Chapter 35: Infinity Train I

Chapter 35: Infinity Train I

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[Ace's Point of View]

" First time on a train?"I asked

"Umm, yes" Tanjiro said.

"Don't worry, it's not going to eat you unless it's a demon hiding in it " I said.

"A D-Demon?"Zenitsu stutters.

"Ofcourse, Aren't we here to hunt it? So of course it is here, hiding somewhere." I said in an ominous voice.

Zenitsu started shivering after hearing that.

"What size! What presence! It's the Mountain Lord! I need to defeat him. Guys charge after me" Inouske suddenly shouts as he charges at it.

I quickly stopped him before he rammed his damn boar head into the train and embarrassed everyone.

"It's a train, Inouske" Zenitsu said.

"No!! It's the great Mountain Lord"

"No, It's the guardian spirit, Inouske. You don't want to hurt him, right?" Tanjiro said.

He stopped struggling after hearing that and only then I released him.

Sigh, his sweat is now sticking all over me, and it smells.

"Guys, it's just a steam train for transporting people, nothing more," I explained before he started his antics again.

We entered the train,and passed through some compartments not finding Rengoku.

"Do you remember how that Hashira looks, Tanjiro?" Zenitsu asked.

"Uh- Huh, He had wild hair and I remember his smell" Tanjiro said.

'Remember his smell? That sounded…. weird' I thought.

"We are close, I can smell him," Tanjiro said.

Following him, We reached the compartment where Rengoku was and saw him eating bento while shouting UMAI repeatedly.

A famous scene in the flesh.

Walking up to him, I greeted "Yo! Konichiwa!"

Rengoku looked up from his bento, a mouthful of food, exclaimed and greeted back with a smile.

"Oh, hello there! You have also came, Excellent, I can see your determination"

"Yeah, I heard there was a mission, so here I am," I replied.

Rengoku nodded, swallowing his food, "Good, good! The mission is quite important but we've got an annoying one to deal with!"

"Hmm," I nodded and took a seat behind his back.

While Tanjiro had some conversations with him about Hinokami Kagura, I was lost in my thoughts.

'Hmm...in some time, that two faced demon should have come if all went the same as canon.

But he had stopped thinking of everything following the plot ever since he had that vision.

Especially with how much focus was given on the blue spider lily, it is surely related to it. Sigh, let's just hope Muzan doesn't ring the bell during the day in the following days.

Soon, the conductor came checking tickets. He looked sickly, resembling a zombie with his skinny body and sunken eyes.

As he handed down my tickets after inspecting them, I gave a cold look , which seemed to unsettle him as he quickly walked away from me.

Examining the ticket, I touched it with a glove, gave it a scrutinizing look, and casually tossed it out of the train. Then, I waited for the next event, which didn't take much time.

Bam!

A Demon entered the compartment with its bulky body and two faces stitched into its head.

However, before he could do any damage, Rengoku quickly incapacitated him with a swift slash to the neck, prompting cheers from Tanjiro and the others.

Hmm, everything is still going the same as canon. So , it's the sleeping part that should be next.

As the group happily chatted, they didn't even know when they started feeling asleep, except me.

Soon, everyone was in their dreamland, and I too closed my eyes, pretending to be among them.

I didn't have to wait long. Footsteps of five people were heard. Opening my soul eyes for just half a second, I quickly perceived their positions and emotions, and yes, I can use my ability even with my eyelids closed.

They soon began tieing us with those flesh ropes that let someone invade the subconscious. At last, a small petite girl around age 13 or 14 ,came and tied the ropes to me, but...

"Huh?" She let out a confused voice, realizing she was still on the train.

Giving a look at the handsome guy in front of her, she almost choked on her own breath as she saw him smiling at her. However, that smile didn't radiate any warmth.

"Heh, surprised!" I chuckled, observing her scared face. "Don't worry, I won't kill you."

It seems my comment didn't do anything as she tried to run, but I swiftly pulled her back using the same rope she tied and said, "Now, I want you to sit here tight with silence—no shouting and no running until I say, understood?"

She nodded as her body shivered. Tch, I didn't want to traumatize this girl; As she didn't like others who came with her, accustomed to killing when I saw her emotional body.

She likely would have given up halfway if she had genuinely intended to kill, especially since it was her first time, unlike the others who had killed many before. It seemed she was already unsure , when she agreed to join it.

Untying the rope and examining it, I thought it was such a waste that they destroyed it in the canon. This is a genuine treasure, as using it one can enter the dreams of anyone as long as they are sleeping, unless they have mental protections against it or you have some absurd amount of willpower .

Standing up from my seat, I looked around to find Nezuko looking at me cluelessly as she pulled her brother's shirt trying to wake him up.

Walking up to her, I gently patted her head and said, "Don't worry, your brother is fine. Try using that fire of yours to burn the rope."

She beamed and nodded quickly,and started to burn the ropes that bound Tanjiro. It's a pity that I can't collect these, but one is okay for me.

As the rope burned, it didn't take much time for Tanjiro to start stirring.

"Aaaaaahhhhhh"

Tanjiro woke up, shouting as he was likely having a panic attack.

"Nezuko, go burn the ropes of that giggling fool, Boar head, and Umai guy too," I said to her hurriedly, and she quickly ran to them while I waited near Tanjiro as he calmed down.

"I am alive! I am alive!" Tanjiro murmured as he woke up.

I patted him on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, you are alive."

"Nezuko! Where is she?" He panickedly asked.

"She is helping them," I pointed out to her.

"Oh! Thank kami," he sighed in relief.

I then explained the situation to him about the demon's powers and abilities.

Suddenly, a girl tried to attack me; Heh,the keyword being 'tried'.

I easily blocked her attack before pinning her down on the seat. {A/N: Don't overthink, it's not what you think}.

She was the same one who had been tied to Rengoku.

"You!! Don't interfere with us!! He won't let us dream otherwise!!" She shouted.

"Help me you guys!!" She shouted to her companions who had also awakened.

But before they could do anything, I knocked them down. No need for extra hassle.

"Take the passengers to another compartment—" I tried saying to Tanjiro, but before I could complete my sentence, the whole train started shaking.

The train started mutating from the inside out, and all kinds of flesh started forming, consuming everyone.

"Shit! Take care of the people while I will cover for you, Hurry!!" I shouted to Tanjiro.

"Nezuko! Protect Zenitsu, Inosuke, and Rengoku until they wake up!" I said.

In the time it took to say this, the ones I had knocked down had already been consumed, as the train had literally sucked them inside, leaving them with nothing.

Summoning my glaive, I quickly started cutting the whips of flesh that tried to impale everyone.

However, as soon as I cut them, they would regenerate in some other place, but this time not a normal whip of flesh but as different kinds of weapons like Venom's movie villain.

And the sound of the sizzling blood surely didn't escape my ears, as the floor melted wherever the blood landed.

I tried to cut as many as I could, but this whole compartment seemed to be infested with them, and they seemed never-ending.

Even though the part, which was cut by glaive didn't regenerate, it would be quickly detached and a new one will grow.

I need to kill the main demon's body otherwise these things won't end.

Focusing my gaze on the engine, I opened my Ethereal Eyes, and it didn't take more than 3 seconds for me to find the demon.

But that was not the surprising thing I found. The view I saw was not just Enmu - Lower Moon 1, but there were more.

And It was a gore and disgusting scene.

Enmu was mutated into a flesh tree with disgusting pustules everywhere on his body, forming a scene of pure horror.

His flesh was stretched out from his tree body and connected to the hearts of four demons who were present beside the tree.

They are the bodies of other Lower Demon Moons who were killed in the canon?! And they seemed to have joined together with Enmu.

And from the looks of that malicious aura forming in the center of the tree, it is much more powerful than rui, almost going beyond the Lower Moon category.

I will need some help with this.

"Hey, Rengoku! Wake up!" I slapped his cheeks, which seemed to work as he started waking up.

"Hmm?!" He looked confused for a moment, but after giving a quick look around, his demeanor changed fully, likely seeing those melted bodies.

"I am ashamed! As a Hashira, I have not done my job." He looked furious, more at himself.

But I don't have time for his self-loathing.

"Rengoku-san! take care of the passengers in the compartments, I will go for the Demon" I said to him.

Rengoku nodded, swiftly moving through the compartments to ensure the passengers' safety while I looked at the Tanjiro and co.

"Hey! You four, let's go! There is a demon to kill!" I said to others who seemed to have awakened from sleep.

"Hehe!! I knew it, this was an evil Demon Lord" Inouske laughs.

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