Demon Slayer: Upper 0 seems to be a waste

Chapter 316 is useless.

The blade that was swung out failed to sever Rinko's neck.

No one understood what happened in that instant better than Tanjiro. The feeling was wrong; it wasn't a neck that was severed. He realized this clearly the moment the blade sliced ​​through the air. He raised his hand not to effectively block the blade, but simply to buy himself a second more. The boy leaned back in that brief moment.

The deadly knife only grazed a small part of the skin on the neck.

It was clearly the most opportune and best opportunity. He swung his knife with all his might, severing any arm that could have blocked him at lightning speed.

But we were still a step too slow, just a tiny bit too slow. But that tiny bit caused us to miss a great opportunity, perhaps the best one.

What to do, what to do? The knife didn't catch up, it only made a small cut. How small was that? Will there be time to swing the knife again? Can he catch up this time? Will he be able to reach it? Will he have enough time? Can he sever the other person's neck? Up until today, he hasn't even tried pressing the knife against that neck once. Will he be able to sever it successfully?

Countless questions burst forth in that instant, flashing through my mind.

Ultimately, they've clearly been weakened, their self-healing speed has been significantly slowed down, right? How can they still dodge so quickly! To be able to unleash such speed at a time like this! That's just too unreasonable!

Tanjiro cried out in his heart, his hand gripping his sword tightly, but he didn't even have time to truly feel anything.

In the shortest possible moment, Tanjiro forced himself to abandon all distracting thoughts.

Thinking about these things is meaningless and useless. He already knows, hasn't he? He's already fought the Upper Moon. Doubting himself is pointless. At times like this, only by trying can he truly know the answer. Just thinking won't change anything or cause anything to happen. Whether he succeeds or fails, at this moment, all he can do is raise his sword and keep chasing.

If you can't catch up, keep chasing; if you can't cut through it, swing a second time. That's what he should do!

Blood splattered from his slashed neck. It would be too slow to change direction if the blade, already swung out, tried to. Tanjiro immediately took the next step, turned around, twisted his waist sword, and swung it out again. But at that moment, he froze.

That last slash barely grazed his neck. He knew it; he clearly saw the blood splatter, felt the blade miss its mark, it didn't hit the spine, and it didn't really hurt his opponent. Such a shallow wound would heal almost immediately…

No.

It has not healed.

Rinko's body was retreating, not to dodge, but purely instinctively, because his eyes had lost focus, and blood flowing from the wound was rushing into his throat and choking him, making the boy feel suffocated. He retreated, coughing instinctively, blood flying from his mouth and splattering on the floor.

Rinko was still retreating. Perhaps his coughing body made it difficult to control his direction, perhaps the feeling of suffocation made him temporarily lose his mind, or perhaps his unfocused eyes could not distinguish directions.

Tanjiro didn't know the reason, but he saw that Rinko was only two steps away from him. Just two steps and Rinko would fall through the gap in the corridor.

Rinko will fall.

The idea popped into my head almost instantly.

Where she'll go if she falls, I don't know. She'll probably fall very far. The buildings here are so complex that Rinko might fall and get trapped somewhere because of the feeling of suffocation. She might get hit by moving buildings, or the height here might be enough for Rinko to fall and land somewhere.

I don't know what will happen.

Should we catch him, or let him fall? Can we still catch up by slashing now? No, it's too late to slash. So should we catch him? For what reason? To kill him or simply to save him?

Tanjiro doesn't know.

But anyway, he reached out his hand.

But we were a step too late.

The boy lost his balance after stepping into the air, tilted backward, and fell, and Tanjiro could see every detail clearly.

The boy fell.

Tanjiro stood there, not even having time to think. Although it wasn't his intention to let Rinko fall, the final result was advantageous to him.

Continuing to stay here will not benefit Rinko. Although Rinko seems to have been affected and weakened to some extent, it is clear that if the fight continues, he may not be able to completely eliminate the opponent in a short time.

The burst of energy just now had greatly depleted his stamina. Their ultimate goal was not this, but because of this, the Upper Moons kept appearing and slowing them down, constantly draining their energy. Humans are not demons, and lost energy cannot be replenished in a short time. Even if they get some rest, they will not be able to return to their peak condition.

This is a battle that must come to an end, though we don't know where, but some parts must end tonight.

Continuing to entangle ourselves will only drag on in vain. The only solution is to find Muzan. Once we find Muzan, we need to find a way to leave this place. We need to get up to the surface and wait until the sun rises.

We don't know how Mr. Rengoku is doing, and we don't know how far Giyu has just been taken. Muzan's hiding place should be nearby, but so far we have found nothing.

There is so much to do.

Calm down. Tanjiro, calm down, you need to calm down, be even calmer, don't let your emotions affect your thinking.

Tanjiro muttered to himself repeatedly, his fingers loosening and then tightening their grip on the Nichirin Blade. He took a deep breath and then exhaled heavily.

Think about it carefully, think about it carefully, it's nearby, it can't be any further.

Even if what's above his head is a phantom, an illusion, or a blood demon spell, Rin's reaction isn't a lie. There must be a reason why he rushed past so hastily in that instant and then insisted on chasing him so closely. It couldn't be too far away; it must be in this vicinity.

It's not too far, it's right there.

If it weren't on top...

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Rinko knew the phrase "time drags on like a year," and he knew what that feeling was like. He had experienced it, he had felt it. Sitting under the moonlight, in the quiet night, the softest sound of cherry blossoms falling, the angle of the moon overhead, from its rise to its fall, a long night, as long as he was reliving the first half of his real life.

And everything he is experiencing now seems the same, yet also seems to be the exact opposite.

Memories flashed before his eyes one after another. Why? He didn't know, but everything from the past was being replayed before his eyes, until a long-lost scene almost drowned in the swamp of memories. It was also a quiet night.

But he didn't see the moon, not even for the first second. It wasn't a courtyard; there were walls all around. It wasn't a forest, nor a wilderness. This was unusual because it was an indoor space, the interior of a building. But he was almost completely unfamiliar with this space—unfamiliar walls, unfamiliar floors. Before him was a staircase. As he walked down the stairs, he realized how eerily quiet it was. There was nothing there except the lightest sound of his footsteps as he descended the stairs.

My bare feet touched the cold floor. Every step was clear. My eyes fell on a pool of blood, then a corpse. When I looked up, I saw a man. What was he saying? I couldn't hear him. Who was he? I couldn't see him. Why couldn't I see him? The corpse on the ground was so clear, but why couldn't I see the man's face?

He moved a little closer, then a little closer, but when he looked up, he still couldn't see clearly. Why? Was it because the bright moon outside the window behind him was too dazzling?

So it wasn't until he stepped into the shadows that he could see those blood-red eyes clearly.

"Rinko".

Rinko was almost startled awake. That voice, amidst her confused and blurry memories, revealed the most familiar face and voice.

He instinctively gasped for air, the air rushing into his mouth and into his oxygen-deprived lungs through his trachea. The feeling of suffocation finally began to dissipate in that instant. The wound had healed, and the bleeding had stopped; he didn't know whether it had gone in or out, but it didn't matter.

The blackout caused by suffocation and dizziness was subsiding. Breathing became smooth, wounds healed, and the last second of Rinko's memory was Tanjiro's face, the swinging sword that severed his hands and almost chopped his neck—almost, but thankfully it didn't.

"Although I've always known you're not very useful... it's still a bit surprising that you haven't been this useful, Rinko."

A man's voice rang out. The call in his memory did not come from a jumbled memory, but from an external stimulus. Rinko belatedly realized that Muzan was looking at him when he turned his head. He was not standing on the ground, but suspended in the air, his body completely floating. It was the thorn wrapped around his waist that prevented him from falling further.

Before he realized what this scene meant, he heard Tanjiro's voice.

"Hinokami Kagura".

The thorns around his waist suddenly tightened as Muzan suddenly charged forward. Rinko was pulled at such a fast speed, and the thorns tightened around his body. For a second, he had the illusion that he would be strangled by the thorns.

Muzan threw him onto the floor to the side.

The thorns swept away the corpses piled on the floor, and only then did Muzan's indifferent face finally show a slight relief.

"Although it was useless, it did serve a little purpose. At least it was slightly more useful than those good-for-nothing guys."

Rin was a beat slow to realize what was going on. It wasn't his fault; he had lost consciousness for a few seconds. Although it was only a few seconds, it had effectively severed his thoughts and consciousness. And he didn't wake up on his own; he was suddenly awakened.

Even a sleeping person can be disoriented if suddenly woken up, let alone him.

Rinko sat there in a daze for a while, only belatedly realizing the current situation when Tanjiro and Muzan were talking about something.

Muzan has emerged, which means the poison has been successfully neutralized. Ah, his mission can be considered complete.

Rinko lay on the floor, an indescribable sense of exhaustion enveloping him in an instant. Was he tired? Not really. Oni don't get tired easily and recover faster. But was he not tired? He felt like he couldn't even stand up.

My body feels so heavy, and my brain feels so heavy too. Just using my brain is so tiring.

Was he good enough? Muzan said he was useless. Yes, he was useless from the very beginning. While other demons were able to kill people and grow stronger, he couldn't even protect himself. He didn't hide from humans, and even demons could bully him at will. He was just useless.

Even now, no one has been able to truly kill him. His life seems to have been like this: unwilling to give up, yet unable to truly make up his mind. He either lacks the ability or the awareness to do what he wants, so in the end, it seems that he has not grasped anything at all.

Muzan's poison has been cured, but what about Tamayo? Is she dead?

Muzan said those useless guys, who are they? Are they other demons? Who are they? Are they dead too?

Muzan said he was useless.

Rinko thought, yes, he's useless.

But he killed some demon swordsmen, and Muzan saw this and said that he was still somewhat useful.

So he is actually still somewhat useful.

It's useless, but it's somewhat useful.

But even so, he was useless.

Muzan, however, managed to catch him every time.