Chapter 71: Zenitsu: Is she an angel?

I won, but... why do I feel like something is wrong?

"You will be killed by Mother immediately!"

The boy demon in mid-air glanced disdainfully at Tanjiro and the others on the ground, stepped on the spider silk, and turned to leave.

"Damn it! Where are you going?! Come and duel with me!" Inosuke felt very unhappy, took a stride, jumped up, and swung his dual blades at the boy demon.

Unfortunately, the distance was too high; he couldn't reach him at all!

Tanjiro and Murata cut the spider silk threads behind the other swordsmen and shouted: "Inosuke, that demon is probably not the one controlling the silk threads! So we must first..."

"I know that! You annoying Forehead-taro! Watch me..."

He inserted his dual blades into the ground, crouched halfway, spread his arms, and concentrated to carefully sense everything around him!

"Beast Breathing, Seventh Form: Spatial Awareness!"

Every movement from all directions, even the slightest stir in the air, was sensed by Inosuke.

Suddenly, he sensed movement not far away to his left; clearly, he had found the demon controlling the silk threads.

"Found you!"

Seeing this, Murata, while dealing with the swordsmen controlled by the silk threads, shouted to Tanjiro and Inosuke: "Leave this to me! You go and kill that demon!"

Tanjiro: "Eh?"

Inosuke: "You've already peed your pants, and you still have the nerve to talk!"

Murata: "Who peed their pants, you stupid pig!! I wasn't talking to you, shut up!!"

"Murata-san, but..." Tanjiro was still worried, fearing Murata couldn't handle it alone!

"It's fine! I already know the method of cutting the threads behind them! Besides, they are all trying hard not to be controlled! I will also be on guard against the little spiders! I'm counting on you!"

In the end, Tanjiro decided to listen to Murata; the most urgent thing now was to solve the demon controlling the silk threads and stop more people from being controlled!

"I understand! We will be back to help you soon!"

After saying that, he dragged Inosuke and left quickly!

"Let go of me, Monjiro! I'm going to beat him up! Who are you calling a stupid pig! I'll show you when I get back!"

"Stop talking about that! And, I'm Tanjiro!"

Somewhere in the forest, there was a beautiful woman wearing a kimono similar to the boy demon from before.

She had long white hair, wore a white kimono, had red dots like spider eyes on the corners of her mouth, and her long legs were exposed to the air.

She was manipulating the silk threads in her hands, her eyes seemingly filled with fear...

Spider Demon Mother.

"Damn it! Why are these Demon Slayer swordsmen so hard to control?! Even though the silk threads are connected to them, they still have such strong resistance! No! I must kill them immediately! Otherwise, Rui will..."

The Rui she mentioned was the boy demon who had just met Tanjiro and the others.

And she herself was a member of the boy demon's family, his mother—the Spider Demon Mother.

Of course, there were other family members.

Spider Demon Father, Spider Demon Sister, Spider Demon Brother, etc.

But in her eyes, this so-called family was just a game of house, which could only be described as a bond of fear.

Once they didn't perform to his satisfaction, they would be punished by Rui!

"Am... am I hated..." A yellow-haired boy sat squatting on a small path by the field, hugging his knees and looking toward Mount Natagumo not far away.

He was Zenitsu Agatsuma, whom he hadn't seen for a long time.

He, Tanjiro, and Inosuke had recuperated at the Wisteria Flower House for two months.

After their injuries healed, they received a mission notification from their Kasugai Crow together.

But when they arrived at the mission location and heard the terrifying sounds coming from Mount Natagumo, he stopped in his tracks.

"Chirp~ chirp~" A little sparrow beside him chirped, as if telling him to hurry up and save his companions.

The little sparrow's name was Chuntaro, which was Zenitsu Agatsuma's "Kasugai Crow"...

Unfortunately, Zenitsu Agatsuma couldn't understand it; he just felt it seemed quite happy.

"You really are calm... you don't understand human emotions at all!"

Zenitsu Agatsuma said to his little sparrow with a look of hopelessness.

Chuntaro was furious when it heard this!

It used its beak to bite the back of Zenitsu Agatsuma's hand.

"Ahhhhh!! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!!" Zenitsu Agatsuma screamed in pain!

He shook his hand and pointed at Chuntaro, shouting: "You guy are not cute at all! Really not cute at all!"

"Chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp!!!"

The person and the bird kept arguing like this, talking at cross-purposes.

Finally, Zenitsu Agatsuma couldn't take it anymore, grabbed Chuntaro, and shouted: "You guy are not cute at all! You're just a sparrow, yet you're so fierce! Even little Nezuko, who turned into a demon, is so cute, why are you..."

Little Nezuko... Mount Natagumo...

Zenitsu Agatsuma seemed to remember something.

It seemed Nezuko was staying in a wooden box, and the wooden box was being carried by Tanjiro, so Tanjiro was currently in...

"Ah!!! That guy!! He seems to have carried Nezuko into Mount Natagumo!!!"

Zenitsu Agatsuma couldn't care about anything else, threw Chuntaro away, and ran quickly into Mount Natagumo.

He ran while shouting: "Why did you bring my most precious Nezuko into such a dangerous place!!!"

"Tanjiro, look at what you've done?! Don't bring such a cute girl into such a dangerous place! Idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot!!!"

Soon, Zenitsu Agatsuma's figure disappeared into Mount Natagumo.

However, about half an hour after he left, Giyu Tomioka and Hu Die Ren also arrived.

"This is Mount Natagumo, let's act quickly, Tomioka-san!"

"Mm!"

Just as they were about to set off into Mount Natagumo, a sound like lightning and thunder came from behind them in mid-air.

Zero also arrived at this time and landed in front of Giyu Tomioka and Hu Die Ren.

"Brother-in-law, why are you here too?"

"My Kasugai Crow told me that a Twelve Kizuki is suspected to have appeared here. But looking at the situation, it should be an insignificant Lower Moon demon!"

"How do you know it's a Lower Moon demon and not an Upper Moon demon?"

Zero reached out and lightly flicked Hu Die Ren's forehead, explaining: "If it were an Upper Moon demon, do you think those swordsmen who entered Mount Natagumo would still be alive instead of temporarily losing contact?"

Hu Die Ren puffed out her cheeks, feeling unconvinced, but didn't dare to make a move.

The two painful lessons from two months ago were still fresh in her memory!

One was her tooth breaking, and the other was...

She turned her head away haughtily, thinking: Stinky brother-in-law, just you wait! When I get back, I'll have my sister deal with you!

"Giyu, Shinobu, let's split up."

"Oh~"

"Mm."

Afterward, the three of them entered Mount Natagumo from different directions!

"Mother, haven't you solved those people yet? Can you do it?" An abrupt voice came from behind a tree.

Seeing Rui, the Spider Demon Mother became extremely nervous, her eyes filled with fear, and her body trembled uncontrollably!

"Rui?!"

"Is it... taking too long? If you don't hurry, I'll tell Father!"

"It's okay!! Mother can do it! I will definitely protect you! Don't tell Father! Don't tell Father...!!!"

The Spider Demon Mother promised repeatedly in a shrill voice that she would definitely complete the mission.

Seeing this, Rui just said expressionlessly: "Then hurry up and solve it..."

As soon as he finished speaking, he disappeared into the forest.

Seeing him leave, the Spider Demon Mother's tense body relaxed temporarily.

"Damn it! Die!! Die!! All of you, go to hell!! If you don't die, I'll be in big trouble... what's going on?!"

The silk threads in her hands were pulling non-stop!

However, at this moment, the Spider Demon Mother suddenly sensed that all her silk threads had been cut!

Even if she manipulated the little spiders to reconnect them, there was no response!

She could feel that all the little spiders around those Demon Slayers had disappeared!

Completely disappeared!

They had all died in just a few seconds!

She didn't understand what had happened?!

Not only that, she also heard many strange sounds! Like gunshots?

"No... no... no! Even if those Demon Slayers aren't dead, I'll kill the two Demon Slayers who are rushing toward me first! As long as I kill them both, Rui shouldn't be angry with me anymore..."

"No... no more! I... I don't have the strength... to hold on..."

A swordsman controlled by spider silk had his stamina exhausted and could no longer resist.

Crack! Crack!

With his stamina exhausted, his body lost control, his arms were twisted backward, and the sound of bones breaking rang out.

He looked toward the distance where someone was cutting the spider threads behind other swordsmen; he wanted to shout, but couldn't!

Just as he despairingly closed his eyes, a cold light flashed, his body felt light, as if he had broken free from control, and he fell to the ground!

When he opened his eyes and lifted his head with difficulty, he saw a long-haired back holding a Nichirin scythe, with a pair of black and white wings behind him.

And beside him, there were more than twenty strange black objects floating in mid-air.

They fired from multiple directions, eliminating all those little spiders in just a few seconds!

"This is... a Pillar-sama... a Pillar... has come to support us!?"

Not far away, Murata ran over, helped the swordsman on the ground up, and said respectfully to Zero: "Zero Pillar-sama!"

"What is the casualty situation?"

"Some swordsmen were controlled by those spider threads, suffered fractures, and some fell unconscious..."

"Let those who can still move carry them out and wait for rescue! I'll go look around here."

"Yes!"

After giving instructions, Zero continued deep into Mount Natagumo.

As Zero entered the depths of Mount Natagumo and was about to continue forward, he heard a thunderous sound!

Boom!

A loud noise erupted in mid-air not far away, and Zero followed the source of the sound to investigate.

Not long after, Zero arrived at the location where the thunderous sound originated.

He discovered a small house suspended and fixed in mid-air by spider silk!

Not only that, several severely unconscious swordsmen were hanging around it, and they seemed to be slowly changing into another appearance.

Their hands and feet were slowly degenerating, turning into spider legs, and their hair was starting to fall out.

Their bodies were turning purple; clearly, they had been poisoned!

He deployed the 【Light Energy Aircraft】 behind him, rescued all those swordsmen, and placed them on the ground.

When he flew above the house, he discovered an old acquaintance—Zenitsu Agatsuma.

"Hey~ are you okay?"

Zenitsu Agatsuma, lying on the house, seemed to be in a miserable state!

His face was somewhat purple, his limbs had shortened significantly, some hair had fallen out, and even his body was slowly shrinking.

But the spread of the toxin seemed to have slowed down; it looked like he was using Breathing Technique to prevent the toxin from spreading rapidly!

"So... so beautiful... she has wings... is she... an angel? But... why do I... feel like I've seen her somewhere before..."

Zenitsu looked at Zero in front of him and muttered to himself in a low voice.

In his eyes, Zero seemed like an angel who had descended to his side to save him.

"He can still talk, it seems the problem isn't too big for now."

Afterward, he held Zenitsu in his arms, flew down from the house, and placed him on the ground.

He used his 【Analysis Glasses】 to scan the data, then took a medical kit from his 【Nano Space】, took out medicine and a syringe, and prepared some antidote on the spot.

He usually prepared these just in case, never expecting they would actually come in handy now.

After injecting the antidote for Zenitsu, Hu Die Ren rushed over from not far away.

"Brother-in-law."

"Little Shinobu, you're just in time. This is some antidote I prepared on the spot; it can neutralize the poison in their bodies. You help them inject it."

"Oh~ actually, I also prepared some, just didn't expect you to have prepared some too~ hee hee~"

As she spoke, Hu Die Ren took out a small wooden box from her bosom.

Opening it, it contained a syringe and some medicinal liquid.

"I also just prepared it in case; after all, being cautious is always good. Alright, let's not talk about this. I'll leave the medical kit here, and I'll leave this to you. I'm going to check the situation elsewhere."

"Understood~ I'm just a tool person, the kind that gets discarded after being used~ just like my sister, having a husband and forgetting her sister..."

Pop~

Before she could finish, Zero extended his finger and treated Hu Die Ren to another flick on the forehead!

"Ouch!!! Stinky brother-in-law, why are you flicking my forehead again!" Hu Die Ren touched her forehead, feeling indignant.

"Be serious! Hurry up and help them inject the antidote!"

"Hmph!"

Hu Die Ren could only honestly go and inject the medicine for those people.

"Stinky brother-in-law, just you wait! Last time I was careless! Next time, you won't be so lucky! Hehehehe~" Hu Die Ren thought darkly.

Not long after Zero left, the "Kakushi" squad members arrived.

Hu Die Ren handed the antidote Zero had prepared and the one she had prepared to them.

And she followed Zero's path and caught up.

【Unlucky, I pulled an all-nighter drawing illustrations the night before last, and ended up getting a fever. It hasn't gotten better even today, and my thoughts are a bit fuzzy, so I'll leave this chapter as it is for now. If there's anything not good, give me a suggestion, and I'll make some minor revisions later.】