Pon confirmed the attack, and the swordsmiths began their evacuation.
When Fang Bo returns to the village, he sees everyone evacuating in an orderly manner.
To prevent such situations, secret passages leading to the outside world had been pre-dug.
As long as they got inside, they could avoid the demons, provided they weren’t followed.
“You’ve returned.” Someone waved vigorously, trying to catch the Spider Hashira’s attention.
Fang Bo recognized the man, one of the village head’s aides, who was usually responsible for conveying messages.
Looking around and not seeing the older man, he guessed the village head was in trouble.
“Over there,” the aide pointed to the source of explosions, tears in his eyes. The village is blocked by the enemy. Mist Hashira is fighting them.”
“I see.” Fang Bo nodded but didn’t rush over.
At the street corner, a large group of jarfish monsters was charging.
If left unchecked, they would cause at least a 20% casualty rate among villagers, leading to the hidden task’s failure.
Pulling out his Dragon Rider gun, Fang Bo shattered a jar on one monster and turned to his familiar. “It’s up to you. Protect everyone as best you can.”
In a previous battle, Fang Bo realized Jorogumo had strong combat abilities and didn’t always need his direct command.
Even without him, his familiarity could resolve most situations over time.
Honestly, he might have underestimated his summons, making this the perfect opportunity to prove their worth.
“Understood.” Jorogumo nodded, spraying webs around the surrounding houses.
The space’s influence clouded her cognition, but her intelligence wasn’t suppressed; she knew the situation’s urgency.
She usually might slack off, but in critical moments, she would fight hard, if only to progress her evolution.
Watching for a moment to ensure the jarfish monsters were entangled, Fang Bo felt reassured and left.
With the “Tough Web” trait, Jorogumo’s webs became a significant weapon. Once stuck, it was tough to escape.
While numerous, the jarfish monsters had simple movement patterns, always using the same paths.
Setting web traps beforehand meant the enemies were just delivering themselves to Jorogumo’s doorstep.
And each meal slightly advanced her destiny.
Meanwhile, a black-haired youth fought strange-looking enemies.
His hair tips and irises were mint green, exuding an ethereal aura, though his slightly baggy Demon Slayer Corps uniform seemed odd.
This was Muichiro Tokito, the Mist Hashira.
“Strange guys.” The youth crouched slightly, his blade slicing through a man’s body.
Mist Breathing, Second Form: Eight-Layered Mist!
Eight slashes formed a thin mist, blurring the surroundings.
Despite being cut into pieces, his opponent, a demon, quickly healed.
“So pitiful.” The demon picked up a cross spear, eyes full of pity. “Your blade is fast, but it won’t work on us. Dying so young is truly sad.”
A “sorrow” character was visible on his tongue.
This was “Sadness,” one of Hantengu’s split forms.
Just as he said, Muichiro was troubled. He knew these weren’t the main body but needed more time to search.
“Maybe I need to cut off their heads simultaneously,” he thought.
Before he could act, a strong wind whipped up, tearing apart the roof tiles and making the youth spit blood.
“Hahaha.” Another demon with curved horns on his forehead appeared, laughing joyfully.
Unlike the sorrowful spear man, he seemed ecstatic.
The gale from his maple-leaf fan had demolished several buildings, and now the demon laughed heartily.
This was “Joy,” another of Hantengu’s split forms.
Muichiro’s technique used mist to obscure himself, making it hard for enemies to track him.
With his outrageous speed, he could even solo an Upper Moon.
But fighting the fan-wielding demon was difficult; the fan quickly dispersed his mist, repeatedly disrupting him.
To decapitate all the enemies simultaneously, he needed to eliminate the fan demon first.
Raising his blade, Muichiro resolved to continue until he couldn’t stand.
But before he could strike, another attack came.
A winged bird demon, constantly laughing, swooped in, slashing two wounds on Muichiro.
“Pathetic, truly pathetic.” The bird demon laughed arrogantly, showing no respect for his opponent.
Thinking back, it made sense. They had killed dozens of Hashira over centuries, not bothering to remember names.
If seasoned warriors couldn’t win, what chance did this young boy have?
Today’s fight would just add another name to the list.
This was “Happiness,” another of Hantengu’s split forms.
With air superiority, he had the advantage. Paired with his allies’ attacks, no Hashira could stand against them.
Boom!
Muichiro hit the ground hard, his expression still calm despite the dire situation.
Earlier, he had killed the “Anger” form, thinking it gave him an edge, only for it to revive shortly after.
Without taking out Anger first, he wouldn’t have survived the lightning strikes.
“Your head is mine.” Happiness swooped down, aiming to finish the fight with his sharp nails.
But the easy battle made him underestimate his opponent.
Believing his speed unmatched, he didn’t see the blade until it severed his neck.
Mist Breathing, Fourth Form: Shifting Flow Slash!
Fluidly swinging his blade, Muichiro decapitated the bird demon.
He stood slowly, feeling overheated.
“Maybe it’s the gale’s effect,” he thought, running towards the pagoda.
First, he needed to decapitate the bird demon and then use the recovery time to kill two more.
Using the time difference for recovery to take down enemies one by one.
Seconds later, the bird demon’s neck started to heal.
“That brat!” Happiness rubbed his paws, imagining ripping out the youth’s heart.
But before he could act, his senses screamed danger, as if a blade was at his neck.
Boom!
A bullet pierced his neck, followed by searing pain from holy fire.
“Ah!!!” Under the white flame’s burn, the demon screamed in agony.
Emerging from the shadows, Fang Bo controlled Yoriichi Type Zero to slice the demon into pieces.
Such damage would take even an Upper Moon split form a while to recover from.
Muichiro should hold his own for now; Fang Bo needed to find the main body.
The split forms were distractions. Even with his mark activated, Muichiro would be worn down and killed.
To defeat Hantengu, Fang Bo needed to find the main body, the “Cowardly Demon.”
A mouse-sized creature.
Ignoring the writhing flesh, Fang Bo sat down, fully activating his fighting spirit perception.
In his perception, faint threads appeared.
The most robust aura was Muichiro’s, with the split forms also strong but not his target.
“If only I could level up, finding the enemy would be easier.”
After a couple of minutes, Fang Bo finally caught a faint trace.
“Found you.” He smiled, looking at the recovering bird demon.
With the main body’s aura locked, he could always track it. But first, he had to deal with the current threat.
Slashing the bird demon into pieces again, Fang Bo then saw another figure, full of rage.
“You’re wasting time.” In a red kimono, barely concealing his blood-like anger, was “Anger.”
“Such unpleasant aura.” Seeing the white flames, Anger turned to the ready demon slayer.
He struck the ground with his staff.
“Thunder!”
The attack was so fast Fang Bo couldn’t dodge.
Knowing it was coming didn’t help; his agility couldn’t match lightning.
Unsurprisingly, Fang Bo was knocked to the ground by the attack.
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