‘I see.
So that’s how it is.’ Hand Demon’s mouth split into a grotesque grin.
“Ah, just as I thought.
They’ve come again, my favorite little fox.”
Sabito took the bait.
“As you thought?
Again?
What do you mean?”
Hand Demon’s smile widened.
He would have only been concerned if the boy had remained indifferent.
An unyielding opponent would be troublesome.
But since he asked…
The boy’s strength surpassed any Demon Slayer he had encountered in decades.
The previous strike was proof enough.
He needed to handle this carefully.
He would use words to enrage him, provoke an opening, and then strike.
Humans lacked regeneration.
Break their limbs, and they couldn’t move.
He would torture him slowly until he went mad, then devour the brat who had the audacity to make him feel fear.
“Fox mask, Sakonji sent you, right?
He’s had so many disciples eaten by me, yet he still hasn’t learned his lesson.”
Sabito’s grip on his pale blue Nichirin blade trembled.
His breathing turned ragged.
“You know him?”
Hand Demon sneered.
‘Perfect.
He took the bait.’
“Of course.
Sakonji…
there’s no way I could forget-”
Someone interrupted him from the side.
“Wait, could you be that one?” Hajime, ignored by Hand Demon up until now, suddenly spoke.
Both the demon and Sabito snapped their attention to him.
“Him?
What are you babbling about?” A vague dread crept over Hand Demon.
Hajime lowered his rusted Nichirin blade.
He gave a mocking bow.
“My apologies, I forgot to introduce myself.
My name is Hajime.
My master is Jigoro Kuwajima.
He once shared drinks with Sakonji himself.”
“My master mentioned that in his younger days, Sakonji caught a demon effortlessly.
Normally, Demon Slayers kill demons on sight.
That demon, however, was utterly pathetic.
It groveled on its knees, weeping, begging Sakonji to spare its miserable life.”
“That demon…
that wouldn’t happen to be you, would it?”
Watching Hand Demon become furious, Hajime smirked.
He had said it on purpose.
He saw right through the demon’s provocation.
The monster wanted to strip Sabito of his reason.
In battle, a fighter’s mindset couldn’t waver.
The slightest lapse meant defeat.
Hajime couldn’t let Sabito think his master’s past mercy had caused these murders.
That was why he had provoked Hand Demon instead.
This was essentially psychological warfare.
He magnified the opponent’s weaknesses, shattered their composure, and forced a fatal mistake.
And now, Hand Demon had fallen into the trap.
The demon’s pupils contracted.
His massive body shook, vibrating the ground.
“Damn you SAKONJI!?”
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, ”
The demon’s scream echoed across the forest.
Consumed by fury, Hand Demon forgot his plan.
Only one thought remained, ‘To tear that brat limb from limb!’
“Die!
Die!
Die!”
Hand Demon unleashed his full power.
His massive body didn’t need to move.
Launching his arms like javelins was more than enough.
The attack lacked flashy technique, making it harder to find an opening.
Hajime and Sabito leaped clear as arms stabbed into the ground where they’d just stood.
Dirt sprayed into the cool night air as the thick limbs swept the debris aside, pursuing them like parasites.
Hajime gripped his rusted Nichirin blade with both hands.
The blade’s gleam wove into ribbons of light, severing the teal arms that neared him.
Blood splattered as severed limbs tumbled onto the grass.
Failing to kill them instantly surprised Hand Demon.
No matter.
He would just unleash more arms.
They could dodge and sever them.
But for how long?
Unlike humans, a demon possessed limitless stamina.
No demon ever feared a war of attrition, unless it was almost sunrise.
Having devoured countless people, Hand Demon’s strength was unrivaled on the mountain.
More arms swelled and sprouted from his body.
They were endless.
Some shot forth like javelins, while others fused into a massive hand that swept across the battlefield.
The massive hand snapped the surrounding trees.
This was no Blood Demon Art.
It was pure, brute strength born from devouring humans.
Yet this straightforward assault was deadly.
Anyone who approached carelessly would be crushed.
A demon could regenerate from a crushed skull, but for a human, one hit meant death.
The aggressive assault finally stopped.
Hand Demon’s fury faded into a cold calm.
The forest was a wrecked, cratered landscape.
The two boys were gone.
‘Were they dead?’
He dismissed the thought instantly.
If they were dead, they would have left corpses.
They had escaped while he flattened everything in his path.
It wasn’t generosity, Hand Demon possessed clear self-awareness.
His massive build specialized in defense.
His shielded neck was incredibly tough.
But the drawback was his sluggish movement.
His combat style proved that.
That was why he launched his arms, to compensate for his lack of agility.
If a swordsman tried to close the distance, they would find their blade unable to sever his neck.
He could effortlessly crush theirs in return.
Since they could run, he had no way to catch them.
He would find other food.
He turned to leave.
A figure stepped from behind a shattered tree.
Sabito’s fox mask had fallen away, revealing a hardened expression.
His unique silver eyes met the demon’s gaze.
A scar ran from the corner of his mouth to his cheek.
His geometric haori hung torn from the fight.
“Hoh?” Hand Demon stared.
The brats hadn’t fled.
But shouldn’t they be hiding?
Were they delivering themselves to him?
The demon burst out laughing.
Humans were amusing.
Sabito gripped his sword, ignoring the mockery.
He pushed off, cracking the ground.
He charged straight at Hand Demon.
Countless arms shot from the demon’s body in a dense, unavoidable barrage.
Sabito had no intention of dodging.
‘Water Breathing, Tenth Form: Constant Flux!’
The most powerful form of Water Breathing.
Surging water coiled into a dragon, building force with each rotation.
The demon’s arms shredded against the current.
Hand Demon panicked.
This sword technique far exceeded the earlier one.
His neck wound had already healed, but a phantom pain still radiated.
‘I cannot block it!’ The demon frantically gathered his arms, condensing them into a wall of living flesh.
He told himself not to worry.
With his arms reinforcing his defense, decapitation was impossible.
His eyes swept past the flesh shield.
‘Where was the other one?’
The figure with the rusted sword was nowhere to be seen.
‘Probably fled.
Humans were cowards, after all.’
He would wait for the blade to lodge in his neck again, then crush the boy’s skull.
The flesh shield split under the roaring water dragon.
The strike hit Hand Demon’s neck.
As expected, the attack failed to sever his neck.
The water dragon vanished.
Unable to withstand the pressure, the pale blue Nichirin blade snapped.
The sharp crack of the breaking sword was a beautiful sound for Hand Demon as he sneered, reaching to crush Sabito’s skull-
Sabito suddenly dropped flat against the ground.
The demon’s mouth split wider.
‘Finally afraid?
Begging for mercy?’
‘Even if you kneel, I won’t show mercy.’
In that moment, the demon saw the figure behind Sabito, already poised in a sword-drawing stance.
The rusted Nichirin blade hummed in its scabbard like a living thing, eager to sever the demon’s neck.
‘Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash!’
Fierce thunder streaked forward, leaving scattered electric sparks scorched into the earth.
‘So fast!’ Hand Demon had no time to react.
He only saw a blinding flash of lightning before the sensation of being struck registered on his neck again.
Two consecutive strikes landed on the exact same spot.
But the heavy resistance traveling up the blade told Hajime the attack had still failed.
‘Just a little more.
Just a little more, and I can sever it.’
This truly was a demon that had survived since the Edo period.
A demon’s power came from eating humans.
This monster had eaten countless people, making his neck impossibly tough.
Hajime was not discouraged.
His grip on the hilt tightened.
The red haori brushed across Hand Demon’s face as the boy crossed paths with the stunned monster like a soaring swallow.
Touching down, Hajime landed behind Hand Demon and assumed a drawing stance once more.
‘If one strike isn’t enough…
Then two!
If two aren’t enough, then three!’
‘Until…
I sever the neck of this demon!’
Standing behind his target, Hajime ignored his physical exhaustion and inhaled deeply.
White vapor flooded his lungs, bursting forth from his mouth like exhaust from a steam engine.
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