After smearing the fresh blood onto the wounds on Namiko's hands and feet, the wounds quickly healed, and Namiko's breathing gradually stabilized.
Mizuki, however, was somewhat weak at this moment.
She had just transformed and urgently needed to eat, but instead of feeding, she had to give away her flesh and blood.
Namiko's breathing gradually stabilized. She let out a groan and slowly opened her eyes.
Mizuki's face lit up with joy: "Namiko, you…"
Before she could finish, Namiko used the moonlight to clearly see Mizuki's current state. The confusion on Namiko's face visibly turned into terror.
"Ah!" she screamed, kicking Mizuki away with her hands and feet.
Mizuki quickly explained: "Calm down! I still have my senses…"
Without giving her a chance to finish, Namiko scrambled out of the room and fled.
Mizuki stared blankly as Namiko ran out the front door, unconsciously retracting her outstretched hand.
After a long moment, she sighed.
She did not resent Namiko; people of this era could never understand her.
This point had already been proven by Michikatsu.
Frankly, her fear of demons was merely a fear that her consciousness would be twisted, and that Muzan would know her inner thoughts.
If she were eating human flesh as a Ghoul, she wouldn't be afraid.
Because Ghouls can control their own minds, while demons cannot.
When she learned that she was not controlled by Muzan, she calmly accepted her current identity.
So what if she became a demon?
As long as she didn't eat people or do bad things, wasn't she still a good demon?
Plus, she could regenerate even after decapitation—that sounded incredibly powerful.
Mizuki thought to herself, finding amusement in the situation. She climbed up from the ground and slowly walked toward the doorway.
Moonlight spilled into the courtyard, creating a desolate beauty.
She stepped out, but her head suddenly tilted backward, nearly causing her to fall over.
Mizuki stabilized herself and couldn't help but touch her head, where two long branches had sprouted.
It was these two long branches that had gotten stuck on the door frame.
Earlier, she had checked if her face had changed. Unexpectedly, her face was fine, but something had grown on her head.
How was she supposed to go out and see people like this?
Mizuki muttered a complaint internally. If she remembered correctly, Nezuko could control her body size, so she should be able to control this too.
She touched the long branches on her head and concentrated.
Sure enough, with her effort, the long branches on her head slowly retracted.
Thank goodness.
Mizuki sighed in relief.
She looked down at her body, confirmed there were no other mutations, and stepped out of the room.
Mizuki looked up at the cold moon in the sky, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath of the cool night air.
What was this feeling?
It was like walking through a narrow passage, and suddenly a white light appeared, leading to an open expanse.
Since her lung injury, she had never felt this relaxed.
Just then, a cold wind blew past and entered Mizuki's nostrils.
It was... the smell of blood.
Just outside the door, not far away.
"Snow Breathing, Fifth Form: Snow Run."
Mizuki's figure turned into a streak of white light and vanished from the spot.
The use of the Breathing Technique was incredibly smooth; the usual blockage was completely gone.
She had never experienced such a wonderful feeling.
Her entire being... felt reborn.
Arriving outside the door, she saw several Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen lying haphazardly on the mountain path.
They were almost all dismembered, a truly gruesome sight.
Mizuki's mouth began to water again.
These people must have been the reinforcements Namiko brought, but Kokushibou hadn't left immediately and ran into them.
Mizuki suppressed her hunger, collected their bodies, and buried them nearby.
Just as she was about to leave, Mizuki suddenly realized something.
She had broken free from Muzan's control, meaning Muzan could not sense her existence now.
Michikatsu might return to check, so she should hide and wait for an opportunity to slay demons.
Mizuki returned to the residence and searched the rooms, finding several pieces of clothing, which must have belonged to the samurai's wife and daughter, and they were still new.
She changed out of her clothes and threw them into the courtyard, simulating a scene where she had been destroyed by the sun.
This would explain why Muzan couldn't sense her presence.
As she tossed the clothes near the door, she noticed her broken nichirin blade lying nearby.
The partner she usually fought alongside, now reflecting a cold light under the moonlight, actually sent a shiver down her spine.
No wonder Michikatsu abandoned his nichirin blade after becoming a demon.
Even the so-called scarlet blade was only effective against demons; its effect on humans was negligible.
Because for fragile creatures like humans, whether there was a searing effect or not made little difference—it was a one-hit kill either way.
Michikatsu's unique demon blade was formed from his own flesh and blood, so there was no reason she couldn't do the same.
But she was too weak now; separating more flesh and blood might make her the first demon to die of exhaustion.
Having finished all this, Mizuki left the residence under the moonlight.
She needed to find something to eat... Almost immediately after she left, Michikatsu and a Demon Slayer Corps swordsman arrived one after the other.
Kokushibou looked calmly at the pile of clothes shaped like a human figure near the doorway—a shape only created when the body disintegrated from within.
Was she destroyed by the sun... After receiving news from Muzan that Mizuki was undetectable, he had faintly suspected this.
Could she actually achieve this level through sheer willpower?
Or perhaps... He looked up at the inner room. The woman who should have been completely devoured was now gone without a trace.
Kokushibou, who had acute perception of scent, knew clearly that she had not been eaten by Mizuki, but had somehow escaped.
Kokushibou's expression flickered. A moment later, he suddenly drew his sword, and the powerful offensive of Moon Breathing instantly destroyed Mizuki's clothes and the house behind them... "This is... this is Miss Mizuki's blade, there's no mistake!"
A swordsman who had trained under Mizuki recognized the broken nichirin blade lying nearby.
A companion nearby said with reluctance, "In that case, Miss Mizuki…"
"Don't talk nonsense!" the person next to him yelled, interrupting him. "Miss Mizuki is a swordsman who awakened the Demon Slayer Mark and the Transparent World. How could she possibly die here?"
"But…" A member looked despairingly at the completely destroyed house before them, which bore several sword marks resembling sharp claws.
That was clearly not something human swordsmanship could accomplish.
If it was a demon possessing such power, even Miss Mizuki... By the time Mizuki came down from the mountain and found the nearby town, the sky was already showing a sliver of dawn; it was about to be daylight.
She thought she had eaten the blue spider lily. Did that mean she was immune to sunlight?
Mizuki thought this, but ultimately didn't dare to try it.
Using the small amount of money she had taken from the samurai's house, she temporarily stayed at an inn in the town to avoid the sunlight.
The innkeeper brought her food. She took two small bites, finding the food, which she already disliked, now tasted like chewing wax.
In Mizuki's eyes, the delivery person who brought the food smelled more appetizing.
The nutritional value was minimal and did nothing to replenish her strength.
Only after becoming a demon did Mizuki truly experience the discomfort of being perpetually hungry but unable to starve to death.