Zoro narrowed his eyes as he crouched low, fingertips brushing the damp ground. Closing them for a second, he reached out with his Haki — the invisible sense honed sharper than any blade he carried. Instantly, he felt them: the twisted, dark presences writhing like worms in the thick fog ahead. There were... seven of them. No, six now — one had gone silent. Probably the one he had sliced earlier.
His brows furrowed slightly. "The hell are these things..." he thought grimly.
The way the first two had regenerated their wounds like it was nothing... it rattled even someone like Zoro — and it wasn't easy to do that. Was it some Devil Fruit power? It didn't feel the same. These guys weren't just mutants. They had claws, fangs, that disgusting hunger for human flesh... Their whole presence reeked of rot and blood.
"Tch. What's so good about human meat, anyway?" he scoffed inwardly. "Sake's way better. Idiots."
He shook the grim thoughts from his head, ruffling his spiky green hair with a quick hand. No time for this. There was something more important — the scream of a woman, sharp and desperate, cutting through the night like a blade.
Without hesitation, Zoro burst forward — a streak of white and green through the mist, the ground cracking under the sheer force of his steps. His swords glinted in the moonlight, the muscles on his arms and shoulders bulging with the tension of an imminent kill. His hair, untied, flew wildly behind him as if the wind itself was running scared.
Meanwhile—
Shizu's legs burned with every step, her lungs gasping for air that just wouldn't come fast enough. Tears streamed down her cheeks, but she didn't dare stop. Behind her, the snarling and guttural arguments of demons grew louder.
"Help! Somebody — please, anyone!" She cried, her voice cracking with fear.
She stumbled, her bare foot catching on a root, but somehow managed to stay upright. The village... the next village... it wasn't far, right? Right? That's what she kept telling herself, even as her strength started to give out.
"She's mine, dammit!" a demon howled behind her. "Like hell she is! Young flesh is MINE!" Another screeched, his jagged claws clashing with his rival's in a brutal scuffle.
Shizu's heart hammered in her ears. Their words twisted her stomach in horror — they were going to EAT her! She squeezed her eyes shut, ready for the end. A scream caught in her throat as one demon's clawed hand stretched toward her like a viper striking—
SHUNK.
The world seemed to stop.
She dared to open her eyes — and gasped.
Standing between her and death was a man — wild green hair, a battered white yukata and green haori clinging to his body, twin swords gleaming at his sides. The arm that had almost claimed her life now lay severed on the ground, twitching.
The demon didn't even have time to shriek before his head followed, a clean arc separating it from his shoulders. His body crumbled into ash.
He saved me...! she thought, dizzy with relief.
The other demons screeched to a halt, some skidding back. Fear crackled in the air.
But when they realized it was just one man, their fear started to morph into mocking confidence.
"Tch. One slayer? Seriously?" One snorted, wiping spittle from his cracked lips. "He's digging his own grave," another jeered, licking his fangs.
Zoro just calmly adjusted the sword in his mouth.
"I like those odds," he said, his voice low and almost... amused. The demons charged all at once. The forest exploded into chaos. Zoro smirked. This is going to be slightly entertaining for him
Zoro moved like a storm given human form. The demons didn't realize that they had just signed their own death contract.
One demon tried to snag him with a whip-like arm — Zoro ducked low, slicing the limb clean off in a flash of steel. Blood sprayed into the mist like fine red rain. Another demon lunged from above, mouth open wide — Zoro twisted his body, leaping up into the tree canopy.
Ittoryu: Daishinkan!
The trees quivered as Zoro shot downward like a cannonball, cleaving a demon from skull to groin in one brutal motion.
Another demon barely had time to scream before he lost his head.
A third swung a club the size of a tree trunk at Zoro's back. But the green-haired swordsman didn't even flinch. With a flick of his wrist, he severed the demon's arms at the elbow. The club crashed to the ground uselessly.
The demon tried to kick — bad idea. Zoro's blade sliced through his knees like they were paper. Teeth bared, the demon lunged to bite him in desperation — but with a faint shimmer, Zoro's body darkened, coated with hard, gleaming Haki. The demon's teeth shattered against his skin with a sickening crack.
Other demons were stunned. This demon slayer's skin is so hard that even a demon's sharp teeth cracked?! What is he, made of diamonds?!
"Pathetic," Zoro muttered.
Zoro stabbed the demon on the chin, piercing through the brain and the skull. He pulled the sword back and ended the demon's pathetic life with a single clean strike. He covered his nose. "Yuck, have people in this era never heard of a toothbrush?" The demon's mouth reeks.
The rest of the demons faltered. Fear spread among them like wildfire. They had underestimated him. Horribly. One turned tail first. Then another. In seconds, the demons were scrambling into the woods, howling in terror. They run away as their lives depend on it, literally.
When the dust settled, the forest was quiet. Only the whistle of the night breeze remained... and the sound of heavy breathing from the girl cowering nearby.
Zoro straightened up, slowly sheathing his swords with practiced flicks. He walked over to Shizu, peering down at her like a stern older brother.
"Oi, are you alive?" He asked casually, his voice rough but not unkind. Shizu scrambled to her feet, bowing deeply. "Y-yes! Thank you, Mister Slayer!"
Zoro blinked. "Slayer...?"
She nodded, tears brimming in her wide eyes. "You're a demon slayer, right?! I've heard stories about demon slayers from my grandmother before! I never thought that they were real!"
Zoro scratched his head awkwardly. "Uh... I guess so?" What the hell was a demon slayer anyway? Whatever. Not important right now. Zoro shakes his head. He'll figure it out later.
Then Shizu dropped to her knees, her palms pressed together desperately. "Please! You have to help! My village — it's under attack! The demons —they're killing everyone!" Tears streamed down her dirt-smudged cheeks. "You're the only one who can save us!"
Zoro paused.
Normally, he'd avoid this kind of thing. He wasn't a hero. Never claimed to be. Being a hero was never his thing. Not even once. That's usually reserved for his captain. He rarely interferes with the affairs of others if it doesn't benefit him.
He prefers being alone, sleeping, and drinking. Heck, he might be taking a walk once in a blue moon. However, he always found himself somewhere else. He usually blames his comrades for failing to give him proper directions. Even though he never realized that it was his fault in the first place that his sense of direction is so bad.
But when he looked into Shizu's pleading, tear-filled eyes, something twisted in his chest.
"...Tch. Fine," he muttered. "I'll help."
Relief flooded Shizu's face so hard it almost knocked her over.
Without warning, Zoro crouched down and tossed her onto his back like a sack of potatoes.
"Whoa —!" she yelped. She was taken off guard by that.
"Which way's your village?" He barked, tightening his grip on his swords.
Shizu quickly pointed toward the misty trees. "Northeast! That way!"
Zoro nodded seriously — then immediately started marching west.
"You're going the wrong way, you buffoon!" Shizu shrieked, bonking him lightly on the head.
"The hell I am!" Zoro snapped, stubborn as ever.
"It's that way!" she screamed, yanking on his haori and practically steering him like a stubborn ox.
The forest echoed with their shouting as they stumbled through the night — a lost swordsman and a frantic girl — toward a village drenched in blood and terror.