The sudden turn of events momentarily stunned Chiba Yo, but he immediately drew the nichirin blade hidden within his outer clothes. However, it was already a bit late; the Crimson Blade swung, only destroying some of the flesh chunks directly in front of him. More chunks had already scattered and fled, and even chasing them now would only eliminate a limited number. It would be impossible to slay this demon this way.
The act of drawing his sword and his momentary daze prevented him from striking immediately, otherwise, there was a certain possibility of eliminating all the flesh chunks that had just exploded and hadn't fled far.
But there are no 'ifs'; that demon escaped…
"Ahhh!!!"
"Murderer!!"
"Help!!!"
"What exactly are these chunks of flesh?!!!"
"Quick, call the police!"
The originally bustling crowd instantly devolved into chaos. Everyone was eager to get away from Chiba Yo; people were simultaneously terrified of the flesh chunks flying through the sky and of Chiba Yo, who was holding a sword.
The area around Chiba Yo became an empty zone; no one dared to approach him.
That demon had escaped, and worse, it had caused a huge commotion…
Looking at the situation before him, Chiba Yo found it extremely troublesome. He couldn't understand why that demon reacted this way. He had clearly hidden his nichirin blade and even deliberately smiled at it. Even if his expression wasn't entirely natural, it shouldn't have been enough for that demon to discover he was a demon slayer, right?
And even if that demon had discovered he was a demon slayer, it shouldn't have known his strength. Why did it immediately flee upon seeing him? And in such a way, by splitting its body?
Chiba Yo didn't understand, he profoundly didn't understand. He felt like he was dreaming; everything that just happened was too illogical.
"Police! He's the one with the knife!"
At that moment, several police officers with batons emerged from the crowd. Guided by a man in the crowd, the officers ran towards Chiba Yo.
"Young man in front! Put down your sword immediately! Otherwise, we will take forceful action against you!" the leading police officer shouted at Chiba Yo while running.
No choice, he could only run first.
Seeing the urgency of the situation, Chiba Yo didn't intend to be caught by these police officers, explain a whole lot, and still not be believed. Looking at the police officers surrounding him from the front, he turned and ran in another direction.
"Bang!"
A gunshot rang out.
A police officer behind him pulled out a handgun and fired a shot into the air.
"Stop immediately and put down the sword! Otherwise, we will shoot!" the police officer behind him shouted as he chased Chiba Yo.
The people on the street had already moved away from this area because of the previous incident. Now, hearing the gunshot, everyone on the street quickly rushed into the shops along both sides. However, due to the large crowd, many people were still on the street with nowhere to hide.
Screams filled the air.
Chiba Yo's steps slowed.
Although he himself could dodge these bullets, if they started shooting here, the surrounding crowd could very likely be caught in the crossfire.
The police officers behind him looked delighted when they saw Chiba Yo slow down. They had only fired the shot to intimidate Chiba Yo; there were so many people here, they couldn't possibly use their guns freely.
Originally, they had thought Chiba Yo wouldn't stop. After all, the crowd was dense here, and if the other party was convinced they wouldn't dare to shoot, they would be helpless. With the speed the other party had shown, they would never be able to catch up.
However, now that the other party had actually stopped, they could only conclude that he was scared.
"Hoo—"
Exhaling lightly, Chiba Yo turned around, put down his nichirin blade, and raised his hands.
He still didn't intend to be caught by them. Doing this now was merely to wait for them to approach, then knock them out.
Sorry…
Apologizing to the police officers in his mind beforehand, Chiba Yo waited for them to get closer.
The police officers, just as Chiba Yo had thought, ran towards him.
"Blood Demon Art, Visual Dream Fragrance."
Just then, a female voice rang out, and then a sweet scent permeated the surroundings.
"What's going on? What are these patterns? I can't see anything clearly."
The police officers stopped in their tracks, looking around continuously as if they had lost their way.
This is… a Blood Demon Art…
Chiba Yo immediately tore off a piece of the Demon Slayer Corps uniform from inside his outer clothes and tied it over his face, covering his nose. Uniforms could be easily replaced, but the clothes Kyoujurou gave him were one of a kind.
With a quick glance, he found the demon that had released the Blood Demon Art.
It had the appearance of a beautiful woman with long black hair, wearing a dark purple kimono and a beige wide obi around her waist, with light purple pupils.
At the same time, Chiba Yo discovered that there wasn't just one demon; there was another demon beside this one, appearing as a male in white clothes.
The two demons were mixed in the crowd, and the demon releasing the Blood Demon Art was looking at him, her expression seemingly surprised.
Is she stopping those police officers to help me escape, or does she want to eat people amidst the chaos? Never mind, since I can't figure it out, I'll take them away first.
From the two demons' actions just now, Chiba Yo couldn't temporarily determine their purpose. So, he quickly picked up the nichirin blade he had just placed on the ground, then swiftly appeared before the two demons.
"You…"
The male-looking demon was shocked to see the suddenly appearing Chiba Yo. He had just uttered one word when Chiba Yo wrapped an arm around him and tucked him under his armpit.
Similarly, Chiba Yo treated the other demon the same.
Carrying both demons, Chiba Yo swiftly fled the area in one direction.
…
"You bastard!! I'll kill you! Let go of your filthy hands and release Lady Tamayo!!! Let go of me! I'll kill you!!"
Halfway there, the female-looking demon didn't react much, but the male-looking demon kept struggling to break free, constantly saying he would kill him, and indeed, an astonishing killing intent emanated from him.
To show such astonishing killing intent towards me, it seems he is indeed a man-eating demon.
Chiba Yo thought, looking at Yushiro on his left, and the idea of slaying him arose.
"Be quiet, Yushiro." The female demon he was holding on his right spoke.
"Lady Tamayo! But he…" Yushiro was almost driven mad with anger at this point and did not immediately obey Tamayo's words.
"Be quiet for a moment, I believe he won't harm us. If he intended to, we wouldn't have any means to resist anyway," Tamayo said to Yushiro again.
The moment Tamayo saw Chiba Yo, she immediately thought of Yoriichi, just like Muzan. However, she knew Yoriichi was already dead, but even so, from the Breath Styles / Marks on Chiba Yo's forehead, she understood that she and Yushiro were no match for this person.
"…Yes…"
Yushiro suppressed the rage in his heart and agreed.
He wasn't angry because he thought Chiba Yo would harm them; the main reason for his fury was that he felt Chiba Yo had offended Tamayo, which was something he could never tolerate.
From the conversation between the two demons, Chiba Yo learned their names. At the same time, because of Tamayo's attitude, his perception of these two demons improved slightly, and he temporarily abandoned the idea of slaying Yushiro.