Meanwhile, Hida Village.
This small village, nestled deep in the mountains of Takayama in Gifu Prefecture, had now completely turned into a hellscape.
In the open space at the center of the village, Kanroji Mitsuri knelt on one knee, her long pink-and-green hair scattered messily over her shoulders, her haori torn, and blood seeping from multiple wounds on her arms and legs.
Her nichirin sword—that unique pink whip-like sword—was gripped in her hand, the blade trembling slightly under the moonlight.
It wasn’t fear.
It was exhaustion.
“Haah… haah…”
She panted heavily, large beads of sweat sliding from her forehead and dripping into the dust.
All around—
—were demons.
A dense swarm of demons.
There were at least thirty of them.
No, to be precise, it was every single villager from this settlement.
The elderly, the young, women, children…
they all retained their human forms, but their eyes were blood-red, fangs protruded from their mouths, and eerie black markings surfaced beneath their skin.
They surrounded Mitsuri, moving slowly and greedily, forming a tightening circle.
And at the very edge of this demonic crowd stood a peculiar presence.
A short demon wearing a tattered kimono.
His head was abnormally large, and his face was covered in wrinkles like an old man in his seventies or eighties, but his eyes glinted with a cold, cunning light.
Aburako Oni.
The current Lower Rank Six, renowned for his cunning and skill in setting traps.
“Hee hee hee…” the Aburako Oni let out a piercing laugh, a sound like rusty iron scraping together.
“How is it, Hashira-sama? How does it feel to be besieged by the very ‘people you want to protect’?”
Mitsuri grit her teeth and forced herself to stand.
Her gaze swept over the demons who were once villagers, and a pang of pain welled up in her heart.
Three days ago, she received a message from her Kasugai Crow: Hida Village was under attack by a swarm of demons, requesting reinforcements.
She set out immediately, traveling day and night to arrive.
But when she arrived, what she saw wasn’t a village under attack, but a trap that had long since fallen.
Everyone in the village had already turned into demons a month ago.
But they disguised themselves well—hiding during the day, pretending to be normal villagers at night, and even deliberately creating the illusion of being “attacked by demons” to lure members of the Demon Slayer Corps.
And Mitsuri was the third member to fall into this trap.
The previous two Mizunoto-ranked members had already been eaten last night…
“You all… are too much…” Mitsuri’s voice trembled with rage.
“Hee hee, isn’t that just how the Demon Slayer Corps Hashira are?” Aburako Oni licked his lips.
“Always ‘protecting the weak’ and’saving the innocent’… what a useful weakness.”
He clapped his hands:
“Children, it’s time to eat! This is the flesh and blood of a Hashira, far more delicious than those small fry from before!”
The circle tightened instantly!
Over thirty villager demons lunged at once!
“Breath of Love, Second Form: Love Pangs!”
Mitsuri swung her whip-like sword, the pink blade light unfurling like a whirlwind, instantly severing the arms of three demons.
But more demons swarmed forward.
A demon that was originally a peasant woman lunged from the side; Mitsuri dodged and severed its neck with a backhand strike.
But at that very moment, a demon in the form of a child rushed out from her blind spot, its sharp claws slashing across her calf!
“Ugh!”
Blood splattered.
Mitsuri stumbled, only managing to steady herself by stabbing her whip-like sword into the ground.
There were too many.
Moreover, while these demons weren’t strong individually, their numbers were overwhelming.
What was even worse—she couldn’t bring herself to deliver a fatal blow.
These demons still retained the appearance of villagers.
That peasant woman, that child…
she could almost see them as they were before turning into demons, working in the fields or playing at the village entrance.
Every swing of her blade tore at her heart.
“What’s wrong, Hashira-sama?” Aburako Oni taunted from a distance.
“Can’t bear to strike? But they only want to eat you right now~”
Another demon lunged.
Mitsuri grit her teeth and swung her blade to force it back, but her back was left wide open—
“Got you!”
Another demon attacked from behind, its claws aiming straight for her heart!
At that critical moment—
Swish!
A purple stream of light pierced the night sky like a bolt of lightning!
The attacking demon was pinned precisely to the ground by a slender nichirin sword.
The blade pierced its heart, and the demon let out a shrill scream as it began to turn into ash.
“Ara ara~ Bullying a girl with so many people isn’t very nice, is it?” This chapter was taken from novelping.com without permission.
A gentle, sweet voice came from the village entrance.
Under the moonlight, Kochou Shinobu landed lightly on a rooftop, her purple eyes glinting coldly in the night.
She raised her hand, and the nichirin sword that had pierced the demon flew back into her grasp automatically.
And behind her, Hanayuki Ichika landed as well.
His white hair fluttered in the night breeze, and his sky-white eyes were deep and calm, yet carried an invisible pressure.
His arrival caused the atmosphere in the area to instantly freeze.
“Shinobu-san! Ichi Fu-kun!” Kanroji Mitsuri’s eyes filled with uncontrollable excitement and joy, her tense nerves finally relaxing slightly.
But before she could speak—
Grumble…
A clear and prolonged rumbling sound came from her stomach.
In this deathly silent battlefield, it was exceptionally prominent.
Kanroji Mitsuri’s face turned beet red in an instant, and she wished she could find a hole to crawl into.
“Ah… that… I…”
To rush here for support as quickly as possible, she hadn’t eaten much for three consecutive days.
Seeing this, Hanayuki Ichika didn’t hesitate for a second.
He directly pulled a parcel wrapped in oil paper from his robes—it was the pastries and snacks Kochou Shinobu had prepared for him this morning, which he hadn’t had time to eat yet.
He walked up to Mitsuri in a few steps and opened the oil paper, revealing several delicate cherry blossom cakes and glutinous rice dumplings inside.
“Mmph—”
Before Mitsuri could react, Hanayuki Ichika picked up a piece of cherry blossom cake and stuffed it into her mouth without a word.
“Mmph mmph!” Caught off guard, Mitsuri’s mouth was stuffed full, and she could only make muffled whimpering sounds.
Her face flushed crimson as she chewed frantically, tears even welling up in the corners of her eyes—half from embarrassment and half because…
the pastry was truly delicious.
“Ara ara~”
Kochou Shinobu’s gentle voice rang out, but the smile on her face grew even more radiant, and a dangerous glint flickered in her narrowed purple eyes.
She had walked up to Hanayuki Ichika’s side at some point, raised her foot, and aimed for his instep—
—and stomped down hard!
“Ouch!” Hanayuki Ichika pulled back his foot in pain, looking at Kochou Shinobu with a bewildered expression.
Kochou Shinobu maintained her perfect smile, her voice sickeningly sweet:
“Ippū-san, we’re still in the middle of a battle Don’t just go stuffing things into a girl’s mouth like that”
She tilted her head slightly, her smile carrying an undisguised mischievous streak:
“Snacks and things… can wait until the battle is over and we’ve returned, then you can eat them slowly~”
Hanayuki Ichika rubbed his aching foot, muttering to himself: “Why did she suddenly get angry?”