Hearing this, Tanjiro examined the basket more carefully. "Hakuya-san, give me a minute!"
He immediately set to work modifying the basket.
Hakuya watched quietly from the side. This kind of craftwork wasn't his forte—he wasn't from this era, after all.
After the modifications, the bamboo basket was much more secure, with sunlight barely able to penetrate. All they needed now was to cover it with a cloth.
Tanjiro carried the improved basket into the cave. After placing Nezuko inside, Hakuya, Tanjiro, and their demon companion set off once more toward Mount Sagiri.
That Night
Hakuya, Tanjiro, and Nezuko—now freed from her bamboo basket—arrived outside an old temple.
"Hakuya-san, there's a temple ahead, and I can see lights. Someone must be there. Let's check it out!" Tanjiro suggested.
Hakuya had no objections. It was late at night, and a temple would be a perfect place to rest.
"Yeah," Hakuya agreed with a nod. "Let's take a look inside."
Just as Hakuya finished speaking, Tanjiro's expression suddenly changed, and fear crept into his voice. "I smell blood! The mountain path here is steep—someone must be injured!"
Without warning, the kindhearted Tanjiro grabbed Nezuko and rushed toward the temple. Hakuya had no time to stop him and had to follow.
Hakuya's sense of smell wasn't as sharp as Tanjiro's, so he didn't immediately detect the blood. Only after running closer did he faintly pick up the metallic scent.
By then, Tanjiro was already at the temple door. He pushed it open urgently. "Is everyone inside okay?"
The next moment, Tanjiro froze in his tracks, his face draining of color.
Hakuya, a step behind, finally reached Tanjiro's side and looked inside. Even he was shocked by what he saw.
Several human corpses lay scattered throughout the temple, all of them partially devoured. A demon crouched before one of them, making horrible chewing sounds.
Hakuya's expression hardened. He drew his Nichirin sword and assumed a fighting stance.
"Take Nezuko and get back!" Hakuya commanded Tanjiro sharply.
Tanjiro, clearly terrified, didn't respond to Hakuya's order. He remained frozen in place, unresponsive.
"What are you doing here? Hey! This is my territory!" The feeding demon sensed their presence, stood up irritably, and turned around.
"That weird smell... Are you humans?" the demon muttered, its eyes gleaming with hunger.
Before anyone could react, it charged directly at Hakuya.
"So fast!" Hakuya was caught off guard. Unable to dodge completely, he instinctively raised his sword in a defensive stance.
The impact sent Hakuya flying backward. While airborne, he managed to swing his blade toward the demon's neck.
The demon, struck by Hakuya's attack, performed a backflip to create distance between them.
After stumbling several times, Hakuya managed to regain his footing. Once stable, he chose not to attack recklessly, nor did he immediately activate his berserk transformation.
The side effects of that transformation were too agonizing, and Hakuya didn't want to endure that pain unless absolutely necessary.
"From the Demon Slayer Corps, are you?" The demon touched its neck where Hakuya's blade had struck and said mockingly. "What a shame! That attack posed no threat to me. My wound will heal in no time!"
Hakuya wasn't surprised in the least. He was well aware of a demon's regenerative abilities. They couldn't be killed with ordinary weapons—only special ones would work, like the Nichirin Blades used by demon slayers such as Tomioka Giyuu.
Nichirin Blades were the standard weapons of the Demon Slayer Corps. Only a few specialized demon hunters wielded more unique armaments.
Hakuya's blade, however, was more advanced than a typical Nichirin sword. After all, it had been provided by his system. Even as a starter item, it had to have something special about it.
"Oh, really?" Hakuya said with feigned surprise.
The demon looked extremely proud as it prepared to heal the wound on its neck. But the next moment, its expression shifted to one of horror and disbelief.
"What's going on? Why isn't the wound healing?"
"I forgot to mention," Hakuya said slowly, "my blade has the ability to inhibit wound regeneration. If you're cut by my sword, even as a demon, your wounds won't heal instantly."
"That's impossible!" The demon was genuinely terrified. For a demon, this was disastrous. With so much blood loss, even if it didn't die, it wouldn't pose much of a threat.
After its initial panic, the demon quickly calmed down. Although its wound couldn't heal immediately, the blood loss wasn't actually life-threatening for a demon.
Soon enough, it noticed its wound beginning to heal again, albeit very slowly. Still, compared to a human's healing rate, it was remarkably fast.
Noticing this, the demon suddenly adopted a playful, arrogant expression. "You almost had me scared! While your sword can inhibit healing, it only delays it. I can feel my wound closing on its own—it just takes a bit of time."
Hakuya showed no surprise. His blade's properties were exactly as the demon described: they only provided limited inhibition. Against a demon's powerful regenerative abilities, complete suppression was impossible.
"So what?" Hakuya remained calm, speaking coldly. "My sword can wound you, which means it can certainly kill you. You should know—this blade has been thirsting for demon blood for quite some time."
With those words, Hakuya's sword instantly absorbed all the blood from the demon's wound.
This was another unique characteristic of his blade: it could absorb demon blood. The more it absorbed, the more lethal it became, and its properties—like wound inhibition—would strengthen accordingly.
Hakuya's words sobered the demon's arrogance. It realized the man before it wasn't someone to be trifled with.
The demon suddenly looked around and immediately spotted Tanjiro standing at the temple entrance. Without hesitation, it shifted its attention to him.
The demon moved with incredible speed. Before Hakuya could react, it had already appeared in front of Tanjiro, grabbing both him and Nezuko and lifting the siblings into the air.
The suffocating pressure brought Tanjiro back to his senses, but any resistance was now futile.
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P@atreon/Soulforger (45+ advanced chapters)