Chapter 149: A Fated Encounter with Muzan x The Demon King Summons the Upper Moons
What is a demon?
In Roy's view, a "demon" wasn't detached from the concept of "human."
It was an amalgamation of all the "dark" emotions of humanity—tyranny, cruelty, madness—amplified by Muzan's blood... just as "Nen After Death" is born from "obsession" and "resentment."
Because they couldn't "obtain" what they desired in life, after becoming demons, they desperately tried to compensate for it.
His nose twitched, instantly "smelling" the scent of the Swamp Demon. Roy activated En, instantly locking onto the demon's location, and hearing its "inner voice" and "past" all at once...
Just as it said to Tanjiro in the original story... "Women must be eaten while they're 'young'. If they get any older, they become ugly and taste bad..."
Roy keenly captured the "deep inferiority" lurking within the Swamp Demon's heart.
Because he was poor, old, ugly, and cowardly, he had never married, never even held a woman's hand. He could only peep in secret, or stalk young girls... to relieve the pressure deep in his heart. Living like a walking corpse... he might as well just... die!
"Sun Breathing, Second Form: Clear Blue Sky..."
The blade left its sheath, turning red, flames igniting... A slash wreathed in fire flashed...
A patch of muddy swamp suddenly appeared on the alley wall. Thump-thump~ Two demon heads rolled out, and a Swamp Demon with two horns on its head fell to the ground... Roy moved unhurriedly, pointing his blade diagonally down, stabbing it into the demon's mouth. At that moment, his gaze sharpened. Through the Swamp Demon's crimson eyes, he saw another pair of eyes!
The owner of those eyes had blood-red pupils, dressed like a "young master" in suspenders and a small suit, wearing shiny leather shoes. He held a book in both hands, standing in an elegant yet "luxurious" study, consulting materials, flanked by several maids...
Muzan?
The Crimson Blade... those "Hanafuda earrings"...
The two stared at each other through the Swamp Demon's pupils, both stunned.
Roy reacted first. Twin suns fwoosh "ignited" in his pitch-black pupils, piercing straight through the Swamp Demon's eyes, staring fiercely "inside"...
Muzan saw "two" suns. Thump, thump, thump... He stumbled back several steps, the book flying from his hands in fright. In his panic, he lost his balance and fell to the floor!
"The sun... 'Sun Breathing'... that swordsman... is Yoriichi Tsugikuni's successor!"
BANG! The "Muzan's blood" inside the Swamp Demon exploded!
The Swamp Demon's body burst apart like a watermelon hit by a hammer...
Faintly, the connection established with Muzan through the demon blood was completely severed!
[Notification... "Life Energy" +10... [Magical Beast Encyclopedia] updated...]
[Swamp Demon: D-Rank Creature]
[Physique: 103 (Note: Average person is 1)]
[Blood Demon Art: Swamp Space (Note: Spatial ability. Centered on the Swamp Demon, creates a swamp within a ten-meter radius on any "solid surface" (wall or floor), allowing travel through it, achieving "spatial traversal")... Extracted...]
[Blood Demon Art: Self-Cloning (Note: Materialized clones. Requires "corpses" as a medium, dividing demon blood to form them)... Extracted...]
Fwoosh~ [Eye of Revelation] extinguished.
Roy sheathed his sword. "Ran away fast."
Processing the two streams of information from the panel, a swamp appeared beneath his feet. He sank into the ground, reappearing ten meters away, popping out from a corner of the wall... He sank and surfaced, using the swamp to shuttle through the streets and alleys, silently familiarizing himself with [Swamp Space]. A moment later, he left the Demon Slayer world and returned to the Hunter world...
"Young Master..."
"Young Master..."
"What happened to you?"
Tokyo.
Inside a luxurious mansion.
Seeing their young master fall, three maids reached out to help him. Their arms extended, but their heads vanished.
Muzan, in his "young boy" guise, punched each maid, killing them instantly. He sat wretchedly on the floor, clutching his chest, gasping for air... For hundreds of years, since the death of that swordsman with the flame mark on his forehead, he had never felt "fear" like this again!
Those "Hanafuda earrings"... that Crimson Blade wreathed in raging flames... those "Great Sun Pupils" that pierced his heart... In an instant, he was pulled back to that bamboo forest where he first met Yoriichi Tsugikuni!
That night, the bamboo rustled in the wind...
He mocked him as just an ordinary swordsman, and Yoriichi cut him into over eighteen hundred pieces...
He said: "I have lost interest in swordsmen who use Breathing Styles."
He asked: "What do you think life is?"
Muzan dared not forget... the Mark... the Crimson Blade... even the earrings hanging from Yoriichi Tsugikuni's ears. Hundreds of years had passed, but he still dared not forget!
"Nakime! Summon the Upper Moons! I want..."
"That swordsman... DEAD!"
Veins bulged hideously around the boy's blood-red pupils!
He crawled up from the bloody floor, issuing his command... This night, the wind and clouds surged, far different from usual...
Demons ate people, Demon Slayers hunted them. Upper and Lower Moons moved from different corners, converging on one location. Kagaya Ubuyashiki listened to Gyomei Himejima chanting sutras, clutching a warmer, draped in a coat, watching the stars...
Humans, demons, all showing their various faces. Only... the one stirring up the situation, as usual, with the chiming of the corner clock...
At 4:30 AM.
Passed through the "Dream Tunnel," left the Demon Slayer world, and returned to the Hunter world. Opening his eyes on time, this time... Roy watched the dawn through the window, not yet broken. He didn't roll out of bed. Instead, a swamp spread out on the soft mattress, and he sank directly into it, popping out again from the ancient stone corridor outside his door!
[Swamp Space], ignoring terrain, traversing freely within ten meters... It seemed... even more useful than Roy had imagined.
The corner of the boy's mouth lifted slightly. He did a simple warm-up and began his morning run around Kukuroo Mountain.
He passed through the long corridor, rounded the corner, under the stars and moon, out the main castle gate and all the way down...
After he left, in the dimly lit small room, an old man listened to cartoons, covered by a blanket, rocking in his chair. His closed eyes slowly opened a slit, and he sneered coldly at a dark corner. "Some kid's 'hiding skills' are better than a certain grandfather's."
The "darkness" writhed... White hair flowing, Zeno walked out with his hands behind his back, respectfully calling out, "Grandfather."
Maha closed his eyes, refusing to look at him, just sneering coldly. "Oh... isn't this Zeno Isaac?"
"Finally decided to come back from your daddy Netero's place?"
Zeno: "..."
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