"Mother."

A demon with similar long patterns on her pale face turned to the sound, her long silver hair sprawled around her like a throne as she sat on a rock in the middle of the clearing.

"Daughter." The mother spider demon answered calmly, grasping at the intricate webs in her long fingers.

The daughter demon bowed respectfully at the demon she referred as mother, as she entered the edge of the clearing.

"Daughter." Mother spoke again, clenching at the webs tightly. "I am using as many of the devolved that Father has defeated in order to fight the rest but there are too many. Does Brother have a plan?"

"He says to watch and wait. The Slayers come to assist."

Mother nodded before a ripple of pain appeared across her normally calm face. One of the steel webbings snapped away from her hand, blood dripping down her wrist.

The daughter stepped forward. "Mother? Let the dolls go. Leave it to Father."

The daughter demon saw the hint of anger underneath the calm exterior of her Mother.

"This is our home. We must protect it." Mother responded, re-balancing the remaining webs in her grasp.

Daughter nodded respectfully in the shadows, glancing up at the bloodless moon.

They were a family, because of Brother. Brother was a powerful demon who had a stronger blood tie to Lord Muzan. She had given up her humanity ages ago when she had no family of her own. Even though demons destroyed her family, it was Brother, who was also a demon, who gave her back a family.

She would die protecting him, this family, if she must.

Tanjirou stopped in the middle of the path, nearly causing Mika to bump into him. He looked at the surroundings and looked over his shoulder in apology.

"Sorry, it's just that I'm not too sure where we should go next." He admitted, with a scratch of his head.

Mika looked up in hopes of using the stars to navigate them to the north eastern mountains but found the trees curved upwards to cover the sky itself. She wrapped her cloak closer around her with a shiver, reminding herself that she will make it to her Master.

Mustering the courage, she stepped forward only to have Tanjirou bar her way with his arm. She looked to him and found him shaking his head, his expression schooled carefully but she could see the telltale concern in his eyes. Before she could ask, she realized there was a lingering stench in the air.

"The smell of the dead is preventing me from using my senses to find out way to your Master." He murmured, squatting down to observe nearby prints.

Mika turned around to check on the other team members and realized that it was too quiet. She had been so accustomed to Zenitsu's rambling that she had tuned it out as they walked.

"Zenitsu! Nezuko!" Mika shouted, peering into the path behind her.

Tanjirou stood back up, his eyes wide as he heard Mika shouting. Before she could shout again, he put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. Zenitsu has better hearing than any of us. He and Nezuko will find their way back to us."

Mika twisted her hands together in worry. "I didn't realize they were gone. I'm sorry. Nezuko-"

"Nezuko will be fine. She can take care of herself." He gently interrupted, peering into her face. "Let's continue on and find your Master. You say he is hurt. He will need help."

Mika bit her lip and nodded, taking one last glance down the dark path, before taking a right in the fork with Tanjirou.

Inosuke somehow found himself separated from Shinobu and Kanao. He slung one of his swords over his shoulder and stuck one into the ground to lean on while he scanned his surroundings. He grunted, wondering if he should wait for them before he shook his head at that idea.

"And miss out on the action? We're all headed in some direction. We're bound to cross paths one way or another." He muttered to himself, deciding to carry on without the group.

He unearthed the sword from the ground and stuck both swords back on his waist before speeding forward. He sniffed the air, wishing he had Tanjirou's senses.

"Or at least that idiot Zenitsu's hearing." He muttered. But he's lived his whole life in the wild, having been raised by boars since his mother's death at the hands of demons.

He's a hunter and he will find the prey his own way.

Sniffing at the ground and licking at the moss on a fallen tree, he spit out the unsavory taste.

He narrowed his eyes at the forked path before him. "The left path smells worse. It must have more bad guys." He nodded proudly to himself before putting the boar mask back over his face.

A few moments later, he encountered at least fifty devolved demons surrounding a huge demon with the head of a spider.

"The father demon." Inosuke muttered, identifying the familiar figurehead of the lower demon who was responsible for the area. He was disappointed, about to sit down on a nearby tree trunk to watch the clearly uneven match between the devolved and the father demon, when there was a burst of energy from his left.

He coughed through the smoke, wondering what could have happened, when the area cleared and realized the devolved were obliterated and the father demon was leaning heavily on one knee.

One of his arms were cut at the elbow, a curtain of blood flowed down to join the blood of the devolved on the already darkened ground.

Inosuke glanced around, drawing his swords, and saw a tall figure approach the father demon. His eyes burned as the figure glowed brightly, but he stubbornly kept his eyes open and watched.

The tall figure, the energy surrounding them muted enough for Inosuke to see it was a male dressed in unfamiliar warrior clothes. The figure was so fast that Inosuke just barely saw his hand reach out to rip through the father demon's chest.

The father demon let out a pained roar as the figure removed their hand with a cold smile.

"Now destroy the slayers and bring me the pet of the betrayer. Alive." The figure ordered.

Inosuke was surprised to see the father demon stand up, his arm that had been severed, shoot through and regrow. His normally teal colored eyes were dull as he bowed once to the figure, before taking steps.

Towards Insouke.

"Shit, I should have waited for the ladies." He muttered, readying his stance as the father demon's thunderous steps brought it closer to him.

The figure also glanced at Inosuke with a satisfied smile. "You will be the first among many to die, Slayer. What was freely given in power, we will now take back."