"Yeah, just like that, come eat it."
Watching Kamado Asaki get closer and closer, Black Fang revealed a satisfied expression.
Asaki's eyes burned with frenzied hunger, locked onto the heart like he couldn't wait to snatch it away and devour it.
Black Fang took a step forward and extended the heart right in front of Asaki, just inches away.
"Eat."
But Asaki suddenly looked up, terror written across his face as he stared overhead.
Black Fang, who had been watching him closely, tensed up instantly.
"Could it be that a member of the Demon Slayer Corps is hiding above?"
Following Asaki's gaze, Black Fang jerked his head upward.
But to his surprise, even after thoroughly scanning the ceiling of the cave, he saw nothing—not even a shadow, let alone someone from the Demon Slayer Corps.
"Then why the hell did this little brat suddenly look up?"
With his head still tilted back, Black Fang felt an odd doubt stir inside. But he reacted quickly.
"Shit! I've been tricked!"
Just as he realized it was a trap, Black Fang tried to command his body to defend.
But he was a beat too slow.
An explosion of pain hit his jaw. Asaki's punch slammed into him with a heavy, sickening thud, followed by the crunch of shattering bone.
Seizing the moment of deception, Asaki shot up from below. His right hand clenched into a fist and delivered a brutal uppercut to Black Fang's chin.
In his past life, to survive, Asaki had once boxed for money. Even though he got beaten to a pulp, he earned a decent sum and picked up a fair bit of combat knowledge.
The chin was one of the three most vulnerable parts of the human body.
The other two were the liver and the area behind the ear.
A solid hit to the chin or behind the ear could leave a person's brain spinning in a dazed fog—or knock them out cold entirely.
A strike to the liver could cause severe internal injury.
Even after turning into a demon, those spots should still be relatively fragile.
Asaki understood that perfectly. So his attack was aimed straight at Black Fang's weak points.
That savage uppercut snapped Black Fang's head back at an unnatural angle.
The inhuman strength of a demon coursed through Asaki's body, and his punch shattered Black Fang's jaw entirely. Jagged bone tore through the skin.
Compared to their terrifying strength, demons had far weaker defenses. Maybe it was because they could regenerate endlessly that they never "invested" in physical defense…
Black Fang's vision went dark. The world spun. His mind fogged. He wanted to fight back but couldn't control his limbs.
Having landed a successful blow, Asaki wasted no time in following up with ruthless, relentless strikes.
"That should settle it… for now."
After delivering a ferocious barrage, Asaki finally exhaled.
He kicked Black Fang's headless body aside, ready to check on the poor soul who had fallen victim to his hunt, and figure out how to deal with Black Fang's corpse.
Killing a demon was no simple matter.
But Asaki had only taken a few steps when an enraged voice thundered behind him.
"I haven't felt pain like that in a long fucking time."
"Getting your head blasted off… really hurts like a bitch!"
Looking down, Asaki noticed the red-and-white mess that had splattered onto his clothes was now turning to ash and disappearing.
He turned around—and saw that Black Fang had already gotten to his feet. His previously headless torso was now regenerating from the neck up at a speed visible to the naked eye.
As flesh and bone writhed and twisted, his mouth finished reforming.
Asaki's eyes narrowed. A flicker of frustration passed through his mind.
He'd made a rookie mistake.
He knew demons could regenerate rapidly. After turning into one himself, he had healed shattered fangs and recovered from wounds inflicted by the black-haired demon—all while unconscious.
But how long that healing had taken, he wasn't sure.
He didn't fully understand the extent of a demon's regenerative abilities.
So he'd relied on experience and assumed blowing Black Fang's head off had dealt serious damage.
Even if Black Fang could recover, it should've taken a decent amount of time. After all, the brain is vital to humans.
But how could demons be measured by human logic?
In just a few breaths, Black Fang was moving freely again.
That kind of mistake couldn't happen again.
Blowing off the head wasn't enough. At a minimum, he needed to pulverize the entire body.
Both Black Fang and Asaki lunged at each other, clashing head-on.
"Kid, I don't know how long you've been a demon."
"But I've been one for decades. And age—that's one of the key indicators of a demon's power."
Black Fang had never taken Asaki seriously. Let alone the fact that demons were already hard to kill, this newborn demon couldn't possibly match his strength.
That ambush earlier? Just a fluke.
As long as the Nichirin Blade didn't sever his neck, what difference did it make if his head got blown off?
Kid, you're just a newborn. You think you can fight an old demon like me?
But after exchanging blows, Black Fang started to get annoyed.
Asaki was slippery as hell—like a goddamn eel. No matter how vicious his attacks were, he couldn't land a clean hit. Black Fang wasn't exactly built for speed.
Meanwhile, Asaki was silently calculating Black Fang's strength and speed, trying to deduce his enemy's full power.
That black-haired demon from before—his strikes were invisible. Before Asaki even registered what was happening, he was lifted by the face, cheek punctured.
That guy was on a whole other level compared to the demon in front of him.
And yet, even he had knelt and accepted death without a shred of resistance in the face of that unknown enemy...
Asaki sighed inwardly. The gap was too fucking massive.
Black Fang's strength and speed both surpassed Asaki's. He pushed harder and harder, steadily backing Asaki into a corner.
But for now, Asaki could still handle it.
Still, if he wanted to turn the tide of battle, this wasn't going to cut it. Black Fang wasn't stupid. Even though Asaki kept dodging, Black Fang was gradually shrinking his escape space.
If this kept up, there'd be nowhere left to run.
Asaki needed a turning point—something to flip the script.
And he'd already figured out how to create it.
At that moment, Black Fang clawed forward, aiming straight for Asaki's heart. Asaki, who had been dodging constantly, suddenly hesitated. His movement slowed by half a beat.
Black Fang was ecstatic. That little bastard refusing to fight head-on was annoying as shit.
Sure, he could've just cornered him to death eventually—but the whole process had been aggravating.
He preferred real, head-on brawls.
Seeing an opening, Black Fang went all in. He couldn't risk Asaki escaping again.
His claw strike grew even more savage and brutal. His sharp nails extended slightly, gleaming like blades.
Just then, Asaki smiled.
"Idiot. You fell for it again."
Then, to Black Fang's utter shock, Asaki made no effort to dodge.
In fact, he stepped forward—shoving his own heart into Black Fang's claw.
"Splurt."
The talons pierced his body, blood gushing out.
Asaki couldn't hold back. A mouthful of blood spewed out of him.
(End of Chapter)
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T/N: Vote your stones for more frequent and more chapters.