Moonlight filtered through the dense foliage, casting fragmented silvery spots on the ground.
Obanai Iguro's feet crunched over the fallen leaves, making a rustling sound that was particularly jarring in the deathly silence of the forest.
He had been running for a long time, so long that his lungs felt like they were being repeatedly rubbed by rough sandpaper, and every breath carried the smell of blood. His legs were already numb, and he was only moving forward by instinct.
His heterochromatic eyes, one gold and one green, widened in the darkness, sweat trickling down his cheeks.
The small white snake "Kaburamaru" wrapped around the neck tightened its body, its tiny forked tongue flicking in and out rapidly, sensing the terrifying aura that was relentlessly pursuing it from behind.
It hissed as a warning, but Obanai didn't even have the strength to respond.
Rustling... rustling...
The voices behind me grew closer.
Obanai suddenly lunged into a bush, curled up, covered his mouth with his hand, and forced himself to hold his breath. Kaburamaru burrowed into his collar, his small body trembling.
He saw it through the gaps in the bushes.
The thing glided out of the woods.
Its upper body barely retained the outline of a human, its skin was pale and bluish, and its muscles were bulging.
But starting from the waist, the body tapers sharply, extending into a three-meter-long tail covered in black and green scales that gleamed oily in the moonlight.
Its face... no longer resembled a human.
His eyes turned into vertical snake pupils, golden and cold.
Its nose had sunken into two narrow holes, its mouth split to the roots of its ears, and its forked tongue would occasionally stick out, hissing with the stench of venom.
The Snake Demon stopped in the center of the open space, its vertical pupils slowly rotating as it scanned its surroundings. Its sense of smell was extremely keen, and it had already locked onto the location of its prey.
"Hiss... Young Master..."
The voice was hoarse and sticky, as if it were squeezed out from deep in the throat.
"What are you hiding for...? Haven't you always wanted to escape? To escape the Iguro Family, to escape this island, to escape your damned fate..."
The snake's tail swayed slowly, its scales rubbing together to produce a chilling sound.
"But you can't escape. The blood of the Iguro Family flows in your veins, blood tainted with curses and sins. From birth, you were a sacrifice offered to me, and now... it's just time to enjoy it."
Obanai's whole body stiffened.
He had heard these words countless times. Ever since he was old enough to understand, the elders in his family had told him in this tone:
You are special, you are chosen, and your heterochromatic eyes are proof of being "chosen by God".
It wasn't until half a month ago that he learned the truth: the so-called "chosen one" was nothing more than a bargaining chip in a deal between his family and evil spirits.
How ridiculous.
"Hiss... Come out."
The Snake Demon's voice was mocking.
"If you keep hiding, I'll lose my patience and won't just eat you. Your mother, your three-year-old sister... they'll all become my snacks."
Obanai's fingernails dug deeply into her palms.
Mother... that woman who always kept her head down and never dared to look at him. Sister... babbling away, unaware of the kind of family she was born into.
"Think about it,"
The Snake Demon slowly slid towards the bushes.
"If your willfulness leads to the entire Iguro Family being punished... hundreds of people turning into my food overnight, wouldn't that be a beautiful sight?"
That's enough.
Obanai closed her eyes.
Kaburamaru peeked out from his collar and gently nuzzled his cheek with his head, as if saying a final goodbye.
Obanai touched its cold scales, a smile that looked more like a grimace tugging at the corners of her mouth.
Perhaps... this is fate.
A person like him, born into a sinful family and with tainted blood, should never have aspired to a normal life.
To live to thirteen is already a stolen moment of time.
He took a deep breath, preparing to stand up from the bushes.
In that very instant--
"--Whoosh!"
A piercing shriek echoed through the forest, as if the air were being torn apart!
A golden shooting star streaked across the darkness.
The flame-patterned haori left a dazzling trail as it moved at high speed, its gold and red colors burning in the moonlight, as if illuminating the entire forest for a moment.
The Snake Demon's vertical pupils suddenly contracted.
It instinctively sensed a deadly danger, slammed its tail against the ground, and tried to retreat rapidly.
But... it's too late!!
The flames have descended.
"Flame Breathing - First Form-- "
The sound, like a thunderclap, erupted from the source of the golden meteor:
" --Unknowing Fire!"
A long sword engulfed in blazing flames slashed in from the side, the flames a pure golden-red, instantly evaporating the moisture in the air with a hissing sound.
The Snake Demon couldn't even make a blocking motion.
The blade sliced into its left shoulder, cutting along a perfect diagonal line, through its chest, waist, and tail... all the way down!
Time seemed to freeze for a moment.
Then, flames erupted.
"Boom--!"
The Snake Demon's body exploded along the trajectory of the slash, leaving a straight line of fire!
Flames erupted from the wound, instantly engulfing its entire body.
It opened its mouth, which split open to its ears, as if trying to scream, but flames had already poured into its throat, burning through its vocal cords, and it could only make a hissing, leaky sound.
The next second, the ghost's body completely disintegrated.
The flames burned every part of the ghost from the inside out, turning its flesh into scattered ashes. The black ash drifted in the moonlight, like an eerie snowfall.
The entire process, from the initial attack to the final strike, took less than three breaths.
The flames slowly subsided, revealing the figure of the person wielding the knife.
Shinjuro Rengoku sheathed his sword, the remaining flames on the blade extinguishing the instant it returned to its sheath, leaving only a few wisps of smoke rising from the tsuba.
He turned around, the hem of his flame-patterned haori still fluttering slightly, his long golden-red hair billowing in the night breeze.
The moonlight illuminated his face.
It was a face with sharp features and a heroic air. His sword-like eyebrows slanted upwards towards his temples, and his eyes always burned with a kind of intense light.
Obanai sat there slumped, completely stunned.
The heterochromatic eyes widened to their limit, the golden and emerald pupils reflecting the figure that descended like flames, and the ashes of the demons scattering everywhere.
Kaburamaru peeked out from his collar, his small snake eyes filled with shock.
"Are you alright, kid?"
Shinjuro strode over, his voice so loud it seemed to shake the leaves from their leaves.
He knelt down in front of Obanai, his fiery eyes scrutinizing the thin boy. His gaze lingered for a moment on the boy's heterochromatic eyes, but there was no disgust or surprise, only pure concern.
Are you injured? Can you still move?
Obanai opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
His throat felt like it was blocked by something, his eyes burned, and his vision blurred. He blinked hard, and tears welled up uncontrollably.
"... why..."
His voice was hoarse and almost inaudible.
"Why did you save me...?"
"Is that even a question?"
Shinjuro said this as a matter of course, patting him on the shoulder with such force that Obanai swayed.
"I am a swordsman of the Demon Slayer Corps. It is my duty to slay demons and save the innocent! If I see someone being chased by a demon, of course I must save them!"
Demon Slayer Corps!!
This was the first time Obanai had heard this word.
But he understood "slay evil spirits." This fiery man was a demon-slayer.
"You..."
He asked, trembling.
"Aren't you afraid? That's a ghost... a man-eating ghost..."
"Afraid?"
Shinjuro burst into laughter, his laughter hearty and unrestrained.
"Of course we're afraid! Ghosts are strong, cruel, and ruthless killers! But it's precisely because we're afraid that we must stand up and fight! If we back down because we're afraid, then who will protect the weaker ones?"
He stood up and extended his hand:
"Can you stand up? I am Shinjuro Rengoku, the Flame Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps. And you? What's your name? Why was that demon chasing you just now?"
Obanai looked at the hand extended in front of her. The palm was broad, the knuckles were thick, and there were several healed scars on the back of the hand.
These are the swordsman's hands, the hands that slay demons, and also... the hands that just saved him.
He hesitated, then slowly raised his hand.
When her fingertips touched Shinjuro's palm, they recoiled slightly from the scorching heat, but ultimately held on.
Shinjuro pulled hard, lifting him up from the ground.
"I..."
Obanai, her voice very soft.
"Obanai Iguro... thirteen years old..."
"Iguro?"
Shinjuro's brows furrowed slightly.
"The prestigious Iguro Family on this island?"
Obanai's body stiffened.
Really!!
Upon hearing the surname "Iguro," everyone displays a certain expression... fear, disgust, or greed.
The Iguro Family were local tyrants on Hachijōjima, controlling fishing, trade, and even the island's security. But precisely because of this, the islanders both feared and hated the Iguro Family.
He instinctively tried to pull his hand away, but Shinjuro held it tightly.
"That Snake Demon is related to the Iguro Family?"
Shinjuro's voice deepened, and he asked seriously,
"I've received intelligence that the Iguro Family might be colluding with the Oni. Do you know anything about this, Obanai?"
Obanai bit her lip.
Should he tell this stranger about his family's crimes? But... this person had just saved him.
He also said that he was a swordsman who "slayed evil spirits".
Just as he hesitated, another voice rang out from the woods.
He was afraid.