"Sigh."
Life as a demon is not easy, Mizuki sighed.
She took off the bamboo hat and veil that concealed her face. Although it was highly likely she hadn't turned into anything grotesque, she couldn't see her own appearance, and it would be bad if something went wrong.
There was a bronze mirror in the room. She picked up the mirror from the table and pulled at her cheeks.
Everything was the same as before, as if she had only gotten a manicure.
Just as Mizuki was thinking this, she suddenly noticed something strange about her eyes.
She leaned closer to the bronze mirror, pulling at her eyelids. In the mirror, her eyes actually had two pupils.
Well, now she wouldn't dare to mock Michikatsu for being a six-eyed sourpuss anymore.
Two pupils appeared in one eye, one large and one small. The smaller one was almost fused with the larger one, looking like some kind of viscous distortion, making Mizuki's wine-red eyes appear very eerie.
Double pupils?
The last person this awesome was a certain hegemonic overlord who could lift tripods.
Does she also possess the aura of a king?
Mizuki found humor in her predicament, carefully checking herself. Besides the mutation in her pupils, there were indeed no other changes.
Oh, and two slightly protruding small fangs.
Mizuki bared her teeth and, facing the bronze mirror, concentrated her energy on the top of her head.
The next moment, two ferocious demon horns drilled out.
At first glance, they didn't look like demon horns, but more like dragon horns.
These horns were at least twenty centimeters long, meaning that if she stood up, including her horns, she would be as tall as Michikatsu.
This was a secondary growth spurt, so to speak.
Mizuki underwent full Demonization. Her striking wine-red long hair instantly turned white from the roots, and her fingernails also lengthened slightly.
From a distance, she didn't look like a strange and ugly demon, but rather like an unknown deity.
The only thing that somewhat detracted from her beauty was probably the slightly hideous blue veins under her skin during full Demonization.
Waaah~
I'm so cool.
Mizuki's eyes sparkled.
This appearance is truly beautiful!
After admiring her beauty, Mizuki reverted to her human form.
Only the double pupils in her eyes, perhaps because she was too weak at the moment, couldn't completely erase the demon characteristic.
Fortunately, it wasn't serious; she just needed to wear a bamboo hat to cover it slightly.
Mizuki pondered her next steps in the room.
Hmm, she needed to let Yoriichi know she was safe, at least.
But she could only return at night, and she was afraid Yoriichi would discover her before she even got close to home.
It would be bad if Yoriichi treated her as a small monster to be farmed.
She should at least give him a heads-up first.
Thinking this, Mizuki called for a clerk.
"Could you please get me some paper and a pen? I want to send a message home to let my family know I'm safe."
Looking at the hair ornament on Mizuki's hand, the clerk couldn't think of a reason to refuse.
After writing the letter.
"Could you please deliver this letter to..."
"This is your reward."
Taking the jewelry from Mizuki's hand, the clerk suppressed his inner ecstasy and patted his chest, guaranteeing, "Don't worry, miss, even if it costs me my life, I will definitely deliver this letter to your family!"
Mizuki: "..."
She suddenly felt a little uneasy... During the time the clerk was delivering the letter, Mizuki stayed there.
It wasn't until several days later, when the clerk described Yoriichi's appearance to her in detail, that Mizuki was convinced he had delivered it.
At night, Mizuki checked out of the room and walked hungrily down the street.
She was so hungry she wanted to eat people.
In Mizuki's eyes, the lit lamps in every household were like barbecue stalls with lights on by the roadside late at night.
Making one want to get closer.
She averted her gaze, trying not to think about those things, and hurried on her way under the cover of night.
After becoming a demon, her lung injuries healed, and her physical abilities greatly improved. She used Constant Concentration breathing techniques throughout her journey.
Since mastering Snow Breathing, this was the first time she had used it so smoothly... In the dark room, Yoriichi sat on the floor. Beside him, in addition to his nichirin blade, lay a broken white nichirin blade.
He hadn't slept soundly for several days.
Because of Mizuki's letter.
[To my esteemed elder brother,
This is Mizuki. I am very sorry for leaving without saying goodbye.
But please listen to me carefully, elder brother. After leaving home, I occasionally encountered Michikatsu in a certain mountain... After becoming a demon, I found that I broke free from Muzan's control and did not lose my sanity, seemingly like Miss Tamayo's situation... I will return home in a few nights.]
This letter and the news from the Demon Slayer Corps reached Yoriichi almost simultaneously.
The Demon Slayer Corps informed him that traces of Mizuki fighting a demon were found in a certain mountain, but Miss Mizuki herself was not seen; only a broken nichirin blade was found at the scene.
The outcome was self-evident.
If it were an ordinary person, Mizuki's letter would be akin to a ghost returning on the seventh day after death.
It was chilling.
Yoriichi's peripheral vision swept over Mizuki's broken blade, and he sat with a grim expression.
He swore that if Mizuki's letter was Muzan's doing, he would dig up Muzan even if it meant digging three feet deep.
To deceive him under Mizuki's name and desecrate the deceased... Yoriichi suddenly looked up, his eyes fixed on the door... Mizuki had already entered the city, and the place where he and Yoriichi lived was not far.
She wondered if Yoriichi was asleep at this time.
But with Yoriichi's perception, she probably would have been discovered before she even got close.
Thinking this, Mizuki cautiously approached the house, praying in her heart that Yoriichi wouldn't treat her as a small fry to be finished off.
She didn't think she could contend with Yoriichi right now.
The last person who confidently clashed with Yoriichi was already hiding in his shell and not coming out.
As she approached the house, Mizuki's powerful demonic perception allowed her to instantly discern a figure sitting inside the room.
In the middle of the night... aren't they sleeping?
Creak~
Mizuki stealthily opened the door. Moonlight streamed in, illuminating Yoriichi's lower body as he sat.
The moment she saw Yoriichi, something in Mizuki's heart seemed to stir.
In a trance, a blurry figure holding a scarlet blade rushed towards her.
Those were the muzan cells remaining in her body.
Yoriichi's eyelids twitched. The Transparent World unfolded before his eyes, and the person before him was undoubtedly Mizuki.
But Mizuki's turbid aura also reminded him that the person before him was indeed a demon.
However, unlike other demons, she didn't have that foul smell after eating humans.
"Um, elder brother... aren't you sleeping so late?"
Mizuki's somewhat awkward voice came, and the coldness on Yoriichi's face instantly vanished.
Yoriichi spoke with a moved expression: "Mizuki..."
Mizuki closed the door and slowly sat down in front of Yoriichi.
Seeing Yoriichi's worried expression, she smiled gently: "Sorry, elder brother, I'm late coming home."
Yoriichi paused for a moment, then also smiled gently.
"Welcome back, Mizuki."
That night, the siblings talked a lot.
Yoriichi, who had once let Tamayo go, didn't always have the idea of annihilating demons, especially when it came to his own family.
But regarding Michikatsu's actions, he only felt pity.
Not only did he himself fall into demonhood, but he also turned his own younger sister into...