After another two days heading north, Haruto finally arrived at Jiangnan Town.
The moment he drew near, he sensed a thick demonic presence in the air.
Following that presence, he discovered that, sure enough, he had missed the life-and-death duel between demons.
More than three demons seemed to have appeared at the duel. After a satisfying battle, they had parted just as readily, each taking their sinister presence elsewhere.
After questioning a demon hiding nearby-through physical means-Haruto obtained some valuable information.
The battle had taken place the night before, and three demons had openly attended.
"Lower Five challenged Lower Rank One to a Rank Replacement Blood Battle, but he didn't seem to have his heart in it. Something else was distracting him, so even though there wasn't much difference in their strength, he still lost."
"So Lower Rank One devoured Lower Five?" Haruto asked with a frown.
Through his correspondence with Kagaya, he had learned what a Rank Replacement Blood Battle meant.
A lower-ranked demon challenged a higher-ranked demon, staking his life on the outcome.
The winner gained the higher-ranked demon's position, along with the right to devour the loser.
"That's the strange thing," the demon pinned to the ground said, sounding puzzled as well. "Lower Five lost, but just before devouring him, Lower Rank One stopped, then left looking delighted."
"What's strange about that? Demons stink so badly that maybe even your own kind don't want to eat you."
The demon immediately retorted, "Nonsense! By devouring one another, we can obtain that lord's blood from each other's bodies!"
"Then what about the third one? There was another demon, wasn't there?" Haruto's brow furrowed deeply. "Was it Muzan, or an Upper Rank?"
Seemingly terrified by Haruto's mention of Muzan's name, the demon remained silent for a long time. Its pupils