Yuki's blade struck Muzan's body.
But his words struck Muzan's heart.
The terror Muzan had suppressed for centuries resurfaced into reality!
His five brains, overwhelmed by fear, collectively abandoned rational thought, surrendering entirely to instinct.
"Hngh-uh-ah-ah-ah—"
Sensing the second strike land in the exact same spot as three hundred years ago, Muzan instinctively let out a bloodcurdling scream.
The deafening shriek shook the snow from the eaves and surrounding branches, echoing across Mount Kumotori!
At the epicenter of the sound, Yuki felt an invisible shock pierce his eardrums, his mind reeling.
Stunned by the sonic assault, his blade faltered, and he instinctively covered his ears.
Despite knowing it was the wrong time, Yuki couldn't help but think:
'This is the Demon King! Why does his scream sound like a wild beast's?'
The scream interrupted Yuki's attack and partially restored Muzan's clarity.
But Muzan had no time to compare his current injuries to those he'd suffered in the past. All he knew was that he had to escape immediately!
'Split! I must split now!'
'Only by splitting can I escape this creature!'
*Pfft, pfft, pfft—*
A series of bizarre sounds erupted from within Muzan's body.
Before Yuki's eyes, Muzan deflated like a punctured balloon, instantly shriveling up.
Countless chunks of flesh, each covered in tiny, wriggling tendrils, crawled out from beneath Muzan's tattered robes and scattered in all directions with astonishing speed.
Then, Muzan's outer "skin" suddenly began to inflate again.
With a final *boom*, it exploded, unleashing a torrent of blood mist and shredded flesh that obscured the surrounding space.
Faced with this grotesque and nauseating spectacle, Yuki finally exhaled in relief.
'This time, I've truly scared him away.'
Yuki didn't immediately relax. He kept his blade raised, occasionally slashing at the fleeing chunks of flesh.
Only when the last trace of flesh vanished from his Transparent World vision, leaving behind only the suit and top hat, did Yuki finally relax.
His mind was now brimming with sarcastic thoughts:
'With just 10% restoration, I scared that Demon King into self-destructing and fleeing!'
'He even abandoned his clothes!'
'Just how terrified is Muzan of Yoriichi deep down?"
'No wonder Muzan hid for so many years in the original story, only daring to resurface after Yoriichi had died of old age.'
'If my restoration reached 100%, Muzan would probably treat me like his new living father!'
'Then I could ask him, "What do you value life as?"
'He'd probably stammer, "I treasure it! I truly treasure it!"
While mentally roasting Muzan, Yuki didn't neglect other matters.
His current body, despite the low restoration percentage, proved surprisingly resilient.
Even after enduring Muzan's ear-splitting scream head-on, he had already recovered.
The Kamado family, however, had all fainted from the sonic assault.
Kie, in particular, collapsed the moment the scream erupted, crumpling to the ground in a heap.
Yuki rushed over, helped her up, and settled her beside her family.
As he tended to the Kamado family, Yuki noticed Tanjiro's absence.
According to the original storyline, Tanjiro should still be resting at Saburo's house at this time.
The thought struck Yuki:
'Because of my transmigration, the Kamado family has already escaped their original fate.'
'Under these circumstances, will Tanjiro still join the Demon Slayer Corps?'
As he pondered, Yuki remembered to close the door to prevent the Kamado family from getting cold.
Based on his medical knowledge, the family members were likely unharmed, but they probably wouldn't wake up anytime soon.
Yuki had considered taking the Kamado family to the Butterfly Mansion.
But the awkward truth was that, as a transmigrator, while he knew of the Butterfly Mansion's existence, he had no idea how to get there.
Moreover, he couldn't possibly transport the entire unconscious Kamado family by himself.
Fortunately, the commotion had been loud enough that Tomioka, who lived nearby in the original story, should arrive soon.
With Tomioka's authority, he could summon the Kakushi, the Demon Slayer Corps' logistics and cleanup unit, to handle the situation far more efficiently and reliably than Yuki could.
Just then, Yuki heard footsteps approaching outside.
The night gradually faded, and a faint glimmer of dawn began to streak the sky.
In such conditions, the man-eating Demons should have ceased their activity.
Yet Tomioka showed no sign of relaxing, instead quickening his pace.
Though still some distance away, Tomioka heard the bloodcurdling scream that echoed across Mount Kumotori.
The moment he heard the sound, his heart tightened.
Only Demons could produce such a terrifying cry!
The handsome, refined Swordsman, clad in his dual-toned haori, surged toward the summit of Mount Kumotori like a gust of wind.
But when he arrived, a flicker of astonishment crossed his usually impassive face.
"What... what happened here?"
Around the wooden cabin at the mountain's peak, the snow that had blanketed the surrounding branches had vanished completely.
Before the cabin, a vast pool of blood stained the snow-covered ground crimson.
Tomioka even glimpsed a suit of Western-style clothing amidst the bloodstains, along with small, twitching fragments of flesh.
"This much blood couldn't be human."
"And if it were human... the flesh wouldn't still be twitching after all this time."
Tomioka wasn't one for fanciful speculation.
But the scene before him, combined with the lingering echo of that bloodcurdling scream, stirred an inescapable conclusion—
A Demon had arrived here and let out a bloodcurdling scream that echoed across Mount Kumotori.
Then, with a *bang*, it exploded!
In the end, only blood and shredded flesh remained scattered across the ground.
It hadn't even had time to remove its clothes...
Tomioka unconsciously shook his head, as if trying to shake off this absurd line of thought.
Based on his understanding of Demons, they would never do something like this.
Unless... there was a being here capable of intimidating Demons, and that particular Demon was utterly terrified.
Dismissing these thoughts, Tomioka approached the wooden hut.
If the Demon had truly "exploded" for some reason, there must still be human survivors inside the hut.
As Tomioka reached out to knock, he suddenly remembered Shinobu's warning:
He couldn't simply demand the people inside come out. He needed to master the art of communication.
For example, he should knock on the door and tell them they no longer needed to hide in silence, living in constant fear.
He should also let them know he had a general understanding of what they had endured, assuring them they were safe now.
So, while knocking on the door, Tomioka said:
"Don't hide inside without a sound. I know you're home!"