He gazed at the emptiness before him.
The scene from eight days ago seemed to surface before his eyes: the Burrowing Demon sprawled on the ground, turning his head to curse at him, warning him not to give him an opening.
So now, while he had had a little to drink and wasn't in the best condition, was the demon trying to drag him underground and let the earth crush him to death?
At that thought, Teiichi's dazed eyes flew wide open. His right hand darted to the hilt of his Nichirin Blade, and he looked toward his feet.
Yet beneath his feet, there was nothing but emptiness. He couldn't see where the Burrowing Demon was. Still, the sensation of his heel being dragged downward persisted.
Then!
First!
He had to use Wind Breathing to carve out a large pit underground before the Burrowing Demon let go of him, to avoid being trapped, unable to move, by the earth pressing in around him afterward.
His Nichirin Blade slid free of its sheath.
Wind Breathing!
The Burrowing Demon below seemed to sense the person above exerting himself. Although they hadn't reached his ideal depth yet, he had no choice but to begin loosening his grip on Teiichi's heel.
First Form: Fivefold!
The Burrowing Demon's five fingers released Teiichi's heel, but his palm still rested against it.
Dust Whirlwind Cutter!
Before the Burrowing Demon let go completely, Teiichi began to spin.
Violent sword energy ravaged the earth like a whirlwind, sending out rumbling roars.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Thunderous crashes rang out from underground, even disturbing the residents of Yamada Town several hundred meters away. Lights came on in scattered homes.
Underground.
In a space more than ten meters across, lingering green light illuminated the cavern.
At that moment, Teiichi was staring down at his feet in excitement, his expression somewhat savage.
"Then!"
"Next!!"
"I'm going to dig you out, you damned bastard!!!"
"Hiss~~~"
"Whooo~~"
Gales surged wildly through the cavern, letting out piercing howls, as though echoing Teiichi's mood.
"Wind Breathing!"
"Fifth Form!!"
"Cold Mountain Wind!!!"
As the words rang out one after another, a thick layer of green light gathered on Teiichi's Nichirin Blade. He swung again, and green sword energy swept downward like an autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
"Arrrgh!!!"
After three consecutive uses of Fifth Form: Cold Mountain Wind, a figure finally appeared at the bottom of the pit. It was none other than the Burrowing Demon.
One of the Burrowing Demon's hands had been severed, and he had serious wounds on his body as well.
"Spare me! Spare me! I'll never do it again! I'll never eat another person..."
The Burrowing Demon turned to look at the figure before him with his Nichirin Blade raised high and cried out frantically.
Yet all that answered him were cold words.
"Eighth Form!"
"Primary Gale Slash!"
"Don't!... Don't! No..."
Swish~
Green blade light flashed through the dim cavern, and the Burrowing Demon's screams cut off abruptly.
The Burrowing Demon's head rolled across the ground.
A gentle, graceful woman seemed to appear before his eyes, smiling tenderly at him.
The Burrowing Demon seemed to remember something, and tears streamed uncontrollably from his eyes.
"Kazuko... was I the one who ate you...? But... but I became a demon so you could have a better life..."
By the lingering green light in the cavern, Teiichi watched the head on the ground slowly turn to ash and finally disperse into the air.
After taking several deep breaths, Teiichi looked up at the ceiling overhead.
Boom!
Boom!
Two more thunderous crashes rang out. A hole over a meter wide opened in the ground, and Teiichi climbed out from underground.
"Phew-!"
A visible breath of stale air slowly escaped his mouth.
The frustration he had felt over this time flowed out with that breath, leaving Teiichi in a much better mood.
He surveyed his surroundings. The road within several meters of him had bulged upward, with Teiichi at its center. The farther away from him it was, the lower the rise.
The ground had been compressed and pushed upward when Teiichi carved out the underground pit.
At the sight before him, Teiichi couldn't help feeling a shiver of lingering fear.
The Burrowing Demon had actually dragged him three meters underground. Luckily, he had reacted in time. Otherwise, if the Burrowing Demon really had let go, wouldn't he have been done for?
Teiichi stood there thinking for a while, but ultimately gave up on the idea of using his sword forms to break the ground back down.
He could break down the ground leading to the underground pit, but he didn't have the ability to fill the space below solidly back in. There would definitely still be a huge cavity underground, and it would be bad if that cavity caused a collapse that killed someone later.
He raised his head and looked toward Yamada Town in the distance. By now, every household in town had its lights on.
Presumably, the loud crashes had woken them, but because people had been going missing in town lately, no one had come out to investigate.
Seeing this, Teiichi breathed a sigh of relief.
After some thought, he continued toward home. The seagull wasn't around anyway, and he couldn't contact the Demon Slayer Corps. Once the seagull finished reporting, it would naturally come looking for him. He could tell it then.
Two days later.
When Teiichi returned home from the mountain after his daily training, the seagull was already fast asleep in the little bed made especially for it, snoring softly.
The seagull seemed to have been disturbed from a pleasant dream. It slowly opened its sleepy eyes and looked up at Teiichi. When it saw that Teiichi was shaking it awake, it couldn't help complaining:
"What are you doing? Is there something so important it can't wait until tomorrow? I've been flying back and forth for you these past few days, and today I finally got back for a decent night's sleep. Can't you take a hint?"
Hearing the seagull's complaints, Teiichi gave an awkward smile. He scratched his head and said somewhat sheepishly, "Well, Brother Crow-oh, no, Brother Gull-you might have to make another trip!"
At those words, the seagull's eyes widened, as though all its sleepiness had vanished. It sprang to its feet and demanded loudly, "What are you doing?! What are you trying to do?"
"Well, I dealt with that Burrowing Demon over in Yamada Town."
The seagull froze at the news and asked in confusion:
"Huh? Weren't you unable to find that demon?"
"The day you came to tell me to come back, I was walking home that night when that demon came out and attacked me. Then I cut him down."
After hearing Teiichi's account, the seagull tilted its head, as though unable to comprehend any of it.
Teiichi could almost see three question marks appearing above the bird's head.
"Wh-what's wrong?"
Hearing Teiichi's question, the seagull asked:
"Why didn't he attack you before, when you spent so long there?"
Teiichi thought for a moment, then said hesitantly:
"Um... it was probably because I'd been drinking that day. He saw I wasn't in good shape, so he attacked me."
"That really does mean I'll have to make another trip." The seagull nodded after hearing this, seemingly accepting Teiichi's explanation. Then it suddenly spread its wings, clutched its head, and cried, "Aaaah!! Doesn't that mean all my flying these past few days was for nothing?"
Hearing the seagull's complaints, Teiichi felt rather guilty too. He timidly lowered his head, not daring to meet the seagull's eyes.
After a while, once the seagull had finished venting, it glanced at Teiichi. "I'll be going, then." With that, it spread its wings, preparing to fly outside.
"Hey, wait."
The seagull folded its wings at his words and turned to ask Teiichi, "What is it?"
"Where are you planning to go?"
"To report to Oyakata-sama, of course!"
Teiichi ventured a suggestion. "How about going to Yamada Town first and telling the new Corps member who took this mission?"
The seagull lowered its head in thought, then nodded and answered:
"All right, got it."
"Also, there's a little wooden cabin in the woods north of Yamada Town. Most of the remains of the town's victims are there!"
"Got it."
White Feather answered, then spread its wings and flew outside.