Chapter 257: Surrounded
The southern sea wind carried a briny, foul stench.
Obanai stopped dead and raised a hand to halt the two people at his side.
"There’s noise..."
He listened carefully with his one good ear; carried on the breeze came intermittent screams and the sound of something dragging across the ground.
"To the west."
He turned in that direction as Kaburamaru hissed at his neck.
In an instant, Rengoku shot off. He crossed the fields and tore through the brush like a blaze.
But faster than his advance was the scorching light of his blade.
Ahead of him, a Demon was lifting a child off the ground.
Without noticing his presence, Rengoku delivered a clean cut the moment he came within range.
The demon’s arm came off at the elbow, leaving a mark scorched by the heat.
Rengoku extended his left hand and shielded the child against his chest.
The one-armed demon looked at its elbow and let out a shrill shriek.
At once, another demon sprang out of nowhere, hurling itself at Rengoku.
Feeling the wind at his back, Rengoku shielded the child, spun, and blocked the claws with his blade, sending sparks flying.
But the Demon’s hand didn’t yield!
The demon’s claws pressed firmly against the blade with incredible force, pushing it back.
Rengoku frowned.
At the same time, behind him, the first demon’s shriek returned, aiming for his back.
And just as he inhaled deeply, preparing to use his Breathing Technique...
Swish Swish
Two flashes burst in from the side.
One came down with monumental weight and the other traced an undulating path, decapitating both demons in an instant.
Rengoku looked down at the child in his arms.
Still alive, just unconscious.
He crouched, set the child on the ground, and propped him against the root of a tree.
"Their strength and recovery are nothing compared to an Upper Rank’s," he murmured as he stood. "But they’re stronger than average. Be careful."
Obanai studied the route toward the village, his face tense beneath the bandages. "Not only that... a lot more noise is coming from the town."
Tengen shook the blood off his blades. "He’s mass-producing demons by force."
Rengoku gripped the hilt of his katana harder. "Let’s rescue the people first."
They advanced at full speed.
After cresting a hill, the village appeared before their eyes, engulfed in flames.
The chaos was total: harrowing screams, people on the ground, and the ferocious laughter of demons.
But there was no blood.
The goal wasn’t to devour—it was to capture!
Rengoku threw himself forward. With one cut he severed the head of a demon stalking a person and, without slowing, sliced off the claws of another trying to capture a little girl.
Tengen covered the right flank, spinning his blades to cut the demons to pieces.
Obanai prowled the outer perimeter; though he couldn’t see, his blade always struck from incredible angles, precisely slicing through the demons’ necks.
"Their bodies are really tough! We have to use full force!"
"Then use all of it! Don’t let them take anyone!"
"Understood!"
Killing demons was never the hardest part.
The hard part was saving the people!
They had to wrench people from the demons’ claws, shield the wounded, and rescue those trapped under the rubble...
These tasks took more time than killing demons, drained more stamina, and cost far more lives.
Cutting off a demon’s head, Rengoku turned to catch an old woman fleeing the fire and carried her out of the village.
A swipe tore open his left arm, drawing blood, but he didn’t even bother to look.
Tengen, carrying a child while swinging a blade, took a bite to the shoulder from a rooftop.
Twisting backward, he slammed the demon’s head into the ground and pulled his blade free amid a spray of black blood, feeling his own run down his shoulder.
Obanai was in worse shape.
Practically blind and guided by hearing alone, the chaos of his surroundings exposed his disadvantage.
Even with Kaburamaru signaling the movements, the pitted terrain and the scattered debris proved more of a nuisance than the demons themselves.
Unable to rescue people smoothly, he devoted himself to drawing the demons’ attention to relieve his companions.
He took a bite to the back and a swipe to the chest that traced several marks from his ribs to his waist, but he didn’t let out a single groan.
Ten minutes later, they managed to evacuate the survivors.
Those who could walk moved off, leaning on one another; the rest they left sheltered in the fields.
That was when they could no longer fall back.
Figures sprang up from every direction, cornering them in an open space in the center of the town.
Deformed demons with rabid glares watched them like beasts lying in wait.
Rengoku surveyed the surroundings. "At least thirty or forty more."
Tengen positioned himself to his right, black blood dripping from his blades. "If it were one or two, I could kill them with flair. If it were three or four, I could kill them slowly."
"But thirty or forty of these... that changes things."
Obanai, on the left, turned his face, aiming his ear toward the densest group. "It’s the first time demons have cornered me... They’ve got resilient physiques like an Upper Rank, but they have no intelligence, let alone a Blood Demon Art."
"This is all the work of that freak Muzan!!"
Rengoku raised his blade, stoking the flames even higher. "We have to finish them off even if it costs us our lives. If they escape, more people will die!"
Tengen crossed his blades. "Relax. Not one of them is going to escape."
Obanai tightened his grip in approval.
The next second, the three of them threw themselves at the demons, the fire lighting their faces without a single trace of hesitation.
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