The forest had fallen deathly silent.
Apart from one female Demon Slayer candidate, no one noticed the strange figure that had appeared in the very center of their formation, standing stiff and motionless like a pole driven into the earth.
At that moment, the girl happened to glance downward.
What she saw first was a pair of pale, bare feet.
The legs seemed grotesquely out of place amidst the tightly packed formation, as though the figure had materialized from thin air.
As if possessed, the girl slowly raised her head.
Her eyes met a pair of cold, inhuman pupils.
Her lips trembled. Tears instantly welled in her eyes.
Before she could scream for help, a pair of enormous hands wrapped around her waist.
Then both of them vanished.
A shrill scream echoed from somewhere high above the trees several meters away.
"W-What was that?!"
"Where did the scream come from?!"
Kimura's voice rang out in panic.
The other candidates immediately began looking around in terror. The scream had further shattered the fragile morale they had struggled to maintain.
Many scattered survivors had joined their group after fleeing down the mountainside earlier, making it difficult to keep track of everyone. But what unsettled them most was that the scream had sounded as though it came from midair.
Fear spread rapidly through the formation.
The demons lurking at the edge of the forest had also stirred the moment the creature appeared. Some hid behind trees, while others retreated deeper into the shadows.
Even the demons feared it.
"S-She's gone..."
One of the girls in the inner circle collapsed to the ground, staring at the empty space beside her.
Her whole body trembled violently.
The slayers guarding the outer circle couldn't possibly memorize everyone in the inner formation. Likewise, those in the center knew little about the people defending the perimeter.
But for those standing shoulder to shoulder inside the formation, it was obvious when someone suddenly disappeared.
One person was missing.
If someone from the outer perimeter vanished during battle, that would have been understandable. They were directly engaging demons every second.
But the inner circle?
No demon had even breached their defenses.
So how could someone disappear without anyone noticing?
"She vanished..."
"H-How is that possible?"
"A living person can't just disappear!"
Panic erupted.
The candidates near the center hurried away from the spot where the girl had vanished as though fleeing from a ghost.
Fear spread like a plague.
What began in the inner circle quickly infected the entire formation.
Listening to the terrified whispers, everyone gradually realized the truth.
Their supposedly flawless defensive formation had a fatal weakness.
This mountain was far more terrifying than they had imagined.
It was like stepping into an unknown world.
Kimura clenched his fists tightly.
The chaos around him filled him with anger, but beneath that anger was fear—the fear of losing control.
He could already feel the team beginning to collapse.
Maybe tomorrow night.
Maybe even before dawn.
Some people were already on the verge of breaking down.
"Enough!"
Kimura shoved through the crowd toward the center of the formation.
Seeing several girls huddled together in tears only deepened his frustration. This was exactly why he hated relying on weak-willed people. Fear spreads faster than any demon attack.
"Who disappeared?" he demanded sharply. "Speak clearly!"
"X-Xiao Fang..."
The girl on the ground struggled to speak through her sobs.
"She was standing right beside me..."
No one had seen when Xiao Fang disappeared.
One second she had been there.
The next, she was gone.
Yet the scream had echoed from somewhere above the forest canopy.
No one understood what had happened.
But something had definitely taken her.
"How could she just disappear?" Kimura muttered.
"I-I don't know..." the girl cried. "I only looked away for a moment..."
Kimura stared at her for several seconds before clicking his tongue irritably.
He knew she wasn't lying.
Eimi stepped beside him and silently handed him a water bottle.
Kimura took two quick swallows before returning it.
Then he looked toward the tree line.
The demons were emerging again.
Dozens of glowing eyes appeared among the darkness.
Another wave was coming.
Everyone instinctively looked toward Kimura, waiting for orders.
Normally, the pressure of battle would have ignited his fighting spirit.
Now, all he felt was exhaustion burning in his chest.
"Listen carefully," he said coldly. "Fear and panic will only get you killed faster."
His sharp gaze swept across the group.
"Outer circle—maintain formation and prepare for the next assault."
"Inner circle—watch your surroundings at all times."
"If that thing appeared once..."
His expression darkened.
"...then it'll appear again."
The moment those words left his mouth, the tension became suffocating.
What exactly was that creature?
And where did it come from?
Several people instinctively looked up at the moonlit sky.
The full moon hung overhead like an omen.
Kimura turned and walked back toward the perimeter.
Behind him, the sobbing girl asked weakly,
"W-What about Xiao Fang...? Aren't we going to save her?"
Kimura stopped for only a second.
Then he replied without turning around.
"Do you really think she's still alive?"
Silence followed.
Moments later, the attack began.
A demon's howl echoed through the forest like a war horn.
In response, countless shrieks erupted from the darkness.
Some demons charged on two legs.
Others crawled on all fours like beasts.
Their eyes burned with savage hunger.
The ground trembled beneath the stampede.
So did the hearts of the candidates.
Then the two sides collided.
Steel flashed beneath the moonlight.
"Water Breathing, First Form: Water Surface Slash!"
"Water Breathing, Fourth Form: Striking Tide!"
"Flame Breathing, First Form: Unknowing Fire!"
"Flame Breathing, Second Form: Rising Scorching Sun!"
The forest erupted into chaos.
The demons attacked with increasing ferocity while the candidates' defense steadily weakened. Even so, the circular formation barely managed to hold the line.
But its greatest flaw was becoming increasingly obvious.
Most ordinary demons lacked intelligence. Their minds were consumed almost entirely by hunger and instinct.
Instead of coordinating properly, they attacked recklessly and individually, each focused solely on devouring the prey directly in front of them.
Again and again, they were repelled.
But eventually, one unexpected opportunity changed everything.
And the moment the demons began concentrating their attacks on a single point, the formation started to break.