The grotesque demon had been captured during the Edo period by the former Water Hashira, Urokodaki, and sealed within the grounds of the Final Selection.
It had endured there stubbornly, surviving long enough to devour fifty people. Because it hated Urokodaki, the one who had captured it, it made a special target of the disaster-warding fox masks carved by him. Supremely confident in the toughness of its own neck, it could rightly be called the most powerful and vicious demon on Mount Fujikasane.
In the dead of night, dust and smoke filled the air.
A flash of lightning sheared off one of the grotesque demon's arms. Someone caught the unconscious Kuroba and pulled back at once.
"Hm?"
The demon stood frozen for a moment, not yet understanding what had happened.
Beyond the blinding lightning, there was also a heavy scent of blood.
Not human blood.
It looked ahead.
As the lightning faded, a woman in a crimson haori rose slowly to her feet, long sword lowered in one hand, its blade gleaming gold. On the other side, Shinazugawa laid Kuroba gently on the ground, his face twisted with fury.
"Didn't think there was still another piece of trash hiding in here!"
"Oh?" the grotesque demon said. "Another Thunder Breathing swordsman."
In just that brief span of time, the arm that had been severed had already regenerated.
"These days, are Thunder Breathing swordsmen really so common? Hey, woman—what era is it now?"
Sui did not answer.
She was looking at the bloodstained Nichirin Blade lying on the ground.
From the blade she could sense the echo of thunder, which meant its former owner had also been a user of Thunder Breathing.
"Trash. I'll kill you!"
Shinazugawa flew into a rage, but a slender wrist barred his way.
The girl turned her head slightly. Every single lash over her closed eyes was sharply visible.
"Step back," she said softly.
It was the tone of an order. Ordinarily, Shinazugawa would never have obeyed such a thing.
But this time, he lowered his iron shears and retreated, leaving the space to Sui.
"Who helped you hide yourself on Mount Fujikasane?" Sui asked.
"Hah? What the hell are you muttering about, you little brat?" the grotesque demon sneered. "And you still haven't answered me. What year is it now?"
Sui swung her blade.
Before the grotesque demon could react, she had cut off every one of its arms.
The air filled with blood and mist.
At the center of that crimson haze, the huge demon roared, "Impudent little brat!"
The severed stumps wriggled and regrew. The bluish-gray arms fused together, then shot forward like a cannonball. Sui swung her blade again, the cut steady and powerful, splitting the thickest arm cleanly down the middle.
"The Demon Slayer Corps regularly sweeps Mount Fujikasane to prevent demons that have survived too long from endangering the candidates. No demon could hide here for this long."
She stepped forward, and before the grotesque demon could react, she drove in close and sliced away the cluster of arms protecting its neck.
"It hurts! It hurts so much! You... you...!"
The grotesque demon's eyes filled with fear as it stared at Sui.
In that instant, the woman looking down at it overlapped with the memory of a Hashira swordsman veiled in mist and water, coldly staring it down.
This woman...
She hadn't even used Breathing Techniques?
"Who was it?" Sui asked again.
"What 'who'? What are you talking about, brat? I don't understand a damn thing!"
The grotesque demon suddenly burst with brute force, but lightning exploded across its body. Dark-violet serpents of electricity gnawed at its flesh, tearing into its torso—
and yet never once severing its head.
The full moon hung high overhead.
Then slowly tilted toward the horizon.
From midnight until dawn, lightning continued to devour the grotesque demon's body. Its powerful regenerative ability had become the very source of its suffering. The rotting stench mixed with the charred scent of burnt flesh was so foul that one whiff was enough to make a person want to vomit up everything in their stomach.
Shinazugawa watched the scene with clear approval.
"Cutting its head off would've been way too easy on a piece of garbage like this! This is exactly what it deserves. Damn, that's a good method!"
He even found himself considering whether Wind Breathing could reproduce this kind of relentless torment, chewing away at a demon's flesh over and over. After some thought, he concluded that Wind Breathing might actually be even better suited for turning demon-slaying into torture.
At last, Sui sheathed her sword and stepped away from the ruined mound of flesh.
Not because she had gotten the answer she wanted.
Because dawn had arrived.
Sunlight fell across the grotesque demon's mangled body and quickly burned it down to ash. After a whole night of torment, the demon did not even have enough strength left to utter one final word.
Sui took out her sachet, about to fasten it to her haori to dispel the stench clinging to her—
and then suddenly froze.
Behind the burning remains of the grotesque demon, mist began to rise.
She saw a great round boulder.
Seated atop it was a man with flesh-colored hair wearing a fox mask. In front of him stood a girl even smaller than Kuroba Chiyo, and the two of them were looking at Sui. Behind them, more figures were emerging through the mist—other swordsmen, all wearing fox masks.
What... was this?
Sui opened her eyes.
A deep blue shimmer pooled within them as she activated her Mystic Eyes at once.
But the cracks that should have appeared across all things did not appear.
The scene before her was like a blank white sheet of paper.
The man with the flesh-colored hair leapt down from the boulder, while the little girl waved to her.
It was a gesture of farewell.
Then the mist thickened, and all of those figures vanished.
The rotting stench drifted back into Sui's nose.
She realized she was standing exactly where she had been before.
"And even after all that, you still got no answer? That demon really was that stubborn?" Shinazugawa's voice rang out.
Sui closed her eyes again and fell silent for a moment.
"It's possible it really knew nothing," she said at last. "Maybe it was just a demon obsessed with revenge."
"Impossible," Shinazugawa said immediately. "A body that huge couldn't possibly have avoided the Demon Slayer Corps' mountain sweeps."
"Um... you two..."
A weak voice called out.
Kuroba Chiyo had awakened. She had seen the final moments of Sui killing the grotesque demon, and the gratitude in her gaze was unmistakable—but there was no light left in her eyes, as though their spirit had already faded.
"If you're awake, then stop moving around, idiot!" Shinazugawa snapped.
The girl smiled faintly at them both.
"Thank you, both of you, for saving my life. Once I return, I will tell my master that the nightmare which haunted us has finally been put to rest."
Shinazugawa crossed his arms and looked away as if it had nothing to do with him.
Sui crouched down and gently touched the girl's forehead.
"Turn around, Shinazugawa."
"What now?" Shinazugawa clenched his fists. He was already fed up with how casually this woman kept ordering him around.
Sui tilted her head and smiled.
"Naturally, I need to loosen her clothing and bandage her wounds. Or is it that Shinazugawa enjoys peeking at girls' bodies?"
"You—!"
Shinazugawa drew in a deep breath, repeating to himself: Calm down. Calm down.
He did not turn around.
He simply leapt away.
"You're badly hurt," Sui said as she loosened Kuroba Chiyo's clothing and carefully examined the state of her bones and the organs in her lower abdomen. "Your right arm has been shattered beyond repair, and I'd say nearly half your internal organs have been crushed by the impact."
In other words—
the girl could no longer be a swordsman.
And yet there was no disappointment on Kuroba Chiyo's face.
She merely shook her head and said, "You're beautiful."
"My name is Sui. That was Shinazugawa. Don't let his face scare you—he's actually a very good person."
Sui's hands moved gently as she checked the girl's injuries, while Kuroba Chiyo studied Sui's face in turn.
Perfect features. Fine skin. A gentle bearing.
A beauty so flawless it scarcely seemed human.
Without question, she was the most beautiful woman Kuroba had ever seen.
The only regret was her eyes—closed tightly, making one unable to help wondering what kind of magnificent irises lay hidden beneath those lids.
"I see. Thank you for the compliment," Sui said, helping Kuroba Chiyo dress again.
"There's no medicine on this mountain, and no one here to care for the wounded. I'll contact the outside for you. Leave the mountain and recover."
"No." Kuroba Chiyo shook her head. "As long as I stay here for the full seven days, I can still become an official member. I won't give up on slaying demons. It's not only my wish—it's also Master Urokodaki's hope."
Sui listened to the girl's breath, and understood once again that everyone who chose to enter the Demon Slayer Corps carried a story behind that resolve.
And those stories were usually heavy ones.
"All right," Sui said.
"This mountain—and the surrounding area—no longer has any demons left. All you need to do is endure the remaining five days. No demon can threaten this place now."
She handed over the food she had been carrying.
"This is enough to get you through five days."
"Then... what will you eat?"
"I can hunt. There are plenty of wild rabbits in the mountains," Sui answered with a smile. Then she gently patted the girl's head and rose to leave.
"Goodbye, little one."
Hunt...
Wild rabbits?
Yes.
Narumi Sakuya had said the same thing.
Thunder Breathing was well suited to hunting.
Kuroba Chiyo thought of the boy who had died protecting her, and only now, in the quiet that followed, did she finally break down into loud, helpless sobs.
Sui would not help her any more than this.
That, too, was a kind of respect.
Beyond the forest lay an open clearing.
There, Shinazugawa was roasting five plump wild rabbits over a charcoal fire, each skewered on a branch. Judging from the number, he must have wiped out an entire rabbit family in one go. Fat dripped and hissed into the flames, filling the air with a mouthwatering aroma. Sui drew in a small breath through her nose and felt as though every bone in her body had softened.
"Oh, there you are! Two of these are yours!"
Shinazugawa was already gnawing on one, oil smeared across the corner of his mouth, as he held out a roasted rabbit.
"Rabbits are so cute. How could anyone bear to eat rabbits?" Sui said.
Shinazugawa frowned.
By now he had realized that whenever this woman opened her mouth, nonsense was about to follow.
"They should all be mine, actually."
Of course, he thought flatly. Not surprised in the slightest.
The man snatched the roasted rabbits back at once.
But his movements were not faster than Sui's.
And certainly not faster than lightning.
"You damned woman! Hey! Don't grab! I'll give you two—two, okay? Still not enough? Stop grabbing! Fine, one! Leave me one! Ah! You idiot!"
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 150)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 110)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter69)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter100)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 60
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 40
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 60
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 50
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 50
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 50
The Way the Umamusume Look at 31
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 26
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