"Fire Serpent, Clear the Path!"
Goku flicked his hand, sending another snake of flame hurtling forward, intending to burn away the threads controlling the puppets.
This time, however, he didn't succeed. The puppets dodged the fire serpent with ease. Being Kanoe-rank slayers, their physical capabilities were far superior to the previous group.
Furthermore, the fire serpent itself wasn't particularly fast, and the demon controlling them from the shadows was now on high alert.
"Go and help!"
Mita, seeing that the fire serpent had failed, prepared to call upon the slayers who could still move to join Goku in the fight. But the moment he stepped forward, Goku vanished.
In the next breath, all dozen or so controlled Demon Slayers collapsed to the ground simultaneously.
"Uncle Mita, take them to the side to rest. Once I've dealt with this guy, I'll help heal them."
Goku tossed aside the severed spider silk and came to a halt in front of the final puppet. Since the fire serpent was being dodged, he had opted for a more direct and brutal method: he had moved so fast that he simply yanked every thread connected to the puppets apart with his bare hands.
As for this last headless demon puppet, Goku felt it might have some real strength and wanted to spar with it.
*Swish!*
The headless demon, whose hands had mutated into twin blades, took advantage of Goku's talking to slash rapidly at his neck. Goku ducked under the twin blades, stepped in to grab the demon's arm, and delivered a thunderous kick to its midsection.
A powerful sonic boom erupted.
The headless demon's arms were torn clean off, and its entire upper torso was blasted apart by the force of the kick. It crumpled to the ground, dead.
"..."
Goku tilted his head, a look of slight disappointment crossing his face. He thought this headless demon would be tough, but it was so weak it broke in a single hit.
"So strong!"
The conscious Demon Slayers behind him stared with wide eyes. The sight of someone tearing apart a giant demon puppet with their bare hands was utterly shocking.
"Now, let's see where your real body is hiding."
Realizing the headless giant was just a hollow threat, Goku closed his eyes and began to search for the true demon's ki.
"Found you!"
His eyes snapped open. After giving Mita a quick heads-up, his figure blurred and he vanished from the spot.
"Mita-senpai... who is he?"
Seeing Goku vanish into thin air, the slayers were stunned again. It took a long moment before Murata, who was closest to Mita, asked curiously.
Mita put his hands behind his back and puffed out his chest. "He might be the future's strongest Hashira of our Demon Slayer Corps!"
...
Atop a massive boulder not far away, the female demon watched as her puppets were wiped out and her strongest creation was easily destroyed. A look of total despair washed over her face.
"It's all Rui's fault... it's because he came to scare me that I got so flustered."
Failing the mission Rui gave her meant she could only imagine the punishment awaiting her. She would likely be hung up and left to burn to death in the sun.
"Hey, lady. You're the one who was controlling the puppets just now, right?"
Goku's voice suddenly rang out from behind her. The demon's body jolted, and she spun around frantically.
"It's over. I'm going to die."
Seeing that Goku had found her, the demon knew it was the end. Her own combat ability was not high; her strength relied entirely on her Blood Demon Art to manipulate puppets. Since this boy could kill her strongest puppet in one hit, he could naturally kill her with ease.
"Looks like it's you. Let's have a match."
Goku dropped into a fighting stance. But the demon had no will left to fight. She lowered her hands and murmured, "Just kill me. Death would be a relief. I could finally be at peace."
Seeing her waiting for death, Goku was momentarily stumped. If she had fought back, he would have killed her without hesitation—after all, many slayers had died at her hands. But if she wouldn't fight, things were complicated. A martial artist shouldn't kill someone who has surrendered.
Dashing in front of her, Goku placed a hand on the demon's head and stared into her eyes. He began to cast Legilimency. He wanted to see her memories.
With his current level of Legilimency, he shouldn't have been able to read someone's deep memories, but since she offered zero resistance, it was a different story.
"This is terrible!"
A moment later, Goku withdrew his hand, looking very angry.
The demon had once been an ordinary girl from a normal family who married a husband who loved her dearly. She could have had children and lived a happy life, but she unfortunately encountered Muzan Kibutsuji. Muzan turned her into a demon.
After turning, she lost most of her human memories. Out of instinct, she killed and ate her husband and everyone in her village. Later, hunted by the Demon Slayer Corps, she fled to Mount Natagumo, became Rui's "mother," and began a miserable life under his control.
"I'll let the Demon Slayer Corps deal with you."
Goku pointed at her and cast a Stunning Spell, knocking her unconscious. She was pitiable, but her personality had become twisted and monstrous after turning, and she had indeed killed and eaten many innocent people—especially the brutal way she killed the slayers. Goku felt it was most appropriate to let the Corps handle her.
"Now, let's see just how strong Lower Rank Five is."
Teleporting back to Mita's side, Goku handed the demon over.
"This is the demon who was pulling the strings. I'll leave her to you. I'm going to the mountaintop; there's a Lower Rank Five demon there."
"Lower Rank Five?!"
Hearing Goku's words, cold sweat broke out on the foreheads of Mita and the others. Although they had suspected it, they didn't expect one of the Twelve Kizuki to actually be on this mountain.
"Goku, don't be impulsive! A member of the Twelve Kizuki isn't something we can handle! We should wait here; a Hashira should be arriving for support soon!"
Seeing Goku intended to solo a Lower Moon demon, Mita immediately stepped forward to stop him. Goku was indeed strong and had many strange abilities, but Mita felt he was still a long way off from a true Hashira—and thus no match for the Twelve Kizuki. With an incident this big at Mount Natagumo, he believed headquarters would definitely send a Hashira.
"You guys stay here and recover. I'll be back soon."
Goku waved them off, and his figure blurred as he charged toward the summit.
Mita grit his teeth and turned to the remaining combat-ready slayers. "All Mizunoto stay and tend to the wounded. The rest of you, follow me to the top to support him!"
He looked down at the unconscious demon, drew his blade, and with the boost of his breathing, chopped her head off without hesitation.
...
Meanwhile, running at full speed, Goku quickly crossed the distance to the summit and arrived in front of a house.
A fierce battle was taking place. Three boys and a girl were fighting against two demons—one tall and one short—while another demon stood nearby, casually watching the fight.
Through the memories of the female demon, Goku knew that the one watching leisurely was the Lower Rank Five, Rui. The two fighting were the "father" and "older sister" of the "family."
***
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