After a single shriek came many more.
Utilizing its flexible body, the Spider Demon scurried wildly through the crowd. Wherever it passed, the people around it slashed their Nichirin Blades indiscriminately. More often than not, they failed to hit the demon and instead injured their own teammates.
Chaos. Everything had descended into chaos.
No matter how loudly Kimura shouted, it was useless.
With the Spider Demon wreaking havoc from within and the Three-Headed Demon closing in from outside the perimeter, they were being attacked from both sides. The members on the outer edge gripped their blades tightly, glancing inward and then outward in panic. Finally, before the Three-Headed Demon could even arrive, someone broke.
Screaming in despair, they turned and fled back along the mountain path they had come from.
The horrors of that night had already pushed many people to the brink of collapse. Now that someone had taken the lead, the entire group scattered like beads from a snapped string.
The collapse had begun.
First, the members guarding the perimeter screamed and fled in every direction away from the demons. Then the people inside the circle—both injured and uninjured alike—also abandoned the formation and ran for their lives.
In the blink of an eye, the large group vanished, leaving behind only Kimura, Eimi, and several severely injured members who could no longer move.
Kimura grabbed at several fleeing members, begging them to stay, but no one listened anymore.
Desperate and broken, he screamed while swinging his Nichirin Blade wildly, chasing after the Spider Demon. Yet around him, more comrades continued to have their necks snapped by the demon.
The Spider Demon behaved as though it were deliberately toying with him.
Seeing the Three-Headed Demon nearly upon them, Eimi realized the situation was beyond saving. She grabbed Kimura's arm and shouted sternly,
"Kimura, stop chasing it! We have to leave!"
"Ah—Eimi, let me go! I can't abandon them!"
Kimura's eyes were bloodshot and filled with tears as he glared viciously at the Spider Demon crouched nearby.
The demon's eerie grin overflowed with mockery and amusement.
"You can't save them. Come with me now. If we stay any longer, neither of us is getting out alive."
Eimi picked up a bundle abandoned by another corps member and forcefully dragged the nearly deranged Kimura toward the mountaintop, away from the two demons.
Nearby, an injured female corps member lay helplessly on the ground, stretching out a trembling hand toward Kimura while crying for help.
The Spider Demon crawled onto her back, turned toward the fleeing Kimura, bared its fangs in a provocative smile, and slowly raised its hand to snap the girl's neck.
At that moment, the Three-Headed Demon rushed forward. It snatched up a corpse from the ground and used it like a weapon, smashing it toward the Spider Demon.
Using its agile frame, the Spider Demon rapidly darted around the larger demon, dodging attacks while continuing to harass and provoke it.
The Three-Headed Demon roared furiously again and again as the two demons became entangled in battle.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the mountain, Noe's earlier question—
"Why did you return to participate in the Final Selection?"
—had caused Cold Cry to recall the moment his sister was taken away. Losing control of his emotions, he frightened Noe, leaving an awkward tension between them.
Noe wanted to say something to ease the atmosphere, but the look in Cold Cry's eyes from earlier still sent chills through her heart.
Time passed in silence.
Then suddenly, a shrill scream shattered the stillness.
Judging by the direction, it had come from the other side of Mount Fujikasane.
The sudden scream made Noe shiver involuntarily. She subconsciously turned toward the sound, but all she saw behind her was the cold stone wall.
Cold Cry stared silently into the darkness, thinking to himself:
It has begun.
That scream had most likely come from the Jumping Demon they encountered earlier.
After the sound faded, Noe slowly turned back around.
Every scream likely represented another death—a final cry left behind in this world.
After the first scream came a brief silence, followed by another. Those two cries were like the opening of Pandora's box, unleashing the demons hidden throughout the mountain.
The screams rose like waves, one after another, spreading farther and farther until they echoed across all of Mount Fujikasane.
At first, Noe managed to remain seated, but gradually the screams became more numerous and more piercing. Every sound tugged at her heart.
Without realizing it, she stood from the stone platform and stared toward the stone wall, her fearful gaze seeming to pierce through it and witness the horrors unfolding beyond.
Cold Cry turned and noticed Noe's pale face, and for a brief moment, he felt a trace of sympathy.
He thought of it . Aoi had also been unable to endure the fear of death. Even after passing Final Selection and becoming a member of the Demon Slayer Corps, she lacked the courage to carry out missions like the others.
Some people simply were not suited for the Demon Slayer Corps.
Physical ability was important, but mental fortitude mattered just as much.
Only after the screams finally died away did Noe slowly sit back down beside Cold Cry.
"Did a lot of people die?" she asked quietly.
"Probably. Everyone who came here should have prepared themselves for that possibility."
"If they were prepared… then why did they scream like that?"
Cold Cry found himself speechless.
"Did that group die?" Noe asked again, naturally referring to Kimura's team.
"Unlikely. There were too many of them for the demons to kill so quickly. Judging from the sounds, they probably scattered and fled."
Hearing that, Noe quietly sighed in relief.
As the two spoke, a chaotic series of footsteps suddenly came from the nearby woods. Branches snapped loudly, accompanied by the frantic voices of a young man and woman.
Mixed among the sounds was the low growl of a pursuing demon.
It was easy to imagine what had happened. After the collapse of the group behind the mountain, some stragglers must have encountered another demon while fleeing and been chased all the way here.
"Akino, run! Leave me behind! I… I can't run anymore. It's almost caught up to us!"
The girl's tearful voice echoed through the forest.
"No… no, Yuka! I won't abandon you. Just hold on a little longer. Maybe… maybe someone will come help us soon!"
The boy's voice was equally desperate, yet when he said he would not abandon her, there was unmistakable determination behind his words.
In a life-or-death situation like this, remaining together showed genuine loyalty and affection.
If they had encountered selfish people instead, someone might already have pushed their teammate toward the demon to buy themselves more time to escape.
The two continued fleeing while supporting each other, but suddenly the girl stepped into a dirt pit hidden beneath the leaves. Her foot struck a rock awkwardly, causing her ankle to twist, and both of them fell heavily to the ground.
At that exact moment, the demon chasing them caught up.
Spotting the opening, it leaped down from a nearby tree branch and lunged straight toward the pair.
"Love Breathing, Second Form: Love Pangs!"
A sharp voice suddenly rang out through the darkness.