The trap worked

The first night was actually the most dangerous for most people. After all, for the vast majority of those taking the test, this was their first time truly facing demons.

That night, quite a few people paid for their choice with their lives. Some were luckier and were saved by Kanzaki Kumo, but most of them voluntarily withdrew from the selection afterward. As for the very few stubborn ones, Kanzaki Kumo could only wish them luck.

Afterward, the number of humans on Mount Fujikasane dropped noticeably, and everyone encountered demons more frequently. On the second night, Kanzaki Kumo had to slay three demons before dawn finally came.

On the third night, just after Kanzaki Kumo casually dispatched a demon that had tried to ambush him, he glanced toward Makomo, and a gleam flashed through his eyes.

The Hand Demon trap had worked.

At the sight of that mountain-like, bloated figure wrapped in countless arms, Kanzaki Kumo hurried over.

Over there, Makomo and the Hand Demon were already locked in combat.

Relying on her exceptional agility, Makomo easily evaded the Hand Demon's attacks and even counterattacked from time to time. At one point, she even closed in on his neck and nearly beheaded him.

Unable to gain an advantage against this troublesome opponent head-on, yet unwilling to give up any opportunity to take revenge on Sakonji Urokodaki, the Hand Demon thought for a moment and began taunting her.

"Well, well, Urokodaki has sent me another little fox. Hahaha-"

"What do you mean?!" Makomo's evasive steps faltered immediately, and she was nearly struck by the Hand Demon's attack.

"You and that fellow Sakonji Urokodaki must be wondering why not a single person he sent here the last few times ever made it out, right?"

Seeing that his taunts were working, the Hand Demon immediately pressed harder.

"Because I ate them all, of course! Ahahaha-"

"That fellow Sakonji Urokodaki was the one who captured me in the first place. I've spent decades suffering here, all thanks to him. Then, two years ago, I spotted people among those entering the mountain wearing the same fox masks as him."

"They must have been his students, right?"

"To 'repay' him, I ate every last one of them! Well? Are you angry? Do you want to kill me? Hahaha-"

"You-" Thoroughly enraged, Makomo no longer evaded him with steady footwork. Her movements grew more aggressive as she risked being struck to close in on the Hand Demon's neck.

The Hand Demon obligingly slowed his attacks slightly, planning to catch Makomo by surprise once she came a little closer and he was certain he could kill her.

But the next instant, a streak of incandescent lightning flashed past.

"Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash."

The Hand Demon's neck, wrapped in layer upon layer of arms, was severed in a single stroke, along with all the arms covering it.

Still dazed, Makomo failed to notice the demon's body dissolving beneath her. Her footing vanished, and she fell toward the ground.

Just as she came to her senses and began adjusting her posture to lessen the impact of her fall, a strong pair of arms caught her.

"Are you all right?" A somewhat familiar voice reached her. Makomo turned her head and realized that the person before her was the very boy whose offer to team up she had rejected earlier.

I never imagined he was this strong... Looking at his handsome face, which still held a trace of boyishness, Makomo was briefly lost in thought. But she soon noticed their somewhat intimate position. Coming to her senses, she immediately pulled out of Kanzaki Kumo's arms, her pretty face flushing slightly beneath her mask.

"I'm fine."

Soon, the grief and anger suppressed by her sudden surprise and embarrassment surged back up. Tears moistened the girl's eyes, and by the time she thanked Kanzaki Kumo, her voice was already choked with sobs.

"Thank you..."

"You're welcome."

Silence settled between them. Makomo was immersed in sorrow, and Kanzaki Kumo had no idea what to say just then. All he could do for the grieving girl was keep watch over their surroundings.

"We made quite a commotion just now. It'll probably draw demons over. Let's leave first."

Kanzaki Kumo called out to her, then turned to leave once he was sure she had heard him. Makomo followed behind without a word.

Soon, Kanzaki Kumo brought Makomo to the tree trunk where he had rested earlier.

"All right, no demons should come here for now."

Turning around, Kanzaki Kumo looked at the girl, who had remained silent the whole time, unsure what to say. After turning it over in his mind, he could only come up with one thing. "If you want to cry, letting it out should help."

He could see that the eyes hidden beneath her mask were already brimming with tears, but this strong-willed girl stubbornly refused to let them fall.

To Kanzaki Kumo's surprise, after he finished speaking, her tears did not fall. Instead, they began to recede.

Before long, she sat down on a branch of her own accord and slowly began to speak. "My name is Makomo. Makomo Urokodaki."

"When I was very young, my parents were killed by demons. Master Urokodaki arrived in time and saved me."

"Later, Master sent me to a shelter filled with children left homeless by demons. Only afterward did I learn that the shelter had been established by the family of the head of the Demon Slayer Corps."

"A little over a year ago, I reached the age when I had to choose a Cultivator, too. I chose Master Urokodaki without the slightest hesitation."

"After that, I lived under Master Urokodaki's care and guidance."

"It wasn't just Master Urokodaki. My senior fellow students treated me very well, too."

"They were all such wonderful people."

"But two years ago, five of my more talented senior fellow students met Master Urokodaki's requirements and came to take the Final Selection. Not one of them returned."

"I still remember how, on the day he received the news, Master Urokodaki shut himself in his room and grieved alone for a long time."

"After that, Master Urokodaki made his test harder. Only those who passed his test were allowed to take the Final Selection."

"But even with the higher requirements, four of my senior fellow students, who were talented themselves and had trained for nearly two years, still passed the test last year."

"Master thought that since they had passed such a demanding test, they would surely make it through the Final Selection."

"But in the end, not one of them came back."

"This time, Master raised the difficulty again, to the point that my two remaining senior fellow students gave up on becoming Swordsmen and applied to join the Kakushi instead."

"I was the only one unwilling to give up. I didn't want to see someone as kind as Master so heartbroken. In the end, I gritted my teeth and persevered through his incredibly harsh training, passed his test, and came here."

"The past two nights, I kept wondering how none of my senior fellow students could have survived if all the demons on this mountain were so weak."

"Then I met that monster... If Master knew that the demon he captured and brought to Mount Fujikasane back then had taken the lives of his students, one after another, how guilty and heartbroken would he be...?"

Kanzaki Kumo listened silently as Makomo spoke.

He knew she was an exceptionally strong-willed girl. What she needed now was not comforting words, but simply someone to confide in.

Whether it was having a good cry or opening up to someone, both were merely ways to release one's emotions.

"Thank you..." After pouring her heart out, Makomo had calmed down as well. She stood and earnestly thanked Kanzaki Kumo, only to realize with great embarrassment that she had forgotten even to ask his name.

"I'm sorry, I still don't know your name..." By now, Makomo was so embarrassed that her toes could almost have dug through the soles of her shoes.

"My name is Kanzaki Kumo."

"Kanzaki Kumo... Yes, thank you, Kanzaki-kun." Makomo thanked him not only for saving her, but even more for killing the Hand Demon and avenging her dead senior fellow students.

Kanzaki Kumo, meanwhile, was somewhat surprised by her familiar form of address.

"Hm?"

"C-can't I call you that?" Makomo turned her face away, a little shy herself.

"No, that's not it."

Since the young girl herself did not mind, how could Kanzaki Kumo have any objection?

"Then shall I just call you Makomo?"

"Of course."

With him having saved her life and her having confided in him, Makomo and Kanzaki Kumo quickly grew much closer.

Although neither mentioned teaming up for the remaining days, they did, in fact, travel together.