That night, by the hearth of the Urokodaki hut.
Perhaps the afternoon's sparring had deepened their bond. Or perhaps, powerful strength had earned their respect.
The three of them, feeling comfortably full after dinner, chatted together in a relaxed manner.
Sabito asked curiously, "Natsunishi-senpai, you've already killed demons, haven't you? What does it feel like?"
Compared to Natsunishi, the two who had yet to complete their training were still exceptionally unfamiliar with the act of demon slaying. Although Urokodaki would occasionally tell them stories of his past battles, they preferred to hear the feelings of a peer rather than an elder.
Even Giyu was no exception, quietly pricking up his ears.
"What it feels like?"
Natsunishi mimicked the motion of holding a sword with both hands, making a phantom slash toward the hearth fire as if he were holding a Nichirin Sword. The flames flickered and swayed enigmatically.
"It's a bit harder than slashing at a wooden target."
"There isn't much resistance when the blade first breaks the skin; instead, you can feel a bit of softness."
"When you cut into the spine, it's a bit like a biscuit. However, if the angle is wrong, the Nichirin Sword might get nicked..."
"Overall, it's like deep-fried tofu pork?"
Sabito: "..."
Senpai said something quite terrifying.
On the side, Giyu chimed in with a timely remark: "I never want to eat deep-fried pork again."
Natsunishi then shifted his posture and continued.
"Aside from the tactile sensation, there are indeed some things to watch out for when slaying demons. Hmm... you two should pay attention to this when the time comes."
"It's different from slashing wooden targets and stones during training."
"While a demon's neck is a weakness, it isn't a fixed target. In battle, they move, they dodge, and they choose to protect their necks."
"Therefore, the opportunity for a strike is fleeting. You cannot hesitate."
Sabito imagined himself fighting a humanoid monster and beheading it. He couldn't help but ask again: "Natsunishi-senpai, when you killed a demon for the first time, did you feel any hesitation or discomfort?"
He was worried that he, or the more sensitive Giyu, might experience fatal hesitation or delay during their first demon slaying in the future.
"Of course not."
Natsunishi spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world. After all, in other action games, he had fought humanoid monsters or players more than once or twice.
And... what did it feel like to slay the first demon?
Sorry, he had forgotten. Because the kill was so fast, there wasn't really time for any tangible feeling.
"They are demons—man-eating monsters. It's not like I'm asking you to slay a human."
"And if you really find it uncomfortable, isn't it better to strike cleanly and send them on their way sooner? Besides, demons don't feel pain. Just hack away."
The two boys looked at each other, stunned.
Is... is that how it is?
Since Natsunishi-senpai said so, then it must be. They recalled the fragments of stories Urokodaki had mentioned about Natsunishi's past. A person like him naturally wouldn't show any mercy to demons. If anything, they felt that asking such a question made them seem indecisive.
"I understand."
Sabito touched his fox mask, seriously committing Natsunishi's words to memory.
"By the way, there are also the types of demons. You need to pay special attention to that."
Sabito: "Types?"
"Yeah, I summarized them myself," Natsunishi nodded. "I've temporarily classified these demons into two categories: 'Stat Monsters' and 'Mechanism Monsters.'"
There it was again—Natsunishi-senpai's unique and peculiar foreign vocabulary. Although they didn't fully understand, the two immediately focused their minds, mentally recording these oddly pronounced katakana terms.
Natsunishi then began to share the observations he had gathered regarding these "red-named monsters" during this period:
"Stat Monsters" referred to the vast majority of demons whose core strength lay in pure physical ability. They didn't have fancy, superpower-like Blood Demon Arts; they relied on overwhelming physical attributes such as strength, speed, regeneration, and bodily hardness.
For now, the vast majority of demons Natsunishi had encountered—and most demons reported by other swordsmen—fell into this category. In other games, they would roughly correspond to the "Warrior" class.
But this by no means meant they weren't a threat. When "simplicity" is pushed to the limit, it is also a terrifying form.
Supernatural physique combined with exquisite martial arts, or targeted mutation of key body parts—like hardened skeletons, bladed limbs, or ultra-fast regeneration—any of these could cause a qualitative leap in a demon's strength.
Although Natsunishi hadn't encountered one yet, he could imagine it: a demon whose combat techniques reached the pinnacle, whose skill pool was stuffed with over-powered abilities, and whose physical attributes far exceeded a player's—a "Warrior Demon" that wouldn't die even if beheaded. In a game, that would be a headache-inducing "Broken Mob."
(Broken Mob: In gaming circles, a general term for hostile NPCs with unfair, 'anti-human' designs and no consideration for game balance, often feeling like a glitch in the system.)
"You strike once, and the demon's neck might be fine, but your Nichirin Sword might break instead."
The other kind was what he called "Mechanism Monsters." These demons didn't necessarily have top-tier physical stats, but they definitely possessed extremely special, even "unreasonable" Blood Demon Arts.
It wasn't the ordinary type that used elemental energy for simple bombardment. It was more like the ones he had encountered before, or the ones Master Kazemi had mentioned.
For example, "damaging a weapon upon contact." Or "gravity within a domain continuously increasing until the opponent dies." There were even those "capable of confusing all your five senses, making it impossible to distinguish up from down, left from right."
Each one was like a Stand user. Even Natsunishi himself felt his head ache just thinking about it, let alone the two apprentices in front of him.
As for the elite monsters, the "Twelve Demon Moons," or the ultimate boss, "Kibutsuji Muzan," who might appear in the future? Natsunishi would bet his entire gaming experience on it: they would definitely be the ultimate "trash mobs" with both stats and mechanisms maxed out.
Even the minor minions required such effort. If they had both the stats and the mechanisms, could the major battles ahead be any less intense?
...
Hearing Natsunishi mention the Rust-Rust Fruit Demon's ability—which was practically "disarmament"—during the Final Selection, Sabito and Giyu were both stunned. They had never imagined such a frustrating situation.
Wasn't demon slaying supposed to be a beheading after a fierce struggle and slaughter? How could there be such unreasonable abilities?
"Then... how did Senpai deal with it at the time?"
Putting themselves in his shoes, if their Nichirin Sword broke at a critical moment in the fight, they would truly be at the mercy of fate.
Giyu was silently thinking the same thing. If even Sabito found it troublesome, he, being weaker, would have surely died on the spot. But since Natsunishi-senpai was sitting here perfectly fine, he must have had a way.
"There is a way."
"The general method is to try and stall, dragging it out until dawn, or wait for backup."
Oh, I see. So Senpai must have stalled that evil demon until dawn and finally destroyed it with sunlight.
However, thinking back on their understanding of him over these past few days—his amazing willpower and physique, as well as his intense hatred for demons—Sabito even had a mental image of Natsunishi beating the demon continuously until sunrise.
"It was the sunlight, wasn't it?" Giyu said.
"No," Natsunishi denied flatly. "I didn't want to waste an entire night on a minor mob."
Uchiha Boy: (´･ω･`)?
Sabito: "Then how did Senpai eliminate it?"
Natsunishi said as a matter of course: "Naturally, I beheaded it with a strike faster than the speed at which it could activate its Blood Demon Art."
You can do that?!
The two were simultaneously dazed.
"But didn't Senpai say your sword broke?"
"Even if the sword broke, wasn't there still half a blade left?" Natsunishi spoke with total conviction.
Sabito and Giyu were speechless for a moment.
Noticing the speechless expressions of the two youngsters, Natsunishi added, "It's fine. It doesn't matter if you can't do it for now."
"Just carry a few extra Nichirin Swords. You'll have more room for error, and you might find other ways."
Sabito gave a bitter smile, feeling a bit of a headache. "But a swordsman usually only carries one Nichirin Sword. If it breaks, it becomes very difficult to destroy a demon."
Natsunishi didn't think so. He began to analyze it for them, counting on his fingers.
"Think about it."
"If you really encounter a demon that can break your sword—whether it uses a Blood Demon Art or its physical stats are too high—it means the opponent is a very powerful demon, right?"
The two nodded.
"Does that mean there's a high probability that other swordsmen have fought it and died?"
The two continued to nod. Sabito vaguely guessed what Natsunishi was going to say.
"Senpai, your meaning couldn't be..."
It was Natsunishi's turn to nod, and he gave a slight smile.
"Pick them up! Your teammates have dropped their loot; if you don't pick it up and use it, what a waste."
Huh? You can do that?
"But those are the belongings of the deceased. Using them just like that, wouldn't it be..." Sabito hesitated.
He was immediately met with Natsunishi's ruthless rebuttal.
"Why wouldn't you use them? If you lose to a demon because of some broken Bushido spirit, believe me, if those dead swordsmen could still speak, they'd stand up and curse you for being pedantic."
Hiss—
When they thought about it, what Senpai said seemed to make a lot of sense. Carrying their swords and continuing their will was perhaps the best way to honor them... It didn't seem entirely unacceptable.
Natsunishi then jutted his chin toward the Nichirin Swords beside him, the firelight silently reflecting off the sword guards.
"See those three?"
"I picked them all up at the Final Selection site."
People are dead, so they shouldn't go to waste. Instead of letting these ownerless, "widowed" swords lie lonely on the ground, it was better for him to take them and get some use out of them, letting them burn through their remaining heat.
Unfortunately, if he picked up any more, it would have been inconvenient for traveling. It definitely wasn't because of the nagging of Persimmon and those other swordsmen.
"Ah? These swords..."
Sabito sat up straight with a solemn expression and gave a sincere bow to the three swords.
"My thanks to you all... for your struggle with the demons. You have worked hard."
At his core, he was quite traditional and believed that swords had souls and spirits.
Giyu, on the other hand, said in a small voice, "So it turns out Senpai... isn't a weirdo."
No wonder the three Nichirin Swords were of different colors. After all, when a normal swordsman received their Nichirin Sword, it would spontaneously change to a different color based on the Breathing Style they learned or their personality. This was a unique trait of Nichirin Swords.
He had previously thought that Natsunishi had dyed the three swords different colors himself.
Fearing that Natsunishi might misunderstand, Sabito explained for his junior brother.
"What Giyu meant was that he originally thought Natsunishi-senpai used the Three-Sword Style..."
Natsunishi shot him a look.
"Even if I wanted to pull stunts, it would be Two-Sword Style. Where would I get a third hand from?"