Demon Slayer World · Early Morning
The night, illuminated by the moonlight, shimmered with faint glimmers. Suddenly, a hundred meters above the silent, uninhabited forest, a white light erupted.
The white light rapidly expanded, forming a portal. From this portal, a figure was thrown out. Yes, you read that right, he was thrown out.
"System! This isn't transmigration; this is clearly high-altitude littering!"
Feeling his body plummeting headfirst, Zhong Chen quickly channeled spiritual energy throughout his body.
In an instant, Zhong Chen's body seemed to hit a pause button, stopping mid-air. Then, Zhong Chen controlled his body to slowly rotate up and down, righting himself.
"Phew… Good thing I can fly, otherwise I'd have splattered on impact!"
Coming back to his senses, Zhong Chen surveyed the situation below. Although it was night, who was he? He was a dignified Golden Core cultivator, and mere night vision was child's play for him.
Below was a small mountain covered in dense vegetation. Feeling the night temperature, it was clearly either spring or summer.
Zhong Chen recalled his memories from his previous life and realized this shouldn't be when the plot began.
Unable to figure out the timeline for a moment, Zhong Chen decided to find people first.
"Linglong, your master needs your help!"
Hearing his master's summons, Linglong immediately materialized beneath Zhong Chen's feet.
"Which way should I fly? I've got it…"
Zhong Chen then used his divine sense to radiate outwards, a hundred li, five hundred li, a thousand li… until he found something in a residential area.
"Ah, there's a fighting aura over there. Let's go check it out first!"
Sensing the fighting aura, Zhong Chen swiftly flew towards the target.
"Heh heh, you've tried so hard until now, I'll free you soon. I'll eat you little by little!"
A man with short, light-blonde hair, holding a folding fan, spoke with a gentle smile on his face.
A clear 'Two' character was visible in his golden eyes, as he spoke extremely cruel words in a very gentle tone to the beautiful girl below the courtyard wall.
"Even if I die, I'll drag you to hell with me!!"
The beautiful girl, wearing a butterfly haori, with a butterfly hairpin in her hair, and holding a half-broken nichirin blade, roared at the figure above.
Unfortunately, her body, covered in blood and her pale face, made her roar seem so weak and powerless.
If Zhong Chen had seen this scene, he would have recognized the girl. That's right, this girl was Kanae Kocho, who would later die tragically at Douma's hands.
"Oh dear, you think you can take me down with you? Aren't you a bit too naive!"
Douma's figure vanished from Kanae's sight with a whoosh, reappearing in front of her.
"This is bad! He's too fast!! There's no time!"
Kanae struggled to raise the nichirin blade in her hand, but before she could block, she felt a sharp pain throughout her body, her throat sweetened, and she couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood.
"Boom…"
Kanae Kocho's body was sent flying several meters by the fan, crashing against the courtyard wall.
"Cough… gasp…"
Enduring the intense pain, Kanae, propped up by her nichirin blade and leaning against the wall, continuously coughed up blood, which, against her beautiful face, created a sense of tragic beauty.
"Oh my, you can still stand up! But it doesn't matter, I'll make you live forever with me in a moment!"
Watching Douma steadily approach her, Kanae fell into deep despair.
"Is this the end?! I really want to see the children at Butterfly Mansion again, and my beloved sister. I'm sorry, I love you all so much! Cough…"
Douma, who had walked up to Kanae Kocho, slowly raised the folding fan in his hand. Kanae closed her eyes, awaiting death's arrival.
Just as the folding fan was about to reach Kanae's head, a faint voice suddenly echoed in her ear:
"Oh my, oh my, beautiful lady, do you need help?"
Hearing the voice, Kanae opened her tightly shut eyes, and the scene before her left her shocked.
What met her eyes was a young man with short black hair, a handsome face, bright and radiant eyes, and a mischievous smile playing on his lips.
At this moment, the young man's right hand was tightly gripping Douma's folding fan, which had been extended towards her.
"He appeared instantly! Who exactly are you?!"
Douma, still wearing a smile, asked the stranger who had grabbed his weapon.
Zhong Chen did not answer Douma's question. He merely exerted a slight force with his right hand, which was gripping the folding fan, and flicked it backwards.
Instantly, Douma's body was flung away like a cannonball, crashing into the opposite courtyard wall.
System: This street's courtyard walls are really sturdy!
"Boom…"
"Huh?"
Feeling the pain throughout his body, as if it were falling apart, Douma still wore a smile.
"How is this possible! That's an Upper Rank Demon!!"
Watching Douma being effortlessly flung away, Kanae looked at the young man with the mischievous smile, her face filled with disbelief.
"He was sent flying, huh? Is this support from the Demon Slayer Corps?"
Douma, his body slowly recovering, stood up and looked at the young man who had sent him flying, still smiling.
Indeed, this young man was Zhong Chen, who had flown over on Linglong.
Upon seeing Kanae Kocho on the verge of death, Zhong Chen immediately used Shrinking the Ground to an Inch to save her.
System: Don't ask how he knows Shrinking the Ground to an Inch; just know that the Basic Cultivation Method is awesome!
"You rest well for now. I'll take care of this little demon first!"
Zhong Chen pointed his right index finger at Kanae Kocho, a golden light appearing at his fingertip. The golden light followed the direction of his finger and entered Kanae Kocho's body.
In an instant, Kanae felt a warmth spread through her body. Her wounds were healing, and her strength was slowly returning.
"Alright, then sir, please be careful. Take this nichirin blade. Without using a nichirin blade, a demon will recover no matter how severe its injuries are!"
Looking at the half-broken nichirin blade Kanae offered, Zhong Chen couldn't help but think:
"This hand… no, this nichirin blade is really beautiful!"
"No need, I have a way to deal with him. You just rest well on the side!"
After speaking, Zhong Chen turned to face Douma, who was still smiling.
"Speaking of which, this guy really has no emotions. Even after I've beaten him to a pulp, he still has that expression!"
Zhong Chen, seeing a demon in reality for the first time, was still a bit curious about them.
"What exactly is the structure of these demons? Kibutsuji Muzan can even regenerate from a drop of blood!"
"If this were in the cultivation world, wouldn't that be a skill only a Tribulation Transcender could possess?!"
"Yet, in this world, a mere Kibutsuji Muzan can do it. Truly the wonder of the two-dimensional world!"
"Why did you save her? Wouldn't it be better for her to live forever with me?"
Douma spoke as he attacked Zhong Chen, arriving by his side in a flash.
Unfortunately, his incredibly arrogant speed seemed as slow as a snail in Zhong Chen's eyes.
Zhong Chen simply raised his right foot and kicked the charging Douma.
Whoosh… Douma was kicked back even faster than he had come.
"Boom… Cough cough…"
Douma, who had crashed into the courtyard wall again, lay on the ground, coughing up blood.
System: Reiterating, the courtyard walls are really tough!
"Is he a new Hashira… Should I go tell Muzan-sama first… Or…"
As Douma pondered whether to seek out Muzan, Zhong Chen raised his right hand, extended his index finger towards Douma, and said faintly:
"Alright, no more games. Demons belong in hell, especially man-eating fiends. Hmm… except for Benimaru and the others in the future!"
"Small Desolation Imprisoning Heaven Finger!"
"Why not Great Desolation? How can I call this little finger 'Great Desolation'?! ヽ( ´ー`) ﾉ"
Above Douma, a golden finger, tens of meters long, appeared and pressed down towards him.
Looking at the golden finger descending from the sky, Douma showed a gentle smile on his face:
"Heh heh, humans… truly pathetic…"
"What's pathetic? You, without emotions, are the most pathetic!"
"Boom…"
The golden finger pressed into the ground, creating a crater tens of meters deep where Douma had been. Douma's figure was no longer there.
The mighty Upper Rank Two, without even a chance to use his Blood Demon Art, completely vanished from this world.
Watching Douma, who had been crushed by a single finger from Zhong Chen, leaving no corpse behind.
Kanae Kocho, her face filled with shock, looked at the young man with his back to her and asked with a trembling voice:
"Are you Lord God?"
Hearing the question, tinged with a tremor, from behind him, Zhong Chen turned around to look at Kanae Kocho, who was sitting on the ground.
Seeing the slight fear on the girl's beautiful face, Zhong Chen smiled and extended his right hand towards Kanae:
"I am not a god. I'm just a passing Kamen Rider… Uh… I'm just an ordinary person. Can you get up now?"
"Oh no, I almost exposed my chuunibyou tendencies again!"
Looking at the gentle young man in front of her, Kanae Kocho unconsciously extended her right hand…