"Lor..."
Kamado Tanjiro's call was caught in his throat.
Lorne's figure had already transformed into a blurry shadow, and after a few leaps, he completely disappeared into the night of Fujikasane Mountain.
Tanjirou could only grip his nichirin blade tightly and run east as planned, seeking a place to rest until dawn.
It was nighttime, the time when demons were active, so to get some much-needed rest, he ran towards the east, where the sun would rise earliest.
After leaving the false safety of the wisteria flowers, he put on his fox mask, like a hunter, and stepped into this true hunting ground.
He did not rush to climb the mountain or head east, but instead unleashed his keen senses, like an invisible net, catching every trace of the demons' foul aura in the air.
He wasn't here to survive; he was here to hunt, to "fish."
Naturally, he wouldn't be as cautious as others, only aiming to last seven days.
Lorne deliberately let his senses roam, wandering through the mountains at a leisurely pace, seeing if he could attract a few demons.
Soon, he caught his first prey. A putrid wind assailed him, accompanied by the nauseating sound of drooling saliva.
A demon with twisted limbs, its eyes glowing red from hunger, was lured by Lorne's undisguised scent of a living person and lunged out of the shadows.
Indeed, after being trapped for so long, what rationality could it possibly have left in its eyes? Only a craving and greed for flesh and blood!
Now, the scent of a living person was nothing short of the most fatal temptation to them; they had no thought of concealment whatsoever.
Lorne looked at the somewhat inhuman, mutated creature, his footsteps never stopping, his gaze not even focusing on the monster.
Just as the demon's claws were about to touch his mask, he casually pushed the tsuba with his left thumb.
"Zheng—"
Accompanied by a faint unsheathing sound, almost drowned out by the wind.
"Ice Breathing Style: First Form: Modified—Ice Surface Severance!"
A crescent-shaped ice blade, condensed from a Breathing Technique combined with extreme cold magic, silently solidified in an instant from the trajectory of his swing!
An extreme chill flashed along the blade's trajectory, the air seeming to freeze instantly, and the ice blade silently cut through the night.
"Crack!"
It wasn't the sound of flesh being torn, but the crisp snap of something suddenly shattering after being frozen.
The demon's lunging posture froze in mid-air, an ice-blue thin line appearing on its neck and rapidly spreading throughout its body.
The next instant, its head and body cleanly separated along that ice line, the cut smooth as a mirror, not a single drop of blood splattered, all the foul blood instantly frozen into crimson ice crystals, rustling to the ground.
The last flicker of life in the demon's eyes froze in incredulous terror, then disintegrated into dust along with its frozen remains.
Lorne sheathed his nichirin blade, his movements fluid and graceful, his footsteps not pausing in the slightest.
The ice blade also quietly dissipated into the air after the strike was complete, leaving behind only sparkling ice shards and an biting chill.
After all, they were just low-level, trash demons who hadn't mastered Blood Demon Arts; besides being slightly stronger than humans in physical abilities and having powerful regeneration, they weren't particularly formidable!
Everyone participating in the assessment carried a nichirin blade, so as long as they weren't too weak or surrounded by a group of demons, surviving seven days wouldn't be a big problem for those who had mastered a Breathing Technique.
However, if one couldn't face the fear brought by demons and couldn't exert their full strength, even if they survived seven days, they wouldn't be suitable to become a Demon Slayer.
It was nighttime, and these demons, especially those driven mad by hunger, had an extremely acute sense of smell for the scent of flesh and blood.
Constantly fleeing would only exhaust their stamina faster, expose their location, and ultimately lead to being caught and devoured in despair.
After all, not everyone was like Zenitsu Agatsuma, who, despite having considerable strength, lacked confidence and could only unleash it after passing out.
Lorne still felt that this selection process was a bit too cruel. In the original plot, it seemed only five out of dozens of participants survived that particular selection.
Perhaps an examiner should be assigned, capable of saving a candidate's life at a critical moment and revoking their right to continue the assessment.
This might prevent the accidental demise of talented swordsmen like Sabito and also recruit suitable individuals into the "Kakushi" team to better provide logistical support.
Three days passed just like that. Lorne had killed many demons, but he hadn't encountered the Hand Demon.
The forest was not silent; the wind whimpered, leaves rustled, occasionally interspersed with sounds of distant combat.
As long as it wasn't a cry for help, it meant there wasn't much of a problem, and Lorne wouldn't specifically go to intervene.
"Where could that Hand Demon be?"
Lorne wandered all over the map but still hadn't encountered the Hand Demon. As expected of a creature that had eaten 50 people without being discovered, it was quite good at hiding!
Suddenly, a shrill scream, mixed with extreme terror, came from the front left, followed by the dull thud of a heavy object hitting a tree and a beast-like roar.
"Help... help me! Someone... Ah—!"
Lorne's eyes narrowed, and he stomped his foot, utilizing the Water Breathing Technique to its utmost. His body instantly became incredibly light.
His tiptoes touched the ground almost silently, moving at high speed through the complex terrain like a fish in water. In a few breaths, he had rushed into a slightly more open clearing in the forest.
A boy about his age lay collapsed on the ground, his nichirin blade broken in two, with numerous cuts and heavy impact injuries on his body.
A hunched demon, on all fours with sharp claws, was grinning maliciously, its fanged mouth wide open, pouncing on the swordsman who was now powerless to resist.
Only the ashes of despair remained in the boy's eyes.
"Stop!"
A furious roar exploded like thunder. Lorne's figure, carrying a biting cold wind, instantly cut in between the demon and the boy.
The demon, startled by the sudden intruder, paused its movements, then let out an angry roar:
"Another snack to die? Just in time to—"
Before it could finish speaking, Lorne's nichirin blade had transformed into a cold stream of light!
"Ice Breathing, First Form: Ice Surface Cut!"
An ice blade strike condensed and roared out with Lorne's swing trajectory!
"Chila—!"
The ice blade precisely grazed the demon's neck. The malicious grin on the demon's face hadn't even fully frozen before its head flew off its body.
After cutting through the demon's body, the ice blade continued with undiminished force, striking a large tree behind it.
With a "crack," a deep gash was cut into the tree trunk, the cut smooth as a mirror and also covered with white frost.
An biting cold permeated the air, making the rescued boy on the ground shiver involuntarily, looking in astonishment at the somewhat unimaginable scene before him.
Lorne sheathed his nichirin blade and quickly walked to the boy's side, asking:
"Are you alright? Can you still move?"
The boy was still shaken, looking at Lorne's fox mask and then at the ice crystals on the ground, his lips trembling:
"I... I... my bones seem broken... but... but thank you! Your... your nichirin blade..."
"It's just a special Breathing Technique."
Lorne didn't explain further. He helped him up and picked up the broken nichirin blade, handing it to him.
"It's too dangerous here. You're badly injured. Retreat from the mountain immediately, following the wisteria flowers! You are no longer suitable to continue the assessment!"