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...
On the Infinity Train, as the conductor punched tickets, all passengers gradually fell asleep.
Even Kyojuro Rengoku, one of the most powerful members of the Demon Slayer Corps, had entered the dream world. Needless to say, Tanjiro Kamado, Zenitsu Agatsuma, and Inosuke Hashibira were also fast asleep.
As the four of them slumbered, assassins who had already infiltrated the Infinity Train approached them.
Now, Rengoku and the others, like Mika, were trained fighters who would normally wake up quickly if faced with a life-threatening situation, potentially exposing the mastermind's plan.
Therefore, the mastermind devised another method.
They decided to tie specially made ropes simultaneously to the wrists of Tanjiro's group and the assassins. This way, the assassins could easily enter the dreams of Tanjiro and the others.
The assassins' task was to find the boundaries of the targets' dreams, then use special weapons to enter their subconscious space and locate their spiritual cores.
Once they destroyed the targets' spiritual cores with their special weapons, the victims would become incapacitated.
The mastermind's plan was undeniably meticulous.
To ensure the mission went smoothly, the dispatched assassins were ordinary people enthralled by the mastermind's abilities, preventing the demon scent from awakening the Demon Slayer elites.
However, despite the mastermind's thorough planning, a miscalculation in intelligence led them to overlook Nezuko Kamado, who had stowed away with Tanjiro.
Ultimately, with Nezuko's help, Tanjiro in the dream world finally realized he was in a dream.
He then escaped from the dream.
Awakening from the dream, Tanjiro looked at his sleeping companions and called out to them repeatedly, but couldn't wake them up.
Finally, Tanjiro had no choice but to confront the mastermind alone - Enmu, Lower Rank One of the Twelve Kizuki.
After an arduous battle, Tanjiro finally managed to behead Enmu.
Unfortunately, long before Tanjiro and the others fell asleep, Enmu had already abandoned his body and completely merged with the Infinity Train.
Now, the two hundred passengers still trapped in their dreams had become Enmu's hostages.
They were currently inside Enmu's belly.
...
"Damn it!"
Holding his head, Mika slowly stood up.
Just moments ago, he had been immersed in a dream of a warm life with his family from his previous world, and the next moment he was back on this Infinity Train.
Looking at the car walls now covered in flesh and tentacles spreading everywhere, Mika's expression turned grim.
"So you're the ones who disturbed my dream?"
As Enmu fully merged with the Infinity Train, causing flesh to proliferate and tentacles to spread, Mika, still in the dream, sensed danger.
Unlike previous crises, what alerted Mika this time was a true life-or-death situation.
So he immediately used a tachyon to pierce his own neck, waking himself from the dream.
Seeing Mika suddenly awaken, the tentacles in the train car briefly fell silent before rapidly shooting towards him.
"Since you've woken me up, you'll have to deal with my morning temper!"
"Ignite! By this wheel of flame!"
As Mika chanted, fierce flames coiled around him, instantly incinerating the tentacles shooting towards him.
With his hands in his pockets, he took in his surroundings with a sidelong glance.
"Hmph!"
Mika stomped forward forcefully.
The flames spread rapidly from the center of his foot to the surroundings.
When the fierce flames met the flesh-covered walls, it was like oil meeting fire, quickly igniting.
In an instant, the flesh and tentacles on the walls were burned to ashes.
"Bang!"
After assessing the situation in the train car, Mika opened all the windows on both sides.
Mika's earlier blazing fire had not only burned the flesh and tentacles in the car but also consumed the oxygen inside.
If he hadn't opened the windows, the sleeping passengers might have suffocated in their sleep!
"It can regenerate?"
After Mika opened all the surrounding windows, flesh began to regrow from the ceiling of the car, gradually spreading and forming into lumps and tentacles.
"It seems that to completely eliminate this thing, I'll need to find its weakness!"
Just as Mika was about to burn these flesh lumps and tentacles to ashes again, a violent collision sound suddenly came from the adjacent car.
Sensing someone's approach, Mika immediately stopped using his magic.
He didn't want others to see him manipulating fire.
With a 'bang', the door of this car was kicked open from the outside.
The one who kicked the door was none other than Tanjiro's sister, Nezuko Kamado.
"Well, long time no see, Nezuko! Do you remember me?"
Seeing Nezuko, Mika greeted her with a smile.
"Mm!"
Hearing Mika's question, Nezuko nodded seriously.
Then she quickly pointed upwards.
"You mean Tanjiro is up there, and you want me to go help him?"
"Mm!"
Nezuko nodded again.
"Then I'll leave this to you!"
With that, Mika walked towards the door at the side of the car.
He had heard the battle on the roof since he woke up.
After all, the fight above was indeed intense.
For this reason, he had specially used 'En', which he had never used before, to observe the situation above.
Right above the train car, Tanjiro Kamado and Inosuke Hashibira were working together to fend off the constantly shooting tentacles while charging towards the front of the train.
"So the mastermind has been standing above me all this time? If I had used En to look earlier, I might have discovered him sooner, saving all this trouble."
"But then, I wouldn't have been able to have that dream."
"Looking at it that way, not using En was probably the right choice, wasn't it?"
After a bit of self-mockery, Mika leaped onto the roof of the train car.
Faced with Mika's arrival, the flesh on the car roof quickly transformed into tentacles, shooting towards him.
"You really don't learn, do you?"
Drawing the Nichirin blade hanging at his waist, Mika lightly swung it, slicing the surrounding tentacles back into lumps of flesh.
"Attacks like these can't stop my advance."
Walking lightly on the fleshy roof of the car, Mika soon saw the figures of Tanjiro and Inosuke.
At this moment, the two were constantly cutting down tentacles, charging towards the enemy's weak point.
"Should I call out to them now?"
Quickly arriving behind the two, Mika, completely concealing his presence, silently pondered.
At this moment, Enmu, who could see Mika without needing to sense him, instantly created hundreds of tentacles covered in eyes, shooting them towards Mika, Tanjiro, and Inosuke.
"This is bad! Watch out for those eyes, Inosuke! If you enter the dream, commit suicide!"
Seeing the barrage of incoming tentacles, Tanjiro hurriedly warned.
Just then, a soft voice came from behind the two: "Water Breathing, Surface Slash!"
Facing the incoming tentacles, Mika's figure suddenly appeared in front of Tanjiro and Inosuke, then he drew his sword and slashed.
In an instant, all the tentacles were simultaneously cut in half.
"You, you are...!"
Smelling that familiar scent, Tanjiro's tone became tense.
Turning back, looking at the surprised Tanjiro, Mika smiled and said, "Long time no see, Tanjiro!"
---
"M-Mika!"
Looking at the figure before him, more mature than before but still familiar, Tanjiro excitedly called out, "Mika, you're back!"
"Ah, I'm back!" Mika responded earnestly.
"I knew it, I knew you'd be alright. After all, you're so strong, how could you possibly die on your way home to visit family?" Tanjiro said excitedly.
After Mika left and hadn't returned for a long time, others might have assumed he'd been killed by demons. Otherwise, Tanjiro couldn't imagine why Mika hadn't come back after leaving.
To Tanjiro, Mika was like family. He had saved Tanjiro and his sister after their family was killed, accompanied him in training, and they had grown together through mutual practice. His sudden disappearance was undoubtedly very hard for Tanjiro to accept.
"Of course I wouldn't die!" Mika smiled slightly, then turned back to face Enmu, who was preparing for another attack, and said, "How could I possibly die before helping you, Tanjiro, complete your revenge against Muzan?"
As he spoke, he drew his Nichirin blade and lightly slashed. The tentacles shooting towards them were cut down again.
"Where's the enemy's weak point?" Hearing Mika's question, Tanjiro was silent for a moment before shouting loudly, "Below the driver's cabin!"
"Understood!"
Stamping his foot forcefully, Mika's figure instantly shot forward.
Faced with Mika's charge, numerous tentacles shot out from all directions, aiming for his vital points. But under Mika's flawless swordsmanship, no tentacle could touch his body. Before they could get close to Mika, these tentacles were already cut down.
"So fast, so strong!"
Watching Mika's swordsmanship that kept everything away from his body and his swift speed, Tanjiro gained a new understanding of Mika's strength. As strong as the Flame Pillar.
In a series of rapid movements, Mika's figure had already arrived above the Infinity Train's driver's cabin.
"Water Breathing, Waterfall Basin!"
With a sword technique descending from the sky, Mika's Nichirin blade directly pierced through the flesh blocking Enmu's weak point, cutting through the internal skeleton.
"Aaaaah!"
Enmu, his weak point severed, began to thrash about violently. Having completely merged with the Infinity Train, his struggles caused the entire train to shake.
The violently shaking Infinity Train quickly derailed, crashing and tumbling along the ground.
"Be careful, Tanjiro!"
After cutting Enmu's weak point, seeing the entire train shaking violently, Mika immediately rushed towards Tanjiro and Inosuke behind him. With a leap, Mika caught the flying Tanjiro and Inosuke under his arms in mid-air.
"Mika, save that driver!"
"Driver?"
Hearing Tanjiro's reminder, Mika quickly used En to locate the driver's figure. Then, as he landed back on the Infinity Train, he jumped out again, hooking the driver's body with his foot and bringing him back to the train. He then had to step on him to secure his body.
Using his breath to envelop himself, Mika stood firmly on the Infinity Train until it came to a stop.
"Great, we survived!"
"Hehe, of course I would survive!"
Looking at the noisy Tanjiro and Inosuke, Mika released his hands, and the two fell onto the fleshy surface. Although Enmu's weak point had been cut, his body encasing the Infinity Train hadn't shown signs of disappearing yet.
As the Infinity Train stopped, passengers who had gradually awakened after Enmu's weak point was cut began to crawl out of the train in a hubbub. All at once, sounds of crying, cursing, and screaming filled the air.
Seeing this, Tanjiro quickly called out to Mika before heading off with Inosuke to help the passengers at the back.
Watching Tanjiro's figure running back and forth among the crowd, Mika smiled and shook his head, then turned to look at the forests on both sides.
"The one who just died was Lower Rank One, not Upper Rank Three who killed the Flame Pillar. It seems Upper Rank Three wasn't on this train but came through other means."
"So, was Upper Rank Three sent directly by Muzan?"
Looking at the surrounding forest, Mika couldn't help but ponder.
In the previous battle, before heading towards the front of the train to help Tanjiro, Mika had personally witnessed the Flame Pillar, Kyojuro Rengoku, simultaneously protecting passengers in seven train cars.
That figure swiftly moving through seven cars, swinging his sword, allowed Mika to fully assess his strength.
"Physical abilities at the late stage of LV.2, swordsmanship not far from Transparent World, and that pure fighting spirit, Flame Pillar Kyojuro Rengoku truly deserves to be a top expert in the Demon Slayer Corps."
"But even so, he still died at the hands of Upper Rank Three Akaza, and in my previous life, some even believed Akaza held back, not using his full strength."
"Plus, with the saying that one Upper Rank equals three Pillars, Akaza's physical abilities must be at least LV.3 level, and Muzan is likely even stronger!"
"Looks like we're in for a tough battle tonight!"
Mika knew clearly that their best option now would be to leave immediately. But that was impossible. Neither Mika nor the Demon Slayers would leave these two hundred passengers here for the demons. So their only choice was to face Akaza.
"Are you Mika, the one who slayed Lower Rank One and saved these 200 passengers?"
As Mika was pondering, Flame Pillar Kyojuro Rengoku suddenly appeared beside him, along with Tanjiro, Inosuke, Zenitsu, Nezuko, and others.
"I heard you're Kamado's fellow disciple, also trained under the Water Pillar. Why didn't you come to participate in the Demon Slayer Corps' final selection? With your current strength, you could probably even qualify as a Pillar!"
Feeling the fighting spirit rising from Mika, Kyojuro Rengoku said joyfully.
"I didn't participate in the final selection at Mt. Fujikasane because I was held up by other matters and missed that exam. But now is not the time to discuss this."
Turning back, looking at Kyojuro Rengoku, Mika said seriously, "Flame Pillar, an Upper Rank demon is rapidly approaching, and will likely be in front of us very soon."
"Upper Rank!"
Hearing Mika's words, everyone present was stunned.
No member of the Demon Slayer Corps would underestimate an Upper Rank demon.
After all, since the founding of the Demon Slayer Corps, Lower Rank demons had been defeated batch after batch.
But Upper Rank demons had never been defeated.
Instead, many of the strongest Pillars in the Demon Slayer Corps had died at the hands of Upper Rank demons.
"You can sense it?" the Flame Pillar asked seriously.
"Yes, I can sense any danger directed at me. From a while ago, a thick sense of crisis has been rising from the north, constantly approaching us."
"That sense of crisis far surpasses the Lower Rank One we encountered earlier. The two can't be compared."
"This sense of crisis is already very close to us!"
Mika wasn't lying about his explanation to the Flame Pillar.
The crisis brought by Akaza had already risen and was about to appear before him.
"Bang!"
With a collision sound, dust rose violently on the open ground outside the northern forest, shrouding everything nearby.
And in the smoke, a pair of bright eyes were staring intently at Kyojuro Rengoku and Mika.
Upper Rank Three, Akaza, had arrived!
...
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