Demon Slayer: Strength Gained with Every Swing of the Sword

"Hehehe, little lamb..."

The Hand Demon taunted as it chased the fallen trial participant from behind.

"Little lamb, here I come..."

Four tentacles suddenly shot out toward the person, aiming to grab them.

Although Feng Yu couldn't be bothered to save this individual, he couldn't allow the Hand Demon to kill someone right under his nose.

"Total Concentration, Water Breathing, Second Form: Water Wheel."

Feng Yu leapt into the air, creating a blue circle of water that sliced through the Hand Demon's extending tentacles.

"Scram, don't interrupt my hunt…" Feng Yu said coldly to the terrified trial participant behind him.

"Th-thank you... I... I'll leave now..."

Without turning back, the participant fled, wearing a faint smirk as he did.

Perhaps, in his mind, Feng Yu was just a fool—he knew the Hand Demon was beyond a trial participant's ability to defeat, and that person would likely meet their end here.

The Hand Demon, seeing this, wasn't surprised in the least; if anything, it grew even more excited.

"Ah, my little fox is back, hehehe…"

The Hand Demon's gleaming eyes fixated on the fox mask Feng Yu was wearing.

"Little fox, what year is it in the Meiji period?"

"The Hand Demon, it's the Taisho era now. How long have you been trapped?"

Feng Yu smiled as he answered.

"Taisho?"

The Hand Demon's voice grew shrill as it roared madly,

"An era name! The era name has changed again! I've been locked away this long... and the era name has changed again?! Unforgivable… Urokodaki bastard… Urokodaki bastard… Urokodaki bastard..."

The Hand Demon screamed, scratching at its own head with its tentacles. Blood poured out, but it seemed unaware of the pain.

"This Hand Demon is seriously crazy. A self-destructive maniac," Feng Yu thought as he looked at the enormous creature. Honestly, only after facing it firsthand could he feel such an oppressive aura.

"Hey, enough already. You look like a big sandbag to me. Quit clowning around," Feng Yu interrupted the Hand Demon's ramblings.

The Hand Demon didn't understand what "sandbag" meant, but from the disdain in Feng Yu's eyes, it could tell that the mockery only fueled its anger.

"Forty-five years... Forty-five years! Do you know how I've survived all this time? Urokodaki bastard captured me, and now it's been forty-five years… AHHHHHH!"

The Hand Demon yelled again, growing more and more frantic.

Feng Yu listened with an odd feeling, as though he were hearing a familiar line from his past life...

"Back then, he was still hunting demons, in the Edo period. He trapped me in this wisteria cage, and every year, little demons like you come to kill us. But I've eaten fifty of your kind. Hehehe..."

"One, two, three... Thirteen. You're number fourteen, hehe. These are the number of Urokodaki's disciples I've eaten. Let me think... the most impressive ones were two people. One was the strongest, with rare orange hair and a scar by his mouth. The other wore flower-patterned clothing—she was short, weak, but quick. Hehehe..."

The Hand Demon laughed maniacally.

Feng Yu immediately realized he was talking about Sabito and Makomo.

"The mask on your forehead... it's a mark. I remember Urokodaki's swordsmanship with that Tengu mask. He said it was an anti-evil mask. Because of these masks, they all died and ended up in my belly. It's Urokodaki's fault. Hehehe..."

"Listen to this... that little demon girl even cried, got really mad... Hehehe. After that, her movements started to stiffen... so I tore off her limbs, and then... Hehehe..."

The Hand Demon laughed as it recounted its twisted story.

Feng Yu's gaze turned cold as he interrupted, "Are you done? If so, I'll send you on your way."

Just then, Feng Yu suddenly leapt into another position, realizing that the Hand Demon was attempting a surprise attack from underground.

"What a low trick. Hand Demon, you really are pathetic..." Feng Yu mocked.

"Enough of your whining. Just be a number for my Sword count already."

"Total Concentration, Water Breathing, Third Form: Flowing Water"

Feng Yu charged at the Hand Demon, dodging its countless tentacles with ease.

"Water Breathing, Fourth Form: Striking Tide"

Feng Yu leapt up before the Hand Demon and swiftly changed his attack, slashing downward.

"Ding."

Feng Yu's Nichirin Sword was blocked by the Hand Demon, and the strike failed to kill it. Feng Yu quickly retreated.

"That's tough? Well then, let's try something stronger."

The Hand Demon taunted as Feng Yu continued to attack without success.

"You still can't do it, little demon? Hehehe."

"Shut up. You're annoying."

Feng Yu inhaled deeply and used the Flowing Water form again, getting in close without taking any damage.

Then, with a leap:

"Total Concentration, Water Breathing, Tenth Form: Constant Flux."

Feng Yu spun his body rapidly, his Sword glowing with a blue ripple, and a blue-and-white water dragon appeared, slashing toward the Hand Demon.

The Hand Demon instinctively tried to block it, but it was useless.

"Clang!"

The sound of the Sword sheathing echoed.

Feng Yu sheathed his Sword.

The Hand Demon stood there, staring in disbelief.

"I… I... was my neck just cut off…?"

"Why... why did this happen...?"

Ding

"Congratulations, Host. You've slain a special demon, earning 500,000 Sword Strikes."

Ding

"Congratulations, you've made your first kill of a special demon. System upgrade unlocked, introducing the 'World Mall' feature."

"The system is upgrading..."

"Hmm? I didn't expect killing the Hand Demon would trigger an upgrade for the system. But, will it affect my Sword Strikes count?"

Feng Yu looked back at the Hand Demon, now turning to ashes. What was once a massive body had shrunk by half, and the demon's head was reduced to only half a face.

The Hand Demon's eyes fixed on Feng Yu, as though seeing Urokodaki's figure from years ago.

"Urokodaki... Urokodaki..."

And with those final words, the Hand Demon's remains turned to ash, disappearing into the air.

Mount Sagiri

"He succeeded..."

"Then, it's time to leave."

"Master has taken on a new disciple..."

The silhouettes of the thirteen children slowly disappeared into the bamboo forest.

In the following days, Feng Yu continued to lure demons and slay them using his previous methods.

To his surprise, despite the system upgrade, he still received Sword Strikes for every kill.

Over the next few days, Feng Yu had killed more than half the demons on Fujiki Mountain.

"After killing this many, I wonder if the Demon Slayer Corps will come after me… But then again, because of me, these people escaped their doom and passed the final trial. This time's harvest is enormous…"

Looking at his Sword Strikes count, which had already reached over 4.3 million, Feng Yu smiled.

All the trial participants who had survived gathered in the plaza.

Even though Feng Yu had slain most of the demons, the trial still claimed the lives of many others. Only a handful, including Feng Yu, remained.

Feng Yu noticed the person he had saved from the Hand Demon wasn't among them. He thought to himself, "They probably died after leaving me."

"Such a doomed fellow…" 

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