Chapter 33

"Wait a minute! Can you wait a minute?" Zenitsu suddenly said seriously.

Tanjiro and Inosuke looked at Zenitsu incredulously.

"Zenitsu, what's wrong?" Tanjiro asked with concern.

Zenitsu was sitting on the ground, his hands buried in his knees, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"It's so scary! It gets especially creepy as we get closer to our destination!"

Seeing how cowardly Zenitsu was, Inosuke couldn't resist mocking:

"Why did this guy sit down? What a pathetic guy!"

Hearing Inosuke's words, Zenitsu immediately retorted:

"I don't want to hear it, you wild boar! Can't you feel what's coming from this mountain?"

At this moment, Xander spoke:

"This mountain in front of us looks terrifying, but we are from the Demon Slayers Corps. As long as there are demons here, we must destroy them.

"I'm sure Tanjiro and Inosuke feel the same way. Besides, no girl would want you, you're so cowardly and don't look like a man at all."

The first half of Xander's words went unheard by Zenitsu, but the last phrase struck him deeply. Zenitsu suddenly jumped up and said uncertainly:

"Alright then, just climb the mountain! Let's go!"

Suddenly, Tanjiro caught a sharp scent at the base of Spider Mountain.

"What is that smell?"

Tanjiro rushed towards Spider Mountain, and Xander followed him. Inosuke also sensed something was wrong and ran after them. Zenitsu, afraid of being left behind, dashed after them too.

When they arrived, they saw a wounded Demon Slayer lying on the path at the forest entrance. Seeing Tanjiro, Xander, and the others, a glimmer of hope appeared in his eyes:

"Save me!..."

Tanjiro noticed that this man was from the Demon Slayers Corps and quickly approached him.

"Are you okay? What happened?"

Tanjiro was about to extend a helping hand to his comrade, but suddenly, as if something grabbed him, he was lifted into the air towards the mountain.

"Watch out!"

With a crash,

Xander left an imprint of his foot on the ground, and in the next second, he was already beside the Demon Slayer.

His sword flashed, and all the threads controlling the Demon Slayer were cut by Rengoku.

Xander seized the moment to save his comrade.

Tanjiro and Inosuke ran up and saw Rengoku rescuing the Demon Slayer.

"Senior Rengoku!"

Xander nodded, sheathed the white Sun Blade, and asked:

"Can you tell me what happened here?"

Of course, Xander knew about the affairs of Spider Mountain. He asked so that Tanjiro and the others could also understand what was happening on the mountain.

The wounded Demon Slayer replied:

"We received orders from the Raven; ten people arrived here, but for some reason, the members of the group began killing each other as if someone was controlling them. I..."

After hearing the Demon Slayer's words, Tanjiro reassured him:

"Everything will be alright, leave this to us."

Then Xander handed the wounded comrade to Zenitsu.

"Zenitsu, I know you don't really want to climb the mountain, so I'm leaving this wounded one with you. Just wait for us at the foot of the mountain."

Zenitsu hesitated a little, seeing Xander entrust the Demon Slayer to him.

Xander led the way and quietly said:

"According to this comrade, the enemy we're facing is a demon who can control people using silk threads. Of course, we don't know if there are other demons among them. This is a tough battle. Are you ready?"

Inosuke patted his chest and said:

"No problem, I'll go first! You just tremble and follow me!"

With a determined look, Tanjiro responded:

"Senior Xander let's go!"

Xander smiled slightly and dashed into the forest thicket and up the mountain, followed by Inosuke and Tanjiro. Zenitsu looked at the wounded lying nearby. He understood that Xander asked him to stay for his own good but didn't know why he felt somewhat uneasy.

Meanwhile, Rengoku and the other two had already entered Spider Mountain.

They hadn't taken a few steps when Inosuke's body was covered in webs.

"Huh? What's this?"

Tanjiro looked at the transparent threads on Inosuke and then at the webs on the surrounding trees.

"It's a web."

Inosuke irritably shook off the webs.

"Webs everywhere! How annoying!"

Xander glanced at the webs around and then said:

"The Demon Slayer we just saved was under the control of these transparent threads. Some of these spiders might have been created using demon blood arts." Be careful.

Inosuke casually remarked:

"Bah! Why don't we just take down all these spiders?"

Tanjiro replied:

"No, there are too many spiders. It's pointless to just kill these little spiders. We need to defeat the demons controlling them."

Xander nodded and said:

"Right, let's see if any members of the Corps are still alive inside."

Following that, Xander and the other two continued forward.

Gradually, Xander and the others spotted a member of the Demon Slayers Corps hiding behind the bushes and approached him.

Xander placed a hand on the person's shoulder, but the Corps member, in an extremely nervous state, responded by stabbing him in the back with a knife. Rengoku reacted quickly, skillfully grabbing the attacker's wrist.

"We're here to help you!"

Upon hearing a human voice, the Demon Slayer Corps member, extremely tense, calmed down a bit.

"I am Xander, ranked ? Mizonoto, and these two are the same rank as me, Tanjiro Kamado and Inosuke Hashibira," Xander introduced himself.

Hearing Xander's rank and the ranks of the other two, the Corps member begrudgingly stated:

— Mizunoto? Why not the Pillars? There are so many Gi, they're all the same, it's pointless!

Hearing himself looked down upon, Inosuke ignored all rules and punched the Demon Slayer Corps member in the face.

— Why are you so noisy! If you say this is pointless, then your own existence is pointless too!

— Inosuke, let him go, — said Xander.

Inosuke gave a dismissive look at the Demon Slayer and held him in even greater contempt in his heart, but he obeyed Xander and let him go.

Seeing Inosuke release the Demon Slayer, Xander continued:

— We saved one member at the foot of the mountain and we already know what's going on here.

— So that's how it is. Someone has already been saved. We need to hold out until the Pillars arrive. — the man calmed down.

Xander looked at the member of the Demon Slayer Corps and said:

— You haven't said your name yet.

Murata replied:

— My name is Murata, and my rank...

Without finishing, he heard a series of creaking sounds.

Xander and the other two quickly looked around with caution.

— Lord Murata, do you know what that sound is? — Tanjiro asked.

— It was this sound. When they heard it, the squad members came to their senses and started killing each other, — Murata said nervously.

Gradually, they were surrounded by a group of people in the Demon Slayers Corps uniform.

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