All Three of You Demons Come at Once

"Captain Kimura…"

"Captain Kimura, you're alive!"

"Captain Kimura, what… what should we do now?"

"Yeah, Captain Kimura, give us some advice."

A few people in the crowd recognized Kimura and quickly came forward to ask if he had any way to deal with their current predicament.

After all, Kimura's intelligence and leadership skills at the start of the climb were evident to all, and the formation had been somewhat useful. If it hadn't been for the few special demons that appeared later, they might have actually lasted until the end.

"Don't… don't call me Captain Kimura, don't… don't ask me, I don't know what to do either?"

Yeah, if I knew what to do, I wouldn't be standing here like you guys.

Kimura lowered his head, extending a pair of dirty hands to block people from approaching.

The voices of these people were like knives, piercing his heart.

Yes, he had the grand ambition to lead everyone through the assessment, but after that night, he realized how naive he was.

A few howls echoed from the surrounding woods, and soon, on the opposite hillside, several demons seemed to jump out from the horizon, standing on the mountaintop and looking down at the crowd below.

More demons emerged from the shadows around them, some walking, some crawling.

Just as Han Zhiqi had said at the beginning, they were hunting.

Single kills were no longer enough to satisfy their appetites. The Demon Slayer Corps assessment was held once a year, and after each one, it meant they wouldn't be able to eat for a whole year.

They no longer wanted to endure that gut-wrenching pain, so this great hunt was organized to gather all the prey in one place before the assessment ended for a carnival of blood.

Under the moonlight, a dark figure streaked across the night sky, landing steadily on the mountaintop like a shooting star, still perfectly upright. The surrounding demons moved to the sides, keeping as far away from this javelin as possible.

Nohime tugged at Han Zhiqi's sleeve, signaling him to look at the mountaintop.

In fact, Han Zhiqi had already noticed the moment the Bouncing Demon appeared.

Shortly after the Bouncing Demon landed, another demon slowly crawled down the slope, reaching the bare tree and climbing up its trunk to the treetop.

The Spider Demon!

Impaled through the throat by Han Zhiqi's sword, it had returned at this moment.

With the appearance of the Bouncing Demon and the Spider Demon, the vast crowd immediately became agitated. Some people collapsed to the ground, muttering, "It's over, it's over," while others covered their faces and wept.

Even more astonishingly, one person suddenly rushed out of the group and ran down the mountain, shouting, "I don't want to take the assessment anymore, I don't want to join the Demon Slayer Corps!" As soon as they reached the path down the mountain, they were pounced on by several demons and torn to shreds.

It seemed that the fear of the Bouncing Demon and the Spider Demon had already penetrated their bones. After all, it was the Bouncing Demon that had destroyed the team's psychological defense, and the Spider Demon that had destroyed their physical defense.

Of course, besides the Spider Demon, the appearance of another demon further contributed to the team's complete collapse. One internal and one external factor were the true reasons for the team's disintegration.

The Three-Headed Demon, also known as the giant meatball in everyone's mouths.

A deep roar came from the nearby woods, causing all the demons to instinctively shrink their necks, wishing they could just lie flat on the ground.

If the appearance of the Spider Demon and the Bouncing Demon had shattered everyone's hope of passing the assessment, then this roar had completely plunged everyone into hell. Fear, despair, a profound sense of powerlessness, and not even a shred of courage to resist arose within them.

Trees as thick as a waist were snapped with a "crack" and pushed apart. A round, plump giant meatball squeezed out from between two trees. With a height of three to four meters, it was like a moving tower, and with every step it took, Mount Fujikasane seemed to tremble.

The nearby demons retreated, and all the contestants huddled together, trembling.

This must be the owner of the arms that had attacked me earlier.

"Th-this is the giant meatball Yuka mentioned, wh-what is this thing? Is this really a demon?" Nohime tightly gripped Han Zhiqi's sleeve.

She hadn't felt scared when the Bouncing Demon appeared, nor had she panicked when the Spider Demon showed up, but this thing's appearance had completely stunned her.

It was exactly as Yuka had described a few days ago: like three fat men with their legs cut off, stuck back to back, with six arms, two heads, and one face.

If a demon's weak point was its neck, then where was this behemoth's weak point? Could it be three of them?

Suddenly, Nohime felt someone tugging at her sleeve. She looked down and saw the dying Yuka waving at her.

Nohime crouched down, showing Yuka a comforting smile, and reached out to help her move a strand of hair stuck to the corner of her mouth.

"Nohime, I'm so glad I met you. Run, run away with Han Zhiqi. With his strength, he should be enough to protect you and get you through the assessment tomorrow morning."

Nohime held Yuka's hand, saying nothing, because she didn't know what to say. Should she say, "I won't abandon you"? Or, "Take care of yourself"? Both of them could barely protect themselves, so how could they make promises to others?

In the end, Nohime could only lower her head, her heart filled with immense sorrow and helplessness, and let go of Yuka's hand. She stood up and stood with Han Zhiqi.

Akino, on the other hand, crouched down, held Yuka's hand, and embraced her. The two looked at each other and smiled.

"What should we do?" Nohime asked.

There was no response, but she heard Han Zhiqi sigh.

Han Zhiqi's eyes sharpened, his gaze like a blade, falling on the huddled contestants.

"What are you here for?"

Han Zhiqi, who was usually a man of few words, actually spoke first at this moment. The words "What are you here for?" echoed repeatedly on Mount Fujikasane under the moonlight, as if reminding everyone.

Everyone was stunned, looking uniformly at the boy in white with white hair. All the demons were also startled, thinking that some prey was provoking them, and let out strange "eee-eee" cries.

"You want to become people of the Demon Slayer Corps, yet you fear demons. If you fear demons, why did you come to participate in the assessment?"

"Would you rather die here than fight for it?"

How to fight? What do we fight with?

Han Zhiqi's gaze swept over everyone, and under the pressure of his sharp eyes, they all involuntarily lowered their heads.

"Stay here."

Han Zhiqi left Nohime with those four words and stepped out of the crowd first.

Under everyone's shocked gaze, he walked directly to the center of the clearing, faced the Three-Headed Demon, which was as large as a mountain, slowly drew his sword, the blade emitting a piercing metallic screech as it slid out of the scabbard, and then pointed his sword at the nearby slope.

Others might not have understood his intention, but Nohime saw it at a glance. He was provoking the Bouncing Demon and the Spider Demon, as if to say, you two come at me together.