As the attack on the Infinity Train drew to a close, a new drama was unfolding fifteen miles to the south at a traditional Japanese post station along one of the old Edo-era highways. At a hatago, an inn catering to travelers, a group of ten foreign men carrying guns emerged from the back of a horse-drawn carriage. Among them was William Thomas "Bloody Bill" Anderson, the fifth Knight of the Moon, who led the group alongside William Quantrill, another former Confederate turned demon, both of whom rode separately on horseback. On the front of the hatago was the crest of the Demon Slayer Corps, indicating that its owners offered free rest and lodging to slayers. "So," Bloody Bill asked William. "This is it, huh?"
"Yeah," William replied as he loaded his rifle and then hid it behind him. "Let's make this quick."
An elderly man then walked out of the inn, wondering what the commotion outside was. He noticed that they were all foreigners and asked them in Japanese, "Who are you?"
William replied in fluent Japanese, "We're travelers, sir. Do you have any rooms available for us?"
"I have just enough for all of you, actually," the old man replied. "Where are you gentlemen from?"
William then snapped his fingers. "America!" On cue, he and the others raised their rifles and fired a single volley of shots, killing the old man instantly and sending bullets into the hatago itself. Once the shots ended, Bloody Bill picked up the old man's corpse and sunk his teeth into his neck for a quick snack. "You know," William said to him. "Y'all could wait until we're done here."
"Ah, who gives a fuck? They ain't got a chance anyway!" He then swallowed down a chunk of flesh and blood before wiping his mouth. "Okay, let's go in and pump these fuckers full of lead."
Then, a slayer ran out of the front door, attempting to attack. "Breath of Water, Fi-" She was immediately cut down by a hail of bullets, mortally wounded but not yet dead. "Agh, fuck!"
Bloody Bill walked up to her and bent down to get a look at her. He did not speak Japanese, unlike William, so he instead spoke English to her, not caring that she did not understand him.. "Hey there… For a chinaman, you sure are pretty… What's a little girl like you doin' in a field like this, huh?" The slayer then bit him in the nose. "Agh, fuckin' bitch!" Bloody Bill immediately stabbed her in the chest, killing her immediately. "That fuckin' cunt bit me in the fuckin' nose! Can y'all believe that shit, Billy?!"
"Ignore her," William replied. "Let's get a move on!" The ten of them then ran into the hatago, shooting and killing two other slayers who tried to confront them as they ran down the stairs with swords. "Go up to the second floor and set a fire up there! Me and Billy will set one down here!"
Meanwhile, Bloody Bill burst into a guest room where a civilian family of five was sleeping. The father tried pushing him, but Bloody Bill stabbed him with a bayonet on his rifle before he sunk his teeth into his arm and ripped it off. The mother screamed, "My husband, no!"
"Shut it, lady," Bloody Bill replied in English before shooting her. When her three children tried running out of the room, he stabbed one with his bayonet and shot the other two. Once he was done consuming the man's arm, he bit off a chunk of flesh from one of the young children before he tipped over a lit candle in the room and set it on fire intentionally. "This sure was a nice tasty snack. Now it's time to burn."
"Get out of here!"
Bloody Bill turned around and was nearly decapitated by a demon slayer who had been shot in the abdomen, but was still alive. He quickly dodged the attack and punched the slayer in the face before stabbing him with a knife he pulled. "Fuckin' asshole! Ya can't scare me like that!" He then ran out of the room as the others all evacuated from the now-burning hatago.
As they all ran outside, two police officers ran up to them with their guns drawn as one of them yelled, "Hey, put those guns down!"
"I can't understand a fuckin' word you're sayin'," Bloody Bill yelled back before both officers opened fire. In a short exchange of gunfire, both were killed, while the demons who were shot quickly healed. "Well, so much for any resistance! These guys are fuckin' morons if they think they can shoot us to stop us!"
"Torch the other buildings near the hotel," William then commanded his men as they all grabbed torches from the horse-drawn carriage they had come on and lit them. As they all began throwing them into buildings and attacking the residents who came out, he asked Bloody Bill, "How do ya think General Cleburne and those two Japanese moons he's workin' with are doin'?"
"I hope they're havin' as much fun as we are," Bloody Bill gleefully replied.
Then, a man ran out of his now-burning house with an axe at the two, yelling, "Why are you doing this to us?!"
William quickly shot him with his revolver, injuring but not killing him. As he walked up to the man, he stared into his fear-filled eyes and told him in Japanese, "Because it's about time us demons take this war to the public. Say hi to Buddha for me in Hell." He then shot him in the head at point-blank range. "That takes care of that."
Bloody Bill then asked William, "Think we're about done here?"
"Yeah," he replied before he blew a whistle that hung around his neck. "Alright, load back up! We're gettin' the fuck outta here!" As both of them hopped on their horses, the ten men they came with hopped back into the carriage, and they all sped off, leaving behind a burning village and 50 massacred civilians and slayers.
…
James, Tanjiro, and Susamaru all woke up in the real world just as the train derailed. As it flew off the tracks, all three held on for dear life, with James telling Tanjiro, "Hold on, son! We're gon' crash!"
Susamaru yelled in fear, "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!" She then instinctively held onto James's right hand with her left. "Hold on, James!"
"Wait," Tanjiro then said as he noticed a bright light from the car behind them. "Look! I think it's Rengoku-san!"
In an instant, he blazed through the entire train with a powerful attack that removed the last of Enmu's flesh and stabilized the cars as they hit the ground and came to a rest. The sound of crunching metal and shattering glass filled the air before the car they were in came to a stop. "Holy fuck…" James then stood up, standing on the right wall of the car, which had flipped over. "Are y'all okay?"
"Yeah," Susamaru replied as she helped Tanjiro up. "You alright, Tanjiro-san?"
"Surprisingly so," he replied. As the three climbed out of the wrecked passenger car, they helped several passengers who had woken up from the crash get out as well. Once everyone had been removed from their car, they jumped down to the ground and looked around for the others. "Hey, Nezuko, Inosuke, Zenitsu, Rengoku-san!"
"Here," Nezuko shouted back as she and Inosuke ran to catch up with them. The two siblings immediately embraced each other in a hug as she told him, "I did it! I killed him!"
"Thank you, Nezuko…" The two then split from their hug.
"Oniichan," she then told him. "I used that dance Papa taught you."
Tanjiro gasped. "The Dance of the Fire God?! You know it?!"
"Papa taught it to me just before he died," she explained. "After that, I just observed you doing it in his place. I felt this surge of power run through me when I did it… It felt incredible!"
"Young Kamado siblings," Kyojuro then told them as he and Zenitsu ran over. "James, Susamaru, boar man… My apologies, I can't remember your name."
"It's Hashibira Inosuke," he replied.
"Thank you, young Hashibira. Anyway, I need people to pursue Patrick Cleburne, the Fourth Knight of the Moon from America. He was working with Enmu, and the few men he has left are somewhere around here."
"I'll go," James volunteered.
"Me too," Susamaru added.
"Count me in," Nezuko added.
"If Nezuko-chan's going," Zenitsu added. "I'll go too!"
"Very well then," Kyojuro replied. "Hashibira, other Kamado, you two stay with me to help the passengers."
"Got it," Tanjiro replied.
"If you say so," Inosuke replied as the four others left.
"Now," Kyojuro then asked both of them. "Are either of you two hurt?"
"I'm fine," Tanjiro replied. "I got hurt pretty bad in the dream, but I'm fine now."
A passenger asked the three of them, still shaken up but grateful to be alive, "Who are you people?! You saved my life!"
"We're demon slayers," Kyojuro replied with a smile. "It's not just our job, but it's also our calling in life to protect the innocent."
Another passenger who happened to be a police officer told them, "Don't worry, guys. I won't say a word about your weapons, not after what you guys did. Now, are there any other of these people who attacked us around here?"
Suddenly, a man with red hair and pale skin emerged from the forest nearby, prompting Kyojuro to draw his sword and the cop to draw his gun. As he stared down at the three demon slayers and the police officer, Tanjiro noticed he had markings in his eyes as well as on his skin. "Wait a minute… That's-"
Just as suddenly as he appeared, the man charged at the cop as he fired two bullets at him, both of which hit him but had little effect. In response, Kyojuro attacked as he declared, "Breath of Flames, Second Form: Rising Scorching Sun!"
Kyojuro managed to slice the man's left arm vertically, but as he stood back, his arm came back together. The cop yelled out in disbelief, "Wha-… What the fuck?! His fucking arm grew back!"
"That's because I'm a demon," the man explained. "To be more specific, I'm Akaza, Upper Moon Three of the Twelve Demon Moons, hence why I heal so fast and shrug off those pesky bullets of your's so easily." He then turned to Kyojuro. "That's a nice sword you got there, Flame Pillar."
"So this is an Upper Demon Moon," Tanjiro thought to himself as he readied his sword alongside Inosuke. "They're more powerful than I imagined!"
"Officer," Kyojuro instructed the cop. "Let me handle this. Your gun won't do anything unless you have poisoned bullets, and even then, against an Upper Demon Moon, it may still not work. Go with the other two slayers with me and guard the passengers. There may be other enemies nearby. I can take this one."
"Yes, sir," the cop replied.
Tanjiro, fearful for Kyojuro, asked him, "Are you sure?"
"Trust me, young Kamado. I'll be fine." He then flashed him a smile and gave him a thumbs-up. "Now go!"
"So," Akaza asked him as the others left. "I believe your name is Rengoku Kyojuro, isn't it?"
"You'd be correct," he replied. "Just to let you know, I've only just met you, but I'm already getting a bad feeling from you just standing there."
"And I'm getting the feeling you're a powerful warrior," Akaza oddly complimented him. "I'll tell you what. If you become a demon and join my master and me, I'll let you go. I won't even harm anyone else here. Nobody else will have to die by my hands." Akaza thought to himself after making the proposal, "Of course, there's no telling if he'll go crazy and eat people here once I turn him into a demon, but hey, I won't be breaking my promise."
"I appreciate your compliments," Kyojuro replied firmly. "And I respect your ability to look into the power of others, Akaza. However, I'm afraid I'll have to politely decline your offer. I would never in a million years join Kibutsuji Muzan, not after what he's done to my family and friends. Besides, who's to say I won't attack anyone here if I were demonized by you?"
"Damn it," Akaza thought to himself. "He saw right through it!" He then sighed. "Oh well, I guess that means we'll have to fight. May the best of us win, Kyojuro."
"I agree," he replied. "May the best of us win."
