"Ghost Dance Tsuji no Muzan?"
Shuya stared at the demon bound tightly in the silver chains he had conjured with Nen. "That you?"
"Who the hell are you?" the dark figure snarled back instead of answering.
Shuya shook his head. "Nope. Not him. Your aura's way too weak. I could crush you with one finger."
The demon's eyes narrowed. "I may not be as strong as the Upper Moons, but I'm still—"
"Still trash," Shuya cut him off. "Muzan's a coward, sure, but he shouldn't be this weak."
Something didn't add up.
In the story, Muzan himself was the one who turned Nezuko into a demon. That was how Tanjiro later tracked him by scent. Hell, Muzan had even apologized—twice—to a random civilian while running away. That was the most polite the Demon King had ever been.
"I'm weak? Then let me show you real power!" the demon roared. Muscles bulging, he strained against the chains with everything he had. "A cheap iron chain like this? Break for me—NOW!"
Shuya just watched.
One second. Two. Three.
Nothing. The chains didn't even creak.
The demon's face twisted in disbelief. "How…?"
"Simple," Shuya said coldly. "The chains are ordinary. The Nen wrapped around them isn't."
If any random demon could snap them, he wouldn't need to hunt Muzan at all. He could just go back to Greed Island and call it a night.
"Now tell me," Shuya demanded, "why didn't Muzan come himself tonight?"
"You think I'd tell you? Dream on!"
Shuya facepalmed. Right. Of course. Muzan was so paranoid he killed any demon who even said his name out loud. No wonder this one was keeping its mouth shut.
He conjured a silver needle and drove it straight into the demon's skull.
Undead Prelude was the cleaner option here.
The demon's body convulsed. Thick black aura poured out of him, just like the last one.
"What the hell did you do to me?!" the demon screamed in terror.
Not excitement—terror. He could feel his power surging, far beyond anything he'd ever known, yet he still couldn't break the chains. And the crushing fear of death that came with saying Muzan's name was suddenly gone.
Shuya snapped his fingers.
The demon's eyes turned pure white.
"Now answer me," Shuya said flatly. "Why wasn't Muzan the one who came tonight?"
"I don't know," the demon replied in a flat, robotic voice.
Shuya rephrased. "What were you doing here?"
"Looking for food to grow stronger, and spreading Master Muzan's blood to create more suitable demons."
"Muzan's blood?" Shuya frowned. "He gave you the ability to turn people?"
"I don't know why. Five days ago he gave me his blood, muttered something about going after a woman named Tamayo, and left."
Shuya blinked. Tamayo?
He'd assumed his arrival had caused some butterfly effect, but all he'd done was go on one blind date. How the hell had that reached Tamayo?
Whatever. At least one goal was already in hand.
"Pour all of Muzan's blood from your body into this bottle," Shuya ordered, conjuring a glass vial and handing it over.
While the demon obeyed, Shuya asked casually, "When exactly did this happen?"
"Five days ago."
Five days ago… the exact night he'd used Undead Prelude on that other demon and gone on the blind date with Mitsuri.
So it was because of him.
Muzan had sensed one of his demons suddenly slip out of his control and assumed Tamayo was responsible. The paranoid king had immediately gone after her.
And because of that, he'd given this disposable demon his blood and sent him to the Kamado house instead—saving his own skin.
Shuya could only shake his head. Damn. It really is my fault.
"Please… save my children…"
A weak voice came from the side. Kie Kamado was still alive, reaching toward him with a trembling hand.
Shuya glanced over. Not just her—both boys on the ground still had faint pulses. Barely. They were hanging on by a thread.
Healing wasn't exactly his specialty. Nen had plenty of crazy abilities, but actual medical-type powers were ridiculously rare. The few he knew—Machi's threads, the Chimera Ant's toy repair, Kurapika's healing chain—wouldn't fix something this bad.
He looked at the bottle of Muzan's blood in the demon's hand, then back at the desperate mother.
After a moment he spoke the line he'd been waiting to use.
"Madam… do you have the courage to side with demons?"