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Chapter 152: I'll Handle This
Hearing Suyan's words, Tamayo couldn't help but freeze.
Did he discover Yushiro?
Standing alone in front of the mansion to greet Suyan and Shizuka, Tamayo's mind raced. For reasons she couldn't quite place, a lingering sense of profound unease had been haunting her lately. That anxiety had spiked to its absolute peak shortly after receiving the Kasugai Crow's message from the current leader of the Demon Slayer Corps.
She didn't know why this man—who claimed to rival Yoriichi Tsugikuni—was seeking her out. Was it truly as the Demon Slayer Corps had stated? Did they simply want her to verify if his strength genuinely matched Yoriichi's?
She had never believed that anyone in this world could ever equal that terrifying man. Not in the past, not in the present, and absolutely not in the future! Only she, who had witnessed the apocalyptic clash between Yoriichi and Muzan four hundred years ago, truly understood what kind of unfathomable monster Yoriichi had been.
However, after weighing her options, she eventually agreed to the Corps' request to meet with this Suyan. Even if she didn't believe he could compare to that historical anomaly, his strength had been formally acknowledged by the master of the Demon Slayer Corps. That meant he possessed, at the very least, power exceeding that of a Hashira. She had made extensive preparations for this encounter.
For instance, scheduling the meeting strictly at night. This ensured that if he harbored malicious intent and attacked, she wouldn't be rendered completely incapable of fleeing, as she would be during the day. Secondly, she had ordered Yushiro to conceal himself using his Blood Demon Art. If the man made a move, Yushiro would immediately cast his art on her, hiding her presence so they could escape together.
Therefore, upon hearing Suyan mention a "rat," her immediate, terrifying thought was that he had somehow detected Yushiro in hiding. Fearing that Suyan was about to attack her loyal assistant, Tamayo hurriedly spoke up. "Lord Suyan, please wait, he is—"
But before she could finish her sentence, the muffled sound of sobbing pierced the quiet night. Suddenly, a short, frail-looking old man appeared out of thin air, covering his face with his hands as he wept bitterly.
"Since when?!" Tamayo's pupils shrank to pinpricks as she stared at the sudden apparition.
She had absolutely no idea when or how he had appeared. Before Suyan had spoken, she hadn't sensed even the slightest trace of his presence. If Suyan hadn't pointed him out, she suspected the old man would have remained entirely invisible to her.
"Yushiro?!" Tamayo called out to the empty air beside her.
As her voice faded, the figure of a young man with short green hair materialized nearby. It was Yushiro, the demon Tamayo had personally converted, mockingly referred to by some fans as the "Third Generation Demon King." He stepped protectively in front of Tamayo, glaring warily at the weeping old man. In his hands, he tightly gripped the paper talismans marked with the eye symbols of his Blood Demon Art.
"Are you two planning on making a move yourselves?" Suyan released Shizuka from his embrace and turned his gaze toward Tamayo, a playful smile dancing in his eyes. "Well, I don't mind, but the real question is... can the two of you actually defeat an Upper Rank demon?"
Although Yushiro was jokingly called the third Demon King, his actual combat power was mediocre at best. He couldn't even match the strength of an elite demon just below the Twelve Kizuki. The mocking title stemmed entirely from the fact that after Muzan's eventual death in the original timeline, all other demons perished with him, leaving Yushiro and Tamayo's demon cat as the sole surviving demons in the world.
However, his Blood Demon Art was an undeniably god-tier support ability. The two applications he demonstrated in the original story were already incredibly powerful. First was concealment—he could turn himself, others, or entire structures completely invisible and undetectable. Second was shared vision—during the Infinity Castle arc, he placed his talismans on the Kasugai Crows, allowing the Demon Slayer Corps to map out the ever-shifting fortress and issue real-time tactical commands.
Yushiro's Blood Demon Art was definitely on the list of abilities Suyan wanted to acquire. Unfortunately, the difficulty of obtaining it via Equivalent Exchange was absurdly high. Unlike most people in this world, Yushiro had no grudge against Muzan. He only became a demon because he was dying of a terminal illness and wanted to live. His eventual participation in the fight against Muzan was entirely driven by his obsessive devotion to Tamayo.
He was the ultimate, hopelessly obsessed devotee. Unless Suyan was willing to use Tamayo herself as a bargaining chip, it was going to be incredibly difficult to negotiate for his art. Doing so, however, would directly conflict with his goal of recruiting Tamayo.
"An Upper Rank?!"
Tamayo's heart seized. She couldn't stop herself from gasping, her hand flying up to cover her mouth in shock. She stared intently at the weeping old man. Peering through the gaps in his trembling fingers, she finally made out the Kanji etched into his irises.
Upper! Rank! Four!
The strength of the Upper Ranks was absolute. In the centuries since Yoriichi Tsugikuni's death, aside from internal Blood Battles, the number of Upper Ranks slain by the Demon Slayer Corps remained stubbornly at zero. Every single Upper Rank had the blood of at least double-digit Hashira on their hands.
Tamayo, who had constantly monitored Muzan's movements from the shadows, knew this horrifying reality better than anyone. In that terrifying instant, she finally understood where her lingering sense of dread had come from.
Standing firmly in front of her, Yushiro shouted, "Lady Tamayo, I will do everything in my power to hold back that Upper Rank! Please, you must run!"
"It's useless." Tamayo shook her head, instantly rejecting his suicidal plan. Given Yushiro's strength, he couldn't even handle a normal member of the Twelve Kizuki, let alone a terrifying monstrosity like an Upper Rank. He would be torn to shreds in seconds.
She turned to Suyan, her expression grave. "Let us join forces. Both Yushiro and I possess support-oriented Blood Demon Arts. We can assist you from the sidelines."
It was their only option. By working together, they might just have a chance to repel this Upper Rank. Yes, repel—not kill. Tamayo's desperate hope was to stall the battle until dawn, using the threat of the rising sun to force the demon into retreat. And even that desperate plan hinged entirely on whether Suyan and Shizuka actually possessed strength surpassing the average Hashira.
"Join forces? There's no need for that." Suyan waved his hand dismissively. "It's just a little rat. I'll use him to show you exactly what I'm capable of."
Tamayo's chest tightened. Her worst fear was playing out in front of her. This man, arrogant enough to compare himself to Yoriichi, was completely underestimating an Upper Rank. He had zero intention of cooperating, treating the demon like a minor nuisance. But the Upper Ranks were walking natural disasters!
"Lord Suyan, you may not understand the true power of the Twelve Kizuki, but—" Tamayo took a deep breath, staring at him intensely, desperately trying to persuade him.
"It doesn't matter. I will handle it." Suyan cut her off, ignoring her entirely.
He locked eyes with Hantengu. They had been in a standoff for a minute or two now, yet the Upper Rank hadn't made a single aggressive move. He just stood there, crying pitifully.
He really is a sneaky bastard, Suyan thought. Hantengu's signature strategy was to never strike first. He would bait his enemies into attacking his weak-looking main body, only to spawn incredibly powerful clones that would then take the moral high ground, accusing the attackers of "bullying the weak."
Did he really think he could pull a fast one on me? Suyan sneered inwardly. I am more than happy to bully the weak.
Suyan raised a hand. Chunks of Scarlet Ore—the iron sand used to forge Nichirin Swords—flew out from his various pockets. The silver-white metal gathered in the air, slowly fusing together. But it didn't take the shape of a sword. Instead, it elongated, twisting into a slender, blood-red chain.
Like a striking viper, the metallic chain shot toward Hantengu. The demon offered no resistance, allowing the iron sand chains, manipulated entirely by Suyan's Nen, to bind his entire body tightly.
Seeing this, Tamayo gasped. "He… he caught him?"
Doubt crept into her mind. Was this pathetic creature with "Upper Rank 4" etched into his eyes truly a member of the elite Twelve Kizuki?
"It's not that simple," Suyan said, shaking his head. He hadn't even begun to exert real effort yet. He was merely using Manipulation Nen to shape the iron sand and wrap it around the target.
However, Hantengu's cowardly facade was telling. He allowed himself to be bound without the slightest struggle. It was a testament to just how arrogant and confident the Upper Rank was in his own immortality.
Gripping one end of the chain, Suyan surged his aura into it. The chains constricting Hantengu suddenly grew blindingly hot.
Fwoosh!
Clusters of crimson fire, shaped like blooming lotuses, erupted along the length of the chain.
"A Crimson Red Blade?!" Tamayo's eyes widened in sheer disbelief.
Although the form was different—a chain rather than a traditional katana—the terrifying, apocalyptic energy radiating from the heated metal was identical. It triggered a visceral terror deep within her soul. It was the exact same, overwhelming aura she had witnessed four hundred years ago when Yoriichi Tsugikuni had nearly annihilated Muzan.
A profound sense of relief washed over her. If he possessed this kind of power, his arrogant claim of rivaling Yoriichi made perfect sense. But she knew that alone wasn't enough. During the Sengoku era, Yoriichi hadn't been the only swordsman capable of manifesting a Crimson Red Blade. Yet, he was the only one who ever posed a lethal threat to Muzan, the only one who became the Demon King's eternal nightmare.
Still, seeing Suyan wield this power gave her hope. Even if he couldn't outright slay the Upper Rank, stalling until daybreak was now a guaranteed certainty. She refocused her attention on the clash.
"Nghhh! AAAAAAH!"
Hantengu's body arched violently as the flaming chains seared into his flesh. He curled into a tight ball like a boiled lobster, his pathetic weeping replaced by genuine, agonizing screams of pure torment.
Suyan held the technique for several seconds before intentionally cutting the flow of aura, extinguishing the flames. Relying on his absurd regenerative capabilities as an Upper Rank, Hantengu slowly began to recover. But no matter how fast his flesh knit back together, the phantom agony of the Crimson Red flames lingered, refusing to fade.
The old man stared at Suyan, his eyes wide with unadulterated terror.
Suyan could have easily poured all his strength into the chains and burned the demon to ash, but he deliberately held back. He carefully controlled the output, ensuring Hantengu felt maximum agony without instantly dying. After all, he still needed the demon's Blood Demon Art. If he killed him now, he'd get nothing.
His goal was to completely and utterly break Hantengu's spirit through absolute, overwhelming violence. He needed to present himself as an omnipotent god of death—a figure more terrifying than even Muzan himself. Only then would the cowardly demon willingly surrender his powers to save his own miserable life.
With that in mind, Suyan walked up to Hantengu and kicked him hard in the ribs. His voice was freezing cold. "Don't you have a power that lets you split into stronger clones? Why aren't you using it? Or is it a passive ability? Do you need someone to chop you up before they come out?"
He crouched slightly, a dark smile playing on his lips. "Don't worry. Allow me to help you with that."
With a brutal yank, Suyan forcefully retracted the chains bound around Hantengu's limbs.
"GAAAAAH!"
Following a sickening crunch and a spray of blood, Hantengu's arms and legs were cleanly severed by the tightening chains, dropping heavily to the dirt.
Watching from the sidelines, Tamayo frowned deeply. For a moment, she was genuinely confused about which of the two was the actual monster. Yet, she felt not an ounce of sympathy for the Upper Rank. She just found the demon's performance highly suspicious. Despite surviving the Crimson Red heat, he hadn't demonstrated any remarkable combat ability whatsoever.
Just as her confusion peaked, the severed stumps on Hantengu's torso rapidly regenerated new limbs. Simultaneously, the four severed limbs on the ground began to bubble and expand, morphing into massive blobs of flesh.
Within moments, four entirely new demons stood in the clearing. They all possessed youthful, muscular physiques, horns protruding from their heads, and wielded distinct, traditional weapons. Furthermore, the Kanji for "Upper Rank" was etched into the eyes of every single one.
Only Suyan and Hantengu knew the truth: these were the clones representing the old demon's four primary emotions, each wielding a unique and devastating Blood Demon Art.
The clone representing 'Anger'—Sekido—stepped forward. He leveled his Khakkhara staff directly at Suyan, his face twisted in absolute fury.
"RELEASE HIM!!"
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