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The demon was already close, and Kochou Shinobu could smell the foul stench emanating from it, mixed with the strong scent of blood.
She looked at her sister, who, despite trembling in fear, resolutely stood in front of her, and her mind was filled with nothing but despair.
Why! Why did it turn out like this!
What did their family of four ever do wrong!
Her father had spent his entire life treating the sick, so why had they fallen to such a plight!
She knew clearly that her sister Kanae Kocho's flesh and blood body could not stop the demon before them.
After her sister was torn to shreds, she would be next.
But perhaps this was for the best; walking across the Sanzu River with family by her side wouldn't be lonely...
Kanae bit down hard on her cheeks, her pink eyes wide open, filled with terror.
The demon with pointed horns on its head, however, stopped its movements. Its ears twitched, and it looked towards the outside of the house with suspicion.
There were footsteps outside.
They were accompanied by low gasps, like a traveler who had been running for a long time.
The electric lamp inside the house flickered, like a star twinkling in the night sky.
The demon sensed danger. It decided to strike first, reaching out to grab the pink-eyed girl in front of it.
Suddenly, a flash of brilliant white blade light streaked by, and a gust of azure wind swept past its face.
"Hmm?"
It looked down, and its hand had fallen off.
It looked up again, and the figures of the two girls were no longer there.
Huh?
Who was that? How could they be so fast?
Kochou Shinobu, however, saw it very clearly.
It was a white-haired young man wearing a blue haori. His speed was like a phantom, flashing quickly past the window.
In the blink of an eye, the young man appeared between the demon and the Kochou sisters.
Drawing his nichirin blade, he severed the demon's arm that was attacking Kanae.
Then the white-haired young man bit the blade with his teeth, embraced the two sisters with his left and right hands respectively, and quickly retreated to the open space outside the house.
Though it sounds complicated, all of this happened in a breath.
She glanced at the young man, only able to see the fox mask covering the side of his face and his slightly heaving chest.
He was sweating profusely at his temples, and his body was covered in dust, as if he had traveled a long distance.
The young man removed the long blade from his mouth and held it horizontally in front of him, softly instructing the two sisters, "Can you still stand? Find somewhere to hide."
His gaze swept over the bodies of the Kochou parents in the house, and he let out a heavy sigh.
"Damn it, I was still a step too late."
Kanae forced her fear-weakened legs to support her, and she carried Shinobu to the side.
Even if she couldn't help, she absolutely couldn't cause trouble for the young man.
Seeing the girls move to a safe place, Haruto finally focused his gaze on the man-eating demon before him.
The innocent people killed before him filled him with extreme anger.
Since receiving the news, he had run all the way, without even a sip of water, running from Mt. Sagiri to this place.
Yet, he was still a step too late.
Still, innocent people died before his eyes.
The horned demon's pupils contracted. It smelled the scent of death from the young swordsman.
That was the murderous aura condensed on him after repeatedly slaying demons—it should have run away sooner!
Haruto held his blade across his chest, a star flashed in his eyes, and his figure vanished from its spot.
Breath of the Stars, First Form: Tear of Light.
In the demon's eyes, a figure suddenly appeared directly in its line of sight, and that beautiful nichirin blade, carrying a chilling aura, left it nowhere to hide.
In the eyes of the young Kochou Shinobu, that blue-purple blade drew the aurora.
And that demon, which had eaten several people in the village and brutally murdered her parents, was beheaded with just one strike!
The demon's head rolled to the floor, its eyes still filled with unwillingness and terror.
"How could this be… how could this be…"
It looked at its gradually disappearing body: "I ate so many people, I worked so hard to eat people… how could I be defeated with one strike?!"
Haruto ignored its death throes and walked forward to carefully examine the bodies of the man and woman.
The male victim's throat was bitten through, and he had died from excessive blood loss.
As for the female victim… a large hole had been torn in her chest. In this era, losing one's heart meant no chance of survival.
Haruto sighed deeply, not even daring to look at the two girls outside the door.
What should be done?
In such an absurd world, even families with both parents struggled to survive, so how would two girls who had lost their parents overnight live on?
Outside, the sound of orderly footsteps echoed as Kakushi, wearing their uniforms and face masks, arrived to handle the remaining matters.
They would collect the victims' remains, comfort and deal with the survivors, communicate with the local police station, record the Demon Slayer Swordsmen's achievements, and report them to headquarters. The Demon Slayer Swordsmen responsible for slaying the demon only needed to silently depart at this time.
Haruto silently walked out of the house, but he saw the urgent, pleading gazes of the two girls he had rescued looking at him.
"There's no hope, they're thoroughly dead."
He said in his heart, and then very reluctantly shook his head at the two of them.
The little girl with long black hair immediately collapsed to the ground, large tears continuously pouring from her beautiful purple eyes, then splattering on the ground.
The slightly older girl tightly embraced her, kneeling on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.
People with a blood feud against demons were always like this; the dead died in endless agony, and the living would forever remember that horrifying scene, needing a lifetime to heal from that night.
Haruto could only pass by them silently, as if he had done something wrong.
If he had arrived twenty minutes earlier, even ten minutes, perhaps these two children would not have lost their family.
He saw the Kakushi sister step forward to comfort them, forcibly helping them leave the place.
The villagers' lights had turned on, and they looked over with fearful and curious eyes.
People from the police station also arrived, and the Kakushi were adept at handling them.
"Where will they be sent?"
Haruto asked, "I mean, those two girls."
"Mr. Takanashi." The Kakushi, whom he had called out to, nodded to him. "I heard there are still relatives alive, so they might be sent to live with them."
"Ah, living under someone else's roof… but compared to wandering aimlessly, this is a last resort."
"In this day and age, being able to live well is perhaps already a blessing from the gods."
After these two girls were sent to their relatives' home, perhaps they would never meet again in this lifetime.
Haruto didn't even ask their names, standing in the late autumn wind and rubbing his arms.
"It's really cold today."
Bone-chilling, utterly devoid of human warmth.
"South-southwest! South-southwest!"
Sora circled in the air, guiding him to the next mission location.
"Woodcutters are frequently disappearing in the mountains to the south-southwest! A demon is suspected to be lurking!"
"The work of a Demon Slayer Swordsmen is truly busy."
The Kakushi looked at Sora and said to Haruto, "Thank you for your hard work!"
"The same to you."
Haruto hoisted his backpack and set off for the new mission point.