Deep in the forest, Marcus and Tanjiro advanced shoulder to shoulder with a steady pace.
Tension stiffened Tanjiro's muscles. His nose twitched rhythmically, tracking the air with utmost attention to catch any unusual stench.
"Should we pick up the pace?" he whispered. "The others already rushed ahead."
"What's the rush?" Marcus walked with total ease, randomly casting his gaze across the shadows of the trees. "This lasts seven days. Rushing only makes it easier to become a target."
Pausing his walk for a moment, he turned his head toward Tanjiro and flashed a meaningful smile. "Besides, as guests, we must grant the host the necessary time to prepare."
Right as he finished speaking—
"He... hehe..."
A harsh and unsettling panting erupted from the thick undergrowth to his left.
Tanjiro drew his sword in the blink of an eye, gripping the hilt tightly.
A demon with bluish-gray skin and milky eyes emerged, crawling from the trunk of a tree.
He maintained a twisted posture. Sharp bone spurs protruded from his knuckles and elbows, and thick saliva slid down his chin as he locked a wild, hungry gaze directly on Marcus.
"Human... human..."
"Smells so good... I'm hungry..."
Taking a deep breath, Tanjiro adopted the starting stance of Water Breathing. "Senpai, leave this one to me."
Marcus stepped back and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Help yourself. This will serve to see your results."
"Yes!" Tanjiro exclaimed while taking a step forward.
"Water Breathing - First Form: Water Surface Slash"
His figure shifted, imitating the flow of water. The flash of the sword traced a perfect line.
The demon attacked blindly, and in a fraction of a second, his head separated from his body, reducing to ashes in the air.
In that exact moment, another demon suddenly leaped from the treetops, dropping directly onto Tanjiro.
Tanjiro maintained absolute concentration. He dodged to the side and swung his sword.
Clearly, the hidden demon's stench had already given away its presence.
"Water Breathing - Second Form: Water Wheel."
His body spun, emulating a wheel, and the blade's slash transformed into a circular attack of pure water. The blade sliced through the demon's claws with extreme ease.
"Water Breathing - Fourth Form: Striking Tide."
Propelling himself from the ground, Tanjiro, with his blade enveloped in a powerful liquid current, instantly sliced the neck of the demon suspended in the air.
"He..."
The demon's roar remained trapped in its throat as its flesh began to disintegrate.
Landing, Tanjiro sheathed his sword, caught his breath through rhythmic exhalations, and looked at Marcus with a hint of expectation.
"What did you think?"
"Acceptable." Marcus nodded, revealing clear approval in his eyes. "Your movements turned out pretty clean and your breathing remained steady. That year cutting rocks paid off."
Tanjiro scratched his head shyly. Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind and he smacked his own palm in frustration.
"I should have interrogated him!"
Marcus gave a slight shake of his head.
"We already discussed this, these demons are entirely clueless about the method to turn Nezuko back into a human."
Even so, Tanjiro adopted an extremely serious expression.
"We must always try and exhaust all our options."
Marcus exhaled with resignation, "As you wish."
But right after uttering those words, his expression tensed completely.
His left hand quickly reached for the hilt of his sword, gripping it tightly.
'... it's trembling.'
It was a sob identical to a person crying, accompanied by a shiver of rage and a moan of deep sadness.
'Makomo…'
A blaze of fire ignited in his heart.
In this place, there existed a single reason capable of making Makomo's emotions fluctuate so violently...
Looking up, his gaze pierced through the dense layers of the trees, locking directly onto the deepest part of the forest.
From there emanated an aura immensely denser and colder compared to the two previous minor demons.
"What a stench!" Tanjiro clearly caught the trail and turned his face toward Marcus, alarmed.
"This smell overwhelmingly surpasses that of all the previous demons combined. Senpai? Is it him?"
"..."
Marcus pressed his lips together in absolute silence.
His fingers caressed the hilt of his sword, calming that slight tremor with a protective touch.
"Tanjiro," he ordered with an extremely grave and deep voice. "Whatever happens next, just watch."
"Huh?" Tanjiro was astonished. "But—"
"Listen to me."
Marcus interrupted him with a tone demanding absolute obedience. "This demon... IS MINE!"
Immediately after, he started walking directly toward the source of that overwhelming presence.
His steps were firm, but Tanjiro acutely perceived an unusual scent.
His usual relaxed and irritating attitude had completely transformed into a freezing atmosphere, heavily loaded with an intense and oppressive bloodlust...
Gulping hard, he followed close behind.
...
The deeper they went, the density of the trees increased and the light diminished considerably.
The freezing aura of the environment intensified, merging with the dense smell of blood and a nauseating stench that suffocated the air.
Tanjiro furrowed his brow tightly. Such a stench assaulted his hypersensitive sense of smell in an unbearable way.
Then, they heard a sound.
It was the distinct sound of a human scream.
Brief, high-pitched, and abruptly silenced...
Immediately after came the horrifying crunch of flesh and bone being rhythmically crushed.
Fury twisted Tanjiro's face, and his legs propelled forward with an uncontrollable momentum.
However, he remained trailing behind Marcus.
After breaking through a dense wall of vegetation, they reached a clearing in the center of the forest. There, before them, stood the source of that unbearable stench.
They beheld a creature of monstrous and disturbing proportions.
Its anatomy formed a grotesque mountain of flesh, covered in greenish skin furrowed by swollen veins.
But the most terrifying aspect lay in the endless number of elongated arms sprouting from every inch of its torso. These limbs flailed spasmodically in the air, resembling vines or tentacles.
At that precise moment, several of those arms held the mutilated corpse of a candidate, forcefully shoving it into a massive maw formed by two other intertwined arms.
Blood poured down its chin, staining the ground a deep, viscous red.
And scattered around it lay torn fragments of clothing and the abandoned swords of other Final Selection participants.
"This... what is this?..." Tanjiro's voice trembled, loaded with terror and uncontrollable rage.
He smelled the intense presence of death and despair, fused with the malice and insatiable appetite emanating directly from the creature before them.
The Hand Demon
Marcus narrowed his eyes coldly.
His right hand firmly gripped the hilt of his sword. The blade vibrated with a growing, violent intensity.
Makomo's heartbreaking emotions flowed directly into his heart through the sword.
He perceived a deep hatred, a piercing pain, and... an infinite sadness assaulting his being.
'It's him…'
He ate Sabito, he ate Makomo, he ate so many of Urokodaki's disciples...
The Hand Demon seemed to sense new prey. It stopped its rhythmic chewing and slowly turned its heavy head.
Its face consisted solely of a massive mouth and a pair of yellowish eyes with pupils marked by dark crosses.
Upon resting its gaze on Marcus and Tanjiro, that immense mouth curved into a macabre smile.
"Hehe... two other brats have arrived."
"Those masks you are wearing... hehehe... I recognize them."
Its attention focused on Tanjiro's head, zeroing in on the carved fox mask with the sun pattern meant to ward off evil.
"Urokodaki... a brat of Urokodaki Sakonji." Its laughter grew louder, loaded with a sickly joy. "How great... HOW GREAT! I've waited for so long, and I finally have another one of his disciples!"
Its multiple arms began to flail with excitement, frantically striking the dirt.
"But you know what, brat?" It locked eyes with Tanjiro.
"Do you know how many brats like you, wearing those masks, I've eaten on this mountain?"
"Twelve? Or thirteen? My mind is blurry regarding the exact number... hehehe. But I perfectly remember their screams of agony before dying!"
Tanjiro's pupils instantly contracted.
Anger erupted in his chest like a volcano. The veins on the back of his hand bulged as he gripped his sword hilt with monstrous force. "YOU... YOU ARE THAT FUCKING MONSTER!!!"
"Tanjiro." Marcus firmly gripped his shoulder to halt his impulse to charge forward.
His voice sounded exceptionally calm... terrifyingly calm.
Tanjiro looked back and... stood astonished.
Marcus's face remained utterly blank.
For someone characterized by his constant laughter and jokes, that sudden facial passivity revealed the most turbulent and dark peak of his emotions.
"S-senpai..."
Marcus kept his gaze fixed and locked exclusively on the immense creature.
Letting go of Tanjiro's shoulder, he took a firm step forward.
"It is thirteen. You have devoured... thirteen of Urokodaki's disciples."
________
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