Chapter 39: Sage Art - Rakshasa's Palm!
Hah… hah…
The Professor struggled to control her breathing. She knew this mission would be difficult, but she had never expected it to be this dangerous. A cooperative mission with seven Reincarnators had nearly been wiped out on the very first night. Her left shoulder was now bandaged, and she had another deep gash on her thigh. The man in the kasa hat, Yanagi, had lost his composed demeanor; his hat now had a chunk missing from it, revealing his somewhat stern face. The other duo were also covered in injuries.
After the initial panic, they had noticed that many of the demons had gone off in pursuit of the other three Reincarnators. This gave them a chance to fight and retreat, eventually finding their way to their current hiding spot: a grove of wisteria trees. The area was filled with blooming wisteria, creating a scene of ethereal beauty in the night. More importantly, wisteria is a deadly poison to demons. The dozen or so demons that had been chasing them had since regenerated their injuries but could now only pace at a distance, not daring to approach.
The muscular blond man, seeing this, finally let out a sigh of relief. His powerful frame seemed to sag a little. After his partner treated his wounds, the two of them walked over to the Professor and Yanagi.
"One of you is a special Reincarnator, aren't you?" the woman with the green hair said, her voice cold. Her hair was a voluminous mass of curls that flowed down her back. She was tall and looked down on them, her presence imposing. Her gaze was fixed primarily on Yanagi. The man's combat prowess was truly extraordinary; if he wasn't already at the [Mortal]-tier, he had to be close. She knew that if she didn't use her ultimate move, she might not be able to beat his God Speed Battōjutsu.
For Reincarnators, if one disregarded future growth potential, the strongest early-game build was undoubtedly the Shooter, relying on firearms. But as one progressed, enemies with immortality, regeneration, and impenetrable defenses would eventually render conventional firearms obsolete. Humans, however, did not have such a bottleneck. Therefore, in the eyes of most, the [Blademaster] was the strongest path overall. It possessed some of the highest damage output among melee classes in the early stages and had immense room for growth in the mid to late game. The concept of a single sword that could sunder all creation was a powerful archetype in worlds of anime, movies, and novels alike.
The Professor's eyes shifted. She also looked at Yanagi, but he just snorted and shook his head. "There's no need for you two young ladies to test this old man. It's obvious to all of you that the one in that disgusting pink robe is the true anomaly in this group, isn't it?"
"The first demon that appeared targeted him first. Even after its head was cut off and its true body emerged, it didn't attack the Professor who had just shot it. It still went straight for that guy…"
"He," Yanagi concluded, "is probably the strongest among us."
The Professor realized that Yanagi was not as simple as he appeared. Despite the hat, he had a very clear grasp of the situation.
The green-haired woman's expression softened slightly. "It seems there are no fools here. Then I'll be direct. There is something wrong… with this mission world."
"Vincent and I have seen this situation before. This so-called [Demon Slayer Derivative World P9971] must have undergone a major divergence, completely different from the original plot, to produce a mission of such abnormal difficulty." The green-haired woman, codenamed [Elizabeth], had a grim look on her face. She had only been in one mission with a massive plot divergence before. On that mission, of the 16 Reincarnators who entered, only 3 had returned to the Nexus.
The Professor pondered for a moment, then added, "I agree. I think we were misled by the notification that this world was 'unaffected by other Reincarnators.' This is a derivative world; its timeline was never guaranteed to be the same as the original Demon Slayer world."
"Also… one of the demons earlier mentioned [Mt. Fujikasane]. If I'm not mistaken, the place we're in right now is the venue for the [Final Selection] from the original story—Mt. Fujikasane."
Yanagi and Elizabeth froze. They looked up at the dense canopy of wisteria above them and had to accept the terrifying truth. This place, where the Demon Slayer Corps once imprisoned demons for their entrance exam, had clearly been overrun. The wisteria forest that was supposed to contain them had been reduced to this single, small grove, completely incapable of stopping the demons from escaping.
Vincent touched a bloody wound on his chest. He had been a hair's breadth away from being sliced in two by a demon that could hurl its own blood like blades.
"Those other three… are they still alive?" he asked.
The Professor wasn't sure. "Perhaps. We can look for them at dawn. This is not a world where we can act recklessly."
[You have killed the man-eating demon, Yoibi. You have gained 200 Dimensional Points.]
[Milestone Update: Demon Hunter (9/20)]
Without realizing it, Kaito had penetrated deep into the forest. He had finally killed the agile demon that could bizarrely change direction in mid-air. Its Blood Demon Art was quite special, seemingly allowing it to push off the air itself.
By the end of the fight, Kaito had a few new cuts and scratches, but they were all shallow. While wearing Mercenary Tao's pink robe, his Agility attribute was a staggering 16. Both his neural reflexes and his body's reaction speed were at a ridiculous level. The demon had changed its trajectory in the air, but Kaito had always been able to dodge. He eventually found an opening and shattered its head with a single punch.
"Yoibi. Not a bad name," Kaito said aloud, but his mind was already on high alert. His [Killing Intent Sense] was telling him that an intense, overwhelming killing intent was now completely surrounding him.
RUUUMBLE…
The ground suddenly began to tremble violently. Kaito's eyes flashed. He lifted his right foot high and slammed it down.
BOOM!
With a powerful impact, a massive, grayish-blue arm that was bursting from the earth was momentarily stopped. Kaito himself was thrown into the air by an even greater force.
He was launched above the dense canopy of the forest, and for the first time, he could see the full topography of the area. It was a sprawling mountain range. On the outer edges were a few sparse groves of wisteria, but the interior of the mountain was a scene of utter devastation.
And below him, the grayish-blue giant hand had now fully emerged from the ground. It was a massive arm, tens of meters long, with a hand that was probably over three meters in diameter. And its owner now looked up and saw Kaito, who had been thrown into the air.
The demon's eyes crinkled into a smile. It was enormous, its body looking as if it were made of bluish-gray stone, with a ring of arms completely encircling its torso. Only a few of its arms had been underground to launch the attack.
The Hand Demon!
He was supposed to be a slightly stronger-than-average demon on Mt. Fujikasane, but the creature before Kaito now was on a completely different level from the one Tanjiro had faced in the original story. Its voice, muffled by the arms wrapped around its neck, was deep and resonant.
"Heheheh. Are there still remnants of the Demon Slayer Corps left?"
"If I eat you, perhaps that man will be a little happier!"
The powerful Hand Demon, which had clearly devoured countless humans, had a distinct kanji character visible in each of its eyes: [Lower Rank]. But unlike the Lower Rank demons Kaito remembered, there was no number.
Several of its massive arms simultaneously shot up from the ground, grabbing for him in the air like a nest of giant pythons.
The rhythm of Kaito's breathing changed, and his heart began to pound violently. His muscles swelled, and his pupils turned a solid, blank white. His upward momentum had ceased. Using the downward pull of gravity, he drew his right arm back like a taut bowstring. He began to rotate his hand inward, the terrifying force twisting the swollen muscles of his arm into a tight spiral.
At the same time, his Hamon activated at full power. Through the special rhythm of his breath, the blood in his veins began to vibrate. A faint aura of ki radiated from his body, and circles of ripple energy began to appear on his right hand.
[Sage Art - Rakshasa's Palm]!
~~~
Guys We cross the 1000 power stone goal and as promise here the bonus chapter
Next goal 1100 power stone,come on guys you'll can do it, good luck.
~~~
Every 5 new reviews = 2 extra chapters
Every 100 Power Stones = 1 extra chapter