Chapter 13: Hand Demon
[Seiji's POV]
Let the final selection begin.
But first...
I needed a sword.
I only had a normal katana with me but I required a nichirin blade if I wanted to pass this trial. So I did what every rational person would do.
I looked around for someone to rob.
My eyes did a quick scan of the people in my vicinity and I locked on the weakest of the bunch. It was a thin young man who seemed to be around 20 or so, his body told me that he barely trained and from the slight shiver of his legs, he was afraid.
I didn't know why he even attended the final selection but he was doomed to die here. So I did him a favour and walked up to him before chopping his neck, effectively knocking him out.
"You can try again next year if you are truly determined." I said while dragging his body down the mountain and back to the protection of the wisteria.
I pulled out his nichirin blade and inspected it for a bit. It was in good condition other than a small chip here and there.
"This will do."
The other participants who saw what happened chose to shut up and stay away from me. I took the blade and started climbing up the mountain with the rest of the group.
It did not take long to encounter demons as the place was infested with these vile creatures. Three demons appeared in front of me - one came up to me with a confident stride and a wicked grin on his face, another was on top of a tree and another suddenly leapt at me from the side bush.
It was a roughly planned ambush but from the wicked smile on thier faces, I could tell that it had always worked out in thier favour so far.
Why fight a participant by yourself and risk dying when you could overwhelm one of them three-to-one? It was less risky and they would share equally with each other.
Demons were intelligent creatures. That was what made them all the more disgusting. They were able to strategize and they knew exactly what they were doing.
I spun the nichirin blade in my hand and even without sparing a glance, I cut off the head of the demon who leapt at me.
There was a pause while the demon fell to the ground with a thud and his body quickly disintegrated. The atmosphere changed in an instant and the demon felt that maybe it was not such a good idea to target me.
Meanwhile, I looked at the sword in my hands. It was effective, but in my mind, it was too effective.
The demons died too easily. It felt like they did not suffer at all while I ended thier filthy existence. I could understand now why Shinoubu would prefer using poison to kill demons.
It was not satisfying at all.
I shook my head, putting aside the unhealthy thought. Let's just assume they have a sad backstory so that I wouldn't be so pissed about thier easy deaths.
I looked at the two remaining demons and realized they were talking to me.
"I'm going to enjoy ripping out your insides and-" I stopped reading thier lips just then. I preferred silence to nonsense.
I shot towards the demon and before he could even react, I cut both of his legs and appeared behind him. He released a guttural scream that I could feel from the vibration alone.
I changed the grip on my sword and then swung the Nichiren blade up so that it went between his legs and I cleanly sliced him in half.
I could get creative with my kills to make it more satisfying.
The demon on the tree immediately turned around and started running away but my eyes never lost him. I smiled when I saw the desperation on his face. It was the face of someone who realized they fucked up.
I sprinted through the forest and followed the demon in silence. I made sure to hide my presence and I avoided leaves and twigs to remain unnoticed.
After running several metres away, the demon finally came to a stop and jumped down on the ground. He was a demon yet his chest rose and fell like he was tired.
I picked up a rock and threw it in the opposite direction. The sound immediately caught his senses and he looked towards the sound with a spooked face.
I closed the distance between us while he turned away and then I stood right behind him.
He froze.
He sensed my presence behind him.
I did not kill him just yet as I let him suffer in fear and terror. There was sweat dripping down the side of his face and after several seconds, he slowly turned his head back to look at me.
That was when I ran my blade right through his neck.
My eyes captured every detail of his fearful face and his head fell to the ground before quickly turning into ash.
The night was still young and I still had seven more days to go.
How delightful.
I started moving through the forest again in search of other demons. They must've enjoyed the final selection as it was the time of the year when they could hunt humans. In fact, I was sure it was a much-anticipated event for the demons in this mountain.
But not this time.
During this one week, I would show the demons what it felt like to be the victim.
What was the trial again? Survive in the mountain full of demons for seven days?
Let's rephrase that.
Try and survive me for seven days you foul creatures.
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(2 days later)
I moved through the forest non-stop during the night and slept during the day. The mountain of Fujikasane was vast and with the frequent demon attacks, I had not covered the whole place even once,
But tonight, things were quite different. I had not encountered even a single demon as they learned to run away from me.
They could not even think about trying to hunt for participants as they ran from me. Demons had great senses so I could not do much when they were actively trying to avoid me.
I wondered how Rengoku was doing. Strangely enough, I haven't met him during these past two days and I wouldn't say I was worried but it would bring me much relief to see him.
I walked through the forest at my own pace but I was brought to a halt when I saw blood all over one specific clearing.
My eyes analyzed the broken terrain and the blood. I could somehow recreate what happened here in my mind from the clues.
I turned to my right and then saw broken trees and displaced bushes which clearly indicated that something big walked through that path. The blood also followed the trail so I decided to investigate.
A couple of minutes walk later my eyes finally caught the demon who caused all of it. The smell of rotting corpses filled the air but I did not even show a reaction due to what my eyes were seeing.
A gigantic demon the colour of green vomit sat down in a clearing that he made. His appearance could only be described as an abomination with many hands protecting his neck and acting like a scarf and many other arms protruding out of his body.
But what really caught my attention was the dozen of dead corpses that lay in front of him
I watched as he picked up one of the dead participants and slowly tore off the clothes. then one of his hands enlarged and ripped off the corps's head. He peeled back the head to completely rip out the spine as blood spurt out nonstop.
The demon then threw away the head connected with the spine before he opened his wide jaws and ate the human in three bites.
"...."
The demon was having a meal. And from the way he was savouring the taste of the humans, he was having a very peaceful meal.
I walked out of the forest and came out to the clearing he had made to have a meal. His head immediately turned towards me and I could see him shake and chuckle.
"Another one just delivered himself to me, how convenient."
I was going to kill him.
Sorry Tanjiro and whatever plot this world had but I would not allow this creature to live for even a second longer.
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[IMAGE]
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