They followed the crowd of the demon slayers assembling to protect the base. Soutarou was prepared to battle, though unable to kill demons.
They paused where the alarm bell was placed. One of the high ranking captains of Taima Dan, Jojo, stood tall directing slayers around him.
"Let's ask Jo what happened." Soutarou turned to Sakura. Sakura rolled her eyes but still followed him close behind.
Soutarou ran towards Jojo's direction.
Jojo glanced at them approaching, then turned and walked away.
Soutarou could see the resentment on his face.
"Tsk Jojo, wait!" Soutarou called out, panting. "What's the situation?"
Jojo halted. He turned to Soutarou and eyed him like a pest. "Why should I tell you?"
Sakura intervened before Soutarou could react. "Because I'm the one asking." Her eyes pierced into Jojo's.
Soutarou smiled. It wasn't anything new.
Jojo sneered. He could withhold information from Soutarou since he was basically disregarded as a Slayer, but he couldn't do the same to Sakura—she was a high-ranking captain, the same rank as him.
"As you can see" Jojo gestured upwards into the blackened sky. The watch tower which was visible from a distance had disappeared.
"A demon launched a large-scale attack from a distance. But the attack was from a distance—it only affected the outer defense."
"What! An attack that is strong from a distance.." Sakura breathed. "Don't tell me..."
"Yes. It is most likely a Jokyu-ranked demon."
"A Jokyu?!" Soutarou clenched his fist. "Those bastards."
"So what's the plan?" he asked.
Jojo did not say anything. He stared at Soutarou then Sakura.
"You deaf? You heard him!"
"Search parties. Whoever discovers the Demon first. If they can engage, they do and signal base. The rest of us converge."
His lip curled. "But what are you going to do, Soutarou? Scratch it till you're pleased, then let it go?"
Jojo moved closer. His eyes burned into Soutarou. "You've let three demons escape in the last month alone. How many people died because you couldn't finish what you started?"
Soutarou's fist clenched. "We'll see."
Jojos walked away. Shouting instructions to the assembled Demon Slayers.
Sakura watched Soutarou as he just stood with his fist clenched. She already knew he probably ran off to find the demon on his own.
She tried to grab his hand arm before he ran off, but he had already moved past the search parties.
***
Soutarou ran towards the external defenses. Black smoke drifted darkening his view.
His legs gave a hard tread on the earth, flinging up dust-heaps with each step. His uniform whipped and snapped in the wind of his haste.
'Come on. Let me find that demon.'
His heart pumped not with physical exertion, but with desperate need for validation. He wanted to prove himself.
'Maybe this time. Maybe today I'll get it right.'
"Soutarou-kun—slow down!"
Sakura called him somewhere far behind him.
He looked over his shoulder without stopping. She ran after him, waving frantically, in a bid to catch up with him.
Soutarou gasped and slid to a stop.
He looked at Sakura still closing in, then the rubble with the crackle of fire clearer.
"Go back" He turned back to Sakura. "It'll be faster if we split up. We'll cover more ground."
Sakura halted. "Yes, I know that. But you always end up in bad circumstances."
"I won't be surprised if you find the demon first... Or it finds you."
His chest felt heavier than before burdened "No. Turn back." His knuckles went pale about the hilt of his katana. "I'll be fine."
"I'm scared you'll get hurt Sau. and also—" she stepped closer to him.
"If you find the demon you can't.. Slay it.."
The phrases hit him like a knife.
She was right. She was always right.
Even if he encountered the demon he can't slay it. It will be the same result, battled with, but couldn't kill.
Soutarou clenched his grip on the hilt of his blade until the leather squeaked between his fingers.
He turned his back on her.
"Turn back." His voice came out rougher than intended.
Before she could reply he sprang forward.
Dust flew out in a blinding wave engulfing Sakura where she stood..
She raised her arm. Shielding her face from the dust.
The dust at last settled, she lowered her arm and peered into the distance.
He was already out of sight, too distant already by the few seconds that had elapsed.
His body flew through the air like a bolt of lightning.
Sakura waited a moment, watching him.
She sighed, then headed west.
***
Soutarou swept past the shattered outer guard in seconds, his figure a streak in the thick smoke.
He rushed into the woods on the other side beginning his hunt.
'It has to be around here.'
He sprang himself from tree to tree, barely touching the bark before he was air borne again. Branches swung by his face. Leaves rustled in his move.
'If only I could master ki I could have sensed it by now.'
His eyes followed every shadow, every motion, nothing. The woods appeared deserted, too quiet, except from the distant crackle of fires behind him.
His foot slipped on wet bark. 'Woah—!' He grabbed a branch mid-fall, swung wild, then slid down another tree. That's when he saw it.
In the clearing, below, there was something... wrong. The air was shimmering slightly. The trees were bent at strange angles with their trunks twisting at the edge of—A barrier.
Soutarou's lips twisted into a grin.
He knew when inside a demon's barrier it's impossible to break it without a strong Ki but from outside a decent amount of strength was enough to break it.
Soutarou's hand flew to his katana.
'Got you.'
He jumped off the tree, and spinned midair. His sword sang out of its sheath. Reflecting the slight light through the forest canopy.
He dropped to the barrier and swung.
CRASH.
The barrier shattered and the pieces melted into nothing.
Soutarou's eyes widened.
A woman stood in the middle of the clearing.
With long white hair reaching her knees. She had her back to Soutarou yet her presence was predator.
In front of her, a person in a torn demon slayer uniform scuffled to the ground, uniform tearing. Barely moving. Blood seeped through her clothing.
As Soutarou slowly dropped to the ground he noticed.
The hand of the white haired woman was reaching out to the girl.
Her fingernails were excessively long. And glistered crimson.
'That's the demon.'
"You bastard!" Soutarou roared.
He shot himself forward midair, his sword flashing towards her neck.
The demon looked over her shoulder. Then dodged Soutarou's attack effortlessly. Her shoulder turned back, her head tilted just enough for his blade to swing by a hair missed.
Soutarou didn't hesitate. Still suspended in the air, he turned and struck her with his boot.
CRACK.
The impact vibrated in his leg. She just stumbled back a little but it was enough.
Soutarou landed with a crash. In one motion, he picked up the wounded girl in his arms and jumped backward, putting space between them and the demon.
The demon straightened gradually, dusting her sleeve with a wave of her hand. Her lips curved into a smile.
"You are good", she said with a deadly calm voice.
Soutarou dropped the girl down to a tree. She was too young. Sixteen, maybe seventeen. A fresh recruit.
She shook her head and flushed her face with shame, despite her injuries. "Th-thank you..."
"Thank me later."
He stood and confronted the demon. He switched his stand, his weight even. His blade at rest.
The demon threw her head back, adjusting her hair on one side of her neck. Her eyes were flashing crimson with amusement.
''Well then'' she purred. Her claws, clicking softly together. "Let's see what you can do."
"Hey, can you still walk?" Soutarou said to the wounded girl.
She nodded.
"Good."
"When I get a chance to pin her. You run as fast as you can, not looking back. You heard me."
"Yes" She grunted in pain and rose up holding her wounded arm.
"Good!"
The demon waited as he took a breath, and strained his leg muscles ready to strike.