Lorne followed his kasugai crow's guidance, embarking alone on the path to Natagumo Mountain, traveling at high speed.
Along the way, Lorne also learned from his kasugai crow that swordsmen were disappearing near Natagumo Mountain every few days.
Therefore, headquarters suspected that a powerful demon was hidden here.
Thus, stronger swordsmen from nearby were conscripted to go to Natagumo Mountain to investigate.
As night deepened, the distant mountain outlines appeared particularly eerie under the moonlight.
The closer he got to the destination, the more sinister the mountain felt, even sensing a pervasive demonic aura in the air, causing him to frown.
"This mountain just *feels* like there's something wrong with it!"
Lorne stopped, concentrating on the aura around him.
"There are quite a few demons lurking here. I wonder if the other swordsmen have arrived yet."
Lorne's kasugai crow flew over frantically from a distance:
"Lorne! Lorne! Danger in the mountain! Multiple team members have lost contact!"
"I understand."
He hadn't expected to be a step late; those guys had rashly gone in ahead of time.
Lorne looked up at Natagumo Mountain; the peaks in the night resembled a giant spider, its sharp claws extended, waiting for prey to arrive.
Upon entering the outer fringes of the forest, Lorne quickly noticed something amiss.
Numerous torn fragments of Demon Slayer Corps uniforms were scattered on the ground.
The bloodstains had long dried, but a strong smell of blood still lingered in the air.
"It seems the advance team has met with misfortune."
Lorne crouched down to examine the uniform fragments, his mood growing heavier.
Piercing screams tore through the deadly silence of Natagumo Mountain, followed by the grating noise of weapons clashing.
"Help! Stop it!"
"No! I don't want to kill you all!"
Lorne instantly became alert; these sounds were clearly human, but they were mixed with uncontrollable despair and fear.
Amidst the desperate cries, Lorne's figure flitted through the forest like a phantom.
Passing through the dense trees, the sight before Lorne made his pupils contract.
Under the moonlight, several Demon Slayer Corps members were frantically killing each other, their movements stiff and bizarre, like puppets on strings.
Everyone was in tears, yet their bodies uncontrollably swung their swords at former comrades.
"How truly twisted!"
Through the moonlight, Lorne saw countless transparent, hair-thin threads hanging from the treetops, connected to the bodies of these members.
These threads were almost invisible, but they reflected a faint glow under specific angles of light.
Just then, a controlled member swung his sword at a comrade, who also raised his sword to meet it.
Seeing the two swords about to pierce each other's chests simultaneously, he moved.
"Ice Breathing, First Form: Ice Surface Cut!"
Lorne struck instantly, without any superfluous movements; a blade light, condensed like an ice crystal, flashed across.
Before the blade arrived, the extreme cold had already reached, instantly freezing the tough spider silk into fragile ice threads, which shattered with the passing of the blade light.
Many small, grain-sized spiders were also frozen and then shattered and scattered.
Lorne didn't stop; as his figure flickered, several cold arcs of light severed all the spider threads.
The rescued members collapsed to the ground, exhausted, gasping for air.
They were then overwhelmed by immense fear, lingering dread, and the sharp pain of their bodies being torn by the threads.
"Cough... cough cough... Tha... thank you..."
A survivor coughed up phlegm mixed with blood, his eyes full of fear.
"We... we killed..."
"Do you know what the situation is like in the mountain?" Lorne asked.
"I'm not sure, it seems several demons are entrenched in the mountain," a team member said, trembling.
"Many of us were controlled by that demon manipulating threads shortly after entering. There seems to be activity in other directions too."
"Of the dozen or so of us who entered the mountain, only a few of us are left now," someone choked out. "The others have either disappeared or been killed."
Lorne's expression was grim; these people were actually separated, how troublesome!
"You all must evacuate here immediately," Lorne said decisively. "Go back and report the situation, request reinforcements."
"What about you?" a team member asked worriedly.
"I'm going to go deeper," Lorne looked up at the mountain peak. "Since I'm here, I have to clean this place up."
The team members wanted to dissuade him, but seeing Lorne's determined expression, they could only nod in agreement.
Before parting, a team member turned back to warn him,
"You must be careful. We will send the message back to headquarters as soon as possible to request reinforcements."
Lorne nodded, watched them leave, then walked alone into the depths of the mountain forest.
As he went deeper, no demons came to stop him. Everywhere, trees were covered in giant spiderwebs, with unknown bloodstains still on them.
"Hehehe... Another new puppet has arrived."
A chilling female voice came from the side.
Lorne turned to look in that direction, seeing a slender female demon sitting on a large rock.
She had pale skin and pupils, abnormally long fingers, and countless threads extended from her fingertips.
"The farce just now, was it your doing?"
Lorne drew his sword; a layer of frost immediately condensed on the blade.
The surging cold air around him froze the small spiders attempting to approach Lorne.
The female demon licked her lips,
"Was it you who destroyed my masterpiece just now? The sight of those puppets being manipulated to kill each other was truly wonderful."
"Your game ends here." Lorne's eyes were cold. "Prepare to die."
"Arrogant human!"
The female demon angrily waved her hands, and countless transparent threads shot from her fingertips, densely assailing Lorne.
"Let me make you my new puppet, to replace those fragile human puppets!"
These threads intertwined in the air into a giant web, attempting to engulf Lorne.
"Ice Breathing, Second Form: Ice Wheel Dance!"
Lorne's figure spun, the sword in his hand transforming into six ice-blue arcs of light, precisely striking the crucial nodes of the threads.
Each strike carried bone-chilling cold; the severed threads instantly froze and then broke.
None of the small spiders spitting threads could get close either.
The female demon's face changed drastically:
"How is this possible? How could my threads be cut so easily?"
"Just this won't do much!"
Lorne sneered, pushed off the ground, and shot towards the female demon like an arrow from a bowstring.
"Die, die, just die quickly!"
The female demon hastily retreated, simultaneously spitting out more threads and fiercely pulling them, dragging a headless demon puppet hidden in the shadows to block in front of her.
But Lorne's speed was faster.
"Ice Breathing, Fourth Form: Ice Prison Wall!"
A massive ice-blue sword energy descended from the sky, crashing down like a waterfall.
"You... you can't kill me! Rui..."
The female demon had no time to dodge; she and the controlled demon were directly hit by the sword energy.
Her body was instantly frozen into an ice sculpture, then shattered into countless pieces, turning to ash and dissipating in the night wind.
"The first one."
Lorne sheathed his sword and continued deeper into the mountain.
He hadn't gone far when the ground began to shake violently.
"Boom!... Boom!... Boom!"
Heavy footsteps came from ahead, accompanied by the loud crashing of falling trees.
It was a male demon with muscles as gnarled as rocks, and his purplish-blue skin was covered in bizarre patterns.
On a hideous spider-like face, several crimson compound eyes were locked onto Lorne.
He slammed his fist into the ground, the immense force creating a deep crater in the rock.