"Hmm?"
The large demon, leading the two beast-demons while tracking the scent of the human cubs, scanned the surrounding environment. As an experienced hunter, this was the first time he felt a faint sense of crisis within his own territory. There were almost no beasts left in this forest that dared oppose him, so why did he still feel this way? Were there other demons nearby?
He didn't consider the little ones. After all, would a seasoned hunter, while tracking prey, ever think about where a plump rabbit might be hiding, preparing to kill him? A hunter slain by a rabbit would be absurd.
"It is indeed this direction."
Even though he wasn't a beast-demon, his sense of smell was remarkably sharp. The fresh scent of human cubs still lingered in the clearing.
"What an enticing aroma. Is this the high-quality product cultivated by the elite farm?"
"I wonder if, after catching all those little demons, they would reward me with a high-quality taste… perhaps a leg, or even just a hand."
He didn't dare think about brains. Only nobles were qualified to enjoy the brains of edible children.
"Eh?"
Lowering his head, he examined the tracks on the ground. The path where a large group had passed seemed partially covered, yet there were also obvious misleading traces mixed in. Was someone helping the little demons escape? Even so, the disguise was poorly executed — it wouldn't deceive a seasoned hunter like him.
Just then, two figures burst from the bushes on either side, attacking simultaneously.
Someone was still nearby?
He hadn't anticipated this. Most demons were large by nature and couldn't conceal themselves easily in a forest of this size, so ambushes from their own kind had never concerned him. Yet the situation unfolding now was entirely unexpected.
There were no demons hiding in wait.
Only human cubs.
What a tasteless joke.
It was like a hunter discovering a rabbit caught in his trap, only for the seemingly dead creature to suddenly spring up and lunge at his throat.
What reckless overestimation of one's own strength.
"Clang—"
The Great Demon didn't even bother to dodge. What threat could a mere human cub pose to it? It easily blocked one of the attacks with its long, scythe-like fingernail, and a shower of sparks erupted at the moment of impact. It seemed the weapon this little brat was holding was of quite good quality. But so what? Its skin was no less hard than its nails.
However, before it could reach out to grab the female child, who it suspected was a prime candidate for consumption, a powerful force suddenly struck it from the right. There was a momentary stinging sensation on its arm. Was it injured? Years of jungle hunting experience made it flash to the side and dodge instantly.
The moment it retreated, the beast-oni next to it immediately charged forward. But just as it bared its ferocious teeth, its brutal head was directly severed by the Murasame in Arthur's hand.
Under the enhancement of [Giant Killer], the damage caused by his strength attribute was increased by nearly ten times. He had once again achieved a head-severing kill upon contact. The headless body of the beast-like oni crashed heavily to the ground.
At this moment, Saeko steadied herself and pressed forward to assist Arthur, engaging the remaining beast-oni. Now it was Arthur against the Great Demon, one on one.
Arthur's blade continued its relentless downward arc toward the oni. However, this creature's reaction speed was astonishing. The instant it saw its own subordinate beheaded, it immediately determined that the weapon in Arthur's hand was far from ordinary and refused to take even the slightest risk. It grabbed Arthur's hilt directly and pulled hard toward itself.
Arthur's body instantly lost balance. As he stumbled forward, the long, sharp fingernail on the oni's other hand clawed straight toward his chest.
At the crucial moment, Arthur didn't hesitate. Almost instantly, he abandoned the Murasame in his hand.
The opponent clearly hadn't expected him to give up the very weapon capable of injuring it. Its body became slightly unbalanced due to the sudden loss of opposing force.
In the next moment, another sharp machete appeared in Arthur's hand.
Arthur swung the machete with everything he had, and the air seemed to compress under the sheer weight of the blow. This was nothing like the elegant arc of a katana; it was raw, crushing force, a weapon so heavy it bordered on being a blunt instrument. Under the more than ten-fold enhancement of [Giant Killer], the blade tore downward with a violent whistle, splitting the space between them.
The Great Demon's instincts flared violently. It didn't understand how the boy had produced such a weapon out of nowhere, but its body understood the danger. If that strike landed cleanly, something vital would break. Muscles twisted grotesquely as it forcibly redirected its killing thrust, abandoning the chance to pierce Arthur's chest. The weapon it had seized moments ago was thrown aside without hesitation, clattering across the forest floor.
Arthur's expression never changed. He had never intended to exchange life for life. With his current physique, if those claws pierced him completely, his organs would rupture instantly and the fight would end on the spot. So the moment the oni shifted its weight, Arthur released the machete. The heavy blade spun through the air like a launched projectile, slamming into the Great Demon's chest with a dull, explosive impact.
Sparks scattered. The hardened flesh split just enough to leave a shallow groove, but no blood flowed. The power had diminished after leaving Arthur's hand. Even so, the impact staggered the massive creature half a step backward, and that brief imbalance was all Arthur needed. He moved immediately, boots grinding against soil and fallen leaves as he slipped to the side and reclaimed Murasame in one smooth motion.
Now they faced each other again at close range, the tension far denser than before. The forest seemed to shrink around them, the scent of damp earth mixing with something metallic in the air.
Not far away, Saeko's battle was growing harsher by the second. Each clash between her blade and the beast-oni's claws sent violent tremors up her arms. She lacked a weapon as sharp as Murasame and had no skill like [Giant Killer] to amplify her strikes. What she had was precision, discipline, and unyielding will. The monster outweighed her several times over, and any direct hit could shatter bone, yet she continued to maneuver, redirecting force, exploiting openings, refusing to yield even a single step.
The Great Demon suddenly let out a low, grating laugh, its voice thick with malice. "Little brat… your companion won't last much longer. Once she's torn apart, will you still stand there so calmly?" Its eyes gleamed with cruel anticipation, attempting to fracture Arthur's focus.
Arthur did not turn his head. His gaze remained locked onto the oni before him, cold and unwavering. "You're speaking to something you once considered prey," he replied evenly. "The fact that you're talking means you're already uncertain."
The words landed harder than a blade. The Great Oni's pupils tightened beneath its bony mask. At that moment, a strand of moonlight slipped through the canopy and fell across Murasame's flat edge. Along the steel, an eerie black-purple rune shimmered faintly, as if awakening in response to the killing intent in the air. The temperature seemed to drop, and for the first time since the battle began, a flicker of unease crawled through the Great Demon's chest.
The hunter was no longer certain it was the one in control.
In the moonlight, the eerie runes etched along the blade writhed like living insects, slithering across the steel in slow, deliberate patterns as though feeding on the surrounding darkness. The sight alone was enough to unsettle even a seasoned warrior, but what truly froze the Great Demon's blood was the sensation erupting from the shallow cut on his left arm. From that originally insignificant wound, a bone-gnawing pain began to spread, not violently, but relentlessly—like something chewing its way inward, devouring flesh, nerve, and marrow from within.
His breathing faltered. The injury had been minor. It should have been trivial. And yet the agony radiating from it felt fundamentally wrong, as if the wound itself had become alive.
"One-Hit Kill."
Arthur's voice was calm, almost indifferent. Despite the overwhelming difference in height, the way he tilted his head upward carried no trace of strain or fear. In that moment, it felt less like he was looking up at a towering demon and more like he was gazing down upon a dying insect, observing it with cold detachment rather than hatred.
"That is the name of this Teigu," he continued evenly, the faint glow of the runes reflecting in his eyes.
The Great Demon's pupils trembled.
"Any living being wounded by it will die… without exception."
There was no rise in his tone, no dramatic flourish, only certainty. And somehow, that quiet certainty was far more terrifying than any shout.