Hand Demon

Once Lin Guang had made up his mind, he picked up the treasure chest. Rather than opening it right away, he put it away for now, planning to enjoy opening them all at once after the Final Selection ended.

Meanwhile, Tanjiro prayed for the demon they had slain.

Suddenly, a panicked voice rang out.

"Ah! Nobody told me! Nobody told me it would be like this!"

The cries caught Tanjiro's attention, and he walked over.

"What happened?" Tanjiro asked, puzzled.

As soon as he drew near, Tanjiro saw an enormous demon whose entire body was wrapped in arms. He quickly pressed himself against a nearby tree.

"Lin Guang, look at that demon over there... is that the one you told me about?"

By then, Lin Guang had also spotted the demon wrapped in countless arms.

The Hand Demon opened his enormous mouth and devoured a human, his body growing even larger.

"That's right. He's the one who ate several of my companions." Behind his mask, Lin Guang's eyes were icy, and wisps of cold air seeped involuntarily from his body.

On the other side, the countless arms covering the Hand Demon's body twisted together, then shot out and seized the human who was trying to escape.

At that moment, Lin Guang struck.

"Water Breathing! Second Form! Water Wheel!"

Sprays of water spun into a ring, severing one of the Hand Demon's hands and saving the human.

The Hand Demon looked at his severed arm, then turned toward the one who had interrupted his meal.

Then he noticed the mask on Lin Guang's face, and his irritation instantly turned to excitement.

"Here comes another one! My adorable little fox!"

Lin Guang slowly sheathed his sword, his eyes fixed on the Hand Demon from behind his mask.

"Yes, I'm here. I've come to put an end to it all."

"Oh, so you already know. Then tell me, fox boy, what year of the Meiji era is it?" the Hand Demon asked.

"Unfortunately for you, it's already the Taisho era," Lin Guang said.

"Taisho? Huh? Aaaah! The era changed! It changed again! It changed again while I was locked up in this place! Unforgivable! Damn you, Urokodaki! Damn you, Urokodaki!"

The enraged Hand Demon clawed open his own skin, but it healed a moment later.

"Yes, it's been forty-seven years. It's time for all of this to end. It's time for you to die," Lin Guang said.

The Hand Demon suddenly calmed down. "Yes, forty-seven years. Forty-seven years ago, a time I'll never forget, when that man was still hunting demons! The Edo period, during the Keio era!"

"You're lying! There shouldn't be any demons who've lived that long! The demons kept here are only supposed to have eaten two or three people! They get killed during the selection! And they kill each other, so...!" The human Lin Guang had saved stared at the Hand Demon, disbelief written all over his face.

The Hand Demon spread more than a dozen hands. "But I've stayed alive all this time. In this prison of wisteria, I've eaten about fifty brats, I suppose."

"Eleven, twelve, thirteen... and you'll be the fourteenth disciple of Urokodaki's I eat! Hahaha!"

"I decided long ago that I'd kill every last one of his disciples. Let me think... those two were especially memorable. The strongest was that brat with the unusual hair color. He had flesh-colored hair and a scar by his mouth."

"The other was a girl wearing a kimono with a flower pattern. She was tiny and weak, but very nimble. Hehehe!"

The Hand Demon waved his arms and danced with excitement, as though he were talking about the happiest thing in the world.

"That mask of yours, that fox mask, is the mark. I remember the grain of the wood in the masks Urokodaki carves. They're carved the same way as the Tengu Mask he wears."

"Were they called warding masks? Because they wore them, they all got eaten. They're all in my stomach. It's just as though Urokodaki killed them himself. Hehehe."

"When I said that before, that girl cried and flew into a rage. After that, her movements became stiff, so I tore off her arms and legs, and then..."

"Ah! I won't let you spout that garbage!" Tanjiro suddenly leaped out, swinging his blade at the Hand Demon.

Seeing that Tanjiro was also wearing a fox mask, the Hand Demon's eyes gleamed with even greater amusement. He stretched out countless hands to grab him.

Steel flashed as Tanjiro severed the Hand Demon's arms. He fought his way closer, then swung his blade at the demon's neck.

Clang! Tanjiro's sword snapped!

The Hand Demon grinned as his scheme succeeded, and one hand shot toward Tanjiro!

At the last possible moment, Lin Guang struck.

"Water Breathing! Second Form! Water Wheel!"

Lin Guang severed the arm reaching for Tanjiro and saved him, then barked, "Calm down, Tanjiro! Your breathing is all over the place!"

"But..." Tanjiro tried to say something, only for Lin Guang to cut him off.

"I know. But if you want to avenge them, the most important thing is to stay alive yourself. Do you understand?"

Tanjiro took a deep breath and calmed himself.

"I understand."

Seeing the food that had been within his grasp rescued by Lin Guang yet again, the Hand Demon seethed with resentment toward him.

"You snatched him away again!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, countless arms shot toward Lin Guang and Tanjiro.

Their blades flashed as Tanjiro and Lin Guang cut through the arms hurtling toward them.

Working together, the two soon closed in on the Hand Demon.

Suddenly, Tanjiro caught the scent of a demon coming from the ground and leaped straight into the air.

"Lin Guang!"