A blood-red moon hung high in the sky.
Its crimson light soaked through the clouds, while eight heads writhed together in a swamp below.
Sui could hear the rasping hiss of her own scales. Each plate of serpentine armor rubbed against the next, producing a thunderous grinding sound. In the dim blur of her vision, an armored man leapt high into the air.
Then—
Slash.
The first thing to break was the leftmost head. A blade split apart the scales and severed her neck.
The sword in the man's hand was peerless, a divine blade that seemed capable of cleaving through anything in the world. Sui saw thick black blood gush from the torn stump of her neck, splattering across the man's crimson armor.
The remaining seven heads let out shrieks like wailing infants.
Then the man swung again.
Every head was cut off in a single stroke.
Cold fingers brushed against what remained of Sui's body, and she heard voices speaking.
"Many thanks to Susanoo-no-Mikoto for slaying this monster for us."
Clack.
Darkness flooded her sight like ink.
Was that… a dream?
Then, in the black void, an eyeball suddenly split open.
Reflected within it, Sui saw the White Serpent Demon, Hairo, and nearly a hundred other figures—the demons she had killed.
"I need more blood, more blood! That base thing stole away my precious blood!"
The eye stared at her, its voice shrill and metallic.
"Take me out of this world, my shrine maiden. Take me out of this world. There is no nourishment in this world for me to grow."
"Sui?"
The sharp crash of a porcelain bowl shattering tore through the dream.
Sui jolted awake. The metallic shriek vanished from her ears, and when she opened her eyes, all she saw was darkness.
But the snakes she used in place of ordinary perception had already spread outward.
This was the Butterfly Mansion.
Shinobu stood frozen by the doorway. Tri-colored dumplings had rolled to her feet. Sunlight filtered through her hair and across her cheeks as she covered her mouth with one hand, looking as though she were about to cry.
"You're finally awake."
In the end, she swallowed back the tears in her eyes and called toward the hallway outside.
Then she walked over and sat lightly by Sui's bedside.
"Why am I here?" Sui asked.
"Because the demon disturbance at Mount Shaku has already ended. The Wind Hashira kept that demon pinned down until sunrise, and in the end it escaped. My sister brought you back and treated you here," Shinobu said.
"The Thunder Hashira is awake!" someone shouted outside.
At once, delighted cries erupted from the courtyard—voices of nurses and attendants from the Butterfly Mansion. Every word fell cleanly into Sui's ears. She heard them all with perfect clarity.
Her hearing was even sharper than before.
"That's wonderful! Lady Thunder Hashira just kept sleeping before—we were all so worried!"
"Lady Thunder Hashira killed Upper Rank Three! I heard this is the first time in over a hundred years that a swordsman managed to slay an Upper Rank demon and return alive in one piece!"
"The Wind Hashira was incredible too. He held the other demon there all by himself until dawn."
"Hey, hey! Don't gossip about people behind their backs!" came a rough voice. Sui immediately recognized Sanemi.
Outside, the nurses—and even some of the Kakushi—were peeking around corners, all trying to get a look at the swordsman who had killed Upper Rank Three.
Then the crowd by the door split apart, and Kanae came running in.
"Sui!"
The moment she saw Sui sitting up in bed, Kanae threw her arms around her.
"I'm so glad you're all right!"
Sui stiffened in surprise.
So she really had been in danger?
It should have been nothing more than a few surface wounds from Kogetsuki's claws. Even if she passed out, she should not have stayed unconscious for long.
But instead of voicing that thought, Sui simply wrapped her arms around Kanae and gently stroked her silky hair.
Only after a long while, when Kanae finally pulled back with reddened cheeks, did Sui speak again.
"What exactly happened?"
Kanae raised her head and met Sui's empty, unfocused gaze. Her heart clenched at once.
"You've been unconscious ever since Mount Shaku," Kanae said softly. "It's been seven full days."
"We examined your injuries. By the time we got you back to the Butterfly Mansion, the claw wounds on your back had already stopped bleeding, and by the very next day they'd healed completely. Other than that, you had no external injuries at all. But no matter what we did, you simply would not wake up. Thankfully, your breathing stayed steady the whole time. It was as if you were just sleeping."
It should be because of the Mystic Eyes.
But Sui was certain that wasn't the only reason.
Another part of it had to do with Kagetsuki.
When she severed the connection between Rengoku Shinjuro and Kagetsuki, she had followed that crimson line all the way through—essentially cutting apart the Blood Demon Art that bound corpses into puppets.
The burden of doing so had been enormous.
In fact, stripping apart Kagetsuki's Blood Demon Art had placed a greater strain on her than severing Akaza's neck had.
Even though, in essence, they were the same thing.
Still…
Her vision hadn't returned yet?
Sui sat within the darkness behind her eyes and considered the sensation carefully. For her, blindness was nothing unusual—if anything, it had become her normal state. But opening her eyes and still seeing nothing except the faintest trace of light was a novel experience.
"Kanae?"
"Yes, Sui?"
"…Is there something wrong with my eyes?"
Kanae hesitated, then nodded.
She knew Sui had other, sharper ways of perceiving the world. In a sense, Sui could still see.
"Your eyes may be temporarily blind," Kanae said. "But with the Butterfly Mansion's equipment, we haven't been able to determine the cause."
"Will they recover?"
Kanae fell silent for a moment.
Then she slowly shook her head.
"…I don't know."
Sanemi, leaning against the doorframe, frowned so hard it seemed his brows might knot together.
That night, at the Butterfly Mansion—
A Kasugai Crow landed on the window lattice.
"Miss Sui, the Master invites you to the Ubuyashiki Estate."
On the bed, Sui—who had seemed to be sleeping quietly—opened her eyes.
Within those once-empty pupils, icy blue flames sprang to life.
The death lines of all things returned to her sight.
"I understand," she answered.
After receiving the Master's summons, Sui went alone to the Ubuyashiki Estate.
She did not alert anyone else.
"Sui."
Kagaya Ubuyashiki sat beneath the eaves of the courtyard.
"I suspect Muzan now understands just how dangerous your eyes truly are."
"But I still can't see anything," Sui said, cradling a cup of tea in her hands. Her blind eyes now possessed a texture eerily similar to Kagaya's own.
"That may be for the best," Kagaya replied with a faint smile. "It may spare you from Muzan's relentless pursuit and schemes. I will have the children spread the kind of rumor he wishes to hear."
Neither of them said it aloud, but both understood what was truly happening with the Mystic Eyes.
After all, Sui had kept them open from the moment she arrived at the estate until the moment she sat down. Only then had she allowed them to close.
Her eyes truly could not see.
And yet the power of the Mystic Eyes had only grown stronger—as though whatever sight her ordinary vision had once possessed had now been wholly transferred into them.
"But if the Mystic Eyes appear again," Kagaya said softly, "Muzan may choose to hide. Just as he once did in the Sengoku era, when those swordsmen drove him into a corner. He vanished completely, only resurfacing after every last Hashira of that age had died."
"The next time I open them," Sui said, "it will be for Muzan."
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 126)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter140)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter89)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter1165)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 145
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 135
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 84
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 150
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 125
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 105
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 53
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 80
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 80
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 52
Uma Musume: I Want All 55
I Can Copy Unique Skills 53
Summoning an Evil God, but the 27
Supernatural Multiverse 27
My Harem Is Indescribable 26
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