CHAPTER 83: CHAPTER 83: RAW SMASH!

Night had completely enveloped the town.

In the room, Sosuke was fully armed and ready to go.

Kanae stood by the window, gazing at the night outside. She turned back to him. "Are you really going?"

She still hesitated about letting Sosuke join her.

"Of course I’m going," Sosuke said with a smile. "Don’t worry, I won’t be a burden. I’ve been training my swordsmanship for so long, but I still don’t know what I’m truly capable of. I need to test myself. Besides, you’ll be watching over me, right? Just like we agreed, if it’s just a regular demon, let me try my hand first. If things get dicey, I’ll retreat immediately, and you can finish it off!"

Kanae nodded. "Very well. From now on, you must follow my instructions completely. Once we’re outside, we can’t split up. We’ll search the town as thoroughly as possible. As soon as they reveal their presence, we’ll find them."

"Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm," Sosuke nodded vigorously, promising to obey without question.

Kanae closed her eyes, pondered for a moment, then declared, "Let’s go!"

If she could, she truly wouldn’t want Sosuke to face any danger.

But since he was determined to join the Demon Slayer Corps, even if he retreated today with her help, he would inevitably face demons alone in the future.

Compared to that, under her watchful eye, the risks could be minimized. This experience would help him develop the skills needed to confront demons, significantly increasing his chances of survival in the long run.

This was the best decision, the best opportunity!

She couldn’t let her own worries deprive Sosuke of this crucial training.

On the rooftop, two figures moved silently forward.

The Demon hadn’t shown itself yet. They were currently tailing a pedestrian, secretly providing protection.

Although rumors of Demons prowling the town at night had spread, there were always those who refused to believe them.

Or perhaps they had their own reasons for venturing out late at night.

The man on the street was one such case. Sosuke and Kanae had no idea why he was out.

But on a night like this, not only was he out, but he was also carrying a lantern.

The lantern would likely act as a beacon, guiding Demons straight to their prey.

Yet even as the man reached his home, the Demon remained absent.

On the rooftop, Sosuke and Kanae exchanged relieved glances.

Their relief wasn’t because the Demon hadn’t appeared, but because the man had made it home safely.

With his worries put to rest, Sosuke found himself in a new predicament.

He lacked Tanjiro’s keen sense of smell and Zenitsu’s acute hearing. In this state, how was he supposed to find the Demon?

Just then, Kanae seemed to have noticed something. Her gaze snapped toward another direction. "Let’s go!"

Sosuke froze for a moment, but seeing Kanae already moving, he quickly followed.

As they pressed forward, an inexplicable tremor began to surge through his heart.

This sensation seemed familiar, having accompanied the appearance of Demons in the past. But since the Demons had always materialized directly before him, he had simply dismissed it as tension and panic.

Yet now, with no Demon in sight, the feeling had arisen out of nowhere!

And as they advanced, the sensation grew stronger, even allowing him to sense the location of the target causing his heart to race.

Looking up abruptly, he realized that the source of this heart-pounding sensation seemed to be precisely where Kanae was heading.

Could it be...?

A sudden realization dawned in his mind, but there was no time to dwell on it as a bloodcurdling scream echoed from the distance.

In an instant, the rooftops of two or three houses vanished beneath his feet. Kanae, who had been sprinting ahead, suddenly disappeared from sight. Sosuke leaped forward, glancing down to see Kanae cradling a blood-soaked girl in her arms. With a swift movement, she had already covered over ten meters.

Beyond that distance, at the corner of a narrow alley, stood a Fierce Demon, naked and with crimson hair blazing like flames, its mouth clamped around a severed hand.

With a furious roar, it sniffed the air, as if sensing something amiss, and lunged toward Kanae.

All these events unfolded in a split second. Without hesitation, Sosuke drew the hammer-sword from his back.

Swinging it in mid-air, the hammer-sword’s immense force halted his momentum, momentarily suspending him in mid-air.

The next moment, he crashed down from the sky.

Sun Breathing—First Form: Gale Sun!!!

Mid-air, the massive hammer descended like a storm, unleashing a barrage of hammer shadows that filled the sky!

The Demon, poised to pounce, suddenly sniffed the air. With astonishing agility, its massive, nearly two-meter-tall frame leaped out of the range of Gale Sun’s attack in an instant.

BOOM!

Like a thunderbolt crashing from the heavens, the ground was instantly riddled with craters.

Yet Sosuke felt no satisfaction. His attack had missed!

He jerked his head up to find the Demon, still clutching a severed hand in its mouth, looming mere inches away.

Two months ago, Sosuke would have had only two options against such an assault: block or dodge, just as he had against Tomioka’s attacks.

But now... as he sprang backward, the hammer-sword in his hand suddenly swept upward in a fierce arc.

The lunging Demon never anticipated such a move. Its nose twitched frantically, sensing the danger, but at such close range, evasion was impossible.

With a dull thud, the iron hammer struck the demon squarely on the jaw, sending it sprawling backward.

Sosuke landed on his feet, his toes barely touching the ground as he surged forward like a shuttle.

Seizing the moment the demon crashed to the ground, the hammer descended from above.

This was no swordsmanship, nor even a proper hammer strike—just a raw smash!

The hammer slammed down with a thunderous crash, driving the still-falling demon violently into the ground. The creature coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Its limbs flailed wildly, its hands and feet tipped with razor-sharp claws. The crimson claws might have been venomous, but Sosuke didn’t want to risk being scratched. He leaped back to evade, then gripped the hammer-sword with both hands, white mist erupting from his mouth.

Sun Breathing—First Form: Gale Sun!

The demon, having scrambled to its feet during the brief opening, sniffed the air like a wild beast and clawed at the ground, trying to move.

But it was too late. When it looked up, a storm of hammer shadows was already crashing down!