Scattering in Flight

After one scream came even more agonized cries.

Using its soft body, the Spider Demon darted wildly through the crowd. Wherever it passed, people swung their swords in frantic slashes. More often than not, they failed to hit the Spider Demon and wounded their own comrades instead.

Chaos. Total chaos.

No matter how loudly Kimura shouted, it no longer had any effect.

There was the Spider Demon causing trouble from within and the Three-Headed Demon closing in from outside. Caught in a pincer attack, the members on the outer ring gripped their swords, looked inside, then outside. Before the Three-Headed Demon even reached them, someone finally broke.

Screaming in despair, they ran back the way they had come, toward the mountainside.

The horrific scenes of the night had already pushed many people to the brink of collapse. Now that someone had taken the lead, the entire group scattered like beads from a snapped string.

The great collapse began.

First, those on the outer ring screamed and fled in all directions away from the demons. Then the wounded and uninjured people inside the circle began running for their lives as well.

In the blink of an eye, only Kimura, Eimi, and several severely wounded members too injured to move remained where they were.

Kimura grabbed several fleeing members, begging them to stay and not run, but no one listened to him anymore.

Kimura despaired. He broke down, shouting as he desperately swung his Nichirin Blade at the Spider Demon, yet members beside him still had their necks twisted apart one after another.

The Spider Demon was toying with him.

The Three-Headed Demon was about to reach them. Knowing the situation could no longer be salvaged, Eimi hurriedly grabbed Kimura's arm and shouted sharply, "Kimura, stop chasing it! We have to go!"

"Ah... Eimi, let go of me! I can't leave them behind." Kimura's eyes were bloodshot and brimming with tears as he glared viciously at the Spider Demon crouching on the ground.

The Spider Demon's eerie smile was full of mockery and ridicule.

"You can't save them. Come with me, quickly. If we stay any longer, neither of us will get out."

Eimi casually picked up a bundle left behind by some unknown member, then dragged the nearly crazed Kimura toward the mountaintop, away from the two demons.

An injured female member lay prone on the ground, reaching one hand toward Kimura and crying loudly for help.

The Spider Demon crawled onto her back. Facing the fleeing Kimura, it bared its teeth in a provocative smile and raised a hand to twist the female member's neck.

The Three-Headed Demon rushed over, grabbed a corpse from the ground, and swung it at the Spider Demon as a weapon.

With its nimble body, the Spider Demon darted rapidly around the Three-Headed Demon, dodging its attacks while seizing opportunities to harass and toy with it.

The Three-Headed Demon roared in fury, and the two demons became entangled in battle.

Elsewhere, because Nohime had asked, "Why did you come back to take the Demon Slayer Corps assessment?" Han Zhiqi recalled the day his sister had been taken away. Losing control, he frightened Nohime, leaving an awkwardness between them.

Nohime wanted to say something to ease the awkwardness, but whenever she remembered Han Zhiqi's look just now, a chill ran through her heart.

Who knew how long passed like that? Then suddenly, a piercing scream shattered the silence. Judging by its direction, it seemed to have come from the other side of the mountain.

The sudden scream made Nohime tremble. She instinctively looked back, but behind her was only the pitch-black wall.

Han Zhiqi stared coldly at a certain spot. It has begun. That scream was most likely caused by that Bouncing Demon from before.

As the sound faded away, Nohime slowly turned back around.

Every scream likely represented someone's death, their final cry left in this world.

Not long after the scream ended, another rang out. The two screams were like opening Pandora's box, releasing all the devils at once.

The screams came like waves, one surging after another, onward and onward, until they spread across all of Mount Fujikasane.

At first, Nohime could still sit still. Gradually, the cries grew more numerous and more shrill. Every sound seemed to tug at her heart, making it tremble along with them.

Without realizing it, Nohime rose from the stone platform and turned to look at the stone wall. Her terrified gaze seemed to pierce through it and see the horrific scene on the other side.

When Han Zhiqi turned and saw Nohime's pale little face, his heart could not help but ache.

He thought of the girl at the Butterfly Mansion named Aoi Kanzaki. That girl had been unable to bear the fear of death. Even after passing the assessment and becoming a true member of the Demon Slayer Corps, she still lacked the courage to carry out missions normally like the other members.

Girls truly were not suited to joining the Demon Slayer Corps. Physical aptitude was one factor, and mental fortitude was another.

Only after all the screams had vanished did Nohime sit back down beside Han Zhiqi.

"Did a lot of people die?"

"Perhaps. Before coming here, they had all prepared themselves."

"If they were prepared, then why did they scream so miserably?"

Han Zhiqi had no answer.

"Did everyone in that group die?" Naturally, she meant Kimura's team.

"No. There were so many of them. The demons couldn't possibly kill them all in such a short time. From the sounds of it, they probably split up and fled."

Hearing that, Nohime nodded in relief.

As they spoke, chaotic footsteps came from the woods nearby. Mixed into them from time to time were the anxious, uneasy voices of a man and a woman.

Along with those sounds came snapping branches and low growls like those of wild beasts.

It was not hard to imagine what was happening. After the team on the other side of the mountain collapsed, isolated members must have encountered demons while fleeing and been chased all the way here.

"Akino, run! Don't worry about me. I... I can't run anymore. They're about to catch up!"

A panting girl's voice, edged with tears, came from the woods.

"No... no, Yuka. I won't leave you behind. Hold on a little longer. M-maybe someone will come help us soon."

The boy's voice was equally desperate, but when he said, "I won't leave you behind," it carried a note of determination.

To remain loyal to each other at such a life-or-death moment showed the depth of their bond.

Had they encountered someone truly vicious, that person might have pushed a fellow member toward the demons to buy time to escape.

The two supported each other as they fled. Suddenly, the girl accidentally stepped into a dirt hollow, struck the top of her foot against a rock, and her legs gave out. She and the boy fell to the ground together.

At that moment, the demon behind them caught up. Seizing the chance, it leaped from a branch in front of them and pounced toward the pair.

Love Breathing: Second Form: Annoyed Circling Love.