"Damn it… where the hell did I end up this time?"
Luo En spat, trying to dispel the gloom in his heart.
He carefully checked his body. Aside from extreme fatigue and suppressed magic, there seemed to be no change in age or form like his last Crossing .
Was this a blessing in disguise?
"Ugh! I still need to find a place to take shelter and rest."
Although he felt exceptionally exhausted at the moment, he couldn't just rest in this remote mountain wilderness. He could only head towards the illuminated shrine, hoping to find a place to stay for the night.
As he got closer to the shrine, a faint, nauseating smell, almost imperceptible, was carried over by the night wind.
That smell… a sweet, cloying odor mixed with rust and decay, drilled into his nostrils.
"Blood?!"
Luo En's heart lurched, his steps instantly froze, and a chill shot from the soles of his feet straight to his head!
"No way?! Just out of the tiger's den and into the wolf's lair?! Could this place be…"
Just then, it felt as if ice shards were poured into the crevices of his spine, and a deep chill rushed straight to his head.
The air was no longer merely cold, but became thick, eerie, carrying a maliciousness, mixed with blood and decay, that seemed to cling to the skin!
Luo En's hair stood on end instantly! He sharply looked up, gazing in the direction from which the malice came—
A figure with skin the grayish-blue of a corpse, its eyes glinting with pure, greedy cruelty for flesh and blood.
"Hoo… hoo hoo…"
A grating, wheezing laugh, like a broken bellows, issued from its wide mouth, carrying a heavy scent of blood,
"Rare blood… what a… what a sweet scent…"
The demon's eyes locked onto Luo En, its tongue greedily licking the dark red residue at the corners of its mouth,
"How nice… a lost… little snack… delivered right to my doorstep…"
Hearing the term "rare blood," combined with the appearance of the monster before him… a story about "demons" and "demon slayers," long buried deep in his pre-transmigration memories, suddenly surfaced in Luo En's mind.
"Demons… is this…"
He remembered Mount Sagiri, the starting point of Tanjiro's journey in the story.
And that shrine in the distance, wasn't it precisely where the man-eating demon in the plot roamed?
"Damn it… did I fall into that world?!"
And judging by the situation, it was exactly the period when Tanjiro came to Mount Sagiri to train under a master. It seemed he had arrived a little too early.
"Run… run now…"
A faint voice screamed in Luo En's heart, but at this moment, his magic seemed suppressed, and his body and mind were exceptionally exhausted. His legs felt like they were filled with lead, nail to the spot.
"Come obediently… into my arms…"
The demon grinned menacingly, its demon claw descending towards Luo En's head with a foul, ear-splitting whoosh!
The sharp nails gleamed with a dark luster in the moonlight, their crevices filled with dark red, unknown fragments of flesh and blood!
The shadow of death materialized into a chilling cold, clutching Luo En's throat!
Time seemed to stretch infinitely at this moment; he could even clearly see every twisted blue vein on the demon's claw!
"Move! Move, damn it!"
Luo En roared in despair in his heart, the foul demon claw rapidly expanding in his pupils.
At this moment, he recalled Natsu and their never-give-up spirit in the guild, Mirajane's warm smile, and the Master's words about "family."
...Was he really going to die here so ignominiously, without even a chance to say goodbye to them?!
"I am… a Mage of Fairy Tail!"
This unwillingness and obsession finally broke through the shackles of fear! Just as the demon claw was about to touch his scalp, a surge of power erupted from the depths of his soul!
Buzz!
A few extremely thin wisps of dust, with a faint silvery-white glow, suddenly diffused from around him!
They were not controlled, but more like an instinctive stress response in a near-death state, instantly forming a thin, almost transparent, ethereal barrier in front of Luo En.
Screech—!
The demon claw savagely struck this fragile dust barrier, and the sharp nails frictioned against the dust, sparking tiny flashes of fire!
The barrier violently fluctuated and dented, on the verge of shattering completely!
This was Luo En's "Dust" magic, and in this life-or-death moment, it showed some effect for the first time in this Another World .
The shattered barrier transformed into countless points of light, and the residual impact slammed into his chest, sending him flying backward.
He fell heavily into the cold, muddy ground. A sweet, metallic taste surged in his throat, but he gritted his teeth, forcing down the mouthful of blood mixed with the earthy smell.
Intense pain swept through his body like a tide; his bones felt dislocated, and his internal organs churned. But Luo En's consciousness was clearer than ever—he was alive, temporarily escaping the fate of being disemboweled!
"Ugh ah ah ah—!!!"
The demon let out a sharp howl, mixed with intense pain and fury.
The demon raised its claw in disbelief, only to see the parts of its fingertips that had touched the dust barrier "sizzling" with strange green smoke, a small patch of skin already charred and necrotic!
What terrified it even more was that its proud regenerative ability was recovering extremely slowly at this moment!
"What… what the hell is this?! Damn little bug!!"
A sense of humiliation instantly ignited the demon's madness. Being injured by a human, whom it considered "food," was more unbearable than any severe wound!
"I'll tear you to shreds! Chew you up bit by bit!"
Killing intent boiled in its crimson eyes, and its other intact demon claw, whistling as it tore through the air, once again slammed down towards Luo En, who was struggling to get up!
This time, it was faster, fiercer! Luo En couldn't even be sure if he could squeeze out a single drop of magic!
He could only watch in despair as the demon claw, covered in twisted blue veins, infinitely expanded in his pupils. He could even clearly see the patterns of the twisted arm joints on the demon's claw.
It's over… the thought flashed!
Just at this critical moment—
"Hmph ah—!"
A clear, explosive shout from a young man came.
A figure rushed out from the shadows of the forest, his checkered haori flapping in the wind.
The young man tightly gripped a woodcutting axe with both hands, using all his strength, and delivered a swift horizontal slash, fiercely striking the demon's neck!
Ching—!
The axe blade cut into the muscle, but due to limitations in force and material, it couldn't fully succeed, yet it made the demon instinctively retreat.
"Are you alright?"
The young man didn't pursue, but immediately turned, grabbed Luo En's arm, and helped him up from the mud.
The newcomer was none other than the protagonist of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba—Kamado Tanjiro.
He was also accompanied by a young girl wearing a kimono and biting on a piece of bamboo.
Her gaze, however, passed over everyone, firmly drawn by the denser, thicker scent of blood emanating from the shrine nearby.
The girl's body tensed slightly, and glistening drool uncontrollably seeped from the edge of the bamboo, dripping down.
Tanjiro's sensitive nose had smelled a strong scent of blood from afar, thinking someone was injured, and he rushed over with his sister, Nezuko.
Upon getting closer, he felt the commotion from Luo En's side even more, and being kind-hearted, he immediately stepped forward to help.
"Be careful, your axe is useless against him, it can't hurt him!"
Luo En endured his injuries and, seeing that Tanjiro still had the presence of mind to worry about him, immediately warned him.