Cooperation and sealing

The beautiful female demon looked at Rui, unable to hide the fear in her eyes, and her body began to tremble slightly.

"Rui..."

Rui continued, "Aren't you taking a little too long? If you don't hurry up, I'll tell Father."

The female demon hurriedly said, "I... I can do it! Mother can do it! I'll protect you! So don't... don't tell Father!"

"Then hurry up."

Rui coldly left her with those words and walked away.

After Rui left, the female demon kept gasping for breath, as though she had narrowly escaped death.

Just then, a human voice sounded behind her.

"Good evening, beautiful Spider Mother."

Hearing that voice, Spider Mother whipped around and saw a boy standing there in a white Frost Haori.

When? When did this human get here? Why didn't my threads warn me at all? I can't pull my puppets back yet. Am I going to die?

As Spider Mother looked at Lin Guang, her panic turned to fear, and finally, she gave up completely.

"Just kill me."

The threads snapped free from Spider Mother's hands one by one, and she finally bared her neck, ready to accept death.

This way, I can finally be free.

Instead, Lin Guang said slowly, "Do you want to escape this life of living in fear every day? I can help you."

Spider Mother was somewhat stunned by Lin Guang's words. She studied him carefully and confirmed that he belonged to the Demon Slayer Corps.

"Aren't you from the Demon Slayer Corps? Why would you help me?"

Lin Guang did not answer. Instead, he continued, "Not only can I help you escape this fearful life, I can even help you break free of Muzan Kibutsuji's curse. Won't you at least consider it?"

At Lin Guang's words, a trace of displeasure appeared on Spider Mother's lovely face.

"You're just an ordinary human! How could you possibly do something like that? Stop making fun of me!"

Then Spider Mother swept both hands outward, and a huge headless puppet appeared behind Lin Guang.

The headless puppet's hands were enormous golden blades, and both blades slashed toward Lin Guang.

"Everything I said was true."

As Lin Guang finished speaking, his entire body began to change. His hair gradually turned snowy white from root to tip, and his eyes became a clear, crystalline ice blue.

"ICETIME!"

An invisible chill spread outward, instantly freezing the headless puppet behind Lin Guang into a massive block of ice.

Lin Guang snapped his fingers lightly. In an instant, the ice encasing the headless puppet shattered into countless icy particles that dispersed into the air.

Seeing Lin Guang's decidedly inhuman abilities, Spider Mother panicked.

"You... are you a demon too?"

"No, I'm human. Otherwise, I couldn't have joined the Demon Slayer Corps and lived."

Lin Guang walked toward Spider Mother, one step at a time.

Seeing Lin Guang approach, Spider Mother tried to leave, only to discover that her surroundings had somehow become a prison of ice and snow.

"You asked why I chose to help you. First, I thought you'd be relatively easy to control and would make a suitable subordinate. As for the second reason, I suppose your beauty caught my eye."

Lin Guang spoke softly.

After hearing his explanation, Spider Mother finally relaxed a little.

"But the one controlling this place is one of the Twelve Kizuki. You..."

Hearing that, Lin Guang knew Spider Mother was tempted.

"I know there's one of the Twelve Kizuki on this mountain. I also know that the child who was speaking to you just now is the one actually controlling this place, a Lower Rank of the Twelve Kizuki. I came here to kill him, too."

Spider Mother was too stunned by Lin Guang's words to speak.

"Then why... just now... why..."

Lin Guang smiled lightly and said, "Why didn't I attack just now? If I'd attacked him then, you'd already be free, wouldn't you?"

Spider Mother's expression grew somewhat strained.

Lin Guang continued, "I think you understand why. I shouldn't need to explain any further."

"I'm the one you're after, aren't I?" Spider Mother asked.

Lin Guang did not answer, but the smile remained on his face.

Spider Mother took a deep breath and continued, "As long as you promise not to make me live in fear anymore, I'll accept your terms."

"No problem. Here's to a good partnership." Lin Guang held his right hand out to Spider Mother.

Although Spider Mother did not know what his gesture meant, she could more or less guess, so she held out her right hand as well.

"To a good... partnership..."

"Oh! I forgot to ask your name." Lin Guang held Spider Mother's hand without showing any intention of letting go.

"My... name... ha... I forgot something like that long ago," Spider Mother said mockingly, momentarily failing to notice that Lin Guang was still holding her hand.

Lin Guang pulled Spider Mother toward him. Looking at her face just inches away, he said, "Then from now on, your name is Rose."

Spider Mother looked at Lin Guang in confusion. "Does that name mean anything?"

"It doesn't mean anything. Don't overthink it. But before I fulfill my promise, I'll have to ask you to put up with a little inconvenience."

Spider Mother... or rather, Rose now, looked warily at Lin Guang. She wanted to escape a life spent in fear every day, but she did not want to leave the terror here only to enter another life of fear.

"What are you going to do?"

Lin Guang whispered in Rose's ear, "Tonight, I'll kill Rui, the Lower Rank of the Twelve Kizuki. But I don't have a way to deal with Muzan Kibutsuji's curse yet, and I don't want anyone to know about our partnership. So you'll have to bear with this for now."

"Frozen Seal!"

The moment those words left his mouth, Rose turned into an ice sculpture before she could say anything.

Looking at the beautiful ice sculpture before him, Lin Guang said softly, "Too bad I haven't gotten anything like a contract from the Treasure Chests. Otherwise, I could make her my subordinate directly."

"Once I get a contract and something that can remove Muzan Kibutsuji's curse, I'll let you out."

With that, Lin Guang placed Rose's ice sculpture inside his Spatial Ring.

Ever since obtaining the Ice-Ice Fruit's power, Lin Guang had constantly worked to develop it, even copying techniques from Naruto and One Piece.

But Frozen Seal was a technique Lin Guang had developed himself, because he wanted to test whether frozen living creatures could be stored inside the Spatial Ring. He had sacrificed countless mice in the process, catching nearly every mouse on Mount Sagiri before finally developing Frozen Seal.

As for why Lin Guang had chosen Spider Mother, it was only after obtaining the Predator technique that he had thought of recruiting subordinates. Of course, his attraction to her beauty was genuine, too.

Lin Guang dispelled the Ice-Ice Fruit's power, returning to his original appearance with black hair and black eyes.

Before long, Tanjiro and Inosuke came running over.

"Lin Guang!"