Soutarou and Sakura halted at gigantic the bell location. One of the high ranking captains of Taima Dan, Jojo, stood taller, directing slayers around him.
Let's ask JoJo what happened. Soutarou turned to Sakura, she sighed annoyed to approach Jojo, because Jojo somehow despises Soutarou.
Soutarou turned and headed towards Jojo. Sakura followed close behind.
Soutarou stopped beside JoJo.
Jojo eyed him with despise. Before walking away ignoring Soutarou.
This was totally normal since he since he was tagged useless. "Tsk Jojo, wait!" Soutarou called out. "What's the situation?"
Jojo paused and faced soutarou, he was a few feet taller than Soutarou. So he used his height to look down on Soutarou as though he were a pest. "And why should I tell you? What will you do with the info."
Soutarou tried to talk but no word came out. Even if he knew he couldn't help.
Sakura steeped in-between Soutarou and Jojo in. Her eyes pierced into Jojo's. "Because I'm the one asking."
Soutarou smiled. She always did this.
Jojo hissed. He had no choice but to tell Sakura. She was a fellow Captain and was currently the captain with the strongest Ki.
"As you see" Jojo gestured to the blackened sky. The watch tower which was visible to a distance had disappeared.
"One of the demons launched a large-scale attack from a distance. The demon seemed so distant it only touched the outer barracks."
"An attack that strong from a distance."
Sakura breathed. "You think is it..."
"Yes. It is most likely a Jokyu-ranked demon." Jojo crossed his arm
A Jokyu?! Soutarou clenched his fist. A Jokyu ranked demon were the second strongest rank in the demons heriachy.
Their were known for incredible combat skill and powerful demon arts. But still common fodders to the likes of
"So what's the plan?" he asked. He didn't want to feel sidelined
Jojo did not say anything, and he continued to stare at Sakura.
"You deaf? You heard him!" she snapped.
Jojo turned to Soutarou. "Search parties. Whoever discovers the Jokyu first if they can engage, they do and signal base. The rest of us converge."
He paused, his lip curling. "But what are you going to do, Soutarou? Scratch it till you're pleased, then let it go?"
Jojo moved closer. His eyes burned into Soutarou. "You've let three demons escape in the last month alone. How many people died because you couldn't finish what you started?"
His eyes were fixed straight forward, His jaw tightened. "We'll see."
Jojos sneered and walked off, shouting instructions to the assembled Demon Slayers. Sakura tried to grab Soutarou's arm before he ran off, but he had already begun to move toward the search parties.
Soutarou ran to the external defenses. Black smoke drifted darkening the air.
His legs gave a hard tread on the earth, flinging up dust-heaps with each stride. His uniform whipped and snapped in the wind of his haste.
Come on. Let me find that demon.
His heart beat in his chest not with physical exertion, but with desperate need for validation. He wanted to prove himself.
Maybe this time. Maybe today I'll get it right.
"Soutarou-kun—slow down!"
Sakura called him somewhere far behind him.
He looked round without pausing. She ran after him, waving frantically, in a bid to keep up with him.
Soutarou gasped and slid to a stop and turned to her. He stood there heaving his chest.
Sakura was closing on, still breathing in short gasps. He turned to the rubble, He could hear the crackle of fire in the rubble clearer.
He turned to Sakura, "Go back", he said between pauses. "It'll be faster if we split up. We'll cover more ground."
She came to a halt, and put her hands on her knees, breathing in and out. "Yes, I know that." Her eyes lifted to meet his. "But you always end up in bad circumstances."
She bent herself up, her face became warm-looking between exasperation and fear.
"I won't be surprised if you find the demon first... Or it finds you."
His chest felt heavier than before burdened "No. Turn back." His knuckles went pale about the hilt of his katana. "I'll be fine."
"I'm scared you'll get hurt Sau. and also—" she stepped closer to him,
Her tone had gone down, and was almost melancholic. "If you find the demon you can't.. Slay it.."
The phrases hit him like a knife.
She was right. She was always right.
Even if he encountered the demon he can't slay it. It will be the same result, battled with, and could not kill.
This. This Isn't the first time Demons escaped due to him swinging a dead blade.
Soutarou clenched his grip on the hilt of his blade until the leather squeaked between his fingers.
He turned his back on her, his jaw set and his shoulders tight.
"Turn back." His voice came out rougher than intended.
He sprang forward before she could reply.
His body flew through the air like a bolt of lightning, quick the ground appeared to blur under him. Dust flew out in a blinding wave, and engulfed Sakura where she stood..
She raised her arm, and shielding her face from the dust, the grit stinged her eyes.
The dust at last settled, she lowered her arm and peered into the distance.
He was already out of sight, too distant already by the few seconds that had elapsed.
Sakura lingered a moment, watching him.
Then she sighed, turned, and headed west.
Soutarou flew through the air, his figure a streak in the smoke thick sky. He swept past the shattered outer guard in seconds, and rushed into the woods on the other side.
It has to be around here.
He sprang himself off tree after tree, hardly seeming to touch the bark at all before he was in air once more. Branches swung by his face. Leaves rustled in his move.
If only I could use ki I would have sensed it by now. He pressured himself, something that became normal to him.
His eyes followed every shadow, every motion, nothing. The woods appeared deserted, too quiet, except from the distant crackle of fires behind him.
His foot slipped on wet bark. "Woah—!"
his hand reached out, and grabbed a branch. He swung wild, his momentum taking him to a different tree. and he ran down the bark, scraping his palms--
Then he saw it.
In the clearing, below, there was something... wrong. The air was shimmering slightly, as though it was warmth out of stone. The trees were bent at strange angles with their trunks twisting at the edge of—
A barrier.
The lips of Soutarou twisted into a smile. His hand flew to his katana.
Got you.
With a kick of the slide he jumped off the tree, and turned his body midair. His sword came out of the sheath singing, the iron getting the slightest light through the forest canopy.
He dropped and upswung his sword
CRASH.
The barrier shattered and the pieces melted into nothing.
Soutarou's eyes widened.
One of the women was in the middle of the clearing.
Her hair was long, white, and fell like cascades to her knees, clean, in spite of the carnage. Her position was turned, yet her attitude was casual-predatory.
In front of her, a person in a Taima Dan uniform scuffled to the ground, uniform tearing. Young. Female. Barely moving. Blood streaming through her clothing.
The hand of the white haired woman was reaching out to the girl, its fingers clenched as though she had just withdrawn a hit.
But it wasn't a hand.
Her fingernails were excessively long. Too sharp. Her fingertips, shiny black and wet with blood, curved like daggers.
A DEMON!!.
"You bastard!" Soutarou roared.
He shot himself forward midair, his sword flashing towards her neck.
The demon moved.
Not fast—effortlessly. Her shoulder turned back, her head tilted just far enough. His sword swung by, and by a hair missed him.
Soutarou didn't hesitate. He was still suspended in the air, and turned and struck her with his boot.
CRACK.
The impact vibrated in his leg. She just stumbled but it was enough.
He hit the ground with a crash, the dust flying. With a single move, he picked up the wounded girl in his arms and threw himself backward, putting space between them and the demon.
The demon straightened gradually, dusting her sleeve with a wave of her hand. Her lips curved into a smile.
"You are good", she said with a deadly calm voice.
Soutarou dropped the girl down to a tree. She was too young. Sixteen, maybe seventeen. A fresh recruit.
She shook her head and flushed her face with shame, in spite of her injuries. "Th-thank you..."
"Thank me later." Soutarou replied.
He stood and confronted the demon,and gripped his katana tighter. He switched his position, his weight even, his knees bent down, his blade low and in the rest.
The demon threw back her head, the white hair cascading down one side of her neck. Her eyes were flashing crimson in the dim light, and amused, and curious.
She smiled wider.
Well then, she purred with her claws, clicking softly together. "Let's see what you can do, boy."
Hey can you still walk, Soutarou said to the wounded girl.
"Yes" she nodded her head,
"Good."
"You run as fast as you can, not looking back when I get a chance to pin her. You heard me."
"Yes" she grunted in pain and rose up holding her wounded arm.
"Good.!"
The demon waited as he gave a breath, and strained his muscles in his legs.
He turns his right leg back, his right hand is on the hilt of his left at its base lifted above his shoulder facing the demon, ready to strike.