Cold moonlight spilled over the silent peak of Mount Fujikasane, lending the mountain an eerie air.
The entire mountain was as still as stagnant water. Not a sound came from the forest.
Then a group of boys rushed onto the mountain through the entrance at its foot.
Like stones falling into a placid lake, the boys immediately stirred up ripples.
The demons lurking among the trees caught the scent of food and began to stir.
A seven-day struggle for survival had begun.
The boys gripped their swords. However high their spirits had been when they arrived, they were just as terrified when they saw the demons.
"Help! Somebody save me!"
A boy sprinted through the woods, half the blade of his sword already gone. Judging by the break, something seemed to have bitten straight through it.
"Roar!"
A towering demon raced after him on all fours, its eyes filled with hunger. Drool dripped from its gaping, fang-filled maw.
With a flying leap, it caught its prey and pinned him to the ground, opening its mouth to bite down on the boy's head.
The boy wedged his broken sword into the demon's mouth and struggled with every ounce of strength he had.
Crack! Crack!
Snap!
With a sharp crack, the demon bit straight through his shoddy broken sword.
"Roar!"
With nothing left in its way, the demon bit down toward the boy's head.
"Water Breathing, Fourth Form: Striking Tide!"
A boy wearing a fox mask leaped into the air and swung his sword, trailing a streak of blue light like a surging tide.
Whoosh!
The blade fell, severing the Man-Eating Demon's head in a single stroke.
Its hideous head rolled to the ground, the life fading from it as it died for good.
Having narrowly escaped death, the boy gasped for