"Muzan Kibutsuji?" Su Yan asked, looking at the figure bound by the chains he had conjured with his Nen.
"Who are you?" The dark figure was startled but didn't answer Su Yan's question, asking one of his own instead.
"No, you're not him." Su Yan shook his head. "Even though I've never met Muzan Kibutsuji, your aura is far too weak."
"So weak that I could crush you effortlessly with just a single finger."
"While it's true I look down on that coward Muzan's strength, he shouldn't be as pathetic as you."
'But this doesn't make sense.'
'According to the anime's lore, wasn't Nezuko Kamado turned into a demon by Muzan himself?'
'Otherwise, the protagonist Tanjiro wouldn't have been able to track him down later using his scent.'
'Muzan was even so terrified that he apologized twice to a normal person while running away.'
'It was arguably the Demon King's most polite moment.'
"Me? Weak? Then let me show you my true power!" The dark figure scoffed at Su Yan's words, his muscles suddenly bulging.
He flexed his arms violently, determined to snap the chains binding him.
The dark figure roared, "A mere iron chain won't hold me! Break!"
Su Yan just watched him quietly.
One second, two seconds, three seconds...
Time ticked by, but the dark figure couldn't shatter the chains.
He was just as powerless as Takeo Kamado had been when trying to break free from his grasp moments ago.
"How is this possible?" the dark figure asked in disbelief.
Even if his strength couldn't compare to the Twelve Kizuki, it was just an ordinary iron chain.
How could he fail to break it?
The answer was simple. While the chain was indeed a conjured ordinary iron chain...
The Nen wrapped around it was very real.
If any random demon could break free from it...
Then Su Yan wouldn't even need to bother hunting Muzan.
He might as well just go back to Greed Island, wash up, and go to sleep.
Su Yan demanded coldly, "Now tell me, why wasn't it Muzan who came?"
"You think I'll tell you? Keep dreaming!" Even now, the dark figure remained stubborn.
Su Yan slapped his forehead.
He was being a bit foolish.
After all, given Muzan's cowardly nature—the kind of coward who would flee in terror just from seeing Tanjiro—
Any demon who even spoke his name would be immediately forced to commit suicide via remote control.
Let alone a demon who wanted to leak information about him.
Realizing this, Su Yan conjured a Nen needle in his hand and thrust it into the demon's forehead.
For a situation like this, the Undead Overture was the most suitable ability.
Soon, the demon underwent a transformation similar to the one Su Yan had subjected the previous demon to.
"What did you do to me?" the dark figure asked in horror.
Yes, horror, not pleasant surprise.
Because he could clearly feel the power within him surging, far surpassing anything he had ever possessed.
Yet, despite this, he still couldn't break free from the chains.
Furthermore, the looming threat of death that usually accompanied speaking Lord Muzan's name had vanished.
Unlike that brainless Sano, he knew exactly how terrifying Lord Muzan's power was. If this was discovered...
Forget about the man in front of him; Lord Muzan would never let him live either.
*Snap.*
Su Yan didn't answer. He simply snapped his fingers and watched coldly as the demon's eyes glazed over with white.
Only then did he ask, "Now tell me, why wasn't it Muzan who came tonight?"
"I do not know," the demon replied in a flat, robotic voice.
Realizing his question was flawed, Su Yan tried again. "Then what is your purpose for coming here?"
The demon answered, "To find food to grow stronger, and to bestow Lord Muzan's blood upon others to create more suitable kin."
"Muzan's demon blood?"
Su Yan paused in surprise.
Aside from a very select few Upper Rank demons, Muzan actually granted other demons the ability to turn humans into demons?
Su Yan pressed further, "Why would Muzan give you such a thing?"
"I do not know."
The demon gave the same answer, but then added, "After Lord Muzan bestowed his blood upon me, he muttered something about dealing with a woman named Tamayo, and then he left."
'???'
Su Yan was even more confused after hearing that.
How did Tamayo get dragged into this?
He initially thought it was a butterfly effect caused by his arrival in this world.
But he hadn't done anything besides going on a blind date. No matter how much he changed things, it shouldn't have affected Tamayo, right?
"Forget it. Drain Muzan's blood from your body into this bottle."
Su Yan didn't dwell on it. At the very least, he had secured one of his current objectives: Muzan's demon blood.
He could test its effects first. If it proved useful, he would hunt Muzan down and drain him dry.
If it was useless, then Muzan's fate would depend on his luck.
Su Yan conjured a glass bottle, handed it to the demon, and casually asked, "When did this happen?"
"Five days ago," the demon replied as he dripped Muzan's blood from his own body into the glass bottle.
'Five days ago?'
'Wasn't that the day I arrived in this world and went on a blind date with Mitsuri Kanroji?'
'Could it really be a butterfly effect?'
'Besides the blind date, what else did I do that day?'
Su Yan glanced at the demon, and a sudden realization struck him.
'Wait.'
'Was it the Nen needle?'
'Five nights ago, I used the Undead Overture via a Nen needle to seize control of a demon, and Muzan sensed it on his end.'
'As a result, he assumed Tamayo was behind it.'
'So he went off to deal with her?'
'After all, for the past thousand years, Muzan hadn't even dared to let his Twelve Kizuki gather in one place.'
'He was terrified they might band together and betray him.'
'As for one of his subordinate demons suddenly breaking free from his control, that was naturally even more intolerable.'
'So he bumped dealing with Tamayo to his highest priority.'
'But perhaps due to the inertia of history, Muzan chose to give this demon his blood and sent him to the Kamado household in his stead.'
'Which ended up saving his own miserable life.'
Realizing this, Su Yan couldn't help but feel speechless.
'So it really was my fault after all?'
"Please... save my children."
At that moment, Kie Kamado, who was lying nearby, reached out to Su Yan with a feeble plea for help.
'She's actually still alive?'
Su Yan glanced at Kie Kamado and sensed the life forces of the people on the ground.
He discovered that not only was Kie Kamado still breathing, but even her two children nearby clung to life.
However, their breathing was so faint that it felt like they could pass away at any moment.
This made Su Yan feel somewhat powerless.
Although Nen abilities had all sorts of bizarre and wondrous mechanics, healing abilities were pitifully rare.
In the Hunter x Hunter world, a world-class billionaire had spent almost his entire fortune just to obtain a specific healing card from the Greed Island game to save his terminally ill girlfriend.
As far as he knew, the only healing abilities were Machi's Nen Stitches from the Phantom Troupe, Neferpitou's Doctor Blythe—one of the Chimera Ant King's Royal Guards—and Kurapika's Holy Chain.
Aside from Kurapika's chain, the other two abilities wouldn't be of much use in this current situation.
It just went to show how incredibly rare healing Nen abilities were.
Su Yan first glanced at the glass bottle of Muzan's demon blood still in the demon's hand, then turned back to look at Kie Kamado.
After a moment of thought, he spoke a classic line once said by Philip in Kamen Rider W.
"Madam, do you have the courage to walk with the devil?"
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]