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[LFTAW] Chapter 145: A Nightmare?
🕑 Added 2024-04-29 01:13:43 +0000 UTCAs Riezel approached, Enmu naturally felt it.
Felt what?
Naturally, he felt fear.
As a Lower Rank closest to the Upper Ranks, few things could make Enmu afraid. In his eyes, Demon Slayers seemed no different from ordinary humans. He was not even afraid of Hashira at all and even wanted to kill them to gain merit.
For demons, the Demon Slayer Corps, which had always been hunting them, was undoubtedly quite annoying.
However, since the Demon King had long ordered the hunting of Hashira, Enmu had never feared them. Otherwise, he wouldn't have devised a plan to merge with the Mugen Train and devour the Flame Hashira along with the other two hundred passengers.
As long as he could kill a Hashira and consume a large number of humans, he could become stronger and receive the Demon King's reward.
Perhaps he could even launch a bloody battle for a position change within the Upper Ranks, becoming a newcomer in the Upper Ranks that had not had a member change in over a hundred years.
Therefore, Enmu had always considered his move on the Mugen Train with a mindset geared toward entertainment and enjoyment. After all, what he liked most was witnessing the suffering and despair of others.
Whether it was the Hashira or the two hundred passengers, their agonizing struggles before death would surely be interesting.
Every time Enmu thought of that, he felt a sense of pleasure.
Unfortunately, the reality proved that even demons like Enmu, when faced with incomprehensible things, would still feel fear when it was time to fear.
The moment Riezel stopped and dismantled the entire train with a single punch, it became truly incomprehensible to Enmu. Especially since the train had already merged with his body, he could feel even more vividly the inexplicable events that had occurred in that split second.
It felt as if his whole body was forcibly torn apart by an unknown power, with even the very things that constituted his existence being invaded, controlled, and ripped apart. It was as absurd as watching his own cells being pulled out of his body one by one while wide awake.
As a result, when Enmu saw Riezel approaching him, his mind exploded.
"Eyes of Forced Unconscious Sleep!"
With Enmu's yell, meat pillars suddenly shot out from the locomotive, rushing toward Riezel.
On the meat pillars, countless eyes were growing, staring straight at Riezel, emitting a strange wave that projected onto his body through their gaze.
Demons naturally possessed powers beyond those of humans, powers that ordinary humans couldn't compare to. In addition to abilities such as an undying body and superhuman physical prowess, some demons' bodies also possessed special abilities like magic or superpowers—some with strange effects, others akin to ultimate techniques, offering a wide range of possibilities.
It was known as the 'Blood Demon Art', a special ability exclusive to demons.
Demons possessing Blood Demon Art generally had stronger abilities than those without. Some particularly powerful demons could even possess multiple Blood Demon Arts.
Enmu's Blood Demon Art could force his targets into sleep, causing them to experience dreams. What made it terrifying was his ability to control the people, events, and objects within these dreams, keeping those affected by his Blood Demon Art forever immersed without their knowledge.
Once affected by his Blood Demon Art, no matter who it was, their consciousness would completely separate from their physical body, unable to move as long as they didn't wake up from the dream.
In order to wake up from the dream, there was usually only one way.
That was for the person trapped in the dream to muster the courage to commit suicide. Only then could they wake up from the dream completely on their own.
If Tanjirou hadn't woken up this way and burned Kyoujurou's and the others' tickets, they wouldn't have awakened.
Enmu's Blood Demon Art was truly powerful, as evidenced by the two hundred passengers on the train remaining asleep, lost in their dreams even as the train caused a significant commotion by derailing and had its carriages separated.
Now, Enmu used this powerful Blood Demon Art on Riezel, known as 'Eyes of Forced Unconscious Sleep'.
This wasn't performed through blood-soaked tickets like the previous long-distance method but rather through direct eye contact for hypnosis. In terms of effect and power, it was definitely much stronger than the previous long-distance hypnosis.
Unless eye contact was avoided, the success rate of this direct hypnotic technique was one hundred percent, which meant it was unstoppable. Even the Upper Ranks, if caught in this hypnosis, would surely fall.
'This monster has already locked eyes with me, so he will definitely—'
As Enmu thought like that, he froze and suddenly widened his eyes.
'?!'
In front of him, Riezel indeed met the gazes of countless eyes growing on the meat pillars, but instead of being hypnotized, he only furrowed his brow, his face twisted in disgust.
"Disgusting shits..."
After muttering that, Riezel brandished his bright silver short sword, suddenly unleashing several sword lights at incredible speed.
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!
Several meat pillars were instantly destroyed by the sword lights, cut into countless pieces, and scattered on the ground.
"Eyes of Forced Unconscious Sleep!"
Enmu screamed hysterically and caused the locomotive to grow several more meat pillars, making the eyes on the meat pillars all look at Riezel, releasing the full power of hypnosis.
Unfortunately, this power couldn't even make Riezel's footsteps falter.
Riezel seemed to feel nothing, calmly stepping forward toward Enmu, step by step.
Enmu stared blankly at Riezel's figure, who, compared to himself transformed into a massive train, was undoubtedly exceedingly small.
"Is this a nightmare...?" Enmu whispered in a daze.
With those final words, a red vortex swiftly crashed into the locomotive where Enmu's head was.
BOOM!
This time, Riezel showed no mercy, delivering maximum output, using decomposition magic to its peak, and decomposing the entire locomotive into nothingness.
Bzzzt—!
With the disappearance of the locomotive, the flesh walls that were still squirming in the carriages stopped, withered, and then completely reduced to ashes.
Ultimately, decomposition magic far exceeded the regeneration limit of a Lower Rank, rendering Enmu unable to recover at all.
And so, the last surviving Lower Rank of the Twelve Kizuki met a tragic end.
As for Riezel?
He still stood in place, looking at the huge pit that appeared with the disappearance of the locomotive.
His eyes were calm, devoid of pity.
"Man-eating demon... this is the end you deserve..."
After leaving those indifferent words, Riezel turned around and left, leaving the empty pit behind.
===
At last, the man-eating incident on the Mugen Train had come to a close.
Not only had the ringleader demon been slain, but none of the two hundred passengers were harmed, and the members of the Demon Slayer Corps emerged unscathed as well.
Such results could only be deemed a perfect victory.
Kyoujurou had already been in contact with the Demon Slayer Corps, requesting them to send personnel to clean up the aftermath, escort the two hundred passengers back, and return the dismantled Mugen Train to the station.
Unfortunately, the locomotive had vanished, leaving only the carriages and parts of the train behind. It remained uncertain whether it could be repaired and put back into operation in the future.
Of course, these were matters of the government, unrelated to Riezel or the Demon Slayer Corps.
After all, the Demon Slayer Corps was an organization not recognized by the authorities; naturally, they had no reason to worry about matters that concerned the government.
While waiting for the personnel of the Demon Slayer Corps to arrive and handle the aftermath, Riezel found himself entangled with Kyoujurou.
"Let's go, Bento Boy!"
Kyoujurou appeared before Riezel, arms folded, staring straight ahead and shouting loudly.
"Come back with me to the Demon Slayer Corps!"
Shouting like that, Kyoujurou's gaze was fixed on the other side of the mountain.
"Hey, where are you looking? I'm right here."
Riezel stood behind Kyoujurou, rolling his eyes at Kyoujurou's body blocking his way.
"Come to the Corps with me!" Kyoujurou continued to face the distance, shouting loudly. "Rest assured! I will recommend you to the Master!"
"Rest assured my ass..." Riezel retorted and pushed aside Kyoujurou blocking his path. "Things haven't even ended yet, and you're already asking me to rest assured."
Upon hearing that, Kyoujurou stopped his antics.
"Haven't ended?" Kyoujurou turned around to look at Riezel, his face confused.
Even the three main characters, who were playfully approaching, were now drawn to Riezel's words.
"Didn't Big Brother already take down the demon?" Tanjirou asked with surprise as he grabbed his wooden box from Zenitsu, who hesitated to release it.
"Are there more demons?" Zenitsu, no longer vying for the box with Tanjirou, looked wary.
"More demons? Hah! Bring it on! Whether it's a train or whatever! Watch as this Lord Hashibira smashes them with his fists!"
Inosuke, his emotions soaring, seemed ignited by Riezel's earlier display. He even threw down his beloved swords on the ground, and clenched his fists, eager to try.
Seeing the four's reaction, Riezel answered calmly.
"It's an Upper Rank... An Upper Rank is coming."
Upon hearing his answer, everyone's faces quickly stiffened.
Especially Kyoujurou, his expression changed suddenly, and the usual cheerfulness vanished.
Tanjirou, Zenitsu, and Inosuke had even more extreme reactions.
"Coming!" Tanjirou's nose twitched and his face changed dramatically.
"Wh-What's that sound? It's approaching extremely fast!" Zenitsu covered his ears, his face turning pale.
"Over there!" Inosuke quickly picked up his swords and pointed fiercely in a certain direction.
Whoosh!
Before long, the sound of wind breaking spread from afar to near as a figure shot toward them like a cannonball.
BOOM!
As the figure landed with a resounding crash, it stirred up a deafening explosion and a cloud of dust.
"Oh? Enmu died?"
A young voice echoed from the dust.
"Heh, Lower Rank is just Lower Rank after all... Can't even step up to the plate and handle the true strong ones..."
Saying such words, the figure slowly emerged from the dust, and simultaneously, a powerful murderous intent instantly filled the air.
