The man leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. He wore a sleeveless brownish shirt that exposed his extremely muscular arms. The front portion of his hair—from the forehead to the top of his head—had been carefully shaved, forming the distinctive chonmage-style hairstyle.
At this moment, his crimson eyes stared at Soma, full of hostility.
"Don't you know this area is my hunting ground? Have you no sense of etiquette?"
The man stood up and slowly walked toward Soma. "Do you know how much trouble your arrival has caused me?"
Over the past few days, the Demon Slayer swordsmen had been searching the city, making it difficult for him to hunt, constantly fearing those "hyenas" would catch his scent.
After all, once you're targeted by those Demon Slayer swordsmen, it's like getting stuck with chewing gum—you just can't shake them off.
And the source of all this trouble was the country bumpkin demon in front of him, who didn't understand etiquette and had drawn those hyenas here.
These rural demons were crude and reckless. Their hunting methods were rough—usually breaking into houses at night, causing huge commotions that quickly attracted the Demon Slayer Corps' attention.
The demons in the city, on the other hand, were different. They had their own methods. Their targets were the homeless, or children trafficked into the city… prey who could disappear without drawing attention.
He had always thrived in this town, like a fish in water. But now, because this outsider demon had drawn the Demon Slayers here, his life had become difficult.
"I'll leave in a couple of days," Soma said calmly, his head slightly lowered.
Demons usually lived alone. Each had a strong sense of territory and their own hunting grounds.
Clearly, he had trespassed into this demon's domain.
"Heh…"
The man sneered. "You think just leaving is enough? Do you know I've gone hungry these past few days because of you?"
Because of the Demon Slayers' search, he hadn't dared to hunt.
Soma said nothing, simply standing there quietly.
The man's face filled with anger. He wanted to beat Soma up, but he feared making noise that would attract the Demon Slayers. As for killing him, he hadn't even considered it—not because he didn't want to, but because demons' immortality made it extremely difficult for them to kill one another.
Of course, "extremely difficult" didn't mean impossible.
One method was to consume the other. By devouring a fellow demon, one could kill them and simultaneously grow more powerful.
But cannibalizing another demon was forbidden. Any demon who dared to do so would be personally executed by "that lord."
No demon dared disobey that lord's orders.
Any who had tried had essentially vanished from this world.
Even if killing wasn't feasible, tormenting another demon was easy. Their immortality and powerful vitality only made such torture more painful and twisted.
So the demon wasn't worried that Soma would refuse. He could sense Soma's aura was very weak—the kind of weak aura only demons who had never eaten human flesh possessed.
A weak demon like that might not even be killed outright by some Demon Slayer swordsmen, but instead captured and taken to Mount Fujikasane to serve as a target for trainee trials.
The demon strode forward arrogantly until he stood right in front of Soma, staring at him.
"Get out of my territory today—"
But halfway through his sentence, his gaze suddenly fell on Kanao Tsuyuri beside Soma.
Looking at the girl's delicate body, the demon unconsciously licked his lips.
"What a sweet piece of food."
In an instant, the demon's eyes filled with greed. Because of the Demon Slayers' tight surveillance and searches in the city over the past few days, he hadn't been able to hunt properly. His stomach had long been growling with hunger.
Sensing the demon's gaze, Soma reached out and pulled Kanao Tsuyuri behind him. He raised his head and calmly looked at the demon now standing before him.
Seeing the "food" hide behind Soma, the demon reluctantly withdrew his gaze and looked at him instead. "Is this the prey you caught today? Looks like a rather docile one."
Normally, "food" would struggle desperately after being captured. Though such resistance meant little to demons, prey as submissive as this was rare.
"How about this—since you trespassed into my territory, use your prey as compensation."
The demon's throat moved involuntarily. He was so hungry he could hardly wait to enjoy his meal.
Almost the moment he finished speaking, he reached out toward Kanao behind Soma, paying no attention to Soma still standing in front of him.
In truth, he didn't think much of Soma at all. Among demons, who followed the law of the strong preying upon the weak, it was normal for weaker demons to submit to stronger ones.
And he was the stronger demon.
But almost immediately, anger flashed across his face—his hand reaching for the prey had been blocked by Soma.
A weak demon dared to defy him?
He nearly exploded in rage, wanting to pounce and torture this brat in front of him. But he restrained himself, worried that any commotion might attract the Demon Slayers. If those hyenas set their sights on him, it would be troublesome.
So he forced down his anger. "Fine. I'll give you one leg later. That's my final act of mercy."
Clearly, he believed Soma was being bold only because he couldn't bear to give up his "food."
Some demons, when driven by hunger, simply couldn't see the situation clearly. All they could see was their craving for flesh.
Soma said nothing. His other hand slowly moved to his waist, where a long object wrapped in cloth was secured—clearly some kind of blade.
This was nothing unusual. With the Sword Abolishment Edict in place, even Demon Slayer swordsmen did not openly display their Nichirin Swords. They too wrapped them in cloth or concealed them in other ways.
The demon noticed Soma's small movement and guessed it was a weapon, but he didn't care much.
Unlike humans—where even the strongest person might be killed by a child if careless—such a scenario was almost nonexistent among demons.
A demon's immortality made it extremely difficult for one demon to kill another. Even if Soma drew a weapon and launched a surprise attack, at most he could injure him, not kill him.
Doing so wouldn't solve anything. It would only enrage him further and invite even more brutal retaliation.
So the demon wasn't worried that Soma had the nerve to try.
And at that moment, under the demon's confident gaze, Soma's hand gripped the hilt at his waist.
Shing!
A blade faintly radiating a scorching aura slid out from its cloth wrapping.
A flash of fiery light reflected in the demon's crimson pupils.
In that instant, everything turned into something incomprehensible—
And terrifying.
...
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