Character name suggestions:
– : Zoro
– : Ron
– : Tomioka Giyuu
– : Muzan
In these twelve years, Zoro had grown into a young man.
His face still wore a defiant expression, as if nothing could faze him.
"Is Ron lying to me?!"
Zoro sat on a tree branch, a look of displeasure on his face.
He felt like Ron had tricked him.
This world was even more impoverished than the sea.
His family only had a small house, and he had two older brothers.
However, their conditions were not good; the three of them were underfed and poorly clothed.
To practice swordsmanship, one needed to eat and drink well, at the very least.
Otherwise, his physical strength simply couldn't keep up with the exertion.
But Zoro still trained simply; he was stronger than ordinary adults.
"Zoro, it's time for dinner!"
A boy a head taller than Zoro ran out.
He called out to Zoro on the tree branch, then turned and entered the house.
Zoro spat out the small blade of grass he was chewing and followed him inside.
Lying down at night, he looked at the moon outside the window.
For some reason, the moon was so bright tonight.
"Ah!"
"Help!"
"What is that thing?!"
"Ghost… A ghost!"
...
Screams echoed from all around.
Their village wasn't very big.
Only a few households, living in the desolate wilderness.
And below, there was a small town that wasn't completely isolated from the world.
But what was happening now? Had pirates arrived?
Zoro immediately got up, but his two older brothers and mother hugged him tightly.
"Zoro, don't move! If we don't move, the ghost won't notice us!"
"Don't be scared, big brother will protect you!"
Although she wasn't his birth mother, she treated Zoro like her own child.
Even his two older brothers treated Zoro like their own younger brother.
"But…"
Zoro froze; he wanted to go out and see.
"Bang!"
The wooden door was kicked open.
An incredibly ugly head appeared from the darkness.
It stared at the four huddled figures with murderous intent.
"Hehehe, there are four of them here!"
"And… they seem to be Marechi!"
"Hahahaha!"
The demon laughed wildly.
He roared with laughter, looking up at the sky.
He hadn't expected to hit the jackpot.
Certainly, no demons had come to this area before.
Otherwise, the Marechi would have already been eaten.
It wouldn't have been his turn.
"What is that thing?!"
Zoro's eyes widened as he stared at the demon standing at the doorway.
The aura emanating from the demon filled him with disgust.
He wished he could draw his sword and cut down this demon immediately.
"Please don't hurt the children!"
His mother stepped forward, shielding the three behind her.
Zoro tried to stand up and resist, but his two older brothers held him firmly.
"Get lost! Annoying pest!"
A flash of blood light, and a figure fell beside them.
Zoro froze, his limbs turning cold.
This woman was like his mother.
She had always taken care of him, but he hadn't expected her to die right in front of him.
Zoro found strength from somewhere, pushing away his two older brothers.
He grabbed a wood-cutting axe from nearby, his eyes bloodshot.
At this moment, he didn't care about any techniques, only a strike fueled by pure rage.
"Buzz!"
The axe got stuck in the demon's neck.
Zoro hated his powerlessness now; he couldn't even kill a mere minion.
"Hahaha, what weak strength!"
The demon laughed wildly, pulling out the axe.
It healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Zoro completely didn't understand what he was fighting.
What kind of monster could heal its wounds just by standing there?
"Sorry, I'm late."
At this moment, a figure appeared outside the door, standing at the entrance.
In his hand, he held a blade, glinting silver under the moonlight.
"Demon Slayer Corps?"
The demon suddenly turned its head to look, but the temptation of the Marechi stopped its steps.
Eating Zoro would be equivalent to eating hundreds of people.
Then he could try to become a Lower Rank.
He might even receive a reward from Muzan-sama.
"Die!"
The demon lunged at the Demon Slayer.
The Demon Slayer Corps member sidestepped, slashing horizontally.
"Pfft!"
An arm fell in front of Zoro.
Tomioka Giyuu hesitated, choosing to stand in front of Zoro and the others.
To prevent the demon from being cornered and then attacking Zoro and the others.
"I'm truly sorry!"
"If only I had come a little earlier!"
Tomioka Giyuu had just joined the Demon Slayer Corps.
He had been delayed too much along the way.
Which led to him arriving a step later than the demon.
If he had been a little earlier, such a tragic thing wouldn't have happened.
"Can I have your sword?"
Zoro stood up, his eyes filled with sharp killing intent.
A fierce aura involuntarily wrapped around him.
This aura made Tomioka Giyuu, standing nearby, freeze slightly.
"Be careful, the demon's weakness is its neck!"
Tomioka Giyuu couldn't compare to Zoro, so he directly handed over his Nichirin Blade.
Tomioka Giyuu, standing in place, felt a bit self-conscious.
If he had the courage of this young man.
He would have surely been able to stand in front of his sister back then.
"Clang!"
With the blade in his hand, Zoro felt no excitement.
The methods of muscle control from the Pirate World.
And the methods of exerting force, all his swordsmanship was there.
But his body was too weak; it depended on how Zoro used it.
"One Sword Style!"
Zoro murmured, his stance lowering slightly.
With unparalleled hatred, he took a fierce step forward.
The next second, his body rushed forward at an incredibly fast speed.
"Let a kid hold a sword?"
"Does this guy know how to cut people?"
"Demon Slayer kid, you're too arrogant!"
The demon coldly looked at Tomioka Giyuu standing there.
He hadn't expected him to choose such a kid to fight him.
It was as if he didn't even consider him a demon.
"Lion's Song!"
Veins bulged on Zoro's arm, his eyes bloodshot.
His steps didn't stop at all, charging directly at the demon.
"Pfft!"
Zoro fell to the ground, this instant had drained all his strength.
This was his last technique, no matter if it succeeded or not.
He would stake his life to cut down this demon.
"Kid!"
The demon froze; it hadn't even seen Zoro's movements just now.
At the moment he got close to it.
It seemed like Zoro's body had accelerated to the extreme.
He had swept past in an instant!
"Bang!!"
His neck was severed, and a head fell to the ground.
Then it slowly turned into clumps of black ash.
But the head continued to curse Zoro.
He hadn't expected to have his head cut off by a mere kid.
"What is this thing?!"
Zoro stared in shock at the constantly cursing head.
[Achievement unlocked: Slay a Demon]
"This is a demon!"
Tomioka Giyuu walked to Zoro's side and said.
"Mother is still breathing!"
"She's alive, doctor!"
The two children knelt beside the woman, shouting repeatedly.
Seeing the woman still breathing, they wanted to find a doctor.
Tomioka Giyuu quickly led everyone to the town.
Thankfully, it was just a cut on her chest.
It wasn't life-threatening; she just needed some medical treatment.