Han Zhiqi Suffered a Crushing Blow

"Watch your back." Han Zhiqi hurriedly warned them, but it was already too late.

All the contestants had focused on the wounded Three-Headed Demon. By the time they came to their senses, the Spider Demon and Bouncing Demon had already crept close.

One contestant had his chest kicked apart by the Bouncing Demon's feet. Only his head fell to the ground and rolled far away. Until his death, he never knew what had happened.

Another contestant had his neck snapped by the Spider Demon using the same old method.

The group, which had only just stabilized, was pushed to the brink of collapse again after the two demons' rampage. Before Kimura and the others could react, everyone surged toward Han Zhiqi.

Han Zhiqi's greatest concern had come true after all.

The crowd of contestants rushing forward collided with the attacking demons in an instant, plunging the scene into chaos.

The battle lost all order. Before long, several contestants fell beneath the demons' frenzied attacks. With the Spider Demon and Bouncing Demon slipping into their midst from time to time to claim more lives, their initial advantage quickly began to crumble.

Han Zhiqi tried several times to swing his blade in retaliation, but each time, the crowd pressing around him shoved him this way and that. Those who knew would understand that everyone wanted his protection; those who did not might think they were all protecting him.

Nohime, Kimura, and Akino hurried to the edge of the crowd. While swinging their Nichirin Blades at the demons rushing them, they tried to persuade everyone to loosen up and stop crowding together.

But faced with the Spider Demon and Bouncing Demon harvesting lives everywhere, they only wanted to rely on the strongest person. Only then did they feel they might survive.

"I... I'll help you."

After tremendous effort, Nohime finally squeezed her way to Han Zhiqi's side and joined him in swinging her blade against the attacking demons.

Not far away, the Three-Headed Demon, which had been sprawled on the ground, climbed back up. It turned and glared furiously at the clustered crowd. It would likely charge again before long.

Han Zhiqi tried to force his way out of the crowd. He knew that if he stayed here, they would drag him to his death sooner or later. But whenever he tried to push his way out, those around him moved with him. Their meaning was obvious: wherever you go, we go.

Watching the Spider Demon and Bouncing Demon continuously slaughter the crowd, along with the Three-Headed Demon that had begun moving again, Han Zhiqi's fury reached its limit. He could explode at any moment.

Nohime swung her blade and severed a demon's arm, but failed to notice another demon climbing over the crowd beside her and pouncing toward the side of her face.

Han Zhiqi forcefully shoved Nohime away and cut off the demon's head. As the demon died, he shot Nohime, who was still shaken, a sharp glare and fiercely rebuked her, "Help me? What can you use to help me? You're someone who doesn't even dare kill a demon, yet you dream of joining the Demon Slayer Corps? You're utterly ridiculous. Get lost!"

Since they had met, this was the first time Han Zhiqi had spoken to her so viciously.

The words "get lost" were like a dagger driven ruthlessly into her heart. When Kimura had rejected her in the plaza, she had only felt disappointed and dejected. But now, all she felt was pain—pain so intense that her head spun and her entire body turned cold.

Han Zhiqi had been the first person to learn about her condition, and he had been willing to accept her. She had always carefully maintained their relationship, afraid that one day Han Zhiqi would come to despise her. She had never expected that day to arrive after all.

Nohime looked toward Han Zhiqi as he desperately swung his blade amid the crowd. Tears welled in her eyes, and his white figure gradually blurred. Then she suddenly spotted a grayish figure in midair, hurtling diagonally toward Han Zhiqi.

The Bouncing Demon?!

Yes. Seizing the moment when Han Zhiqi was too occupied to divide his attention, the Bouncing Demon had finally set its sights on him.

The Bouncing Demon had never forgotten the grudge of having its palm pierced by Han Zhiqi's Nichirin Blade.

Everyone had seen the power in the Bouncing Demon's feet. If that kick landed squarely, even if Han Zhiqi did not die, several of his ribs would be broken.

Nohime's face went pale. Without time to think, she shouted Han Zhiqi's name. The density of her muscles instinctively reached the sixfold limit as she forcibly shoved the crowd apart, spread her arms, and stood in front of Han Zhiqi.

By the time Han Zhiqi noticed the Bouncing Demon's attack, it was too late.

What he hated most was being protected by a woman, yet this muddleheaded girl had done the very thing he hated most.

She had spread her arms without regard for herself and stood in front of him.

The immense impact traveled through Nohime's body and into Han Zhiqi. Even with Nohime shielding him, Han Zhiqi could still feel the surging force crushing his chest until he could barely breathe.

The two were sent flying backward, smashing through the packed crowd. The sudden turn of events stunned everyone present.

Han Zhiqi was the hope of the entire group. Whether he lived or died would determine the group's fate from here on out. No one had expected the Bouncing Demon to target him so precisely.

By the time everyone came to their senses, the two had already flown more than ten meters and slammed into a large tree.

Han Zhiqi let out a muffled groan and spat blood on the spot. Nohime, in his arms, had also fallen unconscious, her fate unknown.

The contestants fell into despair once more. Their faces were ashen, their eyes filled with defeat.

Faced with the demons' attacks, some had even begun to give up resisting. Even those who fought back lacked conviction and retreated again and again.

Kimura was frantic. Are we going to repeat the first night all over again?

"Are you planning to give up again? Is living really harder for you than dying? Would you rather rush toward death than let go and make one final stand?"

Everyone turned to look at Kimura.

Kimura's gaze, resolute in the face of death, swept across them one by one. "We can't always depend on others. It was our selfishness and cowardice that personally destroyed our hope." The "hope" he spoke of naturally referred to Han Zhiqi.

Hearing Kimura's words, then looking at Han Zhiqi and Nohime lying beneath the tree with their lives unknown, everyone lowered their heads.

"Having fought to this point, we have no way back. Either we die on Mount Fujikasane and become food for these ugly freaks before us, or we fight to the bitter end and send some among us to see tomorrow's sun. They will inherit the will of us all."

Kimura's words were like a cup of strong liquor poured into their bellies—fiery and scorching, setting everyone's blood ablaze.

"Friends, if we give up, no one will remember us. Only by fighting until the very last moment will we never be forgotten. It has been my honor, Kimura's honor, to gather with all of you. Let us fight side by side until the end."

Kimura's words worked once again.

The crowd shouted and raised their Nichirin Blades as though raising cups of wine. Then, under Kimura's lead, they charged into battle with the demons once more. Though people still fell from time to time, no one retreated in fear again.

All fear came from the desire to live. Once one no longer clung to life, death became insignificant.