"Help!"
The woman ran frantically through the dense forest, sometimes tripping over gnarled tree roots, but luckily the man seemed drunk, stumbling as he ran, and couldn't catch her.
The woman quickly continued to run, shouting for help, hoping someone would appear to save her, but the only reply she got was her own echo and the heavy panting of the man behind her.
"Don't run! It's better to let me eat you than to live in pain!" The man followed closely behind the woman. Her blood had an intoxicating effect; just a little bit of it made him feel disoriented. He didn't give up, but became even more excited. This meant the woman's blood was a rare blood type among rare blood types!
The demon wiped away the drool that was freely flowing down his chin. If the intoxicating effect hadn't been so strong, he would have peeled her skin and eaten her flesh right then and there, devouring her completely!
The woman, running aimlessly, had multiple scrapes and bruises on her body. The physical pain combined with her mental terror made her almost unable to run anymore.
What should I do? Who will save me? Grandma! Grandma is still waiting for me to come home! She only has me. If I don't go back, Grandma will probably be very worried. She will definitely come out to look for me, and then Grandma will also be in danger.
Oh God! Please save me!
I will definitely repay you well!
But the gods did not favor her.
Soon, the woman ran to a dilapidated temple, once again tripping over a stone and falling to the ground. She sat there in despair, trembling uncontrollably, looking with fear at the approaching man. She picked up a stone nearby and threw it hard in the man's direction.
"Don't come any closer!"
The stone hitting him was neither painful nor itchy, and the demon was not annoyed. In his eyes, this woman was already his meal. He approached slowly, watching the woman retreat backward using her hands and feet, pressing closer and closer. The closer he got, the more intoxicating the scent became, almost making the demon lose control and fall to the ground. He forced himself to hold steady, half-crouching in front of the woman who had nowhere left to go, his fierce face inches away. The foul stench that assailed her almost made the woman faint.
He had a bad habit: first deciding where to start eating and what to eat last. He raised a finger, pointed at the woman's head, and said with a wicked delight,
"Should I eat here first? This place is also good, the meat here is tender, this place is also fine, it's such a dilemma~" He pointed successively from her head, neck, abdomen, and thighs.
The woman trembled violently, no longer fixated on escaping. The monster in front of her was beyond her comprehension. Her past days, though poor, were peaceful and relatively smooth. This incident had a huge impact on her. She couldn't escape, she wouldn't live!
"Her neck is good! I'll eat your head last!"
The demon's hand was almost touching the woman's neck. She desperately closed her eyes, bracing for the impending death.
Grandma! I'm sorry!
The expected pain did not come. Instead, there was a muffled groan, a wet sensation on her face, and a smell of blood. She heard the monster howling in pain. Cautiously, she opened her eyes. The monster was on the ground, clutching its severed left hand, writhing in agony.
"Are… you alright?" A clear, detached voice came from beside her.
She slowly looked up and saw a young man with dazzling golden hair and clear blue eyes, quietly looking at her. A light blue kimono rustled in the evening breeze. He was like a darling of the moon, the soft moonlight falling perfectly on his face, casting a sacred glow.
Just that one glance made the woman unable to look away. A god had appeared! A god had saved her! The god had not abandoned her.
The woman stared blankly at the young man in front of her, fearing this was just her dying hallucination. She whispered, "My Lord… God…"
Although he didn't quite understand what the woman meant by "My Lord God," Yōsen's gaze lingered on the wailing demon on the ground.
It was a good thing he grabbed a nichirin blade on his way out, otherwise it would have taken some effort to deal with it. But there were ordinary humans here, and if he were to beat the demon until it no longer had the strength to recover or resist, and then hang it on a tree, it would probably leave an indelible trauma on her.
He couldn't use his Blood Demon Art for the time being. Yōsen hadn't fully recovered his body. If this woman hadn't been a rare blood type, and the scent of her blood hadn't lured him awake, he would probably have been in grave danger.
... The young man lay straight in the dark corner. The dilapidated temple occasionally made "creaking" sounds from the wood, which had become old and decayed from years of rot.
His originally damp hair had already been dried by the wind during his rapid movement, leaving his golden hair a bit disheveled.
To avoid dirtying the new clothes Shinobu had given him, he made an effort to gather some dry grass to lay down before going to sleep, to separate himself from the dirt on the ground. But because he was too tired, the grass was not spread evenly.
The young man's breathing was steady and long. Suddenly, his previously relaxed brows furrowed tightly, and a thin layer of sweat began to appear on his forehead. His steady breathing became erratic. He seemed to be having a nightmare, and his relaxed palms clenched into fists.
"No!"
"No…!"
... "I'm sorry..., I couldn't..."
"Couldn't..."
Yōsen talked in his sleep. He suddenly woke up, a scent startling him awake—the smell of blood!
This scent, and it was a rare blood type. Yōsen uncontrollably salivated, and that impulse appeared once again. Yōsen really disliked this feeling.
And that dream he couldn't quite remember. He seemed to have had a strange dream, apologizing in it. Why was he apologizing? What couldn't he do? It made him curious, but there was something more important at hand. Someone was injured, approaching here. As they got closer, the alluring scent grew stronger. He composed himself, letting out a deep breath.
He picked up the nichirin blade that was placed to the side. He forgot to return it, but it shouldn't be a big problem. He saved them, so taking a sword as compensation was not excessive.
Walking out of the dilapidated temple, he looked at the woman sitting on the ground and the demon's hand reaching towards her. Yōsen drew his nichirin blade.
He leaped high with incredible speed, descending with a swift slash, cutting off the demon's arm.
... Back to the present.
Yōsen looked down at the demon, the tip of his blade pointing directly at it. The moonlight caused the nichirin blade to glint with a cold light. His blue eyes held a chill that made the demon tremble with fear, not daring to move rashly.
Then, with a light flick of his sword, he sliced off the demon's head. The demon didn't even have time for a basic reaction before it disintegrated into ash.
The woman watched this scene in shock. The monster had just vanished like that. This young man had killed the monster with a casual attack. Indeed!
A god had appeared!
He flicked the demon's blood from his sword and returned it to its sheath. Seeing the woman on the ground in a daze, Yōsen frowned. Was she still scared?
Suddenly, the woman knelt before Yōsen and bowed deeply with a resounding thud.
"Thank you, Lord God, for your rescue!"
"This humble woman has no way to repay you, other than to offer herself to you."
"..."
She must have been scared senseless, right?