"Alright."
The Kakushi responded and hoisted Inosuke onto his shoulder, preparing to carry him back to the Butterfly Mansion.
I couldn't do anything at all…
I couldn't even defeat a single demon on my own…
Maybe I'm not that strong after all…
Inosuke hadn't lost consciousness while being carried. What he experienced tonight against the demon made him realize his own inadequacy, causing a shift in his mindset. Especially the moment when that half-and-half haori guy tied him up and hung him from a tree—it made him keenly aware of how weak he truly was.
Because some time had been spent dealing with Inosuke, when Kazuki arrived ahead, he found Shinobu already engaged with a demon.
No—calling it a fight would be inaccurate. It was more like she was toying with it.
The demon was completely at Shinobu's mercy, utterly unable to fight back.
Shinobu pinned the female demon to the ground and smiled as she spoke gently:
"You'll need to receive proper punishment, be reborn through suffering, and then we can get along nicely. If someone takes another's life and faces no consequences, the dead will never find peace."
As she spoke, she used her fingers to pry open the demon's eyes, still smiling.
"For example, gouging out your eyeballs."
Then she drew a straight line down the demon's abdomen with her finger.
"Or slicing open your stomach and pulling out your organs. The more people you've killed, the more I'll interrogate you. Once you endure all that pain, your sins will be forgiven. Let's do our best together!"
After saying this, Shinobu clenched her fists in a cheerful "let's go" gesture, smiling brightly. She looked incredibly cute—but paired with her words, it was unmistakably horrifying.
"It's fine, Miss. After all, you're a demon. You won't die, and there won't be any lasting damage!"
Hearing Shinobu speak such terrifying things with a smile sent a chill down even Kazuki's spine.
The female demon finally broke. Cold sweat poured down her face as she screamed.
"Don't joke with me!"
She twisted her body and forced herself upright. Shinobu leapt back smoothly, releasing her restraint. The demon stretched both hands toward Shinobu and screamed:
"Go to hell, you bitch!"
A massive clump of spider silk shot toward Shinobu. The recoil knocked the demon backward, sending her tumbling along the ground before she scrambled back up.
"Shinobu-san, let me test the Bright Red Blade first."
The spider silk shattered.
Kazuki spoke as he stepped forward.
Since entering Mount Natagumo, he hadn't encountered a single living demon, leaving him no chance to test the Bright Red Blade. Giyu hadn't found one either, so Kazuki suspected he might have already killed the Twelve Kizuki here. This demon could very well be the last one on the mountain. If Shinobu killed it now, there'd be no chance to test the blade.
"Well then, since this young lady doesn't plan on getting along nicely with me, I suppose there's nothing to be done," Shinobu said with a smile.
"After you finish testing it, be sure to kill her, alright? After all, it's her own choice."
"Yes. I will."
Kazuki answered and walked calmly toward the white-haired spider demon.
Under the pressure of his grip, the Nichirin blade in his hand slowly turned crimson.
"Damn you! You're going to die too!"
The spider demon, panicked and enraged, immediately launched an attack at Kazuki.
But her attack was completely ineffective.
A flash of blade light—
The thick spider silk was shredded instantly. At the same time, both of the spider demon's arms were severed.
"Ahhh!"
She screamed in agony.
Kazuki then kicked her to the ground and drove the Nichirin blade into her abdomen, pinning her to the earth.
From the conversation between Shinobu and this demon earlier, Kazuki already knew she had devoured more than eighty people. For a demon like this, he showed no mercy.
A searing pain erupted from the wounds where her arms had been severed and where the blade pierced her body. Terror flooded the spider demon's mind. She wanted nothing more than to escape—even if it meant defying Rui's orders.
But it was already too late.
After embedding the blade in her body, Kazuki released his grip, wanting to see whether she could still regenerate quickly.
The moment his hand left the blade, the spider demon desperately tried to regenerate her arms and pull the sword out.
But in the next instant, the scorching pain surged again.
The most basic ability of a demon—regeneration—had completely failed her.
"So the Bright Red Blade really does suppress regeneration."
Seeing that she still couldn't regrow her arms, Kazuki confirmed its effect.
In her current state, regenerating her arms, pulling out the blade, and fleeing was her only chance of survival.
"Alright. You can go to hell now and atone for the eighty-plus lives you took."
Kazuki pulled the blade free. The Nichirin blade, which had turned black after leaving his hand, once again became a fully crimson Bright Red Blade.
Freed from the blade's restraint, the spider demon didn't run. Instead, she dropped to her knees before Kazuki, tears streaming down her face.
"Please, let me go! As long as I can live, I'll do anything you want! I swear I'll never eat humans again! Everything before was forced on me by other demons—I'm so weak, I couldn't disobey them! Please—!"
Before she could finish begging, Kazuki's blade had already swept across her neck.
From her exchange with Shinobu alone, it was clear she was a cunning, deceitful demon—one skilled at exploiting others' sympathy. Knowing this, how could Kazuki possibly be fooled?
Her head hit the ground, her body collapsed, and the spider demon began to turn to ash.
Fragments of her past surfaced in her fading consciousness.
She had fled to Mount Natagumo while being hunted by Demon Slayers…
Was saved by Lower Rank Five, Rui, and drank his blood, taking on the role of his "elder sister"…
Another demon, tired of playing family, proposed escaping together…
She betrayed that demon to Rui, resulting in the one who treated her as a true little sister being bound on a rooftop and burned to death under the morning sun…
And even after betraying her, she received no kindness. She was beaten and abused at will. She wouldn't die—but the suffering never lessened.
They were all just replaceable roles to Rui, never real family.
Perhaps she had never truly understood that…
Or perhaps she simply wanted to cling to someone stronger.
I'm not wrong…
I just… wanted to live…
That final thought faded away.
The spider demon fully disintegrated into ash, scattering into the air.
Sheathing his blade, Kazuki noticed that Shinobu had already left.
She probably went to Tomioka-san's side…
I should head over as well.
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