Kyougai, the demon with drums embedded in his body, felt his brain shaking violently.
Staring at the three Pillars before him, only one thought remained:
Are you Demon Slayers playing fair?
Three Pillars against a washed-up former Lower Sixth Rank demon like me?!
Is that really necessary?
Kyougai quietly shuffled backward.
Though his chances were slim, he still desperately sought an escape.
But in the next instant, Kyougai heard a thunderous roar:
'Sun Breathing, Seventh Form: Sunflower Thrust!'
Kyougai turned his head in confusion, only to be met with a blinding, sun-like blaze.
The world flipped and spun before his eyes.
It wasn't until he saw the ground rushing up to meet him that Kyougai realized what had happened.
He had been decapitated in a single strike by another swordsman who had suddenly appeared.
Before his consciousness faded, Kyougai's mind dimly registered a thought:
There's... another master swordsman?
As Yuki watched the drum-embedded Demon's head fall, he didn't sheathe his blade. Instead, he whirled around and unleashed another strike against the room's wall:
Sun Breathing, First Form: Dance
Outside the room, the towering Demon hadn't even reacted when the wall suddenly exploded. A blinding burst of flames erupted, the crimson blade faintly visible within the inferno.
The towering Demon immediately turned to flee.
But in the next instant, his perspective began to shrink rapidly. He even saw his own headless body sprinting desperately away.
Only as he felt himself dissolving did the towering Demon finally realize what had happened.
He had already been beheaded...
And that wasn't the end of it.
Yuki spun around again, shifted his stance, and hurled his blade with tremendous force.
Though this technique still utilized Sun Breathing, it didn't belong to any specific sword form.
The blade erupted with a solar flame, piercing through layers of walls.
Immediately afterward, a demon's agonizing scream echoed from outside!
Murata's face was etched with shock.
Three strikes!
Yuki had slain three demons with just three strikes!
But after the initial shock subsided, Murata couldn't shake the feeling that Yuki's actions were somewhat peculiar.
It was almost as if Yuki was afraid the other three Pillars would steal the demons, so he rushed to eliminate them himself...
In truth, Murata's intuition was spot-on. Yuki was indeed "monster farming."
He was about to face Kokushibo, so he needed to seize every opportunity to boost his Restoration Rate.
However, after checking his Restoration Rate, Yuki was taken aback.
According to his calculations, killing a Lower Moon Demon should increase his Restoration Rate by 5%, while ordinary demons would grant around 3%.
Yet after slaying the former Lower Sixth Rank and two ordinary demons, his total increase was only 6%.
Are these demons just too weak? Is that why killing them yields so little Restoration Rate?
Or perhaps, as my Restoration Rate increases, simply killing Demons will become less effective. Should I shift my focus to understanding Tsugikuni Yoriichi instead?
Yuki was still pondering this when Kyojuro exclaimed heartily, "Umu! What a magnificent three strikes! You annihilated three Demons instantly!"
"I couldn't even lend a hand! I'm truly ashamed!"
Sanemi, however, scowled darkly and retorted, "It's not that we couldn't help at all Yuki simply didn't give us a chance to intervene."
"So, does Yuki think our strength is insufficient? That we're useless even against Demons like these?"
Yuki sighed wearily.
After their mission in Asakusa, Tokyo Prefecture, Sanemi had finally acknowledged Yuki's strength.
But the man's volatile temperament remained unchanged.
Yuki could tell that Sanemi and Kyojuro were actually expressing the same sentiment.
But the moment he spoke, the words took on a completely different meaning.
Though Yuki couldn't directly explain his "monster stealing," he could at least offer a subtle explanation.
However, before he could speak, he noticed Tomioka beside him showing signs of wanting to speak.
In that instant, only one thought flashed through Yuki's mind:
I'm doomed!
If Tomioka spoke now, who knew what the consequences would be?
But then Yuki remembered that back at Headquarters, Tomioka had already learned to communicate more normally with others.
At the time, Tomioka had earnestly asked himself, "So, saying exactly what's on your mind is what you people call 'normal communication'?"
If Tomioka could truly express his thoughts directly, perhaps he wouldn't be misunderstood so often anymore.
Tomioka spoke in a deep voice:
"When I traveled with Yuki before, we discussed similar topics."
"To encourage me, he said very earnestly that if I felt my strength was lacking, I should simply continue to hone my skills."
"But never let such thoughts lead you to speak defeatist words."
"Yuki even used my own situation as an example."
"For years, I've felt I never truly passed the trial on Mount Fujikasane, that I didn't deserve my position as a Pillar. That's why I always found myself saying, 'I'm different from you all.'"
Hearing this, Kyojuro immediately exclaimed cheerfully, "So that's it!"
"You're right! I shouldn't be saying such defeatist things!"
Yuki silently scoffed to himself. Kyojuro's booming enthusiasm made it impossible to perceive his words as defeatist in the first place.
Meanwhile, Sanemi's usual irritation and aggression had visibly subsided:
"So you've been dwelling on what happened on Mount Fujikasane all these years."
"Ah, well, no wonder you kept saying 'I'm different from you all.'"
Yuki was surprised. Was he about to witness Tomioka and Sanemi finally reconcile?
He glanced at Sanemi, then turned to Tomioka, only to find the latter still had more to say:
"Oh, and I vaguely remember Yuki muttering something under his breath back then."
"I've been pondering the meaning of those words ever since."
"He must have summarized my poor performance with the word 'noob', and encouraged me to practice more."
"I found this advice very insightful, so I'm sharing it with you all."
Yuki felt a growing sense of unease and quickly reached out to stop Tomioka.
But by the time he grabbed Tomioka, the latter had already spoken:
"Sanemi, you—"
"If you're a noob, practice more!"