65. The Strongest Demon Till Now (1)
The town was bustling, but there was a sense of caution among the people. The news of serial kidnappings was floating around everywhere, gripping them with fear. Every night, someone vanished, taken by someone, never to be seen again.
Even the patrol teams made to catch this "someone" disappeared, making the people more afraid and the victims' families more grief-stricken.
But still, as mysterious as the disappearances were, it had nothing to do with Kotaro, until a victim's mother cried out – "It was a demon! The demon took my daughter!"
Now that a demon was in the equation, the news spread, and after several months of the installation of the new Flame Hashira...
"Kotaro Kenshin. Kotaro Kenshin. A demon has been sighted. Depart towar---"
"Haru, you sure shout a lot."
Caw!
Now, the words didn't come out, and Haru started to give his instinctual, animalistic cry, driven by fear. Good for Haru, as annoyed as Kotaro was, he never neglected orders based on his emotions.
After being a Demon Slayer for almost a year now, this work had meaning for him and everyone else. If Mitsuri was hunting demons to be able to walk beside Kotaro, then Kotaro was doing it to make sure Mitsuri could walk beside him.
Sigh... love birds.
While both Kotaro and Mitsuri didn't face Lower Rank 2 directly, their actions didn't go unnoticed.
Mitsuri's way of fighting seemed less like a fight and more like a bubbly dance. Her fights were filled with jumps and flips, maneuvered due to immense strength and flexibility, and most importantly, the smile and love she radiated during it all... It would be strange if she went unnoticed.
And Kotaro—his strength was good, probably on par with or greater than Mitsuri's—but what surprised most was his actions and resourcefulness. In the fight, he figured out the bombs, and the fact that he deduced that they were time bombs showed his intelligence.
All of these actions led to promotions in the ranks—Mitsuri promoted from Mizunoe to Kanoto, and Kotaro from Mizunoe to Kanoe.
Kotaro's presence made Mitsuri's strength soar more than her original counterpart, resulting in her rapid promotion. And Kotaro wielding Hamon, it was only natural for him to advance through the ranks.
In a way, Kagaya could see this couple emerging as important pieces in his quest to slay Kibutsuji Muzan in his generation.
"Kotaro and Mitsuri... I have higher expectations for you."
...
"Mitsuri, did you get a call too?"
"Yes. It seems to be toward the west."
Mitsuri's Kasugai Crow, named Urara, was on her shoulders, fidgety and nervous, reminding Kotaro of a certain someone. And Kotaro's Kasugai Crow, Haru, was beside Urara, trying to woo her just like a certain someone.
Are Kasugai Crows really like their masters?
"It seems we won't be able to hunt demons together."
Mitsuri sulked at this sudden departure. It wasn't the modern times where one could just take out their bike or car and start traveling to the hunting zone. The Demon Slayers mostly had to walk large distances to reach the places where demons were sighted.
And the time spent hunting a single demon was much more than one could imagine. Kotaro remembered traveling a long distance, only to kill the demon with a single punch. Did he seriously travel all that distance just to throw a single punch?
The emptiness he felt at that time... just thinking about it again made his mind flare with rage.
Kotaro didn't like this arrangement either, but this was the path he and Mitsuri had chosen. Now that they were walking it, it would be in vain if they gave up before reaching the place for which they joined.
"Don't worry. I'll come as fast as I can. And I'm sure this time too the demon will be solved with a single punc---"
...
'Damn! Just give me a demon that can be solved with a single punch!'
Kotaro panted as he looked at the demon in front of him. Now, he cursed his stupidity back at the mansion.
He thought this time he was dispatched to kill another generic demon, but...
"This demon... He's strong. Moreover... he looks familiar."
Even though he didn't know the name, Kotaro was sure he had seen that face somewhere. And that made him more cautious. The fact that it seemed familiar despite encountering it for the first time showed that this demon was from his memories.
And now that he had exchanged several blows, Kotaro understood that this demon was not like the weak ones he had fought before.
"Demon Slayer... Heh! To think you would tread this place fearlessly... You have come to your doom!"
"Doom? My doom is not for you to decide. And you, whatever your name is, better worry that it's not me, but you, who has come to his doom!"
[Hamon Mode: Stage One]
Sparks started to emerge all over his body, and the staff began to glow in the cloudy night. Facing the demon, Kotaro pointed his staff, ready to face the strongest demon he had encountered up to this point.
"Hehehe~ You lowly human!"
===
A/N:
Up to this point, Kotaro has yet to face a powerful demon. A protagonist can't just blitz through everything, right?