On a low mountain, the entire hill was wrapped in a sea of purple blossoms. The plant known as wisteria bloomed here in abundance all year round.
Its violet petals swayed gently in the breeze, like purple flames flickering in the wind.
A faint floral fragrance hung in the air—the unique scent of wisteria.
"What a disgusting smell."
A cold voice rang out across the clearing before the shrine.
Then, with a creak—
A gate in the ground opened, and a figure stepped out from below.
The owner of that figure wore clothing from a far older era. His black-purple hair was tied into a high ponytail, and he wore a purple kimono patterned like serpent scales, with a black hakama draped at his waist.
The man swept his gaze indifferently across his surroundings. His right hand rested on a long blade covered in strange patterns as he strode past the torii gate with steady steps and headed toward the depths of the forest beyond, completely unaffected by the wisteria blooming around the outer edge.
"Kokushibo… did you truly wipe them all out back then? Why… why has a swordsman using that Breathing Style appeared again?!"
Recalling the anxious, restless state Muzan Kibutsuji had been in when he came to him earlier, a vicious expression surfaced in Kokushibo's six eyes.
Even though Muzan hadn't said it outright, merely hearing of that Breathing Style had told him everything.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni… when will your influence finally disappear from this world?!
How pitiful, elder brother…
The veins on his right hand bulged as words from four hundred years ago seemed to ring in his ears once more.
Gripping his sword tightly, Kokushibo's six trembling eyes looked as though they might tear apart at any moment, while the flame-like marks on his forehead and neck seemed to burn even brighter.
I surpassed you long ago, Yoriichi Tsugikuni!
Side Mission: Lord of Mount Fujikasane (3/3)
Objective: Kill one hundred demons (50/100)
Reward: 300 Dream Points
After killing the Hand Demon together with Tanjiro Kamado and Zenitsu Agatsuma, Paradise had kindly credited the kill to Mo Wu.
But could this so-called Infinite Paradise really be that generous?
If you ask me, it was definitely the finishing strike from Sun Breathing that burned it to death.
Silently cursing that damned Paradise in his heart, Mo Wu shoved the matter aside and focused on what truly mattered.
"Demons exterminated!"
"Fifty demons slain. Condition achieved."
"Milestone unlocking…"
"Ding."
"O destroyer of demons…"
"Miracle granted: state reset, strength increased, speed increased, stamina increased."
"Miracle granted: Nichirin Blade Enhancement +1."
"Miracle granted: Demon Sense Lv3."
"Continue onward toward the next milestone on the path of Great Feats."
Feeling explosive power surging through every inch of his body, Mo Wu clenched his fist and threw a punch into empty air.
The air burst with a sharp crack, startling Zenitsu so badly that he nearly jumped out of his skin, completely baffled as to what big bro had suddenly done.
Ignoring the dumbfounded pair behind him, Mo Wu quietly measured the increase in his strength.
His muscles hadn't swollen or grown any larger, but his raw power had clearly improved—by at least fifty percent compared to just moments ago.
"What a ridiculous power."
Though he couldn't help marveling at his talent, Mo Wu didn't feel all that happy.
His physical abilities had improved greatly, yes.
But what he lacked now were skills.
Sun Breathing was indeed extremely versatile, but the many Breathing Styles derived from it each possessed their own unique strengths.
For example—
Mo Wu glanced back at Zenitsu, who was scratching the back of his head while basking in the admiring look in Tanjiro's eyes, looking so smug that Mo Wu's mouth twitched.
Thunder Breathing, for instance, held an absolutely overwhelming speed advantage.
In Mo Wu's opinion, that strike of Zenitsu's—Focus on One Thing, Reach the Pinnacle—even he wasn't sure he could receive it without injury.
And besides…
If Zenitsu hadn't suddenly switched into combat mode back there, then if Mo Wu had been even a moment slower, Tanjiro alone might not have been able to stop the Hand Demon—covered in red mist and fighting to the death—long enough for him to catch up from behind.
That said, there had been one piece of good luck.
The level of Demon Sense had risen again.
Mo Wu twitched his nose slightly, took one step, and vanished from Tanjiro and Zenitsu's sight.
Then, under the awestruck gazes of the two boys as though they were looking at a god, he reappeared.
His Nichirin Blade was now stained with blood, steam rising from it in waves.
"Took a moment to save someone."
Under the shocked looks of the two younger boys, Mo Wu casually explained his disappearance, then slid the Nichirin Blade back into its sheath.
Now, his ability to sense demons had expanded to a radius of fifty meters. Within that range, Mo Wu could clearly pinpoint their location. And if the stench was especially thick and nauseating, he could even track them from hundreds of meters away.
End Countdown: 3:15:09
The sky was still pitch black.
Even though he couldn't tell the exact time, looking at the nearly finished main mission countdown did not reassure Mo Wu.
Instead, it made him feel irritated.
Side Mission: Lord of Mount Fujikasane (3/3)
Objective: Kill one hundred demons (51/100)
Reward: 300 Dream Points
That still leaves forty-nine demons.
Where the hell am I supposed to find them?
Although he still didn't know exactly what Dream Points were used for, those 300 points matched the reward for the main mission itself.
And he strongly suspected that the miracle earned after killing one hundred demons would be extraordinary.
He was no longer the same person he had been fifteen hours ago.
By now, he understood his talent very clearly.
Though it was described as creating a Great Feat, it was actually more like a system of unlocking achievements to gain rewards.
But achievements were things that already existed, merely waiting to be unlocked.
His talent, on the other hand, seemed closer to him molding an achievement into existence with his own hands.
As long as he completed one milestone after another on the road of Great Feats, miracles would be bestowed upon him.
And most importantly—
His talent seemed to judge actions, not intentions.
After all, when Mo Wu first started wildly swinging his blade, his mindset had been one of despair and reckless abandon.
Yet when the milestone unlocked, the talent combined that action with the life-threatening situation he was in and judged it as calm in the face of danger, disciplined training.
Thus, the miracle granted him combat power and skills.
The talent called Great Feat seemed to care more about what Mo Wu did…
Than what he thought in his heart.
Frowning, Mo Wu felt a moment of confusion.
Was that a good thing…
Or a bad one?
His left hand tightened slightly around the scabbard at his waist. Mo Wu drew his blade and, under the amazed eyes of Tanjiro and Zenitsu, cut down another demon that had been spying on the three of them.
Still, one thing he knew for certain—
Without this talent, he would have died to that first demon long ago.
And besides…
He had a faint intuition that once all the milestones were unlocked, once he truly completed his Great Feat, he would obtain something special.
"Phew…"
Mo Wu wiped at sweat that wasn't there. He was just about to ask Tanjiro about the proper use of the nose—to summarize the key points in distinguishing demons from humans by scent—
When suddenly, his entire body jerked.
An overwhelming pressure, vast and formless, made goosebumps erupt across every inch of his skin. Adrenaline flooded his veins.
Half-crouching, he clutched at his chest as though his heart were about to split apart, trying desperately to suppress the overreaction of his senses.
His brain was still trembling, seemingly unable to process the torrent of information being fed back to it. His body went stiff, and only a few words repeated over and over in his mind.
Strong.
Ridiculously strong.
Invincibly strong.
Ten Hand Demons? No—this was a monster ten thousand times stronger than the Hand Demon!
"How could something like this appear in the Final Selection?!"
Though he couldn't smell even the faintest trace of it, every one of his sharpened senses screamed the same message:
To the west, an unimaginably powerful demon had descended upon Mount Fujikasane.
And it was coming straight toward them.
Every cell in his body screamed only two words—
Run.
"Big bro!"
"Brother Mo Wu!"
Zenitsu and Tanjiro were not blind. Naturally, they noticed immediately that something was wrong with Mo Wu.
They could hardly imagine what kind of existence could reduce someone as powerful as Mo Wu—someone who had seemed like a god among men just moments ago—to such a state.
The two rushed over and supported him, draping his stiff arms over their shoulders and slowly helping him move forward while also sparing part of their attention to stay alert to the surroundings.