The halls were empty and quiet, but it gave an eerie feeling.

"Message! Message! New Upper Demon 6 has been defeated by Zenitsu! Shinobu and Zenitsu are currently in no condition to fight but they'll live!" said the kasugai.

I guess he's strong when it comes down to it, the hallways were strange. No doors, no entrances, yet no exits. All it did was give off an eerie feeling, like a demon that was hiding. I couldn't grasp the feeling because of these hallways messing my brain up.

Then suddenly something came up, a door with 2 similar presences. I went through it and,

"Giyu and Tanjiro?" I asked.

"Tokan-san!" said Tanjiro.

"Tok-" Giyu was interrupted by a sudden tremor.

"Above." I said.

Suddenly a figure that looked like an exact copy of Akaza but with blue hair landed in front of us.

"I heard you killed my twin brother Furoku Tokan, Muzan told me all about you. Don't think I'm as pathetic as my dead twin, I'm much stronger." said Akashi who had a wide grin.

Twin of Akaza? I haven't heard of this demon before, he doesn't have the upper rank symbol yet he gives off a feeling that he's a demon stronger than that.

"Giyu, Tanjiro, get ready." I said.

Akashi rushed towards me throwing a punch right towards my face, I dodged by jumping over him. Mid air, I could've taken my chance to try to cut his neck but if he was really stronger than Akaza, then he must've realized it. Instead I landed and dropped down to swipe at his foot trying to make him lose balance but he dodged by stepping back.

When he stepped back, there was a slight opening. Immediately Giyu and Tanjiro caught my signal and brought their blades towards his neck. He punched the floor creating big cracks separating us from him.

[Technique Deployment]

"Let's start." said Akashi.

In a blink of an eye, he suddenly appeared behind Tanjiro aiming his fist to his head.

[...Rapid Glaciers!]

Luckily I was fast enough to cut off his arm before it hit Tanjiro otherwise if that punch hit, it would've been fatal.

"Pay attention Tanjiro, breath." I said.

He nodded.

"Giyu, are you okay?" I asked.

"Yes." He replied.

Then he rushed towards me, his speed almost exceeds the human eye, but I was still able to parry his attack. He aimed for my abdomen which I blocked using my blade to take the attack. I was sent a bit back then suddenly I heard a crash. Giyu was sent flying back, damn I was a bit late.

[...Dual Layered Demon Wick Burning Sun]

[...Flowing Fractures]

Tanjiro moved his katana in a spiral pattern while I added slashes to his attack but it failed when he parried it using his fist. He was definitely stronger than his brother, way stronger.

"You both are truly strong, I can see why Akaza lost. No wonder why Muzan warned us about you guys, especially the Frost Breather over here. You've even managed to track my movements and slow down my blood circulation using your frost, admirable." said Akashi.

Again he rushed at us but his speed of attacks exceeded the blink of an human eye, in order to cut off his head. I had to get close to him with a speed that exceeds his. This was going to be a troublesome match, Tanjiro doesn't have that kind of speed but he does have good smell.

"Tanjiro, smell him." I said.

He looked at me confused but I gave him an unwavering gaze.

He appeared in front of me and swung his fist to my fast. I leaned back to avoid the punch, then he swung his feet to to make me off balance but I gave a slight push off the ground giving me the momentum to twist in the air to avoid it. He brought his fist to my abdomen again but I regained my composure by using the momentum that I had to slash to cut off his arm, then stabbed my blade on the floor, and jumped back bringing my blade with me.

"Fast and smart. You're crazy strong." said Akashi.

[Dance of the Fire God, Soaring Flame Haze!]

Tanjiro aimed the katana at his neck but Akashi was able to completely disable the attack by clapping his two hands together against both sides of the blade. My eyes went wide, at this point his blade was going to break, and we were going to be at an disadvantage.

Before I could finish my thoughts, Giyu's figure flowed mid air and his arm was cut releasing Tanjiro's blade.

"Giyu-san!" exclaimed Tanjiro.

"I'm angry now. There's a searing pain in my back, great job blasting me all the way back there demon." said Giyu.

On Giyu's left side of his face, a mark had appeared. Giyu rushed towards Akashi and swung his blade against his neck which was dodged by Akashi leaning back who threw a punch at him. Giyu ducked and swung his blade at his neck again but was dodged by Akashi jumping back. Both parties had already noticed it by now, Giyu had gotten stronger and faster since the mark appeared. Giyu appeared in front of Akashi,

[...Striking Tide]

Using this chance to attack him and hopefully cut his neck, I used my own attack.

[...Snow in the Blizzard]

Our combined attacks were nearly impossible to dodge so instead, Akashi took the attack. Both his arms were cut and one of his eyes had been destroyed but were quickly regenerated.

"Tsch, demons and their regeneration." muttered Giyu.

That gave me a slight chuckle.

Even though Giyu was almost as fast as Akashi, Giyu would lose because his stamina wouldn't last forever. Our goal was to defeat Muzan so we couldn't take the entire night to take on a single demon, we had to hurry. I recalled some of the words Akaza had said before. He said my battle spirit was almost at it's peak, but what is a battle spirit? Recalling some of my spars with Sanemi, he was able to dodge attacks that he couldn't see, he would always say he felt my killing intent.

It was something the human eye couldn't see, what if one didn't have a killing intent or a battle spirit? I widened my eyes and felt a ding in my head. I had figured it out, I calmed myself. I imagined myself being calm, dissembling the intents to kill. For a moment, I had entered the transparent world that Gyomei had entered. I see, Gyomei. This was the world you were talking about, Akashi was transparent for a split second before going back to normal. I was too focused on killing him, now then let's hurry.

When I was snapped out of my thoughts, things seemed slightly different Giyu's katana was broken and his was about to get hit. I didn't feel a thing but still went forward and cut off his arm.

"Giyu, become a demon." said the smiling Akashi.

Giyu felt something was off, Tokan was right behind him yet he couldn't feel her presence. Something had changed.

[...Snow in the Blizzard]

Before Akashi could dodge, his head was flowing through the air upside down. He couldn't even react or did he realize you were right behind him. Before he turned into ashes, he realized that she had held no battle spirit and was staring at him with her dull eyes.

'So this was the transparent world.' thought Tokan. Their movements were a bit slower and it felt weird. Everything about them was exposed.

"Giyu and Tanjiro. Let's go to our next battle." I muttered.

Muzan, soon.