Chapter 14 — The Proud, Solitary Swordsman
"Oh my, oh my—not thirty-five," Akatsunuma corrected lightly, her voice still playful.
"It was thirty-seven~"
"You bastard!!"
Despite her flippant tone, Akatsunuma's body was already edging back toward the water, step by step, ready to bolt at any moment.
She did have some real strength—but surviving while roaming from place to place, leaving massacres behind, wasn't because she enjoyed head-on fights. Her true specialty was running the instant things turned bad.
Being able to eat thirty-seven people in one go this time was pure luck. That village had just been holding a festival; more than half the villagers were dead drunk and unconscious. A perfect feast.
All things considered… she'd probably eaten over fifty people by now.
Does that count as finishing the task?
When will I finally meet that lord again… maybe he'll grant me some of his blood…
"Hey! Let's team up and kill her together!"
"We can't let her escape!"
The three Demon Slayer members grew agitated, blades raised as they prepared to surround Akatsunuma.
"If she fully digests all that flesh and blood, she'll only get worse! We have to kill her here and now!"
"There's no need."
Asuka's voice was cold and hoarse—detached, carrying an unmistakable finality.
"This is my fight. I'll finish it myself."
"What did you say?!"
The short-haired swordsman blurted out, disbelief and anger written all over his face.
"Do you even know what a demon that's eaten dozens of people is—?!"
"Rintarō!" the leading youth snapped, stopping him with a sharp look—and subtly motioning toward Akatsunuma.
He'd already noticed it.
Her feet were inching closer to the stream. Every movement screamed escape.
And that boy's gaze—was locked precisely on her retreat.
He saw through her…
He's afraid that if we rush in together, she'll panic and run…
The leader frowned deeply.
This is too dangerous. How can one person handle a demon like this alone…
But Asuka understood.
If they all charged at once, Akatsunuma wouldn't fight—she'd flee immediately.
The only way to keep her here…
…was to bait her with his life.
"Heeheehee…"
Akatsunuma laughed delightedly, eyes gleaming.
"Oh my, looks like the little humans are arguing~ How wonderful!!"
She slammed her claws together.
"Blood Demon Art — Thousand Needle Hell!"
HUM—! SHK! SHK! SHK!
The dark-red fungal mat still clinging to the ground suddenly boiled violently!
Countless sharp blood spikes—formed from viscous, coagulated gore—erupted without warning from beneath Asuka and the three swordsmen!
At the same time, even more spikes rapidly took shape in midair, preparing to rain down like a crimson storm!
The leading youth reacted instantly.
"Second Form — Water Wheel!"
His Nichirin blade whirled as surging waves burst forth, shredding countless blood spikes and carving out a narrow zone of safety around him.
But that was all he could do—barely protect himself, unable to cover the others.
Rintarō hacked down several spikes, only for a viciously angled one to graze his arm. His movement stalled instantly.
The female swordswoman cried out—she barely dodged, yet was forced into a desperate retreat.
As for Asuka—
Though the fungal mat near his feet had already been cleared, being closest to Akatsunuma meant he faced the heaviest barrage of all!
He snapped his Bakudatsu forward—
A ring of emerald wind blades exploded outward from his body once more!
The roaring cyclone surged skyward, pulverizing dozens of incoming blood spikes in an instant—
—but there were simply too many, spread across too wide an area!
THUD!
THUD!
Two razor-fast blood spikes pierced through gaps in the wind and slammed into his body!
"Tch—!"
Asuka staggered, blood immediately soaking through his clothes. The sheer impact nearly sent him flying.
Seeing him wounded, anxiety flashed through the leader's eyes. He desperately cut down more incoming spikes, trying to force his way over to help.
"Don't come any closer!"
Asuka forced himself upright through the pain and let out a thunderous roar.
The sheer ferocity of it made the Demon Slayer members who were about to intervene freeze in place.
Even Akatsunuma was taken aback—then she burst into warped laughter.
"Hahaha! Good, good! I was planning to slip away quietly, but who would've thought I'd run into such a stubborn little brat! You must be delicious!"
Her hands danced once more.
Within the fungal mire, even more blood spikes began to coalesce.
Asuka no longer paid any attention to the three behind him.
All of his focus sank into the blade in his hands—the Asauchi.
[…Call my name…]
"…Not yet."
He felt the blade's intent, but he rejected its urging.
His lungs—pierced by the Blood Demon Art—burned like red-hot iron.
Every breath tore at him with searing pain.
And yet, Asuka inhaled deeper, harder.
"Total Concentration—"
The wind all around him began to tremble, drawn greedily into his body.
Emerald spirals of air erupted around him, compressing and screaming as they whirled violently!
Within that storm…
Was a gray-black fury—an even more savage power, rising from the depths of his soul.
"Oh?" Akatsunuma's pupils shrank as she sensed the sudden surge of danger. The mockery drained from her face.
"Going all out, are you?"
She seized full control of the mire.
In an instant, every blood spike shot skyward like coiled vipers, all aimed squarely at Asuka.
"Die, you little runt!"
"Wind Breathing — Eighth Form—"
Asuka's figure blurred.
He launched forward like an arrow released from the bow.
In that instant, he ignored the mire's pulling grip.
Ignored the blood streaming down his body.
Ignored the countless spikes rushing toward him.
There was only one target—
Akatsunuma's head.
"—Primary Gale Slash!"
WHOOM—BOOM!!
A violently raging tempest erupted from the ground!
Asuka became a black-and-green tornado, spinning forward with world-rending force, executing relentless rotational slashes as he charged!
BAM! BAM! BAM—!
Every blood spike that touched the storm drill was obliterated on contact!
For the first time, genuine terror surfaced on Akatsunuma's face.
She knew instantly—this was bad.
A demon who survived by fleeing reacted without hesitation.
She poured every ounce of power into her legs, preparing to dive into the stream and escape as a streak of dark current—
—but she was too late.
A flash of steel.
The howling wind drill overtook her in a heartbeat, tearing through the blood-forged armor coating her body as if it were paper.
Bone-deep agony exploded through every cell of her being.
"GAAAH—!!!"
Demons struck by Wind Breathing suffered immensely.
Those who wielded it were beings who loathed demons to their core—people who tore them apart alive.
And worse—
Asuka's wind carried more than just breathing techniques.
It bore his predatory spiritual pressure—a hunger that devoured, a force that chewed and crushed everything in its path.
Akatsunuma let out the most agonized scream of her existence.
Even the three Demon Slayers in the distance felt a chill crawl down their spines.
Ghastly wounds rapidly surfaced along her pale neck.
Asuka knew—Wind Breathing alone wasn't always enough to kill a demon outright.
And his Asauchi, still unreleased, was only a special spiritual blade. If he failed to finish her cleanly, disaster could follow.
So, while Akatsunuma was completely helpless—
He drew the old Nichirin blade once more.
Riding the remaining momentum of the Eighth Form, he slashed cleanly across her shattered neck.
Slash.
Asuka reappeared several meters behind her, back turned, casually flicking the filth from his Nichirin blade.
Sss—
The thin red line across Akatsunuma's neck finally split apart.
Her head slid slowly from her shoulders.
The moment it hit the ground, her body burned away like a wax figure set aflame—breaking down into thick black smoke and a stench of scorched decay before vanishing entirely.
Until the very end, she never understood how she had died so suddenly—
at the hands of an unknown nobody.
Asuka sheathed his blade.
Only his calm, solitary back remained on the battlefield.