The demon was standing right in front of them, and Hatsune was fed up with the interruptions. He turned to Nae with a cold stare.
Nae, feeling guilty, quickly lowered her head and didn't dare speak further.
Remembering her boastful words earlier, Nae felt humiliated. No wonder Hatsune was angry; she felt utterly embarrassed herself.
Hatsune grabbed Nae and, in a low voice, reprimanded her, "Focus. We're dealing with more than just this demon. There are two others lurking on the second floor, waiting to strike. If this happens again, I won't save you. I don't need you to help, just don't get in the way."
Nae clenched her hands tightly, Hatsune's words stabbing her deeply. She had trained hard at Falling Dragon Mountain, hoping to assist Hatsune in critical moments, but she hadn't expected this situation on her first mission.
"From now on, your only job is to protect yourself. I will block my sight, hearing, and smell. If something like earlier happens again, I won't hear or see you, even if you scream for help or die in front of me. Understand?"
Nae paused, then nodded, "Un... understood."
"If you understand, stay focused and use everything you learned on the mountain. Also, maintain your six-fold muscle density at all times."
"Got it..."
Hatsune turned away from her, forming layers of frost on his ears, nostrils, and eyes, blocking all sound, smell, and light. His mind mapped the surroundings by different temperature levels: the rippling pond, the wooden floor, the ornamental rockery, and four humanoid shapes.
The closest warmer figure was Nae, while the other three had similar temperatures: the demon on the rockery and the two others in the hall's second-floor corner.
The demon on the rockery leapt at Hatsune. He sidestepped, now more perceptive without his other senses.
The demon missed and landed, creating a black ring on the floor like a portal to another world. It vanished into the ring and reappeared behind Hatsune, attacking his head.
Hatsune realized the demon could teleport and needed a decisive strike to kill it before it escaped again.
Feigning ignorance, Hatsune dodged at the last moment. His earlier tactics to provoke and expose the demon worked, and now he would use the same strategy to kill it.
The demon's rapid attacks through the black rings resembled a game of whack-a-mole. Hatsune pretended to struggle, dodging narrowly each time, allowing the demon to get close occasionally to lure it into overconfidence.
The ruse worked. The demon became reckless, sometimes not even using the rings, directly attacking after landing.
Nae, seeing Hatsune's precarious state, grew anxious. She knew his skills weren't this weak. Remembering his past battles, she realized this might be a ploy and hesitated to intervene.
In the second-floor corner, Tamayo and Yushiro watched the fight. Earlier, Tamayo had praised Hatsune, irking Yushiro. Seeing Hatsune struggle, Yushiro couldn't resist mocking, "Should we help him? He looks like he's about to be killed by that demon."
Tamayo smiled calmly, "You underestimate him. The demon will die, not the boy. It won't take long."
Yushiro, jealous of Tamayo's interest in Hatsune, was annoyed.
As Tamayo predicted, the fight soon reached its climax. The demon attacked from behind. Hatsune dodged, swinging his sword aimlessly. The demon, dodging easily, mocked him with shrill laughter, unaware of the impending danger.
Overconfident, the demon stopped using the rings, casually attacking Hatsune, thinking it had won. But Hatsune only needed one chance.
Taking a deep breath, Hatsune swung his sword with all his might, the blade's chill freezing the surrounding moisture into icy flakes. He didn't even bother with a stance, directly slashing horizontally.
"Ice Breathing, Second Form: Snow Drift."
The attack, graceful as dancing snow, was swift. The demon realized the threat too late, unable to scream before its head was severed.
"Yushiro, prepare to collect the blood," Tamayo instructed, slashing her arm with her sharp nails, blood spilling like silk in the air.
Hatsune noticed one of the demons on the second floor rolling up its sleeves as if scratching an itch. Something with a similar temperature to them spread through the air. He couldn't be certain, but he guessed it was blood, likely the source of the scent from last night.