“Are you serious...?”
Hichikyu asked in a trembling voice.
“I don’t lie. If that ritual or whatever makes you stronger, and if you think that power can truly surpass me, then go ahead and try it.”
What is this madman babbling about?
Hichikyu’s head spun.
If he hadn’t misheard, this lunatic was trying to strengthen his enemy.
The killing intent that had been pricking at his skin a moment ago was gone.
When he turned his head, he saw Tatsuo sheathing the sword that had seemed ready to take his life just moments before.
It was clear now. That man was insane.
There was no other explanation for a line like that. No Demon Slayer would ever say something like that.
Then again, maybe he was making this choice because he was so overconfident in his own skill that he believed he could defeat Hichikyu after the ritual was complete.
You’re insulting me to the very end, brat...!! I’ll make you regret it!!
Swallowing his fury, Hichikyu focused first on regenerating his body.
Once the cracks spreading through his body were stopped, the rest of the recovery would be easy.
Before long, Hichikyu finished regenerating and rose to his feet.
“So you’re done regenerating at last. Then hurry up and start this ritual or whatever. Demon.”
Tatsuo’s emotionless eyes and calm, judgment-like tone made a vein bulge on Hichikyu’s neck.
“What kind of ritual do you think can be performed in a place with nothing in it? The altar is deeper inside. The ceremony will take place there.”
As he spoke, Hichikyu started walking ahead.
Tatsuo followed behind him.
The cavern, which had been roaring with the clash between the two of them, fell silent as if nothing had happened. Only the sound of their footsteps echoed through it.
**
“Caw!”
The crow that had called for support from Tatsuo kept flying through the air.
“Found him! Found him!”
At last, as if it had spotted someone, the crow swooped down toward its target at once.
“Caw! Support request! Support request!”
“Hm? What is it?”
The one answering the crow was a woman.
She had long black hair, pale violet eyes, and a butterfly-shaped hair ornament on each side of her head.
“Lower Rank Two sighted! Direction: north! Enemy count: three! One additional support unit requested!”
The crow spoke to the beautiful woman, who gave off a calm, composed impression overall.
“Flower Hashira Kocho Kanae! Requesting immediate support!”
The crow had come to ask for help from Flower Hashira Kocho Kanae.
“Understood! I’ll head there right away.”
Kanae answered and immediately broke into a run toward the north.
“Who was the one who went to support them before me?”
Kanae asked.
As powerful blood demons, the Twelve Kizuki were not something ordinary Demon Slayers could handle.
So whenever one of the Twelve Kizuki appeared, support could only be sent by someone exceptional, even if the enemy was only Lower Rank.
In the Demon Slayers, it was usually a Hashira-level swordsman or at least a member with the strength of a trained veteran who would go to provide support.
“Supporter! Tsunokake Tatsuo! He’s likely engaged with the blood demon right now!”
“The one from the rumors?”
Kanae knew a little about Tsunokake Tatsuo.
He was a comet-like newcomer who had passed the Final Selection and, in less than two weeks, completed more than ten missions at an unprecedented pace.
Among those, the missions he had carried out with others—where he had cut down blood demons in a single stroke—had become fairly well known.
There were many rumors about him.
Some said he had already been a famous swordsman before joining the Demon Slayers, or that he was a strong man who had killed a member of the Twelve Kizuki. Others claimed that when he swung his sword, the heavens split apart.
There were even rumors that Lord Kagaya had personally recruited him, or that he had once fought a Hashira to a draw.
Most of it was probably nonsense, but the mere fact that such rumors circulated proved how extraordinary he must be.
I can’t let an invaluable talent like that die before his gift fully blooms!
Just a little longer! Please hold on until I get there, Tatsuo!
Though they had never even properly met, Kanae ran with a desperation more intense than ever before.
**
“This is the place.”
“...”
Tatsuo looked at the spot indicated by the blood demon.
There stood a massive altar, as if carved out of stone.
At the center of the altar, whose size was too great to take in at a glance, sat a cauldron.
It was hidden by the altar’s scale, but the cauldron itself was also quite large.
If he had to compare it, it was about the size of the hut he had built at the Final Selection grounds.
“Heh heh... Surprised? This is the result of my hard work...”
“That’s enough. Just get on with this ritual already.”
Hichikyu had tried to show off his greatness while Tatsuo stood there silently, but Tatsuo cut him off without a second thought.
For a moment Hichikyu stared at him wide-eyed, then sighed and walked toward the center of the altar.
I’ll kill you after the ritual is over...!
Making that vow in his heart, Hichikyu looked into the cauldron.
There it was: the blackened blood he had mixed with special ingredients, blood from hundreds of humans that had been fully aged to a deep, rich state.
Looking at it, Hichikyu smiled.
Perfect.
He extended a hand toward the cauldron and made a gesture in the air.
At his signal, the black blood in the cauldron surged up into the sky.
The rising blood gathered into a clean sphere without a single flaw.
He closed his eyes and concentrated.
There was no grand incantation. He simply focused his mind on the blood that had risen and compressed it as it was.
His altar and the Blood Scripture glowed, lending their support.
The spherical blood slowly compressed further and further.
The process continued until it took on the shape of a candy about the size of a fingertip.
“It is complete.”
Hichikyu said in an ecstatic voice.
At some point, a candy-sized sphere of blood rested in his palm.
Then he brought the shrunken blood sphere to his mouth.
And swallowed it in one bite.
“U... Uooooohhh!!!”
Red light burst from Hichikyu’s entire body.
Brilliant radiance shot in all directions, bright enough to illuminate the dark cavern.
In response, his Blood Scripture clung to the area near his heart and began to merge into him.
“Grrrghhh!!”
Hichikyu groaned in pain.
Massive changes were taking place in his body.
First, his entire frame began to swell.
His height and build grew to nearly twice their original size, and two huge horns sprouted from his head.
His body, once close to gray, became packed with muscle and turned a dark, blood-red color.
Two enormous wings unfurled from behind his shoulders, and spikes jutted from his arms and fists.
His clothes couldn’t withstand the transformation and tore apart easily, but that hardly mattered.
Because almost immediately, a dark red flame-like aura wrapped around his entire body.
“I can feel it... I can feel this strength!!”
Hichikyu spoke, looking like an entirely different creature from before.
Normally, blood demons were already far removed from the appearance of ordinary humans, but this went beyond that.
He looked like a demon straight out of legend and folklore.
Any ordinary person would have been terrified just by the sight of him.
“It’s certain!! With this, I have completely surpassed Daki!!”
Hichikyu shouted, trembling with joy.
“This is power worthy of the Upper Rank!!”
Suddenly, Hichikyu’s body froze.
“!!!”
The dark red flames covering him flared wildly, burning with violent intensity.
“Gaaahhh!! You bastard! And this is just some simple Blood Demon Art?!!”
Wracked with agony, Hichikyu clawed at his own body as if trying to tear away the flames devouring him.
The fire consuming him soon rose and transformed into a pillar of flame.
Before long, the pillar that had swallowed Hichikyu whole began to fade away.
“So it’s finally over. Still, I never expected things to turn out like this. It doesn’t seem like only the outside has changed.”
After watching Hichikyu’s transformation in full, Tatsuo spoke.
At the sound of Tatsuo’s voice, Hichikyu turned his face toward him.
“Yes... Thanks to you waiting, I was able to complete the ritual successfully.”
“And you’ve got a sharp eye, too. There’s no Lower Rank Two Hichikyu anymore. What’s left is just an unnamed blood demon.”
The demon said while looking at Tatsuo.
“I had my doubts, but to think you’d really end up being devoured by your own book. You’re pathetic to the end.”
Tatsuo let out a sigh.
“Don’t be like that. Do you know how much groundwork I laid for today? Heh heh...”
“How about it? I’m in a very good mood right now... If you want, I might even let you live.”
Hichikyu pointed a thumb at himself and grinned at Tatsuo.
“Even after changing personalities, you still can’t stop running your mouth. Do you really think you’ve become something special now? Stop wasting time and come at me already.”
As always, Tatsuo spoke in a flat, indifferent tone.
“Kya-ha-ha-ha! You really are a crazy one!”
At Tatsuo’s words, the blood demon laughed loudly in reply.
“Fine then! Be grateful that you get to be the first sacrifice in the festival celebrating my new body, and die already, Demon Slayer!!”
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