After hearing the order, the explorers exchanged looks. If cursing weren't something Muzan could hear, they would have already greeted the ancestors of the Demon King up to the eighteenth generation.
Muzan, too, had received news of the battle in Yoshiwara. Unlike the explorers, his thoughts were split into two conclusions: first, that these hastily created Twelve Kizuki were indeed useless; second, that he now felt a very real sense of danger.
Thus, Muzan issued a new command—every demon within Asakusa was to lie low. No stirring up trouble. And absolutely no provoking that Demon Slayer swordsman named Kurosaki Rei.
One word summed it up: cowardly.
The powerful explorers stationed in Asakusa were utterly stifled. During the daytime, when Kurosaki Rei had been fighting Upper Rank Six, they'd wanted to rush over and provide support—maybe even steal a kill. Muzan had stopped them then as well.
Muzan could sense the condition of all demons at all times; he simply didn't bother paying attention most of the time. Upper Ranks, however, did occasionally catch his notice. So the moment the fight began, he'd known Upper Rank Six had encountered a strong enemy. At first, he hadn't cared—Upper Ranks had beaten Hashira for centuries, after all. Surely this time would be no different.
That was why he'd decided there was no need to send in these newly created elite guards.
And then, not long after, he abruptly realized that Upper Rank Six was dead—along with all those new Twelve Kizuki.
At that point, Muzan panicked.
Unable to gauge Kurosaki Rei's true strength, and with his ace enforcers—Upper Ranks One, Two, and Three—currently not deployed, he had no intention of starting a fight. Besides, he was having a great time playing house lately, enjoying life with his "loving wife" and "obedient daughter." He didn't want to disrupt his peaceful days.
Only then did the explorers of Muzan's faction truly realize that their mission in this world was far from easy. The biggest flaw of Muzan's faction wasn't the enemies—it was pig teammates and a moronic boss.
From their perspective, the optimal play was obvious: gather all the Twelve Kizuki immediately, kill Kurosaki Rei in Asakusa, then move as a group to hunt down the Hashira. Within a month, the world would be cleared, and Muzan would become an absolutely safe Demon King.
So why was Muzan so damn stupid?
Kurosaki Rei was an explorer. Killing him now might not even be that hard—but letting such a clearly dangerous explorer continue to grow inside the world was basically raising a tiger to devour you later.
All they could do now was hope that the smooth-talking explorer among them could persuade Muzan—get him to pull everyone together and eliminate this unstable variable first. After that, they could do whatever they wanted.
While Muzan's explorers were agonizing over how to serve their idiotic boss, Kurosaki Rei had already found Lady Tamayo's hiding place.
The Endpoint Space wouldn't issue excessively unfair quests. Since he'd already triggered a hidden task requiring cooperation with Tamayo's research, the Space naturally provided some positional guidance.
Relying on his memory of the original story, Kurosaki Rei searched several alleys. In the end, in a quiet, sparsely populated lane, he received a prompt from the Space. He touched the wall—and passed straight through it.
Even without the Space's hint, Kurosaki Rei felt he wouldn't have missed this place anyway. His perception was excellent, and after refining techniques derived from spiritual pressure training, his ability to sense space and living auras had advanced by leaps and bounds.
Yushiro's Blood Demon Art could deceive the eyes—but it couldn't fool Kurosaki Rei's perception. He could clearly sense that the wall was an illusion, and that demonic auras lay beyond it.
The moment he entered the courtyard, a figure rushed him with a wooden club.
The youth had short, fashionably dyed green-and-black hair. His face was set in a look of grim resolve as he swung the club straight down at Kurosaki Rei.
Thud—
Kurosaki Rei casually threw a punch, sending Yushiro flying. With his weak hand-to-hand skills, Yushiro landed hard on his backside.
"Damn Demon Slayers! We've already hidden ourselves away here! We've never harmed anyone—why do you keep hunting us down?!"
Yushiro shouted angrily as he scrambled back to his feet, clutching the club and glaring at Kurosaki Rei.
He'd sensed someone approaching the illusion barrier earlier. But it wasn't until the man passed through and stood before him that Yushiro felt the invisible pressure bearing down on him.
The man reeked of blood—the blood of demons. Strong demons.
This man had killed many demons. Powerful ones.
Could it be… a Hashira?
Hearing footsteps from the corridor behind him, Yushiro didn't turn around. Instead, he shouted, "Lady Tamayo, run! It's a Hashira! I'll hold him off!"
Kurosaki Rei also saw the beautiful woman stepping out of the room. He smiled slightly.
"Oh? Looks like I found the right place."
But to Yushiro, that smile looked like a demon's—like the grin of a sadistic killer spotting fresh prey. It sent a chill down his spine.
To protect Lady Tamayo, Yushiro forced himself to stand his ground despite his trembling legs.
"As long as I'm here, you won't lay a hand on Lady Tamayo!"
Tamayo had just stepped out, as if she'd finished bathing. A soft kimono draped over her figure, dyed with elegant cherry blossom patterns. The collar lay slightly open, revealing skin smooth as polished jade.
Her jet-black hair was loosely gathered, a few strands falling against her fair shoulders like a stroke of ink in a painting. Droplets of water slid down her skin, pearling and trailing along her curves, soaking into the crimson trim of her kimono.
Her slender brows lifted slightly; a few beads of water still clung to her lashes like morning dew.
The instant Tamayo took in the scene, she made a decisive move. Her pale hand swept across her arm, lips parting gently.
"Blood Demon Art: Bewitching Blood — Visual Illusion."
At once, dreamlike patterns filled Kurosaki Rei's vision, swirling through the courtyard like dancing dragons. Standing in the doorway, Tamayo turned and shouted, "Yushiro, run!"
Kurosaki Rei stirred the soul energy within his body. With the added effect of Heart of the Giant, he broke free of the illusion almost instantly.
Watching Tamayo and Yushiro panic, desperately trying to cover each other's retreat, Kurosaki Rei couldn't help touching his own face.
"Do I really look that scary?"
He hadn't released any killing intent upon entering the courtyard. When Yushiro attacked, he'd merely knocked him back. Yet the two of them were acting as though this were a final farewell.
As Yushiro prepared to charge again, Kurosaki Rei quickly spoke up. "Don't misunderstand—I'm not here to kill you."
"Like hell I believe that!"
Yushiro roared and rushed him again. In his eyes, the thick demonic blood aura clinging to Kurosaki Rei clearly meant he'd slaughtered powerful demons recently—maybe even earlier today.
How could a demon slayer with such killing intent possibly spare them? This had to be a trick to lower his guard.
With a sigh, Kurosaki Rei sidestepped, grabbed the club, wrenched it away, then twisted Yushiro's wrist and pinned him against a cherry tree.
"If I wanted you dead, you'd already be headless. Why is it so hard to understand plain language?"
Then he added dryly, "And aren't you a demon too?"
Tamayo was far calmer. Seeing that Kurosaki Rei hadn't harmed Yushiro—and recalling his words—she refrained from attacking further.
"This powerful Demon Slayer," she asked softly, "you say you have no intention of killing us. Why?"
After turning away from evil, she had transformed Yushiro into a demon. Over the years, despite never harming humans, she'd encountered many Demon Slayer swordsmen who sought to kill them on sight.
Slaying demons was only natural for the Corps. Most never gave her a chance to explain. So she was curious why this clearly formidable man was different.
"I heard from nearby residents that there's a highly skilled doctor treating the sick around here," Kurosaki Rei explained, looking at Tamayo. "As for you, miss, I'll set that aside for now—but this boy I'm holding hasn't eaten anyone, has he?"
Tamayo was startled. She hadn't expected him to tell.
She nodded. "That's right. Yushiro has never eaten a human. If you must kill someone… kill me instead. Please spare Yushiro."
When she first became a demon, she'd lost control of the craving in her blood and eaten people—killing her husband and child.
It was her greatest regret and deepest pain, and the reason she hated Muzan so profoundly.
She hadn't clung to life merely out of fear of death—she'd wanted to see her child grow up. Yet as a demon, she'd killed that very child. How could she not loathe the one who turned her into a monster?
As a demon who had taken lives, Tamayo had long accepted the possibility of being slain by the Demon Slayer Corps. Her only regret was that she hadn't yet created a medicine capable of turning demons back into humans.
"This is exhausting."
Kurosaki Rei released the still-struggling Yushiro. "I already said I'm not here to kill anyone. If what you say is true, you haven't eaten humans in a long time. And your reputation locally is quite good—you've saved many lives."
"Of course she has!" Yushiro snapped, glaring warily. "Lady Tamayo is a great benefactor! She treats patients for free. We have no intention of harming anyone—now that you know, leave!"
"Shut up."
Kurosaki Rei released a sliver of killing intent. Yushiro instantly went stiff, like a startled rabbit.
"Yushiro, mind your manners. This Demon Slayer isn't our enemy."
Tamayo had seen it clearly. If Kurosaki Rei truly intended to kill them, they'd have died instantly. There was no need for all this talk.
She looked at him, eyes filled with confusion. "Then… what do you want from me?"
"I want you."
Kurosaki Rei answered plainly.
The moment he said it, Yushiro—who had just been cowed—exploded again.
"So that's it! You're after Lady Tamayo's peerless beauty, you lecherous swordsman! I'll fight you!"
Kurosaki Rei kicked him away.
"I don't have time to joke around. This place isn't safe. If you want to live, come with me. The Demon Slayer Corps needs your medical expertise."
Tamayo froze. "The Demon Slayer Corps… wants my medical knowledge?"
"That's right. We need your skills to deal with Muzan. The day of the final battle is approaching."
Kurosaki Rei said it casually—half a lie, half the truth. He personally had no intention of relying on medicine to defeat Muzan; he preferred to cut down enemies at their strongest.
But that didn't mean the Demon Slayer Corps didn't need Tamayo. Her medical knowledge would be invaluable to the faction as a whole—and served as an extra layer of insurance against Muzan.
Most importantly, his hidden quest required Tamayo to survive. If she died, his rewards would go up in smoke.
"You want me… to go to the Demon Slayer Corps?"
Tamayo hesitated. Though she was no longer an evil demon, the thought of entering the Corps' headquarters still triggered an instinctive fear.
"Lady Tamayo, you can't trust him—"
Yushiro tried to object again—
Shing.
The blade at Kurosaki Rei's waist slid partway from its sheath.
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