"Demon Eater? What does that mean?"
This term that suddenly came from Mitsuba's mouth filled Tanjiro with confusion.
She said Genya was a Demon Eater?
What did Demon Eater mean? Was it what he understood it to be?
However, Mitsuba had no intention of answering his question.
"Tanjiro, I'm quite interested in you."
With the bullets loaded and the bolt cocked, Mitsuba looked at him and smiled:
"The power of karma upon your body is something I rarely see in my life. The last time I saw it was four hundred years ago.
You are a child deeply watched over by the gods. In a sense, you are even the 'protagonist' of this current era."
"I never consider myself any protagonist!"
Tanjiro immediately refuted.
"There may indeed be some special aspects about me, but in the end, like everyone around me, I'm just an ordinary person who works hard!"
"Mmm, an excellent way of thinking. Unfortunately, we live in a material world, not an idealistic one.
Therefore, many things in this world will not change according to our subjective views, especially for you humans...
Alright, enough boring philosophical discussion. Little one, before our story tonight officially begins, could you answer a question of mine?
I'm curious—why do you want to walk the path of a Demon Slayer when you bear no hatred toward demons whatsoever?"
"Because this is the right path! The existence of demons must be eradicated!"
Tanjiro gave a firm and decisive answer.
He didn't think any special reason was needed to slay demons. In his view, this was something every human should do.
To this, Mitsuba neither confirmed nor denied, only continuing to ask:
"Then little one, if I said I hoped you would immediately quit the Demon Slayer Corps, take your parents and family away from this place, never return, and never get involved in these matters, would you..."
"Absolutely impossible!"
Tanjiro interrupted Mitsuba once again, shouting sternly:
"I've already said it! As a Demon Slayer! I will never retreat when facing demons!"
"Truly a stereotypical answer..."
Mitsuba said upon hearing this, letting out a deep sigh.
Under Tanjiro's puzzled gaze, she suddenly looked up at the night sky above.
"Even though hundreds of years have passed, you still haven't come up with any new tricks...
Can't you see that this widespread, hollow faith appears solid, but is actually the easiest to break?
But it doesn't matter. Since I'm so helpful, let me help you fill in this missing final piece of the puzzle for this child..."
"Tanjiro, come play a game with me."
Reaching out to pick up the Nichirin sword beside her, Mitsuba finally stood up from the large rock she had been sitting on.
With a sword in one hand and a gun in the other, she spoke in that same cheerful tone:
"I wish to have a swordsmanship competition with you. The wager will be the lives of these Demon Slayers around us.
The rules are simple—during the match, whoever touches the other first wins the round.
Starting from the first round, every time you win against me, I will release one person.
Conversely, every time I win against you, I will kill one person.
Thereafter, the number of people we wager in each round will double from the previous round.
Until all these Demon Slayers are killed by me, or all saved by you."
[This female demon, she actually... treats human lives as betting chips for her amusement?!]
Looking at the smiling Mitsuba before him, flames of rage suddenly rose in Tanjiro's heart. He almost roared without hesitation:
"How could I possibly play this kind of..."
BANG!
A gunshot suddenly rang out, cutting off Tanjiro's unfinished words.
He subconsciously turned to look in the direction of the muzzle. On a tree nearby, the brain of the Demon Slayer who had previously warned him to run had been completely pierced by the bullet.
The hemp rope swayed slightly. A mixture of blood and brain matter slowly flowed out from the bullet hole in his forehead, dripping to the ground.
A person who had been alive just a second ago died so tragically before his eyes in the next. Tanjiro stared at this scene with wide eyes, completely stunned, his expression vacant.
"Little one, are you still going to refuse?"
Across from him, Mitsuba lowered the Springfield rifle in her hand and asked with the same cheerful smile.
"You can continue to refuse. I don't mind. But the result will be that I will kill these people one by one before your eyes.
Of course, you could also attack me directly in anger, but in that case, I will cripple you, making it impossible for you to even commit suicide.
Then, I will kill them one by one before your eyes."
The smile on her face gradually faded.
The demon known as Upper Rank One finally bared her fangs at this moment.
"Little thing, don't misunderstand. I was never asking for your opinion.
I am telling you that you can only play this game with me, and you must play it."
As her words fell, the mountaintop fell into dead silence.
Seemingly finally understanding his current situation, Tanjiro finally withdrew his gaze and turned to look at Mitsuba once more.
"So, as long as I can touch you once, you'll release them, right?"
"Of course, if you can do it."
In an extremely short time, the young man before her had gone through the entire process from shock, to breakdown, to will reconstruction.
No dilly-dallying, no wailing to heaven and earth—Tanjiro had completely seen through the desperate situation he was in.
To save everyone, even if he was unwilling, he had to play this game with the demon before him!
No, this wasn't a game—it was a duel!
A life-and-death duel betting everything!
He had to win. He had to kill this demon who toyed with lives!
"Fine! Take this!"
Without any hesitation, Tanjiro immediately drew his sword and charged toward Mitsuba at high speed.
What Tanjiro had never told anyone was that he actually possessed a special ability he had named "Thread of Opening."
Relying on his innate unique sense of smell, combined with keen observation and thinking ability, he could sniff out "threads of opening" that materialized the weak points on his enemies' bodies.
In his vision, these threads usually extended from his Nichirin sword to the corresponding weak points on his enemies' bodies. As long as he slashed along the direction of the threads, he could break through the enemy's openings!
And at this very moment, in his vision, Mitsuba's entire body was covered in such openings!
Seize the opportunity, follow the threads, break through the opening!
[Sun Breathing—Second Form—Burning... What?!]
Before Tanjiro could even finish reciting the technique's name in his mind, all the threads of opening on Mitsuba's body vanished in an instant!
[How could this be! All those threads...]
In the next instant, Tanjiro only felt his vision blur. Mitsuba's figure, which had been more than ten meters away, suddenly flashed and instantly appeared before him!
[Oh no...]
"Check～mate～"
With the Nichirin sword in her hand gently pressed against Tanjiro's throat, looking down at the extreme shock on his face, Mitsuba said with a smile:
"Little one, it seems you've lost this first round."
____________________
This story has ended in chapter 315, you can read on patreon.com/dzeref887 for faster access or wait until August to read on WebNovel until the story ends.