The sun set behind the western mountains, the cold wind was piercing, ten thousand threads of flying snow, the world was caught between black and white, appearing even more desolate.
Under these conditions, without any means of telling direction, it was very difficult to find a path on the steep mountain.
Heavy footsteps stepping on accumulated snow echoed through the empty mountains. A pitch-black figure appeared in the midst of the wind and snow.
Jotaro Kujo shook the snow off his hat. Star Platinum suddenly emerged from behind him, eyes as sharp as a hawk, emitting a cold glint, searching under the pitch-black snowy night.
Although the footprints on the ground had been covered by the snow, Star Platinum still managed to see the traces.
"Walked this way."
He took a cigarette out of his pocket and put it in his mouth.
Both hands were shoved into his pockets. Star Platinum snapped its fingers, and the cigarette instantly lit with a red glow.
"Yare yare..." He looked around. "Why do I have such a bad feeling?"
"Anyway, let's follow her first."
———
Bloodhounds, even in extremely harsh environments, can rely on scent to determine direction.
Under Taro's lead, Yae hurried along while searching for traces of the "bear."
The bloodhound ran wildly in the darkness; the pitch-black environment did not affect his movement ability at all.
As if he smelled something, Taro let out a "woof woof" bark. Yae tightened her grip on her hunting rifle and quickly followed.
A shadow darted through the forest. Taro's voice instantly became alert.
"Woof woof woof!"
"Who!" Yae also became nervous and raised the hunting rifle in her hand.
"It's me."
Jotaro pushed away the rifle pointed at him, his light green eyes fixed on the girl; the black background made his eyes even brighter.
"Why are you here?" Yae breathed a sigh of relief, put away her gun, and asked.
"Taking a walk after dinner," Jotaro replied indifferently.
Yae obviously didn't believe him and said, "Go back quickly. The mountain at night is very dangerous."
"Oh?" Jotaro replied, "Then why are you out at this time?"
Yae pursed her lips, her expression a bit pained, and said, "I want to avenge everyone."
She suddenly looked up and said impatiently, "Why am I telling you this anyway? You're so annoying. Go back already!"
Jotaro was a bit angry, but the target of his anger wasn't this girl. He had more or less guessed what had happened to the girl.
As the saying goes, grudges have owners, debts have payers.
This account must be settled with Muzan
He looked at the girl with a blank expression and said, "Why should I listen to a stinky little girl like you?"
Just then, Taro suddenly let out an agitated bark.
"Taro!" Yae immediately became tense and looked toward where Taro was.
She saw a big, burly demon with two horns pouncing on Taro, ready to bite into his neck.
Any hunter must have a steady hand when holding a gun, that's a basic skill.
However, at that moment, the hand Yae used to hold her rifle couldn't help but tremble.
The demon in front of her was the "bear" she spoke of, the one who devoured her comrades. But now, facing him in person, she still couldn't bring herself to pull the trigger.
The hunting dog that had accompanied her since childhood was about to have its head ripped off by the demon, and she was still hesitating.
"Dad…"
Boom!
A black figure slammed into the demon. The demon pouncing on Taro was instantly sent flying.
Yae's eyes returned to focus, and she snapped awake.
'What happened! I clearly didn't shoot!'
"Even if it's an unlovable dog, I can't just watch it die a miserable death."
From behind her came Jotaro's calm voice. Jotaro walked over slowly, hands in his coat pockets, the hem of his coat fluttering in the cold wind.
As soon as it broke free from the demon's grip, Taro, as if frightened, instantly ran toward the two of them.
Its instinct told it that being next to Jotaro was the safest. At this moment, it no longer cared that Jotaro had beaten it earlier, it immediately shrank behind Jotaro.
Seeing this scene, a flash of loneliness and pain appeared in Yae's eyes. She bit her lip hard. Her childhood friend, almost killed by her hesitation, nearly died at the demon's hands. To be hated must be natural.
"Things that are lost won't come back. Hesitation will only make you lose more."
Jotaro's eyes looked at the demon below, which had already recovered its wounds.
"He's no longer your family."
"How do you know…"
Before Yae could finish speaking, the demon roared and charged at the two of them at great speed.
The previous hesitation had nearly caused an irreversible outcome. This time, her gaze became firm. She pulled the trigger.
The bullet from the hunting rifle shattered the demon's skull, and also shattered the girl's fragile heart. Crystal tears flowed from the corners of her eyes. Scenes of warm past memories flashed before her eyes.
"Dad…"
However, such injuries meant nothing to a demon. It merely shattered the skull, and such a minor wound would recover in an instant.
Yae was shocked. The demon roared and charged straight at her, knocking her to the ground.
She used the rifle to block the demon's mouth. Staring at the fierce and unfamiliar face, tears of pain streamed uncontrollably down her cheeks like pearls.
"Why… back then… didn't you just eat me too?"
Jotaro quietly watched. If the demon could, like Nezuko, resist the urge to eat people, he wouldn't have executed it.
Even though the demon showed a moment of hesitation, the next second it opened its bloody mouth and bit down on the girl.
"Ora!"
Star Platinum's fist smashed squarely into the demon's face, sending it flying.
If Nezuko had tried to kill him back then, he would've done the same.
Even if that would've made him sad, ever since he was a child, he was the kind of man who never hesitated at critical moments.
All the anger he couldn't release would be counted on Muzan!
"Ora ora ora ora ora ora ora!"
A sky-filling barrage of punches from Star Platinum rendered the demon instantly immobile.
Even though it looked perfectly intact on the outside, all of its internal organs had been destroyed. He hadn't killed the demon, but with such injuries, there was no way it could recover before dawn.
Jotaro believed the demon's fate should be left to the girl to decide.
The demon flying out caught Yae off guard. Her body suddenly felt light, and she quickly climbed to her feet and stumbled over to the demon.
At this moment, the demon was only lying on the ground howling and did not attack her.
Yae didn't know what had happened, but the current appearance of her "father" left her no room to think.
In an injured state, a demon's appetite is at its peak.
Those crimson, bloodshot eyes were full of savagery, there was no longer a trace of the gentle father of the past.
Yae closed her eyes, raised her rifle, and murmured, "If you can't turn back from a demon… then at least let me, as a hunter, kill you."
She pulled the trigger, trying to give her father relief. But a hunter's bullets cannot kill a demon.
Jotaro already understood the girl's choice.
At the moment the bullet left the muzzle, Star Platinum's figure appeared beside it.
He reached out his finger and touched the high-speed bullet, the Ripple energy transferred through his fingers. Even though Ripple transfers poorly through solid objects, for an injured demon, even a little was fatal.
Everything happened in a flash, the golden flicker of Ripple merged with the muzzle flash.
The bullet struck the demon's body, the moment it touched its blood, the Ripple spread through its body.
The demon's body gradually turned to ash and disappeared before Yae's eyes.
It was finally over…
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