The sudden appearance of a Demon made Shinichi halt in his tracks.
Instinctively, his hand reached for the hilt of his Nichirin Blade as Forest Breathing activated, gathering the power of vitality.
But then, the words of Shinjuro admonition echoed in his ears and Shinichi forcibly stopped himself from drawing the blade.
The Demons in Mount Fujikasane were targets left for the final selection of the other demonslayer candidate. His mission wasn't to exterminate these weak Demons but to eliminate those that exceeded the standard.
However, Shinichi couldn't simply ignore the Demon charging straight at him.
Now, the dilemma of whether to kill or not weighed on him. But while Shinichi hesitated, the Demon, driven mad by hunger, showed no such restraint.
It lunged at him, jaws wide open to bite.
BAM!!
What happened next was utterly shocking.
The ravenous Demon suddenly froze in place, its claws dropping limply.
Torrents of blood gushed from its body, quickly soaking the ground beneath it.
A glance at the Demon head revealed nothing above its neck—no trace of a head remained.
A large hand with black talons gripped the remnants of the Demon neck, covered in fragments of its shattered skull.
Shinichi right eye, once peach-colored, was now replaced by a crimson orb with a black vertical pupil, radiating icy, terrifying killing intent.
Veins bulged faintly beneath his skin and his lips parted slightly, revealing four sharp fangs gleaming with a sinister chill.
If he couldn't use his Nichirin Blade to slay these weak Demons, then he might as well unleash his Demon power to crush their foolish skulls.
Squelch!
He casually released the headless Demon corpse, which twitched sporadically as blood continued to spurt from its neck.
Faint tendrils of flesh wriggled at the severed stump—clearly, this Demon wasn't dead yet.
Whether it could recover in this state was its own problem, Shinichi had no interest in the fate of a mere Demon.
His crimson gaze turned toward the depths of the forest, where more lurking Demons hid.
At that moment, countless hidden Demons witnessed Shinichi sudden outburst—how he crushed a Demon skull in an instant.
The horde was horrified.
Just a second ago, he had seemed like an ordinary, handsome human boy.
How could he now exude such terrifying Demon energy?
He seemed more like a Demon than they did!
But for the Demons of Mount Fujikasane, this was only the beginning of their nightmare.
***
"Run! Run! Run! What kind of monster is that?! Where did it come from?! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"
In the forest, a one-eyed Demon fled in terror as if it had seen a ghost.
An enlarged eyeball on the back of its head, bloodshot with fear, frantically scanned its surroundings.
Under the pale moonlight, the sight of the fleeing Demon was especially eerie.
Despite its desperate prayers to avoid encountering that monster, the eyeball on the back of its head suddenly bulged—it had spotted a figure in turquoise-green rushing toward it at incredible speed.
"Impossible!! How is he so fast?!" the one-eyed Demon screamed in despair.
Realizing escape was futile, it steeled itself and turned to face the approaching figure.
"I'll fight you to the death!! Blood Demon Art: Exploding Eye!" the one-eyed Demon roared, then gouged out its own eyeball and hurled it violently at the turquoise-green figure.
BOOM!!
The moment the eyeball collided with the green figure, a deafening explosion erupted, followed by a fireball and billowing smoke.
Meanwhile, the One-Eyed Demon had already grown a new eyeball in its socket.
It nervously stared into the swirling dust, unaware of the age-old rule that smoke without injury is just for show.
When it saw a pair of glowing eyes—one crimson and the other turquoise—emerge from the smoke, despair set in.
Before the demon could pluck out another eyeball, CRACK!! Its body was folded in half like a stack of blocks, its legs collapsing to its knees as its face was pinned down by a clawed black hand.
Shinichi licked his fangs (a little habit after demonization) with his tongue, his crimson right eye examining the bisected demon with mild interest.
"I didn't expect to find a demon in Fujikasane Mountain capable of using a Blood Demon Art. Judging by your appearance, you must've eaten over a dozen people, huh?"
The pinned demon had long lost its initial ferocity, now begging like a beaten dog.
"Master! Spare me, Master! It wasn't easy for me to get this far! I don't want to die! Please, have mercy! Let me be your slave! Don't kill me! I beg you!"
Shinichi chuckled, baring his fangs as he coldly refused.
"Sorry, but you're too ugly. I have no interest in keeping an eyesore like you as a slave. Besides, after searching for half the night, you're the only one I've found who knows a Blood Demon Art and since I'm hungry—I won't hold back."
With a darkly playful "Itadakimasu," Shinichi activated his Blood Demon Art: Life Drain.
A green vine instantly sprouted from his palm, piercing the demon skull with ease.
A powerful suction force drained the creature dry in an instant.
CRUNCH!
With a casual squeeze, the desiccated head and body crumbled into ash. Shinichi crimson gaze turned toward the depths of Fujikasane Mountain.
"This efficiency is still too low. Half a night and I've only cleared a small section of the mountain, eliminating just five overqualified demons. At this rate, seven days won't be enough."
Still, the sheer number of demons on Fujikasane Mountain surprised him.
There were far too many—though most were weak, their numbers were excessive.
Even an experienced Demon Slayer Corps swordsman wouldn't be guaranteed to survive seven days here unscathed, let alone the fresh recruits undergoing Final Selection.
As Shinichi hunted down the stronger demons, he couldn't help but question the fairness of this selection process.
Was it too extreme?
No wonder Elder Moriki had told him that while dozens or even hundreds might participate in Final Selection, only a handful ever walked out alive after seven days.
The mortality rate was far too high.
Shinichi shook his head.
When he met the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps, he'd have to bring up the absurdity of this Final Selection. But that was a matter for later.
For now, his task was to keep hunting down those hidden, overqualified demons.
Shinichi raised his head, locking onto a certain direction.
In his crimson eyes, the aura of his kind was unusually distinct.
Among dozens of weak auras, two exceptionally powerful ones quietly hid within.
"Hehehe, got you."
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