First Meeting with Tamayo

In the center of the village, which was quite large, the clearing in the middle was nearly a hundred meters wide. Bodies lay scattered across it.

Several hunched figures appeared in the distance.

Several ferocious-looking demons were fighting over territory in the center of the plaza.

"Hey! You guys! This is my territory, so get lost!" a fierce voice boomed. Yuko walked forward, her expression unchanged.

"Hehehe, don't joke around. Can you eat all this food by yourself?"

"Don't think you can hog it all~"

"If I eat these humans, I can be promoted to Twelve Kizuki!"

Not far from them, a female demon was nervously trying to slip away.

The sound of her retreating footsteps attracted the attention of the demons.

"Hey, hey, don't you think this woman looks a little familiar?"

"I feel like I've seen her somewhere~"

"Isn't this the woman that that person is looking for?"

Tamayo's face turned pale. She had seen the commotion and intended to collect some corpses for food. She hadn't expected these demons to appear one after another so soon after her arrival.

Muzan did not allow demons to gather in groups, but the war had brought these delicious meals together.

Ever since she was released by that Sun Breathing swordsman, Tamayo had not eaten a living person, subsisting only on the corpses of humans and animals.

To fulfill her promise to the swordsman, she had to wait for an opportunity to slay Muzan.

She couldn't die here!

"You can have these corpses. That woman is my prey!"

"Nonsense! If I capture this woman, that person will bestow his blood upon me. Compared to that person's blood, these dead bodies are nothing but swill!"

"Get lost! I will never give up my prey!"

"The position of Twelve Kizuki is mine!"

Almost as soon as they recognized Tamayo, the demons abandoned the food they had been fighting over and swarmed towards her with greedy expressions.

Tamayo's face was deathly pale, and she quickly turned to flee.

Her Blood Demon Art was not suited for combat, and she was certainly no match for these creatures.

Tamayo hadn't taken two steps before a dark shadow flashed past her. It leaped onto the wall in front of her, its head twisting as it stared at her eerily.

"Don't even think about escaping~"

Tamayo's pupils contracted slightly. Before she could react, a watery blue sword strike appeared out of nowhere, directly slicing off the demon's head.

Even as its head fell to the ground and turned to ash, the demon's eerie smile remained.

This indicated the speed of the strike was so fast it hadn't even registered.

Without giving Tamayo a chance to daze, a figure emerged from behind a house. They wore a straw hat, and the lower half of their face was wrapped in white cloth around their neck, obscuring their features.

Only the heart-shaped ornament on their chest indicated their gender as female.

The newcomer held a blue Nichirin Blade wrapped in white cloth, and another sword remained sheathed at their waist.

Yoriichi's Nichirin Blade was black, but the color of a Nichirin Blade could change depending on the user's breathing style, aptitude, and other factors.

Yuko, on the other hand, possessed an innate aptitude for nearly perfect compatibility with the five major breathing styles. Changing the color of her Nichirin Blade as she changed breathing styles was not difficult.

It's the Demon Slayer Corps!

Tamayo's entire body turned cold, as if she had fallen into an ice cave.

The demons behind her also braked to a halt.

"Damn it! The Demon Slayer Corps?!"

"Wait! It looks like she's alone!"

One demon, feeling apprehensive, said, "But she just killed that guy in one blow..."

"He was just a weakling. Let's go together, and we can decide how to split the reward afterward, what do you say?!"

"Perfect~ I haven't eaten a Demon Slayer before~"

The demons quickly conferred amongst themselves and then charged towards Yuko in unison.

Tamayo glanced sideways at the scene behind her. The swordsman in front of her hadn't attacked her yet, likely because she was the weakest in terms of combat ability.

She subtly shifted half a step to the side, planning to find an opportunity to escape once they started fighting.

Although Tamayo had agreed to Yoriichi's request to slay Muzan, she wasn't foolish enough to believe any random member of the Demon Slayer Corps would believe her.

She looked at Yuko and silently apologized in her heart.

In her opinion, Yuko's defeat was only a matter of time.

After all, it was a one-against-many situation.

"Water Breathing: First Form: Surface Slash!"

A clear, cool female voice echoed through the tranquil night as a flash of azure light streaked by.

The blue blade reflected the moonlight, causing Tamayo to squint her eyes.

When she opened them again, she only saw Yuko slowly sheathing her Nichirin Blade.

Her body was stiff, and as her gaze shifted slightly, she saw several heads thrown high into the air. The headless corpses lunged forward a short distance due to inertia before toppling over in unison.

The heads fell to the ground, and the demons, unable to even make a sound, turned to ash and vanished.

So strong!

Probably even stronger than a Lower Rank!

Is she a Hashira?

Tamayo's pupils trembled violently. With this level of combat power, she had no chance of escape.

As the woman who sheathed her Nichirin Blade walked towards her, Tamayo was about to speak, to make one last desperate attempt to explain.

Then, she saw the woman slowly remove her hat and the white cloth covering her face.

Tamayo's confused expression gradually turned to shock.

"...Mr. Yoriichi?"

Aside from her gender and height, there was almost no significant difference.

But it was only for a moment. Tamayo quickly realized that this was decades ago. Even if Mr. Yoriichi were still alive, he would be eighty or ninety years old. How could he possibly be this young?

But this face was almost identical to Mr. Yoriichi's.

Then...

Is she his descendant?

A glimmer of light shone in Tamayo's eyes.

Sensing the hope beneath Tamayo's calm expression, Yuko paused slightly. "I am Yoriichi's sister."

She knew what Tamayo was thinking: whether she possessed the same immense power as Yoriichi.

And the current situation gave Tamayo great hope.

But regrettably, even now, even after gaining greater strength than before, she still hadn't surpassed Yoriichi.

Tamayo was stunned for a moment by Yuko's words.

She asked hesitantly, "But your age..."

Yuko didn't say much more, only that her wine-red eyes instantly turned into golden vertical pupils.

Tamayo's previously fluttering heart now beat even faster.

She opened her mouth, then closed her eyes as if resigned, "Did Muzan send you?"

Yuko was stunned, surprised to be misunderstood.

"No, I'm like you. I've broken free from Muzan's control."

How is that possible?

This was Tamayo's first reaction.

Her own escape from Muzan's control was a stroke of luck, as Muzan had been weakened when Yoriichi shattered him into pieces.

Could there really be another Mr. Yoriichi in this world?

Doubt flickered in Tamayo's eyes.

But...

There was no foul stench emanating from the other person at all, as if... she had never eaten humans.

The most important point was, if the woman before her was truly sent by Muzan, there would be no need for pleasantries. With this woman's strength, Tamayo couldn't escape at all.