Why does the world show a health bar? !

"The stars tonight are so beautiful."

The night sky was exceptionally stunning, even outshining the moon. In the absence of the purple wisteria flowers, the area felt lifeless, leaving only the stars to offer some comfort.

"What are you talking about? Hurry up and move! We need to find the place where the sun rises first," Makomo said, looking at the strange behavior of her companion.

She couldn't help but feel that Li Mo was treating this whole thing like a sightseeing trip.

"Makomo, what do you think the demons are doing right now?" Li Mo asked, teasing her with a riddle.

"I don't know."

"Don't be so cold with your answers. Imagine this: if you hadn't eaten proper food for a year, only surviving on junk food, and suddenly, a feast of proper meals appeared in front of you. What would you do?"

Li Mo's words practically spelled out the answer for Makomo.

What he described was exactly what the demons trapped on Mount Fujikasane were experiencing.

Using basic logic—or rather, animal instincts—it was clear what the demons would do. Upon seeing their "food," they would charge forward without a second thought.

To demons, humans were nothing more than food.

Makomo said, "Isn't that all the more reason we should find a safe place?"

"No rush. Let's test the quality of these demons first."

The leaves rustled.

There was no wind, so why were the leaves moving? It had to be because someone—or something—had touched them. Makomo's focus sharpened, and her hand gripped the hilt of her Nichirin Blade.

A shadow leaped down from the trees, and Makomo drew her sword.

—But someone was faster.

Another Nichirin Blade sliced through the air, tracing a beautiful arc that cleanly severed the demon's neck. The decapitated body fell to the ground, disintegrating into ash before it could even hit the dirt.

"First one. Having a Nichirin Blade is so much better. This feels great."

As a player with cheats, being forced to rely solely on training for strength instead of killing monsters for experience points was agonizing. It was like entering the Main God's Space and refusing to use evolution points to enhance yourself, choosing instead to grind through sheer effort.

—Wasn't that just torture?

Despite these conditions, Li Mo had persevered. He often went into the mountains to hunt, hoping to gain experience. But he soon discovered that ordinary animals didn't provide any experience. Only creatures like brown bears, which posed a real threat, offered a tiny amount—and it was truly minuscule.

But demons were different.

Demons provided a massive amount of experience. Li Mo had reached **LV2** thanks to the experience gained from killing two demons.

More demons meant more experience.

The demons on Mount Fujikasane were carefully selected to be relatively weak. Li Mo was confident he wouldn't fail, even against the Hand Demon. He had absolute confidence.

Having mastered **Total Concentration Breathing: Constant**, Li Mo's strength far surpassed that of the demons here.

"Seriously, why are you in such a hurry?"

Makomo realized that Li Mo hadn't been lying when he said he had been holding back during their sparring sessions.

His speed was something she couldn't even follow.

How could he swing his sword so fast? Was the gap between us really that big?

As she caught up to Li Mo, Makomo couldn't help but think.

---

The night of slaughter had begun. For the demons, the next seven days would be a feast—provided they could successfully hunt their prey and not be killed themselves.

But for Li Mo, the demons were the prey.

Once, Li Mo had heard a saying: *When there's a 300% profit, capitalists will trample over all laws.* Today, he finally understood the weight of those words.

He felt like he was going crazy with the killing. Though he couldn't see an experience bar, the sensation of leveling up had occurred several times during his rampage.

"Hey, Li Mo. Are you... sick or something? Why are you so excited?"

With each swing of his blade, another demon fell. These demons, who had come expecting an all-you-can-eat buffet, found themselves being hunted instead.

As each demon was decapitated and turned to ash, Li Mo's expression grew more and more exhilarated. It was like finally relieving yourself after a night of constipation.

Pure bliss!

But when Makomo saw his expression, she couldn't help but feel disgusted. "You look like you've lost your mind," she said.

"Makomo, you don't understand how satisfying it is to use Urokodaki-sensei's Nichirin Blade to decapitate a demon and watch it die instantly."

Of course, he couldn't tell her about the experience points. So he focused on the other satisfaction.

Finally, he didn't have to deal with the demons' annoying regeneration. Wasn't that worth celebrating?

Li Mo's joy didn't stop there.

"You're right."

This junior brother of hers had killed two demons even before getting a Nichirin Blade. Even if one of them had been finished off by Himejima Gyomei in its weakened state, the fact that Li Mo had brought it to that point was impressive. Being able to kill demons so effortlessly now was a cause for celebration.

Makomo thought for a moment, then asked, "So, junior brother, when do you plan to rest?"

"I've killed eleven demons today. Let's make it twenty, then we'll find a place to rest. I'll need your help then!" Li Mo said, counting on his fingers.

"Only ten."

Makomo thought to herself, *You look so full of energy. I doubt you even need to rest. You could probably chop your way from the foot of the mountain to the peak without stopping all night.*

"Wait, only ten? Did I miscount?" Li Mo recounted and realized she was right. One of the demons had been killed by Makomo.

Then, he casually said, "No matter. The eleventh one is already here."

The demons on Mount Fujikasane, despite being captured and thrown here by the Demon Slayer Corps, were incredibly arrogant. They charged at humans without a second thought, never considering the possibility of being killed.

As a result, their movements were blatant, especially when they saw two people together. The demons rushed forward like cats to catnip.

It made sense. After starving for so long, who could resist a feast of braised pork and rice?

The demons' desperation was evident in the noise they made as they moved.

"Making such a racket, aren't they afraid we'll notice? Even animals know to move quietly when hunting," Li Mo complained.

Makomo's expression grew serious. Such noise meant the demon was likely massive. But Li Mo remained relaxed.

The demon soon appeared before them. It was a mountain-like creature, round and bloated, but its body wasn't made of flesh—it was composed entirely of arms.

Li Mo gave his most honest assessment.

"So disgusting."

The demon, of course, didn't care about a human's opinion. "Kid, what year of the Meiji era is it?"

"I don't know!"

Makomo couldn't help but feel embarrassed. Her junior brother genuinely didn't know the current year. According to him, *What does it matter to me?*

The Hand Demon wasn't angry. "What a bother. It must still be the Meiji era. Then I'll just kill you. I didn't notice earlier, but you're another pair of little foxes..."

Before it could finish, a swift attack interrupted its speech.

—But it didn't matter. The Hand Demon had killed countless Demon Slayer children. Adding these two to the count would be easy. And if he could kill them, then Urokodaki...

Through the Warding Masks they wore, the demon knew their identities. They were Urokodaki's students. The Hand Demon would never forget how Urokodaki had defeated and captured him decades ago.

From the Edo period to the Meiji era, the Hand Demon had spent decades consumed by hatred for Urokodaki. The only solace came from killing Urokodaki's students.

This year, he would kill these two!

But his arrogance vanished in an instant. The arms he used for defense were severed in one swift motion, falling to the ground.

Then, amidst a shower of sparks, the man before him moved like a priest dancing around a bonfire—mysterious,威严, and untouchable.

Suddenly, the Hand Demon saw his massive body in its entirety.

Ah—I've been decapitated?

How... so fast?

"Done and done. See? That makes eleven, right?"

"Alright, junior brother, I get it. But why did you move so fast this time? I'm curious about what he meant by 'little foxes.' Was it about the Warding Masks?"

Makomo touched the Warding Mask on her head, given to her by Urokodaki.

"Why bother? He's already dead. Look, he's turned to ash. Let's find a place to rest!"

With a few words, Li Mo brushed off Makomo's curiosity. What did it matter now that the demon was dead? It wasn't like they could chase it to hell to ask.

Li Mo, on the other hand, felt much more relaxed. If he hadn't acted quickly, the Hand Demon might have revealed how many of Urokodaki's students it had killed. How many had it eaten? Forty? Fifty? It didn't matter. The demon was dead, and its strength had been underwhelming.