"Even if you knew, what could you possibly do?"
The demon's movements paused slightly, a flicker of irritation crossing its eyes as if its secret had been exposed. It leaned down, shrouding Kanae within its massive shadow.
"As long as I kill you, what does it matter if my nest is discovered?"
However, the young swordswoman was not overwhelmed by the creature's aura. On the contrary, she felt a sense of relief in her heart. She hadn't said those words merely to provoke him.
Beneath her fringe, her gaze swept imperceptibly toward the thicket behind the demon. There stood another swordsman who had yet to lose his fighting spirit.
Mitsujiro Kondo.
Though he had just been sent flying by the demon's kick, breaking several ribs and collapsing to the ground, he remained conscious. He gripped his Nichirin Sword tightly, his eyes fixed intently on the scene.
He was, after all, a Rank Kanoe swordsman. He had completed the grueling training under a Cultivator, passed the Final Selection, and slain demons on his own. Pain, injury, and the current desperation were not enough to make him abandon hope.
In reality, every word Kanae spoke was a set of instructions meant for him.
The missing people are still alive.
Kondo, I'm counting on you! Find them and take them away.
I'll handle things here.
Despite having known each other for less than a day, the unspoken understanding between humans allowed them to communicate with a single exchange of glances.
Naturally, the demon before her failed to notice this. Its hands lunged forward suddenly, relying on its hardened, impenetrable body to assault Kanae. The young swordswoman did not shrink back; she gritted her teeth, swinging her blade to meet the attack head-on.
Meanwhile, the heavily injured swordsman endured the excruciating pain. Taking advantage of the demon's attention being drawn away by Kanae, he used staggering willpower to crawl away, hugging the ground as he slithered into the shadows.
Once he had disappeared into the darkness of the dense forest, Kanae began to shift her combat strategy. She needed to buy as much time as possible. Abandoning all thoughts of a powerful offensive, she pushed the fluid grace of Flower Breathing to its absolute limit.
Faced with the demon's rapid attacks—sacrificing power for accuracy—she raised her sword to parry and counter, fighting and retreating simultaneously. When confronted with heavy blows she couldn't block, she chose to use the momentum to spin away, avoiding any direct clash of strength.
She was like a petal drifting in a storm, dancing between the demon's claws and the trunks of the forest trees. Sometimes fluttering, sometimes circling. The blade and the demon's iron claws constantly clashed, sending blinding sparks into the air.
But Kanae was, ultimately, a mortal. Her defense could not be seamless. As time passed, her haori began to fray, and several wounds opened on her body, steadily seeping blood.
Yet, her eyes remained calm.
The demon had clearly noticed the change in her fighting strategy. And yet, it continued its reckless, relentless assault...
She was waiting for Kondo to rescue the missing victims and for the reinforcements summoned by the Kasugai Crow. But what was the demon doing? Was it simply brainless? Or was it waiting for her stamina to run out?
Just as Kanae was pondering this, a commotion erupted from deep within the woods! It was a mixture of woodcutters' cries, a swordsman's roar, and the sound of timber being violently splintered.
The rescue was a success!
The demon froze for a moment, then realized what had happened. It erupted in a towering rage. Its offensive suddenly became even more frenzied.
Though the pressure on Kanae intensified, she felt a wave of relief. At least the people were saved.
Soon, Kondo appeared, guarding seven or eight emaciated and terrified woodcutters as they retreated from behind a pile of logs. Several "wooden hounds" conjured by a Blood Demon Art were relentlessly lunging at them.
"Look out!"
Dodging a heavy punch from the demon, the girl suddenly dashed toward the crowd. She swung her sword, but the arc of light was a step too late. An old man trailing at the back was tackled by a wooden hound; his screams were cut short instantly.
"You bastard!"
Kondo's eyes threatened to burst with fury, but he was powerless to help. He looked at the trembling sword in his hand, then at the terror-stricken crowd. Those helpless eyes reminded him of his younger sister, whom he had failed to protect many years ago.
After working with Kanae to slay and repel the hounds, the two stood back-to-back, facing off against the remaining beasts in the forest.
To defeat this demon, the hounds, and protect all these civilians... a sliver of despair finally rose in the swordsman's heart.
"Senior!" he couldn't help but ask the girl. "The reinforcements... how much longer?"
Kanae remained silent. Naturally, she didn't know either.
As if possessed by a cruel sense of playfulness, the demon did not rush to resume the fight. Instead, it began to approach them with slow, deliberate steps.
Seeing this, Kondo took a deep breath, his gaze becoming resolute. Since he failed to protect the person he wanted to keep safe last time, this time, he could at least stall for a few moments for his senior. Speaking of which, if his sister hadn't died, she would have been exactly the same age as her.
Kondo was about to take a step forward when he was blocked by the girl's body.
"Go south, Kondo-kun," she said calmly. "Don't look back."
"But..."
"This is an order from a Rank Tsuchinoe swordsman."
The swordsman still hesitated, but Kanae's next words helped him make up his mind.
"With your current strength, Kondo-kun, you won't be able to buy any time at all beyond throwing your life away."
She smiled at the terrified crowd and the blood-stained swordsman, offering a look that brought a sense of peace.
"So, please stay alive, and become stronger in the future."
Kondo's eyes grew red. He turned around and shouted to the civilians, "Move! I'll cover you, move fast!"
Watching Kanae stay behind to cover their retreat, a trace of a smile actually appeared on the demon's hollow face.
"My, what a moving choice, little butterfly."
"Let them run for a bit, it doesn't matter. After all, you won't be able to stop me..."
The demon had been angry a moment ago because she had rescued its food. But after thinking it over, it found this game of cat and mouse quite amusing. After letting the wooden hounds surround Kanae's path of retreat, it spoke slowly: "You don't actually think you can defeat me, do you?"
Kanae was about to answer when she heard a series of slow, heavy footsteps coming from the depths of the forest. The air became even more stifling. Sweat slid down Kanae's forehead.
How could this be...
"You're wasting food again, little brother," a deeper, raspy voice rang out. "We shouldn't let swordsmen discover the nest, ro."
There were two of them?!
Tree trunks were shoved aside by brute force as a much larger and more muscular demon gradually stepped out of the shadows. Its skin had a coarse, granite-like texture, and it carried a grotesque giant axe made of a solid block of obsidian-like material on its shoulder.
Its gaze locked onto Kanae immediately.
"One piece of food... isn't enough to eat, ro."
"It's fine, brother. Let them escape for a while; they'll be healthier if they move around," the lean demon said with a laugh. "After all, fresh, healthy human flesh is the most delicious."
"Right, little butterfly?"
"You're waiting for reinforcements, aren't you? But now it seems... our reinforcements arrived a bit faster."
Kanae's heart sank to the very bottom.