Crack! Crack!
In the depths of the dark bushes under the night sky, faint friction sounds suddenly emerged from the flat muddy ground.
Gradually, a small mound rose from the earth, as if something was about to burrow out from beneath.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, the mound burst open as a withered, ferocious black claw broke through the soil and quickly began scraping away the surrounding dirt.
Soon after, a grotesquely small and hideous Demon crawled out from underground.
If Yuichiro and Arai Masahiko had been there, they would have instantly recognized this ugly Demon—it was the Earth Demon!
The Earth Demon had clearly been beheaded by Yuichiro, so how—?!
This brings us to the true cunning of the Earth Demon.
It was incredibly shrewd.
When it first became a Demon, it was extremely weak and its survival until now relied entirely on its deceitful and crafty nature.
The Earth Demon's true form was exactly as it appeared now—a scrawny, less-than-one-meter-tall body.
But to conceal itself, it had always encased itself within an earthen puppet armor roughly the size of a normal human and it never removed this armor under any circumstances.
The massive earth armor it had used to fight Yuichiro and the others was merely a deceptive tactic.
The head Yuichiro had severed was nothing more than a decoy.
Knowing it was outmatched, the Earth Demon's true body had long since escaped by merging into the ground unnoticed.
"Damn brats, how infuriating! My earth armor! Now I'll have to spend ages reforming it again. No, I've used up too much stamina—I need to find a couple of humans to replenish my strength!" the scrawny Earth Demon spat venomously.
Though it had survived, the Earth Demon was completely drained of energy.
Just as it was about to flee, a black figure abruptly descended from above.
An overwhelming, terrifying aura of a powerful Demon crashed down on the Earth Demon like a tidal wave, instantly crushing its body.
"What?! What's happening?!" the Earth Demon shrieked before catching sight of a majestic black wolf with sharp claws, fangs and crimson eyes slowly advancing towards it.
"It's—it's you! Wait! Don't come any closer! Let's talk this out—we're both of the same kind! I'll yield! I'll give up this territory Wolf Demon! From now on, this land is yours!" the Earth Demon cried out in terror, mistakenly believing the black wolf before it, was a fellow Demon here to claim its territory.
But to its surprise, the black wolf seemed to sneer disdainfully—an oddly human-like expression for a wolf Demon.
However, the Earth Demon didn't have time to ponder why.
In the next second, the black wolf bared its fangs and lunged at it like a bolt of lightning.
Blood Demon Art: Hidden Wolf Ambush!
Squelch!
A grotesque, stinking head flew into the air.
This time, the Earth Demon didn't even have a chance to speak.
Even as its severed head tumbled, its face remained frozen in confusion.
Thud!
The ugly head hit the ground and along with the Earth Demon's body, it quickly turned to ashes.
This time, the Earth Demon was truly finished.
The black wolf watched as the Earth Demon crumbled into dust, then smugly lowered its head to lick its sleek black fur.
But then, its body suddenly shuddered.
The wolf form rapidly shrank like a deflating balloon.
Its glossy black fur receded, replaced by patches of white and its elongated snout gradually shortened.
In just a few seconds, the once-majestic black wolfhound transformed into a chubby little black-and-white Shiba Inu.
Maru-ni shook his plump belly, let out two cheerful barks, then turned and trotted off without a backward glance, heading straight to find his master for some well-deserved praise.
****
Meanwhile on the other side, Shinichi leaped down from the tree branch and quickly arrived beside Yuichiro and the others.
The Demon Slayer Corps members were being interrogated by Yuichiro about his younger brother Muichiro's condition.
However, apart from Arai, none of the other members knew Muichiro.
After all, Muichiro had only recently become the Tsuguko of the Insect Hashira, Shinobu Kocho and hadn't even participated in the Final Selection yet.
Arai knew Muichiro because he had once been on a demon-slaying mission led by the Insect Hashira herself, which was how he came to recognize the boy.
"The Insect Hashira, Shinobu Kocho? That really pretty but small older sister who always secretly watches my master?"
Upon hearing Arai description, Yuichiro immediately recalled that he seemed to know the person he was referring to.
However, he hadn't expected that the sister with such impressive medical skills was also a Hashira and had become Muichiro's master.
While Arai knew of Muichiro, he couldn't provide much information about him.
After all, they'd only met during that one mission and exchanged barely a few words.
The only things Arai remembered were that Muichiro wasn't very talkative, though he would occasionally show a rather adorable smile when the Insect Hashira deliberately teased him.
Additionally, Muichiro was incredibly talented—rumor had it he'd mastered Breathing Technique sword skills in just a few days.
That was all Arai knew.
Before Yuichiro could press further, a hand suddenly clamped onto his head, followed by vigorous ruffling that left his hair in complete disarray.
"Good job, kid! You really surprised me! Wasn't it just yesterday some brat kept swearing he'd rather die than join the Demon Slayer Corps? And now you're swinging that Nichirin Blade better than anyone else!" Shinichi exclaimed, half-complaining and half-boasting as he continued mussing Yuichiro's hair.
"Huh? M-Master? Stop! Stop it! That hurts—my hair's ruined!" Yuichiro struggled, casting desperate glances at Arai and the others for help.
The other Demon Slayer Corps members couldn't help but chuckle at the scene.
It was clear to everyone that the Forest Hashira adored his disciple.
"Ruined? I've always hated that long hair of yours! What's a grown man doing with hair that long? I'm cutting it short later and when did you secretly learn the Eighth Form? I don't remember teaching you that! Did the Old Man give you special lessons behind my back?"
Yuichiro barely processed anything except the threat to his hair.
For a teenager barely in his teens, an adult touching their hair was akin to touching their very soul.
"No! Don't! I won't cut my hair!"
*****
."Grrr!" Maru-ni growled in annoyance at the stinky bird behind him, but Eizo perched comfortably on his back remained perfectly at ease.
Having flown until exhausted, it feels really good to let this fat dog carry him for a while—might help the mutt shed some pounds too.
The news Eizo brought this time wasn't good for Shinichi.
It meant Shinichi's plans to visit the Swordsmith Village were about to go up in smoke.
Teaching Yuichiro had consumed considerable time, but upon receiving word, Tetsu Shinren—the master smith who'd originally forged Shinichi's Nichirin Blade—worked through the night.
He successfully reforged the sword within this period and personally delivered it to the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters.
Though Shinichi remained blissfully unaware of this development for now~
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