Kagaya Ubuyashiki's words were like an invisible hammer, tapping softly against the Sapphire Star's heart.
"Neither the Old World nor the New World you know, nor the place spoken of in legends as the 'Frontier.' The world we inhabit and the place you came from... perhaps there is no path connecting them."
His words echoed through the elegant, tranquil tatami room with an almost cruel certainty.
The Sapphire Star's cross-legged body stiffened almost imperceptibly for a moment.
Huh? What the hell did he mean, no path connecting them?
Where the hell had I ended up? Was I even still in the same country?
That possibility had flashed through the deepest recesses of her mind when she was swept into the vortex, but she had instinctively suppressed it.
She looked at Kagaya Ubuyashiki's gentle face, utterly devoid of humor, then glanced at Lady Amane and her guide, who stood respectfully beside him with their heads lowered.
Why did they seem like they'd never heard of a hunter organization?
That couldn't be right... The Hunter's Guild spanned the Old World, and its influence reached the New World. Even the most remote villages knew something of hunters.
And while the Frontier was mysterious, it was no secret among elite hunters and those in positions of authority. Yet this leader and the people around him acted as though they were hearing these terms for the first time.
Could it be... that I'd really reached a country even more remote than the Frontier? So isolated that not even stories of the Hunter's Guild had reached it? The thought left her feeling both absurd and helpless.
The Frontier was already the edge of the known world. Somewhere even farther away... what did that even mean? An unknown abyss? Was this really another... world?
She forced herself to calm down, her hunter's instincts for confronting the unknown kicking into high gear.
Her gaze settled on Kagaya Ubuyashiki again, and another enormous question arose:
As the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps, would Ubuyashiki really come to the examination grounds in person? That didn't seem quite right.
Kagaya Ubuyashiki had a handsome face and a gentle, refined bearing, but beneath that almost inhuman composure lay an unmistakable frailty.
The curse-like scars spreading across his face, his somewhat thin frame, and his overly steady breathing all betrayed the weakness of his body.
A leader like him would never endure the strain of traveling to this estate at the foot of a wisteria-covered mountain merely to conduct a routine meeting with a few newly qualified swordsmen.
Only the variable that had instantly changed the course of the Final Selection could justify this reclusive leader dragging his ailing body here to investigate in person!
The Sapphire Star took a deep breath.
"Mr. Ubuyashiki, thank you for being honest..." She dipped her head slightly.
"Though what you've said... really is quite unexpected..."
She paused.
"If things are as you say, then at the very least, I need to understand where I am right now."
"You said this is nowhere I know, and that it has no connection to the Frontier either. Then could you tell me what this world... or rather, this land is called? What rules govern it? And these beings called demons-their history, the source of their power, things like that... what makes you sacrifice so much to fight them?"
The Sapphire Star's gaze swept meaningfully over the scars on Kagaya Ubuyashiki's face.
Kagaya Ubuyashiki listened quietly, his expression unchanging, as though he had anticipated her question.
"Sapphire Star, your confusion and desire for knowledge are precisely the qualities a warrior should possess."
His voice remained even.
"The land we inhabit is called Japan..."
"In the shadows beyond the reach of sunlight, demons that feed on humans have existed for a thousand years. They fear sunlight and possess strength and regenerative abilities far beyond those of ordinary people. Only by severing their necks with specially forged Nichirin Blades, or exposing them to sunlight, can they be destroyed completely."
"And the source of all this calamity is Muzan Kibutsuji!"
Even as he spoke that name, Kagaya Ubuyashiki's voice remained calm.
But the Sapphire Star keenly noticed the faintest curl of the fingers resting on his knees, as though they had brushed against a cold hatred that ran deep into his bones.
Sounds like this Muzan guy really is a complete bastard, the Sapphire Star thought.
"He is no mere monster, but... the first demon, the progenitor of all demons, and an eternal curse." Kagaya Ubuyashiki's gaze seemed to pass through the walls of the tatami room, reaching toward a distant, blood-soaked past.
"He possesses a nearly immortal body, unimaginable regenerative abilities, and the terrifying power to manipulate blood and create countless Blood Demon Arts. He is cold and cruel, treating human lives as worthless. In pursuit of the elusive ideals of 'perfection' and 'conquering sunlight,' he has spent a thousand years creating new demons, spreading endless suffering and death."
"And our Demon Slayer Corps!"
His eyes focused on the Sapphire Star once more.
"Is an organization formed by those who refuse to submit to darkness and swear to protect humanity's light, even at the cost of their lives. With bodies of flesh and blood, we forge blades of steel and remain hidden in the shadows of history, passing our purpose from generation to generation, all to sever this thousand-year curse and bring Muzan... to his final end beneath the sun."
The Sapphire Star listened in silence, light flickering in her golden eyes.
So these so-called demons were "monsters" transformed from humans, possessing powerful regenerative abilities and feeding on their own kind.
And that piece of shit named Muzan Kibutsuji was a living "forbidden-class Elder Dragon" with terrifying powers-the "source of calamity" in this world.
Meanwhile, the Demon Slayer Corps was this world's "hunter organization," challenging the "forbidden" with mortal bodies.
"So that's how it is~ I get it now."
The Sapphire Star spoke slowly.
"So this is a... hmm... world cursed by a powerful 'monster,' and you're the hunters fighting against it." A measure of heartfelt respect entered her gaze as she looked at Kagaya Ubuyashiki.
That determination to stake their lives on fighting despair, generation after generation, had something in common with the hunters' conviction in exploring the unknown and confronting Elder Dragons.
"Then, Mr. Ubuyashiki," she said, her tone growing solemn.
"I imagine you didn't come here in person just to tell me all this."
She went straight to the heart of the matter.
"Was it because of me? Because of the power I showed on Mount Fujikasane?" She leaned forward slightly and looked him straight in the eyes.
"You weren't there at the time, were you? What did you learn in such a short time? Or rather... what are you worried about?"
Kagaya Ubuyashiki inclined his head slightly and smiled.
"Yes, Sapphire Star," he admitted frankly.
"Your arrival itself is an enormous 'variable.' Through the reports of the Kakushi, everything that happened on Mount Fujikasane has unfolded before me like a painted scroll. Your power, which does not belong to any Breathing Style yet contains frost and profound annihilation; your feat of slaying the Hand Demon in an instant and saving so many young lives; and... the physical strength and combat instincts you displayed in every movement, far beyond anything ordinary..."
He paused, looking at the Sapphire Star with deep, searching eyes.
"All of it defies reason! Your existence is like a great boulder cast into a still lake. Its ripples will inevitably spread across the entire 'surface.' I cannot predict what those ripples will ultimately bring, but I know they have already altered certain paths."
"I came despite my illness out of respect for a powerful warrior, and because of the importance I place on this 'variable'... cough, cough!"
Ubuyashiki's voice held a trace of weariness, but remained firm.
"I wished to see for myself whether you... are an enemy or a friend. Where will you direct your power? Will it become the dawn that ends Muzan's curse, or... bring new, unpredictable disturbances? And does your 'heart' beat in harmony with the wish to protect humanity's light?"
In this isolated world struggling against a thousand-year curse, a warrior from another world had suddenly appeared, wielding forbidden power. Her allegiance and intentions directly concerned the fate of the entire Demon Slayer Corps, and even humanity itself.
What concerned him was the Sapphire Star as a person, and where her heart lay.
The Sapphire Star fell silent for a moment.
Sea breezes, Elder Dragons, Astera, Lone Bird's punchable face, Dire Miralis's roar, the dizziness of spatial turbulence, the blood and scent of wisteria on Mount Fujikasane... countless images flashed through her mind.
For now, she would not be getting home anytime soon.
But she remembered the children who had died on Mount Fujikasane, and what she had told Tanjiro and the others: "Stay alive and grow stronger. Only then can you protect the people you want to protect!"
At last, she spread her lips into a hunter's trademark grin, a mixture of resignation, fierceness, and a hint of acceptance.
"An enemy? Definitely not." She spread her hands, her tone tinged with self-mockery.
"Sure, I got dumped in this godforsaken place for no reason, and some talking ugly bastard gave me one hell of a scare. But monsters that prey on the weak and eat human flesh are targets for extermination back home, too." She patted her chest, where a hunter's heart beat.
"As for being a friend..."
The familiar flame of a hunter's fighting spirit ignited in her golden eyes.
"Since I can't find a way home for now, can't relax by chopping up a few Jaggi, and can't drag that bastard Lone Bird over to take the fall..." Her tone shifted, becoming resolute.
"Then I'll help you cut down that big bastard called Muzan first! Consider it... a special investigation quest to explore a new map!"
"After all~"
She rose to her feet, her tall figure casting a distinct silhouette across the room. Velkhana frost drifted faintly upward with her movement, and her voice carried an utterly matter-of-fact confidence.
"Protecting the weak and hunting threats is carved into a hunter's bones! I don't care whether it's an Elder Dragon or a Demon King. If it dares hurt people..."
Her eyes blazed, as though she had already locked onto a distant target.
"-I'll cut every last one of those bastards down!"
Far away, a fellow named Muzan kept sneezing.
"Achoo! Achoo! I'm the Demon King, so how the hell can I still catch a cold... achoo! Nakime! Turn up the temperature in the Infinity Castle! Who are you trying to freeze to death in here? Achoo!!!!"
Before you continue