Bloodfang silently watched the boy in the woods.
Young. Alone. Full of warm, lively blood.
A delicious piece of bread.
Excitement made its hunger swell, and it forced itself to think, carefully, about how to "handle" him.
Should it break all four limbs and swallow him whole while he was still fresh?
Or should it let fear ferment first, then savor the rich flavor of despair?
Fresh, or flavorful.
What a blissful dilemma.
How terribly difficult.
A muddy, chaotic light wriggled in Bloodfang's eyes, and it licked its fangs.
As for the katana by the boy's side?
It did not even register.
Other than sunlight, and truly dangerous Demon Slayer Corps members, a normal human's resistance was not worth fearing.
If anything, that desperate struggle only made the meal taste better.
Just look at the boy's shabby clothes. No way he was with the Corps.
And it was already night.
Middle of nowhere.
He could scream until his throat tore, and nobody would come.
Besides, it had been a while since Bloodfang had eaten well. How many humans would it need before it caught that lady's eye again and earned the chance to see her grace?
Before Bloodfang could decide, it noticed the boy suddenly lift his head and glance around.
Then the boy's eyes locked onto this direction.
Sharp senses. That makes me even more excited.
Fine.
Bloodfang stopped hiding.
It straightened up and sauntered forward with a lazy swagger, stepping into the firelight.
The glow painted its face as it split its mouth into a grin, showing the torn smile that stretched toward its ears and the fangs inside.
It would be more fun to play with him before eating.
As expected, the moment the boy saw its inhuman, powerful body, his hand went to his sword.
Next would be the usual.
Either he would turn and run.
Or he would panic, scream to psych himself up, and swing wildly.
Bloodfang had seen it too many times. It could already predict the script.
But the boy did something different.
He only dusted himself off, stood with the sword in hand, and walked over at an unhurried pace.
There was no fear in his eyes.
No panic.
Instead, he looked at Bloodfang in a way that made it uncomfortable.
A look of inspection.
A look of curiosity.
Bloodfang's muscles tightened. The killing intent and bloody stench it had been holding back began to leak out.
Oh?
Not running. Coming to me instead.
Bold.
It makes me want to stuff your delicious, sexy body into my stomach right now.
"Boy, are you not afraid?"
For once, Bloodfang actually asked its food a question.
Surely deep down you are terrified.
The boy answered with a question of his own.
"You're a demon, right?"
Natsuo drew his blade.
The green tinted steel caught the firelight and threw off cold sparks.
He studied the roughly two meter humanoid in front of him.
A face like iron, fangs jutting out, a body knotted with muscle like ancient roots, and a pair of red eyes burning in the dark.
"If you've got a name, I guess you're an elite enemy."
Before the demon could answer, the Nichirin Blade was already slashing for its throat.
As soon as Natsuo attacked, the demon named Bloodfang entered an active state.
It moved after, but arrived first.
Its right claw whipped out like a steel lash and knocked the Nichirin Blade aside.
Strong. The stats were higher than his.
Maybe demons had hidden racial bonuses too.
Natsuo did not panic.
In the shower of sparks, he borrowed the force and spun with it.
His blade carved a razor horizontal line that barely skimmed the demon's throat.
It should have hit.
But Bloodfang, with its absurd physical ability, forced its body into a retreat with an unreasonable burst of power, sliding half a step back.
Natsuo licked his lips, excited.
Body 28. Ten points higher than him.
Even with technique, that deflection had numbed his grip and almost shaken the sword loose.
More interesting was this.
The AI could react to his follow-up and pull out a special evasive move in the instant between beats.
This combat system…
"You're kind of fun," Natsuo muttered.
Bloodfang frowned.
"You're Demon Slayer Corps?"
Natsuo said, "Not yet."
"Oh?" The murky liquid in Bloodfang's eyes churned violently. "Then you're a swordsman. Perfect. I haven't tasted a swordsman's flesh in years."
So it even had a trash-talk phase.
Natsuo settled into a stance and took a deep breath.
Hot air spilled out between his teeth.
His chest rose and fell like a war drum.
Keep going.
Let me see if this game is about spacing and punishes, or managing stamina resources.
Wind Breathing.
Here we go.
The power surging through his limbs and bones twisted into a single thread.
Force drove from his feet into the ground, blasting up a ring of dust.
Bang!
He became a blur, the Nichirin Blade dragging a rough storm behind it as he closed on the demon.
First Form: Dust Whirlwind, Cutting Slash
Bloodfang did not flinch.
It snarled, turning both claws into twin spears and stabbing into the heart of the storm.
The campfire went out in a single breath.
But the darkness did not give Bloodfang an advantage.
Because what the wind snuffed out also included Bloodfang itself.
The man-eating demon, Bloodfang.
Its grin froze on its blue-gray face.
The violence in its pupils was replaced by blank confusion.
Its head slid off its neck and hit the ground with a dull thud.
I got beheaded?
How is this kid that strong?!
Its body still flailed, like a headless roach kicking on reflex, nerves screaming their last useless cries.
But it was over.
Then, after the shock and fury, something strange rushed into Bloodfang's mind.
A sensation like fog being peeled away.
As if a haze that had squatted inside its thoughts for years was finally thinning.
No wonder.
That was why the boy's gaze had felt wrong at the start.
The way he looked at Bloodfang had been the same curious look a child gave a piglet the first time they saw one.
A piglet?
Something like that happened before… right, my little brother…
The head on the ground began to crack.
Like paper money burned during a memorial, it started to crumble and drift into the air.
And Bloodfang finally remembered its name, and the memories it had lost.
Turned into a monster by monsters, then sinking into a life of eating humans.
But now…
It did not rush to speak to the dead inside those memories.
Instead, it looked at the boy in front of it.
The one who had freed it.
"Kid… what's your name?"
"Natsuo. Kyusha Natsuo."
"What an unbelievable kid…"
Maybe it was his imagination, but Bloodfang felt like the boy was not fully focused.
Of course he wasn't focused.
Natsuo was honestly confused.
Wait.
Weren't we supposed to trade a few basic attacks, then both pop skills and start brawling?
I used Wind Breathing and a sword form.
Why are you still just swinging basic attacks?
And you didn't even dodge.
Your arms can be as long as you want. Are they longer than my reach with a one meter sword?
One slash and it was over.
The biggest lesson from this fight was that fighting these monsters in the dark was annoying. Visibility sucked.
Other than that? Nothing.
He had more fun in the training ground testing combos on wooden stakes.
That's it?
Where's the balance team?
Who set up a stage like this?
In his view, the demon's panel was shifting from red, Bloodfang ???, to green, Bloodfang (Shin).
It looked like the demon still wanted to say more.
His vision even started to fill with faint, half-formed images.
A lame first fight, and now a cutscene too?
No thanks.
After tossing out his name, Natsuo immediately chose Skip.
When the sped-up, jittery world settled back down, only a small pinch of ash remained in front of him.
What was he even about to say?
Natsuo scratched his head and checked the system.
"Yeah. I knew it."
"Killing enemies really does give experience."
Wind Breathing Level 2
Adept
Progress: 221/1000 (+48)
Well, you weren't completely useless.
I'll take that last bit of goodwill.
(End of Chapter)
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