CH. 30 : Meeting!

Shinobu quickly took out the antidote she had given to Zenitsu earlier and injected it into Kenshi's neck. But she did not see any result as his face started growing paler by the seconds as the spider venom spread rapidly through his veins.

"You must hold on, this will counteract the poison. " Shinobu said, her usually calm voice tinged with worry. She caressed his face gently before turning to instruct Kanao. "Please take care of the Water Hashira and the boy who was passed out. I must get Kenshi back to the mansion right away."

Kanao nodded, moving swiftly to Giyu's side. Shinobu put Kenshi onto her back, frowning at how limp his body felt. She could not lose him.

She already sensed that Giyu was breathing and he was not poisoned, so kanao can take care of the situation here.

Leaping into motion, Shinobu raced through the trees without care for stealth or her surroundings. All that mattered was returning to the Butterfly Mansion where she could properly treat Kenshi.

As the forest blurred past, Kenshi's mind drifted into darkness. When his vision cleared, he found himself standing in an endless grassy plain. "Where...am I?" he muttered in confusion. All he could remember was passing out from the effect of the poison.

"Over here, little guy." A voice called out. Kenshi was stunned and instantly became vigilant, he tried to pull out his blade but he saw he did not have one.

"What the hell is happening?" Sensing the voice's direction, he slowly turned around, only to see a young boy, no older than 13 or 14, sitting on a bench facing a tranquil pond. In his hands he held a fishing rod.

"Come, have a seat." The boy said pleasantly, patting the space on the bench next to him.

Kenshi hesitated, and stepped back a little, but his vision suddenly blurred as he suddenly appeared beside the child.

Kenshi who had bewildered look on his face, turned his face towards the boy, he was again shocked by the otherworldly beauty of the kid. His looked like one of those handsome anime characters. He was wearing a black kamino and has white hair with red eyes.

"There, isn't this nice?" The boy said happily. "I've been wanting to meet you, Kenshi."

Kenshi was tensed. System. 'Where the hell I am right now?' Like usual, he did not get any reply.

He looked the boy and asked. "How do you know my name? Where are we? And who are you?"

The boy laughed. "So many questions! Don't worry, You did not die, we're in your mind right now. You have a chance of living if that purple haired girl is fast enough. Aa for who I am? You can call me Edward, An old man give me that name. I liked it, So I chose to keep it." After saying that, his cheerful demeanor darkened. "But first, we need to have a little talk about you interfering with my plans."

Edward kept his gaze fixed on the serene pond, fishing rod held loosely in his hands. "I've been observing your actions quite closely," He began conversationally. "Through the eyes of my pawns, I saw how you slayed Hikaru, my servant and ruined my carefully laid plans."

'What? This guy is Edward? The guy system want me to kill?' Kenshi thought in his mind.

Edward's face returned calm and pleasant, which somehow made his words even more ominous. Kenshi doesn't even know what to make out of this situation, unsure of how to respond, he shut his mouth not speaking a word.

After a moment, Edward continued. "I don't appreciate having my plans disrupted, you see. Especially not by an insignificant little insect like yourself." Finally, he turned to look directly at Kenshi, his red eyes cold.

Kenshi felt and invisible pressure at the malice contained in those young eyes. Edward sighed. "But I suppose it can't be helped. Your existence seems intentionally designed to counter mine, although on what purpose I still don't understand."

He tilted his head, studying Kenshi curiously. "Well, no matter. I came today hoping we could reach an...understanding. If you stay out of my way, I won't have to squash you.

With a snap of his fingers, Edward effortlessly lifted Kenshi into the air. Vines burst from the ground, quickly wrapping around the struggling man and binding him in place.

"There, that's better." Edward said, a smug smile on his face.

Kenshi's eyes flashed red as he stared at the arrogant boy. He was just an ordinary college student in his past life before ending up in this strange new world. At first, he thought of it as some kind of game, like the anime and light novels he used to enjoy. But after witnessing real death and destruction, he realized just how foolish that was.

Was he even strong enough to protect those who become close to him after coming here - Shinobu, Kanao, Mitsuri? No, he was not even strong enough to save himself.

He barely survived last time because he had a special sword and a spirit inside it helped him. The System had provided an item to keep him calm in the face of bloodshed, in all this what had he achieved by himself? facing this boy, Kenshi indeed felt like nothing more then a bug. A feeling of humiliation churned in his chest.

His eyes blazed brighter red as he strained against the vines, the bindings starting to crack. Shockwaves erupted from him as he fully entered the rage mode. Roaring deafeningly, a massive shockwave of energy pulsed out, shredding the vines constraining him and sending them flying in all directions.

Edward's eyes lit up with interest at this display. "Interesting indeed! Seems like my efforts of trying to stop an anomaly like you through words had failed. Well, I don't mind killing you although it might take some efforts. Be careful kid." He said, before his figure started to fade away.

-------------

Kenshi jolted awake, his eyes still bloodshot red from the spider demon's venom coursing through his veins. He felt a weight on his leg and looked down to see Shinobu curled up asleep, a line of drool dripping from her parted lips onto the bedsheets.

His head spun with unanswered questions. Why hadn't the demon killed him outright with a lethal dose of poison? Can this Edward only able to enter the heads of those who had been poisoned? Had the demon only realized it was Kenshi after seeing when he arrived in that strange place.

He clutched his throbbing head, trying to piece together fuzzy memories. He had let his guard down, assuming the timeline of events would follow the same path. But somehow the demon had known about him, and specifically targeted him with a non-lethal dose of venom as if it had plans for him.

Shinobu murmured something in her sleep, breaking Kenshi's spiraling thoughts. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves. There would be time to analyze the demon's motives later. For now, he needed to assess the situation and know what exactly happened.

Carefully, Kenshi extracted his leg from under Shinobu's slumbering form. She had dark circles under her eyes - she must have stayed by his side tirelessly throughout his treatment. Kenshi's chest tightened with emotion. He vowed he would find a way to make it up to her.

His body swayed slightly as he slowly stood up on shaky legs. He leaned against the wall for support and slid open the door to the window overlooking the training area of the butterfly mansion.

The fresh air helped clear the remaining dizziness from his mind. The sun was just beginning to rise, so the view was breathtaking. Aside from a few distant chirps from morning birds, all was quiet.

Sensing Kenshi's absence, Shinobu stirred from her slumber. Groggily, she reached out to where he had been resting only to find empty sheets. Her eyes shot open and she quickly sat up, noticing the small wet patch of drool she felt a little embarrassed.

Shaking the remaining sleep from her mind, Shinobu jumped to her feet. "Kenshi?" she called gently so as not to startle him. She spotted him standing unsteadily beside the window. In three quick steps she was by his side.

"You shouldn't be on your feet yet. Here, sit back down. " Shinobu urged, guiding him back towards the futon.

He opened his mouth as if to speak but suddenly froze. In the distance, two anguished screams pierced the morning air, shattering the tranquility.

"What happened? who was screaming? actually what was that spider demon?" He asked as to find out if they did any investigation.

"You've been unconscious for nearly 15 hours. The screams are from that red haired boy and yellow haired boy. It seems the red haired boys sister was taken away by a powerful demon calling himself Rui, the Lower Moon Five, and that spider demon was also something he released." Shinobu explained gently.

Nezuko was taken away? Kenshi paled, his jaw clenching. "Rui...But how? I think water hashira can easily take out a lower moon five..." he muttered under his breath.

Shinobu sighed and continuing her account of events. "Giyu went after the lower moon last night. But he was gravely injured in the confrontation. Rui defeated him easily and took that girl. We...we still don't understand how a lower moon five can defeat giyu.."

Kenshi just layed back on his pillow, not knowing how to take in all the shit that was thrown at him. He was beginning to doubt if even had a silver of hope in defeating the boy he saw just a few movements ago.

Just then, A voice sounded in his.

[Host has met the requirements to fully bond with the system.]

[System Assimilation will start In 3-2-1]