When Yōsuke entered the village, chaos reigned everywhere. Severed limbs littered the ground, flames devoured the houses, and cries for help echoed from every direction.
Seeing this scene, Kōda Ryōichi froze in terror. His whole body trembled, his feet instinctively edging backward.
He hadn't imagined that in the short time he had been gone, the village would have turned into such a hellscape.
Fear overwhelmed him completely.
Yōsuke, however, paid no mind to Ryōichi. He walked straight into the heart of the village.
Following the trail of demonic aura, Yōsuke arrived at a storage shed where farm tools were kept.
Inside, a demon with six arms was gnawing on a corpse, its grotesque face smeared with blood.
The demon noticed Yōsuke's demonic aura and snarled a warning:
"This is my dining hall. If you want to eat, go somewhere else!"
Looking upon the wretched creature enslaved by its own hunger, Yōsuke's eyes involuntarily softened with pity.
This… was the sin born from his own family's existence.
But when Yōsuke did not move, the demon's fury erupted. With a roar, it tossed aside the body it had been devouring and charged at Yōsuke, swinging four clenched fists down upon him.
"Blood Demon Art: Shadow Wolf!"
From Yōsuke's shadow surged four wolves of darkness, which leapt onto the demon and tore relentlessly at its flesh.
The demon's arrogance vanished instantly, shock flashing across its face.
"Blood Demon Art?! That's impossible!"
Among demons, it was well known: to wield a Blood Demon Art, one had to endure a massive infusion of Kibutsuji Muzan's blood and devour countless humans. Those who did were extremely powerful.
Ordinary demons had no hope of matching a Blood Demon Art user.
The six-armed demon quailed in fear. It was nothing more than one of Muzan's mass-produced creations, lacking the great reservoir of his blood. No matter how many humans it ate, its growth had already hit a ceiling.
Now, it killed and fed not to become stronger, but only to sate its gluttony and indulge in the thrill of dominion over human life.
The demon lowered its head and pleaded:
"We're both servants of that great master. There's no need for us to fight! There are plenty more humans in this village. Take them all — I'll leave right now!"
But the shadow wolves continued their assault, rending its body.
The demon's fear turned to rage. After all, it too was a demon — apart from sunlight, nothing could kill it. At worst, its strength would decline. A few more humans would restore it.
"Damn you! It's useless! I'm a demon as well — even with a Blood Demon Art, you can't kill me!"
Its words cut off in horror as it realized the wounds inflicted by the shadow wolves were not healing.
"What… what's happening?!"
"First of all," Yōsuke said calmly, "I am not a demon created by Kibutsuji Muzan."
The demon's eyes bulged in disbelief.
"How dare you speak that great one's name aloud?!"
At Yōsuke's command, a shadow wolf tore out its tongue.
"Don't interrupt when someone else is speaking. Haven't you any manners?"
"I am, like Muzan, a Demon King. Which means that for you mass-produced, low-level demons, standing before me is no different from standing before Muzan himself. It is a suppression of bloodline. Do you understand?"
Seeing the demon's panicked, bewildered face, Yōsuke sighed.
"No… you still don't get it."
"Fine, I'll put it plainly. If Kibutsuji Muzan can kill you… then so can I. Do you understand that much?"
The demon understood. Terror seized it as it clawed desperately at the shadow wolves, trying to escape.
But the wolves clung to it like a curse that would never release, consuming it piece by piece until nothing remained.
The six-armed demon was slain with ease.
The surviving villagers who had witnessed the scene looked on in dread.
The moment Yōsuke shifted his foot, they scattered in panic, fleeing from him.
Weariness pressed on Yōsuke's heart, and he let out a quiet sigh.
…He had saved them, and yet they feared him still.
He glanced back toward the mountain where he had lived for nearly a hundred years. It was no longer a place he could remain. It was time to leave. Perhaps someday he would return, to visit his father, mother… and Kaori.
Taking this opportunity, Yōsuke returned once more to the Ubuyashiki estate. But now, it was deserted.
His demon crows had long watched over the Ubuyashiki line. Because of Muzan's and his own birth, the Ubuyashiki bloodline had been cursed. Their children were born frail and sickly, rarely living beyond a few short years.
The clan nearly went extinct. To preserve their bloodline, they followed the advice of the priests and married, generation after generation, with daughters of the shrine-keeper families. By doing so, they prolonged their descendants' lives somewhat… but even so, none could live past the age of thirty.
Now, in order to sever that curse, the Ubuyashiki had discovered special materials that absorbed sunlight — Scarlet Crimson Iron Sand and Scarlet Crimson Ore. With these, they forged weapons capable of harming demons.
On this foundation, the Ubuyashiki established a demon-slaying corps, hoping one day to kill both Kibutsuji Muzan and Yōsuke.
Yet the original calamities — Muzan and Yōsuke themselves — remained unfound. Only Muzan's countless lesser demons rampaged through the land. And although the demon slayers now wielded Nichirin blades, without the breathing styles, their casualties were immense.
Years blurred into decades. Among the people, stories began to spread — of a wandering swordsman who battled demons and cut them down.
One night in Kyoto, Yōsuke sat within an inn, gazing out at the bustling, lantern-lit streets. Though it was evening, the city was livelier than day.
Countless years had passed. Yōsuke had long grown accustomed to a life by night. His strength, honed through ceaseless battles against demons and endless training, had increased greatly.
Name: Ubuyashiki Yōsuke
Constitution: Origin Demon
Abilities: Accelerated regeneration, three hearts, two brains, blood infusion, blood poison, swordsmanship, form manipulation – Blood Wings (not a Blood Demon Art, but an innate extension of his body).
Blood Demon Arts: Shadow Wolf, Hidden Eyes, Blood Domain.
Because the system's rewards were limited to demon-related powers, he had never drawn any breathing techniques.
At that time, Yōsuke carried a Nichirin blade. He had obtained it while tracking a demon's aura. When he arrived, he found dozens of slain demon slayers, their corpses scattered across the ground, while a demon feasted upon them.
Yōsuke slew the demon effortlessly and noticed a single intact Nichirin sword lying nearby. Curious, he picked it up. The instant his skin touched the blade, it burned as if seared — but the damage was negligible now. And so, the Nichirin blade became his weapon.
Later, Yōsuke questioned the system about the breathing techniques.
The answer came:
"Because the original breathing styles have not yet been created, the system's pool does not contain them."
Yōsuke sighed.
"So… I'll have to wait until Tsugikuni Yoriichi invents Sun Breathing before I can obtain it."
Suddenly, he caught a familiar scent — an overwhelming demonic aura.
Different from ordinary demons. Familiar. Just like his own.
Kibutsuji Muzan… was near!