Spider Lily

°•~Chapter 6~•°

"Hm. Don't take too long now," Mrs Mori says, her tone stern as always. She watches him leave, the space where he had been sitting now eerily empty. Rising from her seat, she suddenly caught a horrid stench, her senses immediately on alert.

Meanwhile, Inosuke was sprinting through the woods, his eyes locked on the shrine looming ahead. Tanjiro, struggling to keep up, noticed a crow flying above them, seeming to follow their path.

"Whose crow is that?" Tanjiro asked, his breath heavy from the chase.

"Hm..." Muichiro hummed, glancing up. It wasn't his crow nor Inosuke's. "It's not one of ours."

Zenitsu, snapping out of his daydream, looked up as well. "It doesn't seem like a normal crow. There's something off about it."

Inosuke suddenly stops, he crashes through the underbrush, he stops at the shrine's entrance. The crow landed on a nearby branch, cawing loudly as if issuing a warning.

"There's something here," Inosuke growled, sniffing the air. "I can smell it."

Tanjiro stepped forward, his senses on high alert. "Be careful, everyone. This place... there's something strange about it."

Just as he said that, a low, ominous laugh echoed from within the shrine. The door creaked open, revealing the dimly lit interior. The smell of blood and decay wafted out, making the group's stomachs churn.

Mrs Mori, inside the shrine, turned towards the sound of the door. Her eyes narrowed as she saw the intruders. "Humans? How quaint."

Inosuke bared his teeth, ready to charge. "You! What are you doing here, demon?!"

Mrs Mori's lips curled into a mocking smile. "I was simply enjoying some peace and quiet. But it seems I've been interrupted."

Tanjiro stepped forward, his hand on his sword. "We won't let you harm anyone else. Prepare yourself!"

The tension in the air was palpable as the two sides faced off, the eerie silence of the forest broken only by the distant sound of fireworks and the rustling of leaves in the night breeze.

Tanjiro suddenly froze in place. Her earrings—they were exactly the same as his. And there, on her head, was a mark, similar to his own. His mind raced with questions.

"Hm. You three must have come a long way from home," Mrs Mori said calmly, her eyes cold and calculating.

Muichiro noticed the spider lilies in her hair, their blue petals contrasting starkly with the dark strands. Her kimono suited her figure perfectly, its elegance a stark contrast to the malevolence in her eyes. He realized she looked eerily similar to the woman who had slapped Zenitsu.

Zenitsu, who had finally caught up and was panting heavily, stared at Mrs Mori in shock. "It's her! The lady who... but she's a demon?"

Mrs Mori's gaze flicked to Zenitsu, her lips curling into a smirk. "Ah, the little sparrow. I remember you."

Inosuke, oblivious to the tension, pointed his swords at Simi. "Doesn't matter who she is! She's a demon, and we take down demons!"

Tanjiro, shaking off his shock, stepped forward. "Who are you? Why do you have these earrings and this mark?"

Mrs Mori eyes gleamed with a mix of amusement and something darker. "You have questions, young demon slayer. But I'm not inclined to give you answers so easily."

Before anyone could react, the air around them seemed to shimmer. A sudden, powerful force tugged at them, and the world around them twisted and warped. In an instant, they found themselves in the eerie, endless expanse of the Infinity Castle.

"Damn it, not again," Muichiro muttered, his hand tightening around his sword.

Mrs Mori stood a few paces away, her expression unchanged. "Welcome to the Infinity Castle. It seems our battle will have to wait. Kibutsuji-sama has summoned me. Perhaps we'll meet again, young slayers."