Miasma Forest

The path to the Rotten Wood Shrine disappeared beneath increasingly dense forest cover. Tangled branches and leaves tore the sunlight to shreds, leaving only dappled spots of light on the rotting leaves.

The air carried the decay of old wood, the dampness of moss, and an incredibly faint yet unmistakably familiar scent that immediately put the Sapphire Star on edge-

It was the cold, bloody stench of a demon, with a barely perceptible hint of rusty blood!

Though faint, as if deliberately washed away or suppressed, the scent was as distinct as a tiny star in the night sky to the Sapphire Star's extraordinarily keen senses. She had hunted countless ferocious monsters and slain two demons with her own hands.

She even picked out minute lingering differences between the scents of different demons-one was low-grade trash with a slightly scorched smell, while the other... well, also trash, but with a vicious, bloody reek.

"Tch... I knew it. More loser demons playing tricks."

The Sapphire Star spat disdainfully, her golden eyes sweeping the gloomy, silent shrine grounds like searchlights.

A collapsed, rotting torii gate, moss-covered stone lanterns, and a main hall half-hidden beneath rampant weeds and vines lay in utter disrepair.

The elusive demonic presence lingered among rotten wood and cracks in the stone. Something had clearly been here and carefully concealed its presence.

"What's wrong, you sewer rats who can't stand the light? Only brave enough to hide in the dark and play your little poisoning games, but too scared to show your faces? Since when did you demons become such pathetic cowards, only baring your teeth at unarmed villagers and ambushing them?"

Her voice echoed through the empty ruins, deliberately provocative. Yet only rustling leaves stirred by the forest breeze and the occasional distant birdcall answered her. None of the enraged roars or lunging demons she had expected appeared.

"Goddammit... even taunting doesn't work... This is why I hate sneaky bastards..." The Sapphire Star wasted no more words-

The Scoutfly jar!

Several fingernail-sized insects emitting a soft, pale green glow fluttered out. As though drawn by invisible threads, they immediately scattered, circling and searching every corner of the abandoned shrine.

A moment later, the Scoutflies flew in unison toward the remains of an incense burner that had long since toppled over, spilling its ashes before the main hall.

They excitedly darted and circled over a mound of dirt, rotten leaves, and years of incense ash. Their pale green light concentrated over that small patch, forming a little, clearly defined ring!

The Sapphire Star immediately crouched, brisk and decisive. Unbothered by the filth, she reached into the soil marked by the Scoutflies, which looked like nothing more than ordinary damp ash, and carefully rubbed and sifted it between her fingers.

"Ninety... ninety percent sure... nothing rare..."

Soon, her fingertips touched grains with a distinctly different texture-

They were coarser than the fine incense ash and darker, a purplish-black brown resembling congealed, tainted blood.

But these grains had been cleverly mixed into a large quantity of ordinary, old, grayish-white incense ash. Without the Scoutflies' absurdly powerful senses, even the Sapphire Star would have struggled to spot such a subtle difference by sight and experience alone!

She leaned closer and sniffed. An incredibly faint, cold, bloody odor entered her nose, instantly confirming her suspicion-

Dried demon blood!

"There, there, there! Found it!"

So that was it! Rather than casting their power directly, the demons had used an exceptionally covert and deceptive method.

They had ground their own blood, laden with powerful curses and corruption, into powder and mixed it with incense ash! After devout worshippers prayed, whether they inadvertently inhaled it or unknowingly carried some away on their bodies, the sinister power of disease contained in the demon blood would quietly invade them.

She carefully searched the surrounding area again.

But apart from the adulterated incense ash, she found no other obvious fresh traces.

The cunning demons seemed to have done this one thing and then vanished like shadows, leaving neither an extra footprint nor a trace of their scent.

The Sapphire Star rose and looked at the sunlight filtering through the leaves, narrowing her golden eyes.

"You're all just like that one on Sunshine Mountain, huh? Absolutely refuse to come out for a little vitamin D during the day?"

Neither alarmed nor angered, the Sapphire Star strode over to the main hall's broken stone steps, covered in moss and dried vines, and plopped down with her legs spread.

Her armor made a faint clink against the steps. She casually set the massive Fatalis Demolisher beside her, its enormous blade resting against the stone like a savage beast that had temporarily sheathed its claws.

"Fine!" The Sapphire Star addressed the dark forest ahead as though shouting to the enemies hidden in its depths.

"If you won't come out, I've got plenty of patience! And more guts than you! I'll wait right here! Until sundown! Until you bunch of chickens can't stand hiding anymore!"

She folded her arms across her chest and leaned lazily against the cold stone wall, yet radiated a terrifying, rock-solid patience.

The Sapphire Star really hated searching for enemies hiding in the dark. Tracking monsters in the Old World had driven her mad, and even after finding them, she had needed a paintball to avoid losing them again. Better tracking technology hadn't become available until the New World.

She had heard that Blaze in the neighboring village used high-tech equipment that revealed every monster's location at a glance. The Sapphire Star couldn't even imagine how convenient that must be. Comparing yourself to others really could drive a hunter mad.

The Sapphire Star's golden eyes closed to narrow slits like those of a dozing predator, while all five senses sharpened to their peak in an instant-

Her ears caught every unusual rustle in the forest, her nose distinguished every subtle change in the air, and her skin felt the shifts in temperature and humidity...

Time slipped quietly by in the silence of the decaying shrine.

Not far from the shrine ruins, an exceedingly twisted presence lurked in an unknown patch of darkness.

Its aura had been deliberately suppressed to the bare minimum, like a venomous snake blending into its surroundings.

A shrill, slippery voice spoke with intense alarm. "Byōga! Did you feel that?! Someone terrifying just showed up! That presence... is she a Hashira from the Demon Slayer Corps?"

Another voice, harsh as scraping rusty metal, immediately silenced it. "Shut up, moron! Of course I know! That pressure... it's even more suffocating than that bastard who uses water! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"

The shrill voice answered shakily. "Byōga... she... look at her sitting there like nothing's wrong! Maybe... we should retreat for now? Lie low for a while..."

"Retreat?!" The harsh voice erupted with fury and the fear of someone whose sore spot had been struck.

"Have maggots eaten your brain?! Look what happened to that idiot Koyuki! Have you forgotten how that lord punished us?"

The voice conveyed pain and terror that reached deep into the bones. "If we give up because we're scared... think about what that lord will do! Even death would be a luxury!"

The voice was disjointed and terrified. "Either finish the job properly! Or just kill yourself outright!"

"You're right... but why panic? She's out in the open, and we're hidden. We have the advantage!" Cruel smugness crept into the voice.

"Look at those swordsmen before her. However strong they were, didn't they fall once they touched our 'Seeds of Plague'? No matter how powerful she is, she's still flesh and blood!... Her strength will become our nourishment! Her suffering will be our feast!"

"Y-yes! That woman... looks very powerful... her blood... must be delicious... And... if we could eliminate a threat like her for Lord Muzan..."

"Hmph. Then we'll do as you suggested. Observe first. Don't act rashly!"

Their silent exchange subsided.

Deep darkness gradually enveloped the Rotten Wood Shrine. The scant daylight vanished without a trace, leaving only faint moonlight that occasionally pierced the dense canopy and cast twisted shadows over the shrine's remains.

The Sapphire Star slowly opened her eyes.

The anticipated ambush never came. Instead, mist spread through the surrounding air, growing thicker and more viscous.

It carried an all-too-familiar, nauseatingly sweet, bloody stench of decay-the unmistakable smell of demons. It was stronger and fouler than before, as though countless festering wounds were releasing poison at once.

"...Demons these days are such sore losers. You're really pulling this crap on me?" The Sapphire Star wiped drool from the corner of her mouth. She really had fallen asleep shortly after sitting down...

Without a trace of panic, she rose as naturally as someone stretching after a long sit, loosened her back and waist, and even gave a lazy yawn.

Reaching behind her, she securely returned the Fatalis Demolisher from beside the steps to her back.

Then she set off straight toward the depths of the dense forest behind the shrine, swallowed by thick mist and deeper darkness.

Her pace was unhurried but exceptionally steady. Each step landed on rotting leaves with a distinct rustle that sounded piercing in the deathly silence.

As she went deeper, the mist grew thicker and thicker, nearly condensing into liquid that weighed heavily on her skin.

Visibility dropped sharply. Beyond a few paces, everything became a gray-white blur.

Stranger still, the dense mist seemed to carry some kind of anger. It churned and surged with intense malice and a corrosive chill, trying to seep through every gap in her armor.

The armor covering the Sapphire Star, crafted from Velkhana materials, emitted a faint, cold blue glow in the mist, becoming the only visible target.

The Scoutfly jar at her waist buzzed. Several anxious Scoutflies flew out, but their pale green light disappeared into the impenetrable demonic fog. They circled uselessly, completely disoriented and unable to lock onto any target.

"What's going on?!"

Deep within the forest, the shrill, slippery voice screamed through their mental link.

"Our 'Corrupting Poison Miasma' is already this dense! It can even eat through stone! How... how is she completely fine?! She hasn't even coughed once!"

"Shut up, you moron!" The harsh voice immediately roared it down, though a barely perceptible trace of uncertainty and agitation had entered its thoughts.

"What's the rush?! However strong she is, she's human! Humans need to breathe! They need to move! Our miasma gets into everything! We'll wear her down! Let's see how long she lasts!"

Forcing itself to steady its nerves, it added viciously, "Even if we can't poison her to death, this fog will make her completely lose her way! She'll wander around this forest like a headless chicken! Eventually, she'll either exhaust herself or... heh heh, miss a step and fall off Soul-Sundering Cliff over there! Smashed to pieces! Saves us the trouble!"

"Yes... yes! Wear her down!" The shrill voice chimed in with twisted delight, as though clutching a lifeline. "Let her lose herself in despair! Rot in agony! Lord Muzan will surely be pleased..."

Meanwhile, the Sapphire Star really was having a rough time.

"If I had three days of sight... on the first day, I'd drag Lone Bird to the New World. On the second, I'd drag Blaze to the New World. On the third, I'd get some proper sleep in the Old World myself..." She certainly wasn't afraid of miasma, but that didn't mean she could see through the fog.

Smack.

The Sapphire Star stumbled into a tree. She was fine. The tree fell.

Her vision had been reduced to its absolute limit. Beyond a few paces lay nothing but gray-white chaos. Even her keen hunter's eyes couldn't penetrate this malicious barrier.

"My patience has limits! You two, Shuke and Beita, have officially pissed me off!" Embarrassed after walking into the tree, the Sapphire Star had grown thoroughly sick of this game of cat and mouse.

She abruptly planted her feet, lowered her center of gravity, and gripped the end of the enormous sword hilt behind her with a rock-steady right hand.

"Let's see how you two like this move I learned from Blaze!"

Sheathe.

The Fatalis Demolisher's heavy scabbard gave a low hum. An invisible force rapidly gathered and compressed around her!

ROAR-!!!

A deep blast erupted from within her! The first-stage burst of power! The heavy poisonous fog around her was abruptly driven back in a ring, revealing a small patch of hazy visibility, but the mist quickly flowed back to fill it.

HUM-!!!

An even stronger shockwave burst outward! The second-stage burst of power! The cleared area expanded. The poisonous mist struck what seemed to be an invisible wall, churning violently and hissing as though scorched!

SHING-!!!

Finally, a ringing blade-note, clear as a dragon's cry yet heavy as a great bell, tore through the deathly silence!

Divine Iai!!!!

The dense mist within several meters of the Sapphire Star was completely expelled and dispersed by savage force!

A raging blade of energy surged like a furious dragon bursting from the sea! It swept forward with overwhelming force, wreaking havoc!

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Trees as thick as bowls were severed at the waist, and jagged rocks half a person's height exploded into powder.

A circular zone of destruction was forcibly carved into the dense mist, opening up the view for an instant.

Right at the edge of that devastated sector, two nearly overlapping, uncontrollable screams suddenly rang out, mixed with coarse curses.

"Fuck!! That crazy bitch! Everyone in the Demon Slayer Corps is insane!"

"Motherfucker! That hurts!"

Amid the curses, two shadows fled from behind the broken trees and shattered rocks at astonishing speed, scrambling away like startled night owls.

As the controllers retreated in panic, the corrupting poisonous miasma blanketing the forest rapidly thinned, then swiftly dissipated!

Whoosh-

The Scoutfly jar at her waist vibrated with a fierce buzz. Several Scoutflies that had just been circling aimlessly suddenly lit up with dazzling green light.

They instantly locked onto the lingering scent trails of the two wounded targets fleeing in panic. Several bright green trails shot without hesitation in the direction where the two demon shadows had disappeared.

"Little Blaze's move really works! You two Jerries are dead!"