Chapter 27

Tanjiro left the box with the two children and followed Zenitsu into the house where the demon resided. When Xander and the others entered, Tanjiro sensed a sharp smell of something supernatural.

"Senior Xander! The number of demons is incorrect! Earlier, I sensed the aura of two demons outside, but in this house, there are five!" Tanjiro quickly warned.

Hearing this, Zenitsu turned pale, and tears streamed down his face.

"So many demons! There are only three of us! What do we do? I'm going to die!"

"What do we do? What do we do?! I'm going to die!"

"Zenitsu! Shut up, it's just a few demons. Just kill them all!" shouted Xander.

Zenitsu clung to Xander's leg:

"I remember, you saved many people during the final selection, so you'll definitely protect me, right?"

Xander grabbed Zenitsu by the collar, lifted him up, and said:

"From now on, as long as you keep quiet and don't bother me, I will protect you. Understood?"

Zenitsu immediately stepped back and assured:

"Yes! Understood!"

Seeing that Zenitsu had indeed quieted down, Tanjiro praised:

"Senior Xander is still amazing."

Suddenly, two children rushed into the house.

"No! You can't be here!" Tanjiro shouted at them.

But the children had already approached Tanjiro and Xander.

"Br...brother, the box is creaking!"

"It's j...just that I would be very sad if I put it somewhere. It's more important than my life!"

Tanjiro watched the children with concern.

Suddenly! With a crash!

The whole house shook.

Zenitsu crouched down in fear, covering his head with his hands, and accidentally knocked Tanjiro and the girl into the next room.

"Ah!"

"Sorry! It was an accident!"

Suddenly, a drum sounded, and Tanjiro instantly disappeared.

Zenitsu wanted to scream, but, noticing Xander's gaze, he immediately covered his mouth.

Seeing that Zenitsu was not shouting, Xander said:

"Among these demons, there must be one controlling this house. Be careful not to get separated again."

After saying this, Xander also looked at Zenitsu.

Zenitsu nodded, covering his mouth with his hand, showing that he would stay close.

"Te-ru-ko! Te-ru-ko!" the boy cried out anxiously, seeing his sister had vanished.

Hearing the boy's voice, Zenitsu grabbed his hand.

"No! You mustn't make noise! The bad guys will hear you, and we'll be in trouble!"

Zenitsu then looked at Xander and suggested:

— Maybe we should go outside first?

The boy saw that Zenitsu was behaving even worse than he was and couldn't hold back:

— Why do you want to go outside? Do you want to be the only one who gets saved?

— Aren't you ashamed of constantly saying you're going to die? Aren't you embarrassed holding onto those younger than you?

— Why do you carry a sword on your belt?

Each of the boy's questions was like a sharp knife stabbing Zenitsu's heart.

Zenitsu fell to the ground:

— His... his words are too sharp!

Seeing the boy mocking Zenitsu's cowardice, Xander smiled lightly.

— Ha-ha, right. Since you're all here, stay close to me. Don't wander off, or you might not survive.

At the end, Xander looked at Zenitsu.

Zenitsu nearly fainted from Xander's words but nodded in agreement.

Xander opened the door and had only taken a step when a drum sounded.

— This isn't good!

When Xander tried to retreat, he found himself pressed against the wall.

Looking at the wall behind him, Xander was a bit speechless, yet a little relieved.

— In the end, they split up, but this time I won't have to be so afraid.

Xander clasped his hands in front of his chest:

— ! Clone Technique!

With a rumble, a clone appeared next to Xander, identical to him.

— Go through that door and see if you can find any traces of the demons.

Xander pointed to the door on the right and gave an order to his clone. The clone drew the "Sun Wheel" sword from his belt and headed in the direction Xander indicated. After the clone left, Xander continued on his way.

After going through the door and entering the corridor, Xander kept moving forward and soon heard rapid footsteps.

— Boar Rush! Boar Rush!

A man wearing a wild boar mask charged at Xander, showing no intention of dodging.

— Boar Rush!

The Boar's Head rushed directly at Xander, trying to knock him down.

With a crash!

Xander blocked the Boar's Head's blow with both hands and then forcefully pushed it back.

The Boar's Head looked at Xander:

— Who are you?

— Demon Slayer Corps, Xander, — Xander replied.

— Ha-ha-ha! Not bad! For the first time in my life, I've been thrown back by a man!

Saying this, the Boar's Head rushed at Xander, wielding knives.

— Shave! — Xander whistled as he dodged the Boar's Head's attack.

— Hey! Boar! The Demon Slayer Corps doesn't allow you to draw your sword against your comrades.

— My name is Inosuke Hashibira!

Saying this, Inosuke put away his two swords and punched Xander:

— Since you can't use a sword! Then let's fight with bare hands!

Xander always easily dodged Inosuke's attacks.

Xander knew about Inosuke's aggressive nature, but he didn't want to get involved with him now since there were demons to slay and chests to open.

Seeing a convenient moment, Xander grabbed Inosuke by the arm and threw him outside.

With a crash! Inosuke broke through the door and fell to the ground.

— I don't have time to fight you. We'll talk after we've dealt with the demons.

Inosuke jumped up, looked at Xander, and shouted:

— Who cares!

Then he charged at Xander again.

Boom!

A drum sounded, and the room changed once more. Inosuke also disappeared from Xander's view.

A memory then surfaced in Xander's mind.

— The clone disappeared?

Xander analyzed what the clone had observed, then smiled softly.

— It seems Tanjiro did encounter the demon, but because of the little girl, he couldn't start a fight.

— When my clone arrived, Hibiki used the "Blood Demon Technique" to flip the room, and my clone was thrown back and instantly vanished. But before the clone disappeared, the room changed, and Tanjiro didn't know it was my clone.

— But the room changed again. I wonder where the demon has gone now.

As soon as Xander finished speaking, a heavy stomping was heard.

— Why do they all love barging into other people's homes? So annoying! Damn bugs! So disgusting!