"What is this...?"
The demon's pupils constricted and trembled violently. The tearing sensation on its claws, where they had been attached, felt as if it were tearing at its very soul.
At the severed surface of its wrist, the writhing, budding flesh seemed to be gnawed repeatedly by countless fine teeth, incessantly emitting an unbearable, excruciating pain! This was a feeling it hadn't experienced in a very, very long time.
It recalled its days as a bandit, tied up by villagers and beaten daily, the stomach cramps night after night from eating rotten things out of hunger... back then, it was also like this, constantly in pain... yet utterly helpless...
This memory of weakness filled it with terror!
"Are you even human... What the hell are you!"
Haah...
Taka let out a long breath. The frigid air sharply cleared his muddled brain, fogged from blood loss. The streams of crimson flowing from his forehead coalesced into ferocious, beast-fang-like patterns, dripping onto his tattered clothes and the serrated blade.
He looked down at the serrated greatsword in his hand and murmured to himself, "Tonan... A name fit for a stray dog..."
The greatsword did not respond to him. It only continued to emit a primal sense of hunger, channeling faint trickles of warmth from the hilt into his palm, flowing through his blood vessels to every part of his body, barely supporting his tottering frame.
The wounds on his body still burned and stung, and the rage in Taka's heart blazed ever fiercer.
Bam!
He shot forth like a cannonball, charging through the snow. The accumulated snow around him exploded instantaneously from his sudden burst of speed!
The demon was startled, 'This brat's speed was immeasurably faster than before!'
It hastily raised its two twisted, bamboo-pole-like arms, instinctively trying to block with its immortal demon body. But seeing the unhealed stumps of its wrists made it hesitate, wondering if it might be better to just dodge.
In that moment of indecision, Taka's serrated blade was already upon it!
Shrrriiiip—!
With a sound that tore through the air, the serrated greatsword swung down, emitting a piercing howl like a pack of dogs fighting over food!
The thick blade dragged a blurred, grey-black afterimage, cleaving down with force upon the demon's crossed, defensive arms!
Rip—!
The sharp serrations, like a vicious dog's fangs, embedded themselves deep into the demon's muscles and tendons!
In that instant, Taka could clearly feel the strange sensation of the blade cutting through flesh and crushing bone.
Where the blade passed, the flesh wasn't sliced cleanly, but was torn and shredded raggedly, as if by a violent, ripping force!
The demon's tough claws and solid bones, strong enough to rend bearskin, shattered like rotten wood upon contact with the blade! Both arms were split from the middle and dangled limply.
If the demon hadn't reacted quickly at the last moment and retreated a body length, its entire arms would have been severed clean off!
"Ughaaaaa—!!"
The demon screamed in agony as it retreated, a hundred times more wretched than any before. If physical pain could be endured, the ceaseless gnawing sensation at its wounds was truly draining the life-force from its body, causing its once-prized regenerative ability to falter and even fail!
'No way. This brat isn't human! I have to run!'
The demon had lost all will to fight and tried to turn and flee, but Taka had no intention of letting it go.
Enduring the dizziness and discomfort from ongoing blood loss, a fierce glint flashed in his eyes as he once again brought the heavy serrated blade down upon its head!
"Roooar!" This relentless, death-or-glory stance ignited the demon's final vestiges of savagery.
It twisted back violently, narrowly avoiding the fatal blow. The serrated blade whistled past its face, the resulting wind shear leaving several deep, bone-deep gashes on its distorted visage!
It disregarded everything, swinging its limp, split arms like two twisted iron whips, fiercely swiping at Taka's torso! Simultaneously, it opened its gaping maw and lunged straight for Taka's neck!
"Die!"
In response to the demon was only Taka's cold growl.
Shing! Shing! Shing!
In an instant, the blade of Tonan erupted with countless, dazzling black lights!
This was the Reiatsu originating from Taka himself. As he swung the blade with all his might in extreme fury, it unconsciously resonated with the serrated sword in his hand, roaring as it burst forth from his body!
Reiatsu is a primal force present within every person, every living being, stemming from the essence of the soul. And depending on the density of Reiryoku within a being, the power it can manifests differs.
The reason Taka could sense the demon was precisely because of its Reiatsu, so different from an ordinary human's.
Several Reiatsu Slashes, jagged like irregular saw teeth, shot forth from the blade like starving dogs fighting over food!
Chaotic, frenzied, and violent, they jostled and even collided fiercely with each other, carrying a wind pressure that tore everything asunder as they pounced upon the demon, which was right in front of them!
Thud thud thud thud—!!
A continuous series of tearing sounds rang out!
The demon's chest, legs, waist, and abdomen were instantly torn to shreds by those frenzied hounds!
Large chunks of flesh were minced by the violent Reiatsu Gale… twisted skin and muscle were ripped open and peeled away in sheets, exposing gleaming white bones!
"Damn it! Get off! Get off me!!"
The demon's entire body was sent flying by that one slash, crashing heavily into a huge ancient tree. Vomiting blood, it frantically beat at its body with its broken arms, trying to stop the increasingly intense gnawing sensation!
Taka supported himself on his sword, limping over, breathing heavily.
He could barely see the path anymore, his vision blurred and darkened intermittently.
But he didn't stop. It was almost as if the instinct of rage still dragged him forward, making him approach the demon slowly like a god of death incarnate.
"No... stay away..."
The demon's body could no longer move… it couldn't muster any of its internal life-force, and its wounds could no longer heal.
It let out a terrified, despairing plea, hoping to awaken some shred of pity in the human boy before it, trying to make him spare it... or to launch one final, desperate counterattack while his guard was down.
Taka walked up to it, offering no response, his cold gaze devoid of any pity.
He raised the heavy Tonan high… the serrated blade reflected an ominous, cold light under the forest moonlight.
He mustered the very last of his strength, channeling it, along with the thin, scalding-hot life-energy he had taken from the demon flowing through Tonan, all into the blade.
"It's over."
Taka's voice was cold and weary.
Shwing—!!
After a dizzying spin, the demon's terrified eyes saw its own headless body and the trembling, almost-falling back of the boy.
"Kah... kah..." It opened its mouth futilely, the light in its eyes dimming rapidly.
It wanted to struggle, to wail, but couldn't utter a single sound.
Under Taka's final slash, its life-force drained away like a sluice gate opening, never to return.
Hiss...
This lasted for a few seconds. Then, under Taka's wary gaze, the demon's body began to wither and even emitted a sizzling black smoke, as if spontaneously combusting.
Waves of stench wafted over. The demon's body started to dissolve into countless tiny, grey-black specks of light, along with its dirty, ugly head, turning to ashes.
Leaving only a patch of snow soaked with filthy blood.
The wind and snow continued as before. Silence descended once more.
Thump!
Taka could no longer hold on. He fell onto his back, quietly feeling the life-force ebbing from his body.
'...I won, didn't I?'
He didn't know what had just happened to him, but with wounds this severe, they probably couldn't heal on their own...
'Maybe this really was it...'
As he fell, the heavy serrated blade let out a low, whimpering sound. The serrations on its blade gradually faded along with the dimming light, transforming back into that rusty, unremarkable, battered long sword, lying quietly beside Taka.
His body temperature plummeted. Melted snow mixed with blood soaked through his thin clothes.
The piercing cold seeped into his bones. His vision was completely swallowed by darkness.
Taka's last conscious thoughts were of the old man's stern face as he handed him a bowl of hot porridge, and a vague notion:
'Oh well... At least I avenged the old man...'
The wind and snow fell with a mournful whisper, trying to bury this brutal battlefield and the solitary, fallen figure.
Moments later, several young people in dark uniforms, bearing the character [Exterminate] on their backs, appeared at the edge of the forest.
They followed a loudly cawing black crow, running swiftly over the accumulated snow, as if searching for something.
When they saw this patch of snow dyed with blood, saturated with thick demonic energy, they couldn't help but freeze in shock.
Vast expanses of crimson, the ferocious slash marks on the tree trunks, the lingering smell in the air... the burnt odour of a demon being slain!
And in the pool of blood, the boy, clinging to life by a thread.
"What a tragic and fierce battle..."