"Captain Kimura..."
"Captain Kimura, you're still alive!"
"Captain Kimura... what do you think we should do now?"
"Yeah, Captain Kimura. Why don't you give us some ideas?"
Several contestants recognized Kimura and hurriedly gathered around him, asking whether he had any way to deal with the current situation.
After all, at the beginning of the Final Selection, Kimura's intelligence and leadership skills had been obvious to everyone. His formations had also proven somewhat effective.
If it hadn't been for the special demons that had appeared later, they might actually have survived until the end of the selection.
"Don't... don't call me Captain Kimura."
Kimura lowered his head.
"Don't ask me. I... I don't know what to do either!"
If I knew what to do, I wouldn't be standing here just like the rest of you.
Kimura hung his head and stretched out his dirty hands, preventing the people around him from coming any closer.
Their voices were like knives, stabbing viciously into his heart.
Yes, he had once possessed the grand ambition of leading everyone to survive the Final Selection and join the Demon Slayer Corps.
But after that night, he had finally realized how naive he had been.
Several howls suddenly rang out from the surrounding forest.
Soon, on the opposite hillside, several demons seemed to rise from below the horizon. They stood atop the hill, looking down at the crowd below.
In the shadows surrounding the clearing, several more demons gradually appeared.
Some walked.
Some crawled.
Some simply crouched in the darkness, watching.
Just as Cold Cry had said at the beginning—
They were hunting.
Killing their prey one at a time was no longer enough to satisfy their hunger.
The Final Selection was held only once a year.
Once it ended, the demons trapped on Mount Fujikasane would have to wait another year before more candidates entered the mountain.
They no longer wanted to endure that agonizing hunger.
So, on the final night of the selection, the demons had begun a great roundup.
They were gathering all the remaining prey in one place.
Then, before the selection ended, they would feast.
Under the moonlight, a dark shadow suddenly streaked across the night sky.
It descended like a meteor and landed steadily on the hilltop.
The surrounding demons immediately moved aside, keeping as far away from the strange figure as possible.
Noe tugged on Cold Cry's sleeve and gestured toward the hilltop.
In reality, Cold Cry had already noticed the moment the Jumping Demon appeared.
Not long after the Jumping Demon landed, another figure slowly crawled down the slope.
It approached the bare tree.
Then, it climbed up the trunk and disappeared into the treetop.
The Spider Demon.
It had been stabbed through the throat by Cold Cry's Nichirin Sword.
He hadn't expected it to return so soon.
The moment the Jumping Demon and Spider Demon appeared, the large crowd immediately became restless.
Some contestants collapsed directly onto the ground, muttering:
"It's over..."
"It's over..."
Others covered their faces and began sobbing bitterly.
Then, something even worse happened.
A contestant suddenly rushed out of the crowd and ran toward the path leading down the mountain.
"I don't want to take this selection anymore!"
"I don't want to join the Demon Slayer Corps!"
However, before he could get far, several demons pounced on him.
His screams were quickly drowned out by the sound of tearing flesh.
The remaining contestants stared in horror.
It seemed that their fear of the Jumping Demon and the Spider Demon had already seeped deep into their bones.
The Jumping Demon had been the first to shatter their psychological defenses.
The Spider Demon had then destroyed their confidence in their physical strength.
And, of course, there was another demon whose appearance had contributed to the complete collapse of the group.
One from within.
One from outside.
Together, they had been the true reason the group had disintegrated.
The Three-Headed Demon.
The demon everyone had privately begun calling the "Big Meatball."
A deep, thunderous roar suddenly came from the nearby forest.
All the demons in the surrounding area instinctively shrank back.
Some even lowered their bodies, as though they wished they could flatten themselves against the ground.
If the appearance of the Jumping Demon and the Spider Demon had shattered the contestants' hopes of passing the Final Selection, then this roar had plunged them completely into despair.
Fear.
Hopelessness.
A deep sense of powerlessness.
The contestants couldn't even summon the courage to resist.
A tree as thick as a man's waist suddenly snapped with a series of loud cracks.
The trunk was pushed aside.
A massive, fleshy body squeezed through the gap between two trees.
It was three or four meters tall.
Its enormous body resembled a moving mountain.
With every step it took, the ground beneath their feet seemed to tremble.
The nearby demons retreated one after another.
The contestants, meanwhile, huddled together, trembling.
This must be the owner of the arms that had attacked Hyouka earlier.
"This... this is the Big Meatball Yuka told us about."
Noe gripped Cold Cry's sleeve tightly.
"What... what kind of demon is this? Is it really a demon?"
She hadn't felt afraid when the Jumping Demon appeared.
She hadn't panicked when she saw the Spider Demon.
But when this creature appeared, she was completely stunned.
It was exactly as Yuka had described it several days earlier.
It looked like three obese men whose legs had been cut off and whose bodies had then been fused back-to-back.
It had six arms.
Two heads.
And an extra face.
If a demon's fatal weakness was its neck, then where was this monster's weakness?
Could it have three?
Suddenly, Noe felt someone tugging weakly at her sleeve.
She looked down.
Yuka was waving at her.
Noe immediately crouched down.
She forced a comforting smile and reached out to brush away a strand of hair stuck to the corner of Yuka's mouth.
"Noe..."
Yuka's voice was weak.
"I'm really glad I met you."
Noe's expression trembled.
"Run."
Yuka looked toward Cold Cry.
"Run away with Cold Cry. With his strength, he should be able to protect you and help you survive until the Final Selection ends tomorrow morning."
Noe held Yuka's hand.
She didn't say anything.
Because she didn't know what to say.
Should she promise, "I won't leave you behind"?
Or should she say, "Take care of yourself"?
But both of them were barely capable of protecting themselves.
How could they make promises to someone else?
In the end, Noe could only lower her head.
Her heart heavy with grief and helplessness, she slowly released Yuka's hand.
Then, she stood up and returned to Cold Cry's side.
Akino crouched beside Yuka.
He took her hand and pulled her gently into his arms.
The two of them exchanged a faint smile.
"What should we do?"
Noe looked toward Cold Cry.
There was no immediate response.
She only heard him let out a faint sigh.
Cold Cry's eyes gradually sharpened.
His gaze swept across the contestants huddled together.
Then, he spoke.
"What did you come here to do?"
Cold Cry was usually stingy with his words.
Yet, at this moment, he had taken the initiative to speak.
His voice echoed through the moonlit forest.
"What did you come here to do?"
The words seemed to reverberate through the trees.
What did you come here to do?
What did you come here to do?
Everyone froze.
One by one, they turned toward the white-haired boy dressed in white.
Even the demons were momentarily startled.
Then, as though they had realized that this prey was provoking them, they began letting out strange, shrill cries.
"You came here because you want to join the Demon Slayer Corps."
Cold Cry's gaze swept across the crowd.
"Yet you're afraid of demons."
His voice was cold.
"If you fear demons so much, why did you come here to take the Final Selection?"
The crowd remained silent.
"Would you rather die here without resisting?"
His eyes became even sharper.
"Or are you willing to fight for your lives?"
Fight?
How were they supposed to fight?
What could they fight with?
Cold Cry's gaze moved across each person one by one.
Under the pressure of his eyes, the contestants gradually lowered their heads.
Then, Cold Cry turned toward Noe.
"Stay here."
Those were the only words he left behind.
He stepped out of the crowd first.
In the shocked gazes of the contestants, Cold Cry walked straight toward the center of the clearing.
He faced the towering Three-Headed Demon.
Then, slowly, he drew his Nichirin Sword.
The blade slid from its sheath with a harsh metallic scrape.
Cold Cry raised the sword.
Then, he pointed it directly toward the slope in the distance.
The other contestants didn't understand what he was doing.
But Noe understood immediately.
Cold Cry was provoking them.
The Jumping Demon.
The Spider Demon.
And the Three-Headed Demon.
His meaning was clear.
His eyes seemed to say:
You three demons... come at me together.