For a human, having one's heart removed meant certain death.
Yet in everyone's sight, Soma was still standing there perfectly fine. Even the wound that had pierced through his chest healed in an extremely short time.
Is this something a human can do?
That thought surfaced in almost every swordsman's heart.
No one could survive after having their heart torn out.
No one could have a wound through the heart heal completely in the blink of an eye.
No one could do such a thing.
Only a demon could.
Only a demon.
Almost all the swordsmen realized a terrifying truth at that moment.
The true identity of Mr. Soma, the man they had respected and admired, was that of a demon.
It was something almost impossible to believe.
How could a demon bathe beneath the sun?
How could a demon…
Thinking of everything Soma had done until now, many swordsmen could not accept this truth.
"Mr. Soma, you are not a demon, right? You cannot be. Tell me you are not."
The heavily injured Sanemi Shinazugawa refused to believe it. His hatred for demons made it impossible for him to accept that someone he respected could be one of those disgusting creatures.
"This… this has to be a lie."
Kyojuro Rengoku clenched his fists. He had never feared any hardship, nor had he ever been afraid to face danger. But now, Rengoku found himself almost unable to face the situation before him.
...
Since the battle began, Kanao had followed Soma's instructions and hidden herself away. At this moment, she stood in the darkness with her hand gripping the hilt of her blade.
Whether her uncle was a demon or a human made no difference to Kanao. She did not care about such things.
Right now, she only stared with hatred at the demon who had pierced her uncle's heart.
But occasionally, she sensed the swordsmen who had once respected and admired her uncle so deeply. Now, many of their attitudes seemed to have changed.
There was no longer respect.
No longer admiration.
Some even had hatred mixed into their eyes.
Kanao lowered her beautiful pinkish-purple eyes slightly.
After gradually emerging from her closed-off world, Kanao had also changed while following her uncle. All this time, Lady Kie had treated her like a daughter. On Mount Sagiri, those swordsmen had always been kind to her as well.
Although Kanao had always seemed withdrawn, she cherished the goodwill everyone showed her. She treasured the kindness they gave her. For Kanao, who had lived in darkness since childhood, her current life was very precious, and she liked it very much.
She liked everyone too.
But if everything she liked now stood against her uncle, then…
Kanao lowered her eyes slightly and gently touched the edge of her blade.
No matter how much she had liked it before, no matter how good it had been, none of it would matter anymore.
She would only become the sharpest sword in her uncle's hand.
Whatever her uncle desired would be where Kanao's blade fell.
...
Tanjiro's hand also tightened slightly.
In the air, he could smell many emotions. He could even sense that the feelings of many swordsmen had changed from respect and admiration into hatred and disgust.
Those emotions were all clearly caught by Tanjiro's nose.
Just because he is a demon, does everything he did before no longer matter?
Just because he is a demon, should he be hated? Soma is clearly so good… Just because he is a demon, does nothing else matter at all?
Tanjiro tightened his grip on his sword hilt and lifted his head, looking at the man whose heart had just been pierced through, yet who now stood there quietly with lowered eyes.
It cannot be like this just because he is a demon.
...
Squelch.
Muzan Kibutsuji tightened his five fingers and crushed the beating heart that had originally belonged to Soma. He looked at Soma before him, then glanced at the situation around them.
"It seems everyone here did not know your true identity."
Muzan Kibutsuji extended a finger, pointing first at Soma, then at himself.
"Clearly, we are both demons. We are the same kind."
As he spoke, Muzan raised his head slightly.
"We have long since ceased to be human, have we not? Or do you still want these foolish humans to accept you?"
As though he found his own words amusing, Muzan even laughed.
"Impossible. Impossible. Look at them. Just moments ago, these swordsmen respected and admired you. And now? How many of them hate you? How many of them want to kill you? Can you feel it? Can you feel how badly they want to cut off your head?"
"You are risking your life for them, yet they want to sever your head."
Muzan Kibutsuji lowered his voice, his plum-red eyes fixed on Soma.
"Return to my command. I will grant you more of my blood. I can even make you the leader of the Twelve Kizuki…"
"Come. Stand by my side. Tell me how you overcame the flaws of being a demon. Together, we can…"
Muzan Kibutsuji's words were undoubtedly meant to cut into the heart, and they suited the situation perfectly.
Yes.
Even the swordsmen who had respected and admired Soma before had changed the moment they heard he was a demon.
Soma could even feel some swordsmen developing hatred toward him because of his identity as a demon.
Some even wanted to cut off his head.
All of this…
He could feel it.
To be honest, in this moment, Soma did not feel comfortable.
Not at all.
He had done nothing wrong, yet many swordsmen now resented him simply because he was a demon. Clearly, only moments ago, he had still been fighting for them. But now, because of his identity as a demon, they hated him.
There was no doubt that this felt like betrayal.
But was that truly the whole truth?
Perhaps it was.
But why did these swordsmen hate him because he was a demon?
Was this simply their nature?
Had they hated him without reason from the very beginning?
No.
The true culprit was not Soma.
Nor was it the swordsmen who hated demons.
The true culprit—
had always been Muzan Kibutsuji before him.
It was because the demons Muzan Kibutsuji created relied on their powerful strength and the scent of blood to wantonly destroy the happiness these people once had. Everything they possessed had been ruined beneath that scent of blood, and the ones who destroyed it all were demons.
Because of everything Muzan Kibutsuji had created, everyone's hatred had fallen onto demons. Because every demon Muzan Kibutsuji created fed on humans and treated them as prey, everyone came to believe that all demons were the same.
So Soma, as a demon, had suffered all of this without reason.
Not only had Muzan Kibutsuji turned him into a demon for no reason in the beginning, but Soma had also been forced to endure and suppress a demon's desires. He had been forced to face the pursuit of swordsmen, and even forced to kill some of them.
Even now, he still remembered the eyes of a swordsman he had killed back then.
His name seemed to have been Hiroshi Furukawa.
Even at the moment of death, the hatred in that man's eyes, as if waiting for Soma to follow him down into hell, remained vivid in his memory.
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