Deep in hissecret underground lab, Raja stood over anarray of glowing scrolls, looking like an overworked scientist in a fantasy anime. The walls were lined with ancient books, glass vials bubbling with questionable substances, and—most importantly—a large chalkboard filled withscientific nonsense that only he understood.

"Alright, let’s see... how do I make a virus that screws Muzan over so badly he considers early retirement?"Raja muttered,tapping his chin.

His latestbrilliant invention: anAnti-Muzan Virus, designed tosever Muzan’s connection to his demonsandforcefully extract his toxic blood from their systems.Basically, it would bethe demon equivalent of uninstalling Windows updates—without their permission.

He glanced at Tamayo, his newlab partner/victim, and smirked."Don’t worry, Doc. I’ll have you back to being a normal human in no time. Just need to find a guinea pig first."

Luckily, fate handed him the perfect opportunity.The mission to Mount Natagumo.Ademon-infested hellhole? With aLower Moon demon lurking about?It was practicallya buffet of test subjects.

With a flick of his wrist (not literally), he summoned theThree Stooges—a.k.a.Tanjiro, Inosuke, and Zenitsu.

"Alright, children, listen up,"Raja said,crossing his arms like a disappointed dad."You’re all going to Mount Natagumo. I’ll be supervising, but if you embarrass me, I will personally make you suffer in training for a month. Understood?"

Zenitsu paled."T-training with you?! Oh no, oh no, oh no—"

Before he could finishspiraling into an anxiety attack, Rajaclapped his hands."Good talk. Off you go."

The trio stood at thebase of Mount Natagumo, staring up at the creepy,web-infestedmonstrosity of a mountain.

"Alright, team!"Tanjiro said, his usualprotagonist energyshining through."Stay sharp, and let’s be careful!"

"Ha! As if I’d be scared of some dumb mountain!"Inosukesnorted, adjusting his boar mask. Then, he turned to Tanjiro,deeply confused."Wait... what’s ’good luck’ mean?"

Zenitsu, alreadyhaving an existential crisis, snapped."HOW ARE YOU ASKING THIS NOW?! WE’RE ABOUT TO DIE!"

"It’s a fancy way of saying ’try not to die,’"Rajayawned from a nearby tree.

"Hah! Then I don’t need luck!" Inosuke boasted.

Zenitsuclutched his head."WHY AM I SURROUNDED BY PSYCHOS?!"

Just as things were spiraling intoa comedy special, Tanjiro’s nose twitched.

"Demon scent. I’m going in!"

And like atrue protagonist,he RAN STRAIGHT INTO DANGER.

"DAMN IT, TANJIRO, WAIT!"Zenitsu shrieked.

"AHAHAHA! I LOVE THIS GUY!"Inosuke yelled,barreling after him.

Zenitsu, however,stood frozen, sweating."N-nope! Not going in there! I’ll stay right here and—"

"Zenitsu,"Raja’s voice suddenlyboomed from the trees,"if you don’t go, you will be my training partner for the rest of the year."

Zenitsu’ssoul left his body.He rememberedthe horror of Raja’s training.

Zenitsu.exe has stopped responding.

Then—he took off like a bullet.

"WAIT FOR ME, GUYS! I’M COMING!"

Raja smirked andcreated three clonesto follow them."Fear is an excellent motivator."

The deeper they went, theworse it got.

Webs covered everything.The air feltthick, suffocating, and the scent ofrotting corpseswas strong.

Then—they found a Demon Slayer.

"H-Help! My team—"

Before he could finish,a web YANKED him into the forest.

Tanjirogasped.

Inosuke, on the other hand,cracked his knuckles."FINALLY! A REAL FIGHT!"

Raja, still chilling in the trees,yawned."Yeah, that guy’s dead."

Tanjiroglared."Raja-san, be more sensitive!"

"Fine. He’s probably dead."

Before they could process thathorrible reality check, anotherterrified Demon Slayer appeared.

"T-They made us kill each other!"

Inosuke’ssolution?

Punch him in the face.

"TOO MUCH TALKING, NOT ENOUGH FIGHTING!"

Rajaslow-clapped."Such a gentle soul."

Meanwhile,Zenitsu was having a panic attack.

"WHY DID THEY LEAVE ME? DO THEY HATE ME?"

His sparrow,done with his nonsense,pecked his head.

"MOVE, YOU IDIOT!"

Zenitsu hesitated—thenremembered Raja’s training.

Pure terrorfueled his legs.

And heRAN LIKE HIS LIFE DEPENDED ON IT.

Soon, they wereattacked by mind-controlled Demon Slayers.

"They’re still alive!"Tanjiro yelled.

"SO? I’LL JUST LIGHTLY STAB THEM!"Inosuke suggested.

"NO, INOSUKE!"

Inosukesniffed the air."I CAN SENSE YOU!"

UsingBeast Breathing, Seventh Form: Spatial Awareness, helocated the demon on a boulder.

"THERE YOU ARE!"

Helunged forward—but wasslammed into a tree.

"Ow."

They realizeda female demon was controlling them.

"Mother, deal with them,"apale child-like demon said from the trees.

Tanjirotensed."Who is that?"

Raja, sipping tea:"Oh, just a kid with severe family issues."

The Mother Demon,terrified of Rui, decided tosnap her puppets’ necks to kill them.

Tanjiro screamed and ran towards her. Inosuke—actually no, he was just confused.

But before theDemon Slayers could die—

SWOOSH!

Agolden flashfilled the forest.

Withone effortless swipe, Raja’sTrishul severed ALL the threads.

TheDemon Slayers collapsed, freed.

Rajaflicked his wrist."There. Fixed it."

The Mother Demonfroze.She realized—shehad lost.

Tanjiro, seeing her fear, changed his blade’s trajectory.

With agentle slice, hegave her a painless death.

Theforest went silent.

Then—Inosuke turned to Raja.

"Did... did that just happen?"

Rajayawned."Yeah, yeah. You’re welcome."

He turned to the remaining Demon Slayers.

"Alright, pack it up. You’re all leaving. I’m not saving you twice."

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com