Only then did the girl belatedly realize how inappropriate her behavior had been. She hurriedly explained, "My name is Makomo. I don't mean you any harm. If you're unhappy, I can leave right away."
Makomo?
The moment Chu Yang heard that name, a spark of realization flashed through his mind.
The protagonist Kamado Tanjiro's mentor was Urokodaki Sakonji—the former Water Hashira, and Makomo's teacher.
This girl and Tanjiro were senior and junior disciples from the same school. According to the original story, Makomo would ultimately die on Mount Fujikasane.
The demon that killed her—the Hand Demon—had been personally imprisoned on this mountain by Urokodaki Sakonji. Every Final Selection, it hunted Urokodaki's disciples as revenge.
The fox mask on her face was the mark of Urokodaki's students.
"Alright, you—"
Before Chu Yang could finish, several dark shadows suddenly burst from the forest's depths and lunged straight at them.
"Fresh meat! Fresh human flesh!!!"
These starving demons had no reason left. In their eyes, Chu Yang and Makomo were nothing more than two exquisite delicacies.
Clang—clang—
With the sound of blades being drawn, Makomo instantly counterattacked. Though petite and lacking raw strength, her speed was astonishing.
A flash of blade light cut through the darkness. Chu Yang heard the roar of waves in his ears, and two of the shadows were immediately beheaded, dissipating into ash.
Seeing the situation turn bad, the remaining demons instantly changed targets and charged toward Chu Yang.
"Heh, can't even pick the softer target. No wonder you're stuck being demons," Chu Yang sneered. He drew the horse-slaying saber from his back and swung it in a massive horizontal arc.
With Chu Yang's strength combined with the saber's sheer weight, even without considering the blade's sharpness, a mere graze meant injury, and a solid hit meant death.
Four or five shadows were cut cleanly in half at the waist. Their upper bodies crashed to the ground, wailing in agony.
Makomo was stunned.
What kind of absurd strength was this?
It was easier than chopping tofu!
Dragging the massive saber, Chu Yang slowly approached them and calmly chopped off their heads one by one. Under the terror of death, the demons let out piercing screams that echoed through the forest for a long time.
Makomo was numb.
This guy was more terrifying than the demons.
Couldn't he at least give them a quick death?
Feeling that the boy before her was downright frightening, Makomo tiptoed backward into the darkness and then bolted, disappearing in an instant.
After Chu Yang finished sending the demons off to the underworld, he turned around—and the girl was already gone.
"Hey! Don't run!" Chu Yang worried she might run straight into the Hand Demon. He immediately activated his Observation Haki, locked onto her position, and chased after her.
Chu Yang sprinting through the darkness with a gigantic saber on his back really did look like a deranged serial killer. The poor girl's face went pale with fright as she ran for her life!
One chased, one fled—together drawing the attention of most of the demons on the mountain.
Before long, a whole chain of shadows was trailing behind Chu Yang.
"Damn it! Why are you idiots joining the fun too?!"
Being mistaken for a psycho finally pushed Chu Yang over the edge. He whirled around and charged straight into the demon horde, swinging his blade to vent his frustration.
An enraged Chu Yang tore through the demons like a battering ram. With every sweep of the saber, four or five heads flew into the air—no demon could survive a single exchange!
The scene looked exactly like one of those famous Three Kingdoms hack-and-slash games.
In less than a minute, every demon that had chased Chu Yang lay dead beneath the saber. The hidden gazes lurking in the darkness vanished just as quickly.
Ignoring those who had been watching, Chu Yang hurried in the direction Makomo had fled. "Damn it, she's fast! Seriously—my other self at Hogwarts should've learned Apparition first!"
To clear the way, Chu Yang charged forward like an out-of-control bulldozer, wildly swinging his absurdly oversized saber and cutting down anything that blocked his path.
Occasionally, a foolish demon tried to ambush him—but before it could even get close, it was minced into pulp by the blade.
Under the reinforcement of brute force, the horse-slaying saber was no longer a sword—it was a high-powered cutting machine.
"Run! There's a crazy human out there!"
"That guy's got a huge cleaver—he's practically shaving the whole mountain bald!"
"Don't go near him! You'll die!"
The demons of Mount Fujikasane fled in all directions. Even when they encountered other examinees, they didn't spare them a glance—escape was all that mattered.
The young swordsmen taking part in the selection were left dumbfounded as demons fled past them in panic…
"Help! Don't come any closer!"
"Why are you chasing me?! I just looked at your sword a little—was that really necessary?!"
Up ahead, Makomo ran in tears, terrified out of her wits. She couldn't understand it—why wasn't this swordsman killing demons? Why was he chasing her instead?!
"I'm trying to save your life!" Chu Yang shouted, his face red with frustration, his expression looking even more "friendly" than before.
As a straight shooter, Chu Yang always spoke plainly and never relied on hints.
"You think I'm stupid? You're the most dangerous thing here!" Makomo yelled back. "You're covered in blood and carrying a huge cleaver—who would believe you?!"
The chase continued, and packs of demons drawn by the commotion launched attacks.
Unable to catch Makomo, they turned Chu Yang into their target instead.
Makomo plunged deeper into the forest.
This time, Chu Yang lost her completely.
And no one could have imagined that this single moment—this failure to catch up—would lead Makomo straight into the Hand Demon.
It had just devoured another examinee. After finishing its appetizer, its hunger surged anew.
The Hand Demon gazed greedily at Makomo—cute, pretty, smooth-skinned. A girl like this would be unimaginably delicious.
The moment they met, their eyes locked.
Makomo sensed the overwhelming strength of her opponent. Her expression turned solemn—but she still believed she could slay this terrifying demon.
"Hehehe…" the Hand Demon chuckled, its face twisting further as it fantasized about the girl's final struggle.
The gears of fate began to turn…
Elsewhere, Chu Yang—having drawn an enormous amount of aggro—was conducting a very different kind of massacre.
The anger of being mistaken for a maniac had finally found the perfect outlet.
Chu Yang swung his saber wildly. He didn't even need to use sword forms anymore—everything within his sight was shredded like meat in a grinder.
In the demons' eyes, that absurdly massive saber was even more terrifying than the Grim Reaper's scythe. They watched as their companions were first beheaded—then crushed into pulp.
Savage.
Terrifying.
In terms of cruelty… not a single demon could compare to the burly youth standing before them.
The demons trembled in fear—and so did the young swordsmen taking part in the Final Selection.
Under the moonlight, Chu Yang stood atop a mountain of corpses, drenched in blood.
Bathed in silver light, he looked like a crimson monster.
He was more terrifying than the demons themselves.
(End of Chapter)