"Watch out!!"
Despite Takeo's earlier sharp tongue, the girl still shouted a warning the moment the demon launched her attack toward him.
Inhale—
Takeo didn't bother responding. At the exact moment she spoke, he was already readying his Breathing Technique.
Four cloth sashes shot toward him from four different directions.
But Takeo, in that instant, surged forward like a gust of wind—blasting straight toward the demon!
A violent gale shredded through the incoming cloth, ripping them apart with spinning force. The remains fluttered through the air like torn paper—and at the eye of that storm, Takeo rode the wind forward!
Wind Breathing, First Form: Dust Whirlwind Cutter!
The spiraling slash, wrapped in slicing wind, roared toward the demon's neck!
With Takeo's current strength, all it would take was one clean strike to finish this demon off!
And yet—just as his blade, wrapped in wind, was about to pierce through her neck—
Takeo's pupils suddenly contracted.
In the blink of an eye—he twisted mid-strike, redirecting the blow elsewhere!
Whoosh—!
The raging wind sliced past the demon's side, carving off half her cheek and felling the trees behind her in a violent arc.
But… it didn't hit her neck.
"You missed? But why?!" the girl cried out in shock from behind.
That strike should never have missed. Takeo's speed and precision were flawless—better than anyone she'd seen, aside from her cultivator.
And yet, that powerful blow had veered off course at the very last moment.
She couldn't understand why.
"Damn it… the baby's around her neck!"
Takeo gritted his teeth, revealing the reason behind his diverted attack.
The wailing infant in the demon's arms was now clinging tightly to her neck—shielding it, just like a barrier.
That demon—despite her crazed demeanor—knew her neck was a weakness.
She had intentionally used the baby as a human shield!
"She's using a baby as a hostage?! That's so low!" the girl shouted, filled with outrage.
But the demon woman began to sob, her eyes filled with sorrow as she looked at Takeo.
"Ah… You should come to Mommy.. Mommy will do everything... Mommy will love you.. but how pitiful… how heartbreaking… My child… raising a blade against his own mother… sob sob… It's my fault… I failed to raise you properly… This is all my fault…"
The more she spoke, the more agitated she became—and the more her presence surged with ominous force.
Feeling the pressure mounting from her killing intent, Takeo steadied his breathing, his entire body tensing in preparation.
This demon wasn't simple—her strength seemed even greater than that of the water demon he had fought before. And now, with a hostage in her arms, Takeo couldn't move recklessly.
That made her even harder to deal with.
If he couldn't find a way to get the baby out of her grasp, he'd be forced to stay on the defensive!
What could he do? Aim to sever her arms?
No—that wouldn't work. She wasn't holding the baby in her arms. The infant looked more like it was embedded into her neck, like some grotesque accessory. Cutting off her arms wouldn't free it.
Then what?
Takeo's thoughts raced as he searched for a solution—and at that moment, the cloth ribbons fluttering around the demon began writhing violently.
She was about to attack!
Takeo quickly recognized what was coming. He reversed his grip on the blade, preparing to use a defensive form to withstand the demon's incoming attack.
But then—Whooosh!
The cloth sashes flew in all directions, slashing through the surrounding grass and trees. Newly sprouted leaves, freshly budding branches—everything was shredded and sent flying through the air, creating a flurry of debris that blocked Takeo's line of sight!
And behind that visual barrier—was the demon woman turning and fleeing!
"Eh…?"
She's—running?!
Wait—weren't you just about to attack?! Why are you suddenly fleeing?!
That tone, those actions, that overwhelming aura! Everything had screamed enraged and ready to strike. And now—just like that—you turn around and run?!
Takeo was stunned by the demon's sudden retreat, frozen for just a moment in disbelief.
But he quickly snapped out of it.
Without hesitation, he gave chase, locking onto the demon's scent and refusing to let her escape his tracking range.
If you encounter a demon—you slay it. That was the duty of a member of the Demon Slayer Corps.
And since Takeo had already resolved to join the Corps, then he had to do his part. More importantly—The baby in the demon's arms… was human.
The infant was real. There was no mistake.
If he had the power to save that child—then he couldn't allow himself to give up.
Seeing Takeo dart after the fleeing demon, the black-haired girl immediately took off after him as well.
"W-Wait! Wait for me!"
Takeo chased the demon. The girl chased Takeo.
But after only a few minutes of running, she was forced to stop to catch her breath.
So fast…
That kid was unbelievably fast!
The girl was stunned by Takeo's speed.
He looked so much younger than her, yet his mastery of Breathing Techniques—and his physical abilities—were far beyond her own!
Could someone at the level of a full-fledged Corps member really be that strong?
No… her cultivator had told her before—her own strength was already on par with official members of the Demon Slayer Corps. While she hadn't completely mastered the Breathing Technique she was studying, in general, anyone capable of defeating a standard demon on their own was considered qualified to join.
In fact, many official members didn't even fully grasp any formal Breathing Style. Some only knew the most basic breathing control techniques.
The girl was already considered qualified just by being able to use three forms of her Breathing Style.
But even so—she couldn't keep up with the red-haired boy in front of her. Let alone the demon, who had fled long before.
Fortunately, she didn't completely lose them.
Because at some point, the boy in front had stopped moving—giving her the chance to finally catch up.
"Oh? Hey! Why'd you stop?" she asked, puzzled as she came upon Takeo standing quietly among the trees.
Takeo gripped his sword in one hand, his eyes sweeping left and right as he answered in a low voice:
"There's fog."
Only then did the girl notice it—the forest had become shrouded in a thin mist.
It was early spring, the season when fog appeared most frequently. And it was already late into the night; the ground temperature had dropped significantly. So the presence of fog wasn't unusual.
But the timing of it was bad.
Takeo's sense of smell was sharp—but it came from inheriting the old man Logan's abilities. And many of those abilities… had already diminished to a degree.
Once the scent in the air became obstructed, it interfered with Takeo's ability to track by smell.
The sudden fog had cut off the lingering scent trail left by the demon woman. The dense moisture in the air overwhelmed everything—so all Takeo could smell now was water.
Even the faint traces of perfume and rot had been dispersed by the humidity, scattered too widely to follow.
In other words—Takeo had lost the trail.
"That demon was fast," Takeo said. "She might have a Blood Demon Art."
No—not might. She definitely did.
From the way she had controlled the cloth around her body earlier, it was clear she had at least one ability tied to manipulating those sashes.
That was the hallmark of a demon's supernatural power—the early signs of a Blood Demon Art.
Demons could be roughly divided into four categories: Ordinary demons ,Demons with Blood Demon Arts, The Twelve Kizuki, and finally—the Demon King.
Ordinary demons could generally be handled easily by standard swordsmen. But once a demon possessed a Blood Demon Art, they became far more dangerous opponents.
The water demon Takeo had fought before, for example, would have required at least a C-rank Demon Slayer to defeat alone.
And above that, the Twelve Kizuki—those demons were so powerful that a minimum of one A-rank Demon Slayer would be needed to lead a team of several others in order to successfully bring one down.
Even so, it wasn't uncommon for entire squads sent to hunt a member of the Twelve Kizuki to be wiped out.
That was exactly why one of the requirements to become a Hashira was this: you had to slay a member of the Twelve Kizuki alone.
They were the demons that directly matched the power level of the Hashira.
The demon Takeo had encountered clearly wasn't one of the Twelve Kizuki—if she were, he'd have already turned and run as far as possible.
But even so, she definitely possessed a Blood Demon Art, making her an elite demon—stronger than the water demon he'd faced before.
"Blood Demon Art…"
The girl's expression turned grim the moment she heard the term.
She could probably handle an ordinary demon. But a demon with a Blood Demon Art? She had never faced one before.
No—most official Demon Slayers rarely encountered demons like that. And yet today, the two of them had the worst luck imaginable—running straight into one.
"…She couldn't have gotten far," Takeo said after a moment of thought, raising his eyes to the sky. "There are only a few hours left until sunrise. And this forest isn't that big. Unless she runs all night to reach another town, she'll definitely choose to hide somewhere in these woods. If we search carefully, we'll find her."
"Wait—you want to fight her?! You're not even an official Demon Slayer yet, and you're saying you want to take on a demon with a Blood Demon Art?!"
Takeo's words had clearly taken the girl by surprise.
But his next sentence left her speechless: "Do you want to stand by and watch that baby get eaten by a demon?"
"..."
She couldn't answer.
Sniff sniff!
Takeo didn't wait for a response. He focused on picking up whatever lingering traces of scent still hung in the air, narrowing down the direction to continue his search.
But then—the girl suddenly grabbed his shoulder.
"What?" Takeo frowned and looked back at her.
She said, "You won't be able to find her alone. I'll help you. Which direction did she disappear in?"
"..." Takeo stared silently at her for two seconds—then pointed in a direction.
The girl nodded. "Okay, I'll head that way. You've got a sharp sense of smell, right? I saw your nose twitching earlier. So I'll leave the other directions to you."
…She's actually pretty observant.
Takeo gave the girl a second glance—then nodded in agreement.
Seeing this, the girl grinned brightly, flashing her white teeth and proudly pointing to herself with her thumb. "Forgot to introduce myself. I'm Sakoma Iori—a swordswoman who's going to be a Hashira someday!"
With that declaration, the girl named Sakoma Iori stood before the boy with unwavering confidence in her smile.
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12 Advance chapters—P@treon/HornyFBI