First Real Battle

"Twin sister?"

"Not true, even though the black haired child resembles a girl, but the child is definitely a boy.

Rio saw two twins of about 8 or 9 years old standing behind the biggest wisteria tree among the other wisteria trees.

One of the twins has bob white hair, large eyes, wears a dark blue Hōmongi kimono with a purple floral pattern and a maroon obi with a creamy yellow obiage. On the left side of her hair, she wears a yellow ribbon.

While the other twins, bob-style black hair, light skin, pale, and big eyes. Dressed in a purple uchikake kimono with patterned flowers and a green obi, backed up with a white obiage and indigo obijime.

The reason why the black hair twins were boys was because he saw the Adam's apple that was starting to grow on the other party's throat.

Then the twins spoke in sync.

"Thank you for gathering for the final selection."

"This Mount Fujikasane is a gathering place for Demons captured by Demon Slayers and Demons cannot get out of here." Said the twins with twin hair with always smiling faces.

Now it was the turn of the black hair twins who continued the explanation.

"Flowers that remain in bloom out of season… The wisteria that the demons hate, spread from the foot of the mountain to the slopes."

"But from this place, because the wisteria flowers don't bloom. Demons are gathering there." Said the white hair twins.

"You have to stay there for 7 days, that is the graduation requirement of the final selection." Said the black hair twins explaining the graduation requirements.

Then the two twins bowed slightly before the crowd in unison and said in unison:

"Okay, then go."

Rio and the rest of the participants walked up Mount Fujikasane, the further they went, the wisteria flowers began to be nowhere to be seen.

Rio ran while maintaining his stamina down the mountain peak.

Having separated from the other participants, Rio didn't want to be stabbed in the back while fighting.

"I have to endure for 7 days..."

"Finally I will face my first Demon, I don't know how strong I am compared to low-level Demons."

Rio who was running immediately braked on the ground with his right foot, his right hand gripped the Nichirin Sword and could be pulled out at any time.

<Danger Detection> gave him a warning this time, Rio glanced left and right warily.

The silent and dark night that was only lit by the moonlight made the forest feel very eerie.

This is even scarier than the test of guts because there are Demons who can attack at any time.

"Where is the demon going to attack from…"

Rio observes the dark surroundings relying solely on moonlight, he doesn't have extraordinary hearing or smell like the sleeping boy and the protagonist.

He could only rely on the Passive Skill <Danger Detection> which was his innate talent.

Suddenly from above, a demon with four meter long fingernails jumped from a tree and pounced on him like an eagle wanting to prey.

Rio's expression was indifferent even though he was ambushed, instead of dodging, he preferred to attack. He pulled the Nichirin Sword from its scabbard and made a stance.

"Shi no kata: Enrai (Fourth Form: Distant Thunder)!"

A ball of white lightning formed at the tip of the sword, then Rio shot the ball of lightning towards the Demon who was a few meters away from him.

*JEDER*

"Argghhhh...."

Because in the air, the Demon was unable to dodge this attack. With the sound of thunder booming, the Demon screamed in pain and it fell to the ground with a bang.

Not wanting to miss the opportunity, using <Reduced Earth>, Rio like a teleportation appeared before the Demon who was stunned by the ball of lightning.

Without hesitation, Rio swung his sword decapitating the Demon's head and sent it flying several meters away.

"First..." Rio said emotionlessly.

"Hyaa!!!"

From behind Rio, another Demon launched a sneak attack aiming for Rio's neck.

Turning his body, Rio dealt a deadly kick to the demon behind him.

*cracks*

As a result of that kick, the Demon's neck spun backwards 180 degrees and then its body shot into a tree.

"Are you really human?"

Even though his head was spinning backwards, the demon didn't care, instead he was surprised by the power of the kick that Rio showed.

"That seems to be true, Demons will not die unless they are exposed to the sun or their heads are cut off by the Nichirin Sword."

Rio didn't answer the Demon's question, instead he watched the Demon like he was looking at a rat.

"Don't underestimate me human!"

*cracks*

The demon turned its head back forward as if it was a matter of course, the muscles on its body swelled like a bodybuilder. Then he ran and punched forward

*BAMM*

Unfortunately Rio had jumped backwards before the blow hit him, he took advantage of his high speed, he appeared behind the Demon and slashed at the Demon's neck before reacting.

The Demon's body that had lost its head quickly turned to black ash and disappeared.

"This is the second…" Rio said without any excitement in his voice.

Putting the Nichirin Sword into its scabbard, Rio continued to search for Demons as practice objects.

The sun rising from the east shone on the snow that was slowly melting due to the warmth of the sun.

On Mount Fujikasane, the Demon Slayer candidates seek a resting place after tired of surviving the onslaught of the Demons.

Because of the sunlight, the final selection participants can relax their tense nerves and restore stamina to face the next night.

"It's dawn huh...."

Rio stretched his tired body after a night of hunting demons.

"I managed to eradicate 12 Demons, not bad. But I have to say the demons on Mount Fujikasane are very weak, maybe because the demons here are trapped in this mountain which causes them not to eat humans so the demons here are very weak."

In last night's battle, Rio had no trouble exterminating the Demons. Even when he was surrounded by 5 demons at once, it still didn't bother him.

Jigoro once said that Demons will get stronger when they eat a lot of humans, because the Demons on Mount Fujikasane were captured by the Demon Slayer Corps and used as a final selection test, of course their strength has weakened.

Even though he had killed many Demons, Rio was not arrogant enough to say he was so strong that he could easily exterminate many Demons. So he speculated as to why he managed to kill so many demons without any difficulty

*GRRRR*

"Speaking of eating, I remembered I haven't eaten since last night, I was looking for food to eat."

Rio patted his empty stomach, and rushed to look for fruits in the trees around Mount Fujikasane.

Because in the morning, Rio met many other final selection participants.

The condition of the participants varied greatly, from minor injuries to serious injuries. But Rio didn't greet them and continued to look for edible fruit.