Seeing the demon mercilessly swing his blade at the child, Gu Kouyi rushed toward Kanao almost without hesitation.
Wind surged around him. As a practitioner of Wind Breathing, Gu Kouyi was incredibly fast. In an instant, he reached Kanao and stretched out a hand to pull her away from the demon's vicious strike.
"Get down."
The demon's cold voice suddenly rang out.
Gu Kouyi was puzzled, but his attempt to save the child did not slow. Instead, he moved even faster.
Yet just as his hand was about to close around the child and pull Kanao swiftly back, his fingers caught nothing but air.
Only then did he realize that the moment the demon had said "Get down," the child had immediately dropped flat, obeying his command without the slightest hesitation. That was why Gu Kouyi had failed to grab her.
He instinctively raised his head and realized he was barely half a body's length from the demon. He could clearly see the murderous intent gleaming in those scarlet eyes.
This is bad. He tried to retreat without hesitation, only to discover in horror that the blade meant for the child was now slashing toward him.
"Die!"
With the demon's low roar, the blade swept mercilessly toward him.
So fast!
His mind went blank for an instant, and he raised his sword to block almost on instinct.
The demon's fully committed strike carried tremendous force. As it struck his Nichirin Blade, that overwhelming power traveled through the blade and into his hands almost instantly.
As a practitioner of Wind Breathing, raw strength was already his weaker point. Against the demon's charged strike, the force transmitted through his blade instantly shook Gu Kouyi's grip loose. His hands trembled, and he lost his footing, staggering backward.
Just then, the demon drew back his sword and lowered his body.
"Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu: Dragon Hammer Flash."
Holding his sword in both hands, the crouching demon suddenly sprang upward.
Whoosh!
The blade pierced Gu Kouyi's chin and instantly burst through the top of his head. Red and white fluid ran down the blade, then dripped onto his hair.
"Kh... kh..."
Gu Kouyi tried to howl in agony, but the blade piercing his chin prevented him from closing his mouth or opening it any farther. Only wet, rasping sounds came from his working throat, accompanied by blood welling up in his mouth. The sight was utterly cold-blooded and brutal.
Su Mu pulled out his Nichirin Blade without hesitation. Gu Kouyi reached out with both hands, trying to grab him, but his strength failed before his hands could reach him, and he collapsed to the ground.
Thud.
Gu Kouyi's body hit the ground. The fight had ended in an instant.
His corpse lay on the ground, lifeless eyes staring blankly ahead. In front of him, Kanao was still lying flat, her pinkish-purple eyes meeting his vacant gaze.
The girl's beautiful pinkish-purple eyes went blank for a moment.
Having slain the Demon Slayer Corps swordsman with a single strike, Su Mu immediately crouched down and scooped up Kanao, who was still lying on the ground. Without hesitation, he ran off into the distance.
Held in her uncle's arms, her small body jolted with his hurried strides. With her head resting on his shoulder, the girl stared dazedly at the distant figure lying on the ground, at that...
Motionless man.
Su Mu ran in silence. Killing his enemy had brought him no joy; instead, he felt weighed down. He thought of the dead Demon Slayer Corps swordsman, then of the despicable means he had just used.
Granted, in a genuine one-on-one fight, the man might not have been his match. But with the speed of Wind Breathing, he would not necessarily have died so easily. He might even have stood a chance.
The man had known that choosing to save the child would hamper him.
He had known it would put him in terrible danger.
Yet he had chosen to do it anyway, risking his life to save the child.
And Su Mu had chosen to use Kanao as bait-to use a child's life as bait.
Granted, even if the Demon Slayer Corps swordsman had not tried to save her, he would never truly have brought that blade down.
But compared with the other man's nobility, he seemed so despicable.
Only, the noble man had already fallen.
And the despicable one...
Was still standing.
Su Mu ran in silence, the image of that fallen corpse lingering in his mind. The blood staining his hand made the hand gripping his Nichirin Blade feel as though it had been shocked.
"I don't want to... die."
Thinking of the look in the man's eyes before his death, he tightened his fist slightly. "I don't want to die. That's all."
He raised his head, looked at the pitch-black sky, and murmured quietly:
"I just don't want to die, so..."
"So..."
"You... have to die."
If he had not killed the man, if he had let him keep pursuing him until his comrades arrived, he would have faced encirclement by an entire Demon Slayer Corps squad. His death would have been all but certain.
Whether his methods were righteous or despicable, staying alive was what mattered most.
The torches hissed as they burned, their grease bursting in the flames with faint crackles. The flickering light wavered like uneven breaths, casting alternating light and shadow across their faces.
Hiroshi Furukawa and the other Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen arrived in pursuit, only to find Gu Kouyi's corpse lying on the ground.
Everyone fell silent.
For the Demon Slayer Corps, whose duty was to protect humanity and eradicate demons, death was commonplace. Every swordsman who joined had prepared himself to die on that path.
Yet every time they saw a comrade die, they still felt anger and pain.
Today, their squad had lost another comrade. Just the day before, they had been laughing and talking together, planning to relax after completing this mission. They had even hoped to follow their leader to meet the Flame Hashira and share a meal with him.
The Flame Hashira was the man Gu Kouyi admired most. He had even arranged to ask the Flame Hashira to write something on his uniform, and had already decided on the words: "Slay all demons." But before that day could come, Gu Kouyi had left them.
Beyond the others' grief and anger, their squad captain, Hiroshi Furukawa, felt an even greater burden of guilt and pain. If not for his oversight, perhaps Gu Kouyi would not have died.
At that moment, Hiroshi Furukawa's sword hand trembled. His eyes filled with boundless sorrow, and he almost sank to his knees.
Silent tears welled in his eyes.
They streamed down his cheeks.
He silently drew his Nichirin Blade, extended his hand, and cut a wound across it. Crimson blood dripped beside the corpse.
Hiroshi Furukawa said nothing, but the murderous intent in his eyes had almost taken physical form.
The other swordsmen silently used their Nichirin Blades to cut their arms as well. As blood dripped down, each raised his blade in one hand and let blood fall from the other before their comrade's corpse.
The flames burned, their flickering light falling across everyone's faces and eyes, reflecting their cold, dark gazes...
...Like...
Savage wolves.