Sukuna flipped the blade and raised it in a reverse grip, carving upward from Susamaru's lower stomach straight through her chest. Everything happened so fast that the blood spraying into the air hadn't even hit the ground.
This scene completely killed any remaining thought Yahaba had of using Susamaru to hold Sukuna off while he escaped.
Because how could anyone possibly hold this thing off?
In the end, Yahaba gritted his teeth and abandoned the idea of running. Seeing Sukuna looking at him, he had no choice but to gamble everything on a final stand.
Yahaba pushed his Blood Demon Art to its absolute limit against Sukuna. Arrows crisscrossed inside Sukuna's body in different directions, trying to hinder him.
But he moved as if unaffected, still swinging his blade.
How was that possible?
Yahaba stared at the unmoved Sukuna in utter horror. He forced out whatever strength he had left and directed arrows at Sukuna's sword hand. Still nothing changed. The Nichirin Blade split open his chest with ease right before his eyes. Blood and intestines spilled out.
All of this happened quickly, in less than a minute. By the time Shinobu arrived, what greeted her was the gruesome aftermath of Susamaru and Yahaba's defeat.
Looking at the eyeless face of Yahaba frozen in shock, Sukuna could more or less guess what he was thinking. He spoke flatly.
"That level of Blood Demon Art doesn't work on me. I only let it affect me earlier to experience the effect. It wasn't actually doing anything."
What?
He had allowed himself to be affected by the Blood Demon Art on purpose?!
Learning this, Yahaba completely lost any will to fight Sukuna.
After all, his Blood Demon Art just now had been his full power. No matter what he did, that was his limit. There was simply no hope of victory whatsoever.
Shinobu considered her words, then spoke up to remind him.
"This alone won't kill demons."
Sukuna explained calmly. "I'm not trying to kill them. At least not right now."
Even as he said it, he didn't stop swinging the Nichirin Blade, dismembering and carving up Susamaru and Yahaba.
Even as demons, they just had higher resistance to pain, they did not become immune to it.
It was precisely the immortality granted to them as demons that forced them to suffer the same pains over and over again, as if they had fallen into an endless hell of eternal torment.
In Sukuna's eyes at that moment, he was simply testing his ingredients. He cut in ways that prevented their wounds from healing naturally, making them bleed as much as possible. He wanted to test whether a few stronger demons could provide enough blood to prepare his bath, replacing the need to gather large numbers of weak ones.
Shinobu watched from a distance in horror. Amid the alternating agonized screams of Susamaru and Yahaba, Sukuna repeatedly dissected their bodies with an expressionless face. The blood that flowed out had already stained the ground beneath his feet a deep, dark color.
Through the repeated cutting, Sukuna also noticed the Nichirin Blade's special effect on demons. Their regenerative ability was significantly weakened.
It was a shame he wasn't doing this inside a closed container. All the blood that spilled was wasted.
Still, it was enough for Sukuna to conclude that if he encountered demons of higher quality than these two, he could likely collect enough blood for his bath from just a few of them.
As for why Sukuna was so fixated on preparing the bath, it was because of what happened with Megumi Fushiguro. That had made him more cautious. He couldn't afford to make the same mistake twice.
No one knew how much time passed. Sukuna looked down at the two misshapen forms on the ground that had once been called Yahaba and Susamaru. Only then did he stop wielding the Nichirin Blade.
Due to the repeated torture, the regenerative abilities of Yahaba and Susamaru had gone haywire. They seemed to have forgotten their original forms and were now growing like plants. They could no longer immediately return to human shape, and even their blood had become scarce.
It wasn't that Yahaba and Susamaru hadn't wanted to beg for mercy out of sheer survival instinct. But they both knew that Sukuna wanted information. Saying anything about the lord would risk instant death. So they were forced to become two mute demons.
"Back to the question I asked before. Tell me who sent you. And how did they know where I was?"
Sukuna looked down at the two lumps of flesh that were slowly trying to regain human form.
"I-it was that great one's order..."
Yahaba gasped out, answering immediately.
As someone with severe mysophobia, his will to survive had completely overwhelmed his aversion to filth after being brutalized by Sukuna.
Beside him, Susamaru was shocked. She shrieked accusingly.
"Have you lost your mind?! You dare to reveal that great one's affairs to someone else—"
Sukuna didn't let her finish. He stomped down, crushing her jaw and spine together. He looked coldly at Yahaba, whose eye-palm was staring at the scene in horror.
"Keep talking."
"He told us to find you... to find you, sir..." Yahaba hesitated, then changed his address.
Beside him, Susamaru glared at Yahaba like he was a traitor.
Sukuna rubbed his chin, thinking. Based on the information he had so far and the fear these demons showed toward Muzan, that guy was probably far stronger than these demons.
Given the arrogance of these demons, Sukuna doubted that Muzan would send such weaklings to deal with him out of fear.
More likely, Muzan hadn't sensed Sukuna's presence in that area directly. Instead, he had probably perceived it through the blood he had given these demons.
That would explain why he sent demons of this level, thinking they could contend with Sukuna.
From another angle, the more demons Sukuna killed, the more likely Muzan would send stronger ones, or even come himself.
Having reached that conclusion, Sukuna abandoned any plan of keeping Yahaba and Susamaru alive to use as blood sources along with future demons. Since killing demons only brought stronger ones to his door anyway.
Sukuna swung the Nichirin Blade again, killing Susamaru right before Yahaba's eyes. Then he looked down at Yahaba and spoke coldly.
"Now tell me more about Muzan. Don't worry—I won't let him kill you. Unless you refuse to talk. Then I'll kill you myself right now."
--------------------------------
Stones are appreciatedif you can spare any.
I think we are far enough in the story for people to leave a review(you can always change it by the end of the story). Having an rating would help others in finding this story.
Thank you for reading and all for all your support so far!