Hearing El's order once again, the three of them turned around, left and ran. At the same time, El sped up with amazing speed and kicked Zohakuten in the face again, away from Tanjiro, Genya and Nezuko's area.
On the other hand, while running, Tanjiro tracked the scent of Hatengu's real body. However, when Tanjiro was running with Genya and Nezuko his right leg felt very painful.
The pain that suddenly appeared made Tanjiro slow down and stagger. "Ugh..." Tanjiro whimpered in pain, "My right leg bone feels broken! It must be from fighting Urogi and Sekido."
"What should I do?" thought Tanjiro with cold sweat on his face, 'The scent of his real body is far ahead. Genya can't slash his neck and Nezuko's fire isn't enough to burn him.'
Suddenly the memory of his conversation with Zenitsu surfaced like flowing water. "That's it!" said Tanjiro, his eyes sparkling with the fire of determination that would never go out.
Tanjiro fell into a calm silence, and began to recall the instructions Zenitsu had given him back then.
Then, Tanjiro inhaled deeply, concentrating energy throughout the body, especially in the legs, maximizing the output of every muscle and blood vessel within. Tanjiro's body slowly trembled subtly as the energy from breathing gathered.
With a serious, determined expression in his eyes, Tanjiro lowered his stance, legs slightly bent, body leaning forward like a runner preparing to sprint.
The sword was held firmly at the side of the body, slightly inclined forward or over the shoulder, ready to be swung.
Rumble!
The thunderous boom of lightning echoed through the forest. In one lightning move, the Tanjiro stomped their feet into the ground with full force, darting toward the target with incredible speed.
This movement was so incredibly fast that it created the illusion of visual flashes of white lightning striking and flames burning around Tanjiro's body.
At this time, Tanjiro combined the Thunder Breathing technique with Hinokami Kagura, a high-powered Enbu by inhaling large amounts of oxygen, increasing blood pumping throughout the body and focusing it on the legs.
Because his movements were so fast, Tanjiro managed to catch up and even pass Genya and Nezuko. Whereas before Tanjiro was very far behind.
...
On the other side of the forest, El heard the thunderous boom of lightning, even though there was no rain or clouds today.
A faint smile appeared on his face and said, "Hmm? So Tanjiro has successfully mastered the Basic Lightning Breathing Style." he said coldly, without any change in his facial expression.
Meanwhile, in front of him, Zohakuten stood with an expression full of immense hatred, staring intensely at El who stood in front of him, and emitting a choking bloodlust.
Raising his right hand, he clenched it and said, "Barbarian bastard, why so cruelly attack a defenseless creature the size of my hand!"
"Is it that if you do that, you'll feel so powerful by slaughtering it? You're the real monsters!" exclaimed Zohakuten in a bitter tone of voice.
"Nonsense," El answered Zohakuten coldly. "Among the 12 Kizuki Demons, you are the demon that I want to silence until I can't say anything."
Suddenly, the surrounding atmosphere changed drastically, dropping to bone-chilling levels. Killing intent- no! This was something so pure and so intense, it instantly burst out from within El.
What erupted from within El was not just murderous intent, but the pure Eve of Death, so intense, so terrifying and proof that El's soul was deeply corrupted.
This was not something to be trifled with or taken lightly, but something darker and more dangerous than even bloodlust and murderous intent.
It emanated directly from the sea of blood emanating from the subconscious, which had now become a small replica of the afterlife.
Zohakuten instantly broke out in a cold sweat. The expression of hatred on his face was distorted with tension as if he was looking at the figure of a grim reaper with a scythe drawn around its neck.
Every breath Zohakuten took felt as if his soul had been sucked out of his body. 'What the hell is that human! No it's not human!' he said, with tension in his mind.
El exhaled, instantly the Eve of Death that burst from within him disappeared without a trace, replaced with a provision like a pond of water without ripples.
El's calmness made it seem as if such a cold and terrifying Deathly Eve had never existed before in this world. The dangerous atmosphere was frozen in a calmness that seemed to surpass the limits of death.
In hihis mind, El asked, "Did I feel angry listening to Zohakuten's nonsense earlier?"
'As I recall, anger is also a strong emotion... But, why do I feel alive even though this emptiness feels burning?' El thought silently, watching Zohakuten who began to tremble.
The demon's face radiated a mixture of fear and annoyance, unable to hide how distressed he was in El's presence, as if El was insulting him.
Calmly, El positioned his sword in a forward stance. "Even so," he continued in a cold voice, "this is not the strong emotion I was hoping for to fill this void." El said firmly.
"Insolence," Zohakuten said with anger and hatred. "You barbaric bastard! How dare scum like you insult me!" Zohakuten stared at El with an expression like he wanted to tear him apart.
Suddenly, Zohakuten's bloodlust grew thicker and deadlier. The birds that were sleeping in their nests and branches fifty meters away took flight, terrified even though the sky was still dark.
That tense aura spread in all directions, like an invisible storm of death.
However, the terrifying bloodlust did not affect El in the slightest. His face remained calm, as if he was untouched by the horror around him.
In an instant, as quick as the blink of an eye, Zohakuten beat the drum on his back many times in one breath, attacking with increasingly crazed power.
His Demonic Blood Art energy spread all around him, fusing with the roots and trees within a fifty-meter radius, controlling them like his legs and arms.
In an instant, eight wooden dragons appeared, surrounding Zohakuten. This was an incredible achievement, Zohakuten's combat power increased drastically. His deepening hatred for El fueled that power.
"This is good, time to try something I almost forgot about," El said coldly, trying to connect with the mysterious form of power within him.
Suddenly, a maroon-colored mark seemed to glow dimly in the dark, shaped like a wild and fiercely spreading flame. The flames spread from her neck to her left chest, even slightly touching her cheek.
The appearance of the Mark triggered El's heartbeat to echo like drums beating on a battlefield, each pulse like a thunderous battle cry, spurring the blood to heat up his body temperature.
El's dark brown irises flashed slightly reddish, as if they were hot iron coming out of a furnace.
With the activation of the Mark, El's STR, VIT and AGI increased explosively by 70% for the foreseeable future.
Metsu's originally black blade now glowed bright red, as if lit by the unstoppable energy of El's firm grip. The pressure emanating from the blade created waves of sizzling heat around it, signaling the incredible power ready to be unleashed.