A second later, the pain signal reached its brain, and only then did the demon realize the fact that it had already been decapitated.
But the next moment, it was Sukuna's turn to look surprised.
The demon's decapitated body continued to attack Sukuna, not collapsing outright despite losing its head.
Meanwhile, the severed demon head roared at Sukuna.
"What did you do!?"
"Oh?"
Sukuna hadn't expected the demon to still be alive after being separated from its head, with both parts still able to move freely.
If he used curses from his original world as a reference, a curse would need to be at least Special Grade to survive decapitation.
For lower-grade curses, decapitation was already a fatal wound, let alone having both halves of the body remain functional afterward. This showed Sukuna just how tenacious citizen's of this world could be.
While thinking this over, Sukuna easily dodged the demon body's attacks.
He then grabbed the headless demon body and hurled it outside the Buddhist hall.
Watching the body writhe in agony under the sunlight until it finally turned to ash and vanished, Sukuna gained a genuine understanding of just how terrifying sunlight was to demons.
Sunlight was to demons, what positive energy was to cursed spirits.
The demon, reduced to just a head, was dumbfounded.
From the moment Sukuna entered the room to when he completely killed its body, the entire process had taken no more than a few dozen breaths. It was clearly bizarre.
It now understood one thing very clearly: the boy before it was definitely not human, but he didn't seem to be a demon either—at least, not an ordinary demon.
This was the first time since becoming a demon that it had felt fear.
Even when facing Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen, it had never experienced such terror.
It hadn't even been able to see how Sukuna had decapitated it!
The demon grew two tiny feet under its head and tried to flee the room, to get away from Sukuna.
It crashed straight through the wooden wall to the outside, but then fell into even greater despair. It had forgotten that it was still daytime.
For several meters around the Buddhist hall, there were no dense trees. The sunlight formed a natural prison here.
Sukuna followed slowly, looked down at the demon's head, and asked with a smile.
"What's wrong? Weren't you going to run?"
"..." The demon looked back in terror, staring up at Sukuna's face in despair.
A cruel smile appeared on Sukuna's face.
"Let me help you."
With that, Sukuna kicked the demon's head.
"No, no, no... AAAAAAAAAH!"
Though the demon's cute little feet ran frantically, it died just before reaching the shade of the trees.
After dispatching that demon, Sukuna continued on his journey.
Since the demon had said this area was its hunting ground, staying here probably wouldn't lead to encountering other demons.
And this area was sparsely populated. He really needed to go somewhere with more people.
But Sukuna hadn't walked far before he spotted Sakonji Urokodaki nearby, wearing his red tengu mask.
Urokodaki had also noticed Sukuna. He had come to investigate after hearing a demon's scream in the vicinity, since it was still technically daytime.
"..."
Because of that, Urokodaki was rendered speechless at the sight of Sukuna bathed in the setting sun.
Strange black markings on his face, and an extra pair of eyes beneath his normal ones?
A demon? But he could walk in sunlight?
Sukuna spoke first, interrupting Urokodaki's thoughts.
"Were you drawn here by the scream? So you're not an ordinary person either?"
A strong sense of unease rose in Urokodaki's heart. Reason told him he needed to relay this information via his Kasugai crow.
Just as Urokodaki was considering retreating, Sukuna appeared before him with terrifying speed and removed his tengu mask.
Sukuna saw the aged face beneath the mask and muttered with some disappointment.
"Too old..."
Sukuna could sense that Urokodaki possessed an unusual energy, different from ordinary people—the same mysterious presence as the previous brat.
But just as ordinary human, aging naturally came with a decline in strength, which greatly reduced the enjoyment Urokodaki could offer him.
Cold sweat ran down Urokodaki's face. Even though his own strength had declined with age, this was still ridiculous.
In his eyes, Sukuna's movement had been like teleportation.
Urokodaki quickly stepped back, raising his hands in a fighting stance. But Sukuna didn't show much interest. Instead, he continued examining the tengu mask in his hand while asking Urokodaki.
"You don't have a sword?"
"What?"
On guard, Urokodaki didn't understand what Sukuna meant.
"I just ran into a brat with similar power to yours. That brat used a sword to hunt demons. Or is just your fists enough for you?"
Sukuna had no interest in Urokodaki. He felt that a casual attack would be enough to kill him.
So he wanted to try getting more information from him instead.
Urokodaki froze at these words. He immediately thought that the power Sukuna mentioned likely referred to Water Breathing.
And the brat using Water Breathing could very well be his only remaining student, Giyu Tomioka.
Thinking of this, Urokodaki couldn't help but ask Sukuna.
"What did you do to him?"
Seeing that the other party knew about Tomioka, Sukuna tossed the tengu mask back to Urokodaki and answered casually.
"Killed him. If he had just answered my questions, I would have let him live."
"..."
Urokodaki's expression darkened. Though he couldn't rule out the possibility that Sukuna was bluffing.
Just from the terrifying speed Sukuna had just displayed and his ability to withstand sunlight, Urokodaki believed Sukuna could very well be telling the truth.
Seeing the change in Urokodaki's expression, Sukuna took the initiative to make a proposal.
"Let's make a deal. Either die here right now, or answer a few of my questions, and I'll let you prepare before we fight."