Demon Slayer: Guardian of the Forest

"Demon… there… there's really… there's really a demon! They're all dead. Everyone… everyone is… dead… w-wahhh…" Beneath the gnarled tree roots, a young man knelt on the ground, trembling, clutching his head and sobbing. His clothes were not only in tatters but also splattered with blood, and a broken hatchet lay beside his thigh.

"Junbo! There's someone over here!" The young man jerked up at the sudden shout above, grabbing the broken hatchet and swinging it wildly, screaming, "Come on! Bring it on! I'll fight you! Go to hell!"

Clatter! The hatchet fell to the ground, revealing an ordinary young man. By his attire, he appeared to be one of the villagers who had wandered into Shirai Mountain. Junbo easily subdued him, as he seemed on the verge of a mental breakdown.

Soon, Junbo extracted a troubling piece of information from the visibly shaken villager: twenty-eight people had ventured into Shirai Mountain, yet only he had escaped. The others had been slaughtered by a mountain demon. Every time he recalled that horrific scene, he would tremble uncontrollably.

The demon, as the villager revealed, was hiding in the ruins atop Shirai Mountain. With this new information, Junbo's expression grew grave. He gestured to his companion to console the young man and summoned his crow.

Each Demon Slayer's crow was uniquely trained, often taking on traits influenced by their partner. Junbo's crow, calm and steady, understood his sign language perfectly. After receiving his message, the crow spread its wings and took off.

Elsewhere on Shirai Mountain

Shinichi moved silently through the dense forest. What struck him was the eerie atmosphere that pervaded Shirai Mountain. Ordinarily, even at night, a forest would echo with the sounds of animals, yet here, an unnatural silence blanketed everything, while the trees grew unusually thick.

Suddenly, a strong scent of blood filled his nose. Shinichi darted into a nearby thicket, and there, amid the bushes, lay a human corpse, twisted and mangled beyond recognition. The horrific state of the body made even Shinichi, himself a demon, recoil.

Judging by the fresh scent of blood, the victim must have been killed recently. Which meant—the demon was nearby.

Shinichi crouched, muscles tensed. A sudden wave of danger hit him like a shock, and instinctively, he ducked forward just in time.

Shwing! Crack! A blade flashed, slicing cleanly through a tree the width of a thigh.

Without a second thought, Shinichi leapt back, putting distance between himself and his assailants. He caught a glimpse of two figures wielding swords—no ordinary humans, but warriors whose presence exuded a powerful aura. More alarmingly, they each held a katana with blue-colored blades, exuding a sharp, sun-like intensity.

"Swords like sunlight? Wait—black uniforms, those special sun-charged blades… these two must be… Demon Slayers!?" As he recognized their uniforms, Shinichi recalled intel he'd received from Taiping Saburo. These two were Demon Slayer Corps members!

"This is trouble. Running into Demon Slayers now…" Shinichi took a wary step back. As a demon, meeting Demon Slayers was a worst-case scenario; like a deer stumbling into a hunter's lair.

While Shinichi prepared for an attack, the two Demon Slayer warriors were equally tense. Judging by Shinichi's speed, they knew he wasn't an easy target. The nearby human corpse, so brutally killed, only heightened their resolve.

"Junbo, I'll engage from the left—you take the right!"

"Understood! Saburo, be cautious. This demon won't go down without a fight."

They nodded to each other and, without hesitation, lunged toward Shinichi from both sides.

"Hey! I'm not here to pick a fight with you Demon Slayers!" Shinichi yelled as he dodged, but the two Demon Slayers were relentless.

As expected of the Demon Slayer Corps, the two coordinated seamlessly, cornering Shinichi from both sides. Their blades moved like waves, trapping him in a merciless assault.

Though Shinichi had no interest in fighting them, his purpose for coming to Shirai Mountain aligned with theirs—to hunt demons. Yet he knew telling them this would be futile. Who would believe that a demon had come to hunt its own kind?

Clang! Shinichi blocked one blade, but Junbo seized the moment to strike, slashing deep into Shinichi's right arm. Pain seared through him.

"Now's our chance!"

"Water Breathing: First Form—Water Surface Slash!" Junbo roared, his katana glowing with a faint blue aura that rippled outward like waves, aiming for Shinichi's neck.

"Enough!" Shinichi snarled.

Boom! A burst of crimson energy erupted, heating the air instantly. Shinichi's red-hot claws deflected the attack, tearing through Junbo's water slash technique with ease.

Shocked, Junbo barely had time to register what happened before a fierce kick launched him backward, slamming him into a tree. He coughed up blood, his face twisted in pain.

"Junbo! You monster! Die, demon!" Saburo shouted, filled with rage. He tightened his grip on his katana, charging at Shinichi again.

But before Saburo could strike, a swift black shadow tackled him to the ground. It was Shinichi's faithful demon hound, snarling and baring its sharp fangs, yet refraining from a lethal attack. Shinichi's desire to avoid harm influenced even his hound, which held Saburo in place without injuring him.

"What the hell? Get off!" Saburo yelled, shaking the creature off and raising his sword once more.

"Stop! I'm not your enemy! I came here, like you, to kill the mountain demon!" Shinichi shouted in frustration.

"Are you insane? You're a demon—a bloodthirsty monster! Every demon deserves death! For my family, I'll kill you!" With that, Saburo swung his blade toward Shinichi once more.

Elsewhere on Shirai Mountain, halfway up, a pure white marble well sat shrouded by dead vines. An old wooden water-pulling device rested beside it. Its design involved a series of circular wheels, allowing people to draw water from the white well. The name for such a device was "rokuro"—a well crank.