This isn't good... I think I've lost them.
Haruto walked cautiously through the forest, gripping his nichirin blade, a bitter feeling in his heart.
What kind of fanatical followers were these two fox-masked youths? How could they run faster than rabbits at the sound of a demon's cry or a prospective Demon Slayer Swordsmen's scream?
He had only hesitated for a moment, wondering whether to follow more closely, and the two boys had vanished!
So, in the end, I'm alone again?
Sigh, I should have just reported this to the Ubuyashiki Family's greeter. It's completely outrageous that there's a 40-year-old demon in Fujikasane Mountain, used for the selection!
But if he said something, he'd be asked, 'Oh dear, how did you know about this, when the selection hasn't even started?' The thought of facing such tedious explanations made Haruto's head ache.
As he was thinking this, something seemed to dart through the trees beside him.
At the same time, a putrid stench, mixed with decay, assailed Haruto's nostrils.
He didn't even need to extend his senses to search; he immediately tightened his grip on the hilt of his nichirin blade, cautiously surveying his surroundings.
It was the scent of a demon!
"Thump, thump, thump, thump!"
A dark shadow suddenly burst through the cover of the leaves, swinging its sharp claws directly at Haruto!
Haruto took two steps back, reversed his grip on the hilt, and drew his nichirin blade, drawing a circle in the air with the gleaming blade.
"Slash!"
The sound of the nichirin blade severing the demon's arm was unusually clear and pleasant to the ear. The demon howled and leaped back, not daring to advance, only glaring at him with eyes whose pupils were no bigger than pinpricks.
Compared to the Hand Demon he encountered last time, this demon seemed much weaker.
Haruto hadn't even used a Breathing Technique yet, severing its arm with just his swordsmanship.
He quickly regulated his breathing, and in those terrifying eyes, he saw the demon's craving for his flesh and blood.
"So hungry, so hungry..."
The demon flicked its long tongue, saliva dripping from it, and after a short hesitation, it once again swung its demonic claws forward.
"Flame Breathing, First Form..."
Haruto shifted his weight forward, dragging his nichirin blade, and a scorching flame ignited in his chest.
With a whispered "Unknowing Fire," flames erupted on his nichirin blade.
He lunged forward, and as he brushed past the demon, a searing flash of the nichirin blade grazed its misty blue eyes.
"Gurgle..."
In the brief exchange, the demon was decapitated with a single strike.
The ugly head, rolling on the ground, and the headless torso lay there, gradually turning into dust.
Haruto sheathed his nichirin blade with clean, decisive movements. He turned back to glance at the demon's corpse, letting out a small sigh of relief.
Yes! First successful demon kill recorded! I'm going to eat a huge meal after this!
...The first night on Fujikasane Mountain is always the most difficult of the entire seven-day trial.
Everyone needs to be fully focused, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the first ray of dawn.
Haruto moved through the forest, relying on his excellent perception. Apart from the Hand Demon, the other demons on Fujikasane Mountain weren't much of a threat.
He followed the mountain path, walking forward, trying to distance himself from the forest where he had last seen the Hand Demon.
When the sky was still pitch black, a young man approached him.
He was carrying a fainted swordsman on his back, and Haruto noticed the swordsman was wearing a dark red haori.
"What happened?" Haruto asked.
He stepped forward to help them, and indeed, the fainted person was one of the fox-masked youths.
His fox mask was gone, revealing a very delicate face beneath his messy black hair.
Hmm, even unconscious, he seemed quite arrogant. He really is a difficult person to get along with.
The young man carrying him had a center-parted hairstyle and looked flustered: "I don't know... A young man wearing a similar fox mask entrusted him to me. I was just looking for a safe place to stay..."
Haruto blinked: "The person who entrusted him to you had flesh-colored hair? Which way did he go?"
"That's right, he sounded very young," Murata wiped the sweat from his forehead, pointing behind him: "He probably went up that slope over there."
So, good-looking people are always warm-hearted, aren't they? The warm-hearted Haruto mused: "What's his name?"
"Giyu, Tomioka Giyu. The young man named Sabito introduced him that way."
So that character is pronounced 'Sabito'... Haruto suddenly understood, then patted Murata on the shoulder: "Then this child named Giyu, I'll leave him to you!"
"No need to— Wait, are you leaving me to take care of him alone?!"
"Of course! Since you've already promised someone, you must see it through."
Haruto clenched his fist to encourage him, then walked in the direction he had pointed.
As long as it wasn't the Hand Demon's area, even going a little further in... should be fine, right?
As for why he wanted to follow, Haruto first thought of the scene before his previous death, when Sabito appeared and tried to rescue him.
And from the comments, he survived this time, but Sabito might die instead.
Haruto could not in good conscience accept someone else bearing a fate that should have been his, especially a young man who had once tried to pull him out of despair.
He followed Sabito's footsteps for a long distance, encountering many prospective swordsmen. Whenever he asked, someone would always point Haruto in the right direction.
"Ah, I know, that boy with the gentle voice? He helped us a lot before; if it weren't for him, I might not have survived."
"He went down the mountain. I heard he killed many demons along the way, gasping for breath."
"He just left a short while ago. He's really a very kind person. I hope we all pass this selection."
Everyone's attitude seemed less cold than it had been at the entrance of Fujikasane Mountain. He wondered what Sabito had done to earn such respect from these people.
Haruto walked, wiping the sweat from his forehead. Further ahead... that would be the Hand Demon's territory... On Fujikasane Mountain... how could there be such a monster?
Sabito gripped the hilt of his nichirin blade tightly. From his fingertips to his arms and thighs, everything was slightly trembling from prolonged running and repeated overuse of his Breathing Technique, pushing him past his limit.
He pushed the mask, handmade by his master Sakonji Urokodaki, to his ear, revealing a pair of silver eyes fixed intently on the Hand Demon.
"Fox boy..."
A deep voice carried sharp malice. The Hand Demon's disgusting dark green muscles rippled, transforming into numerous arms that attacked Sabito.
"Reunite with your fellow disciples in my belly!"
To be able to say such things, to be able to do such things... So many of Master Urokodaki's excellent children were eaten by him... Sabito's long nichirin blade vibrated, bringing with it blue waves like water, severing those arms. His toes propelled his entire body, agilely darting towards the Hand Demon's arm that hadn't yet retracted, rushing towards the head encased by arms.
Simply... unforgivable!
"Water Breathing, Third Form, Flowing Dance!"
The nichirin blade, enveloped in flowing water, and Sabito's figure moved like flowing clouds and water, closing in on the Hand Demon.
As the nichirin blade touched the Hand Demon's head, he felt a jolt... The nichirin blade—it broke!
After a long battle, not only had his body reached its critical limit, but even the nichirin blade in his hand could no longer endure.
Sabito's heart sank abruptly. He had already seen the Hand Demon narrow its eyes, and an arm rapidly lengthened, striking towards his head!
"Whoosh!"
A hot gust of wind, from who knows where, blew past. A flash of azure streaked before his eyes, and that hand, which in Sabito's eyes was a death-dealing claw, was severed with a single strike!
Just before he was about to be decapitated!
The evening breeze stirred his silver-white long hair, the light blue tips gently brushing his smooth chin.
The young man, bending over with his nichirin blade, opened his eyes, the tip of his nichirin blade ablaze with scorching flames.
Takanashi Haruto, arrived just in time!