Horitake's intimidating aura overwhelmed the children, leaving them trembling.
Yet, fear alone wouldn't make them talk.
One child, though scared, glared at Horitake. "You jerk! Stop pushing us! We don't want to talk!"
Horitake knocked him out with a sheathed strike, his face expressionless as he turned to the others.
The remaining children grew more terrified.
Another, crying and frantic, lashed out, "Get away! You know nothing! Why meddle? We'll die if this keeps up!"
Another sheathed strike silenced him. Horitake's gaze remained cold.
Mitsuri, uneasy, whispered, "Horitake, isn't this too much?"
Horitake shook his head. "No. Their minds are warped. Normal methods won't work. Only extreme measures will."
Gripping his sheathed Ikou, he eyed the children, as if choosing his next target. "Speak. What's your deal? Don't make me keep going."
One child bolted. Horitake swung his sheath, unleashing a blunt wind blade that knocked the runner out.
No one else dared flee.
Horitake, growing impatient, tightened his grip. "I know interrogation techniques—effective, thorough. Using them on kids is harsh, but push me, and I will. I'll question you one by one, cross-check your stories. If they don't match…"
He left the threat hanging, letting their imaginations run wild.
But intimidation alone wasn't enough. The children were on the verge of collapse, despair in their eyes.
Time for hope.
Tapping his sheath, Horitake spoke calmly, "You've got secrets, I get it. Demons threatening your lives? You think they're scarier than humans? Sorry, sometimes humans are worse—like me. Those monsters you fear? They're nothing to me. We're professional demon slayers, swordsmen who hunt them. Tell us the truth, and we'll track and kill those demons. Or stay in their shadow, living like half-humans, half-ghosts. Your choice."
The children hesitated, exchanging glances.
Finally, the oldest, trembling, stepped forward, teeth clenched. "If… if we tell you the truth, will you let us go?"
Horitake shrugged. "We hunt demons, not kids. I don't care where you go."
Still wary, the child pressed, "Can you really kill those monsters? They heal no matter how you strike them—immortal!"
Horitake smirked dismissively. "Immortal? Then why do they hide from daylight?"
The children fell silent. Horitake pressed on, "Demons fear sunlight—it burns them to ash. They're just rats skulking in the dark. 'Immortal'? Just fast healers. Our special blades sever their necks, and they die. And sunlight's not their only weakness…"
Purple lightning crackled around Horitake, casting him as a godlike figure, untouchable and fearsome. "Think your monsters can withstand my thunder?"
The purple lightning was a spectacle, far more commanding than the demons' grim aura. Lightning, a primal force revered since ancient times, now wielded by a mortal—how terrifying must he be?
Hope sparked in the children's eyes. Even immortal demons couldn't defy such power, could they?
Their resolve wavered.
The oldest child, eyes red with tears, broke. Kneeling before Horitake, he sobbed, "Please, save us! We don't want to face that again!"
Horitake's voice was steady. "Stand. Speak clearly."
"Yes!"
Once one cracked, the others followed, eagerly spilling their stories. The oldest led, with others chiming in.
His voice trembled with fear and urgency. "The man-eating demons you mentioned—they're the monsters we met."
"Wait," Horitake interrupted. "Monsters, plural? You've seen more than one demon?"
The oldest hesitated, unsure. Another child added, "We mainly dealt with one, but we've seen others."
Horitake nodded, deciding to start from the beginning. "Alright, where are you from? Kusatsu County?"
They shook their heads. "No, we're from villages around Kusatsu, not the county itself."
That surprised Horitake, though it made sense. "None from Kusatsu? Not even the ones I knocked out?"
"None," they confirmed.
"Fine. You were safe at home in your villages—how did you end up with demons?"
The children spoke over each other:
"We stayed home, didn't wander."
"I was chopping wood in the mountains, got caught by a demon."
"Same here, caught while gathering herbs."
"I was visiting another village, got nabbed on the road."
"I had it worse—taken from my village's edge while stepping out to pee."
Horitake frowned. "Chopping wood, gathering herbs, traveling, peeing… Alright, peeing makes sense, but the rest—you went out at night?"
Their faces grew bitter. "We left during the day, but mountain mishaps delayed us. Sometimes we couldn't make it back before dark."
"Fair enough. Mishaps happen. But why did the demons capture you instead of eating you?"
------------------------------
🌟 Hi everyone! 🌟
If you love my work and want to support me on this creative journey, you can support me here: [patreon.com/DaoistRoeoNQ] 💖
By joining, you will get access to exclusive content, behind-the-scenes updates, and some special perks that I have prepared just for you. Every support really means a lot and helps me strive every day! 🙏✨