Thump, thump, thump!
As if a typhoon had swept through, the training equipment lay shattered, broken remnants of a life he'd left behind.
Muzan Kibutsuji's face was a mask of fury, his features contorted, his power radiating like a heat wave. He spoke slowly, each word a pronouncement of doom. "Traitor!"
Rui was dead.
Killed by the traitor.
The thought burned in him, a festering wound on his pride.
The outburst faded. Muzan's power receded, leaving a chilling calm in its wake. His face smoothed, the storm within hidden beneath a placid surface.
He drew on Rui's memories, a cold intrusion into a broken mind. He saw the fight, the traitor's power, his skill. Then, he saw the end.
Rui had been devoured.
The traitor could stop regeneration. He could eat demons.
He was growing stronger, faster. Could he gain power by devouring his own kind?
What secrets did he hold?
Could he be the demon who conquered the sun?
Muzan wiped his hands, a gesture of finality, a dismissal of the dead. He turned, walked away.
He'd never met a demon like this one.
Time to unleash the Upper Moons.
The traitor had to be captured. He had to be brought back, alive.
...
Aoki didn't know Muzan's thoughts, and he wouldn't have cared.
He walked through the forest, his steps steady, his pace unhurried.
His emotions had settled, the storm within him finally calmed. He was a creature of the night, drawn to the shadows, but the weight of his actions still lingered, a heavy burden on his soul.
He walked, a solitary figure beneath the silent trees.
He rarely used Space Warp for travel.
The cost was too high.
Stamina he could replenish. Mental energy was a different story. Depletion was a dangerous thing, a vulnerability he couldn't afford.
"Long warps cost more energy." That was the rule. He'd learned it the hard way.
Space Warp was a weapon, not a mode of transport.
"Without Space Warp, I can barely fight a Lower Moon. With Space Warp, I can kill one quickly, if I catch them off guard."
Aoki thought, replaying the battle with Rui, analyzing his mistakes, seeking a path to improvement.
He needed a Nichirin Blade. It would make killing demons easier, cleaner.
But he didn't kill for the sake of killing.
Elite demons like the Twelve Kizuki were rare. They didn't respawn. He wouldn't waste them, not even for a Nichirin Blade.
He needed the experience. He needed to grow stronger.
As he walked, Aoki saw his flaws.
His fighting style was taking shape, but it was far from complete. He needed more moves. He needed better timing. He needed more precision.
These things couldn't be learned overnight.
He had to train, to fight, to analyze, to rebuild. He had to push himself, to become something more than a brute force in the dark.
Combat was complex.
In his old world, ring fights had endless strategies. Real fights were worse.
Power mattered. But skill mattered more.
He'd been almost helpless against Rui and Mukago. Now, his strength hadn't changed, but he'd fought Rui to a standstill.
That was the power of technique.
Strength and skill. They were two halves of a whole. They were the key to survival.
The first rays of dawn pierced the darkness. Aoki finished his mental review.
He didn't hide from the sun. He put on the Sun-Blocking Hat, walked on.
Normal demons needed sleep.
He didn't.
He'd use the day to gather information, to plan his next move. He'd hunt at night, a creature of darkness in a world of shadows.
He was level 7 now. Weaker demons gave him little experience. Hunting was getting harder.
Days later, Aoki saw a city in the distance.
"Almost there."
It was night, but the streets blazed with light, a beacon in the darkness.
This was Asakusa.
Finding the remaining Lower Moons in Tokyo was like finding a needle in a haystack.
He'd heard nothing on his journey.
Muzan forbade demons from gathering. He couldn't ask.
Aoki focused on Kyogai, the Drum Demon.
Rui had said Mukago and the ogre-like demon were dead. A new Lower Moon Six might have been chosen.
It might be Kyogai.
It was a long shot, but it was all he had.
Kyogai's lair was fixed. That was the good news.
Aoki didn't know where it was. That was the bad news.
He knew it was southeast of Asakusa.
That was why he was here.
"I'm in Asakusa. Should I see Tamayo?"
Aoki walked the streets, a silent ghost in the crowd.
People glanced at his hat, his eyes. They looked away. He didn't draw attention.
In this world, his only allies were Tamayo and Yushiro.
They shared an enemy. They shared his burden. They were demons who fought demons.
But they didn't know him.
Yushiro's Blood Demon Art hid them. He couldn't find them, not unless they wanted to be found.
"I need to find Tamayo. I can't run into Muzan."
Aoki smiled, a dry, humorless expression. He walked onto a quiet street.
A noodle cart stood in the shadows. The owner, a man with a wild hairstyle, sat nearby, smoking a pipe.
The owner looked up, saw him. "Udon?"
Aoki shook his head.
The owner lost interest, looked down.
Aoki didn't leave. "It's busy in Asakusa tonight. Something happening?"
The owner looked at him like he was stupid. "It's almost New Year's!"
"New Year's?"
Aoki blinked.
The owner tapped his pipe on the cart. "Three days until New Year's! It's my last night. If you don't eat now, you wait a year."
He saw Aoki's blank face, shrugged, sat back down.
Aoki didn't notice.
New Year's.
It wasn't his New Year's. But it made him think.
His old life was gone. He couldn't go back.
He had people in this world.
"Takina and Master's wife... How are they?" Aoki looked at the sky.
A crescent moon hung among the stars, a fragile light in the darkness.
Last year, he'd been hurt, in bed.
He remembered the laughter, the warmth.
...
Bright lights lit every corner of the room. Fine furniture, better than the rough tables in the mountains.
Aomura Rie and Aomura Takina sat across from each other, a table full of food between them.
They put their hands together. "Let's eat!"
Aomura Rie smiled. "Takina, want to go to the festival tomorrow? It's almost New Year's. We need to buy things."
"Okay!"
Takina nodded, eager.
"The festival is so busy here. More than..."
Aomura Rie stopped. Takina said, "Yeah," a quiet echo.
The warmth faded.
They were trying to be happy. It was hard.
It was New Year's. A time for family. They were alone.
How could they be happy?
Takina set down her chopsticks, looked out the window. "I wonder what Aoki is doing? Why hasn't he come to see us?"
A crescent moon hung in the sky, a silent witness to their grief.
---
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