The smell of blood in the valley grew thicker, and even the mist seemed to have been stained dark red.
Kirishima Bupai walked briskly at the head of the group, blade in hand. The beads of blood on its edge were scattered by the wind before they could fall.
Zenitsu followed behind with his neck hunched, stumbling over the bones on the ground from time to time...
Genya trudged silently at the rear. The slap mark on his face had long since faded, leaving only the complicated emotions in his eyes.
"Who... exactly is this guy?"
At the back of the group, two boys trembling as they hugged tree trunks stole glances at Kirishima Bupai's back.
One of them, a boy with a buzz cut, lowered his voice. "Look at him. Killing demons is like slicing tofu to him. When that demon's head went flying just now, he was actually smiling..."
The other boy, who wore a bamboo hat, swallowed, his gaze sweeping over the demon corpses on the ground as they kept crumbling into ash:
"I heard his name is Kirishima Bupai. Apparently, he came from Mount Sagiri. Do you think he might be some trainer's secret weapon?"
"Secret weapon? More like a lunatic!" The buzz-cut boy shuddered. "Look at all these people following him..."
Following his gaze, one could see that the little group of three had somehow grown to more than a dozen.
Most of them were participants who had been hiding in the shadows earlier. After seeing Kirishima Bupai slaughter demons in droves, they had shamelessly tagged along.
They wanted both a free ride to safety and a chance to pick off stragglers once Kirishima Bupai tired of killing, so they could make their presence felt.
Now they huddled in the middle and rear of the group, watching the figure in the black trench coat ahead with eyes full of awe and fear.
"Hey! Something's up ahead!"
Someone at the front of the group suddenly shouted.
Kirishima Bupai looked up and saw seven or eight demons suddenly dart out from a bend in the mountain path ahead.
They all had blue faces and protruding fangs, with drool dripping from the corners of their mouths. Clearly, the scent of living humans had drawn them over.
"Perfect timing."
Kirishima Bupai licked the corner of his mouth, a flicker of excitement crossing his eyes.
Before his words had faded, he had already shot forward like a phantom.
His Nichirin Blade traced a silver arc in the moonlight. With a crisp ring as it left its sheath, the foremost demon's head shot into the sky.
[Ding! Killed one roadside demon. Gained 5 points. Current total points: 1,425!]
"Swish! Swish! Swish!"
Flashes of steel wove together, leaving layers of afterimages.
Kirishima Bupai moved so fast that no one could follow his blade's path. All they could hear were the demons' screams and the dull thuds of falling bodies.
Amid the flashing blades, his black trench coat fluttered through the demons. He was like a bat hunting in the night.
"..."
As he swung his blade, he hummed a strange tune under his breath. It sounded neither like waka nor like a folk song, yet it carried a rhythm that made hearts tremble.
The participants following behind watched, dumbfounded. The buzz-cut boy murmured, "He... he's actually singing?"
The boy in the bamboo hat swallowed. "That's not singing. He's sending those demons to their graves..."
In mere moments, all seven or eight demons had turned to ash.
Kirishima Bupai sheathed his blade and shook out his wrist, as though he had done something utterly trivial.
[Ding! Killed one low-level demon. Gained 8 points!] [Ding! Killed one Common Demon. Gained 12 points!]
The point notifications rang out one after another. Although each increase was small, sheer quantity made up for it, and his total continued to rise steadily.
Kirishima Bupai raised an eyebrow in satisfaction. He was about to continue forward when, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a pale blue figure flashing past the end of the mountain path.
It was a girl with straight bangs and hair tied back with a ribbon. A faint, almost mechanical smile rested on her face, but her eyes were as empty as a deep pool.
She wore the standard Butterfly Mansion uniform and held a slender Nichirin Blade. Having just dispatched a demon cleanly, she was about to turn and leave.
"Kanao Tsuyuri?" Kirishima Bupai recognized her.
The girl Shinobu Kocho had adopted was cold by nature and poor at expressing her feelings, yet possessed exceptionally keen perception and swift movements.
Kanao Tsuyuri seemed to notice the commotion on their side as well and instinctively glanced back.
When she saw Kirishima Bupai's black trench coat, silver-white hair, and the excited smile still lingering at the corner of his mouth after killing demons, her pupils contracted slightly.
This person... is so strange.
Without thinking further, she turned and darted deeper into the valley.
Kanao Tsuyuri was incredibly fast. Her toes touched down on branches, her figure as light as a feather, and in the blink of an eye, she vanished deep into the dense woods.
Her rapid movement, however, disturbed the nearby demons.
Several demons lurking in the shadows were drawn by the scent of a living human and chased after Kanao Tsuyuri.
But they were nowhere near as fast as she was and were left behind after only a few steps.
Just then, Kirishima Bupai came charging over with the group.
The demons she had left behind immediately changed direction, roaring as they lunged at this seemingly "easier" group.
"Bring it on!"
A sharp gleam flashed in Kirishima Bupai's eyes, and he charged forward with his blade.
Steel flashed again, and demons fell one after another.
And the direction he was advancing in happened to be the same one Kanao Tsuyuri had taken.
Deep in the dense woods, Kanao Tsuyuri moved swiftly under cover of the trees.
She kept feeling that something was following her. The sensation of being watched made her very uncomfortable.
She whipped her head around just in time to see Kirishima Bupai cleave a demon in two, then look up in her direction, seemingly still smiling.
It's that weirdo!
He really is following me!
Kanao Tsuyuri's heart sank.
All sorts of people took part in the Final Selection. She had also heard of psychologically twisted people who harbored unusual desires toward those of the same or opposite sex.
With the boy before her looking almost crazed as he killed demons, and now pursuing her relentlessly, it was hard not to read more into it.
"A lunatic...?"
Kanao Tsuyuri murmured the word, fine beads of cold sweat seeping from her forehead.
She dared not linger any longer. Her speed abruptly increased, and she shot deeper into the valley like an arrow loosed from a bow.
But the deeper she went, the more demons she encountered.
The demons deep within Mount Fujikasane were clearly stronger than those on the outskirts, and more aggressive as well.
Drawn by Kanao Tsuyuri's scent, they lunged endlessly from the shadows, only for her to nimbly shake them off.
And without exception, every demon she shook off lunged at Kirishima Bupai and the others following close behind.
"Come on! The more, the better!"
Kirishima Bupai grew so absorbed in the slaughter that he even began singing off-key, to the melody of a certain special track from Devil May Cry 5.
He darted through the demons, wielding his Nichirin Blade in an impenetrable flurry, every strike landing precisely on a demon's neck.
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