As dusk fell, the sun slowly sank in the west, casting its final afterglow across the land.
The fiery red light spread like a thin veil over Mount Sagiri, and the small wooden cabin on the mountainside was outlined beneath the fading sky.
Kuwajima Jigoro placed a large basin of steaming rice on the wooden table in the yard and called toward the house, "Yukito, dinner!"
"Oh!"
Yukito responded as an agile figure flipped down from the roof.
"You brat, why are you climbing on the roof when you have nothing better to do?"
Kuwajima grumbled while serving himself a bowl of rice. He then pushed the entire basin toward his disciple.
"We're out of rice. Finish this for now. Go down to town and buy more after you eat."
"Oh."
Yukito nodded and picked up his chopsticks. Though it was only one basin, it was enough to make him about sixty percent full.
His appetite had been smaller lately. One basin was enough.
From a distance, it looked like two people of similar height eating together—one calmly eating a bowl of rice, the other devouring an entire basin.
In this era, eating a basin of rice per meal was something ordinary families could not afford.
Fortunately, the Demon Slayer Corps was supported by the Ubuyashiki family.
Without their generous funding, the old man and the young boy might have starved long ago.
After dinner, Kuwajima handed Yukito some money.
Yukito sprinted down toward Taoshan Town as part of his daily training.
The town was about five kilometers from the mountain. He covered the distance in ten minutes without even breathing heavily.
At the rice shop, the owner hoisted a large sack and handed it over. A sack that required two adult hands to carry was lifted by Yukito with one hand.
It was slightly heavy, but acceptable as weight training.
"Yukito, your strength has grown again. You'd be a great help working at my shop," the owner said, both surprised and envious.
Ah, this cursed natural laborer physique.
Yukito felt helpless. Thankfully, the old man had picked him up. Otherwise, he might not even have enough to eat.
He silently thanked his Master for three seconds.
"Uncle Yamamoto, I'm going to save the world. Working is out of the question!"
"Goodbye!"
The shop owner shook his head. The 869th invitation had failed. Another day without gaining a strong employee.
"Yukito, hurry home today. The town hasn't been peaceful lately!" the owner called out.
Hearing this, Yukito stopped several meters away and reappeared in front of the owner in an instant, startling him.
"Uncle, what kind of trouble? Tell me more."
Seeing the excitement in Yukito's eyes, the owner was confused. Shouldn't a normal person be afraid?
Then again, this kid was not normal.
"There's been a perverted serial killer lately. More than a dozen people have died. I heard the bodies were missing internal organs. It's terrifying."
The owner's voice trembled slightly.
"Alright, hurry home. Don't wander around tonight."
"I know, Uncle. Take care!"
By the time the owner finished speaking, Yukito was already far down the street, waving casually.
What the owner could not see was the faint smile on Yukito's lips and the fanatic excitement burning in his golden eyes.
Besides human serial killers, there were man-eating demons in this world.
Bodies torn apart and missing organs most likely meant a demon.
Yukito had longed for real combat for years. Before leaving home, he had secretly tucked a cleaver into his clothing.
Night fell.
The final trace of sunlight disappeared behind the forest, and cold moonlight spread across the land. A faint metallic scent of blood lingered in the air.
In a dark thicket, a pair of crimson eyes opened.
A humanoid demon with greenish skin and sharp fangs gnawed on a severed arm.
Suddenly, it froze. Its bluish-black nose twitched as greed filled its red eyes.
The severed limb dropped to the ground.
"Rare Blood. Such a rich scent. How lucky."
The demon laughed.
"If I eat this Rare Blood, I might be promoted to the Twelve Kizuki. Muzan-sama will value me even more."
Thinking about promotion and greater favor, it trembled with excitement.
Yukito walked casually along the forest path, the moonlight barely lighting his way.
Sigh.
Why hasn't a demon attacked yet? Could it really just be a perverted serial killer?
He felt slightly disappointed.
If an ordinary person knew what he was thinking, they would call him insane.
Wandering outside at night and wishing to be attacked.
Completely crazy.
Unbeknownst to him, the demon was already watching from the shadows.
Drool streamed from its mouth uncontrollably. The instinct to devour humans overwhelmed it.
This human smelled too delicious.
Its instincts screamed that eating this boy would equal devouring hundreds of ordinary humans.
It had never encountered such tempting Rare Blood. Just smelling it from afar made every cell in its body tremble with excitement.
To the demon, this frail child was a gift from heaven.
Where should it begin?
The head?
The feet?
No. The blood must be drained first. Not a single drop of Rare Blood could be wasted.
Its gaze locked onto Yukito like a lion watching a newborn deer.
An unarmed human cub walking alone in the dark.
This hunt had no suspense.
With its Blood Demon Art and the advantage of surprise, how could it lose?
Even if Muzan himself appeared, it would still eat this human.
The demon grinned, its mouth stretching almost to its ears.
But who was the hunter and who was the prey remained unclear.
When the moon rose high, the demon finally moved.
For safety, it chose to ambush from behind. Rare Blood was too precious to risk carelessness.
Just as it lunged, the child turned his head.
Their eyes met.
In Yukito's golden gaze, the demon saw fanatic excitement, hunger, and cold killing intent.
For a brief moment, fear flickered through the demon's mind.
Between the two of them, who was the demon?
Who was the real prey?
Why was this human not afraid?
Why did he look… excited?
Was this human insane?
...
Author's Note
Hello, readers! Welcome to my second Webnovel account.
My first Webnovel account is Shadow_demon_007, where I uploaded 20 fanfics. Due to Webnovel's upload limits and rules, I created this second account so I can continue uploading more fanfics for you all.
Please also check out my first account, where many of those 20 fanfics are available. Some of them are already fully completed, and I have uploaded those completed fanfics on my Patreon
👉 patreon.comShadow_demon_007
On Patreon, you can find
Fully completed fanfics
Three free fanfic available for readers
Another free fanfic coming on next month
I sincerely hope you enjoy my works, and I truly appreciate all your support.
Thank you for reading and supporting me!
— Shadow_demon_007