Demon Slayer : The Silent Journey-Chapter 178: Sleeping Wind

[3rd POV]

A green blur slipped through the forest, bringing with it a hurricane everywhere it went.

"Almost there!!"

The Wind Hashira, Sanemi Shinazugawa was one of the Hashira closest to the Butterfly Mansion. His aim was to go there in the first place to visit his injured student, and it was during his travels that he saw the fireworks.

Then he sprinted towards the Mansion as fast as he could, covering almost a hundred kilometres in just half an hour. The terrain slowed down his speed but he all but blasted through every obstacle.

And now he could see the Mansion in the distance.

"What the fuck is going on there?" he paused while staring at a distant mountain that was heating and lighting up with an explosion.

It was far enough to not cause trouble so although Sanemi wanted to check what was going on, he refrained from doing so and headed towards the mansion.

He saw some kind of mist blocking his way, and like always, he charged straight into it. Nothing had stopped him until now, and the air was not about to stop him.

He ran into the fog, his vision was blocked by wispy smoke but he relied on his other senses to go straight forward. The fog was not big, it should only take him a moment to run past it.

A minute passed, and then another.

He continued running as the sense of time slowly slipped away from him. At one point he realized he did not know how long he had been running, was it a few minutes, or had he been running for hours?

His running slowed down until he came to a complete stop.

He had seen the fog from a distance, it was not much. He should be out by now but here he was,

That could only mean that this was the doing of a demon.

"..."

!!!!!!

Sanemi's eyes widened in realization and he pulled out his sword before he stabbed two inches deep at his own thighs.

A sharp pain coursed through his body and he regained a sense of clarity.

The mist around him was messing with his senses, be it the sense of time, the sense of direction, the sense of touch and even the sense of hearing. It was manipulating them or outright blocking them.

Hypnotism.

Sanemi pulled out his sword slowly from his leg and he focused on the pain. The feeling of pain was the best way to keep the mind grounded in reality. He should not be manipulated with illusions.

All other feelings could be fake but pain was always real.

Updated from freewёbnoνel.com.

"Stop hiding and come out," Sanemi said while looking around the white smoke.

He flicked his sword, and the blood covering the tip splattered around. The smell of his blood was intoxicating and attractive to demons so he was using it to bait out the demon.

It worked too.

"Hmmmm...such delicate aroma," Enmu emerged from the white smoke. No demon could resist the scent of his blood.

"Gotcha," Sanemi grinned, more devilishly than even the demon himself. His eyes caught the flickering figure of Enmu and he locked the fuck in on that.

"Stupid demon," Sanemi tensed his whole body, "Wind Breathing : Third Form,"

"Clear Storm Wind Cutter,"

The mist fled and Sanmei cut through the air fast enough to create a high-pitched sound. It sounded like a jet going full speed.

He sliced at the Enmy, bisecting him in half but then the demon turned into smoke.

"What?!"

That was not all, the smoke made its way through his nose even without having to inhale. Sanemi staggered back an instant, his body became numb. He could feel that he was not being himself.

He regripped his sword and aimed at his own flesh once more, trying to stab himself but a hand stopped him. Enmu appeared in front of him, his body wrapped in the mist.

"Don't do that, why bother hurting yourself?" Enmu whispered eerily, "Just sleep,"

Enmu blinked his eyes and that released a hypnotic wave that caught Sanemi straight to his face.

His eyes rolled back, and only white remained. His body became frozen and he fell over like a statue, completely unconscious.

"I thought he was a Hashira but that was easier than I anticipated," Enmu said while gazing at the unconscious human

Then his face shifted into a lusty grin, and he licked his lips.

..

..

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[3rd POV]

(Infinity Castle)

An outburst of killing intent, raw and angry shook the entire dimension. The wooden floor beneath their feet cracked as the Demon Lord manifested his rage.

"It was not supposed to go like this," Muzan said, his eyes shone deep red and he had veins all over his face.

"How can they fight back?" Muzan asked himself.

This was supposed to be a quick execution. He had sent his best demons to the Butterfly Mansion, it was supposed to be the start of the war. It was supposed to send a message of fear and despair to all of humanity.

But the humans were fighting back. And if more reinforcement showed up they were going to be repelled.

He turned his head and his eyes landed on Kokushibo who was sitting on his folded leg like a samurai. His six eyes closed but he was awake, he seemed to be waiting patiently.

If only Kokushibo went there and quickly killed off the Hahsira, the whole attack would be over in an instant.

But Kokushibo sat there, refusing to waste his time on any foe other than the one he deemed worthy.

And Muzan Kibutsuji had to respect his wishes. They were more like partners, after all, Kokushibo was too powerful to be his slave like the rest.

"A war is fought on two sides my lord," Kokushibo answered his question, "Just like you have been preparing, they have been doing the same,"

Muzan just frowned at being taught like some child. Of course, he knew that as well, but how could they be as strong as they were? Whatever preparation they made, it should be nothing compared to his.

Even now, the Demon King underestimated the humans.

"What should we do Lord Muzan? Should I call them back?" Nakime asked while running her hands through the biwa.

"No," Muzan replied coldly.

He took a deep needed breath and considered his decision for the final time before his eyes hardened.

"Call the other demons," Muzan said, "Every Demon Nest you currently have contact with, send them to the Butterfly Mansion,"

Muzan had been preparing for a war and the main way he did that was by giving out his blood like some free commodity. Every demon that could take his blood, did so to the absolute limit.

The result of this was not very visible in the Twelve Kizuki itself as demons had a limit to how much blood they could take. It was hard to gather top-tier demons like that, especially with Seiji and the other Hashira making sure no exceptional demon survived long enough to get used to their power.

But the consequence of his preparation was more evident in the demons right below the Twelve Kizuki. The common demons. The standard of the top demons might remain unchanged but the standard strength for the average demons skyrocketed.

Basically, the high-rank demons increased and multiplied many times over. Mzuan had a shit ton of strong demons under his command even though the strongest demons might be limited.

"As you command," Nakime said before she got to work immediately. The strings of her biwa strummed and changed the dimension, creating punctures in space.

Her Blood Demon Art was not all-powerful, it had certain limitations like she had to mark people to teleport them forcefully or she had to send her eyes first to the destination.

But under the Demon Lord, she had prepared as well. She had many demons whom she was in contact with, and she was ready to summon them anytime.

Doors opened, connecting Demon nests with hundreds of demons to the surrounding area of the Butterfly Compound.

Kokuishibo observed everything in silence. He turned his eyes towards Nakime, asking a silent question to which Nakime simply shook her head.

'How long?' Kokushibo asked in his mind, finding it hard to be patient.

'How long before he appears?'

Because that was what he was waiting for. That would be the main event, the climax of the war.

..

..

[IMAGE]

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We reached goal

Next Chapter coming up shortly.