A Useless Charge

Residential area.

Sato and the few people he had just called were standing on the roof of Yoriichi the residential area.

Ahead of them came the ice sculpture of a Bodhisattva, hurtling towards them.

As the distance between the two sides continued to close, the oppressive feeling emanating from the enormous object pressed directly on everyone's hearts.

Hearing the increasingly loud rumbling sounds beside him and seeing the ice sculpture of Buddha drawing ever closer, Nakamura's body trembled slightly. He said with some fear:

"Sato... Sato, are we really going to fight a guy like this?"

"I don't want to either! But..." Sato stared expressionlessly at the ice sculpture of Buddha before him, and said in a deep voice, "Perhaps this is the fate of us Demon Slayer!"

"Actually, we can leave, right?" Nakamura said.

"Go? Go where?" Sato tilted his head slightly to look at Nakamura.

"That's right, we can leave! Anyway, this Upper Rank's target is definitely the villagers, not us. He's only one person. As long as we don't go with the villagers, we can definitely get away!" Nakamura said.

"Have you forgotten who we are? Have you forgotten our responsibilities?" Sato shouted sternly.

"But no matter how you look at it, we could never be a match for the Upper Rank! Besides, he came from the mountain, and there's a Pillar living there for a while! Now he's come down from the mountain. Haven't you thought about what that means?" Nakamura continued.

Sato pursed his lips upon hearing this, but remained silent.

He knew perfectly well what this meant; it meant that the pillar on the mountain had likely... perished!

But... the villagers haven't all evacuated yet!

Seeing that Sato remained silent, Nakamura continued:

"Hey! You know that too, right? The Pillar on the mountain is probably already dead. If even the Pillar couldn't be a match for this Upper Rank, then how could we possibly be a match for Upper Rank!"

Upon hearing Nakamura's words, the remaining men's eyes flickered; none of them wanted to die.

"Besides, we've already arranged for the villagers to evacuate in different directions. And this ghost is only one person; it's impossible for him to kill everyone!"

"That means some villagers from the Swordsmith Village will definitely survive!"

"In that case, our mission won't be a complete failure, and the art of sword forging won't be completely lost! We..."

"Enough!"

Sato abruptly interrupted Nakamura with a sharp rebuke.

He looked intently at Nakamura. Upon noticing his gaze, Nakamura instinctively tried to look away, but then, as if remembering something, he turned his gaze back, and their eyes met.

Sato took a deep breath and said heavily:

"I know nobody wants to die, and I don't want to die either, but..."

"We're not living for ourselves. If we can hold off this Upper Rank One little longer, many villagers might be able to evacuate successfully!"

"Think about all the tragedies you've witnessed since becoming Demon Slayer! Think about those who have lost their families! Every second we spend here is meaningful!" Sato said passionately.

He paused, then lowered his voice and said heavily:

"Of course, I have no right to demand that you all die with me!"

"Now, make your choice!"

"You can choose to stay and drag this Upper Rank with me!"

"Or, go back and continue organizing and leading the villagers' evacuation!"

After he finished speaking, the rooftop fell silent.

After a long while, one of the team members finally came out.

"I stayed!"

Then another team member came out.

"I'll stay too!"

Then, the third team member struggled for a moment before finally coming out as well.

"I'll stay too!"

The group turned their gaze to the last person, Nakamura, who had spoken first.

An invisible pressure weighed on Nakamura.

On one hand, the fear of death made him want to choose the option that others had not chosen; on the other hand, the fact that several teammates had chosen to stay put put a lot of pressure on him.

Nakamura's lips twitched slightly, and his body trembled involuntarily as the fear of death gradually enveloped his mind and body.

Seeing this, Sato stepped forward, gently placed his hand on Nakamura's shoulder, and comforted him:

"It's alright, if you go back first, no one will blame you! Everyone is afraid of death, and I'm no exception."

Nakamura looked up and carefully examined the group, but he didn't see a trace of disdain in their eyes.

But that's precisely why he despises himself even more!

"Damn it! Don't look down on me!" Nakamura said angrily, then took a step forward as well.

Seeing his expression, the others forgot about the upcoming Upper Rank and smiled.

"Hey! I thought cowardly Nakamura would choose to run away at the last minute!"

"Yes! I thought that would be the case too, but I didn't expect Nakamura to choose to stay in the end!"

"Hahaha! Looks like we'll have to look at Nakamura differently from now on!"

The other three laughed.

"Alright, Upper Rank is almost here, let's go drag it from the front!" Sato interrupted their banter.

Upon hearing Sato's words, the smiles on their faces froze instantly, then vanished like the receding tide. Their expressions turned solemn, and without a word, they followed Sato as he leaped into the woods.

A moment later, they stopped in a spot where the trees were relatively sparse.

The surrounding trees stood sparsely, and the ground was covered with a thick layer of fallen leaves, which made a slight crunching sound when stepped on.

The group stood silently, their eyes fixed on the ice sculpture of a bodhisattva, which was about to approach from afar, exuding an immense aura of power.

At this moment, the whole world seemed to fall silent, with only the increasingly clear rumbling sound remaining.

Time passed slowly, and the massive body of the ice sculpture Bodhisattva gradually came into their view. With each step closer, the ground seemed to tremble slightly.

Finally, it arrived in front of the group and then slowly stopped. Its enormous figure resembled a majestic iceberg, exuding a chilling aura.

Looking at the ice sculpture of the Bodhisattva so close to him, almost obscuring half the sky, a resolute glint flashed in Sato's eyes. He took a deep breath and then shouted:

"Quickly, now's the time! Before he moves, let's charge in and fight the Upper Rank!"

Having said that, Sato took the lead and charged forward.

"Aaaaaah!!!"

The others were not to be outdone; they roared as they charged bravely toward the Water Lily Bodhisattva.

At this moment, Doma sat atop the head of the Water Lily Bodhisattva, looking down at the crowd with an expressionless face.

"This is... a completely useless charge!"