Doma, again

In traditional Japanese folklore, the names Nure-onna and Ox Demon always appeared together.

They worked in tandem: Nure-onna usually lured humans in, and Ox Demon devoured them.

When a human woman drowned in the sea, her spirit became an evil demon that attacked people. That was the origin of Nure-onna.

Ox Demon's origins could even be traced back to Minamoto no Yorimitsu, a general of the Heian Period.

Of course, the monsters of folklore did not exist in this world.

Their stories had been fabricated through rumors passed along by people who had encountered man-eating demons.

Every demon alive had once been human, transformed by the blood of the Demon King, Muzan Kibutsuji.

"So... how did you know there were two demons?" Giyu looked puzzled. "You've only been here half a day."

Tch. Am I supposed to tell you I've already been fed to an octopus once?

Haruto answered with a perfectly straight face. "I sensed them. I picked up the auras of two different demons."

Some people were born with extraordinarily sharp senses that others lacked, such as Tanjiro's sense of smell, so Giyu readily accepted that explanation.

So what now?

Haruto raised his head. The decorative lanterns had been lit, and everything looked much as it had before his death.

The difference was that last time, he had been alone inside the Hot Steam House, preparing to break into Nure-onna's lair.

Now he watched the Hot Steam House nearby with a cold gaze from an outsider's position, with Giyu Tomioka standing beside him, blade in hand.

What should I do?

Is killing Nure-onna the only way to lure Ox Demon out?

But what exactly is their relationship?

If they aren't twin demons, then once one is killed, the other should hide even deeper, given how demons behave...

Why would Ox Demon rush straight out?

As Haruto wrestled with the problem, his gaze suddenly sharpened on the Hot Steam House.

That innocent-looking girl coming out in a beige, cherry-blossom-patterned kimono... isn't that Nure-onna?

He still could not forget just how deadly that long, silky hair had been when it tightened around him.

Giyu followed Haruto's gaze. His breath caught, and he immediately tightened his grip on his Nichirin Blade.

A demon!

"Wait."

Haruto caught his arm and lowered his voice. "Don't rush. Let's see where she goes."

Judging by the timing, on his previous attempt he would already have slipped into the Hot Steam House and been scanning the entire hot spring inn with his consciousness.

It was around this moment that he had discovered Nure-onna after she had eaten someone, then drawn his blade to kill her.

Haruto began to see a faint thread of an explanation.

Does she go out after eating someone?

With Haruto's exceptional perception tracking her, the two followed Nure-onna at a distance through the darkness, leaving the bustling Hot Spring District behind and arriving at a secluded stretch of coast.

"Come out and eat."

Nure-onna slit her arm. Blood surged wildly from the wound and splashed into the seawater.

Far out in the darkness, a huge shadow moved toward them from the depths.

"Squelch, squelch..."

It was the sound of slime rubbing against itself. The bull-headed octopus monster appeared at the shoreline and lunged hungrily at Nure-onna, several tentacles curling around her limbs.

After her limbs were torn off, a chilling crunch set their teeth on edge, followed by several wet pops as the limbs regenerated.

Nure-onna sounded furious. "Hey, that's enough!"

"This is... what I'm owed..."

Ox Demon's voice was deep and low. After chewing, he suddenly grew angry. "It all... tastes like men!"

Squelch! A tentacle shot out and pierced straight through Nure-onna's chest.

"I said, that's enough!"

Nure-onna's hair lashed out, wrapping coil after coil around the tentacle piercing her chest.

Her face was full of irritation. "I'm hiding in a hot spring inn. Only men come to me!"

"Bitch! Bitch! Bitch!"

Ox Demon's tentacles thrashed madly against the water. "You don't want them... I don't want them..."

"Yes, yes, I'm a bitch."

Nure-onna sneered. "Who told my man to be such a useless demon? A demon slayer passing through a few years ago scared you out of your wits, and now all you dare do is hide in the deep sea all day!"

Huh? There's gossip to hear, too?

Haruto and Giyu exchanged a glance, both pricking up their ears.

"That was a dangerous man..." Ox Demon stopped slapping the sea with his tentacles. "He was stronger than every swordsman I've ever seen..."

"But Lord Doma didn't bestow his blood on us so we could hide! We need to eat more people! The powerful forget weak demons!"

Nure-onna's expression twisted viciously. "If we still can't reach the Lower Ranks in another few years, His Lordship will... turn us into fertilizer!"

Doma?

Haruto raised an eyebrow in confusion. He was just about to ask Giyu whether he had heard the name when scrolling comments suddenly appeared before his eyes.

Haruto's scalp prickled. Fortunately, there were no death warnings in the comments, nor was his entire field of vision filled with "danger" as it had been last time.

[Doma, again? Why is it always him?]

[Why does Doma love turning men and women into demons so much?]

[You drank Upper Rank Two's blood and you're still this weak? Just start over.]

[LMAO, my main hubby taking my other hubby to listen to gossip-their faces are hilarious.]

[Expressions: ⊙ω⊙/⊙ω⊙]

Wait... Doma is Upper Rank Two?

Haruto sucked in a cold breath, realizing he had learned something major.

In the century-plus that the Demon Slayer Corps had been fighting demons, its intelligence on them had gone no further than a few Lower Rank demons.

Never mind the Demon King, Muzan Kibutsuji-even the six Upper Ranks among his Twelve Kizuki remained mysteries to the Demon Slayer Corps.

The few scraps they had heard today were important intelligence for the Demon Slayer Corps.

But Haruto could not report this information directly to Kagaya Ubuyashiki, because he had no way to explain its source.

Giyu lightly touched Haruto's arm. "We can't wait any longer. That octopus is heading back."

In the distance, Nure-onna and Ox Demon had finished their bizarre feeding session. The enormous octopus body writhed, ready to return to the sea.

Haruto nodded slightly. Cang Kong circled above Hirano, ready to bring any demon slayers who arrived straight over to help.

Everything's ready, so... let's go!

The two boys split left and right, their geta rustling over the fine sand as they ran. Ox Demon immediately turned his head in alarm.

"Bitch... you brought demon slayers here!"

Haruto attacked Nure-onna first. He had fought her once already, and the burning power of Flame Breathing gave him an even greater advantage against her long hair.

Giyu leaped forward, a streak of blue blade light slashing toward Ox Demon.

"Watch out for his tentacles!"

Haruto shouted the warning as flashes of his blade severed the long hair around him.

"Damn it! They're just two brats! What are you afraid of?"

Seeing Ox Demon cowering in the sea, afraid to advance, Nure-onna cursed loudly. "Useless fool! You were useless as a human, and you're still just as useless as a demon!"

The white-haired boy before her wielded his sword fiercely, nearly every strike aimed at a vital spot, as though he knew her attacks intimately.

Under that relentless pressure, Nure-onna was driven back again and again, until a First Form: Unknowing Fire nearly cleaved off half her face.

Seeing Nure-onna badly wounded, Ox Demon finally stopped hiding.

He extended his tentacles to attack Giyu Tomioka. After Giyu nimbly dodged them, his enormous body leaped onto the shore.

Nure-onna, whom they had thought was out of options, suddenly transformed, her lower body becoming a long snake's tail!

As the two boys faced the two demons, Haruto and Giyu exchanged a glance. Both knew.

A brutal battle was about to begin.