Horitake, his sword at his waist, his purple cloud-patterned haori fluttering in the wind, appeared before Yaeko in a daze, shielding her from the front.
He looked at the demon with an expressionless face.
While Yaeko was still in shock, Shinobu Kocho also materialized with a whoosh, leaning close to Yaeko and teasing, "What a coincidence, Yaeko-chan, we meet again."
Yaeko snapped back to reality. "You two... have you been...?"
"Yaeko-chan, of course, we couldn't leave you alone in this snowy weather. We had to come check on you, and besides... our duty as Demon Slayers is to slay demons!"
"Demon Slayers..." Yaeko murmured, pondering the meaning of those words.
On the other side, her father, now a demon, had his wounds heal again. The initial bolt of lightning was Horitake's doing, meant to save Yaeko's dog. Apart from the injury caused by that lightning, all other wounds on the demon's body had rapidly mended.
He snarled and bared his fangs, lunging towards them once more.
Horitake, standing expressionless before Yaeko, pushed his palm forward. A torrent of fierce wind roared forth, carrying snowflakes and sweeping the demon away!
This was a palm technique Horitake had casually unleashed, utilizing the skills of his Gale Sword Style. The wind blade he had used earlier was also generated in a similar manner. While the destructive power of conjuring gales this way was only moderate, it was excellent for crowd control, blocking, and hindering opponents.
At this moment, Yaeko also reacted. Sitting in the snow, supported by Shinobu Kocho, she urgently asked Horitake, "Are you going to kill him!?"
Horitake replied calmly, "I know he is your father, but there's nothing that can be done. He has already devoured nearly twenty people, and his sins are too grave to be redeemed. Killing him now, giving him peace, is the best outcome for your father."
As he spoke, Yaeko's father, the demon, stirred again!
From the back of the demon's hand, a crimson bone scythe sprouted. Like a boomerang, he flung it towards Horitake!
Horitake remained perfectly calm. He raised his right hand, extending his index and middle fingers, bringing them together into a sword-finger shape. Bright purple lightning arcs flickered and gathered at his fingertips.
Yaeko watched the purple lightning and thought of the earlier purple flash and thunder, realizing that the person who saved her dog must have been him.
Just as the bone scythe was about to strike Horitake, he pointed his sword-fingers forward. A sharp bolt of lightning shot from his fingertips, instantly shattering the incoming bone scythe!
The purple lightning, its momentum undiminished, arced through the air in a flash, striking the demon's throat!
The demon, still charging forward, immediately widened its eyes, convulsed, and became unable to move. This purple lightning bolt seemed to have only struck the demon's throat, but in reality, it had incinerated and obliterated the demon's entire neck.
This demon was doomed to die.
Yaeko's father convulsed and fell into the snow.
Though the snowstorm continued to rage, the eastern sky was already showing a faint glow, indicating that dawn was breaking and the sun would soon rise.
Yaeko's father, lying in the snow, twitched a few more times in his final convulsions, his eyeballs trembling, his mouth agape. His last breath and life gradually faded away.
In these final moments of life, the last vestiges of his human self finally gained the upper hand. He used all his remaining strength to move his lips and utter a faint sentence.
Horitake and Shinobu Kocho, being highly skilled individuals, possessed keen senses of hearing and sight. Even though the words were incredibly faint, almost swallowed by the wind and snow, Shinobu Kocho still caught them.
She stood up, took two steps forward, and asked Horitake with a questioning look, "Horitake-san, did he just say something?"
Horitake nodded, his expression somewhat complex. "He did say something. He just said..."
As he spoke, Horitake turned to look at Yaeko behind him.
But Yaeko's reaction was beyond Shinobu Kocho's expectations.
Yaeko sat in the snow, her eyes filled with both relief and sorrow. Her demeanor at this moment was one of complete detachment, with no desire left for the human world!
She picked up her hunting rifle, turned the barrel, placed the muzzle under her chin, and was about to pull the trigger.
At that moment, Yaeko let out a sorrowful, self-deprecating laugh. "It's finally over... Everything is finally resolved... Finally, there's nothing left..."
Shinobu Kocho was startled and immediately moved to stop Yaeko.
But by the time Shinobu Kocho turned around, Yaeko's finger was already on the trigger. In that split second, no matter how fast Shinobu Kocho was, she couldn't be faster than Yaeko pulling the trigger.
Fortunately, Horitake had anticipated this.
By now, he knew which story this was. This wasn't a scene from the anime or the manga; it was from the manga's extra chapter, the Giyu Gaiden. Originally, it should have been Giyu Tomioka who came to deal with this bear-eating incident. He never expected that this mission would be intercepted by Horitake.
Horitake had just remembered this particular story. And it was precisely because he remembered it that he had anticipated and prepared for Yaeko's suicide.
Horitake was faster than Shinobu Kocho. Before Shinobu Kocho could react, Horitake swiftly reached out and hooked his finger into the hunting rifle's trigger guard, preventing Yaeko from pulling the trigger.
Yaeko gritted her teeth, about to exert more force.
Horitake, of course, couldn't give her the opportunity. With a slight pull, he yanked the hunting rifle away.
Yaeko burst into tears, falling back into the snow, murmuring in despair and sorrow, "Why won't you let me die? I have nothing left. What hope is there in living on?"
Horitake gripped the hunting rifle and sternly reprimanded Yaeko, "Do you know what your father said before he died? You didn't hear it, Shinobu-san didn't hear it clearly, but I did. Your father clearly said three words before he died: 'Live on!' He wasn't talking to us, he was talking to you, Yaeko! Your father wanted you to live on! And yet, you immediately try to die!"
Yaeko was still trapped in grief and despair. This child, who was originally very strong, truly had nothing left now, so it was no wonder she harbored such thoughts of letting go of the world.
She remained deeply sorrowful, her face filled with pain. "Live on... What's the point of living on? I have nothing."
Horitake shook his head. "Yaeko, even if you want to die, you won't be able to."
With that, Horitake raised the hunting rifle to the sky and pulled the trigger.
Click. The gun didn't fire; it jammed!
Yaeko, seeing this, widened her eyes, growing even more sorrowful. "How can this be? Am I not even allowed to die!? I've always taken good care of it!"
"Of course, it's because your father doesn't want you to die!"
As he said this, Horitake pointed to something for Yaeko to see.
It turned out that his father's blood, from before, had seeped into the hunting rifle and congealed inside, coincidentally causing the gun to jam.
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