"——Damn it!!"
Kihara Junpei swore as he backstepped against a massive figure looming in front of him.
——A massive one-eyed demon was baring its fangs, towering over two meters with its bulky body.
"So.... unlucky.....!!"
He growled as he retreated while readying his Nichirin blade with his right arm, pulling the weight of an unconscious youth with his left arm.
"——to encounter a long-time survivor from the first night....!"
Demons held in captivity inside Mt. Fujikasane were mostly weak and unintelligent, or so Junpei had been told by his Trainer, a retired Corps member and a user of Stone Breathing. This was because most demons would be slain by the participants on every occasion the Final Selection was held, and the surviving demons would hunt each other in a desperate attempt in their state of extreme hunger.
—but on extremely rare cases, some demons could survive multiple years of Final Selection. Such entities gained power and experience by preying on the human participants... thus getting stronger and stronger, becoming more and more difficult to slay every year.
The demon in front of Junpei clearly was a long-time surviver. Along with its massive body, the demon owned a strong combat capability — it was experienced in a battle against human swordsmen.
The Breathing Forms released by Junpei had been blocked skilfully by this demon, despite its massive body suggesting slow movements.
"——Taishi, wake up... damn it...!!"
Junpei shouted at the unconscious boy he was pulling — Sugino Taishi, a black-haired youth with a buzz cut, a boy who had trained with Junpei under the same Trainer. The two of them had joined the Final Selection together...
...only to encounter this monster right away on the first night.
They had immediately engaged the demon, but in the first few minutes, Taishi unluckily received the demon's punch head on. He was thrown into a nearby tree, and having hit his head, lost consciousness.
Now, blood tickled down from his head as he slouched in Junpei's grip.
With its mouth lifted into a wide grin, the demon pulled its right arm back — its muscles bulked up at the same time. It was the same readying motion of the deadly punch that knocked Taishi out.
——Here it comes....!!
".......sorry!"
Junpei growled as he pulled Taishi's clothes and threw his unconscious body to the side. He himself immediately brandished his sword into a readying motion.
The demon's fist flew towards Junpei.
——Stone Breathing, first form!!
——Reverse Landfall!!
A steady and powerful uppercut swing, which utilised the strength and balance of the user's leg muscles.
—Stone Breathing was a rare style which was developed for multiple types of weapons; the current Stone Hashira used a unique weapon, a flail and axe connected by chains. The Breathing Form used by Junpei was a particular style of the Stone branch, developed for a sword user.
Junpei aimed the sword, and timed his technique against the demon's fist right as it approached his body. The blade collided into the demon's fist from below and knocked it up, changing the trajectory of the demon's punch....
The punch passed next to Junpei's face, nearly missing its target.
He eyed the bulky arm that had stopped right next to his head, while sweat formed on his forehead.
He gulped down; if the trajectory of the demon's punch had shifted even a few centimetres to the side, his head would've been cracked open.
Quickly, Junpei leapt back to create a distance between himself and the enemy. But before he could do so entirely, the demon swung its arm outward, chasing after Junpei.
"——ugh...!!"
Junpei just nearly arched his upper body backwards, closely avoiding the demon's swing.
Now the demon's body was wide open — Junpei kicked the ground and charged in, brandishing his sword.
——Stone Breathing, third form!
——Rock Carving Slash—!!
Two consecutive powerful swings, forming two slashes of the shape 'x'.
The demon quickly guarded its neck with the other arm, blocking Junpei's attack — it had anticipated that his attack would be aimed towards its neck.
Junpei gritted his teeth.
—It happened again....!!
He retreated right away before the demon could counter him with another punch. He stepped back a few meters while the demon stood in place.
—This one knows how Demon Slayers fight...!!
He thought as he panted heavily; fatigue was building up in his body as a consequence of releasing two consecutive Breathing Forms in such a short time.
"......though."
Junpei muttered as he looked at the demon — its left arm that had taken Junpei's sword attack was cut open in an 'x' shape, while the flesh wriggled around the wound as a result of its healing factor. The demon bared its teeth annoyedly at Junpei.
——That doesn't mean it's invincible.... My attacks are working; I can damage it!!
Junpei's mouth formed into a weak smile in between his heavy breathing.
——I can fight...!!
"——ah?"
Junpei frowned as he saw the demon's single eye narrow away from Junpei, staring at something else.
—He was too caught-up in his thoughts that he realised his mistake too late.
The demon was looking at the unconscious youth on the ground, Taishi, who laid a few meters away from it.
And because Junpei had retreated too far, Taishi's body was closer to the demon than he was.
The demon's mouth widened into a massive, sadistic grin.
It reached at the unconscious boy with its large arm, grabbed him by the head, and lifted his body into the air.
Blood soared into Junpei's head.
"————I won't let you!!!"
He rushed forward with his sword, his expression twisted in anger.
——Stone Breathing, third form.
——Rock Carving Slash..........
CLANG——!!
The demon had swung its arm violently, its fist colliding into Junpei's sword right as he was about to release the same Breathing Form from earlier.
The impact knocked his Nichirin sword out of his grip, sending it spinning into the air. Its blade sunk into the bark of a faraway tree.
Junpei widened his eyes in shock.
"———wha———"
The demon swung back its arm and grabbed Junpei's body with its massive fingers.
"Aaghhh!!"
Junpei growled in pain as the demon's grip tightened around his body, squeezing his arms together with his torso. He felt his body levitate as the demon lifted Junpei's body into the air, all the while its sadistic grin was printed on its one-eyed face.
Junpei saw at the corner of his vision that the demon had released its grip on Taishi, dropping him onto the ground. It seemed to be prioritising on finishing off Junpei before dealing with an already-unconscious enemy.
——Through and through, this demon is intelligent....
Tears of frustration started to blot Junpei's vision as he looked at Taishi's unconscious face.
——Damn it...... I'm so sorry, Taishi..... because I was weak........
The demon opened its mouth wide, and lifted Junpei over it so that he was on top of its open mouth.
The grip around Junpei's body started to strengthen — the demon was starting to crush the boy's body so that he couldn't resist further while it was about to swallow him whole.
As a massive force pressured on his entire body, Junpei resisted with all his might.... but there was nothing he could do to escape the demon's grip. Little by little, his body started to make creaking sounds.
He gritted his teeth, tasting blood.
"————damn..... it.....!!"
That was when out of nowhere — four consecutive vertical slashes sliced the demon's massive arm into pieces.
——Wind Breathing, second form.
——Claw - Purifying Wind.
A figure of a person leapt into Junpei's view just as the pressure around Junpei released. He and the fist holding his body dropped to the ground with a loud thud.
Junpei escaped from the large fingers, gasping for air.
"......who........."
As he looked up, he saw that a girl was standing between him and the massive demon, her back facing him. In her hand was a Nichirin blade coloured emerald green.
She had an amber-grey hair tied into a short ponytail behind her head with a black ribbon. As she turned around slightly, her sharp eyes with grey pupils met Junpei's eyes.
Upon checking that he was okay, the girl nodded reassuringly at Junpei.
The demon who had its right arm sliced off roared in pain, staggering back from the girl. It bared its fangs in a hostile manner, but its one-eyed face had an expression of fear against the swordswoman who had sliced off its arm with a single technique.
The girl turned around from Junpei in order to face the demon. She brandished her green katana, then charged at the monster.
"———gaaah!!!"
With a cry, the demon swung its remaining left arm at the girl — Junpei's earlier attacks seemed to have healed already. The arm swung down at the girl... but she nimbly leapt into the air, avoiding the attack.
Mid-air, right above the demon's head, she twisted her body and swung her katana.
——Wind Breathing, fifth form.
——Tree-Withering Mountain Gusts!!
The girl released several circular arches of slashes from above the demon, slicing its flesh all around on its upper body. The demon howled in pain and swung its left arm aimlessly above it, but the girl was already out of reach, landing on the ground behind the demon.
"———huh."
The girl released a short, impressed exclamation — she saw that the demon had guarded its nape with its remaining right arm, even when it had been severed from the elbow down.
"You guarded your neck? That is impressive." She said amusedly, yet in a polite manner. "But you cannot prioritise healing your arm now, with all those wounds I have inflicted on you."
"———gaaaaah....!!"
The demon gritted its teeth frustratedly.... then charged forward. But it didn't rush towards the direction of the girl.
"———watch out!!!"
Junpei cried; the demon was once again aiming its fist at the unconscious boy on the ground, Taishi, attempting to take him hostage.
"————I thought you would do that."
The girl raised her sword above her shoulder, then bent her body low.
——Wind Breathing, first form.
——Dust Whirlwind.....
She kicked the ground, and at the same time, her body shot forward like a bullet. She then spun her body while swinging her katana along.
——.....Slice!!
It was as if a miniature horizontal cyclone had formed, shooting forward while slicing off the surface of the ground.
Just as the demon was reaching its remaining left arm towards the unconscious boy, the cyclone passed through its flesh and severed the arm cleanly off.
Junpei widened his eyes in shock, while the demon could do nothing but stagger back, having lost both of its arms.
——She's.... so strong....!!
The girl's prowess was incomparable from Junpei's.... she was perhaps even stronger than he and Taishi's trainer.
The girl came to a stop, then immediately leapt at the demon — without using a Breathing Form, she swung her katana and sliced off the demon's neck before it could counterattack any further.
She landed a few meters away, flung her katana, and splattered the blood on the blade to the ground.
——Just like that, their fight was over.
***
The girl ——Kogarashi Nagisa —— eyed the two boys in the area, one conscious, the other unconscious. She checked that there were no immediate life-threatening dangers to the two, and exhaled deeply in a long sigh.
She sheathed her katana, straightened her body, and looked up into the night sky visible from in between the leaves.
".......Shinazugawa-sama. In no time, I will......."
Nagisa paused her words, and shook her head.
——No, stay focused on the mission. You must protect those two to safety until morning.
She turned around and walked towards the two boys — the boy who had been fighting was now released from the demon's fist as its flesh had disintegrated into ash. He had made his way to his unconscious partner, and was tending his wounds.
As Nagisa approached the two, he looked back at her.
"———My greetings."
Nagisa smiled kindly down at him.
"Are you alright?"
*****
——Somewhere else within Mt. Fujikasane.
"————Gyaaaaaaaahhh!!!"
A high-pitched scream of a boy was echoing between the trees.
"———Help meeeee!!!"
A yellow haired youth in a bright haori of the same colour as his hair was dashing frantically between the trees. Tears formed on his eyes as he screamed in utter terror.
Above him running through the forest, a shadow was rapidly leaping from side-to-side in between the tree barks. A mid-sized demon with slightly long arms and legs was jumping from branch to branch, chasing after the yellow-haired boy.
"————gyahahah—!!"
The demon released a high-pitched laugh as it continued its chase, using its elongated sharp claws to get hold on the surfaces of the tree barks.
—Usually for demons inside Mt. Fujikasane, whenever they preyed on humans, they had to face a constant fear of getting counterattacked by the Demon Slayer trainees participating in the Final Selection. It wasn't easy hunting for food against such preys.
But this yellow-haired kid was not fighting back at all. This fact was extremely fortunate for the demon — it couldn't help but laugh at his lack.
However, as time passed, it started to get annoyed at the boy running away.
——Damn it, this kid is as quick as a rabbit.....!!
The demon thought as it leapt between the trees, then narrowed its eyes unsurely.
——Although this kid.... he's accurately running away from me without even seeing me. What's the trick?
——Besides... from the way he avoids the obstacles in his way to his running speed ... this kid is actually well-trained and battle-experienced in nature, isn't he....??
The demon found it strange that a well-trained swordsman like that was screaming and running away frantically like this.... but it shook its head, stopping its thoughts.
——Agh, it's no use thinking!! I'm starving.... I can't wait any longer——!!
The demon leapt into the air by kicking powerfully against one of the trees. It shot at where the yellow-haired boy was running towards, landing right in front of him.
"———iiiiiyaaaaaahhhhh!!!!"
The boy jumped back in pure surprise, releasing a bizarre sound. He saw the demon bare its fangs, and further trembled in fear.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no.... it's so scary.... there's no way no way no way I can survive....."
"What're ya mumbling about!?"
The demon laughed, raising its arms and claws in a provoking manner.
"How 'bout I carve you up with these? Gyahaha!!"
"Awawahwahwahwah...."
The boy's expression twisted into utter panic ——— his eyes widened until his eyeballs were about to fall from their sockets....
"———————ah."
With a soft, dumb cry, his eyes rolled back. Along with it, strength escaped from his body and he collapsed backwards onto the ground.
With a soft thud, he fell to the forest floor, having lost consciousness.
".................." The demon stared in confusion for a while at the boy unconscious on the ground.
——He.... passed out....?
"....whatever." The demon laughed. "Lucky for me, here's my meal......!!"
The demon stepped forward towards the unconscious boy. It blinked.... then it fell onto the ground from its chin.
A large impact shook the demon's head as it collided its face onto the dirt.
"Ah!? What ha————"
Its vision had turned upside down.... and for some reason, it saw its own body further away than it should usually be, below its head.
A yellow silhouette was standing behind the demon's body.... which, when looked at closely, didn't have a head.
The demon finally realised its head had been sliced off from its body, and now both its head and body were starting to disintegrate.
"———wait...!!! Please, wa–———"
Its words were cut short as the demon's head disappeared completely.
The yellow haired boy —— Agatsuma Zenitsu —— pushed his katana deep into his sheathe, releasing a 'clink' sound.
He realigned his post iai-stance, and breathed out with a hiss.
——Thunder Breathing, first form.
——Thunderclap and Flash.
With his eyes still closed, Zenitsu starting dashing through the forest in silence.
* * *
"Damn it...... what the hell is that thing!!??"
A female demon was running through the trees, turning around behind it from time to time in a scared manner. It seemed to be running away from something.
"Is that a Demon Slayer trainee!? I've never seen anything like that!!"
The demon dashed through the forest — until it came out into an open field. On the other side of the field, a male demon was standing — the two met eyes with one another.
The male demon growled annoyedly.
"——What the hell are you doing here!? This is my turf!!"
"That's not it!!" The female one cried. "Something crazy is chasing me!!"
"Aah?" It frowned confusedly in response. "What's....."
"It's.... a boar!!" The female demon managed to let out.
"A boar? What're you so afraid of then?"
"No, that's not it.... it's not an actual boar, but....."
Cutting the female demon's desperate words, a deep-pitched shout echoed from between the trees.
"————Cooooomin' through—!!!"
Something leapt out of the trees, a few meters above in the air.
—It was a half-naked man wearing only a pair of dirty ragged pants and pair of bamboo sandals. Its naked upper body was ripped for a human male, suggesting the man's prowess as a warrior. In its hands were two Nichirin katanas with chipped blades.
And above all, on its head..... the man wore a large mask, made our of a real boar hide, which was hand-weaved into a headgear for a human to wear.
Despite its peculiar and funny appearance, the man was giving off a strange, menacing aura.
It landed onto the ground in the open field, in front of the two demons. They in response readied their claws in battle.
"Oooh?"
The boar-head man cocked his head at the sight of the two demons. He pointed a finger towards the demons with his hand holding a katana.
"——red eyes, sharp fangs and claws, horns and spikes on its body...... Hahaha!!"
He brandished his dual chipped blades and laughed.
"I've seen one for the first time, but.... you must be what those guys called "man-eating demons", huh!!??"
——This guy is attending the Demon Slayers' Final Selection... but has never seen one of us before??
The demons, confused, thought.
"Hahahahahaha!!"
The boar-headed man laughed hysterically as it readied its swords in a battle stance.
"The very first battle for the great Hashibira Inosuke...... Here I go——— Comin' through!!!"
* * *
——In another block of the mountain, another boy was battling three demons at once.
With a messy lump of black hair left on top of his head in a mohawk-like hairstyle, slanted eyes shaping his face into a permanent frown, and a massive scar below his right eye....the boy had a very unique appearance that couldn't easily be forgotten.
He utilised his right hand holding his metallic Nichirin blade, and his left hand shaped into a fist, in order to fight back against three human-shaped demons.
He was standing his ground fairly well against three opponents, but was failing to take an upper hand. He seemed to be tired and out of breath, while the three demons surrounded the boy, keeping their distance away from the blade's reach. They laughed at him in a provoking manner.
"Ahaha!! ——where's your Demon Slayer swordsmanship, huh!?"
"You can't kill us just by swinging your blade all around the place!!"
"You're really weak, you know that, brat!!"
The boy gritted his teeth as he brandished his blade.
"............I know that already, damn it."
He kicks against the ground, jumps in at the demon in front of him, and releases a downcut. His swordsmanship isn't exactly at a low level — but it wasn't nowhere as quick to surpass the superhuman reflexes of demons.
The demon leaned back and easily avoided the swing.
Meanwhile, the two other demons leapt at the boy from behind, and grabbed his shoulders.
"——Agh!!"
He grunted and immediately resisted — his power was already extremely strong in human standards. Even with their demonified bodies granting them superhuman strength, the two demons had to hold down with quite an effort to hold the boy in place.
They pushed down on his back while keeping their iron grips, and the boy, unable to bear the power of the two demons, took one knee onto the ground.
The third demon stepped in front of the boy, kneeling down to meet his eye-level.
"Damned Demon Slayers."
The demon growled into the boy's face from a close distance, while wearing a sadistic smile. It punched the boy's face from the side, making his head jolt violently.
"You captured us in this cursed prison.... things won't always go your way."
"Shut up and kill off this brat!!" One of the demons holding the boy in place shouted.
"....I know!!" The third demon answered annoyedly. "You better hold him down properly!!"
"Agh!? Who are you to order—!!?"
As the three demons started arguing, the boy spat blood down at the ground, then muttered under his breath.
"——I didn't want to use this as much as possible, but........"
——There's no way around it, damn it.
The boy took a deep breath... then arched his neck, bared his teeth wide, and bit into one of the demon's arms holding down on his shoulders.
Demon blood soaked into the boy's mouth as he closed his jaws powerfully into the demon's flesh. It tasted terrible.... but he swallowed down.
"——Ack!!??"
The demon who had its arm bitten by the boy released him in surprise. It retreated back, staring in shock at its wound.
"Have he gone mad!?" The other demon cried, taking a step back from the boy as well.
The boy turned around —— revealing veins visibly popping up around his face, his eyes getting bloodshot. He bared his fangs like a wild animal, releasing a low growl from his throat.
He leapt at another demon close to him, grabbed the side of its head and bit into its neck, sinking his canine teeth into its flesh.
"Gaah!!?"
The demon surprisedly released a cry, and immediately swung its claws at the boy, scratching the left side of his face deeply. With blood spraying from his face, the boy staggered back, releasing his teeth from the demon's neck.
The demon held the bite wound on its neck, and cried in disbelief.
"You..... a human....ate.... a demon...!!??"
"———Shut up."
The boy straightened his body and revealed his face once again —— the scratch along his left eye down to his left cheek was quickly closing up.
He wiped his mouth coated with demon flesh and blood, then readied his katana and fist — veins were popping up all around his skin, and at the same time, his muscles were visibly inflating.
He —— Shinazugawa Genya —— glared at the demons around him, piercing them with his blood-red eyes.
"——Come at me, you pieces of trash."
***
A girl was walking alone in the forest.
Her straight black hair was neatly tied into a ponytail on the right side of her head with a fancy butterfly-shaped ornament. with gentle lilac-coloured eyes, her beautiful face was fixed into a neat, unchanging smile.
With her pretty pink-purple kimono and neatly styled hairstyle, nobody would be able to guess that she was a warrior who trained to become a Demon Slayer... if not for the katana attached onto her waist.
Multiple demons moved within the forest, surrounding the girl from a few meter distance away, quietly moving as not to let their presence get noticed by her.
She was a young girl, and a beautiful one at that. To add on, she didn't seem to be paying attention to her surroundings at all.
——For the demons in Mt. Fujikasane, a girl like her would be their primal targets under normal circumstances.
Yet, no demons made their move to attack the girl.
A group of five demons scurried together — they were a pack that hunted together in the forest, consisting of demons that had survived three to four years of life trapped within Mt. Fujikasane.
Unlike newly added demons, they knew better than to attack blindly at Demon Slayer trainees, learning from their experience to prioritise logic over hunger.
"..........that one is trouble."
"Yeah... it's a shame.... but she's probably luring demons like that."
The pack of demons had seen what the girl was capable of when a couple of unexperienced demons leapt at the girl a few minutes ago.
She had drawn her pink-coloured katana with a flower-shaped hilt —— then, in the next second, she had neutralised all of the attacking demons with a single technique.
——A monster.
The girl was perhaps as strong as the Hashira or the other high-levelled members of the Corps that had captured and carried the demons to Mt. Fujikasane.
A sweet aroma was floating from the girl — a scent that enhanced the demons' hunger and made her look even more tasty. This had attracted many demons present in the area, since demons all had keen sense of smell as predators.
The pack of demons could tell, however, that the aroma was in actuality a trap in order to allure demons to her.
"Damn, she looked tasty, but... we've got to give up."
One of the demons growled. "......Let's go hunt other participants."
"———I can't have that."
A gentle voice called from behind the pack of demons. Shocked, they all turned to the source of the voice — where the girl from earlier was standing with her katana drawn, her emotionless smile printed on her face.
"——when'd you......."
One of the demons cried out, but before it could finish its sentence, the girl was already moving forward.
——Flower Breathing, second form.
——Great Shadow Plum.
A flurry of curved slashes were released in all directions at once —— before the demons could retreat or counterattack, the slashes severed their bodies into pieces... and while doing so, had accurately sliced all of their heads off.
The demons, falling onto the ground in pieces, disintegrated onto the ground without releasing any more words.
"............."
The girl —— Tsuyuri Kanao —— stared in silence at the ground as the demons crumbled away into thin air.
With her unwavering smile, the girl turned around, and continued on her way as if restarting a stroll through a park.
* * *
The grey-haired girl, Kogarashi Nagisa, sheathed her sword as she watched the demon she had just slayed burn and crumble into ash.
——count five.
She thought — this was the fifth demon she had slayed that night.
——As I expected, the smell of blood seems to be attracting them to us.
Nagisa turned around, and called behind her.
"Are you alright, Kihara-sama?"
The boy who was standing behind her, Junpei, nodded in response. He was shouldering his unconscious partner, Taishi, on his back.
Junpei narrowed his eyes uncomfortably.
"....please don't call me so politely. Just 'Junpei' is fine."
Nagisa cocked her head.
"Ah... is that so. Then Junpei-sama, are you unhurt?"
"You don't need the 'sama' either..."
Junpei muttered under his breath, not audible enough for Nagisa to hear. He shook his head, and weakly smiled back at the girl.
"......yes, we're safe thanks to you. I'm sorry to put you through trouble, protecting us."
"No, this was an offer I myself put up. There's no need for you to apologise."
Nagisa returned a kind smile at him.
—The two of them continued their way through the mountain.
"Anyway, Junpei-sama, is your arm alright?"
Junpei gazed down at his body — he held Taishi's weight on his back with his right arm only, while his left arm hung powerlessly on his side.
When he put strength through it, intense pain shot up his shoulder. He gently shook his head.
"It seems my left arm was broken earlier.... when that demon grabbed me."
Nagisa frowned remorsefully in response.
"....I am sorry to hear that. Can you continue to carry your friend with just one arm?"
Junpei laughed weakly.
"Yeah... I've trained that much, at least. It might be shameless for me to say this... but I'm relying on you to fight the enemy."
Nagisa nodded firmly.
"Please leave that to me. I'll make sure you get through the Final Selection unharmed!!"
—For a while, they walked in silence.
".......Hey, Nagisa-san."
Junpei asked the girl after a while.
"Why are you going so far for our sake? We've never met before, right?"
Nagisa turned around, seeming mildly surprised — it was as if she never thought she'd be asked such a question. The girl seemed to ponder for a few seconds.
"...........perhaps."
She spoke after a while, forming a sad smile on her face.
"Perhaps, it's because that's what my mentor would've done."
"Your mentor?"
"....yes. My mentor is a honourable person who would risk his life for anybody needing help... he'd gladly sacrifice his body if it would save others from demons."
Nagisa said in a reminiscing tone.
"I admire my mentor's spirit, and aspire to become someone like him... someone who can protect other in need with everything they can offer."
Junpei stared at the grey-haired girl for a while, lost for words.
"————is that so."
He could only let out that much in a small voice.
——This girl.... she has such noble conviction and determination.
——Compared to her, I......
"Nagisa-san."
"Yes?"
"———thank you."
"Eh?"
Nagisa turned around and met eyes with Junpei, who had a sad smile on his face.
The boy eyed his partner slouched on his back, then returned a determined expression at the girl.
"I.... we will retire from the Final Selection tomorrow morning. We won't weigh you down any further."
Nagisa was about to say something, but pursed her lips.
"———is.... that so. Then please allow me to protect you until morning."
Junpei nodded in response — he knew very well that without Nagisa's assistance, he and Taishi probably wouldn't survive the night. He wasn't about to throw away his life yet by declining Nagisa's offer to guard them.
"Thank you, Nagisa-san.... we will forever be in your debt. "
* * *
Holy shit.... I was going to go a bit further in this chapter, but before I realised, the word count was already over five thousand words.
Our main character didn't even show up this chapter....
Notes:
- Kihara Junpei, Sugino Taishi, and Kogarashi Nagisa are all original characters. Their setting in the original story is that they lost their lives in the Final Selection, thus not appearing in the anime/manga. Junpei and Taishi are probably one-off in the Final Selection, while Nagisa will be a recurring character.
- I had a lot of fun creating Nagisa and her character... you might notice that the picture of her is Okita from FGO, but please forget Okita's personality and view this girl as Kogarashi Nagisa, a Demon Slayer trainee. Please enjoy her future character development!
- Genya and Kanao's fighting scenes are rare in the manga (non-existent in anime) so I also had fun writing these two.
- In contrast, I struggled so much writing Zenitsu and Inosuke... my usual style of writing is very narrative and explanative, since my goal is to make this sound like a real novel. However, Zenitsu's movements are always exaggerated and comical.... while Inosuke's way of speaking is difficult to express in words. Agh, so hard....
Next chapter, I swear to you I'll go further with the story!! Thanks for reading!!