The round moon hung in the dark night sky as its pale moonlight fell and was reflected by the snow-covered streets, illuminating the surrounding environment with a mystical hue.
Drap drap drap
"Stupid! Careless!"
A figure clad in black clothing runs wildly toward the town. He held a katana at his waist with a white belt holding the weapon. A white "Destroy" character on his back was extremely conspicuous in the night.
"I lost him! Damn it!"
His short black hair parted in the middle was blown by the wind as he ran quickly down the streets, beads of anxious sweat forming on his forehead.
His eyes darted around in panic, relentlessly observing everything around him.
Drap drap drap
"Where is it!? Where is it?!"
He was wearing the standard uniform of the Demon Slayer Corps. He suddenly stopped on his feet, right at the crossroads in the town, his head swiveling frantically.
"Shit!"
"Where am I now!?"
His face was pale and his forehead covered in cold sweat as he felt his scalp tingle, the feeling of utter hopelessness starting to creep into his heart.
Clenching his teeth as he forced himself to calm down, but it seems to have no effect.
"Caw! Caw!"
The dark sky perfectly camouflages the kasugai crow guiding the slayer. It loudly reminded.
"Caw! Murata! Calm down!"
"North! The demon sighting is in the north!"
North!
Murata heard his crow cry; his eyes lit up as he looked to the north.
He took a deep breath, trying to suppress his trembling arms, and continued to run wildly in that direction.
However,
In the direction of his destination.
Creak...
The sound of rotting wood rang out.
And then...
BOOMM!!
A two-story house collapsed in an instant!
The explosion immediately kicked up a large amount of dirt and snow at the end of the streets. Fog descended and swept by the winter wind along with wood chips onto the streets.
Whoosh—!
In an instant, the entire road was covered with mist and dust.
"Wha—!?"
Murata had to stop abruptly. He instinctively raised his arm to block his nose and squinted his eyes from the dust.
But it wasn't enough, as he choked on the dust making its way into his lungs and obscuring his vision.
Cough cough cough
Not for long; the dust slowly settled, and Murata was able to breathe easily again.
He tried to assess the situation and looked through toward the end of the streets.
And promptly contracted his pupils
For Murata noticed a figure being buried under the collapsed building.
The figure only had her upper body intact, while her lower body was crushed under the rubble. She seemed to be struggling in pain.
Murata took a deep breath, pinched his nose, and ran toward her location.
"Don't move! I'm coming!"
---
---
The rubble of the collapsed house spilled into two adjacent streets.
"Mom! Mom!!"
The child held the hand of his mother, who was buried under the rubble; tears came down on his soot-covered face. He randomly dug into the wreckage with his hands, trying to pull his mother out.
"Mom! We'll save you!"
"Brother, hurry! Let's lift it together!"
Another child, who was obviously older, was lifting a beam that was pressing on his mother, his eyes red with tears.
Half of the mother's body was crushed beneath the debris as blood flowed down to the ground as well as from her injuries on her forehead.
It took her a while to snap out of her daze as she saw her two children.
The situation was happening so fast, she didn't have time to process anything that happened. However, she grounded herself on her child in front of her.
"Run! Don't worry about me! Run!" She shouted to her child, trying to push them away as the horror of their circumstances was still around.
"No!" The younger brother cried, trying to lift the beam but to no avail.
But then—
Drap drap drap
A rush of footsteps came.
"I'm here!"
Murata ran at full speed and slid on his knees to stop his momentum perfectly in front of the family.
Click.
He put away his blade as he made his way to the younger brother.
"Don't worry, I'll get you out." Murata comforted the woman.
Murata braced himself, feet wide as he squatted, to lift the beam.
Creak!
"Hahmp!"
Murata exerted every bit of his strength, but the beam didn't even move an inch.
But the woman didn't notice Murata's effort.
She only saw the blade at his waist and suddenly reached out to grab his arm.
"No! No!"
"Please, take my children away! I beg you!"
Her voice was hoarse as her eyes filled with terror. Pupils trembled constantly as she spoke with soul-wrenching fear.
"Monster! There's a monster!"
"Take them both away, or we'll all die here!"
"Please..."
Monster?
Murata broke into a cold sweat as he heard this. He swallowed nervously as he quickly looked around.
Right there, not far from the ruins where they stand, he found it.
A figure that had been smashed beyond recognition slowly stood up. Its body gradually healed up to human form with creaking sounds.
"It's a demon!" Murata's pupils shrank, and he subconsciously reached for the Nichirin sword at his waist.
But the woman's grip was still strong on his arm; her eyes met Murata's. Her pale lips trembled as she said her last word with every bit of her strength left.
"Please..."
"Take them away!"
Murata gritted his teeth and lowered his head, looking at the woman's pleading expression. The two children were crying beside her.
He felt a tightness in his heart, as he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.
"Mom! What are you saying?" The older brother gritted his teeth and was desperately moving the roof beam. His face flushed red.
"We're going to leave together!"
"Enough!" The woman's eyes were red, her lips trembling.
"Listen to your mother!" She said to her child.
Murata staggered to his feet, took two steps back, and looked at the recovering demon not far away.
Clink, clink, clink.
His trembling hand gripped the Nichirin sword.
"Huuff..." Murata exhaled as he turned his eyes back to the family of three.
The mother was right.
When the demon recovers, everyone here will die.
Murata looked at the two children.
He bent down and picked each child up into his arms, forcibly taking them away from their mother.
Nigerundayou!
He ran. He ran away at the fastest speed he could.
The mother watched Murata's receding figure. She covered her mouth to stop the sobs threatening to come out as tears overflowed from the corners of her eyes.
Unconsciously, she reached out and grabbed in Murata's direction.
"Thank you..."
The demon finally healed his body.
The mother closed her eyes, accepting her fate as she listened to the footsteps approaching from the ruins behind her.
But then—
"Hey, Bastard!!"
Both the mother and the demon looked in the direction of the shout.
Murata's angry screams echoed nearby as he arrived back in the area. His face was pale as he held the Nichirin blade shakingly with both hands.
But he still plucked up his courage and challenged the demon.
"You freak! Come here! I'll chop your ugly head off!"