Fighting the Spider Demon

"Yuka was taken?"

"Weren't you two together? How could... how could Yuka be taken?" Akino rushed to Nohime's side, demanding an answer.

"We... we were fine. On our way back, suddenly, a monster like a spider appeared out of nowhere. It... it grabbed Yuka from behind and dragged her away. I wanted to chase, but... but it was too fast. I..."

That's right! It must have been that Spider Demon. It was the one that broke into the center of the group back then, causing the whole team to fall apart. It was also the one that led the Giant Meatball Demon here.

Thinking this, Akino's heart sank.

Nohime was crying, anxiously pacing back and forth like a spinning top, unsure what to do.

"Han Zhiqi, please go save Yuka."

Seeing Nohime's worried state, Han Zhiqi sighed, thinking his guess was correct.

He glanced up at the star-filled sky. With his current strength, if he just stayed put until dawn, he would definitely pass the Demon Slayer Corps assessment. But somehow, it felt like something was missing.

His ultimate goal in participating in the Demon Slayer Corps assessment was to pass and join the organization, but he also wanted to test his own training progress.

Now, with the assessment deadline fast approaching, he had killed seven or eight demons, but without exception, they were all instantly defeated. They were too weak, so weak that he couldn't find any enjoyment. The only thing that had excited him was that Bouncing Demon, but unfortunately, apart from their first encounter, it hadn't appeared since.

Fine, since it was the final stage of the assessment, he might as well cause some chaos. It wouldn't cost him his life, right?

Han Zhiqi jumped off the stone platform and quickly walked up to Nohime. "Which direction did they go?"

Nohime sobbed and pointed towards a spot in the woods.

"You two stay here. I'll go find her."

"I... I'll go with you." Nohime said.

Yuka had been taken by a demon. How could she possibly stay here?

"I'll go with you guys too."

Han Zhiqi glanced at the two beside him. "Alright then. You two must stick close to me and don't wander off. If we get separated, you know what that means without me having to say it."

The two nodded vigorously.

The three of them quickly darted into the woods, pursuing the direction Yuka had been dragged.

"Help! Help..."

That Spider Demon's specialty was snapping necks. Since Yuka was dragged away, she hadn't made a sound. Akino had thought Yuka was already... But unexpectedly, Yuka's cries for help could be heard from the woods ahead.

The three of them quickly pursued, following Yuka's calls for help.

The Spider Demon dragging Yuka through the obstacle-filled woods couldn't move quickly. However, Yuka's mortal body couldn't endure this kind of torment. If they couldn't catch up and rescue her soon, even without its neck snapping, she might be dragged to death.

"You two stay together and look out for each other. Under no circumstances should you separate. If you encounter a demon, fight if you can. If you can't fight, stay put and wait for me. Do you understand?"

The sharp aura Han Zhiqi unleashed in an instant was like the biting cold wind of winter, causing the two to shiver involuntarily.

"Understood."

After giving his instructions, Han Zhiqi quickened his pace. To the shock of the two, he vanished into the dark woods in the blink of an eye.

The two months of training on White Dragon Mountain were finally paying off.

With the aid of his breathing techniques and his own perception of temperature, even in the pitch-black woods, it was no different than usual.

Following Yuka's intermittent cries for help, Han Zhiqi soon reached a slope not far from the mountaintop.

There was a large tree on the slope. The Spider Demon seemed not to have expected to be caught up so quickly, and it was dragging Yuka up the tree.

Han Zhiqi guessed that this large tree was likely its nest, but he felt something was strange about it.

Unlike other trees that were lush and leafy, appearing fluffy like cotton candy from afar, this one was completely bare. In the moonlight, something seemed to be hanging from its dark branches.

There wasn't enough time to think about it. Han Zhiqi seized the opportunity, stepped on a protruding boulder, and leaped forward. Facing the Spider Demon clinging to the tree trunk, he quickly drew his sword and slashed.

"Ice Breathing, Third Form, Shattering Timed Rain."

A flash of white light streaked out, and several ice cones as thick as thumbs shot out, targeting the Spider Demon's three right legs and its hands.

Sensing the danger from behind, the Spider Demon let out a strange cry, dropped Yuka, whom it had been dragging, and fled towards the treetop.

The ice cones embedded themselves in the tree trunk, making a series of dull thuds.

Seizing this chance, Han Zhiqi quickly rushed to the base of the tree, caught the falling Yuka, and gasped as he looked up. With the moonlight casting shadows from above, he finally saw what was hanging from the tree.

Corpses!

Human corpses were threaded onto the branches as if being dried like jerky.

Seeing its prey being snatched away, the Spider Demon let out a series of angry cries. It scrambled up a thick branch with its six legs and lunged at Han Zhiqi and Yuka.

Han Zhiqi hugged Yuka and jumped down the slope, running to a clearing not far away. He gently leaned Yuka against a rock, then turned to face the rapidly approaching Spider Demon.

A nameless rage surged from the depths of his heart, burning through him, causing his blood to boil. The scars on his skin began to ache again, as if countless ants were gnawing and biting him.

The moment he saw those people, his sister's voice and appearance suddenly flashed in his mind. Would his sister also be hung on tree branches and dried like jerky, just like them?

In reality, the Spider Demon dragging people onto tree branches wasn't for drying them, but to prevent other demons from stealing them. However, this action ignited Han Zhiqi's rage.

Han Zhiqi was truly furious. Cold air surged out of his body, forming a mass of white mist that enveloped him. The surrounding temperature instantly dropped to freezing point, and the ground beneath his feet began to form small patches of ice flowers.

The Spider Demon's six legs moved rapidly, twisting its agile waist in a serpentine movement to disorient its prey's vision.

The Spider Demon mistook Han Zhiqi's unmoving stance for that of previous prey, believing it could effortlessly snap his neck.

When they were still several meters apart, the Spider Demon rose in fury and lunged at Han Zhiqi.

Judging by the screeching noises it made, it was enraged, eager to bite through its prey's neck immediately.

Han Zhiqi moved at the same moment, his right leg bent forward, body lowered into a sword-drawing stance.

"Ice Breathing... Fusion Technique... Phantom... Falling Snow."

Attacking almost simultaneously with the Spider Demon, it was like a gust of wind and snow that rapidly passed through the Spider Demon's body.

The screeching turned into screams as the Spider Demon fell to the ground, its entire body covered in countless snow-white cuts. They were frozen and emitting cold air, and crucially, it couldn't heal as quickly as before.