Demon Hunted

Recalling the contestants who died tragically, their bodies hanging from tree branches, Han Zhiqi tightened his grip on his wrist.

The Spider Demon struggled even more violently.

Suddenly, a deafening roar echoed from the woods behind him, accompanied by the sound of trees snapping.

Han Zhiqi felt a fierce gust of wind charging at him from behind. He immediately increased the force, attempting to sever the Spider Demon's neck in a short time, but the demon's will to survive was strong, its hands and six legs desperately resisting the blade's movement.

With no other choice, Han Zhiqi quickly drew his blade and turned just as the wind was within a meter of him.

He retreated while parrying the attack from behind. Although he didn't know what it was at first, his perception of temperature told him that the thing behind him had a temperature identical to that of a demon, making it highly likely to be one.

The roaring sound was still seven to eight meters away, yet the attack was already upon him. This left Han Zhiqi momentarily bewildered, wondering what kind of demon it could be.

It wasn't until he turned around and his Nichirin Blade clashed with the thing behind him that Han Zhiqi realized it was an arm as thick as a thigh, and not just one.

A total of three arms emerged from the woods opposite him, each seven to eight meters long. Three enormous hands were incessantly clawing at Han Zhiqi.

As expected, this was another mutated demon.

Han Zhiqi swung his Nichirin Blade left and right, continuously slashing at the approaching giant hands. Finally, after retreating a certain distance, the hands stopped pursuing and retracted back into the woods.

The Spider Demon, seizing this opening, had already scrambled up a nearby slope and vanished without a trace.

Han Zhiqi did not choose to pursue. Instead, he stood his ground against the wind, his gaze fixed on the direction the hands had disappeared. He estimated that the behemoth would emerge soon.

"Hurry, hurry..."

Urgent voices came from the path down the mountain. The voices sounded familiar, and indeed, it was Nohime and the other two.

At this moment, Nohime was carrying Yuka, running quickly towards them with Akino. She kept glancing back behind her.

"Why did you guys come back?" Han Zhiqi asked the two panting figures before him, his curiosity piqued.

"Demons... demons, there are demons everywhere down the mountain."

Akino's eyes were filled with fear, his body trembling uncontrollably. He hadn't even caught his breath, speaking in broken sentences.

Nohime carefully placed Yuka on the ground and used torn strips of cloth to hastily bandage her wound.

Yuka had woken up. Mustering her remaining consciousness, she weakly uttered a "thank you."

Nohime forced a pale smile. She truly had little capacity to smile right now. After offering a few words of comfort, she stood up and approached Han Zhiqi.

"What's going on?" Han Zhiqi asked.

"Down the mountain, a lot of demons suddenly appeared from who knows where. There's one every three to five meters, and they're searching everywhere for contestants, sparing no hidden corner. What's more, their behavior is very strange. Even when they encounter people, they don't pursue them; it's like they're driving people up the mountain."

Akino glanced at Nohime beside him. There were indeed many demons, but as for driving people up the mountain, he hadn't really noticed.

Han Zhiqi thought for a moment and blurted out, "They're culling."

"Culling?"

Nohime and Akino were startled by Han Zhiqi's words. They had only heard of humans culling animals, never imagining they themselves would become the prey.

"You guys came back at a very inconvenient time. Expect more surprises later."

Surprises? Were they pleasant surprises or frights?

Nohime was skeptical. She scanned the open space ahead. The Spider Demon from before was gone, leaving only a bizarre, shed skin lying askew on the ground in a contorted posture.

"What is that?"

"The demon's shed skin."

"A demon's shed skin?" Nohime frowned, finding it rather disgusting. "You killed it?"

"No, I was about to sever its neck, but three arms suddenly shot out from the woods, giving it a chance to escape."

"Arms shot out from the woods? Three arms? What was that? Another demon?"

"Probably. We should see it soon."

Listening to their back-and-forth conversation, Akino's heart pounded in his chest, especially when Han Zhiqi mentioned "about to sever its neck."

That demon was the culprit behind Kimura's team falling apart. So many people couldn't do anything about it, yet this boy had almost severed its neck.

Standing beside the two, Akino felt utterly insignificant.

Panicked figures began appearing one after another in the surrounding woods.

Upon seeing the three people in the center of the clearing, everyone, without exception, gravitated towards them. Perhaps they believed there was strength in numbers, and gathering together would offer some comfort to their terrified hearts.

Kimura and Eimi also emerged from a dark corner.

Kimura no longer possessed his former spirited demeanor. He and Eimi looked like beggars soliciting alms on the street, dispirited and dirty.

Of course, the others looked much the same, except for Han Zhiqi and Nohime in the crowd.

As radiant and dignified as this group had been at the start, they were now equally dejected and demoralized.

Initially, there had been forty to fifty people when they ascended the mountain. Now, only a mere twenty remained.

Kimura and Eimi immediately spotted the clean Han Zhiqi and Nohime amidst the crowd. They looked at them, almost unchanged from when they first arrived on the mountain, and then at themselves, looking as pathetic as stray dogs.

Recalling the scene in the plaza earlier, the two were instantly overcome with shame, their faces flushing red. They lowered their heads and quickly joined the group.

Nohime had naturally noticed Kimura and the other. Meeting again in such a setting was indeed a bit awkward. However, Nohime now felt a sense of gratitude towards them. If it weren't for them, she wouldn't have had the chance to meet Han Zhiqi.

Nohime retreated to Han Zhiqi's side and asked in a low voice, "What should we do next?"

Looking at the disorganized mob in front of him, Han Zhiqi felt increasingly uneasy.

They said that a defeated army collapses like a mountain. When they first went up the mountain, they were already scattered and killed by demons within a single night. Six days later, gathered together again, this disheartened team could probably do nothing but drag them down.

"I don't know, let's see the situation first."

Someone in the crowd finally felt something was wrong. For the past six days, they had basically been hiding in twos and threes in various corners. Now, suddenly gathering together again, it didn't look normal no matter how you looked at it.

"Wh-what's going on? Why did you guys come up too?"

"We were hiding well, just waiting for the assessment to end tomorrow. Suddenly, for some reason, a few demons appeared around us. They didn't attack us, they just seemed to be deliberately driving us up the mountain."

"Us too."

"..."

The crowd finally seemed to realize that the reason they had gathered here again was that the demons had deliberately driven them up.