Chapter 44
【“At the age of 18, the sword dojo near the So-ryu dojo always caused trouble for the dojo, so the dojo was unable to recruit any students other than Akaza in the past few years. However, Akaza also gradually became the person who fought only to protect others in his daily life with Koyuki and his master.”
"One day, Master Qingzang suddenly called Akaza to his bedroom and asked him if he was willing to inherit his dojo. Akaza was confused at first, but he didn't expect that the master would then ask if he was willing to marry Renxue, who had always liked him. Akaza didn't react at first when he suddenly heard that someone had always liked him. Then, he remembered his father's last wish before he died, hoping that he could start over, so he began to consider whether he, as a sinner, could live a normal life. In the end, Akaza agreed to the master's request, and at the same time made up his mind: even if he sacrificed his life, he would protect Renxue and the master."】
"It looks like a flag." commented colleague B.
[“Soon after the two confirmed their relationship, Akaza and Renxue went to watch the fireworks together, which she had never been able to watch because she was weak since childhood. Under the fireworks, Renxue expressed her feelings to Akaza: before she met Akaza, she had never thought that she would be able to see the fireworks alive one day. Akaza seemed to be able to see through her future and kept encouraging her to keep living. Afterwards, Renxue asked Akaza if he was willing to marry her. Akaza confessed to Renxue without hesitation: he would become stronger than anyone else and protect her for the rest of her life.”
"A few days later, Akaza returned to Edo on the eve of his wedding to sweep his father's grave in order to inform him of the good news of his upcoming marriage. However, when he returned to the dojo, he suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart. As expected, after returning to the dojo, Akaza learned from his neighbors that his master and fiancée had died."
"Inuza was deeply saddened and puzzled by this. After investigation, he finally learned the truth. It turned out that the nearby sword dojo had always been thinking about and jealous of the Suruyu dojo, which had only one disciple but owned a large piece of land. However, because they could not beat the master and him, they chose to poison the well of the Suruyu dojo..."]
Sure enough, tragedy happened.
“This…this…” The more sentimental members of the Demon Slayer Corps had tears in their eyes. “They are obviously getting married…why did they do this on the eve of the wedding…”
Some people were filled with indignation: "Those guys are too despicable! They killed people when they couldn't win. What kind of men are they? They are not men at all!"
Iguro Obanai was the one who could understand this the most. He put himself in Komaji's shoes, and he had promised Kanroji that he would protect her, but when he came back, his lover and his benefactor were both dead...
Ihei Xiaobanei shook his head, unwilling to think further.
【"After failing to protect the important people once again, Akaza's will finally collapsed completely. In the end, he failed to protect anything, and he attacked the kendo gym alone in a daze, killing 67 people with his bare hands. None of the people killed were left with a complete body, and the only surviving maid went crazy because of this. This incident was even deleted from historical records as a legend thirty years later..."
"Finally, with nothing left to protect, Akaza lost his way. While wandering around alone, he encountered the Demon King - Muzan Kibutsuji Murei."
[Komaji] felt a little uncomfortable. But he was a person who could distinguish between the real world and the world of fiction, so he ignored that discomfort. [1] "The other party came to check because of the rumor that there were ghosts in a place where he did not have ghosts, and he accidentally met Akaza. Although Muku was bored at first because he found out that the real culprit of the ghost rumor was just a human, Akaza's strength far exceeded that of ordinary people made Muku regain his interest in him. Then, in order to create a powerful ghost, Muku easily defeated Komaji and forced him to become a ghost."
"After becoming a demon, Akaza gradually lost all his memories, and the only thing left in his heart was the obsession to become stronger."】
Who can be blamed for this?
Everyone looked at each other, and finally came to a unanimous conclusion - they could only blame Muzan Muzan.
People are only now realizing that ghosts were actually ordinary people at the beginning. They just wanted to survive - whether it was the Upper Six siblings last time, or Lei, or this time's Upper Three.
"I hope they can atone for their sins after they die, and not live here again next time. It's too hard here, they should go to that world, it's beautiful there, and they will definitely live well there."
[“Next is the Infinity Train arc.” [Komaji] said, “At the beginning, Akaza was searching for the blue spider lily under Mukuro’s orders. Later, since he was close to the Infinity Train, he received Mukuro’s orders to destroy all the Demon Slayers on the Infinity Train.”
"The swordsmen who were carrying out the Infinite Train mission at the time were the Flame Pillar Rengoku Kyojuro, as well as Kamado Tanjiro, Hashibira Inosuke, and Agatsuma Zenitsu."】
It’s here, it’s finally here.
The mission of sacrificing the Flame Pillar, Rengoku Kyojuro, has finally come.
Although I read some of the original text last time, and [Azuma Zenitsu] also talked about it a little bit, but the explanation was not clear.
Mitsuri Kanroji walked out of the store nervously, not even taking the packaged sakura cakes.
[“After the destruction of Yume, one of the Lower Moons, Akaza suddenly descended. Upon arrival, Akaza first scanned the fighting spirit of everyone present, and then, because he felt that Kamado Tanjiro was too weak and would definitely hinder him from fighting the powerful Flame Pillar, Rengoku Kyojuro, he intended to kill Tanjiro first, but failed because Kyojuro stepped forward. Afterwards, because he was impressed by Kyojuro's strength, Akaza tried to persuade him to become a demon in exchange for the qualification to pursue power forever. However, because his proposal was rejected by Kyojuro, he was disappointed and planned to kill Kyojuro directly.”]
"Hmm! That's right!" Rengoku Kyojuro agreed with the person speaking on the screen, "As a Pillar, how can I turn into a demon!"
"Fighting spirit?" Shinobu Kocho thought, "A new word has appeared. What does fighting spirit mean? The aura of dueling or fighting? Can the Upper Three see fighting spirit? Can they judge our strength?"
[“During the battle, although the two were equally powerful, Akaza, as an upper-rank demon, relied on his regenerative ability to quickly repair all the damage caused by Kyojuro. However, Kyojuro, as a human, lost his left eye, broke his ribs, and damaged his internal organs. Therefore, Akaza quickly gained the upper hand.”
"Akuza laughed at Kyojuro's weakness as a human. However, Kyojuro still did not give up, and even released the ultimate secret of Breath of Fire at the cost of his life. Seeing Kyojuro's strong fighting spirit, Akuza became extremely excited, and used the Destruction Killing Style to block Kyojuro's full-strength attack. Afterwards, the two engaged in hand-to-hand combat."
"Although one of his arms was cut off by Kyojuro, Inoza easily pierced through Kyojuro's chest. While they were in a state of mutual restraint, Inoza, who felt that Kyojuro's life was coming to an end, continued to persuade Kyojuro to become a ghost."】
"It's actually comparable to Purgatory." Fuzugawa Miyabi frowned, "But is the ghost's regeneration speed still faster?"
He just heard that Rengoku had his left eye destroyed by Gionza during the battle, his ribs were broken, and his internal organs were damaged. Any one of these injuries would cause huge losses to the other members of the Demon Slayer Corps, not to mention that Rengoku had all three. After suffering so many injuries, he was still able to fight back and forth with the Upper Rank Three. He is worthy of being called such a great person.
Rengoku Shinjuro paused and the wine in the gourd accidentally spilled on him. Rengoku Chijuro clenched his fist: If only he could learn the breathing of fire, then he could join the Demon Slayer Corps to help his brother.
[[Komaji]: "However, as the two of them were in a stalemate and the sun gradually rose, Inoza began to panic, but he was unable to move because Kyojuro held his arms tightly. In the end, he had no choice but to cut off his own arms and fled deep into the dense forest."
"While running away, Akaza was pierced in the chest by the Sun Rin sword thrown by Tanjiro. As he ran, he looked back and heard Tanjiro's roar - the other party called him a "coward who only dared to fight in the dark." Although Akaza was very angry - what qualifications does a weakling have to say about me? But because dawn was approaching, he had to flee to a shaded place and hide."
"Afterwards, Akaza went to meet Muru and reported the results of the battle. However, because he only killed Rengoku Kyojuro, but failed to deal with Kamado Tanjiro, Agatsuma Zenitsu, and Hashibira Inosuke who were also present, Muru reprimanded him for his poor performance and punished him."
"Afterwards, the unwilling Akaza remembered that Tanjiro called him a 'coward' and a 'despicable person' when he ran away, and also heard the words 'guarded to the end', which vaguely triggered the memory of the human time that he had forgotten. However, Akaza only thought that this was just the same hatred for the weak as usual. In anger, Akaza punched the Sun Blade that Tanjiro left on him, and vowed: One day, Tanjiro will pay the price."】
Knowing the past of Inuza, a member of the Demon Slayer Corps who was biased towards Inuza blurted out: "No way! He was punished by Mumu for not doing his job well, and he is not going to run away and stay for the New Year? Did Muzan Mubuji Mumu saved his life?"
"It did save his life to some extent," Murata complained, "but he couldn't run away even if he wanted to. After all, he is a demon, and he has Muzan Kibutsuji Muzan's cells in his body. He is not like Miss Tamayo last time."