"ACK!" Zenitsu had felt a stinging sensation on his palm, getting the attention of a certain water elementalist. "Ouch!"

"What's wrong? Something bit you?" Water probably knew the answer is yes, but asked nonetheless.

"Something just pricked me! What the hell? This is so annoying!" Zenitsu had blown off steam.

"Calm down, man. Here, let me take a look." Water asked for permission to inspect his hand.

"Well, go ahead." Zenitsu swerved his head and shouted some unnecessary words out from his mouth.

'That was totally uncalled for.' Water sweat dropped before going back to look at his hand. At first glance, it was only a bite from a spider. Nothing serious if it's just a small bite.

However, he can't shake the feeling that something bad is going to happen to Zenitsu, and the spider bite is related to it. He worried that the bite might be poisonous and must get something to treat it with. Unfortunately, Water couldn't come up any methods on how to deal with poison. He doesn't have any remedies he can use to treat it nor have any activated charcoal, not that he has those anyways in case of emergencies.

"How is it?" Zenitsu asked impatiently.

"I don't wanna alarm you, Zenitsu." Water looked at him straight in the eye. "This bite doesn't look good, and it may be poisonous."

"You're kidding me?! Am I gonna die!? TELL ME! AM I GONNA DIE?!"

Covering his ears, Water exclaimed. "I never said it's gonna kill you instantly!"

"Grr!" Zenitsu grits his teeth like a madman. "You know what?! This is seriously annoying the hell out of me! I just want to find them and be done with this! This sucks!"

'Tell me why I'm stuck with this guy...' Water facepalmed, absolutely done with his antics for one night.

"Where did they go?" Zenitsu stopped as two pathways appeared. "Which way?"

"I don't know. Don't ask me." Water asked nonchalantly.

"And it stinks around here, too! Stinks! I think I'm gonna cry!"

Water sighed. "Can we just go to any direction?"

His hearing senses were out of the picture at the moment. They were either too far away for him to pick up any sort of sound or have gone quiet for him to get any sound out of it.

'So much for that, I suppose.'

White spiders crawled around their feet, making Zenitsu creeped out with their presence.

"And this sound of spiders rustling around is so creepy! I'm sure these spiders are doing their best to survive, too, but still!" Zenitsu backed away from the creeping spiders.

"What are you talking? They're just spiders. I'm sure they're harmless." Water replied sarcastically.

"Harmless?! One of them bit my hand! Don't you say they're harmless 'cause they're clearly not! Do you understand?!"

Water rolled his eyes.

"Okay man. Calm down already and let's get going."

Zenitsu nodded then he heard a sound crawling behind them, giving him goosebumps that ascended his body.

"DAMMIT! SHUT UP! JUST STAY STILL!" In his frustration, Zenitsu angrily shot his index finger at the thing he heard behind them. It was the same human-headed spider that was following them.

'What the hell is that?!' Water gave a sudden jerk upon witnessing a creepy version of a spider.

"IS THIS EVEN POSSIBLE!?" Zenitsu exclaimed before he dragged Water and run off into the woods with Water in tow.

"EEEEEEEEEEEYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!! THAT'S A SPIDER WITH A HUMAN FACE! THAT'S A SPIDER WITH A HUMAN FACE! WHAT'S UP WITH THAT?! WHAT'S UP WITH THAT?!"

Water squirmed out of his grip and ran along side him, even creeped out by the spider they just encountered.

"Whatever that thing was, it sure is not normal!" Water barely kept up with Zenitsu's pace. If there was anything that is good about Zenitsu's ability, it would be his ability to run really fast.

"PLEASE BE A DREAM! PLEASE BE A DREAM! PLEASE BE A DREAM! IF THIS CAN JUST BE A DREAM, I PROMISE TO DO MY BEST! IF I WAKE UP TO FIND MYSELF RESTING MY HEAD ON NEZUKO-CHAN'S LAP, THEN I PROMISE TO GIVE IT ALL I HAVE! I'LL EVEN PLOW FIELDS! I'LL BE GLAD TO PLOW A WHOLE ACRE, NO, EVEN TWO ACRES! SO, PLEASE! LET ME WAKE UP FROM THIS NIGHTMAAAAAAAAAARE!!!"

"ZENITSU, WOULD YOU PLEASE JUST SHUT UP FOR ONCE!?" Water's stoic expression was replaced with the type look of having to rival Inosuke's. "THAT THING BACK THERE WILL NOT CATCH UP TO US EVEN IF WE'RE THAT FA—"

His words were momentarily halted when he and Zenitsu witnessed a house floating—no—tangled in webs as it looks like it was floating above air. Humans were tangled up, hanged up and wrapped up in the spider threads. If one looks closely, the humans were half mutilated and half mutated into spiders with poisonous features on their body parts. Some were alive and some are dead.

'Holy— what the hell is that?' Water sweats immensely at the sight and more questions piled in his head. 'Are those humans? And are those spider-like limbs? Is that house floating? No... it's the threads that's making it hold together in the air.'

Both of them covered their noses from the putrid stench lingering in the area.

'Ugh! Gross! The smell around here is so nasty! Thank goodness Tanjiro isn't here to smell this scent! Knowing his keen sense of smell, he would be killed by it!'

The house rattled, making them tensed up their bodies and Zenitsu yelping in surprise. Soon after the rattling ceased, a spider demon emerged by descending using his spider thread. The appearance is that of a giant spider, more recognizable to the eye. The most noticeable feature was the head of the spider; it's human-like.

"A demon!" Water unsheathed his sword then glared intensely at him. "A large one to sum it up."

Zenitsu and Chuntaro/Ukogi paralyzed in fear after seeing the demon in his descent from the house. The intimidating aura he exudes made Zenitsu terrified.

"You know what! I refuse to speak with anyone like you!" Zenitsu exclaimed towards the demon.

"Come on Zenitsu! Don't wuss out on this and try to—"

Zenitsu doesn't had the courage to face the demon yet as he sprinted away to safety.

"Zenitsu!" Water cried out for him. "Damn it!" He clicked his tongue and faced the demon.

"It's no use running away. You're already losing." The demon stated.

"What are you muttering about? I don't wanna hear it, so stop talking to me! I don't like guys like you, all right?" Zenitsu shouted again then stopped to glare at the demon.

"Shut it, demon! You'll pay for torturing these innocent people!" Water made no haste to jump towards the demon with a full intention of severing his head off. The attempt was futile as soon as he gotten closer to the demon, the latter spewed a blob of venom towards Water.

'Crap! I'll be poisoned if that hits me! I need to use a Breathing Technique to vaporize it somehow!'

Water gathered air into his lungs then launched his attack towards the venom.

"Water Breathing, Third Form, Flowing Dance!" Water maneuvered around the venom, creating movements of waves to form along within his exact moves then made sure to slice up the venom into splattering pieces. However, in the midst of slicing, once he got near to the demon, he didn't slice the head but only slashed the four spider appendages, making him near missed his prioritized target.

"I missed!" Water landed smoothly on the ground. He stanced at the demon behind him.

"You bastard! I'll kill you after I'm done with the other brat!" The demon spat at Water with another venom, to which it was easily dodged.

"Hey brat, you already know how dire your situation is, don't you?" The demon referred it to Zenitsu.

"What are you talking about?!"

"Take a look at your hands."

"Huh?! My hands?!"

The demon only laughed at his tediousness and obliviousness.

"What's wrong with my hands--"

As soon as he gets a good look at his hand, it was beginning to swell up with poison and a noticeable lump formed from where the spider bit him.

"W-What's this...?" Zenitsu asked, tone filled with dread.

Water made his way over to Zenitsu and paled at the sight of his hand. The poison had already seeped in and taking effect.

"Poison..." Water muttered. "It's because you got bitten by the spider from earlier."

"Hehehe! That poison will turn you into a spider, too." The demon cackled. "In another 30 minutes, you'll be my slave, crawling all over the ground!"

"You shut up!" Water screamed at the demon to shut its mouth.

Zenitsu froze. He is poisoned. The last thing he needed was to get poisoned in this here forest whilst looking for their friends. The thought of him dying doesn't excite him. No. Not one bit. He is about to die from the poison.

"Look at this, it's a clock." He presented a small stopwatch with numbers labeled in kanji.

"Do you understand? By the time this long hand goes around once, you'll have become a member of the spider clan! When the needle arrives here, you'll start to feel tingling and pain in your limbs. When it's here, you'll also feel dizzy and nauseous! Here, you'll experience intense pain, your body will start to shrink, and you'll black out! And by the time you wake up..."

"Dammit! Shut up!" Water had enough of his nonsense and activated another technique.

"Water Breathing, Fourth Form, Striking Tide!" He decided a more direct approach to end this demon's life.

"Haven't you learn your lesson, boy?" The demon spewed another blob of venom, this time two of them. Water had slashed them and it dissolved from the water particles he created.

"Oh crap!" Some leftover venomous poison went into his haori on the bottom part. The venom evaporated that said part like acid.

'I have to be careful around him if I wanna avoid any of the venom that will spray on me! But... Zenitsu!' He hadn't forgotten about Zenitsu's predicament. He went over to his side while checking on his poisoned hand.

"Don't listen to him, Zenitsu. He's just trying to scare you. Don't believe anything he says. I'm here for you." Water calmly said, thinking it was best to reassure Zenitsu as much as he can to prevent him having a panic attack. Knowing Zenitsu enough, this kind of thing would make him pass out with much horror happening to his entire body.

Little did Water know, making him pass out will make things differently.

"Look at me, Zenitsu."

The mentioned boy shakily looks at Water. His ocean blue eyes staring back at his orange, vibrating orbs.

"You'll be alright. You still have enough time. Remember, you have to control your fear. That's the one thing that immobilized you for doing anything. If you learn how to control it, you can do anything. You can do this, Zenitsu!"

The pep talk seems to have snapped him back to reality. To his realization, Zenitsu relied on him too much to save him from time to time, even going as far as to give advices for the blonde. He didn't deserve him. He's too forgiving for someone as cowardly as him.

Not Tanjiro.

Not BoBoiBoy.

Not even Inosuke, if he even cared for the boy at all.

"BoBoiBoy... I..."

"Water." He corrected.

"Water... I... I don't think I can."

Water slapped him across the face, earning him a surprised look. Zenitsu held his bruised cheek from the slap Water gave him.

"STOP DOUBTING YOURSELF AND BE A MAN, ZENITSU! IF YOU CAN'T STAND UP FOR YOURSELF, YOU'LL KEEP REPEATING THE SAME MISTAKES OVER AND OVER AGAIN! GET AHOLD OF YOURSELF! MOPING AROUND AND COWERING IN FEAR WON'T GET YOU ANYWHERE!"

Zenitsu widened his eyes towards the water elemental. He had never seen him this mad before. The only time he had ever seem him angry was when the earth version of BoBoiBoy had pummeled Inosuke. However, this is different. Water's mad at Zenitsu's lack of courage to stand up for himself.

"Zenitsu, don't get me wrong on this. I wanted for you to be a competent person. I want you to fight alongside me. Not like this. I don't want to fight with someone that can't prove themselves. I don't want to fight with someone without backbone. You get me?"

He gripped on his blade, that was there on his hand the entire time. His knuckles turned white from the sheer grip.

"If you are a Demon Slayer, then fight with the demon in front of you! No backing out! No running away!"

Water lashed out to any creeping spiders that are crawling towards them. He gave one cold glare towards the demon. At the last second, Water's eyes had flashed a bright blue than what his natural eyes looked like.

Zenitsu stood there, frozen in his spot and reflected what the water elemental had spoken to him. The words, they were too similar. His mind reeled back to the memory of when he was being trained by his master, a former Thunder Hashira, the one who he calls family, Jigoro Kuwajima.

No need to put into words. A montage of him training with his former master replayed in his mind. It showed him how many hours, days, months of him being put under hellish training with his master watching him from the sides. The master berated Zenitsu for numerous times of being incompetent in himself and being unable to overcome any obstacle placed in front of him. One scene showed him up in the tree, hugging for dear life with his master trying to persuade him to come down from there.

It didn't work as lightning struck him, making his jet black hair turn naturally yellow with orange strands on the ends of his hair and fell down with smoke coming out of his body.

'How tragic is my life anyway? I got struck by lightning. My hair color changed. I was thankful just to be alive, but... I... I hate myself more than anyone else.'

Water is seen repelling the spiders from getting close to Zenitsu as he stood there, tears falling down his eyes as he watched him do his best to get the spiders away at the same time battling against the spider demon.

'I always think I have to get my act together, but I end up cowering, running away, sniveling. I want to change. I want to be a competent person. But even still, I...'

"Now would be a good time to help me, Zenitsu!" Water fought on with courage. The spiders continued their little activity on mindlessly chasing Water everywhere while he avoids every venomous spits the spider demon spat at him.

"I... I..." Zenitsu's face shadowed. His head hung low then shouted, snot and tears falling trickled down his face. "I'm doing everything I can, all right?! So, why do I have to end up going bald and turning into a monster?! It can't be true, right?! It so can't be true!"

Not only is Zenitsu shamefully keeps on attacking himself, it only fueled Water's desire to just beat the hell out of him. Not just because he's a spineless coward, but just to knock some sense into him. They're dealing a crisis and Zenitsu isn't moving not one bit.

'At this rate, the demon will be on us soon if we can't think of a way to get in close without getting the venom on us! What should I do now...?'

His thoughts were interrupted by the spiders' threads tangling his body, rendering him unable to move any longer.

"Crap! I got distracted!"

He dropped the sword he was holding when he was hoisted upwards and was met by the spider demon's face staring deeply into his blue eyes. Water retaliated by a cold glare, not even fazed by the demon's intimidation.

"Oh? You really are not a spineless wimp unlike that brat over there." The demon remarked. "I wonder how long your bones are going to last once they've been crushed into dust."

With that said, the demon had intensified the spider threads' strength and tightness to give Water the squeeze he had never felt before. The sensation felt is like that of a person getting crushed in a hyper hug with an iron wrap. Only this time, using this as torture to Water.

He tried to resist the painful method and struggled his way to release himself. Only to find blood spurting out of his uniform and painting the threads in its red colour. Water screamed in pure anguish, suffering to the hands of the demon.

Without his sword, he's nothing.

"Zenitsu!" Water literally cried out towards the blonde with tears in his eyes. "I need you! Help me! Please!"

Zenitsu shivered. His friend, his friend that had treated him genuinely and with kindness, is about to be killed.

He can't stand idle!

He needs to rescue him!

Zenitsu clicked his sword's hilt.

He sprang up.

To the spider threads.

He slashed them cleanly.

He freed Water.

"Water! Are you all right!?" Zenitsu had him in his arms. Water didn't respond and can't move his head to face him. His blue eyes found their way to his blonde ones.

"Ze... nit... su..." Water weakly muttered. Blood still spilling from the thread's indescribable sharpness piercing his flesh.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry I couldn't help you!" Zenitsu stuttered in some of the lines.

Water winced in pain, but that doesn't mean he won't go down without a fight. With his wounds hurting him, he find it a little difficult to stand back up on two feet. The pain from being almost strangled didn't help at all as he stagger each time he took a step forward.

"You're hurt, BoBoiBoy! You need to stop and think about yourself first!"

Water chuckled at his statement.

"Hehe... Look who's talking now, huh? I'm suppose to tell you about that. Now it's the other way around." Water held his arm while still gripping onto his sword.

"Can you still move?" Zenitsu asked worriedly, seeing his bloodied figure.

"Yeah. I'm still fit as a fiddle." Water flexed on some of the parts of his body that were unhurt and still functioning.

"Hehehehehe!" On the other hand, the spider demon merely laughed at their display with mockery on his face.

"It would only be a matter of time when the poison kicks in or when the brat bleeds to death! Either way, I'm thoroughly going to enjoy watching you two succumb to your own demise!"

Water grits his teeth harder to the point some teeth will crack from the rough gritting.

"Listen, BoBoiBoy, I'm sorry." Zenitsu eyed Water. "I know I've been telling myself I needed to change myself for the better. When I feel discouraged about my actions, you were there to reinvigorate me with such words nobody would tell it to me. I keep telling myself that there will be someone out there, someone in this cruel world, who would put their whole faith in me as I kept trying and trying. But now, now I'm sure of it."

"Zenitsu..." Water spoke softly.

"It's all thanks to you and Tanjiro that I'm beginning to feel like this. The feel of having friends, the feeling of having someone I can rely on. It's just something I really wanted in my whole life. I am really grateful that I met you guys!" Zenitsu, for once in his whole life, smiled genuinely towards the water elemental.

Water grinned ear to ear. It seemed like to change Zenitsu's attitude might be a stepping stone for him to give him the edge he needed to be able to stand on his own now. Now this time, Zenitsu stood beside the injured water elemental, swords gripped confidently on their respective owners, and faced off their demon.

"I hate to break it to you two but your time is already running out." The demon taunted. "You don't have the strength to keep on fighting me and the other one will soon join my spider brethren. There is absolutely no way you two will be able to stop me! Hehehehehe!"

Water scoffed. "You, killing us? Sorry but we'll be doing the killing around here."

Zenitsu joined. "Let's show him, BoBoiBoy!"

"Water." He corrected once more.

"Let's show him, Water!" He announced, face now filled with confidence and bravery, replacing his earlier fearful and dreadful look

The demon frowned then commanded his spiders to outnumber and overwhelm them with more poison. Water is in charge on taking care of the spiders beneath them while Zenitsu supported him while at the same time charging towards the demon with the sole intention of severing the demon's neck.

"Thunder Breathing, First Form..."

The demon saw this one coming then spewed a wide venomous spit at Zenitsu.

"Poison Sputum!"

Zenitsu anticipated this might happen and it did. He twisted his own body midair to dodge the hurling poison until it hit the tree's bark, slowly evaporating the spot where it hit.

"That was close!" Zenitsu exclaimed.

"Are you alright!?" Water worriedly cried out for his friend.

"I'm fine!" Zenitsu yelled. "I'll be okay. I just need to be more careful next time!"

He then flexed his body downwards, giving the same stance he did back at the tsuzumi mansion.

"Thunder Breathing, First Form..."

"Hey, you guys! Pounce on the one in yellow!" The spider demon ordered the rest of the spiders. They heard and shifted their attention on Water to Zenitsu next.

"Dammit! They're now targeting him! Not happening when I'm still around!" Despite severely injured, Water still had enough strength to push himself to be right near Zenitsu, combining with sheer willpower and determination to bring down the demon.

They managed to swept the spiders away from them using their swords. They flew in multiple directions. Zenitsu assumed his stance again.

"Thunder Breathing, First Form..."

Water noticed the repetitive chants Zenitsu made attempting to create his Breathing Technique

"What's going on? Why are you continuing to do the same thing again?" Water asked. "Don't you have any Breathing Forms?"

Zenitsu didn't have time to answer his question when another venomous spit hurled at his spot. Zenitsu managed to get away in time before getting melted by the acidic spit. Once he got out of harm's way, his eyes met Water's wavering blue eyes then thought in his mind what his former master had told him before all this.

"That's all right, Zenitsu. That's good enough for you.If you can master one, that's cause for a celebration! If you can only do one thing, hone it to perfection. Hone it to the utmost limit!" Gramps entrusted Zenitsu to give it his all to perfecting what he trained him.

'Hey, but Gramps... Just a little while ago, you were hopping mad. Because Thunder Breathing has three forms, and all I can manage to do is one.' Zenitsu contemplated in his mind as more images of him and Jigoro pounding his fist onto Zenitsu's head.

"Do you know how to forge a sword?"

'I have no idea. Will you keep hitting me? I think I'll cry.' Zenitsu thought as he let himself get bashed by his master.

"The thing about swords... You strike and strike and strike to get rid of impurities and anything you don't need and to increase the purity of the blade so a durable sword can be forged."

'So that's why you keep clobbering me day in, day out? But I'm not made of steel, am I? I'm living flesh, you know.'

The demon spectated the two of them not moving after a while. He glanced a look towards Zenitsu, then casted another dark look towards the water elemental.

"Zenitsu, perfect it! It's all right to cry. It's all right to run away! Just don't ever give up! Just believe. You endured all that hellish training! You'll be rewarded for that without fail! Hone it to the utmost limit! Become the most durable blade of all!"

Lightning sparks around his hands and emitting a vibrating light around the palms of his hand holding the sword. Water felt the tension Zenitsu is making. He looked to see Zenitsu's eyes all white, no pupils presented, as if he had the look of a madman.

"Z-Zenitsu...?" He had never seen this version of Zenitsu before besides the real him back at the tsuzumi mansion. This Zenitsu is raising red flags. He feels like if he gets closer to him, Water will be electrocuted just by approaching him.

"Hone that one thing to perfection!" Gramps's words echoed in Zenitsu's head.

It opted him to dodge the incoming poison spit and was soon about to be overwhelmed with spiders. Fortunately, Water blocked them off using his Water Breathing Technique to sway them off, giving them breathing space.

"Thanks!" Zenitsu said.

"I don't think I would've, Zenitsu. I mean look at you now." Water gave him a grin, which Zenitsu noticed that caused him to grow wide eyed.

"The wimpy, cowardly version of you is gone now. You are now fighting with me this time! And I got you to thank for it! That there's somebody I can place my hopes in! And I knew it would be you that I can trust! I feel real confident that we can do this, Zenitsu! Just don't ever give up!"

This made Zenitsu momentarily speechless. Mindless thoughts ran through his head, completely ignoring what's happening around him and focused only on himself.

'I have no parents, so no one has any hopes for me. There's no one who dreams that I'll grasp or accomplish something one day. That I'll prove myself useful to somebody. That I'll manage to protect somebody and make that person happy just once in my life. Not even a simple future like that. There's no one who hopes that I'll have one. If you fail, cry and run away even once, they say, "Oh, this guy's no good." and they walk away.'

His mind raced through the thoughts of his master who he called to be Gramps, the only person that cares for him. The time he spent with the master, the training he has to put up just to make him proud, they weren't for nothing. They were his resolve for his mistakes. Gramps had made Zenitsu the person of who he wants to be today.

Zenitsu gazed at Water, who looks concerned towards him as he's been like staring at him for the whole time now.

'Water—no... BoBoiBoy... with him around, I feel like I can do anything. All this time, he never made fun of me. Time and time again, he was there when I was in a pickle. We shared many good past times we had and it was really thoughtful to speak about it despite being a few days ago. Clearly, he had given me a stern lecture about being brave when it comes to battling demons. I still have a long way to go before I can prove myself to him that I'm no longer afraid of demons.'

'Although, I think I don't need to. As of now, I'm going to set my path straight. I don't need anyone's hand to hold anymore. I'll grow stronger with BoBoiBoy!'

"Is everything okay, Zenitsu?" Water's worrying tone reached Zenitsu.

He shook his head. "It's nothing. I'm fine."

Water didn't buy it but chose to brush it off for later. The spiders tried to pounce on them which resulted them bouncing away to another spot. Zenitsu spurted out blood as the poison begins to take effect.

Water rushed towards Zenitsu with a nervous face. He didn't care if his injuries are hindering him in many ways. He just wants to make sure Zenitsu is okay.

The spiders all swarmed them, enveloping them both from top to bottom, left to right, all covered up in unfathomable numbers.

Water's injuries are taking a turn for the worse. His adrenaline temporarily boosted with determination but he's beginning to think that he won't make it due to the circumstances given to them.

It is starting to enrage him.

Unknown to him, his power watch, the seemingly unresponsive watch that is resting on Water's wrist, had come to life when it senses its owner is in danger. Ochobot had once stated, that when the watch detects danger that is oddly impossible for the owner to get out of, it activates a failsafe to ensure the wielder to give the power needed and a quick recovery to the wielder's wounds.

The power watch's screen glowed with labels: Infusion complete. Secondary tier and third tier transferred to host. Activating desired element:

Ice.

"Hehehehe! That should do it for them!" The spider demon smirked seeing the spiders clobbering both of them. He thought he had won this battle. But it was exact opposite of what he thought. The spiders were blasted away from the forces given off by Zenitsu and—

'What's this? The air is vibrating!'

The spider demon felt chills resonating in the atmosphere. It was odd for cold air to waft around the area when there were no wind to be picked off as they are in a dense part of the forest. The source came from the previous elementalist, who had undergone another change.

'Since when was the air beginning to feel cold all of a sudden? Was it coming from that blue bastard?' The spider demon descended from his thread and looked at them with his spider eyes.

Zenitsu was covered in electricity with vibrations accompanied. Smoke is seen escaping from his mouth.

The other one had his eyes closed. Sword in hand, that changed from ocean blue to a cyan blue with icicles sticking out from the blade. The sword's hilt was encased with ice and the holder's hand was also encased or made in ice. His haori was the same color except ice patterns were presented. His Demon Slayer uniform also had icicle patterns imbued and an additional hood is attached on the back.

"I am... BoBoiBoy Ice." He delivered the coldest glare he can muster to the demon, to which the latter shivered in fear from the intimidating blue aura.

"Thunder Breathing, First Form... Thunderclap and Flash!" Zenitsu chanted and massive loads of electricity shot out from the ground, making rocks levitated from the vibrations creating.

"Ice Breathing, Second Form... Winter Hollow." Ice clicks his sword, thrusted the ground, and out from where the blade is thrusted, ice begins to take form of the ground at a rapid pace, enveloping the ground and freezing the arachnids that were coming for them. They were all trapped inside the ice, not even their tail stingers are able to free themselves from it.

"Sixfold!" Zenitsu had augmented his First Form, maximizing its potential to its fullest state.

The spider demon is unable to resist the sudden drop of temperature and the vibrations from the lightning and jumped away to safety while spitting out two more venoms at them.

Ice easily freezes the spit and moved out of the way to let the frozen spit hit the ground with a thud. Zenitsu, on the other hand, sped away from getting hit in a flash.

"He vanished?!" The demon exclaimed when he sees multiple yellow blurs zooming past his vision and all over the forest. He decided to hastily retreat back at the hanging house, hoping none of them will reach him.

"Ice Breathing, Fourth Form..." Ice sheathed his sword and then raised his arm to look he's pointing towards the house. From his hands, an arctic bow was summoned in his bidding and three freezing arrows appeared in each of his other hand.

"Frostbite Death Arrows." He aimed the arrows to the house. When the arrows made in contact to the wooden structures, it freezes and later disintegrates them in a second. One arrow found its way to the target and struck one of the demon's appendages, causing it to become ice and shattered on impact.

'Impossible! How can this be?' The demon thought with massive worry.

"Get him, Zenitsu." Ice said in a monotone voice, with a hint of coldness.

And now, it's Zenitsu's turn to deliver the finishing blow. After speeding around the forest five times in a row, he stopped at a thread and used it to spring himself upwards to the house's interior, where the demon is hiding. The sound of thunder being struck can be heard as Zenitsu finally slashed the demon's head off. They flew in the air, Zenitsu and the demon's head. The silhouette of him from the moon's lighting showed.

'Awesome...' Ice thought, all awestruck. He witnessed another incredible move made by Zenitsu himself.

Little shards of ice were seen sprinkling down on the ground. Ice smirked at Zenitsu. Then he noticed something wrong. He's falling down with no gestures of him landing. Quickly, he jumped high enough to catch Zenitsu and laid him down gently on the roof of the house.

He glanced a look at the demon and his body. He could care less about the demon anymore. Right now, his priority is on Zenitsu. He looked worse for wear. The poison's purple effects were seen on Zenitsu's face. His limbs had shrunken by an inch. Ice grew severely nervous.

'I wish I have an antidote with me or something! Dammit! Why am I feeling so useless now?!' Ice mentally yelled. His cool composure slowly breaking down with Zenitsu almost dying from the poison.

"Dream..." Zenitsu uttered weakly. Ice inched closer to him. "I had a happy dream once... I'm powerful... More powerful than anyone... I can help the weak and anyone in trouble... Anytime... Everything that Gramps taught me, all the time he spent on me... It wasn't for nothing...!"

'Gramps? A dream?' Ice pondered.

"A dream that, thanks to Gramps, I became powerful and helped out a lot of people... And it's all thanks to you, too... You've helped me... become what I wanted to become..." Zenitsu started to cry. Tears are coming out of his eyes. Ice also felt liquid escaping his own eyes. He realized he's even crying too. The tears dropped on top of Zenitsu's face.

"Chu!" Both Suzume and Chuntaro/Ukogi arrived to them with tears also coming from their eyes.

"Chuntaro... I'm so sorry." Chuntaro sneezed and whipped his wings and flew off to get help. Suzume followed after him.

"So... cold..." Zenitsu muttered. His body visibly shaking from Ice's cold contact.

"I'm sorry!" Ice backed away then removed his haori and blanketed Zenitsu with it. He didn't care about himself or how he got his Ice element so suddenly. He'll think about that later.

Zenitsu lightly closed his eyes.

"Zenitsu... Please... Don't ever give up!" Ice said above a whisper.

'Don't ever give up!' Gramps exclaimed in Zenitsu's mind. He then proceeds to circulate by breathing in and out slowly.

Ice picked up on it and knew that Zenitsu is using the Breathing Technique to slow down the poison circulating in his system. It's a clever method but it can only prolong the inevitable. All he can do is look for a way to get help.

Or maybe he needs to hold out more and wait for someone to come help them.

'Even if it's painful, even if it's agonizing, don't try to take the easy way out... or Gramps is gonna let you have it...! Right. And Tanjiro and BoBoiBoy's gonna yell at you, too...'

Ice finally sees Zenitsu closing his eyes while doing the Breathing Technique. Meanwhile, for himself, he can figure out how he managed to change into his secondary tier form without any consent. It was clearly unexpected but he knew it had to be something that made him transform.

Then, it clicked in him. He had forgotten about his power watch. Eager as he is, he placed his wrist near his face and was baffled to see that the watch is up and running again. With the same labels still there, he read them and was astonished for a second.

'Infusion? Secondary tier and Third tier? What in the world does this mean?' Ice is completely confused. There are things the watch can do, but nothing could be more surprising such as this coming in Ice's way.

'Whatever it means, let's hope it doesn't lead me down to the wrong way. It's already a hectic night as it is already.'

There's not much he can do besides sit there, waiting for help. He can try to venture out into the woods to look for his other selves with Tanjiro and Inosuke. Yet, he can't just abandon Zenitsu here all by himself with poison streaming in his body. With a heavy sigh, Ice sat, dangling his legs on the edge of the roof, and waited for help to arrive.


The four were walking near the riverside when they heard thunder struck from somewhere. Tanjiro was the first to hear it followed by Earth and Fire.

"What was that sound? Did lightning just strike?" Tanjiro asked as he looked to the direction of the sound.

"How should I know?" Inosuke didn't bother to know.

"But I'm not smelling any thunderclouds. The acrid odor in the air is stronger now, so I can't tell." Tanjiro stated.

Earth and Fire were glancing at each other. Their thoughts were in sync. They thought it had to be Zenitsu unleashing his Breathing Technique or Water changing another element, which is Lightning.

"What do you think?" Fire asked to Earth.

"Zenitsu? There's no doubt about it. Yet again, it couldn't be with Water there. I don't know."

"Don't you feel something else, Earth?"

"What is it?"

Fire made a hand gesture telling him to stop and feel for a minute. Earth did as he did and focused what Fire felt. It wasn't much but they can feel the freezing feeling brushing past their skins.

"That. Do you think what I think it means?" Fire said hoping Earth would get the clue.

Earth was silent for a moment. There hadn't been any climate changes around here. That would be unusual and strange for them to deduct about it. To conclude, Earth answered.

"It has to be involved with Water, would it?"

Fire shrugged his shoulders but agreed with his hunch.

"Hey guys!" Tanjiro called for their attention. "I think I'll go that way."

"Go ahead and do whatever you want!" Inosuke brashly replied.

"Inosuke, you're descending down the mountain?" Earth asked towards the boar.

"Huh?!"

"He just said if you're gonna go down the mountain. Well, are you?" Fire interjected.

"Why would I? Just beat it!" Inosuke said angrily.

"Are you sure? Your wounds aren't looking too good!" Earth's 'mother' instinct kicked in. "What if something bad happens to you? What if there's still more demons around? What if you get lost and we'll never ever find you again?! What if... What if..."

He's panicking. It's what happens when Earth takes responsibility into anything minor. The others can't help themselves but be amused by Earth's constant care to the people closest to him.

"I'm not wounded at all!"

It was a surprising moment for them as they widely opened their mouths and eyes from hearing him.

"N-N-No, Inosuke! Your injuries... Anyone can see that..." Tanjiro

Fire watched them go at it again with their antics. For some reason, he couldn't shake this feeling of being watched by someone. And when he did, he turned his head to the right to find a girl with pale skin, a white kimono and with spider features on her face. She was looking at them, or perhaps specifically, towards Fire.

'Why is she looking at me like that?' Fire raised an eyebrow. 'Wait, why am I thinking about it? She's a demon! She had to be different than Eiko. Right?'

"RAAAAAAHHHHH!! I'm gonna tear you to shreds, you damn demon!" Inosuke yelled. She frowned at the one who yelled at her then turned around to run away.

"Come back here, dammit!" Inosuke yelled after her then begins his pursuit.

"Inosuke!" The trio shouted.

The demon turned around her head. "Father!"

"Who are you calling father?!" Inosuke stopped when he notices a huge demon from above about to smash him. He jumped away just in time and the huge demon delivered his fists down, destroying the rock Inosuke was standing on and made water splash everywhere.

When he revealed his face to the boys, that's when they begin to freak out because there was no face to begin with. The Father Spider Demon's face was the arachnid version of the original. The sight of it sent goosebumps to them.

"So that's the Father Spider Demon Eiko had told me..." Fire swallowed a heavy lump forming in his throat.

"Don't come near my family!" The demon demanded as he reared his huge fist and punched the rock Inosuke is at. "STAY AWAY!"

Earth and Fire gritted their teeth. Fire saw the same demon girl again and she's giving him another look.

"I'm leaving the rest to you, Father." The demon said as she left without sparing a glance to neither of the boys, except Fire.

'I want to go after her! But even so, I can't leave them hanging with this big brute by themselves! I promised Eiko I'll free her from her torment!' Fire made a tough decision but it's really reasonable. He needn't to go on a wild goose chase for now.

The Father Spider Demon was about to go for another hard punch to Inosuke after he dodged the previous attack. The three boys wouldn't let that happen when they unleashed their Breathing Techniques towards the demon.

"Water Breathing, Second Form!"

"Fire Breathing, Third Form!"

"Earth Breathing, Fourth Form!"

"Water Wheel!/Lacerating Flame!/Hammer Earth Slash!" Tanjiro used his signature technique against the demon on the arm. Fire extended his flames designed to deeply cut the victim's body. Earth enhanced his sword's effectiveness and sharpness to bring down his strongest slash he can. Their attacks formed a chain reaction in which Tanjiro was the first, Fire the second, and Earth as the last.

No matter how much power they brought out to sever this one arm, they didn't give up then and there. They let out their battle cries.

The battle with the big demon had commenced.


Hi! I'm still not dead! After a few weeks of taking constant breaks, I'm finally returning to write another chapter for this book!

Also, I'd like to apologize for the long wait. I wasn't at my 100% when I wrote this and I felt it was too bland and too long. But I tried. I tried to make it as exciting as possible and hopefully I executed it well.

Some of you may notice I skipped the part of the Zenitsu and Kaigaku interaction in Zenitsu's memories. To me, it held no relevance and felt unnecessary to put it here so I just changed it for my liking.

That's all. Thanks for reading this chapter and I'll see y'all in the next one.

s a y o n a r a ~


Bonus Scene

Combined Junior and Senior High School!

~Tales of a Demon Slayer Academy~

[Mmh! Mmh!]

/Giyu: The new semester's begun. *smacks chalkboard* Announce your names.

/Tanjiro: Yes, sir! I'm Tanjiro Kamado! My family runs a bakery, and I'm the eldest of six children!

/Giyu: *smacks chalkboard with labels NO PIERCINGS* Take off those pierced earrings.

/Inosuke: I'm Inosuke Hashibira!

/Giyu: *smacks chalkboard with labels NO DRESSING DOWN* Button your shirt.

/Zenitsu: Um, I'm Zenitsu

/Giyu: *smacks chalkboard with labels NO HAIR COLORING* Dye your hair black.

/Zenitsu: But this is my natural hair color.

/Giyu: *smacks Zenitsu* DON'T TALK BACK!

/Zenitsu: SO UNFAIR!

/Nezuko: Mmh! Mmh! Mmh! Mmh! Mmh! Mmh!

/Giyu: It's also forbidden to hold bread in your mouth!

/Giyu: Who's up next for an introduction? If there's none, we'll begin our lesson.

/???: Sir! *raises hand*

/Giyu: If you may.

/BBB: My name's BoBoiBoy! I'm a new transfer student from Pulau Rintis High School, Malaysia! I've recently moved here with my granddad and my other siblings, who are septuplets. In total, we are octuplets.

/Giyu: Interesting. *looks around the classroom* raise your hands for those octuplets BoBoiBoy mentioned. And also, *smacks chalkboard with labels NO HATS ALLOWED* take off your hats while in class!

/???: Sensei!

/Giyu: Stand up.

/Tanah: I am Tanah! My hobbies are doing the Cat's Cradle and cooking! I do the chores all around the house, making me the most responsible out of all of us siblings. My achievement is that I won The Galactic Cat's Cradle String Championship last year.

/Giyu: Good introduction. Next!

/Angin: Hi! I'm Angin! I am most cheerful one in the whole family! My hobbies are baking cookies and riding on my blue skateboard!

/Giyu: Great. Next!

/Petir: The name's Petir. That is all. *puts on headphones*

/Giyu: Take off your headphones while still in your first day!

/Api: Yo! I'm Api! It's nice to meet y'all here! Anyone here who plays soccer, I'm your guy!

/Giyu: Too noisy!

/Air: *yawn* I'm Air... I like browsing Instagram to look at food pics...

/Giyu: Irrelevant topic... And no sleeping in class.

/Daun: My name is Daun! Nice to meet everyone here! My hobby is gardening like watering my favorite sunflower. I have a really cute cat named Cattus. I have many plants around the house that I tended with love and care. I'm part of the Trio Troublemakers. I am—"

/Giyu: Okay. That's enough!

/Cahaya: My name is Cahaya. It's a pleasure to meet everyone here in this school. I spent most of my valued time reading books and looking myself in the mirror at how dastardly good-looking I am.

/Petir: *fake vomit noises*

/Cahaya: You want to run that by me again, edge lord?!

/Giyu: Be quiet! *smacks chalkboard, revealing To Be Continued*

/Zenitsu: No Spartan education!