“Nichirin Blade?”

  Had it not been for the partial memories of Black Wolf Fang, Kawagishi would never have known such a weapon existed. Ordinary weapons may be used to slash demons—inflicting wounds, even slicing them into pieces. Yet even if one were to chop a demon into fragments, or pound it into a pulp of blood and flesh, it would not truly kill a demon. Demons possess a physical resilience that surpasses even the fiercest beasts, and they wield bizarre Blood Demon Arts that render them nearly immortal. The gap between humans and demons seems insurmountable—utterly despairing.

  But in an era so dark it nearly chokes the soul, the members of the Demon Slayer Corps never gave up. With indomitable resolve, they fought evil demons using nothing but their own flesh and blood, and they continuously sought new materials to forge their blades. Out of countless failures, the Nichirin Blade was born.

  Forged from a rare material known as tamahagane, a Nichirin Blade functions like any ordinary weapon when cutting through a demon’s body. However, if it severs a demon’s head, the mysterious power of tamahagane will utterly annihilate the demon. With the advent of the Nichirin Blade, the Demon Slayer Corps finally gained a weapon capable of truly matching the demons—and their numbers grew ever stronger. Each Nichirin Blade takes between ten to fifteen days to forge, requiring the blacksmith to pour every ounce of concentration into its creation. Moreover, tamahagane is exceedingly rare, so only officially enlisted members of the Demon Slayer Corps may possess one.

  Kawagishi picked up the Nichirin Blade in astonishment. “Here… there is a Nichirin Blade hidden away…”

  He recalled Black Wolf Fang’s memories but found no relevant details about it. He set aside those thoughts and focused entirely on the blade in his hand. In the hidden history known only to Kawagishi, Black Wolf Fang, and even his parents, a few hundred years ago one of Black Wolf Fang’s ancestors was a demon slayer. That man, over the course of his life, had slain more than twenty ordinary evil demons—a remarkable achievement in its own right.

  Yet during one fateful demon-hunting mission, his squad encountered one of the Lower Moons from the Twelve Kizuki. Everyone was killed, and only he survived, gravely injured, dragging his shattered body back home. Before he died, he instructed his family, “Throughout my life, I have slain many evil demons. It may not be boast-worthy, but indirectly, I have saved countless lives.”

  He then pleaded, “But you must seal away this Nichirin Blade. Do not let my deeds be spoken of to anyone.”

  “My entire life—even my insignificant existence—has been devoted to the Demon Slayer Corps, no, to humanity.”

  “At my dying moment, allow me one selfish act for the sake of my family.”

  “I do not wish for my descendants to join the Demon Slayer Corps; not even among the Pillars are there many who can see things through to the end.”

  “You all should live as ordinary people—the chance of encountering a demon is small.”

  “An ordinary person’s chance of survival far exceeds that of a member of the Demon Slayer Corps.”

  “After all, the casualty rate in the Corps is eight or nine out of ten.”

  “On my very first day in the Demon Slayer Corps, I already foresaw my death. I do not regret it—I only hate that I wasn’t strong enough to kill a few more evil demons.”

  “Lord, I hope you understand. Please do not blame my selfishness; I truly cannot bear to see my own family perish on the path of demon slaying.”

  From that day on, this Nichirin Blade lay silently within the small compartment of the wine cellar, never again to see sunlight. Until today, when Kawagishi found it.

  ……

  Kawagishi was astonished as he drew the Nichirin Blade from its sheath with a resonant “zheng!”—it was as if time had left no mark upon it, for the blade still shimmered with a cold, forbidding radiance along its edge. Testing its sharpness, Kawagishi sliced his finger with the blade; a light press was enough to cut his skin and draw blood.

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  “This blade is truly sharp,” he murmured.

  Even as a demon, one’s body is extraordinarily resilient. From the moment he transformed, Kawagishi had felt his body become far tougher than that of an ordinary human. After absorbing Black Wolf Fang’s power, his skin had grown as tough as oxhide, making it difficult for ordinary swords or blades to inflict injury. Truly, this Nichirin Blade was every bit the weapon a demon slayer needs to contend with demons.

  Possessing a Nichirin Blade was incredibly advantageous for Kawagishi. First, having a weapon is far better than relying solely on bare-handed, injury-trading combat. Although his Scorching Feathers could also decapitate demons, they were never a proper weapon—the Blood Demon Art served only as an auxiliary tool. Ultimately, decisive victory depended on raw power, speed, and technique, but a proper weapon was, of course, essential.

  Had he fought Black Wolf Fang with a Nichirin Blade in hand, the battle would not have been so grueling.

  Yet after a few hopeful swings, Kawagishi’s face contorted with exasperation: “I… I can’t use a blade…”

  Indeed, Kawagishi—having lived a reclusive life in the mountains—was nothing more than a rustic villager, accustomed only to wielding an axe. In contrast to the slender, graceful sword, he favored the heavy, fearsome axe—a weapon that, at first glance, sent shivers down one’s spine. In this world, the first time Kawagishi had ever used an axe was to help chop wood for charcoal. That small hatchet had felt inexplicably familiar in his hands—perhaps a gift of innate talent. Although his father Tanjuro had taught him at first, in the end even Tanjuro marveled at Kawagishi’s skill with an axe. He had gradually mastered the various uses of an axe—chopping, hacking, cleaving, slashing, smashing, hewing, even truncating—through years of felling trees.

  But when it came to the Nichirin Blade, which he had never used before, after a few awkward swings he could only feel a strange discomfort. His head throbbed; after all, luck had finally smiled upon him once, yet he still couldn’t wield the blade properly. It was as if he could hear luck itself mock him: “I gave you an opportunity, but you’re so useless…”

  At that moment, the small rust-colored wing mark on his back began to tremble, as if conveying some message. After a while, Kawagishi, in a state of half-thought, mused, “So, it can be done like this?” He looked at the Nichirin Blade in his hand, his eyes softening with regret. “I’m sorry—if it means better killing of evil demons, I have no choice but to change your form.”

  “May you like your new image…”

  The Nichirin Blade remained silent, unresponsive.

  Kawagishi sighed, “Since you say nothing, I’ll take that as your agreement.”

  He had no other choice—he truly did not know how to wield a sword. Moreover, the Nichirin Blade seemed custom-made for demon slayers. When he swung it, he could only feel an indescribable awkwardness. Even if he learned to use it, it would hardly be as effective as his axe. More importantly, Kawagishi reasoned that members of the Demon Slayer Corps all wielded Nichirin Blades, and demons would instinctively be wary of a blade in hand. If he fought with an axe instead, it might lower their guard or even conceal his Scorching Feathers, which could serve as his trump card. After all, a weapon is merely a facade.

  However, Kawagishi had also gained Black Wolf Fang’s power—which included not only enhanced physical abilities but also the use of Black Wolf Fang’s Blood Demon Art: Blade Prison.

  Blade Prison was indeed an impressive Blood Demon Art. Firstly, it allowed a demon to manifest a weapon suited to its nature, and with continuous nurturing, the weapon would grow increasingly hard and sharp—but only one type of weapon could be nurtured at a time. Black Wolf Fang’s bizarrely shaped slashing sword was a product of Blade Prison.

  Moreover, the weapon that appeared spontaneously through Blade Prison was initially weak, its hardness and sharpness even potentially inferior to a demon’s nails.

  But the most critical aspect was that Blade Prison could absorb other weapons to enhance the performance of the created weapon, even endowing it with the characteristics of the absorbed weapon.

  Additionally, Blade Prison possessed its own spatial dimension—allowing the demon to summon the weapon from that space without having to carry it physically.

  In fact, Kawagishi once suffered an unexpected blow from Blade Prison’s spatial trickery—it cost him his head and nearly his life at the hands of Black Wolf Fang.

  However, Blade Prison cannot absorb ordinary iron implements; it can only integrate with weapons of a certain unique nature—such as a Nichirin Blade forged from tamahagane.

  And only the first absorption can fully fuse its properties; subsequent absorptions may only capture a fraction of the power, with minimal increases in strength.

  The key is continual nurturing, or else Black Wolf Fang’s own slashing sword would have become invincible long ago.

  “So, just obediently transform into an axe then.”