Hunter [46]: Annihilate the Hashira 

"Brother Inosuke, let's quickly find Tanjiro. I feel that he's in trouble."

Toko had an ominous feeling.

"Hahaha, as expected, I'm the strongest! I've taken care of all the trouble here!"

Inosuke laughed heartily.

As they were about to leave, several more controlled Demon Slayer Corps members surrounded them. This time, Murata stepped forward, volunteering to hold them off so Inosuke and Toko could go support Tanjiro.

...

Frenzied Barrage!

Dragon River fired over a dozen bullets, but the Spider Father merely shielded his head with his arms. Any injuries were quickly healed.

Tanjiro leaned against a tree, avoiding the Spider Father's sight. He felt sympathy for Dragon Rover, who had such companions, but that didn't mean he would help. He watched the situation from behind the tree, recovering his strength from the recent battle.

"It's really hard to communicate with someone so dumb! Right, I should signal Old King and the others to send some people to cover my retreat." Dragon River thought of the signal device Old King had given them.

Suddenly, sensing a punch coming his way, he quickly reversed his grip on his gun, shielding his head.

With a couple of cracking sounds, he rolled away, creating some distance. Seeing the cracks on his weapon, he felt heartbroken. But now wasn't the time to be upset about this. He immediately took out a small handgun and fired into the air.

To his disbelief, the signal flare from the handgun didn't produce any signaling effect. After flying just three meters, it exploded, and some blood fell onto him.

Seeing the blood on Dragon River and sensing its aura, the Spider Father became even more furious, roaring, "Don't think you can hurt my family!"

"Damn you, Old King, for setting me up!"

This was Dragon River's last hysterical roar before he ran out of tricks and, once again alone, was quickly torn to pieces by the Spider Father.

"Brother Tanjiro!"

"Gonpachiro!"

"Tanjiro!"

Hearing Toko and Inosuke's voices, Tanjiro sighed in relief, then quickly tensed up again, warning Inosuke and Toko, "Be careful, this guy's skin is too tough; the Nichirin Sword might not be able to cut through it!"

…

…

"Brother King..."

The contractor who had been chased by Toko and Murata managed to escape and returned to their temporary gathering point in Spider Mountain.

"Little Justice, why are you alone? Where's Dragon River?"

Old King helped the panting Little Justice sit down and asked with a smile.

The contractor known as Little Justice caught his breath and said, "We didn't have time to complete the mission. Tanjiro and the others had already strung up the Demon Slayer Corps members and then started hunting us down! Tanjiro chased after Brother Dragon, and Inosuke went after Ryota..."

"With Dragon River's abilities, he should have no problem escaping the hunt. But now that no one else has returned except you, it seems they met a grim fate."

Old King showed a hint of sorrow, but it felt more like the sadness of seeing a fellow suffer.

Someone asked, "Was no one chasing you?"

"It was that extra Murata and another girl from the Demon Slayer Corps." Little Justice replied.

"Another member of the Demon Slayer Corps?"

Old King's eyes flickered as he asked, "Is she a contractor?"

"No."

Little Justice and the others had already guessed that Toko wasn't a contractor. After being chased by her for some time, it was clear she was more like a newbie in the Demon Slayer Corps, relying solely on breathing techniques and sword skills with no other powers.

Old King nodded and changed the topic, asking the person beside him, "Are the two brothers guarding the entrance alright?"

"No issues. But they did report that Zenitsu Agatsuma has already charged into Spider Mountain."

"Warn everyone to be careful not to run into that yellow-haired guy. If you scare him into fainting, you're on your own."

Old King instructed.

Looking at the four remaining contractors around him, Old King chuckled, taking out his smoking pipe for a few puffs. The others were used to Old King's laughter and didn't find it strange.

"That Dragon River managed to lure the Spider Father to Tanjiro ahead of time. Though he was killed, he served his purpose... The Spider Mother who controls the silk is still alive, and the headless demon she controls can still entangle Inosuke for a while... If the Spider Father seriously injures Tanjiro in advance, our chances will increase greatly..."

Old King kept smiling outwardly while calculating his plans in his mind. All the contractors who came with him thought they were here to complete the main mission, but no one knew that his real target was Tanjiro.

Facing Lower Moon Five, Rui, was the closest Tanjiro had ever come to death. Old King wanted to seize this opportunity and take a gamble! He knew that only by risking his life could he stand out from the ordinary contractors.

Among the distributed signal guns, only Dragon River's bullet had been tampered with. He had secretly filled it with blood obtained from ambushing the Spider Sister. Because of this, the enraged Spider Father would track the scent of the blood.

Among the three contractors, Dragon River was the strongest. Tanjiro would surely take on the most dangerous opponent himself. Competing with Tanjiro, Inosuke would naturally go after the other two contractors.

The Spider Mother was very afraid of the Spider Father, so she couldn't send the headless demon to Tanjiro; it would only be dispatched to deal with Inosuke.

"I should go and see what's happening. Any brothers want to join me?" Old King stood up and said. He needed to personally monitor the situation's changes.

"Old King, maybe we should drop it. In this Spider Mountain, not only do we have to deal with the Demon Slayer Corps, but we also need to be careful of that Lower Moon Demon. The Hashira are almost here; let's find a chance to retreat."

A contractor suggested. Upon hearing this, the other contractors agreed, knowing that facing a Hashira directly would be too dangerous.

"Fortune favors the bold."

Old Wang chuckled, then slipped into the forest. Whether through tools or skills, he managed to hide his presence.

A contractor from the same temporary adventure group as Dragon River suddenly received news of his death, making a few of them worried about Old King's departure.

"Can anyone try to complete Mission 2 and see what the final mission is?" a contractor suggested. The group exchanged glances, and one of them decided to complete the mission.

"What! It's not a competitive mission!"

The contractor exclaimed, then quickly covered their mouth and silently displayed the mission.

[Main Mission (3): Annihilate the Hashira]

Difficulty Level: LV.4

Mission Description: The names of the Nine Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps instill fear in all demons. You must break this intimidation.

Mission Information: If a contractor from the demon faction kills any Hashira, the mission is completed.

Mission Duration: Ten natural days.

Mission Reward: 2 attribute points, 5000 Paradise Coins.

Failure Penalty: Forced execution

=======

"This is a mission we can't complete on our own! We'll have to cooperate with Old Wood and the Drunkard's groups!"

The contractor who proposed the suggestion was on the verge of tears.

They initially thought it would still be a competitive mission among faction contractors. That would have been much easier, requiring them to kill over half of the contractors in the Demon Slayer Corps faction to win. They wouldn't need to confront that powerful contractor, just eliminate three out of the other four contractors to win.

Now, with the emergence of a Hashira annihilation mission, they were in a bind, unable to complete it on their own.

"We'll have to wait for Old King to come back!"

...

...

Crouching near the entrance of Spider Mountain were two contractors, Clear Sky and Forest River, from the same temporary adventure group as Dragon River. Seeing the news of his death, they couldn't help but feel a chill in their hearts.

"Brother Forest, even Brother Dragon died inside; this is too dangerous!"

Clear Sky, lying in the grass, couldn't help but shrink inward for a sense of security.

"Why do you think I'm here guarding the entrance?"

Forest River glanced at Clear Sky and whispered.

"Brother Jiang, you're so smart!"

"Moshi moshi~ What fun are you two demons having lying here?"

A gentle, crisp voice sounded in their ears.

The two contractors stiffened, slowly turning their heads to see Shinobu Kocho standing silently behind them, smiling gently at them.

"We haven't eaten any humans!"

Forest River immediately said to Shinobu Kocho.

"Yes, yes!"

Clear Sky quickly nodded in agreement.

Shinobu Kocho kept smiling, "Ara~ No need to be nervous, gentlemen. I haven't asked you yet..."

"You have to believe me! Trust me!"

"I want to believe you two, but I can smell the blood on you from a distance..."

Shinobu Kocho's words made the two contractors very uneasy.

"That's from the dead bodies in the mountains!"

Forest River made an excuse. They couldn't very well say that while they didn't eat humans, they did kill some, could they?

"Kocho. There's no need to waste words with these demons."

If Shinobu Kocho gave them any hope of explaining themselves, the appearance of Giyu Tomioka dashed it completely.

The two tried to escape by turning and running, but their vision blurred. It turned out their heads had already been severed by Giyu.