Chapter 31 – Lower Moon, Eliminated!
"Lower Moon Demon, huh…"
The moonlight hung high above, casting silver veils across the silent night. A soft breeze whispered through the black haori of the young man, rustling the ends of his dark hair.
Hikaru stood still beneath that quiet sky, one thumb gently sliding along the tsuba of his sword.
Under that pale lunar glow, he locked eyes with the demon before him.
"Black hair. Black eyes. And that smell… It's you, isn't it?"
"You… you're Muzan-sama's target…"
The demon—Lower Rank Six—let out a low, venomous hiss as a realization dawned.
"That's right," Hikaru replied flatly.
His steps stopped. His expression shifted.
No longer calm.
Now razor-focused.
In this quiet stretch of Tokyo's outskirts, the night held its breath.
His eyes narrowed in on the kanji etched in the demon's right eye: Lower Six.
Not an Upper Rank.
Hikaru understood the situation immediately.
This was a trap.
He'd known from the beginning. A decoy laid out by Kibutsuji Muzan to draw him into the open. He had no intention of walking into it unprepared—repeating the same bluff as last time was far too risky.
But that didn't mean… he wouldn't fight.
As long as Muzan wasn't watching directly, Hikaru had the freedom to strike on his own terms.
With his Kasugai crow—trained in stealth reconnaissance using Void Breathing—he had followed the demon's movements with precision.
And now, he was here.
If the opponent had been an Upper Rank, Hikaru wouldn't be so reckless.
But a Lower Moon?
That was another story.
"If I kill you… Muzan-sama will notice me! He'll give me more blood… more power!"
The demon snarled, eyes glowing with madness.
Even though Muzan had already pulled back, the demon could no longer restrain himself.
To be part of the Twelve Kizuki meant to crave more—power, blood, attention.
If he could impress Muzan, then maybe—just maybe—he'd rise to the Upper Ranks.
But the gap between Upper and Lower was vast.
In over a hundred years, not one Lower Moon had ever succeeded in taking a seat above.
And that reality only made their obsession grow stronger.
"GRRAAAHH!!"
With a beastly roar, Kamunue crouched low like a wild animal. Blue veins bulged across his pale gray skin. His Blood Demon Art—manipulation of scalding vapor—erupted from his body in a flash of heat.
He lunged like an out-of-control train, breaking through the night air.
In an instant, he was right in front of Hikaru!
The ground cracked beneath him. Dust and grass scattered in his wake. The shadow of his body cut through the moonlight as razor-sharp claws came flying toward Hikaru's face.
But—
In less than a blink—
The tsuba shifted.
And a gleam of silver sliced through the darkness like a falling crescent moon.
Hikaru countered the strike with precision so subtle it barely registered. His blade cut through the arc of the demon's claw and pushed forward. By the time Kamunue even realized what was happening—
Hikaru was already within arm's reach.
"What…?!"
The demon's eyes went wide.
Not just from Hikaru's speed—
But because… his attack had missed completely. As if he'd clawed at empty air. Like his sense of distance had betrayed him.
Then—his vision caught it.
The gleam of the blade heading straight for his throat.
Panicked, Kamunue twisted his body and unleashed a burst of vapor to shove himself back.
A shallow cut.
Blood sprayed from his neck as he tumbled backward, rolling until he skidded to a stop nearly ten meters away.
The grass swayed in the still wind.
And silence returned to the night.
Hikaru didn't pursue.
He stood quietly, eyes on his blade—now tinged with a thin sheen of demon blood.
"So even a Lower Rank... can't be treated like some random demon."
He exhaled slowly.
Just now, he had used Mirror Moon Illusion, a sensory interference technique from Void Breathing.
It was a hypnotic art. He'd used it before to paralyze lesser demons into submission.
But not this time.
A Lower Moon couldn't be completely manipulated so easily.
Especially here—there were no reflective surfaces, no mirror panels, no man-made structures to bounce light and create visual illusions.
The most he could do—
Was scramble his opponent's senses.
Just enough to throw off depth perception. To make a target overshoot their strike. To make it feel like Hikaru was faster than reality.
And even that—
Was more than enough.
Kamunue snarled, wiping blood from his neck.
He knew—had he reacted a second later, his head would've been rolling in the grass.
His fear gave way to fury. Superheated steam hissed out from his pores in waves.
Hikaru raised his sword to eye level.
His stance dropped low. Breath steady. Invisible pressure curled around his frame, like invisible wind swirling tight around his form.
Void Breathing, merged with his own personal blade style—
Hikaru-Style.
Then—
The demon came again.
But this time—not head-on.
With a powerful burst of steam, he darted sideways, splitting into multiple afterimages. His rapid movement left mirages in the air—too fast to follow.
A storm of illusions.
"I'll kill you…"
"I'LL KILL YOU!!"
"Where's the weak spot?! Where do I cut?!"
His voice came from all directions.
Demonic shadows danced around Hikaru in a circle of confusion—an assault not just of speed, but of psychology.
A strategy to overload the senses.
Still—
Hikaru remained calm.
"Smart… He's not just strong. He knows how to pressure with misdirection and fear."
He nodded slightly to himself.
Then—
With slow, deliberate movement, he sheathed his sword.
And on the next step—
He drew.
A flash of steel split the air.
The ground trembled beneath his feet. A clean, linear arc carved across the sky.
—Hikaru-Style Iaijutsu: Draw-Cut.
The moonlight reflected off his transparent blade—pure and swift.
And every shadow around him—
Vanished.
Kamunue froze.
His entire body locked in place.
Still breathing. Still conscious.
But his mind had been knocked loose—his sense of space shattered. The world spun. Depth and velocity no longer made sense.
It was like suddenly falling into a dream. Or being struck with motion sickness in an unmoving room.
And that—
Was all Hikaru needed.
Target: Acquired.
His body shifted—
And in a heartbeat—
His sword traced a silent arc across the demon's throat.
One strike.
No wasted motion.
No sound.
No hesitation.
Blood sprayed upward like a fountain.
And in those final moments, as Kamunue's consciousness slipped away, he saw something he hadn't seen in what felt like centuries.
A light.
Warm.
Unforgiving.
The light of the sun.
The last thing his mind could register—
Was sunlight.
— — —
[Anti-Demon Skill Upgraded]
[Rank F+] → [Rank E]
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