Tonight the moon was extraordinarily bright and limpid, like draping the world in a thin veil of silver gauze.
Kibutsuji Muzan stood with his hands behind his back atop a pavilion's peak. His whole body was bathed in moonlight, making him look eerie and mysterious.
"Moonlight is cold and chill, yet it can't compare to the sun that warms body and heart."
"The only thing I can't obtain is still the sun."
Demons are greedy beyond measure. Muzan all the more so.
As the progenitor Demon King, the first demon, Muzan possessed power beyond imagination.
So long as he wished it, there was nothing he could not do.
But a thousand years had passed. Even Muzan, who believed he already stood at the summit of the world, had a fatal weakness.
The sunlight that even ants and vermin can enjoy at will—Muzan cannot touch it in the slightest.
Gazing up at the night sky, Muzan said mildly, "Demons, stir yourselves. Create more trouble for the Demon Slayer Corps."
"Kokushibo."
"Doma."
"Akaza."
"Hantengu."
Behind Muzan, layered demon silhouettes flickered.
"At your command."
Muzan's gaze was deep as he spoke softly: "You four, go in the four directions— east, south, west, north."
"Spread my will among the demons."
"Each of you choose some demons and go exterminate a town of roughly a thousand people in your direction."
"It's time to keep the Demon Slayer Corps busy for a while. Lately, they've been so idle they keep tracking my whereabouts."
Four demon shadows of differing shapes sprang from the darkness and half-knelt on the ground.
"Yes."
As if recalling something, Muzan added, "Right—Akaza, when you go west, make a trip to Blue Mountain."
"There's a decades-old demon there named Black Fang. A decent seedling. His Blood Demon Art has a shade of Kokushibo. I remember him a bit."
"But lately, he seems to have been slain by members of the Demon Slayer Corps. That displeases me greatly. It's also why I'm slaughtering four towns. Has the Demon Slayer Corps already reached the point of freely cutting you down?"
"Will the Demon Slayer Corps even ruin my few interests?"
"You don't need to pick a town yourself. I recall there's a Shiqiao Town near Blue Mountain. Wipe it out."
Of the four demon silhouettes, the one named Akaza had short hair interwoven with peach-pink and red, golden pupils, and deathly pale skin.
He was a handsome youth whose whole body was covered with countless dark-blue banded tattoos representing sinners. His fingernails were blood-red. He wore a purplish-red short shirt, and prayer beads of a strange shape hung at his ankles.
Akaza rose slowly. He didn't know what interest of Muzan's had been ruined, but it didn't matter.
He merely bent slightly and said respectfully, "Yes, my lord."
After a brief hesitation, Akaza probed, "Only— could the women of that town be spared?"
Muzan wasn't surprised. He said faintly, "Akaza, you still have your own principles—and you even dare voice them to me."
"I like that about you. But if I were to say no, what would you do?"
Akaza was silent for a moment, then said firmly, "Of course I would follow your will, my lord, and spare no one."
Muzan nodded in satisfaction. Akaza, you adhere to your principles, but in the end, those principles yield to my command. That is what I truly like.
"You know I've always been tolerant of you few. This time, act as you wish."
Gratitude showed in Akaza's eyes. "Many thanks, my lord."
Muzan waved a hand. "Go. The rest of you, move as well."
"Some places have already forgotten the existence of us demons."
"From today on, get active. Enjoy the slaughter to your heart's content."
When his words fell, the layered demon shadows behind Kibutsuji Muzan all vanished. Peace returned here. Alone, he sank into thought.
"Ubuyashiki family, do you truly want to eradicate me so badly?"
"To think, we're even of the same main house."
"A full thousand years. The new replaces the old, yet you've always organized and commanded the Demon Slayer Corps, opposing me at every turn."
"Sooner or later, I'll find your stronghold and end your sorrowful cycle of fate…"
Muzan leapt down from the top floor and headed for his home.
His daughter would wake soon. If she didn't see him, she'd probably cry…
Thinking of his lovely daughter, Muzan's lips curled slightly, and his long-gloomy mood improved a little.
After all, who wouldn't like delicious food? Raise her a while longer.
...
Akaza casually selected four demons and prepared to head for Shiqiao Town.
Shiqiao Town wasn't far. At a demon's speed, they could reach it at top speed in about three days.
"You four—after you reach Shiqiao Town, kill and eat the men as you please. But let the women flee. Don't touch a single one. Understand?"
A demon named Watoguchi, whose whole body shone with a black-gray metallic luster, said in a sing-song yin–yang tone, "Akaza, you may not want to kill women or eat women, but you can't forbid us from doing so, right?"
"My lord said you can spare those women, but he didn't demand that we must also comply."
"Tender-skinned young women are my favorite. You can't just strip me of my hobby because of your personal likes and dislikes."
The other three demons said nothing, merely watching to see how Akaza would respond.
Aside from Muzan, no demon can suppress all the others. Demons prize bravery and combat; without strength, you have no right to speak.
Akaza's golden pupils lit slightly. He looked at Watoguchi, then punched.
"Bang!"
With a thunderous crash, Watoguchi's upper body was pulverized into bloody mush. The other three demons all hunched their heads, cowed by Akaza's violence.
Slowly, the flesh of Watoguchi's upper body regenerated.
He hastily knelt. "Lord Akaza, I was wrong. Spare me."
He caved in a second. Though he'd always heard the Twelve Kizuki were each incomparably strong, without seeing it himself, he'd been a bit unconvinced.
Today, Watoguchi learned: as Upper Rank Three, Akaza could slaughter him like a pig or a dog. Before a reaction, his entire upper torso had been blown apart—and Watoguchi had always prided himself on his defense…
Akaza gave a cold snort. "Anyone unconvinced or anyone who opposes me can challenge me to a blood duel. The demon who defeats me becomes the new Upper Rank Three."
"But if you don't have that strength, don't question my orders."
"My principles are principles you must also obey."
"Demons killing demons is a bit troublesome, but I don't mind trying it on a demon or two."
Watoguchi's body trembled. He didn't dare speak again.
Akaza cast a cold glance over the four demons. "Move. If we delay my lord's orders, none of you will live."
With that, five demon shadows sped toward Shiqiao Town.
...
Kamado Asaki walked into the wine cellar. Rows of oil lamps were fixed to the wall at the cellar's side, but the oil within had dried and couldn't be used.
But he didn't need them. Darkness couldn't block his eyes.
He could see everything in the wine cellar clearly.
"A good place. I'll stay here for now."
"Once I've avoided tomorrow's sun, I'll leave immediately. Although I still haven't checked for news of the town at the foot of the mountain, this is all I can do."
Asaki sprang lightly and landed atop several large wine vats. He poked through a relatively smaller vat. He wanted to taste the wine.
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