The scent was getting stronger and stronger, the smell of human flesh! And other smells!
Shinichi stopped, his expression grim. Inside the wooden house, there wasn't just the smell of human blood, but also a strange, violent, and cruel scent. Or rather, the scent of his own kind—a demon!
"Enni, stay here. Don't follow," Shinichi said softly after putting Enni down, though he wasn't sure if Enni understood.
His right hand, which had been burned by the sun during the day, had mostly recovered, and his newly grown black claws were as sharp as ever. Shinichi took a deep breath, then continued towards the wooden house.
In the darkness, the lights in the wooden house were unusually conspicuous. A normal hunter's family lived here, and a faint smell of gunpowder could be vaguely detected in the air. But now, the inside of the wooden house was a scene from hell.
Mutilated limbs, blood and organs splattered across the floor, the head of a middle-aged hunter with wide-open, unseeing eyes, a hunting rifle broken in two, and in the center of the wooden house, a monstrous figure on all fours.
A growling sound, like an animal feeding, came from the figure. A woman's still-warm corpse lay beneath it, half of her bloodied face frozen in a look of terror from before she died. This was the hunter's wife.
Whoosh! Suddenly, the feeding demon turned its head. It had a long, thin, horse-like face, with dark, bloodthirsty eyes. Its mouth, stretched almost to its ears, held half an arm, and blood dripped continuously from its lips.
When it saw Shinichi, the horse-faced demon clearly paused, the arm it was biting falling out of its mouth. But the next second, the demon arched its back, bared its sharp teeth, and fiercely demanded, "Where did this wild demon come from! Don't you know this is my, Umaru's, territory?"
Shinichi didn't answer. Instead, he stared blankly at the hellish scene inside the wooden house. In the flickering lamplight, the blood-soaked room made Shinichi's heart grow cold and... filled with a strange longing.
"Oh~ I see what's going on now. It's a newborn demon, hehe." The demon Umaru sensed the aura and emotional fluctuations emanating from Shinichi. After a chuckle, he moved on all fours, like a nimble lizard, and in the blink of an eye, he darted to Shinichi's side, his dark red eyes constantly scrutinizing the young, newborn demon.
"How rare. Matsudaira County hasn't had a newborn demon in ten, no, twenty years, has it? Could it be that that esteemed individual has come here? How exciting! How wonderful it would be if I could be fortunate enough to be appreciated by that esteemed individual, tsk tsk tsk." Umaru circled Shinichi, sighing with a tsk tsk.
Shinichi was also observing the 'companion' in front of him. There was no doubt that Umaru was a genuinely powerful demon. Moreover, based on instinct, this demon named Umaru had eaten at least ten people!
The more people a demon ate, the stronger it became. The aura emanating from Umaru made Shinichi feel a sense of oppression.
Umaru muttered to himself for a long time, but Shinichi didn't say a word. This made a flicker of displeasure cross Umaru's eyes. But seeing Shinichi constantly eyeing the food in the wooden house, Umaru showed a cruel smile. A long black tongue suddenly extended, licking a circle of blood from the corner of his mouth.
Then, Umaru instantly darted back into the wooden house and began tearing at the bloody corpse. Soon, he returned to Shinichi with half a thigh in his mouth, casually spitting the thigh in front of Shinichi. Umaru bared his wide mouth and said with a cruel smile, "Since you're a newborn companion, consider this food a welcome gift. Try it, this woman's flesh is very delicious, much more so than her husband's. It will definitely make you praise it endlessly."
Looking at the large mass of blurry flesh, Shinichi subconsciously clenched his fists. His black claws unconsciously pierced his palms, and his body trembled slightly, because he was very angry. The demon in front of him made Shinichi feel disgusted from the bottom of his heart. Perhaps it was because Shinichi still stood from a human perspective; if he stood from a demon's perspective, Umaru's actions could actually be considered generous, because demons are cruel creatures with a strong sense of territory.
But Umaru did this more to tease Shinichi. After all, for newborn demons, the lingering memories of being human would affect them, making them resist eating people. However, no matter how many lingering memories there were, they couldn't suppress a demon's true nature. Umaru really wanted to see how this newborn demon would behave once completely dominated by its true nature.
Shinichi's clenched fists were also noticed by Umaru, but he didn't care at all. He had eaten twenty-three people, and his strength was not something a newborn demon could challenge. On the contrary, he was even more eager to see Shinichi's reaction after eating human flesh.
"Eat, my kind! I'm not like other demons; I'm very happy to share food. In fact, you can follow me, Lord Umaru, and follow me to enjoy more blood and human flesh!" Umaru tempted Shinichi.
Staring at the human flesh in front of him, Shinichi's crimson eyes trembled, his pupils gradually narrowing into needle-like slits, and his sharp fangs unconsciously protruded from his mouth.
"Yes! That's it, tear into it, enjoy it!" Umaru said with some excitement, but the next second he froze, because Shinichi walked straight past him.
"Get out of the way!"
Umaru looked incredulously at Shinichi, who had ignored his good intentions. Shinichi's back was reflected in his dark red eyes, and an unnamed rage suddenly flared up. Veins bulged on Umaru's face, and a long black tongue slipped from the corner of his mouth. "Bastard! A weakling who hasn't even eaten a single person dares to refuse my kindness! This is truly enraging!"
Shinichi walked quickly, wanting to leave this place as soon as possible. Although he really wanted to kill this disgusting demon, given his current hungry and weak state, he was no match for that guy. That guy had eaten at least dozens of people.
But as the saying goes, it's easy to come, but hard to turn back.
Pfttt!! Shinichi's body stiffened. He looked down and saw a long black strip had already pierced his chest. The next moment, Shinichi's body lost control, pulled backward by a powerful force.
The force was so great that Shinichi even heard the whistling of the wind in his ears. Without hesitation, he immediately raised his black claws and slashed at the black strip piercing his chest.
Clang! Soon, something that greatly surprised Shinichi happened. His claws, which could easily tear through rock, only produced a shower of sparks on the black strip?
Bang! Before Shinichi could figure it out, he was directly thrown into the wooden house. The huge impact made him smash through a wall of the wooden house, and he rolled embarrassingly onto the open ground.
Slurp, slurp. The black strip, which had been as hard as iron just now, now hung limply from Umaru's mouth, covered in saliva, utterly disgusting.
"Hiss, hiss, you ungrateful wretch. Since you refuse my kindness, then obediently accept my wrath!" Umaru said cruelly.
Shinichi stumbled to his feet, shaking his dizzy head. A numbing sensation spread from his chest. That tongue was poisonous!
The flesh around the wound on his chest wriggled, and the wound slowly healed. This was the demon's powerful, immortal body.
Bang! Not long after Shinichi stood up, the black tongue from Umaru's mouth attacked again. Its speed was almost like lightning.
Whoosh! Shinichi instinctively dodged, the black tongue barely grazing his neck.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Shinichi's body darted rapidly across the open ground, dodging Umaru's attacks. This wasn't his inherent strength; a more accurate description would be his innate talent. Demons also have talents. Demons with low talent, no matter how many people they eat, can never gain the recognition of that esteemed individual. Only the most talented demons, the Twelve Kizuki, can serve that esteemed individual!
Umaru's face had completely darkened. He had never expected that this demon, who hadn't eaten a single person, could contend with him for so long? How was he so fast? He managed to dodge all of his attacks every time!
Umaru was utterly shocked, and at the same time, endless rage and jealousy flared in his heart. Talent! This newborn demon's talent was definitely very strong! Much, much stronger than his! For the past decade, he had carefully hidden his tracks, terrified of being discovered by the Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen, and had finally managed to eat twenty-three people. But now, he was being played with by a newborn demon. This was simply a great humiliation!
Thinking of this, Umaru grew even angrier, and the speed of his long tongue became even faster, chasing after Shinichi like streaks of black lightning, carving deep furrows in the ground.