Inside the train, El wasn't the only one who was knocked down and thrown around. Because the passengers who were still unconscious were also thrown from their seats, like soulless puppets.
The light in the carriage lamp kept flickering before going out. The sound of falling objects and shattering window panes could be heard clearly in El's ears.
At the same time, the sounds of heavy metal bending, carriage frames twisting, and crashes filled the air.
The train raced like an animal that had lost control, and each carriage lifted up before finally falling hard to the ground, shaking the earth around it.
The vibrations from this accident were felt far into the distance. When the train finally came to a stop, it was silent, with only the sound of the wind blowing, dust scattering and the cracking of the damaged structure audible, leaving a mess of chaos and debris on the once tranquil rail line.
"Ugh..." El expressed his complaint of the pain in whole body from being thrown around quite hard. "Damn, my head hurts, my back is so sore! It's a good thing there are no really serious injuries." El said and tried to get up from the wreckage of Enmu's flesh and the remaining debris.
Shifting his gaze, El looked around to confirm the state of the train passengers who were still asleep.
A grateful sigh escaped El's mouth. "Apparently, none of the passengers died. But, it's possible that most of them suffered minor fractures."
In addition to confirming the state of the passengers, El also looked at his surroundings which were full of dust and smoke billowing into the air, obscuring his view.
"It's really like a tragedy." El said after taking a second sigh.
Finally, El stepped out of the train wreckage. Once again, El looked around her. "Shiro! Are you around?"
"Hoo!" Answering El with a distinctive chirp, Shiro flew in the night sky towards Mugen's train ruins.
Among the scattered dust, El vaguely saw Shiro's silhouette flying closer and closer to her.
Raising his right arm, El prepared Shiro a place to perch. Shiro saw that El had already raised his arm, speeding up the flapping of his wings as he flew.
Before long, Shiro had arrived and perched comfortably. "Do you need anything, sir?" asked Shiro in a girlish voice.
"Ask to send a Kakushi member to come, treat some of the wounded and clean up the area." El said firmly.
"Alright!" After receiving orders from his Master, Shiro quickly flew into the night sky and headed towards the Demon Slayer's headquarters.
"Fyuh," El sighed and then El closed both eyes, focusing on finding the whereabouts of Tanjiro, Nezuko, Zenitsu and Inosuke.
"Ah, there's Tanjiro." It wasn't long before El found the four of them and walked towards where Tanjiro was.
Because of the role swap with Kyojuro, El would do what Kyojuro did. Including teaching Tanjiro how to use Recovery Breathing. El was very sure, at this time Tanjiro was lying because of the stab wound in his stomach.
Not long after, El finally arrived near Tanjiro. El looked at Tanjiro who was lying down with a gasp, blood seeping from the stab wound in his stomach.
The intense pain made it difficult for Tanjiro to concentrate. With a calm face, El squatted beside Tanjiro who was lying weakly on the ground. El could see that the stab wound on Tanjiro's abdomen made it difficult for him to breathe, and the blood kept flowing.
Tanjiro's breathing was labored, his vision blurred, while pain gripped his body. "Uncle... Adrian?" said Tanjiro in a low voice.
"Tanjiro, calm yourself. Listen to me and focus on your breathing. If you want to survive, you must control your breathing well."
Tanjiro nodded even though his face tightened with pain. El touched the forehead of Tanjiro's head with his index finger.
El began to teach Tanjiro Recovery Breathing. "Tanjiro, breathe in deeply, feel the air fill your lungs, and now exhale slowly. Imagine your breath flowing through your body and look for where the bleeding wound is."
Closing his eyelids, Tanjiro followed El's instructions with great difficulty. Slowly, Tanjiro focused on the rhythm of his breathing.
Tanjiro could imagine the air entering his body spreading like a gentle stream of energy, protecting and soothing his wound.
Suddenly, Tanjiro reopened both eyelids and had found the location of the bleeding wound.
Seeing the speed of Tanjiro's learning, El smiled slightly. In a cold, yet caring tone of voice, El said, "Found it? Good, now do it. You can do it, Tanjiro."
Then added, "Remember Tanjiro, Total Breathing Concentration is the source of your power. Control your breath, and you will control your wounds."
Over time, Tanjiro began to feel that although the wound had not completely healed, the bleeding began to decrease and eventually stopped.
Tanjiro's breathing began to stabilise and deepen helping to calm his body, giving him a chance to survive this difficult situation.
With his breathing more regular and a bit of relief in his heart, Tanjiro said in a weak voice. "I made it! Uncle Adrian... I did it... thank you."
With El's support and instruction, Tanjiro was slowly able to calm himself down, using the techniques taught to speed up healing.
Although the pain was still there, his controlled breathing made the wound on his stomach no longer feel as painful as before.
In a serious tone, El said. "Don't move, stay concentrated. Ah yes, later after this, I will demonstrate the movements using Hinokami Kagura more properly."
"What does that mean?" said Tanjiro with a look of confusion.
"Just watch." El replied to Tanjiro's words briefly.
"This scent!" Suddenly, Tanjiro noticed a demonic scent that was so foul and thick that it made his nose hurt.
Tanjiro seemed to be able to see into the future and seemed to sense something very bad, yet invisible to the ordinary eye moving at an explosive speed.
Seeing Tanjiro's expression full of vigilance, El guessed very accurately. "Akaza is here already?"
Suddenly, a loud bang shattered the silence. Something leapt down with great force, hitting the ground just a few metres away from them, scattering dust and stone chips into the air.
As the dust slowly faded, the figure appeared with coldly glowing blue eyes, looking like the cracked surface of a mirror and reflecting malice. On both eyes, terrifying writing was clearly read: Upper Rank Three.
Without any clear warning, the figure hurtled towards Tanjiro at a speed that even ordinary eyes could hardly see.
Swoosh!
Slash!
In an instant, El sprang into action. The blade of his sword seemed to reflect the moonlight. El moved his sword out of the sheath with a motion like the rays of the sun rising over the horizon, a motion so swift and smooth it was as if he was the embodiment of the light of dawn itself.
The sword moved, slicing through the air, and in one fell swoop, the demon's arm was split in two, thick red blood gushing out instantly. The demon jumped back, jolted by a force he hadn't anticipated.
After slicing through the demon's hand, El felt his arm become numb and difficult to move.
With a calm gaze, El immediately looked at both his arms. "It seems, my guess about being stronger than Akaza was a little off."