"Everyone, thank you very much for coming to the Demon Slayer Corps' Final Selection tonight..."
The Fujikasane Mountain selection officially began with Roy's entry.
Ten minutes later, the Fujikasane Mountain selection was declared over as Roy walked out.
The boy's flame-wreathed Short-hilt became a nightmare for the Demons. He activated [En] to capture the position of every Demon, and wherever he passed, it was like reaping grass, continuously harvesting the lives of one Demon after another.
[Notification: Life Energy +2+3+1+2+3...]
The panel's notification sounds echoed incessantly... The group of candidates who entered right after Roy didn't even have a chance to draw their swords. They stared blankly as the boy's blade rose and fell, cutting down Demons like vegetables as he walked deeper into the mountain forest, until he encountered a "big guy"!
Sudden expressions of terror appeared..
Rumble...
The ground trembled. A behemoth, with dozens of arms wrapped around its body, slowly entered everyone's field of vision. It spotted Roy at a glance, recognizing the fox mask that Urokodaki Sakonji had specially given him before his departure.
"Heeheehee... you've come again, my cute little fox! What year of Meiji is it now?"
"The year you die." Swish—
A flash of flame-wreathed light streaked past... Just as the Hand Demon finished speaking, the head that had been firmly protected by several arms was sent flying. Its ghastly green eyes rolled once, not yet realizing what had happened, and as its consciousness faded, its life flashed before its eyes.
"Why did this happen?"
"Why... I'm so scared, Nii-san... Nii-san... Why did I bite you to death..."
Behind every Demon's past, there was a hidden, unknown tragedy..
Thud...
The Hand Demon's head hit the ground, staring fixedly at Roy. Its massive body instantly turned to ash and vanished into the night. On Sagiri Mountain, Sabito and Makomo, who were eating dinner with Urokodaki Sakonji, suddenly froze, looking out through the paper window toward Fujikasane Mountain...
The boy sheathed his sword and stood silently in place for a moment.
The panel's notification sound rang in his ears again..
[Notification: Life Energy +20]
[Monster Encyclopedia has been updated...]
[Demon: D-level creature]
[Constitution: 87 (Note: Average person is 1)]
[Blood Demon Art: [Arm Regeneration]... has been extracted...]
His ribs suddenly felt a little itchy, as if "wings" were about to sprout. Roy suppressed the urge to reveal his "four arms" and turned to leave...
Swish— All the candidates, as if they had rehearsed it, parted to both sides, actively making way for him.
He walked on, unhurried. Although his speed didn't look fast, every step he took left an afterimage, and he vanished in the blink of an eye...
When he reappeared, he was already in front of Ubuyashiki Kagaya.
"It's over."
"It's over..."
"Amane."
The scroll recording "all Demon intelligence" was handed over again...
This time, the boy did not refuse. He grasped it in his hand, activated "Conjuration," and "constructed" the scroll's appearance in his mind...
Specks of light appeared, floating like fireflies in the wisteria-lit night. The scroll dissolved into countless points of light, right in front of...
...Ubuyashiki Kagaya, his wife Amane, and the "Stone Hashira" Gyomei Himejima, it was "Conjured" by Roy into the Hunter world!
"Giyu, you never told me your junior disciple had such abilities?"
Giyu Tomioka: "..."
He pretended not to see the look Ubuyashiki Kagaya sent him, maintaining his usual cold and silent demeanor.
"Namu Amida Butsu..." Gyomei Himejima chanted. The large hand fiddling with his prayer beads sometimes slowed and sometimes quickened. For the first time, a crack appeared in his compassionate heart...
'Thus I have heard. All troubles are suffering. Not born, not destroyed, not defiled, not pure, not increasing, not decreasing.'
When one's understanding of the world is shattered, and one forces oneself to calm down again, all that remains is calm acceptance.
Ubuyashiki Kagaya suddenly recalled Urokodaki Sakonji's comment about the person before him—'If anyone in this world can kill Muzan Kibutsuji, it must be my disciple, Kamado Eiichiro.' He looked at Roy with emotion and said, "I suppose there's no need to specially forge a Nichirin Sword for you."
His "Crimson Sword," wreathed in surging flames, was far hotter than even that child Kyojuro's... One could only imagine the wonderful expression the Rengoku boy would make upon meeting this person.
"Indeed. My Short-hilt is enough." Roy's gaze swept over Ubuyashiki Kagaya and Gyomei Himejima, finally landing on Giyu Tomioka with a slight nod. He turned and walked back the way he came..
"Everyone, our paths may cross again. Farewell for now..."
Whoosh~ The evening breeze blew, causing the pair of "Hanafuda earrings" dangling from the boy's ears to sway...
They watched as the moonlight stretched the boy's shadow longer and longer... Ubuyashiki Kagaya and the two "Hashira," Giyu Tomioka and Gyomei Himejima, stood rooted to the spot. Their gazes followed the boy as he drifted away, until he disappeared completely, and for a long time, they couldn't snap back to reality...
"Tonight was destined to be an extraordinary night." After a long while, Ubuyashiki Kagaya smiled, his eyes narrowed, and said abstractedly, "Giyu, Gyomei. I have a feeling that our thousand-year-old wish is finally about to be fulfilled."
Who would fulfill it?
Giyu Tomioka and Gyomei Himejima quietly exchanged a look. They both already had the answer in their hearts.
[Notification: "Life Energy" +15...
The next day.
In the Hunter world, inside the riverside inn in Saba City.
When Roy opened his eyes again, leaving the world of Demon Slayer... This time in the dream, compared to the last, he had lasted an hour longer in the Demon Slayer world. At the same time...
Using the "intelligence" provided by Ubuyashiki Kagaya, he had slain another five Demons over two consecutive nights, successfully re-accumulating his "Life Energy," which he had just emptied yesterday, back to "35 points."
He rolled out of bed, the movement so large it nearly sent Xiao Jin tumbling... The fat crow groggily opened its bean-sized eyes. Noticing him walking toward the bathroom again, it flapped its wings, insisting on flying down to get away from that damned bathroom...
But its butt went up, and it took a header, tumbling onto the soft bed, looking utterly pathetic...
Roy shot it a look, not intending to bother with it, but his gaze suddenly froze. He stared at the Golden Crow's fluffy little belly and faintly saw a "sharp little tip"... He immediately grabbed it, carefully parted the feathers, and looked closely. The so-called "sharp little tip" seemed to be... the Golden Crow's third leg!
Xiao Jin... had evolved?
Roy fell into thought and immediately opened the "Nen Beast" panel.
[Three-legged Golden Crow: Xiao Jin]
[Status: Larva (100/100000→200/100000)]
[Rank: S+]
[Manifested Aura: D+ (964/10000→2034/10000)]
[Potential Aura: ?]
[Racial Talent: Sun Chaser (Pending Activation)... Control Sunflame: Lv1 (25/1000→150/1000)... Charioteer (Pending Activation)]
[Evaluation: A growth-type Nen beast with infinite potential]
It really... is growing!
"Nen beasts" are rooted in the "Nen user" themselves. The stronger the "Nen user," the stronger the "Nen beast"...
Roy thought of Neferpitou's "Doctor Blythe," his grandfather Zeno's "Dragon Head," and Netero's "100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva"... Xiao Jin clearly couldn't reach the strength of those "beasts" yet, but in terms of "potential"...
The word [Infinite] was enough to explain everything!
"You get an extra meal as a reward this morning."
"Gah!"
The Golden Crow excitedly began rolling around on the bed again... Roy smiled and let it go wild for a bit as its reward. He took advantage of the morning time to hide in the bathroom and allocate his points again...
[Notification: "Constitution" +35]
[Current Constitution: 204.8→239.8]
"Urgh..." A muffled grunt escaped...
Shedding "yesterday's skin" and donning "today's new clothes"... When the tide of intense pain receded..
Roy had visibly grown another centimeter. He let out a light breath, expanded his ribs, and two more arms suddenly extended from beneath his original ones!
Looking in the mirror, he was clearly four-armed!
Knock... knock... knock...
"Young Master, are you awake?"
"Come in."
Creak~ The door opened, and Gotoh walked in, holding his phone. He looked up and noticed... Roy was bare-chested, with two arms squeezing toothpaste and two arms wiping his face..
Clang~
The phone slipped straight from his palm...
Clatter~
It fell to the floor.