It wasn't until the first ray of sunlight in the morning shone in through the window seam that Douma shuddered and broke free from his divergent thoughts.
Demons don't need to sleep, but the hunger in his belly had been tormenting him, making him seem a little listless.
As the "Child of God" of the Eternal Paradise Faith, Douma had almost never gone hungry in his life.
"So pitiful ~"
Douma wore a pitiful expression, although his emotions still didn't fluctuate in the slightest.
He raised his seven-colored eyes, looking at the sunlight shining on the floor in the distance.
Hmm, it felt like seeing his natural enemy.
Just looking at it from a distance, he could feel a burning sensation, and his body instinctively tensed up.
Douma slowly stood up from the cushion, avoided the sunlight, moved to the front of the window, and curiously stretched his left index finger into the sunlight.
A burning pain struck, and his finger turned to ashes in the sunlight.
"So painful ~"
Douma retracted his hand, watching his finger rapidly grow back.
"Ugh, I'm even hungrier now."
He complained in a coquettish tone, and with a "whoosh," he closed the window tightly, contentedly watching the room darken again.
"I have to get the believers to rebuild the Monastery."
"Yes, thicken the walls and ceiling, cover the windows..."
Douma muttered softly, sat back in his original position, and gently waved the folding fan in his right hand, condensing a smooth ice mirror in front of him.
He tilted his head and sized himself up in the mirror, and when he saw the conspicuous blood-spotted Texture on his white-oak-colored hair, he showed a sad expression.
"Oh dear, why does Muzan Kibutsuji like to stab heads?" He puffed out his cheeks.
He still liked his original unblemished hair color very much and didn't want to dye it.
However, he didn't feel any heartache in his heart, after all, what he liked most were his eyes——
Like a rainbow after the rain, clear and bright, pure and flawless, even more beautiful than the most precious gemstones.
"I feel like I can give it to my friends as the most sincere gift ~"
"Everyone will definitely like it, right."
Douma raised his hand and touched his eyes, fantasizing with anticipation for a while, before trying to perform his first mimicry.
He mastered his various abilities very quickly, because he had been smart since he was a child.
Before long, he had hidden a few of the demon's traits on his body, and the ink-like blood spots on his hair slowly disappeared.
"That's better."
Douma closed his fan, watching the ice mirror floating in front of him shatter and dissipate.
In fact, this Blood Demon Art is very simple and unadorned. It is to spread blood out in the form of misty ice crystals, which can be called "Mist Ice."
He can freely shape the ice crystals into various forms.
The fancy abilities shown in the manga were all developed by himself.
"But they are indeed very fun and beautiful. Then I will continue to shape them in those directions."
"My aesthetic level is as great as ever ~"
Douma fanned the folding fan in his hand with a smile, and misty ice crystals scattered from the edge of the iron fan.
He thought of his other Blood Demon Art again, and a melancholy look appeared on his face.
He felt that this Blood Demon Art... could deceive Muzan Kibutsuji's mind-reading.
But, in fact, Douma didn't care about having his thoughts and memories read by Muzan Kibutsuji, and he was willing to obey orders... after all, Muzan Kibutsuji had really helped him a lot, so that he no longer had to be deeply Trapped the predicament of emotional loss.
It could be said that he had been reborn once again.
Although Muzan Kibutsuji was cold and ruthless, timid and not very smart, and liked to lay people off at every turn... but since he helped him, then he was quite nice.
It didn't matter if he recognized the other party as his boss ~
Regardless of whether such thoughts were influenced by the demon blood in his body, it didn't matter to Douma.
However... "It's better not to let Muzan Kibutsuji know about the content of the manga, otherwise he probably won't allow me to live."
"That's so sad ~"
There was also the order that Muzan Kibutsuji had passed on to him through his blood...—to find the blue spider lily.
"Oh dear, although I know the clues, it's probably better not to find it after all."
"Once Muzan Kibutsuji overcomes the sunlight, the demons created for this purpose will have no meaning to exist."
"I'll definitely be laid off. That's a pity."
Douma lowered his eyes with a sad face.
He still wanted to play for a while longer, and didn't want to die yet.
Although his current attitude towards life was completely "It's good to be alive, it's okay to die"...—then, kill the Demon Slayers of the Demon Slayer Corps when he meets them.
"But there are so many cute people in the Demon Slayer Corps, I'm a little reluctant ~"
"But Muzan Kibutsuji's orders are absolute..."
"Well, I'll talk about it when the time comes."
—And, eat more people and work hard to become stronger.
The more Douma thought about this, the sadder he became.
He touched his stomach, and a weeping expression appeared on his face.
"Forget it."
He shook his head, wrinkled his nose slightly, and used his ability procrastinating.
"Blood Demon Art: Non-Thinking Heaven."
Before his eyes seemed to unfold an empty world, like a waveless black lake.
Douma flipped through his memories and thoughts like flipping through a book, throwing some things that were inconvenient to be seen into it.
Those memories and thoughts hidden in the Non-Thinking Heaven seemed to have turned into dreamy bubbles, existing but also seeming not to exist.
It doesn't affect thinking, nor does it interfere with memory, but it is so illusory that it seems to shatter with a poke.
"What a wonderful feeling."
"Alas, because of various reasons, I can't be honest with Muzan Kibutsuji, I always feel so wronged ~"
Douma finally finished flipping through his brain and couldn't wait to withdraw from the state of Non-Thinking Heaven. He was not willing to use this ability, because it was not fun at all.
There was a clamorous sound from outside the door.
"Someone is finally here to clean up."
" Douma-sama! Are you there?"
Kiko's tearful cries came from outside the door.
Douma picked up his Lord Master hat and put it on, revealing a smile as he said, "I'm here, Sister Kiko."
The door opened with a "whoosh," and Kiko stood outside with tears in her eyes, followed by several other people.
"It's so good that you're okay," she said, wiping away her tears. "So many... so many people have died!"
"I know," Douma revealed a compassionate expression, his voice as gentle and calm as ever.
"Last night, bandits broke in. Although I drove them away, some people still left us."
"But there's no need to be sad; they've simply gone to Paradise as they wished," Douma said without joy or sorrow.
"From now on, they are free from the suffering of the human world and have obtained eternal happiness."
Well, they've probably gone to hell.
"Is that so? That's wonderful," Kiko said, stunned for a moment, before bowing her head with the other followers to pray... Because of the major reshuffle of the church's higher-ups, the chaos lasted for several days before returning to calm.
During these few days, the church didn't arrange for any followers to come and confide in him, and Douma had a rare moment of leisure.
But this kind of life wasn't very comfortable, because he was very hungry.
Looking at the food Kiko brought, Douma picked up a piece of fish, put it in his mouth, chewed it, and then spat it out expressionlessly.
"It's so bad."
It was like eating sand with no taste, and his body refused to digest it.
Douma froze the food on the plate into a lump of ice with an unchanged expression, and then watched it shatter and disappear.
"My body is gradually weakening..."
Demons don't starve to death, but they become weaker and weaker in long-term hunger.
"I can't even develop my Blood Demon Art."
After all, using Blood Demon Art consumes stamina.
"As expected, demons like Nezuko who can recover stamina just by sleeping are exceptions."
Douma said that he was so hungry that he couldn't sleep at all.
"If this continues, it's just a slow death."
Douma put on a pitiful expression, but there was no fluctuation in his heart.
"Muzan Kibutsuji will also be very disappointed and may fire me, this unqualified subordinate."
Although he wasn't afraid of death, he would feel very sorry if he died in such a muddled way.
He gnashed his teeth, and sharp fangs gradually grew in his mouth.
"As long as I stay rational while eating and not be influenced by instinct, it should be fine, right..."
He accepted this with unusual speed.
The values he had cultivated in his previous life had collapsed almost completely in the struggle against the loss of emotions, at most allowing him to be slightly biased when choosing ingredients.
As the Lord Master of Eternal Paradise Faith, Douma couldn't bear to see people suffering.
But some people only bring pain to others when they are alive.
And there were those poor followers who eagerly awaited the Lord Master to guide them to Paradise.
Eternal Paradise Faith had no shortage of people who had lost all hope in life; every day they lived was painful, and even with the church's help, they were like walking corpses.
If it weren't for the doctrine stating that people who commit suicide cannot enter Paradise, those people would have ended their lives long ago.
"Even if I tell them that Paradise doesn't exist, they'll just want to kill themselves right away. How pitiful."
Douma sighed softly, his expression seemingly compassionate, yet seemingly completely indifferent.
"Therefore, I will bring them salvation and liberation; this is my duty as Lord Master."
"After death, heaven goes to heaven, and hell goes to hell."
"It's very fair~"
"Yes, after all, I will eventually fall into hell too."
Douma rested his cheek on his hand, with no sadness or fear in his heart, so calm that he didn't care at all.
"Lord Master, a follower has arrived," a voice came from outside the door.
"Ah, please come in," Douma picked up his Lord Master hat and put it on.
This time, the follower was a woman with a delicate and beautiful face.
She gazed at Douma with amazed and infatuated eyes, tearfully confiding her suffering to him.
Not receiving love from her family, not receiving love from the one she loved, always alone... "Oh dear, I want to hear the truth, miss."
Douma unfolded the fan in his hand to cover the lower half of his face, revealing only a pair of colorful eyes that always struggled to express any emotion.
He could smell the scent of lies~
Somewhat unwillingly trying out the ability of Blood Demon Art: Non-Thought Heaven, the woman's expression instantly became distorted.
"I hate those people!"
"Why do my parents always favor my younger brother? After I secretly threw him into the well, my parents actually abandoned me!"
"Why does Kazuhiko never look at me? Even though I pushed his lover off a cliff..."
"I buried Kazuhiko in the garden, together with those who don't like me. The flowers that bloom there are especially bright."
"Lord Master, you are so beautiful. I like you so much. Can we be together forever?"
The woman's expression became fanatical, and she walked towards Douma obsessively.
"Oh my, how embarrassing."
Douma looked at her with sparkling eyes, a blush appearing on his cheeks.
She's quite the yandere~
As the woman came closer, he also leaned in, his purple nails lengthening and gently scratching her cheek.
Meeting the woman's terrified gaze, Douma licked the blood from his fingertips, his seven-colored eyes suddenly brightening.
As expected, I'm fine.
"Then, let's get started~"
Douma, with a devout heart, put his hands together with a look of emotion and said.