Azure Fury, Revenge

Early the next morning, a thin mist hung over Mount Sagiri. Sakonji Urokodaki saw the two of them off at the entrance to the mountain path.

Tanjiro carried his specially made wooden box on his back. Nezuko's steady breathing came from inside—after sleeping for the past few days, she seemed to be in a more stable condition. Moyu wore the blue Nichirin Blade at his waist, and his simple pack contained only a few rice balls and some water.

"Please take care of Nezuko, Mr. Urokodaki." Tanjiro bowed deeply to his teacher.

"Mm." Urokodaki nodded, his gaze sweeping over them from behind his mask. "Remember what I told you: come back alive."

"We will!" they said in unison.

As they turned toward the path down the mountain, Moyu glanced back at the silent fox masks. In the sight of his Six Eyes, faint spiritual imprints seemed to linger on them, a farewell and a hope.

[Side quest "Inherited Will" activated. Current kill count: 0]

The system notification sounded at just the right moment.

The journey to Mount Fujikasane took three days. By the time the mountain surrounded by vast swathes of purple Wisteria came into view, dusk had fallen.

Dozens of boys and girls had gathered at the foot of the mountain, ranging in age from thirteen or fourteen to eighteen or nineteen. All carried weapons of various kinds, and their expressions were tense, arrogant, or fearful. Unease and a faint scent of blood hung in the air—the smell of old wounds on many of them.

"So many people..." Tanjiro murmured, his nose twitching. "So many different scents. There's fear, killing intent, and... the smell of demons."

Moyu's Six Eyes swept over the crowd. Most of the participants breathed heavily, their auras uneven. Only a few had steady, powerful breathing, clearly skilled fighters who had undergone rigorous training. He noticed a wild-looking boy in a boar's head mask, bare-chested and shouting at the top of his lungs, as well as a blond boy huddled in a corner, trembling.

"Hey! Are you two here for the trial too?" a voice called from beside them. It belonged to a boy of about seventeen or eighteen, with a cheerful smile and a Nichirin Blade at his waist. "I'm Murata. This is my third time. I didn't last three days either of the first two times, but I'm definitely passing this time!"

"Your third time?" Tanjiro asked in surprise.

"Yeah. As long as you don't die, you can keep trying." Murata gave a wry smile. "But honestly, people who survive their first attempt usually pass when they come back a second time. It's... terrifying in there."

Moyu nodded slightly in greeting. "Moyu. This is Tanjiro."

"Nice to meet you!" Tanjiro bowed politely.

"No need to be so formal. Once we're on the mountain, we'll look out for each other." Murata lowered his voice. "See those flowers? That's Wisteria, the thing demons hate most, so the demons on the mountain can't get out. But we have to spend seven days in there, find our own food, and be on guard against demon attacks at all times..."

As he spoke, two girls in kimonos bearing Wisteria family crests walked over slowly, their faces serene. They bowed slightly to the crowd, and one of them spoke. "Thank you all for coming tonight to participate in the Demon Slayer Corps Final Selection. Many demons captured alive by Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen are imprisoned on Mount Fujikasane. If you can survive here for seven days, you will pass the selection."

"Simple, isn't it?" the other girl continued. "Then please enter the mountain."

As her words faded, the atmosphere turned tense. Some gritted their teeth and charged onto the mountain path first. Others followed after a moment's hesitation, while some, their legs weak, were almost pushed in.

"Let's go," Moyu said to Tanjiro.

"Yeah!"

The moment they stepped onto the mountain path, the rich fragrance of Wisteria filled their noses. Beneath the fragrance, however, Moyu's Six Eyes keenly caught something deeper—countless dark, twisted, ravenous energy fluctuations coming from every corner of the mountain forest.

"Tanjiro," Moyu said, stopping in his tracks. "Let's split up."

"Huh? But—"

"With your strength now, you can handle the vast majority of situations," Moyu said calmly. "Besides, we can save more people if we split up. Remember what Master Urokodaki taught us: judge calmly, and don't be reckless."

Tanjiro looked into Moyu's azure eyes, which seemed capable of seeing through everything. He took a deep breath and nodded firmly. "I understand! You be careful too, Moyu!"

"See you at the foot of the mountain in seven days."

The two parted at a fork in the mountain path. Tanjiro took the path to the left, his figure soon disappearing among the trees. Moyu headed straight into the depths of the forest, his Six Eyes fully active, taking in every movement of energy within several hundred meters.

He had not gone far when a piercing scream and the sound of greedy chewing came from the bushes ahead.

Moyu pushed off the ground and shot forward like an arrow. In a clearing among the trees, a hunched demon with a long tongue dragging on the ground lay over a corpse, feasting. Another boy had collapsed nearby, the crotch of his pants soaked, too frightened to move.

"Fresh snacks..." The demon noticed the movement and turned, its scarlet eyes fixed on Moyu. Its long tongue licked the blood from the corner of its mouth. "Another one delivered—"

Before it could finish, a flash of azure blade light swept past.

The demon froze. Its head slowly slid from its neck, and its body turned to ash.

[Ordinary demon killed ×1. Side quest progress: 1/?]

Moyu did not even break stride. He merely flicked his blade, shaking off blood that was not there. He looked at the terrified boy. "Can you still move?"

"Y-yes..." the boy stammered.

"Go two li east. There's a relatively safe rocky cliff. Spend the night there." With that, Moyu turned and continued on.

The boy stared blankly in the direction Moyu had disappeared, then looked at his companion's remains on the ground. Suddenly, he gritted his teeth, scrambled to his feet, and staggered eastward.

Over the next three days, Moyu advanced through Mount Fujikasane with almost overwhelming force.

His Six Eyes let him sense the presence and strength of demons from hundreds of meters away. Against weaker demons, he often closed in before they noticed him and beheaded them with a single stroke. Stronger ones took only one or two more moves.

The advantages of the Azure Flow Breathing Style were on full display during the trial. He could maintain heightened perception and fight at high intensity for long periods, consuming far less mental energy than an ordinary person. After incorporating the Four Major Principles of Nen, his control over breathing and Cursed Energy had grown increasingly refined, often allowing him to achieve the greatest results at the smallest cost.

Along the way, he saved seven participants who had found themselves in desperate straits. He pulled some directly from the jaws of demons. Others saw only a flash of azure blade light in the distance before the demon pursuing them turned to ash, never even getting a clear look at their rescuer.

[Ordinary demons killed ×23. Side quest progress: 23/?]

[Additional participants rescued: 7. Rewards: Gold coins +350, mental recovery potion (small) ×3]

On the evening of the third day, Moyu took a short rest beside a stream. He gnawed on a dry, hard rice ball while his Six Eyes continued scanning the surroundings.

Suddenly, he stopped.

About a kilometer to the northwest, he sensed an unusual energy fluctuation—several times stronger than an ordinary demon's, though still far from the oppressive, heart-stopping presence of the Twelve Kizuki. More importantly, that energy was mixed with intense resentment and mockery, as well as... a trace of something familiar.

The aura of a fox mask.

Moyu slowly rose and swallowed the last bite of his rice ball. He tightened his grip on the blue Nichirin Blade, a faint azure glow spreading across it. After three days of fighting, its resonance had risen to 27%.

"I've finally found you."

He did not sprint. Instead, he advanced in that direction at a steady pace. His Six Eyes remained locked on the target while he kept watch for possible traps or ambushes.

The closer he got, the clearer that malice became. Moyu could even "hear" the other party's low chuckling, as well as a muttering sound... as though something was being counted.

He passed through a dense patch of forest, and the view suddenly opened up. A clearing lay ahead, surrounded by enormous rocks. Torn clothing and the remains of weapons littered the ground; clearly, many battles had taken place here.

An unusually massive figure crouched in the center of the clearing.

It was a demon with dozens of arms and a bloated body like a mountain of flesh. Most striking of all was the string of broken fox masks hanging around its neck, threaded together with a coarse hemp rope and clattering as it moved.

The Hand Demon.

Seemingly sensing someone approach, the Hand Demon slowly turned its head. When it saw the blue Nichirin Blade at Moyu's waist and his young face behind a fox mask, its enormous mouth stretched into an exaggerated grin.

"Aha! Another brat wearing a fox mask!" The Hand Demon's voice was raspy and excited, its dozens of arms waving eagerly. "That Urokodaki bastard is still the same as ever, making these boring things."

Moyu stopped at the edge of the clearing. His breathing was as steady as ever, and his Six Eyes had already taken into account every inch of the demon's body, the trajectory of every arm, and the rise and fall of every breath.

"You know, I love eating kids who wear these fox masks." The Hand Demon propped its cheek on one hand and put on a nostalgic expression. "Their flesh is so soft and tender, with a particularly good chew."

With another hand, it gently toyed with the string of masks around its neck, making them clatter crisply together.

"As of this year, I've eaten thirteen of them. Look, these masks are the proof!" It pointed to a relatively intact pink fox mask with a deep crack across it. "Ah, especially this pink-haired kid's mask! He gave me quite a bit of trouble. His swordsmanship was really good—he cut off several of my arms."

The Hand Demon's voice suddenly grew excited. It waved its arms as it acted out the scene. "But he lost in the end! I crushed his head with a crack, and his brains splattered everywhere. It was so much fun!"

It pointed to a smaller, more delicate fox mask beside it. "Look at this one. It belonged to a cute little girl from a few years ago. She was crying when my arms wrapped around her, calling out 'Big Brother Sabito' through her tears. So cute."

The Hand Demon gave a strange cackle, dozens of hands making crushing motions at once. "Of course, she ended up in pieces too, just like her big brother Sabito."

Moyu listened in silence, his face expressionless beneath his mask. But the azure light in his Six Eyes was growing geometrically brighter, and the air around him began to warp visibly.

"That Urokodaki bastard keeps sending his disciples here even though he knows I'll eat them." The Hand Demon's voice suddenly turned venomous. "What a cruel master. You little brats in fox masks were all sent here to be my snacks! He doesn't care whether you live or die!"

It rose to its feet, its enormous body blocking the moonlight, dozens of arms spreading like a nest of snakes. "You're no different! Today is the day you die! I'm going to hang your mask in my collection too!"

Before it had finished speaking, more than a dozen arms attacked Moyu from every angle at once! They moved so fast they left afterimages, and every arm was strong enough to crush stone with ease!

Moyu, however, simply stood where he was.

The Hand Demon's vicious grin froze on its face.

Every one of its arms had stopped three feet in front of Moyu, unable to advance another inch!

It was as if an invisible, utterly impassable wall stood in their way. No matter how hard the Hand Demon strained, how its arms twisted and deformed, or how its nails cracked under the immense force, it could not touch so much as the edge of Moyu's clothing.

"Wh-what is this?!" For the first time, panic appeared on the Hand Demon's face.

Moyu slowly raised his left hand, spreading his five fingers and aiming at the arms suspended in midair.

"Azure Flow Breathing, zeroth form: All-Things Unraveling, diffusion style."

Hum—

A visible layer of azure waves suddenly spread outward from the center of his palm!

It was not a physical impact, but a more fundamental kind of "deconstruction." Wherever the waves passed, the Hand Demon's dozens of arms crumbled inch by inch, starting at the fingertips! Flesh, bone, and skin all became the finest particles in the azure light, dispersing into the air!

"Aaaaagh—!!!"

A scream so shrill it hardly sounded human rang through the night sky. The Hand Demon retreated frantically, but its arms disintegrated faster than it could move back! In just three seconds, the dozens of arms it had been so proud of vanished completely! Only bare stumps remained at its shoulders, spraying black blood!

"My hands... my hands!" The Hand Demon fell to the ground, fear appearing on its face for the first time. "What did you do?! What the hell are you?!"

Moyu finally moved.

He took a single step forward. Just one step brought him directly in front of the Hand Demon.

The blue Nichirin Blade slowly left its sheath, an azure glow flowing over it like a river of stars in the moonlight.

"You said just now," Moyu said, his voice terrifyingly calm, "that you killed thirteen people wearing fox masks?"

The Hand Demon instinctively started to nod, but when it saw the azure eyes through the holes in the mask, cold as ten-thousand-year-old ice, its words caught in its throat.

"You said you loved eating soft, tender children?"

Another slash came. This time, it struck the Hand Demon's legs. After the blade light passed, everything below its knees separated cleanly, the cuts smooth as mirrors.

"You said that girl was still crying before she died?"

Another slash. The Hand Demon's abdomen was cut open horizontally, its internal organs nearly spilling out, but precise control of the blade's force kept it from dying for the moment.

"You said you crushed Sabito's head?"

Blade light rained down like a storm!

This was not beheading, but death by a thousand cuts!

Each stroke precisely sliced away a piece of flesh, each avoided vital points, and each was controlled to inflict excruciating pain without killing it!

"Aagh—stop! Stop it!" The Hand Demon twisted its ruined body frantically, but without its limbs, it could not even struggle. It finally understood—the boy before it was nothing like the "disciples of Urokodaki" it had hunted before!

This was a monster! A fiend in human skin!

"You said just now," Moyu's voice sounded again as he crouched down, his azure eyes gazing at the Hand Demon's fear-twisted face from close range, "that Master Urokodaki sent us all here to die?"

He reached out, gently pinched the rope holding the fox masks around the Hand Demon's neck, and removed it.

His movements were as gentle as if he were handling a fragile treasure.

Then he laid the broken masks flat on the ground one by one, wiping the dirt from them with his sleeve. The pink one was Sabito's, the small one Makomo's, and the others belonged to eleven senior brothers and sisters he had never met...

Watching this, the Hand Demon suddenly felt a chill deeper than its physical pain.

"You were wrong." Moyu stood and looked down at the pile of mangled flesh on the ground. "We came of our own free will. To slay monsters like you who feed on humans, to put an end to the tragedies in the night, and to—"

He raised his Nichirin Blade, its tip aimed at the Hand Demon's neck.

"—bring peace to the good people whose lives you took."

The Hand Demon finally broke down. It wanted to beg for mercy, to say it would never dare do it again, to say that it too was pitiable—but it did not even get a chance to speak.

Because Moyu had already moved.

He did not behead it in an instant.

Instead, he pressed the blade an inch into the Hand Demon's neck, then moved it slowly and steadily across!

He wanted the beast to feel with perfect clarity how the blade cut through its neck bit by bit, how death approached step by step!

"No... don't... please..." The Hand Demon's eyes nearly bulged from their sockets, and a gurgling sound came from its throat.

Moyu's gaze did not waver. His movements were as steady as if he were completing a work of art, pushing the blade of vengeance through inch by inch.

At last, when the blade severed the final strand of muscle, the Hand Demon's head rolled to the ground. An expression of utter terror and disbelief remained frozen on its face.

Its body began to turn to ash.

Moyu did not look at the disintegrating body. Instead, he turned to face the thirteen broken fox masks on the ground.

He knelt on one knee, laid the Nichirin Blade flat before him, pressed his palms together, and bowed his head deeply.

"Rest in peace, senior brothers and sisters," he said softly. "I've avenged you."

Moonlight fell on the fox masks and on the boy's slender back.

After a long while, Moyu finally stood. He carefully gathered the masks and put them in his pack. Then he looked at the place where the Hand Demon had vanished. All that remained was a small scorched patch and a system notification:

[Special demon "Hand Demon" killed. Side quest progress: 24/? (special target completed)]

[Special kill rewards: Gold coins +5000, Nichirin Blade resonance +30%, Breathing Style comprehension +15%. Special item obtained: "String of Broken Fox Masks" (can be used in a memorial ceremony)]

[Strong emotional resonance and inheritance of will detected. Temporary Nichirin Blade undergoing a transformation—]

Moyu lowered his head and looked at the blue Nichirin Blade in his hand.

The once-faint azure glow on the blade was visibly growing richer and more solid! Fine silver patterns resembling the paths of stars even appeared on the guard!

[Resonance with temporary Nichirin Blade: 72%]

The blade trembled slightly in his hand, as though responding to something. Moyu could feel the lingering wills of its previous wielders gradually growing calm and peaceful.

He sheathed the blade, took one last look at the clearing, and turned to leave.

The revenge was over, but the trial continued.

Four days still lay ahead, with more demons to slay and more people who might need saving.

The azure figure disappeared once more into the darkness of Mount Fujikasane.

Meanwhile, in another part of the mountain forest, Tanjiro had just slain a troublesome demon with "Hinokami Kagura: Dance," a technique adapted from the Kagura dance. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked northwest. For some reason, a warmth rose in his heart.

Moyu must be safe too.

He tightened his grip on his Nichirin Blade and continued forward.