Going too far

In that very instant.

"Clang-!!!"

A deafening screech of metal exploded through the air like a dragon's roar!

It was the death knell of a blade scraping against its sheath.

At some point, Rokuya's right hand had closed tightly around Shura's hilt. Facing that enormous fist capable of smashing rock to pieces, he advanced instead of retreating. The muscles in his right arm swelled instantly, veins bulging like coiled dragons!

"I was just wondering..."

At that moment, Rokuya's voice became ethereal and low, like the whisper of a reaper from the deepest reaches of hell.

"If I chopped you all up too finely, would all that minced meat on the ground pollute the air here?"

Boom!

In Rokuya's hand, the three-hundred-jin dark greatblade, Shura, swung into a black full moon!

There was no flashy swordsmanship, no complicated Breathing Style form. Only pure, utterly savage, absolute violence!

"Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash-Extreme Blade Flash!"

With a terrifying thunderclap that seemed to tear apart the night sky, silver-blue Magic Energy Aura erupted from Rokuya's body like a volcano! The dazzling silver-blue light instantly illuminated the entire enormous cavern, revealing every detail of every despairing villager's face and every demon's terrified pupils!

Interwoven gold and blue lightning raced wildly across the thick black blade. With the force to cleave mountains and sever seas, Shura swept upward, meeting the Abnormal Demon's descending fist head-on!

"Squelch-boom!"

There was not the slightest pause, not a moment of stalemate.

The iron-hard, enormous fist that could deflect even a Nichirin Blade split instantly in two the moment it touched Shura's edge, like tofu hitting a meat grinder!

Its momentum undiminished, the greatblade carried raging lightning and Magic Energy Aura upward with unstoppable, overwhelming force. It sliced straight into the Abnormal Demon's crotch, passed through its chest, and finally burst out through the crown of its head!

"Uh..." The Abnormal Demon's mocking expression froze forever on its face. Its single horn split in two, and its massive body stiffened in midair for a second.

Then came a wet crash.

The three-meter-tall Abnormal Demon, along with the blue-green scales it was so proud of, had been cleaved cleanly down the middle! Foul-smelling black-red blood mixed with entrails crashed like a waterfall onto the open ground beside it.

An instant kill.

The entire cavern fell deathly silent.

The demons that had been laughing wildly a second earlier seemed to have had their throats seized all at once. They stared blankly at their leader's bisected corpse as it turned to ash on the ground, their minds completely incapable of thought.

What had just happened? Their leader, who had crippled a Kanoto swordsman with one blow... had been split in two, flesh and bone together, by a single slash from this scrawny boy?! What kind of monstrous weapon was that black door-sized slab?!

Tanaka, suspended at the cave entrance, had even forgotten his pain. His eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets, and his mouth hung wide enough to fit a fist.

The villagers were stunned too. The praying mother stared blankly at the boy bathed in lightning like a god of war, even forgetting to cry.

"Whew..."

Rokuya slowly exhaled a breath of white, stale air. He held the enormous cleaver in one hand, lightning still dancing over it, its tip resting against the ground where it had gouged a deep pit.

Now his entire body was wrapped in a layer of visible silver-blue flames, as though he had donned an illusory suit of Arcana Armor. Cold silver light swirled wildly in his black eyes.

Facing dozens of demons meant the system's [Single-Target Critical Strike Rule] passive could not activate?

So what.

With absolute power, all he had to do was crush everything in his way!

Rokuya slowly raised his head, his gaze sweeping across the cavern like a tangible blade. The corners of his mouth curved into an utterly cruel smile, revealing his stark white teeth.

"Why aren't you laughing anymore? Go on."

The boy's voice echoed through the spacious cavern, yet it sent a shudder through every demon's very soul.

"The one who said he'd chew me to pieces is already ash." Rokuya slowly raised the three-hundred-jin Shura, pointing its edge straight at the dozens of trembling demons ahead.

"Now-"

"You've gone too far. Line up and come meet your deaths, one at a time."

At the cavern entrance, the thick stench of blood mingled with the foul, cold wind, as though even the air had become viscous.

"Save me... Takanashi! Save me, aaah-!"

Tanaka, whose shoulders had been pierced by the four-legged demon, pinning him firmly to the rock wall above the ground, let out a shriek like a pig being slaughtered. His blood dripped from his dangling toes onto the stones of the underground river, drop after drop. The large wet patch spreading across his crotch gave off a nauseating reek of urine. The Kanoto swordsman who had haughtily ordered Rokuya to "stay out of it" a moment earlier now writhed with tears and snot streaming down his face.

"Are you deaf?! I'm your senior! I'm a Kanoto! You lowly Mizunoto, hurry up and lure these disgusting things away! Get them away from me-!" Tanaka coughed up bloody froth as he cursed at the top of his lungs, despair and terror having utterly destroyed his reason.

Rokuya stood where he was, holding the three-hundred-jin giant Nichirin Blade, Shura, point-down in one hand. Silver-blue Magic Energy Aura pulsed like breathing over its broad, deep navy-blue blade.

He tilted his head up slightly, his icy gaze piercing the darkness as he glanced at Tanaka as though looking at a dead man. His thin lips parted slightly. "You talk too much. If it weren't for the fact that we both wear the Demon Slayer Corps uniform, I'd cut right through you along with them, you useless piece of trash. Shut your filthy mouth and stop being an eyesore."

"You... you dare speak to me like that?!" Tanaka's bloodshot eyes widened as he roared in disbelief. "You're disobeying military orders! I'll report you to the Master! I'll have the Hashira punish you-!"

"Do whatever you want." Rokuya withdrew his gaze and spared the clown no further attention.

His field of vision was filled with the densely packed demons continuously pouring out from the depths of the dark cavern ahead. At a rough count, there were nearly fifty. They came in all shapes: some had multiple arms, some were covered in pustules, and some clung to the rock walls like spiders. In every pair of pallid eyes gleamed a red light of extreme hunger and greed. (Muzan generally didn't let demons gather together, but the protagonist didn't know that anyway, jk.)

"He smells so good... This brat's flesh and blood smell ten thousand times better than those pigs we keep penned up!"

"Eat him! Tear him apart!"

"That sword looks so heavy. How many times can he swing it? Hahaha, humans really are such stupid creatures!"

The demons let out piercing howls and wild laughter. Their overlapping voices echoed through the spacious cavern, making everyone's eardrums ache.