Chapter 5 — Giyu Tomioka
By the time the black-haired youth reached the mountain, it was already deep into the night. The surroundings were so dark that one could not see their own hand before their face.
But as the Water Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, he had undergone "night combat" training. Even in the darkest night, he could rely on his night vision, hearing, and perception to battle demons.
Or rather, since demons were generally active at night, "night combat" was practically a mandatory skill for every Demon Slayer.
Following the mountain path upward, it took the black-haired youth only a little over ten minutes to reach his destination.
Even before he got close, a wave of heat washed over him, lingering in the air…
The atmosphere was thick with the intense scent of flames, the black-haired youth's brows furrowed even tighter.
Only upon arriving at the scene could he truly grasp just how terrifying the pillar of fire he had seen from the town below had been.
This was far beyond the level of a Hashira…
"What exactly happened here? Why would someone be fighting here…"
At this point, the youth had already ruled out the possibility that the one responsible belonged to the Demon Slayer Corps.
Even the previous Flame Hashira could not have possessed such strength.
Suppressing the scorching air, the youth stepped forward onto mud soaked with melted snow, advancing toward the source of the heat.
As he drew closer, the moisture beneath his feet became scarcer, and the ground gradually turned sticky.
When there was no trace of water left in the soil, each step he took produced only the sound of dry earth and stone cracking apart.
Staring at the parched, fissured ground beneath him, the youth could hardly imagine this was the summit of a snow-covered mountain.
Yet the next sight before him was even more horrifying.
Charred craters radiating terrifying heat. Vast stretches of obsidian-like glass formed from cooled magma. Shattered, fractured earth. Massive, horrifying whip marks gouged into the ground…
Each detail tugged at the threads of the youth's sanity.
"What… exactly happened here?!"
For the first time, the usually silent and aloof young man revealed a look of confusion and shock.
Taking a few more steps forward, Giyu Tomioka finally saw what he had been searching for…
A person!
A boy of around fifteen or sixteen, emaciated to the extreme, lay collapsed on the ground. His face was twisted in pain.
The black-haired youth hurried to the boy's side and checked him.
Good. Still alive!
He noticed the sword lying beside the boy, yet the boy was not wearing a Demon Slayer uniform.
And with that body—no sturdier than a bamboo pole—Giyu found it hard to believe he could even be a Demon Slayer.
"Was he fighting something just now…"
"No, impossible. It couldn't have been him. There must have been someone else!" Giyu reached a conclusion almost instantly.
The reason was simple—he was far too thin!
If Giyu hadn't known the boy was still breathing, anyone else might have suspected he had starved to death.
Even within the Demon Slayer Corps, many who appeared slender were actually packed with muscle beneath the surface.
But what Giyu saw here was nothing but skin stretched over bones, almost devoid of any visible fat.
Unless he were a demon, a physique like that simply couldn't fight—let alone cause such catastrophic destruction!
After checking on the first boy, Giyu soon discovered another boy, about twelve or thirteen years old. He appeared to have suffered internal injuries and had fainted, but thankfully he was still alive as well.
Aside from them, only five bodies remained—cold and lifeless.
Silently, Giyu dug a large grave. He carefully arranged their clothing and faces, then carried them one by one into the pit lined with pine branches.
When he placed the four small children beside their mother, positioning them at her left and right, his eyes nearly split with fury. His hatred for demons deepened even further…
In the end, all he could leave behind was a single sentence:
"I'm sorry… I arrived too late."
When the pine branches were laid over them and the soil formed a mound, Giyu returned to the house. Beside him lay two boys and a girl.
The girl, however, was tightly bound. Giyu's gaze remained fixed on her at all times, as if guarding against something…
When Ken slowly regained consciousness and felt the pain radiating throughout his entire body, he sucked in a sharp breath.
"Hiss…"
"You're awake."
The moment Ken opened his eyes, he saw Giyu Tomioka's face hovering in front of him.
To be honest, Ken didn't recognize him immediately.
"You are…" Ken was about to say You're Giyu Tomioka, but Giyu interrupted him.
"My name is Giyu Tomioka."
Ken nodded. Yeah, I know.
"Can you tell me what happened here?" Giyu asked.
Ken thought for a moment, then decided to tell the truth.
After all, in this world, the only real villain was the demons. Everyone else was basically on the same side.
Besides, he had already completely offended Kibutsuji Muzan—the progenitor of demons and Demon King—under the identity of "Yoriichi Tsugikuni's reincarnation." There wasn't much left to hide.
Though there were certain things he still wouldn't reveal…
So Ken recounted how he had slashed Kibutsuji Muzan half to death with one strike, roasted him half-cooked with another, and then—due to a moment of carelessness—failed to finish him off, allowing Muzan to escape.
After hearing the entire story, Giyu wore a blank expression.
He wasn't sure whether Ken hadn't fully woken up yet, or if he himself was hallucinating from staying up all night.
"You… I see."
Seeing Giyu's calm demeanor, Ken scratched his head, feeling like he hadn't explained himself clearly.
That was Kibutsuji Muzan! The progenitor of demons! The Demon King—Kibutsuji Muzan!!!
What was with that indifferent expression?
Being cool was one thing, but wasn't this a bit too cool? Couldn't you at least look surprised?
While Ken wondered why Giyu remained expressionless after hearing about him "thrashing" Muzan, Giyu's inner thoughts were equally active.
Outwardly he had said I see, but inwardly he had already concluded that Ken was bragging—and doing so without even drafting a script!
Kid, you really dare to say anything, don't you?
Do you even know who Kibutsuji Muzan is?!
You dare make up stories like that—aren't you afraid a demon will knock on your door at night?
Still, from Ken's account, Giyu could roughly piece together what he believed to be the "real" situation.
The likely truth was this: a very powerful demon—probably one of the Twelve Kizuki, perhaps even an Upper Rank—had attacked this mountain family.
A powerful swordsman passing by happened to witness the attack and intervened to save them.
In the end, the demon was no match for that swordsman and fled. The swordsman, unwilling to let more people fall victim, chased after it.
"Yes… that must be it." Giyu nodded to himself internally.
As for Ken—the apparent outsider who had appeared on the battlefield—Giyu selectively ignored that part.
Regarding the identity of the powerful swordsman, Giyu had several guesses:
First, it could have been a formidable swordsman from the civilian world.
After all, there were always those with exceptional swordsmanship who refused to join the Demon Slayer Corps. They still practiced Breathing techniques, and their strength could rival that of a Hashira.
Second, a retired Hashira.
The Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps were always rotating. Those who had stepped down from the front lines no longer fought demons directly.
But as trainers cultivating the next generation of slayers, their strength remained formidable.
Third, a Demon Slayer hiding their true power.
This last possibility was the least likely, but Giyu still decided he would send word of this incident—and his three hypotheses—back to the Ubuyashiki Estate via his Kasugai Crow to inform the Master.