Chapter: The Battle in the Cave and the Approach of the Hand Demon
Moreover, the location they chose was perfect; in this narrow cave, the vast majority of sword techniques couldn't be performed at all. Surrounded on both sides and unable to use their skills, such a situation would be a dead end for any swordsman participating in the Final Selection.
But for Ren, that wasn't necessarily true. Even empty-handed, he could tear demons apart!
"Hehe, brothers, let's go together! This guy is so big, he's enough for a feast!" the lead demon ordered. Immediately, the remaining six demons rushed toward Ren simultaneously, intent on swallowing him alive.
"Hmph, seeking death!"
Seeing a demon's sharp claws about to reach his chest, Ren's eyes narrowed. Faster than the eye could follow, his large hand shot out and gripped the demon's wrist. While the demon was still in shock, Ren shoved the torch in his hand deep into the creature's mouth, making it howl in agony.
"Agh!!! You bastard, you're pretty strong! But mere fire can't kill me!"
"Then it's just right—I can beat you a few more times!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Ren executed a 'Double Peaks Piercing the Ears' strike. He slammed both palms with full force against either side of the demon's head, an impact equivalent to five or six tons.
With a sickening pop, the demon's head was smashed into pulp. Blood and brain matter splattered everywhere, and the stench of rot instantly filled the cave.
This scene stunned the other demons. Usually, the swordsmen who came for the selection would cry out in despair or beg for mercy. When had they ever seen such a monster? He had literally exploded their companion's head with two slaps. For a moment, all the demons stared with bulging eyes, terrified that they would be the next ones to pop.
The demon leader spoke up again, commanding, "Everyone attack together! There's only one of him; he can't be our match! Besides, in this cave, he can't swing his Nichirin Sword properly. He can't kill us!"
Ren looked down and saw that the demon whose head he had crushed was already starting to regenerate, though the speed was very slow—likely due to extreme hunger. Just as the leader said, without a Nichirin Sword to decapitate them, they couldn't be truly killed.
Following the leader's command, the remaining demons acted as if they had been injected with adrenaline. They scrambled toward Ren, their razor-sharp claws whistling through the air as they aimed for his throat.
"Hmph. You think I have no way to deal with you in this cave? Naive!"
"For trash like you, I'm too lazy to even use my Nichirin Greatsword!"
Ren moved with lightning speed, grabbing the throats of the two demons on the inner side of the cave. With a slight surge of power, a loud 'crack' echoed as he easily snapped their necks!
Ren then hoisted the two demons up to use as shields, blocking the attacks from the three demons on the outer side.
Pfft, pfft, pfft...
In their haste, the three demons' claws all sank into their own companions. Then, with a low growl, Ren channeled his monstrous strength into a 'Pig Assault' just like Inosuke. He held the two demons aloft and pushed the other three, sprinting rapidly toward the exit.
His speed was like a gale. For a moment, it was as if a typhoon was passing through the cave, kicking up clouds of dust. Before Ren's overwhelming power, the demons had no room to resist and could only be forced backward!
"Curse it! This guy's strength is too much!"
"Oh no, he's pushing us out of the cave! We can't leave the cave, or we're dead once he uses his sword!"
"Boss, save me!"
Despite their desperate struggling, the demons were eventually thrown out of the cave by Ren. Immediately after, a heavy sword swept out in a horizontal arc.
The five demons had just left the cave when they felt a violent wind howling toward them. The Nichirin Greatsword flashed with a cold light in Ren's hands, and the sharp sword qi instantly sliced through their necks.
In an instant, the energy surged, and heads were separated from bodies!
In the blink of an eye, five demons were decapitated by Ren, their bodies slowly turning to ash. Now, only two demons remained in the cave.
Seeing Ren's ferocity, the demon leader didn't even wait for his regenerating subordinate. He immediately bolted out of the cave and fled toward the forest.
"Heh, trying to run?"
"Watch my Hundred-Step Flying Sword!"
Ren raised the Nichirin Greatsword high and threw it with all his might, aiming at the demon leader.
Swoosh!
The heavy sword cut through the night sky like a meteor, fast as lightning and heavy as thunder. By the time the demon leader heard the sound of breaking air, the sword had already pierced through his throat. His body began to crumble into ash.
After retrieving his sword, Ren walked back into the cave. By now, the demon whose head he had smashed earlier had just finished regenerating. Seeing Ren approach like a god of death, the demon's eyes filled with intense dread. His body trembled, and he nearly wet himself in terror as he begged for mercy through tears.
"Bi-bi-big brother, don't kill me!"
"I was wrong! I was blind! You're a great man, please, just treat me like a fart and let me go..."
However, Ren wasn't interested in his nonsense. With an expressionless face, he brought his blade down.
"It's already three in the morning. Just disappear."
A cold sword light flashed. In an instant, the demon's newly grown head was severed. Ren didn't stop there; after decapitating him, he added a vertical slash, splitting the head in two.
Once the demon's body turned to ash, Ren walked to the deepest part of the cave. There, he discovered a corpse that had died not long ago. Judging by the appearance, it was a woman. Her torso and internal organs had been eaten until nothing remained; only a little flesh was left on her limbs.
Kind-hearted as he was, Ren couldn't bear to leave the girl's body exposed in the wilderness. He dug a small pit outside the cave and buried her. Afterward, he lit a campfire and lay down quietly in the back of the cave.
Luckily, he found a complete bear skin in the cave, likely brought in by the demons. The fur felt soft, making it as comfortable as lying on a bed. Since it was late, Ren quietly drifted off to sleep.
He had originally thought about blocking the entrance with a large boulder, but considering the campfire would release carbon dioxide and consume the oxygen, he abandoned the idea. If he suffocated to death in a cave, he'd have nowhere to go to cry about it.
Now that he had solved the problems of food, water, and shelter, he could survive here for seven days without an issue—he could probably manage a full wilderness survival challenge like Bear Grylls or Ed Stafford on Mt. Fujikasane.
Thus, Ren spent his days resting in the cave and his nights hunting demons and searching for the next day's food. Six days passed in a flash.
It was now the night of the seventh day. As long as he could descend the mountain by tomorrow morning, Ren would pass the Final Selection and officially become a member of the Demon Slayer Corps.
While Ren was eating roasted rabbit meat and preparing for tonight's hunt, sharp screams began to echo into the cave one after another. At the same time, he heard deafening footsteps. A massive entity, shaped like a mammoth, was slowly approaching the cave.
Ren's expression remained calm as he said softly, "That guy should be the strongest one here, the culprit who killed Sabito and Makomo: the Hand Demon!"