As Zenitsu and Nezuko reached the top of the stairs, they found Sanemi battling back the water by himself as Vèro laid on the floor, still unable to fight due to her wounds. Ambrose shouted to Sanemi, "Even if I have to live through my water, I'll still have the pleasure of defeating you! Take that damn girl if you want! She doesn't matter to me anymore!"

"You piece of shit," Sanemi shouted back as he continued to fight back. "Why won't you just fucking die already?! I destroyed your body!"

"That won't be enough, young man!"

"Damn you!"

Zenitsu yelled out as he stopped on the top landing of the stairs, "What the Hell?! He's still alive?!"

A shocked Nezuko meanwhile immediately ran for Vèro out of horror at her condition, yelling, "Vèro-oneechan!"

She said to her as she took a deep breath, "Nezuko…"

"Vèro-oneechan, are you alright?!" Nezuko observed that her arm stumps had stopped bleeding, but that they were growing back at a slow pace. "How long will it take your arms to grow back?"

"I can't grow them back in time to fight the water," she explained. "We killed General Hill's body, but as long as the canteen that water is from is still intact, he's still alive."

Nezuko then turned to Zenitsu and told him, "Help Shinazugawa-san destroy the canteen! It's the only way to kill General Hill!"

"Got it," he replied as he raced forward to help Sanemi.

Ambrose shouted as he attacked Zenitsu with a stream of water, "Oh, so now there's two of you Ghoul hunters, huh?! The more the merrier!"

"Fuck," Zenitsu shouted as he deflected the water as quickly as he could. He was shocked to see Ambrose in such a state, and was fearful of what he could do now that he had taken over the water in the canteen due to his body being killed. He then asked Sanemi, "How the fuck did he manage to survive his body getting killed?!"

"It must be his Blood Demon Art," Sanemi yelled back. "We can only kill him if we get that canteen, but this son of a bitch is making it pretty fucking difficult to get to it!" He then readied his sword. "Agatsuma, go for him!"

Zenitsu replied with a hint of fear, "Wait, what about you?!"

"Just do it, damn it!"

Zenitsu took a deep breath and focused all of his energy on his sword. "Breath of Thunder, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash…" As Sanemi watched, Zenitsu dashed forward and declared, "Eightfold!" In the matter of a few seconds, Zenitsu landed right blows against Ambrose, battling back the water streams he used to try to stop him.

As Ambrose found himself battling Zenitsu, he yelled at him, "Curse you and your lightning-fast speed!"

Sanemi used this distraction to make a run for the canteen, but also made sure to use a breathing style just in case the water came to attack him. "Breath of Wind, Third Form: Clean Storm Wind Tree!" With this attack, he was able to deflect two water streams that tried to reach for him.

By the time Ambrose was able to finally force Zenitsu back and look over at Sanemi, he realized that he had wasted too much time fighting Zenitsu off. "Oh shit," he thought to himself. "I need to act fast before he gets the canteen! I spent too much time focusing on that kid attacking me before!"

As Zenitsu fell to the ground, he said to himself, "Agh, shit, this hurts…"

Nezuko ran for him, calling out, "Zenitsu-san!"

Ambrose yelled out, "I won't let you bastards win if it's the last thing I do! I may fall one day, but it won't be to the likes of your kind!"

Meanwhile, Sanemi was about to swing down on the canteen when he felt a stream of water wrap itself around his leg. He yelled as he swung his sword down to get it, "Fuck!" He was able to get the stream of water off of his leg, but now, he had to battle a second stream that had formed while he was distracted. "God damn it!"

As Nezuko reached Zenitsu, she asked him, "Zenitsu-san, are you okay?!"

"I'm fine," he assured him as he got up and brushed himself off "Shinazugawa-san needs help, though."

"I got an idea," Nezuko then said as she held the blade of her sword next to her arm and then sliced into it, intentionally giving herself a wound and bleeding out onto the ground. "Stand back." As Zenitsu did as told, she used her Blood Demon Art to first set her sword on fire with a snap of her fingers. As soon as she did, a stream of water began attacking her. She quickly counterattacked, slicing through the water stream and setting much of it ablaze with her sword since it was a Blood Demon Art like her own.

Zenitsu then said to himself as he realized what Nezuko was doing, "I get it now… She can set the water on fire since it's part of a demon!"

Nezuko's blood had fallen on much of the floor near Ambrose, and as he battled both her and Sanemi at the same time, he began to feel pain from the burning stream of water that was attacking Nezuko. "Agh, damn it! How in God's name can you set water on fire?!"

Nezuko then managed to get close to Ambrose, spilling her blood all over him and once again snapping her fingers to set it on fire. Ambrose screamed in pain as he tried to force her back with his water streams. She shouted to Sanemi, "Get the canteen! I can get Hill!"

Sanemi then forced back the last water stream fighting him and swung down on the canteen, yelling out as his sword sunk into it, "Die already!"

Meanwhile, Nezuko shouted as she swung her sword, "Dance of the Fire God, Waltz!" While Sanemi split the canteen in half, Nezuko beheaded Ambrose completely using her family's breathing style. Ambrose himself could not get a single word out before he was killed instantly by the two-pronged attack.

As Zenitsu and Vèro watched, the water around them fell to the floor, no longer controlled by Ambrose's Blood Demon Art. There was now no trace of him left anywhere in the mansion, and with his death, their mission was complete. Vèro smiled and said to Sanemi, "We did it! We killed him!"

Sanemi walked back and asked Vèro, "Hey, are you gonna be alright?"

"Yeah," she replied as Zenitsu helped her up, her arms almost back to full size by this point. "My arms should be done with healing soon."

"That's good to hear," Sanemi replied. "I imagine the others found the count's daughter, so we should be able to head out now."

Nezuko meanwhile ran up to Zenitsu and hugged him, the two of them celebrating the kill. Zenitsu said after he got surprised by the hug, "Woah, Nezuko-chan!"

"We did it, Zenitsu-san!"

"Yeah… We did…" The two then shared a brief kiss and smiled at each other. "Come on. Let's go see if they found the count's daughter."

As all four of them walked down the stairs to the first floor, Genya and Gyomei walked over. Genya saw them first and waved over, asking, "Brother, is Hill dead?"

"Yep," he replied with a thumbs-up. "We kicked his ass. It was a bit harder than we expected, but we got him."

Genya then saw Vèro's arms and ran up to her, deeply concerned about their physical state. "Vèro! What happened to your arms?!"

"I'm fine," she assured him. "They're almost done growing back. A. P. Hill ripped them off, but they should be fine in a few minutes."

"Oh, thank God. Please, be careful out there."

"I could say the same for you," Vèro pointed out. "We're both demon slayers, after all."

Genya sighed, "Fair enough."

Gyomei meanwhile said to Sanemi, "Kaigaku and his team found the count's daughter. She's safe and sound in the carriage house right now."

"Oh yeah," Nezuko then added. "Sorry I forgot to tell you, Shinazugawa-san."

"It's fine," he assured her. "We had bigger problems to deal with, Kamado. Let's focus on getting her to our safehouse and then reuniting her with the count."

…

Emi was shaken by the fighting, but unscathed as she was sat down in the corps safehouse and looked over by a Kakushi for any injuries. Nezuko and Vèro meanwhile asked her questions about what had transpired while she was in captivity. "So," Vèro asked her. "Let's get things started with an introduction. My name is Vèronique Renaud, and this is Nezu-" She then caught herself from accidentally getting the name order of Nezuko's name in Japanese wrong. "Kamado Nezuko. My apologies. Where I'm from, family names go last, and personal names go first. Anyway, we are both members of the Demon Slayer Corps, and we were sent here to rescue you. Now that we've done that, we need to ask you some questions about what transpired while Ambrose Powell Hill and his men had you in captivity. Do you have any questions of your own?"

"I mean," Emi replied, curiously looking over both of the slayers in the room with her. "I'm still… I'm still shocked about seeing women fighting like men do. It's… Well, it's not often I get to see soldiers. I've also never seen someone with your skin color… What was your name again? Your family name?" Emi blushed as she told Vèro, "I'm sorry for asking."

"My family name is Renaud," Vèro replied. "I understand your curiosity. I know you're not being hateful. It's not often that a Japanese person gets to see a foreigner in person, much less someone with a skin color such as mine. I have African ancestry, as my grandmother was a Negro. Believe it or not, I'm actually relatively light-skinned. Many Negroes who are only of that race have darker skin than me. Is this your first time seeing a Negro?"

"Yes," Emi confirmed with a nod. "I can count the number of times I've seen a foreigner in person on one hand, and all of them had much paler skin. I think I've seen these 'Negroes' as you call them in books, but never in person. Again, I'm sorry for focusing on that."

Vèro replied with a friendly smile, "I assure you. You're fine, Mochizuki-san. I'm happy to clear up any misconceptions you may have."

"As for seeing women fight," Nezuko then added. "The Demon Slayer Corps does not discriminate based on sex. We have many women among our ranks as both slayers and as Kakushi."

"Just look at me for example," then said the Kakushi in the room, taking off her headwear and mask to reveal her face and hair. "Girls have their place in the corps."

"Even two of our highest-ranking members are women," Vèro added. "Two of our Pillars, the Insect Pillar and the Love Pillar, are both women. The Pillars are the highest-ranked swordsmen, or in this case swordswomen, in the entire corps, and often lead slayers into larger battles such as the one that happened tonight. We also have some Koreans and Chinese from Japan's colonies in our ranks in addition to a few foreigners. If you can use a weapon of some kind and effectively kill a demon, you can fight with us. You don't even need a sword per se."

"Wow…" Emi was amazed by the description given of the corps. "The corps sounds really interesting."

"But enough about us," Nezuko then pointed out. "We came here for you. Before we do anything else, we have to ask you a very serious question." She then took a deep breath and asked Emi, "Did your captors attempt to molest you in any form, physical or sexual?"

Emi shook her head. "No. Never. They didn't touch me."

"The reason we ask that is for the medical records we will keep about you in the file for this mission," Nezuko explained. "We normally only ask female captives of demons, but if we have reason to suspect something odd, we will ask male captives as well. Do you understand why we ask this?"

"Yes."

"Moving on," Vèro then asked her. "While in captivity, did you see any other high-ranked demons visit the Hoshino Mansion?"

"None that I could recognize. I don't recall anyone visiting the mansion aside from this one man who was also a foreigner, but I couldn't tell if he was a demon or not."

"Did anyone mention a name?"

"I think… I heard Castro or something like that."

Nezuko wrote down the information Emi gave out, immediately suspecting that Filipino Progenitor Enrique de Castro had visited the mansion prior to the rescue mission. She then asked Emi, "Did you ever see any other captors, or were you the only one in the house?"

"I was the only one. They never took in anyone else."

"How often were you allowed to walk around the mansion?"

"Only once a day for about an hour. Almost all other times, I was chained up in the basement."

Then, Kaigaku walked into the room, telling the Kakushi, "Hey, uh, there's a message for you from headquarters. They want you to call the Ubuyashiki Estate by telephone."

"They do?" The Kakushi then put her headwear and mask back on before walking out. "I'll take care of it."

Kaigaku then looked at Emi and smiled, asking her, "Mochizuki-san, how are you doing?"

"I'm feeling better," she replied with a slight blush and a smile. "I'm just talking to Kamado-san and Renaud-san for a bit."

"Alright. I'm just making sure." Kaigaku then walked out of the room.

Emi then asked Nezuko and Vèro, "What was that boy's name? My apologies for forgetting again."

"It's fine," Nezuko assured her. "His name is Inadama Kaigaku."

…

Outside the safehouse, Kaigaku and Zenitsu were talking among themselves about the battle. "Those guys gave us a Hell of a fight," the former said to the latter. "But they still can't beat us."

"I got a bit worried for a second when Hill came out of the water," Zenitsu replied. "I gotta say, an American demon having a Blood Demon Art as powerful as that is rare."

"It was pretty damn weird if you ask me."

"I must ask, by the way," Zenitsu then said to him. "What's going on with Gramps? You've certainly run into him more often than me for the past year."

"He's doing fine," he assured him. "He just finished training a few new slayers in the Breath of Thunder, actually. I swear, he won't stop working until he drops dead."

"That's Gramps for you," Zenitsu chuckled. "Always a hard worker, even in old age and when missing a leg. How about Sotozaki-san?"

"Chiyo? I haven't really seen her in a few months. I know she's doing pretty well as a slayer, even with a missing eye."

"She always seemed pretty attached to you," Zenitsu noted. "Did you ever notice that?"

"I mean… I did, but… I guess I'm not really the type to go after girls. I've been too busy chasing my own dreams and desires to focus on that shit. Chiyo will always be a close sister-in-arms to me, though. That's for certain." Kaigaku then looked up at the moon, staring into the sky and wondering about what the future would hold for him.

Zenitsu thought to himself, "I've had the feeling that Sotozaki-san is in love with Kaigaku for a while. Maybe he knows that, too, but it's clear that he doesn't see her in that way. Perhaps he really is too focused on his job to be with a girl like me and Nezuko-chan."

Then, both of them noticed a well-dressed man walk up to them. "Excuse me," he said to both of them. "Is this the safehouse for the Demon Slayer Corps?"

Both of them instantly could tell based on the formal uniform and medals he bore that they were in fact talking to the count, Kyousuke Mochizuki. They both immediately went down on one knee to greet him, with Kaigaku replying to him, "Yes, Your Excellency."

"No need for the formalities," Kyousuke assured them. "Stand on your feet." As both of them rose, he told them, "Is my daughter inside?"

"Yes," Zenitsu nodded. "She is a bit shaken, but physically, she is unharmed."

"May I see her?"

"Of course," Kaigaku replied. "Come with us." The count then followed Zenitsu and Kaigaku into the safehouse after opening the front door for him. When they walked into the front room, Sanemi turned and saw them. Kaigaku told him, "Shinazugawa-sama, Count Mochizuki is here, and he wants to see his daughter."

"Got it," he replied before turning to the count and bowing. "Good evening, Your Excellency. My name is Shinazugawa Sanemi, the Wind Pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps."

"My name is Inadama Kaigaku," Kaigaku then said. "I am a Tsuchinoe in the Demon Slayer Corps."

"I am Agatsuma Zenitsu," Zenitsu also added. "I'm a Kanoe in the Demon Slayer Corps."

"It's an honor to meet all of you," Kyousuke replied gracefully. "Is it true that my daughter is there?"

"Indeed," Sanemi replied as he walked over to a door and opened it. He then said into the room, "Mochizuki-san, your father is here."

Emi immediately ran out of the room, desperate to see her father. She then wrapped her arms around him and began to cry, happy to see her father after having been in captivity. "Papa… Papa…"

"There, there, Emi," Kyousuke said to his daughter as he returned the hug. "You're safe now." It was clear to everyone around them that he was incredibly happy to see his daughter again after so long.

"I thought I'd never see you again, Papa…" She began to collect herself emotionally, holding in her cries now that she had managed to see and hug her father again. "I… I…"

"It's okay," he assured her. "Your mother is waiting for you back home, okay? She can't wait to see you, Emi."

"I bet she can't," she replied with a smile.

Kyousuke then told the demon slayers, "Thank you for returning my daughter in one piece. Even though we lost a lot of good family servants the day she was kidnapped, we can at least take solace knowing that she is alive and well. I owe you all so much for what you've done."

"It's our duty," Kaigaku assured him with a bow. "We live to protect the innocent from evil."

"I can see that." Kyousuke then thought to himself while rubbing his chin, wondering what he could do in regards to the demon slayers. He then proposed, "How about this? I can invite you all to my main family's estate in Tokyo."

Sanemi replied, "You can?"

Kaigaku added, "Wait, really?"

"Of course," he happily replied. "My wife and the rest of my family would love to meet all of you. Just give me a date when all of you are available and I can make it work."

Sanemi nodded and said, "Very well. I'll talk with the others and see what we can do. I must say, it's an honor to be invited to your home, Your Excellency."

"Indeed," Kaigaku agreed. "We will be sure to visit you soon when we figure out a date that works for all of us."

Nezuko then walked out, wondering what was going on. "Hey guys, what's going o-?" She then stopped when she saw the count and immediately bowed, embarrassed she had talked so casually in front of him. "My apologies, Your Excellency. I did not realize you were here."

"It's fine," he replied. "Who might you be?"

"I'm Kamado Nezuko," she replied. "I'm a Kanoto in the Demon Slayer Corps."

"You're a slayer, too?" Kyousuke curiously noted as he looked over her outfit from her skirt to her uniform shirt, "I must say, it's surprising to see a woman in a uniform reminiscent of that of the Imperial Army, not that I will judge you just for that, of course."

"Papa," Emi told her father. "She was incredible. I saw her fight while they rescued me. They say the corps allows girls to join as swordswomen."

"So they do… How interesting… Regardless, I am truly thankful to you for helping my daughter."

Nezuko again bowed, telling him, "Thank you, Your Excellency."