"Countdown: 0:18:21."
Time slipped by second by second. The sun had already disappeared from the sky, leaving behind only half a sunset spilling weak light over the mountain ridge.
The temperature on Mount Fujikasane gradually dropped.
Slash!
Blade-light flashed endlessly across the clearing as sweat poured from Mo Wu like rain. By now, a small puddle had formed beneath his feet, glittering grains of salt crystallizing within it. His upper garment had long since been stripped off and tied around his waist because it got in the way, revealing the eight-pack abs that had somehow formed on his body.
Perhaps because his physique had already been strengthened once by a miracle, this round of training did not leave Mo Wu particularly exhausted. He didn't even feel the slightest dryness in his throat.
"The last one."
His right hand tightened around the hilt. As the muscles across his upper body flexed in perfect rhythm, his breathing continued without pause. In an instant, a fiery red arc of blade-light erupted, illuminating the entire clearing like a miniature sun, brighter even than the fading glow of dusk.
"Body like glazed glass, heart like steel."
"Ten thousand sword swings completed."
"Milestone unlocking…"
"Ding."
"O slayer of demons…"
"Miracle granted: state reset, strength increased, speed increased, stamina increased."
"Miracle granted: Basic Swordsmanship Lv4."
"Miracle granted: Sun Breathing Lv2."
"Continue onward toward the next milestone on the path of Great Feats."
His body had become even stronger.
With effortless ease, Mo Wu twirled the Nichirin Blade in one hand, carving a clean flourish through the air. Everything felt perfectly natural.
"Next… let's try this."
Taking in a deep breath, Mo Wu clenched his teeth. His right hand gripping the blade tensed, his body lowering slightly as every muscle in his body gathered power, poised like a hunting leopard ready to pounce.
"First Form: Dance."
The crimson-lit blade struck cleanly across the waist of a massive tree. The edge sliced through the hardened trunk with absurd ease. Even the sturdy tree shuddered under the strike before splitting as cleanly as tofu. It tilted slowly, then crashed to the ground in a thunderous fall, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The withered leaves on its branches fluttered down in all directions, spinning and drifting through the air before settling across the ground around the fallen tree.
It looked like a sudden rain of purple flowers.
"What exactly do you demons think life is worth?"
Mo Wu muttered softly, staring at the twisted head gradually turning to ash beneath the falling leaves.
He had smelled that demon's scent all the way back at his 6,800th swing. It had been hiding behind the tree the whole time, spying on him as he trained, its hungry gaze fixed on him, its entire body reeking of nauseating blood. Mo Wu had endured it until now before finally killing it in one clean stroke.
He sheathed the blade and stood silently, letting the leaves land in his hair as he watched dead leaves and ash dance together in the air.
His right hand resting on the scabbard, Mo Wu pulled up the mission panel and examined the tasks displayed before him.
Clearance Mission: Live? Live!
Objective: Survive the night on Mount Fujikasane.
Reward: 500 Dream Points
Countdown: 0:1:46
Side Mission: Lord of Mount Fujikasane (1/3)
Objective: Kill ten demons (2/10)
Reward: 100 Dream Points
One minute left…
"Phew…"
He exhaled a stream of hot breath. His body trembled slightly, and he could clearly feel his blood accelerating through his veins, his heart pounding hard as it pumped fresh blood through him.
Excitement. Nervousness. And… a trace of anger?
Yes.
It was anger toward the fate that left him at the mercy of demons.
Drawing the Nichirin Blade from the sheath at his waist, Mo Wu no longer felt the fear and unease that had gripped him at the beginning.
Moonlight filtered through the leaves and branches above, spilling across the newly opened clearing.
He stood there in silence, his long blade reflecting a faint crimson sheen beneath the moon.
And in that reflection, he saw three or four figures lunging at him from behind.
"Countdown: 0:0:1."
"Fifth Form: Solar Heat Haze!"
Clearance Mission: Live? Live!
Objective: Survive the night on Mount Fujikasane / Kill all demons
Reward: 500 Dream Points
End Countdown: 12:00:00
Whoosh!
A crimson arc of blade-light cut through the air, and a demon's head soared skyward, tracing a graceful curve before landing among the fallen leaves.
"What exactly do you demons think life is worth?"
In the final memory that returned to it, a bare-chested man with an indistinct face slid his blade back into its sheath and murmured those words.
Pain. Unwillingness. Regret.
Was it him?
Impossible. Absolutely impossible.
Back then, he had already cleaned out every last one of them.
And yet that crimson radiance told him again and again that it was real.
That… that was absolutely something different from Flame Breathing.
The unbearable memory surged back into his mind. His rose-red pupils shrank violently, and the flesh all over his body twitched.
Just the thought of it alone… was enough to make every cell in his body want to burst apart and flee.
"Ugh—"
After retching, Muzan Kibutsuji wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve, fury rising in his heart.
"You people are so annoyingly persistent."
There was confusion and incomprehension in his muttering. From the bottom of his heart, he simply could not understand the idea of avenging another life.
"Wouldn't it be enough just to stay alive?"
That kind of thing should be erased.
But the moment he remembered that blade, as brilliant as the sun itself, his body shrank back involuntarily.
"Go call Kokushibo."
After giving the order to the black-haired woman standing beside him, one eye hidden behind her bangs and a biwa in her hands, Muzan leaned back into his chair and began flipping rapidly through a herbal manual, trying to calm himself.
But the speed of the turning pages and the restless shaking of his legs exposed the agitation in his heart all too clearly.
Side Mission: Lord of Mount Fujikasane (1/3)
Objective: Kill ten demons (5/10)
Reward: 100 Dream Points
Using Sun Breathing, Mo Wu cleanly severed the heads of three demons in succession. With a flick of his blade, the lingering blood evaporated beneath the crimson heat radiating from it.
"A revolting stench."
His nose twitched slightly. Turning with cold eyes toward the branch behind him to the right, Mo Wu saw a demon there—fangs sharp, claws long as talons, staring fixedly at his body.
"Graaah!"
Its sturdy body lunged like a tiger descending a mountain, hurling itself straight at Mo Wu.
A demon consumed by hunger knew nothing of fear.
The stench of blood rushed at him. The passive skill Demon Sense had sharpened Mo Wu's senses enormously, making the foul reek almost unbearable.
Whoosh.
With only a light spring, Mo Wu's body left the ground and rose gracefully into the air.
His right hand swung the blade. Hot breath hissed from between his teeth, and the brilliant crimson slash exploded like fireworks.
"First Form: Dance."
His body twisted in midair, drawing a graceful arc. His blade swept down, carrying a crescent of fiery light from the sky toward the earth.
Objective: Kill ten demons (6/10)
"Trash."
Landing lightly back on the ground, Mo Wu didn't even bother to glance at the headless corpse behind him. His nose twitched once more.
He could smell it.
Not far ahead, a blood-soaked stench even fouler than before was moving toward him.