Chapter 25: I Just Need to Borrow Your Head for a Moment
Thanks to the hunter's directions, Natsuya found the trail quickly.
In less than half a day, he discovered an abandoned mountain shrine deep in the forest.
The air was thick with the scent of blood.
He hacked through the underbrush and walked a few more steps. Several chewed animal carcasses were scattered carelessly on the ground. Due to the humidity, they had already begun to rot.
Flies buzzed in swarms, and maggots squirmed in the remains.
The bite marks were shallow.
It was as if a human had been hungry, picked a few fruits, taken one bite, decided they tasted bad, and threw them away.
No normal beast or hunter would waste prey like this.
More strangely, no scavengers had come to eat the remains. They just lay there, rotting undisturbed. It was as if this area belonged to an absolute "Lord," and even the scavengers dared not approach.
Natsuya stepped forward, snapped a branch, and poked at the carcasses to inspect them.
Fortunately, the game had a [Cognitive Buffer] function. Although the visuals and smell were disgustingly realistic, he didn't feel much discomfort. It felt like playing an old PC game and clicking on a lootable corpse model.
"Definitely not bear bites," Natsuya concluded.
Although he hadn't seen many bears in real life, he knew them well in-game. After all, quite a few "Mr. Bears" at Mt. Sagiri had generously donated their XP to his [Medicine] skill tree recently.
It's a demon. No doubt.
He perked up and began expanding his search radius with the shrine as the center.
This was a special advantage he had discovered during his playthrough. Unlike NPCs, who were bound by the game's physics and logic, Natsuya had a workaround.
Swordsmen, no matter how trained, had their vision limited by darkness. But Natsuya's UI was unaffected by environmental lighting.
No matter how dark it was, as long as a demon entered his range, a red nameplate would pop up above its head.
This was something no one else could do. It gave him a massive tactical advantage when hunting stealthy enemies.
It essentially functioned as a mid-to-short-range [Faction Scanner] and [Enemy Radar]. Even if a demon hid its fangs and blended into a crowd, Natsuya could spot the non-human entity instantly.
Sure enough.
In less than half an hour, he got a hit.
While inspecting a bush, he saw a faint red marker flash at the edge of his UI. It carried a weak sense of hostility.
Distance: Approx. 30 meters.
The target maintained that distance. No matter how Natsuya moved, it neither approached nor retreated.
Is it stalking me? Or assessing my strength?
Natsuya casually adjusted his direction. He pretended to chop branches and dig in the dirt, acting like he was still searching for clues. In reality, he was stealthily closing the gap.
He had played plenty of stealth games. As long as he crouched and stayed out of the enemy's direct cone of vision, the AI usually acted blind until he was right on top of them...
Then he saw a black shadow leap out of a bush and sprint into the dense forest without looking back!
How did it spot me?! That's unscientific!
Abandoning stealth, Natsuya triggered Wind Breathing. His physical functions surged. He stomped the ground, leaving a shallow crater, and blurred into a sprint.
If the demon got too far, the UI marker would disappear.
Mountain terrain was rugged and complex, and demons were naturally gifted at traversing it. But that applied to normal humans.
Natsuya's total stats were at 70. Add in his Breathing Style and the passive move-speed buff from [Running LV.2], and the gap was closing visibly.
The demon noticed this too.
While fleeing for its life, it turned its head and screamed, "You Demon Slayer bastard! I only ate a couple of people! Do you have to chase me this hard?!"
It actually felt wronged.
It had hidden in these deep mountains specifically to avoid the Demon Slayer Corps. To avoid drawing attention, it had even restrained its appetite, only targeting solitary hermits or old people whose deaths wouldn't cause a stir. It even mimicked bear attacks to cover its tracks.
I've only been here a few days! How is there already a Slayer on my tail?!
"There are so many people in these villages! What does it matter if I eat two of them?!"
Natsuya: "???"
"Listen to yourself," Natsuya retorted, his speed not dropping an inch. "If eating two people isn't a big deal, then neither is me borrowing your head for a moment. Why run so fast?"
The demon choked on its words. "That's not the same thing!"
"How is it different?"
Natsuya was a staunch "Human Supremacist." In strategy games, he always picked the Human faction.
Humanity! Loyalty!
Even if this guy wasn't a "Red-Name Monster," the "Man-Eating Alien" racial tag alone was enough reason for Natsuya to chop him into mincemeat.
Seeing the distance shrinking, the demon knew it couldn't escape. It skidded to a halt, turned around, and roared, assuming a combat stance.
"Bastard! Don't think I'm actually afraid of you!"
It hadn't wanted to provoke the Corps. When it first saw Natsuya—wearing the uniform and carrying three swords, plus a weird mask and knots—it had held back its hunger to observe.
In its limited experience, a guy decked out in so much "custom gear" didn't look like a fresh Mizunoto rookie. Maybe a Hinoe or Hinoto rank?
But before it could gauge Natsuya's strength, the boy had spotted it and started "sneaking" closer.
Its instincts screamed danger, so it ran.
But this guy wouldn't let go! Pushing his luck!
Do you think I'm a sick cat?!
The demon's forehead glowed with a faint green light under the moon. Its hair began to float as if in water, and a second pair of muscular arms burst out of its temples.
It looked... very abstract.
[Giant-Red ??? (Power Level: 39)]
Natsuya glanced at the corner of his vision and his mouth twitched.
I chased this guy for so long, and it's just a scrub with no Blood Demon Art?
Its stats are even lower than the trash mobs in the Final Selection.
The demon clearly saw Natsuya's expression shift. The excitement of a hunter spotting prey vanished, replaced by undisguised disgust.
"Shiro," Natsuya called out to the sky. "Next time, can you give me a challenge?"
"CAW! NATSUYA! NO DISTRACTIONS DURING MISSIONS! CAW!"
The demon froze, then exploded with rage.
I'm being looked down on, aren't I? I'm definitely being looked down on!
Its eyes turned blood-red. The fingernails on its four arms extended into blades as it charged straight at Natsuya.
A single, straight line of silver light.
Head separated from body.
The look of shock and fear was still frozen on the demon's face as its body began to turn to ash before it even hit the ground.
[Wind Breathing LV.3 (+21 XP)]
Natsuya hadn't even fully activated his Breathing Style.
After all, Breathing Styles were tools to bridge the gap when human stats were inferior to demons. They were compensation mechanics.
If his base stats were already higher than the demon's, he didn't need the buffs.
With stats nearly double the demon's, cutting it down wasn't quite "hot knife through butter," but it was close enough to chopping vegetables.
[Skip Cutscene]
"Hey, Shiro. Seriously. Talk to the BOSS. I'm not asking for a Twelve Kizuki, but at least send me a decent Mid-Boss, okay?" Natsuya said as the crow prepared to fly back with the report.
The crow shrieked angrily.
"IT IS OYAKATA-SAMA! NOT BOSS! CAW!"
"ALSO! SLAYING DEMONS IS A DUTY! TREAT EVERY ONE SERIOUSLY! CAW!"
"I took it seriously when I fought," Natsuya argued. "But the efficiency is too low. Just pass the message. The BOSS will understand."
He trusted the game's setting. The Master of the Demon Slayer Corps wouldn't be incompetent. He would understand the concept of using "good steel on the cutting edge."
The only worry was the efficiency of the intel network in this era.
But as an organization that had lasted a thousand years, they must have a unique command structure. Surely they didn't rely entirely on a bunch of birds screaming across the country?
"By the way, I'm heading to the next Trainer's location to study. You know the way, so just find me on the road when you come back."
The crow's feathers stood on end with rage. "BASTARD! I CAN'T READ A MAP! I CAN'T! CAW!!"