Yuko had a nightmare—she dreamt that Michikatsu had still become a demon.
She jolted awake, her entire body drenched in sweat.
Breathing heavily, Yuko felt her throat dry and parched.
She fumbled in the dark for the teacup on her table and swallowed it in one go, finally easing a little.
So it's true—what you dwell on by day returns as dreams by night.
Letting out a long breath, Yuko thought about the timing of Michikatsu's mission.
This time, the mission site wasn't far—only two days' travel.
He had already been away for a full week. If everything went smoothly, he should have returned by now.
Could it be…
Yuko shook her foggy head, mocking herself.
Scaring myself really is something I'm good at.
She got back onto her bed and was just about to lie down when a sudden breeze swept through—and a figure abruptly appeared inside her room.
Yuko's hair stood on end.
She pushed off the bed, rolled toward the wall, and grabbed her blade.
"Who's there?!" she shouted sharply toward the shadow.
The figure didn't answer.
Instead, he walked to the table and lit the oil lamp.
In that faint glow, Yuko recognized the clothes and back of the person—it was Michikatsu.
"Brother, are you trying to scare me to death?! Barging into a girl's room in the middle of the night—you'll be treated like a pervert!" Yuko sighed in relief and complained.
But just as she was about to return her Nichirin blade to its stand, Michikatsu turned around—and what filled Yuko's vision was a head bearing six eyes.
A demon.
Yuko's pupils constricted violently.
Her entire body went cold, as though she had fallen into an ice pit.
Was she still dreaming?
But why did she feel so painfully awake?
After a long silence, Yuko's jaw trembled. She squeezed out a few words:
"…Why?"
Michikatsu showed no expression—no, his face was now covered entirely by six eyes; any human emotion was unreadable.
His calm voice sounded:
"Yuko, you should become a demon too. That way, your lungs—"
"I asked you WHY!"
Yuko's furious scream cut him off, like a maddened tiger.
Her hand gripping the sword trembled uncontrollably—she nearly drew it on the spot.
As someone from modern times, Yuko was open-minded.
Those forced into demonhood like Nezuko, or those like Tamayo who, after consuming many humans, awakened and spent their lives atoning—
Yuko could understand them and treat them kindly.
But choosing to become a demon voluntarily—
That she could never forgive.
This wasn't like "good vs evil sects" in wuxia stories, where even demonic sects might have members who never committed atrocities.
Demons were different—
Demons always ate humans.
No person with a normal moral compass could accept that.
Looking at Michikatsu's grotesque appearance, Yuko wasn't afraid—she was furious.
And beneath the fury was a deep, chilling disappointment.
They had lived together for more than twenty years—did Yuko really feel nothing for her family?
Of course she did.
Even though Michikatsu was stubborn to a fault—often making Yuko so frustrated she'd threaten to expose him on certain modern apps—
as an older brother, he had always been gentle and kind.
And even emotion-dense Yoriichi had always seen Michikatsu as a gentle elder brother.
She had tried so hard to guide him…
Yuko's nose stung.
Feeling the burn of tears about to spill, she gritted her teeth and forced them back.
Michikatsu ignored the anger on her face and continued:
"If you become a demon, you'll have endless years to hone your swordsmanship. Your lung injury will also heal easily."
Crack.
Yuko slowly drew her Nichirin blade, her expression dark:
"I wasn't born into this world to become a demon."
She would—cut off Michikatsus head.
She exhaled a puff of white mist.
"Snow Breathing, Sixth Form: Snowfall Across Ten Thousand Miles!"
With a powerful overhead strike, the white blade wave shot forth with terrifying speed, reaching Michikatsu in a heartbeat—ready to cleave him in half.
Clang—
A sharp ring filled the room.
In Michikatsu's hand was a blade covered in eyeballs, reeking of rot—a fleshy sword forged from his own body.
Its name: Hollow Cry of the Godless (Kyokokukamusari).
The stench was overwhelming. Yuko nearly fainted from it as a dark haze filled her eyes.
"You ate people, didn't you?!"
Only a demon who had devoured humans emitted such a foul aura.
She didn't give him the chance to answer.
"Snow Breathing, Fifth Form: Snow Step."
Her figure dissolved into the night—a white blur, like drifting remnants of snow scattered by the wind.
Snow Step wasn't an offensive form, but a movement technique meant to obscure the body.
But the very next moment, without even turning, Michikatsu extended his corrupted blade behind him—
CLANG!
Yuko's eyes tightened.
Her wrist trembled violently as she attempted to cut at his neck, yet she couldn't advance an inch.
Michikatsu brushed aside her attack effortlessly.
Any shame in his heart vanished.
He had become stronger.
He knew it clearly.
Pushed back, Yuko twisted midair and landed, then launched herself again like a cannonball.
"Snow Breathing, Seventh—!"
But as she inhaled sharply, an itch clawed at her throat, pain surged from her lungs, and her vision darkened like sudden anemia.
She staggered and crashed into a table.
"Cough—cough—"
Blood dripped from her lips. She scrambled to her feet and looked to where Michikatsu had been—
—but he was gone.
Yuko's heart dropped. She quickly turned around.
"One day, you will understand."
That was the last thing she heard before losing consciousness.
Michikatsu struck her lightly at the back of the neck, knocking her out.
Yuko was only twenty-three; three years remained before the Mark's limit.
The closer people were to death, the more they feared it.
For someone whose dream was to become the strongest swordsman—
Yuko would, at the brink of death, surely choose the same path as he did.
Yoriichi… I am right.
…
At almost the same time Yuko fainted, Yoriichi—while on a mission—encountered the Demon King Muzan in a bamboo forest.
The Demon King stood in luxurious robes, with a sorrowful woman trailing behind him.
Just by meeting Muzan, Yoriichi understood.
The reason he was born with such overwhelming talent—
must be to defeat this progenitor of demons.
Muzan's body overflowed with violent life force, like molten lava erupting from a volcano, raging and ready to consume everything.
"I no longer have interest in swordsmen who use Breathing Techniques," Muzan said with a proud smile.
The moment his words ended, his arm split into whip-like tendrils that slashed at Yoriichi, cutting through bamboo like paper.
For the first time in his life, Yoriichi felt true fear down his spine.
And at that moment, his eyes perceived Muzan's secret—
Seven hearts.
Five brains.
Completing the thirteenth form of Sun Breathing, Yoriichi unleashed blazing, orange-red flames that instantly enveloped Muzan with terrifying force.
When the flames dissipated, Muzan's severed head hung weakly from his body, his eyes filled with confusion.
Yoriichi approached slowly with his red Nichirin blade.
There was one question he had to ask, no matter what—
"What is the value of a life to you?"
Muzan's face flushed red-black with rage, veins bulging.
Yoriichi's gaze then shifted to the woman behind Muzan.
She hadn't helped him—
She was watching Muzan's decapitated form with anticipation.
Just as Yoriichi prepared to finish Muzan—
—Muzan clenched his teeth and detonated.
His body exploded into 1,800 pieces that shot in every direction.
Reacting instinctively, Yoriichi swung, slicing 1,500 pieces instantly.
But over 300 pieces survived—together forming a mass roughly the size of a human head—and escaped.
Stunned by the sudden development, Yoriichi stood in place.
The woman's sobbing shook him back to reality.
"We were so close… just a little more… he even overcame the weakness of his neck…"
Kneeling, she tugged at her hair in grief.
"Why won't he die?! That filthy man!
Kibutsuji Muzan!"
Then she stared blankly at her hands.
"I'm not dead? Why am I not dead…?"
Perhaps Muzan's weakened state loosened his control over her temporarily.
She was unlike any demon Yoriichi had seen.
He comforted the frightened woman, who introduced herself as Tamayo.
From her, he learned much about Muzan—
and that the Demon King likely wouldn't appear again until the moment of his true death.
After they agreed to cooperate to defeat Muzan, Yoriichi was found by fellow Demon Slayers.
A swordsman of the Rengoku family—
the Flame Hashira—grabbed Yoriichi by the shoulders, trembling.
"Michikatsu has turned into a demon and killed the Master.
Yuko… she fought him and is still unconscious!"
---
+50 Chapters
(Currently at Chapter 69 on Ko-Fi.)
https:// ko-fi.com/rabi08