Dormitory Meeting

That evening, beside the hearth in Urokodaki's cabin.

Perhaps their afternoon sparring had deepened their bond.

Or perhaps overwhelming strength had earned their respect.

Full from dinner, the three of them began chatting, pleasantly at ease.

Sabito asked curiously, "Xia Xi, you've already killed demons, haven't you? What did it feel like?"

Compared with Xia Xi, the two boys, who had yet to finish their training, were still quite unfamiliar with slaying demons.

Though Urokodaki occasionally told them stories about demons he had slain in the past.

They were more interested in hearing how someone their own age felt than listening to an old man.

Even Giyu was no exception, quietly perking up his ears.

"What did it feel like?"

Xia Xi positioned his hands as though gripping a sword and slashed at the hearth fire, as if he held a Nichirin Blade.

The flames flickered and swayed.

"A little tougher than cutting a wooden target."

"When the edge first breaks the skin, there isn't much resistance. It actually feels a little soft."

"When you reach the spine, it's a bit like cutting a cracker. But if you get the angle wrong, your Nichirin Blade might end up with a rolled edge..."

"Overall, I guess it's like tofu with crispy pork?"

Sabito: ...

He just said something really horrifying.

Giyu promptly chimed in from beside him. "I never want to eat crispy pork again."

Xia Xi shifted his stance and continued.

"But aside from how it feels, there are a few things you really do need to watch out for when killing demons. Hmm... you two should keep them in mind when the time comes."

"It's different from cutting wooden targets and rocks in training."

"A demon's neck might be its weak point, but it isn't a stationary target. They'll move, dodge, and protect their necks during a fight."

"So your chance to strike can vanish in an instant. You can't hesitate."

Sabito imagined himself fighting a humanoid monster and cutting off its head.

He couldn't help asking another question. "Xia Xi, did you hesitate or feel uncomfortable the first time you killed a demon?"

He was a little worried that he, or the more sensitive Giyu, might experience a fatal moment of hesitation when they first killed a demon.

"Of course not."

Xia Xi said it as though it were obvious.

After all, he had fought humanoid monsters and other players plenty of times in other action games.

Besides...

What did killing my first demon feel like?

Sorry, I forgot.

He had cut it down so quickly that he hadn't really had time to feel anything.

"They're demons. Monsters that eat people."

"It's not like you're being asked to kill a human."

"And if it really makes you uncomfortable, wouldn't it be better to make it quick and clean and send them on their way sooner?"

"Besides, demons don't feel pain. Just cut them down."

The two boys looked at each other, bewildered.

Was...

Was that really how it worked?

Since Xia Xi said so, it must be true.

They recalled the few things Urokodaki had told them about Xia Xi's past.

Someone like him naturally wouldn't show demons any mercy.

If anything, asking such a question made Sabito seem indecisive.

"I understand."

Sabito touched his fox mask, earnestly committing Xia Xi's words to memory.

"Oh, and there are different types of demons you need to pay special attention to."

Sabito asked, "Types?"

"Yeah, categories I came up with myself." Xia Xi nodded. "For now, I've divided these demons into two types: [stat monsters] and [mechanics monsters]."

There it was again-another strange foreign term unique to Xia Xi.

Though they didn't fully understand yet, both boys immediately concentrated, silently memorizing those oddly pronounced katakana terms.

Xia Xi began sharing the observations he had made about these "red-name monsters" over the past while:

Stat monsters referred to the vast majority of demons whose strength centered on raw physical ability.

They didn't have flashy, superpower-like Blood Demon Arts. Instead, they relied on overwhelming physical attributes, such as strength, speed, regeneration, bodily toughness, and so on.

So far, most of the demons Xia Xi had encountered, as well as most of those reported by other swordsmen, fell into this category.

In other games, they would roughly correspond to the [warrior] class.

But that certainly didn't mean they posed no threat.

Even "plain and simple" could become terrifying when taken to the extreme.

An extraordinary physique combined with refined martial skill, or targeted mutations in crucial body parts-steel-like bones, bladed limbs, accelerated regeneration, and the like.

Any one of those could transform a demon's strength entirely.

Though Xia Xi hadn't encountered one yet, he could easily imagine it:

A [warrior demon] with supreme combat skills, a skill pool stuffed with overpowered abilities, physical stats far beyond the player's, and immunity to decapitation would be one hell of a "bullshit enemy" in a game.

(Bullshit enemy: a general gaming term for hostile NPCs with obnoxious design that disregards balance.)

"You might swing your blade and find the demon's neck perfectly fine, while your Nichirin Blade snaps instead."

The other type was what he called a mechanics monster.

These demons didn't necessarily possess top-tier physical abilities, but they invariably had extremely unusual, even "unfair," Blood Demon Arts.

Not ordinary Blood Demon Arts that simply bombarded you with elemental energy.

Rather, they were like the ones he had encountered before, or those Master Kazami had mentioned.

For example, "destroys weapons on contact."

Or "gravity continuously increases within its domain until the opponent dies."

There were even ones that "scramble all five senses so you can't tell up from down or left from right."

Every one of them was like a Stand user.

Even Xia Xi himself found them a headache just to hear about.

Never mind the two apprentices sitting before him.

As for the Elite Monsters that might appear later, the [Twelve Kizuki], and the final boss, [Muzan Kibutsuji]?

Xia Xi was willing to stake practically all his gaming experience on it.

They would absolutely be ultimate bullshit enemies with both their stats and mechanics maxed out.

If even the regular mobs had this much thought put into them.

With stats to spare and mechanics to match.

Surely the major battles later on wouldn't be less impressive than these foot soldiers?

When Xia Xi mentioned the Rust-Rust Fruit demon from the Final Selection and its ability, which was practically a "disarm," both Sabito and Giyu froze.

They

had never imagined such a frustrating situation.

Wasn't slaying a demon supposed to mean fighting a fierce battle, then cutting off its head?

How could there be such an unfair ability?

"Then... how did you deal with it?"

Sabito tried putting himself in Xia Xi's shoes.

If his Nichirin Blade snapped at the crucial moment while fighting a demon.

He would probably have no choice but to leave his fate to chance.

Giyu was silently thinking the same thing.

If even Sabito found it difficult, wouldn't someone weaker like him be doomed to die on the spot?

But since Xia Xi was sitting here now, completely unharmed, he must have had a solution.

"There are ways."

"The general approach is to keep it occupied as best you can until dawn, or wait for reinforcements."

Oh, I see.

He must have held out against that demon until dawn, then used the sunlight to finish it off.

But when Sabito thought about what he had learned of Xia Xi during their time together.

His astonishing perseverance and physique.

And his extreme hatred of demons.

Sabito could even picture Kurumazuka Natsumi beating the demon relentlessly until sunrise.

"It was sunlight, then."

Giyu spoke up too.

"No," Xia Xi flatly denied. "I wasn't about to waste an entire night on one trash mob."

The Uchiha boy: (´･w･`)?

Sabito asked, "Then how did you kill it?"

Xia Xi answered as though it were obvious. "By cutting its head off faster than it could activate its Blood Demon Art, of course."

You could do that?!

Both boys froze.

"But didn't you say your sword broke?"

"A broken sword still has half a blade, doesn't it?"

Xia Xi looked as though this should have been perfectly obvious.

For a moment, Sabito and Giyu were speechless.

Seemingly noticing their stunned expressions, Xia Xi added, "It's fine if you can't do that yet."

"Bring a few extra Nichirin Blades. That gives you more room for trial and error, and you might find another solution."

Sabito gave a troubled, wry smile. "But swordsmen are usually only issued one Nichirin Blade. If it breaks, killing a demon really does become difficult."

Xia Xi didn't agree.

Instead, he began counting off points on his fingers as he explained.

"Think about it."

"If you really encounter a demon that can break your sword, whether it uses a Blood Demon Art or just has ridiculously strong physical abilities, that means it's a powerful demon, right?"

Both boys nodded.

"Then doesn't that mean other swordsmen have probably fought it and died?"

Both boys nodded again.

Sabito had a vague idea of what Xia Xi was about to say.

"Wait, you don't mean..."

It was Xia Xi's turn to nod. He smiled faintly.

"Pick them up. Your teammates dropped their gear. Not picking it up and using it would be such a waste."

Huh?

You could do that?

"But those are the belongings of the dead. Wouldn't using them without permission be..."

Sabito suddenly hesitated.

Xia Xi promptly shot him down without mercy.

"Why wouldn't you use them? If you lost to a demon because of some stupid bushido principle, believe me, those dead swordsmen would get up and call you a hidebound fool if they could still speak."

-Hiss.

Now that I think about it, he seems to have a point.

Carrying their swords and continuing their will would be the best way to honor them...

It didn't seem entirely unacceptable.

Xia Xi tipped his chin toward the Nichirin Blades nearby, firelight quietly playing over their guards.

"See those three?"

"I picked them all up at the Final Selection grounds."

Their owners were dead, so of course he couldn't let them go to waste.

Rather than leave those bereaved blades lying lonely on the ground, he might as well take them for a spin and put what they had left to good use.

Unfortunately, picking up any more would have made traveling inconvenient.

It definitely wasn't because of Persimmon and the other swordsmen nagging him.

"Huh? These swords..."

Sabito straightened solemnly and bowed respectfully to the three blades.

"Thank you all... for fighting those demons. Thank you for your efforts."

He was still rather traditional at heart, believing that swords had souls and spirits of their own.

Beside them, Giyu murmured, "So you're... not a weirdo after all."

No wonder the three Nichirin Blades were all different colors.

After all, when ordinary swordsmen received their own Nichirin Blades, the blades would spontaneously change color according to the Breathing Style they had learned or their personality.

This was a trait unique to Nichirin Blades.

He had thought Xia Xi had painted the three blades different colors himself.

Seemingly worried that Xia Xi might misunderstand, Sabito explained on behalf of his junior.

"Giyu means he thought you used a three-sword style, Xia Xi..."

Xia Xi rolled his eyes at him.

"Even if I wanted to get fancy, I'd use a two-sword style."

"Where would I get a third hand?"