In his increasingly blurring consciousness, a memory from the past suddenly surfaced in Yuu's mind, temporarily diluting his craving for flesh and blood.
"Yuu, what do you want to do when you grow up? "
Holding a young Yuu in her arms, Kie asked gently.
"What to do. . . I don't want to do anything. I just want to stay with you, Mother. When I grow up and become stronger, I'll be able to protect you better, and protect my younger siblings too. "
Kie covered her mouth with a light laugh. "Then I'll wait for you to grow up, Yuu. By then, I'll have grown somewhat old, and I'll rely on you to protect me. "
Yuu nodded, his tone childish yet incredibly firm. "I will. I will definitely protect everyone. "
Protect everyone. . . was it?
I'm sorry. . . I failed to keep that promise. . .
This memory allowed Yuu to gather what little consciousness he had left. Controlling his right hand, he picked up the axe that had fallen in the blood.
Gripping the axe tightly, his face contorted fiercely as he slammed the iron forged axe handle against his own fangs.
"Crack! Crack! Crack. . . "
The hardness of Yuu's fangs couldn't compare to iron. Combined with him swinging the axe with all his strength, holding nothing back.
Upon contact, the axe handle shattered all his fangs. The bone fragments of his fangs mixed with the large amount of blood flowing from his mouth, and he spat them to the side.
Human teeth are connected to numerous nerves, and demons are no different.
The moment his fangs broke, excruciating pain that felt like it could bore through bone shot through him. The agony was so intense.
The physical pain completely suppressed his craving for flesh and blood. Yuu panickedly moved away from Kie's corpse.
But his foot slipped, and he fell onto another blood soaked body.
"Rokuta. . . "
Yuu forced himself to calm down, even though his brain felt like it was being consumed and scorched by flames.
Pressing down on his restless heart, Yuu stood up.
He looked around, seeing all his family members who had already lost their breath.
"Kie, Nezuko, Hanako, Takeo, Rokuta, Shigeru. . . "
"Big brother promised to protect you all, to keep you from harm. "
"But facing a vicious demon, my promise, my persistence, were nothing but a joke. . . "
"I'm sorry, truly sorry. . . "
"And Tanjiro, you must still be alive, right? It's good that you didn't return. The only comfort I can take is that you're still alive. "
Upon waking from the dream, the unbearable self blame, fear, pain, despair, anger. . . all became reality.
And being in a slaughterhouse full of blood and corpses, for a newborn demon, this temptation was impossible to resist.
Yuu could feel that if he stayed here, even for one more minute, the demon's greedy desire for flesh and blood would drag him into an bottomless abyss.
And his already shattered fangs were recovering at a visible rate, replaced by an even more terrifying hunger.
Tears and scalding blood dripped onto the broken wooden boards drop by drop.
Yuu made a decision he was forced into.
He had to leave this place. In his current state, he couldn't even give his family a proper burial. There was no other way but to leave like this.
"Tanjiro, when you arrive here tomorrow, you'll surely be in immense pain and despair, just like I am now. "
"But no matter what, you must stay strong. Big brother believes in you. "
"And. . . our family's bodies. . . you'll have to arrange them properly. . . Big brother truly can't control himself. "
Yuu extended a finger, his sharp nail popping out. He quickly carved a line of words on the wall of the small wooden house nearby.
"Tanjiro, don't despair. You must live on, live on, and wait for me to find you. "
Time was urgent. Yuu endured the hunger, forcing himself not to look at the blood and the corpses covering the ground.
After finishing the carving, Yuu rushed out the door without a moment's hesitation.
His face was twisted into a fierce contortion from the struggle between demonic desire and rationality.
"Bam! "
He directly smashed through the door. Yuu charged into the wind and snow, not looking back, not pausing. He didn't dare. He feared that if he stopped, he would no longer be able to restrain the overwhelming desire and would return to devour everyone's bodies.
Choosing a direction at random without any purpose, Yuu moved straight away from the warm home he had known for sixteen years.
Along the way, the strong wind blew incessantly. Yuu's once neatly trimmed red hair was now messy and flying wildly in all directions.
He raced at full speed through the accumulated snow, enduring the constant hunger in his stomach, getting farther and farther from home.
The trees in his vision moved backward rapidly. He didn't know how much time had passed, maybe an hour, maybe a day.
Only when he could no longer smell any trace of blood did Yuu stop.
Looking around, he found the environment completely unfamiliar, with only endless white snow and silent green pines.
Moreover, he no longer had a home. A sense of loneliness, as if he were the only person left in the entire world, washed over him.
"So hungry. . . "
Without the stimulation of the blood scent, Yuu finally regained his rationality. However, the hunger in his stomach felt like it was burning, becoming extremely difficult to endure.
"Both my arms were previously sliced to pieces by that man, my face was shattered, and just now I broke my own fangs. . . "
"But now they've recovered completely. The demon's physique is truly terrifying. "
Although he had heard of demons before, Yuu had always treated them as stories and never listened seriously. Now, having truly encountered one, he understood the horror of demons.
Forcing himself to calm down, Yuu tried his best to recall what had just happened.
The bloody memories caused him immense pain, equivalent to sprinkling coarse salt on a bleeding wound, making it unbearable.
But he had to do this.
Yuu knew that avoidance and fear wouldn't solve any problems. Only by calming his heart, only by facing the bleak fate directly, could he find his own goal.
"In the previous world, it seemed like they mentioned that energy is conserved. I healed my severely injured body, plus I ran at full speed for who knows how long. I must be lacking a massive amount of energy now, which is why I'm so hungry. "
Yuu closed his eyes, trying hard to remove the recently recalled images from his mind.
But that heartless man wearing a white top hat seemed branded into his brain, impossible to shake off.
Thinking of him, Yuu gritted his teeth fiercely, unable to suppress the rage filling his entire heart.
"I don't know who you are, nor where you are. "
"I don't know your name. I don't know where you are. But I swear—by every drop of my family's blood—I will find you. I'll make you suffer every agony this world can offer. "
Yuu's gaze gradually shifted, finally settling into a determined expression.
In this life, he gave people the impression of being gentle and sunny, with a serious and positive personality, willing to help anyone in difficulty.
This was because of the warmth brought by Kie and Tanjuro, as well as his younger siblings, that had shaped Yuu into who he was now.
What he had hoped for was to be the gentle and considerate big brother to Nezuko and the others, to be the obedient and understanding son to Kie and Tanjuro. . .
But now, only one younger brother, Tanjiro, remained. And afraid of harming Tanjiro, Yuu didn't dare to seek him out now.
Yuu could no longer feel the warmth of family.
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