I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

In fact, Aoto's question was directed not only at Onodera, but also at himself.

Because... right now, I'm focused on investigating the strange drug, so am I not also a reckless person who's throwing myself headlong into something that "only does harm and has no benefit"?

To be honest, Qing Deng wasn't quite sure why he was so obsessed with the strange medicine.

Is it to avenge the Jinze siblings?

It seems so, but it's not entirely true.

After hearing Aoto's question, Onodera did not immediately respond.

He lowered his eyelids, and a smile gradually spread across his cheeks.

"Well...didn't you just...find a wakizashi in that thatched hut...? The words engraved on the hilt of that wakizashi...are the answer..."

Qingdeng paused for a moment, then murmured softly:

"Exterminate the evil spirits..."

Onodera nodded slightly.

"Yes... 'Demon Slayer'..."

"I'm not a good person...and I wouldn't presume to claim I've had a 'change of heart'..."

"But...selling such dangerous drugs to the world...that really crosses my line..."

"Those who committed such acts... Rakshasa and his ilk... are simply the embodiment of evil spirits..."

"Tachibana no Takayuki and I... want neither money nor fame... we only want to annihilate these evil spirits... nothing more..."

At this point, Onodera seemed to recall something and suddenly paused.

"Ah... I almost forgot to mention..."

“Tachibana-kun… if you have the chance later… you can go back to the thatched hut… and dig out the relics left behind by Tachibana Takayuki…”

"Tachibana Takayuki... buried a large wooden box in the southeast corner of the thatched hut... containing a total of... nine katana...!"

"These nine katanas... and the wakizashi you just found... are all weapons that Takayuki Tachibana... intended to use... in a desperate situation... to fight to the death with the Shimizu clan and the Hoju-dō...

"It's a pity... in the end... we didn't get to use them..."

“Tachibana Takayuki considered… if he were to fight with these swords… and after he died in battle… the Shimizu clan and the Hoju Party… might use the swordsmith’s name and the date of manufacture recorded on the hilts… to find out who the swordsmith was…”

"Therefore... in order to avoid implicating the swordsmith... when Takayuki Tachibana commissioned the swordsmith to forge these swords... he forbade the swordsmith to record the maker's name... and the date of manufacture on the hilt..."

Instead, he inscribed his ambition: Destroy evil spirits...

"Cough! Cough cough cough! Cough cough!"

Onodera coughed violently again.

This time, he vomited a large amount of dark, murky blood, as well as some fragments of internal organs.

"Oh dear... my eyes... seem to be getting worse and worse..."

Onodera's eyes seemed unfocused, staring blankly into the void ahead.

"Hahaha...I've finally...reached my limit..."

His neck seemed boneless, and his head hung listlessly against the rock wall behind him.

"As expected... I'm still so unwilling to accept this..."

"I long to... witness... the demise of the cursed drug..."

He raised his trembling right hand and repeatedly grasped and groped in mid-air, as if searching for something.

Looking at this scene, Qing Deng knew in his heart: Onodera's time had come...

"Mr. Onodera..."

He instinctively wanted to say something to send this respectable hero off on his final journey.

At that moment, he suddenly remembered a book he had read in his previous life.

Qingdeng has always loved reading.

Although he had no religious beliefs, he had read an immortal quote in a book.

In an instant, under the astonished gazes of Sanako and Souji, Aoto stretched out his right palm and tightly grasped Onodera's dirty hand in mid-air.

"You have fought the good fight, you have finished the way you had to go, you have kept the way you had to keep. From now on, the crown of righteousness will be reserved for you."

"Qingdeng said softly."

The quote comes from 2 Timothy in the New Testament.

Saint Paul penned a brief yet powerful comment on his magnificent life.

"Tachibana-kun, he... he's already..."

Sanako hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped.

Upon hearing this, Qing Deng looked up.

Onodera in front of me was no longer breathing.

"...Did he hear what I just said?"

The commander nodded slightly.

“He heard it… Look, he seems to be sleeping peacefully…”

Aoto raised his gaze and stared directly at Onodera's face.

With her eyes gently closed and a smile playing on her lips, a calm, composed, and peaceful expression mingled subtly across her face.

"……That's good."

Aoto released Onodera's hand, then untied the scarf around his neck and gently covered Onodera's body with it.

"Hey! There's a strange noise coming from this cave!"

"what?!"

Where? Where is it?

……

Suddenly, a noisy, increasingly close cacophony of footsteps came from outside the cave.

Souji and Sanako stood up, swords drawn, as if facing a formidable enemy.

"Found it! It's here! Onodera is here! Woohoo!"

The two women took the lead and engaged in close combat with the enemy group that rushed into the cave.

The battle had already begun, but strangely, Qingdeng did not get up to fight.

He remained seated, staring unblinkingly at Onodera's corpse, his gaze devoid of sorrow or joy, his thoughts unknown.

On one side was a chaotic scene of flashing swords.

On the other side was an unfathomable gaze.

Within the small cave, two completely different worlds emerged.

"Go to hell!!"

Seeing that Qingdeng remained motionless, a woman in black took advantage of the chaos to sneak up behind him.

He was excited, thinking he had found Qingdeng's weakness and that Qingdeng's head was within his grasp.

However, just as he raised his knife, Qing Deng's figure vanished from his sight in an instant.

"—?!"

"You guys are just like mosquitoes in summer... buzzing all the time... and I can't get rid of you no matter what I do... I'm getting annoyed with you."

Having finished speaking, Qing Deng, who had flashed to the man's side, unleashed a blade of light—

Bang!

The attack, released in a flash, sent the man flying with astonishing force, sending him crashing straight into the rock wall above him.

Suddenly, everything became exceptionally quiet.

The two women and the Black-Clad Clan members all stopped what they were doing and stared blankly at Qing Deng, who was still in the stance of drawing his sword.

Looking at their companion who had been blasted away and was now barely breathing, the Black-Clad Clan had almost the same thought: Hey, hey, hey, no way... to blast a living person away with a katana... what kind of terrifying power is that?

As for Souji and Sanako, their pretty faces were filled with pure surprise.

"Tachibana-kun...?"

The commander murmured.

Both Souji and Sanako were quite familiar with Aoto's demeanor and mannerisms.

They could detect anything unusual about Qingdeng immediately.

Therefore, both women clearly sensed that beneath Qing Deng's calm exterior lay a raging, boiling emotion, like magma.

Swish!

Qing Deng swung his sword forcefully, creating a sharp "whoosh" sound as it cut through the air.

The blood clinging to the blade splattered down, transforming into a neatly drawn "plum blossom branch" on the ground.

"Who else?"

Qing Deng's wolf-like gaze followed the blade, sweeping across the faces filled with terror.

"They keep popping up one after another... Fine, bring it on, let as many as you want."

Qing Deng lowered his waist, gripped the knife with both hands, and assumed a fighting stance.

"Those who want to live, run away."

"Those who want to die, come at me all at once!"

"Bring it on!"

An unusual brilliance, like flames, burst forth from the depths of Qingdeng's eyes.

……