The demon had completely abandoned the idea of eating.
Right now, it only wanted to escape from this terrifying man who looked more like a demon than it did.
But how could Gyoumei possibly let it go?
A filthy, vicious monster like this—one that possessed near-immortality—might return at any time to kill someone if it were allowed to escape.
If Kanzaki Kumo hadn't shouted earlier, Gyoumei wouldn't have arrived so quickly. Even a delay of a few seconds could have resulted in most of the children inside being killed or severely injured.
Against Gyoumei, the monster struggled to resist.
But to the children behind him, it was an existence that could crush them effortlessly.
"You've really angered me!"
Suddenly, the demon tore off one of its own arms, using the momentary shock to break free from Gyoumei's control.
Although it wouldn't die thanks to its demonic physiology, the pain of having its limbs and head repeatedly crushed did not disappear. To avoid being beaten endlessly—or dragged out until sunrise or the arrival of the Demon Slayer Corps—the demon had no choice but to endure the agony of severing its own arm.
Gyoumei's condition wasn't good either.
Maintaining such high-intensity attacks for so long placed enormous strain on his chronically malnourished body. Moreover, the demon's earlier counterattacks—trading injuries for opportunities—had left him with several wounds.
Fortunately, none were fatal.
Taking a brief breath, Gyoumei pressed forward again.
Because he had been blind since birth, it was difficult for him to fully suppress the demon's agility. If the monster completely escaped his control, the children behind him could still be harmed.
The demon, its ferocity completely ignited, met his attack head-on.
Man and demon clashed once more.
This time, however, the momentum of the battle had shifted.
Previously, the demon had been careless, allowing Gyoumei to pin it down and subject it to a relentless beating with almost no chance to counterattack.
But now, after sacrificing an arm to gain temporary freedom, the demon had regained some mobility.
Although Gyoumei's dense attacks prevented it from breaking away to attack the others, the demon could now dodge some of his blows and occasionally strike back.
After all, Gyoumei was still human.
The demon believed it could win a battle of attrition.
As for running away?
Why run when victory seemed possible?
If it fled now, wouldn't all the suffering it had endured earlier be meaningless?
Besides, with the intensity of Gyoumei's attacks, escaping wouldn't be easy anyway.
---
Seeing the situation worsen, Kanzaki Kumo began to grow anxious.
Even though his memories told him that Gyoumei would eventually suppress this demon until dawn, how could he rely completely on those memories when his own life was on the line?
Under intense concentration, Kanzaki Kumo suddenly noticed something strange.
He could clearly see the movements of both fighters.
Whether it was the demon or Gyoumei, their physical abilities were far beyond those of ordinary people. Even a well-trained adult would normally move too quickly for a ten-year-old child to track clearly.
Yet Kanzaki Kumo could see every movement unfolding before him.
Not only that—
He could even predict their next actions by observing subtle changes in posture and muscle tension.
This was no longer something that could be explained by simple observational skill.
After watching several exchanges between Gyoumei and the demon, Kanzaki Kumo confirmed that this wasn't his imagination.
His predictions kept proving correct.
There was no time to analyze this mysterious ability further.
Seeing the battle slowly shifting from a one-sided suppression to a stalemate, Kanzaki Kumo decided to act.
He quickly picked up a piece of gravel nearby and waited for the right moment.
When the demon attempted another injury-for-injury exchange, Kanzaki Kumo threw the stone.
Thunk!
The rock struck the inside of the demon's elbow.
Its punch faltered for just an instant.
That moment was enough.
Gyoumei's fist slammed forward, nearly blowing apart the demon's shoulder. At the same time, he narrowly avoided the demon's attack, suffering only a shallow graze that didn't even draw blood.
With its rhythm disrupted, the demon once again fell into Gyoumei's suppression.
Kanzaki Kumo didn't stop there.
Several more times he interfered—aiming at areas like the back of the knees, the wrists, the eyes, and the back of the head. Places where even a small force could disrupt movement.
When he ran out of gravel, he picked up the scattered prayer beads that Gyoumei had dropped earlier.
Each bead was the perfect size to throw.
Although he didn't know what material they were made from, their weight felt surprisingly similar to the stones he had been using.
With Kanzaki Kumo's assistance, the battle gradually returned to its previous state.
Gyoumei suppressed the demon once more.
---
Just as Kanzaki Kumo prepared to continue helping, he suddenly noticed something alarming.
Several of the braver children were approaching the battlefield.
Perhaps watching Gyoumei beat the demon senseless—and seeing Kanzaki Kumo disrupt it simply by throwing objects—had given them the illusion that the monster was not so dangerous after all.
The thought of "I can do that too!" had begun to form.
Combined with a child's desire to show off, a few of them were eager to help.
Kanzaki Kumo immediately rushed over and stopped them.
Are you kidding?!
Even he—who could see and predict the demon's movements—could only interfere from the sidelines.
If these kids rushed in, they would only cause trouble for Gyoumei.
At best, they would become useless distractions.
At worst, they would become food for the demon.
They couldn't even track the battle properly.
If they tried throwing stones, they might hit Gyoumei instead.
"Stay back!"
Kanzaki Kumo's sharp shout and fierce glare immediately intimidated the reckless children.
Fortunately, Gyoumei had already seized the opportunity.
He pinned the demon to the ground again.
This time, he pressed his entire body weight onto it, leaving no chance for escape.
His fists fell like heavy hammers.
The ground trembled with every strike.
---
"Please, don't kill me!"
"I'll do anything! Just let me live
Suppressed once more, the demon's earlier ferocity disappeared.
It began begging for mercy.
But Gyoumei ignored it completely.
He simply continued punching.
He clearly remembered Kanzaki Kumo's earlier words: demons could only be killed by sunlight.
So he focused on only one thing—
Holding the monster down until dawn.
---
Gradually, the sky outside began to brighten.
Seeing that begging was useless, the demon changed tactics and began cursing.
"You monster!"
"You blind freak!"
"You'll die horribly someday!"
"I was just hungry and wanted something to eat! What did I do wrong?!"
"It was that brat who led me here and destroyed the demon-repelling incense! Why are you only targeting me?!"
Listening to the demon repeat the same few curses and excuses, Kanzaki Kumo couldn't help shaking his head.
This demon clearly wasn't very educated.
It didn't even know how to curse properly.
Demon: ?
---
More time passed.
Finally—
The first ray of sunlight pierced through the night.
It was the demon's death sentence.
But Gyoumei couldn't see the sunlight.
So he kept punching.
Kanzaki Kumo also didn't dare to remind him.
What if Gyoumei stopped and the demon seized the chance to kill someone before dying?
Even if the probability was small, Kanzaki Kumo refused to gamble.
Fortunately, because Gyoumei had arrived quickly, the battle had taken place near the broken door. The sunlight soon streamed through the opening and into the house.
Seeing that Gyoumei still had plenty of stamina, Kanzaki Kumo simply waited silently.
Then—
The sunlight finally touched the demon's body.
The fanged monster began to disintegrate in the light.
Gyoumei's descending fist froze in mid-air as the creature beneath him dissolved into nothingness.
For a moment, he stood there in stunned silence.
"The sun has risen. The monster has completely dissipated."
Kanzaki Kumo stepped forward.
"Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Gyoumei."
His voice carried the relief of surviving a disaster.
According to the original storyline, Gyoumei would have arrived a few seconds too late. Several children would have rushed forward to help—and only Gyoumei and one little girl would survive.
By the time the authorities arrived, the demon would already be gone.
The little girl, too traumatized to speak, would only be able to point at the empty space beneath Gyoumei before fainting.
As a result, Gyoumei would be falsely accused of murdering the children and thrown into prison.
From that point on, he would lose trust in everyone except the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps, who later rescued him.
But now—
Because Kanzaki Kumo had intervened, things were different.
Not only had Gyoumei avoided that tragic fate, but all the children—including Kanzaki Kumo himself—had survived.
However—
Just as the demon finished dissipating in the sunlight, Kanzaki Kumo's sharp eyes caught sight of a figure flashing past outside the temple.