"Blood Demon Art: Raging Blood!"
Boom!!
Shinichi body instantly erupted with intense heat, his exposed skin turning slightly red in an instant.
The air around him wavered due to the temperature radiating from his body.
Veins bulged across Shinichi skin and it seemed as though what flowed within them was no longer blood but scorching magma.
The poison from Karasuma in his blood dissipated instantly under this extreme heat.
Boom!!!
Shinichi raised his right foot and stomped on the ground, causing the earth to crack.
Whoosh!
Karasuma only saw a blur as a red figure vanished in the blink of an eye. His tongue poison attack missed entirely.
"So fast! How is this possible? How does this brat know a Blood Demon Art?!"
Bang!!
A crimson fist suddenly smashed into Karasuma face, instantly shattering half of it like a watermelon. Fragments of bone and flesh scattered everywhere.
Then, one punch after another, within a mere dozen meters, hundreds of crimson fist shadows pounded into Karasuma body.
"Ahhh!! No! Stop! Please! Don't hit me anymore!" Karasuma was like a helpless sandbag, his entire Demon body battered and broken.
Boom!!!
The final, devastating punch pierced through Karasuma chest, pinning him firmly to the ground.
Sizzle...
The intense heat around Shinichi gradually faded and the greenish light in his eyes dimmed. Looking at Karasuma, who lay on the ground like a dead dog, Shinichi instinctively glanced at his own hands.
That power just now and that figure in his mind—who was it?
"Blood Demon Art: Raging Blood. By compressing all the energy within the blood, it causes the blood to boil intensely, stimulating a temporary surge in speed and strength while also raising body temperature. So this is a Blood Demon Art? It feels like opening the 'Gate of Death' from some anime. But now that I'm a Demon, I guess I can't die." Shinichi muttered self-deprecatingly.
*****
"Lord Shinichi, I've told you everything you wanted to know. Please, be merciful and forgive my earlier rudeness. I, I swear to follow you to the death! With your talent, you're destined to become one of the great Twelve Kizuki—no, even an Upper Moon!"
Karasuma, nearly beaten to a pulp, pleaded with a mix of fear and flattery.
To survive, he cast aside all dignity.
Since he couldn't win, he resorted to groveling.
"Karasuma, how many people have you eaten?"
Thud!
Karasuma heart skipped a beat. "M-my lord..."
"Speak!"
"T-twenty-three people."
"Twenty-three people. That's twenty-three lives."
Karasuma raised his head, forcing an ugly smile.
"Lord Shinichi, it's only natural for Demons to eat humans. It's our nature, our instinct. Why resist it? Once you taste human flesh, you'll realize how wonderful it is. It's... Ahhh!!!"
Karasuma suddenly screamed as a scorching hand clamped down on his head.
"Enough! You can die now."
Hearing the intense killing intent in Shinichi voice and sensing that Shinichi would never let him go, Karasuma suddenly became frenzied again, laughing maniacally.
"Hahaha! Bastard! What do you think you're doing? You're a Demon! Stop pretending to be righteous! No matter what you think, you're a Demon! Sooner or later, you'll eat humans! It's in your nature! You might endure for a day or two, but you can't endure forever!
Hahaha, want to kill me?
Can you do it?
Do you think you're one of those Demon Slayer swordsmen?
In their eyes, you're also a Demon, a human-eating Demon.
They'll want to kill you just the same, and what can you do about it?
Hahaha, that's the look, you hate me, don't you?
I've eaten twenty-three people and the most delicious were two little girls. Tsk tsk tsk, their flesh was so tender, and their blood, so fragrant, like a fine wine. I started with their limbs, letting them watch as they were slowly eaten alive. It was truly marvelous!"
A vein bulged on Shinichi forehead and with a crack, half of Karasuma skull was crushed, yellow-white brain matter spilling over Shinichi hand.
Yet, the remaining half of Karasuma mouth continued to babble incessantly.
"It's useless! Only the swords of the Demon Slayers or the sun can kill us Demons. No matter how angry you are now, you can't kill me. Hahaha, how does that feel?"
"Is that so? I don't think so. Blood Demon Art: Life Drain!"
Shinichi growled, and with a squelch, a green, branch-like tendril pierced through his palm, winding out and swiftly stabbing into Karasuma half-crushed skull.
"Hahaha... huh, what the hell is this? Ugh! No! What is this? Get it off! Get it off! Ah!! No! Stop! Master! Spare me! No! Don't! Arrgghhhh!!"
After the green tendril pierced Karasuma body, it began to tremble violently.
Then, starting from its limbs, its flesh rapidly withered and dried up, like a decaying mummy.
Meanwhile, Shinichi complexion showed a hint of color.
He could feel a pure energy transferring through the tendril in his palm into his body.
Gurgle!
The intense hunger he had felt gradually subsided.
Shinichi closed his eyes, and a figure appeared before him once more. It was a silhouette, wearing a green haori with a long sword hanging at its waist.
In this figure, Shinichi seemed to see two extreme scenes, one was a hell burning with endless flames, and the other was a forest teeming with life and vitality.
Blood Demon Art: Blood Rage, Blood Demon Art: Life Drain—these had appeared in Shinichi mind after seeing this figure.
Who was this person? Blood Demon Art, was he a Demon?
Plop!
Karasuma body gradually shriveled, eventually turning into a pile of dry dust that scattered in the wind.
Shinichi opened his eyes.
As he drained Karasuma life force, he also saw the life Karasuma had led before becoming a Demon. There was nothing remarkable about it—it was the story of an utterly cowardly scumbag who had deceived countless people with his harmful words and even helped human traffickers abduct over a dozen children for money.
Such a scumbag deserved nothing but hell!
"Woof woof!"
Maru-ni cheerful bark snapped Shinichi back to reality.
He gently patted Maru-ni head, still puzzled by the fact that Maru-ni had turned into a Demon.
How had this happened?
Suddenly, Shinichi recalled the incident in the cave where his hand had been burned by the sun.
When he tore off the charred flesh, Maru-ni had licked his hand.
Could that be the reason?
Regardless, at least Maru-ni was healthy now.
Shinichi had initially worried that Maru-ni might crave human flesh after becoming a Demon, but when they were burying the bodies of the hunter family in the cabin, Maru-ni showed no interest in human flesh.
Instead, he was more intrigued by the half-eaten dorayaki in Shinichi arms.
After burying the hunter couple and bowing before the makeshift grave, Shinichi whispered.
"That Demon has gone to hell. Please rest in peace."
Inside the dilapidated cabin, Shinichi found some old clothes that he could wear.
He finally changed out of his tattered garments.
However, perhaps due to the influence of his past life, Shinichi had never been comfortable with heavy wooden clogs.
Fortunately, there was a pair of high-quality deerskin boots in the cabin, which saved him from that particular annoyance.
With Maru-ni by his side, Shinichi left the place before dawn.
*****
In the dimly lit cave, Shinichi touched his stomach, deep in thought.
Ever since he had absorbed the life force of the Demon Karasuma, his hunger had disappeared for several days.
It was only today that he felt a slight pang of hunger again.
This made Shinichi realize something, he didn't have to worry about eating humans.
Compared to the extreme aversion he felt toward consuming humans, absorbing the life force of man-eating Demons seemed much more acceptable.
Moreover, it seemed to enhance his strength.
After draining Karasuma, Shinichi clearly felt an increase in his power and speed.
He even vaguely sensed that he could sustain his Blood Demon Art - Raging blood for a bit longer.
In that case!
Shinichi eyes grew determined.
He seemed to have found his goal, hunt Demons, absorb their life force, grow stronger, and then find that man named Muzan to exact his revenge!
By the way, before Karasuma died, Shinichi had also gathered quite a bit of information.
Now, he had a better understanding of the world he was in.