"There's a powerful demon coming from the west."
Blood vessels stood out in his eyes as Mo Wu forced the words through clenched teeth toward Zenitsu Agatsuma and Tanjiro Kamado.
Letting out a muffled groan, he wiped the blood seeping from his gums, straightened up, and quickly forced himself back under control. Then he sped up his speech.
"The three of us split up. Tanjiro, you go east. Zenitsu, you go north. I… I'll go south!"
By now, Zenitsu was already trembling uncontrollably.
He couldn't even imagine how strong that demon had to be if even Mo Wu feared it this much.
"Brother Mo Wu, do we really have to run separately? Please trust my strength. The three of us can defeat this demon you're talking about together!"
Tanjiro sounded confused. He simply couldn't imagine a demon stronger than the one they had just faced.
Wasn't the Final Selection only supposed to contain ordinary demons that had eaten three or four people at most? Could one really be stronger than the Hand Demon?
"Tanjiro, this demon is on the same level as the one that slaughtered your entire family!"
"W-what?!"
The sheer impact of those words nearly stopped Tanjiro's thoughts entirely. He didn't even stop to ask why Mo Wu knew his whole family had been wiped out by a demon. He kicked off the ground and immediately tried to charge west.
He wanted to ask that demon.
He wanted to know who exactly had killed his family.
He wanted to know how to turn Nezuko Kamado back to normal.
Grabbing Tanjiro just as he was about to rush west, Mo Wu flung him to the ground and barked at the fire burning in the boy's eyes.
"Tanjiro, get a grip! That demon is thousands of times stronger than the Hand Demon! What are you going to use to defeat it? How are you going to get the answers you want?"
"You'd just be throwing your life away!"
"Th-this is still the Final Selection?"
Zenitsu sat there blankly on the ground, as if unable to accept that after barely escaping death once, the three of them now had to split up and flee all over again.
What kind of Final Selection was this?
Just where had his grandpa sent him?!
Pressing a hand against his lungs as though preparing himself, Mo Wu had already formed a guess.
With a sigh, he turned back to Tanjiro and Zenitsu. Despite how awful his expression looked, he forced out a smile.
Though they had only spent four or five short hours together, the two boys calling him big bro again and again had already made him grow unexpectedly fond of them.
"Your grandfather has far too much pride. And your senior brother is weak—possibly even weaker than you. Someone like him is bound to fall into the abyss one day and drag all of you down with him."
Under Zenitsu's increasingly solemn gaze, Mo Wu slowly voiced his thoughts. Then, as though worried Zenitsu wouldn't remember, he repeated himself.
"Zenitsu, remember what I told you when we first met."
Without paying any more attention to Zenitsu, whose eyes had already begun to redden, Mo Wu turned toward Tanjiro, who was still sitting on the ground with dull, lifeless eyes after being scolded.
"My Breathing Style is called Sun Breathing. My swordsmanship should look familiar to you. In a sense, it's also your family's Kagura dance. Think carefully about your father—about what he said and what he did. Feel the Kagura within your own heart."
"And don't worry too much about your sister. She isn't beyond saving. The time simply hasn't come yet."
"Pull yourself together, Tanjiro. Nezuko and Master Urokodaki are still waiting for you on Mount Sagiri, aren't they?"
Tanjiro nodded.
The dim light in his eyes reignited with fighting spirit.
He gave Mo Wu a deep, solemn bow. Though he had no idea who this man really was, one thing was clear—right now, Mo Wu was helping him.
Without another word, Tanjiro turned and sprinted east, leaving behind only a trail of tears glittering in the air.
"Big bro… you really won't come with me?"
Tears gathered in Zenitsu's eyes as he stopped halfway toward the north. Looking back at Mo Wu, who was still standing there breathing heavily, his face showed clear reluctance.
Mo Wu waved a hand and gave him a gentle smile.
Then his figure flashed, vanishing from where he stood.
He had already said everything he could.
Next…
It was time to face that one.
End Countdown: 2:15:19
Running through the eerie forest, every slash of Mo Wu's blade sent another demon's head flying from its neck.
He breathed in ragged gasps, his lungs working so hard that his face had turned red.
But he didn't dare stop.
Not even for a moment.
The trembling that gripped every inch of his body still clung to him like a curse.
He had guessed right.
That terrifying demon was coming for him.
End Countdown: 1:13:08
"Eighty-nine."
Mo Wu killed the eighty-ninth demon.
Pain like knives cutting through his lungs spread with every breath, but his trembling hands still clung tightly to the Nichirin Blade.
He did not dare stop.
He had no right to stop the slaughter.
Mission Objective: Kill one hundred demons (99/100)
End Countdown: 0:10:08
"You're the last one."
Looking at the demon cowering before him, Mo Wu licked his dry, cracked lips.
But his hands, trembling from endless sword swings, no longer had any strength left in them. His right hand gripping the hilt couldn't even draw the sword.
So he could only stand there, deadlocked with the demon crawling at his feet.
Until—
At last, the final trace of strength surged out from somewhere deep inside his body.
In that instant, Mo Wu yanked out the Nichirin Blade.
His trembling hands were just about to bring down the sword engraved with Destroy Demons.
But—
A crushing pressure swept over him in an instant.
That fatal aura froze both Mo Wu and the demon at his feet, locking every muscle in their bodies so completely that neither could move even a fraction.
"Where did you learn Sun Breathing?"
A low voice, tinged with confusion and incomprehension, came from behind Mo Wu.
A tall man with a high black-purple ponytail slowly stepped out from beside a tree.
"The lord and I personally wiped out everyone who knew his sword style."
"By all reason, it should no longer exist in this world."
"I followed you for some time. The swordsmanship you use to kill demons does not carry his scent, and yet…"
A faint curve rose at Kokushibo's lips. He sliced open his own palm, allowing blood to drip to the ground. The smell of that blood was so intense that even the demon crawling in front of Mo Wu began to convulse.
"You do indeed know Sun Breathing."
"And you are very strong. Even the Hand Demon, enhanced by the lord's mental power, was defeated by you with ease. You do not resemble a swordsman just starting out."
"Or perhaps… that is simply proof of how powerful Sun Breathing truly is?"
Drip. Drip.
The sound of liquid falling came from behind him, while the sharp stench of blood surged straight into Mo Wu's mind.
"I can see it. In your chest burns a thirst for power. In your heart hides rage at the injustice of fate. And in your eyes… there is a bloodthirsty wolf."
"No… perhaps a tiger would be more accurate?"
As he slowly approached, Kokushibo flexed his fingers and drew the blood from the ground back into his palm, where it gathered into a floating sphere of crimson liquid.
"I will give you a choice."
"Drink this. Accept eternal life… and great power."
"Or…"
"Die here."
End Countdown: 0:05:08
"Self-righteous nobility. Just as vile as ever."
"You abandoned your wife and child just to become this?"
"Answer me, Michikatsu Tsugikuni!"