmeng's eyes, causing its heart to tremble, its teeth chattering violently.

"What… what is this?!"

"You wanted to pull me into your dream, didn't you?"

It heard a voice.

It looked up.

And saw a towering figure standing at the horizon of this world, like an emperor, reigning over this land teeming with gods.

Under the gaze of those azure eyes.

Yenmeng understood for the first time what it meant to be an ant.

"Is this… a god?"

Its mental world collapsed completely.

37, Yenmeng's true form, a squirming mass of flesh,

as Yenmeng's mind shattered,

the monstrous hand with a mouth that induced sleep instantly turned to ash.

The dream world it had created also shattered instantly.

Tanjiro and the others jolted awake from their sweet dreams.

"Where… are we? We're still on the Infinite Train."

Tanjiro looked at his hands, slowly regaining his senses: "Was that a dream?"

He remembered his family in the dream, and a soft smile, tinged with sorrow and longing, appeared in his eyes.

"It's been so long…"

"What the hell just happened?!"

Zenitsu, jolted awake from the dream, widened his eyes, clawed at his face, his eyes bloodshot, screaming in utter disbelief: "I was just about to hold Nezuko's hand… why did I wake up all of a sudden?! Can't I even have one good dream?!!"

Hearing this, Tanjiro couldn't help but smile. He was about to speak when suddenly he caught a strange odor; his expression hardened, and he scanned the surroundings.

He noticed a peculiar smell permeating the entire carriage.

The atmosphere also felt deeply unnatural.