Adam watched silently from the porch as Arika's blade danced across the courtyard, sweat glistening down her back under the morning sun. Her breathing was sharp and focused, her form increasingly refined — precise, yet still raw. She was progressing fast, too fast perhaps for a normal slayer. And it made the temptation flicker again in his mind:
To give her the Kamo bloodline.
A gift from another world, like the one he'd bestowed upon Izuku, whose body now carried the strength of Heavenly Restriction — pure physicality honed without cursed energy. Arika, with her natural discipline and that stubborn Kamo tenacity, would benefit immensely from a similar gift. But still not yet.
'Not until she was truly ready'
With each day, the Demon Slayer Corps grew stronger. Under the guidance of the current five Hashira, the teachings of Total Concentration Breathing had spread like wildfire. New swordsmen, once barely surviving against low-class demons, were now lasting longer, striking harder. Some could even sense the shift in the air when they exhaled.
It was time to test the other side of the war.
Adam made his way through the compound and stopped before the quiet, perfumed sliding door of Tamayo's quarters. He didn't knock — she already knew he was coming. She always did.
Inside, the room was dim, lit only by lanterns. Tamayo was at work, bent over a bloodstained scroll and a line of glass vials glowing faintly. She turned, face calm and hands delicate, though there was always something wild behind those golden eyes now.
"My lord," she said softly, dipping her head. "What can I do for you?"
Adam stepped into the room, the door sliding shut behind him. "I need to test my strength against the darker corners of this world," he said, folding his arms. "Tell me… where are the black zones? The dead zones no slayer returns from?"
Tamayo's smile faded. "There are a few. But the one whispered the most among recruits… is Mount Natagumo."
The name sparked something in him. A memory from the original timeline, from tales woven into fiction turn reality in his world. 'Tanjiro… the first glimpse of Sun Breathing… the demon spider family... Rui'
"Mount Natagumo," Adam repeated quietly, his gaze turning distant. "That's where Lower Moon Five made his nest in the old canon."
Tamayo nodded. "No slayer has returned from there in over sixteen years. We've lost over forty swordsmen. Some say the mountain itself is cursed. Others believe a demon family controls it like a web, baiting and devouring anyone foolish enough to enter."
"And none strong enough have gone?" Adam asked.
Tamayo shook her head. "It was long considered a waste of life. Even Hashira avoided it unless ordered."
Adam's fingers tightened at his side.
'Then it's the perfect place'
He would go there to face what the Corps feared.
After discussing the last details of her latest research, Tamayo tilted her head in curiosity. "Will you be gone long?"
"That depends on what I find there" Adam answered, his gaze already elsewhere, focused on the hunt ahead. But before turning to leave, he closed the distance between them. In one swift, quiet motion, he stole a kiss from her lips — a soft touch filled with certainty and affection. She didn't resist, simply smiled as he turned and exited without another word.
He moved through the compound with purpose, heading straight for the main hall where Master Ubuyashiki sipped tea beneath the warm light of hanging lanterns. Little Kagaya sat silently at his side, watching Adam with bright, curious eyes.
"I'll be leaving," Adam said. " my destination is Mount Natagumo."
The master lowered his teacup gently. "That mountain is cursed… if you insist, at least allow a Hashira to accompany you. Shinjuro or—"
"No," Adam cut in, his tone unwavering. "I must do this alone."
A beat of silence passed before the master nodded, understanding that this man was beyond conventional reasoning. "Then go with the blessing of the Corps and may the wind carry you back to us."
Before departing, Adam pulled Arika aside in the courtyard, where she had been striking at the training post in repetition. "I've taught you the fundamentals. Now it's time to choose."
She looked at him, brow furrowed. "Choose?"
"Your breathing technique. Select one. Learn its rhythm. Own it. And if when I return, you've impressed me…" His smile, though small, made her pause. "I'll grant you something no one else in this world can."
Her eyes widened slightly, then she nodded with fierce determination. "Understood."
--------------------------------------------
The forest at the base of Mount Natagumo felt like it had been drained of life — the trees twisted unnaturally, their bark flaking like dry skin, leaves motionless despite the wind. The moment Adam stepped onto the mountain path, he could feel the pressure in the air. It was the same kind of silence that followed death.
Nano's voice flickered in his mind.
[Ambient signs of demonic activity detected. Residual signatures match Muzan's energy, but fragmentary. Estimated threat: multi-target, low tier]
He took the first step forward, his hand loosely resting on the hilt of his bloodforged bastard sword — its edge pulsing faintly, alive with dormant intent.
As if summoned by his presence, two figures dropped from the trees ahead, the mist parting to reveal them. One was grotesque in shape — the "Father" spider demon, hulking and inhuman with veined muscles and plated skin that cracked and reformed endlessly like molten armor. Beside him, drifting with eerie grace, stood the "Mother", her hands cradling thin blood-threads that danced around her like hungry tendrils.
"You are not one of the Corps nor a demon" the mother said with a flat, distant tone. "But Rui wants you brought before him"
Adam's brow lifted slightly, eyes shining with cold amusement. "And you believed that was even possible?"
The father demon let out a guttural roar and lunged, his heavy arms tearing through trees as if they were paper. He charged with overwhelming physical strength — the kind that shattered boulders with ease — but Adam didn't budge.
At the last second, Adam stepped forward, pivoting low, and with a single, fluid movement, he sliced across the demon's knee joint, splitting muscle and bone with unnatural ease.
The giant stumbled, and that was all it took.
Adam vanished from view.
What followed could barely be called a fight — it was butchery.
A flurry of red arcs lit the air like crimson lightning. In seconds, Adam's blade carved through the father demon's limbs, one after another, precise and merciless — right arm, left leg, ribcage, shoulder, torso, spine — pieces of his massive form rained onto the earth.
The demon, too slow to even comprehend what had happened, let out a final screech before Adam appeared above him in mid-air, sword raised high.
"Your power is meaningless without intent."
With that, he brought the bastard sword down with monstrous force — cleaving the demon's thick neck. The head hit the forest floor with a wet thud, eyes wide in disbelief before it turned to ash with the rest of the body.
The forest held its breath.
The "Mother," frozen in shock, began to back away, whispering, "He wasn't… supposed to be the strong one…"
Adam turned his eyes to her, blade still dripping with cooling blood.
"You had a choice," he said coldly. "You joined Rui's cruelty. You danced your puppets across human corpses. You called that survival?"
"I-I didn't—" she tried to form her strings, blood weaving around her fingers in desperation, her puppets twitching from distant threads.
But Adam was already there.
A flash of red. One strike.
Her body tumbled backward, headless, before she even realized she had been attacked.
As her corpse began to break apart, ash scattering on the wind, she whispered one final breath. "Rui… has been promoted. Lower Moon Three … others… in the forest…"
Adam paused only for a moment, eyes narrowing slightly. "Promoted?"
He raised his head toward the deeper mountain paths. Nano confirmed it immediately.
"Demon blood signature consistent with former Lower Five has evolved. Confirmed: Rui is now Lower Moon Three. Energy levels indicate possible consumption of other Lower Ranks."
"Tch." Adam dissolved his sword once more into blood, the red color liquid sliding once more into his blood vessels like a whisper.
"I'll offer you a prayer," he said quietly to the ashes of the mother. "Not for mercy — but for the silence that follows."
Turning from the battle scene, he stepped deeper into the forest's dark throat.
He could feel the tremor of threads in the air — invisible, hunting, hungry.
Two remained. And then Rui.
And Adam intended to cut down the entire web.