Beneath the night sky

Beneath the night sky, a boy with long black hair tipped in red and a red flame pattern stretching from his forehead to beneath his right eye hurried toward the village ahead, carrying a bag of medicine.

His name was Chiba Yo. As a child, he had been despised by his father because of the Demon Slayer Mark on his forehead, until the man finally abandoned him and his mother.

His mother had raised him alone, but a year ago, she had fallen seriously ill and could barely move. Chiba Yo, only fourteen at the time, had begun gathering herbs and chopping firewood in the mountains to support them both.

When he entered the familiar village, Chiba Yo froze at the sight before him.

Blood and severed limbs filled his vision. The villagers he had once known were now mutilated remains, their eyes wide as they stared at the sky in terror. Beneath the night sky, the village was as silent as ever.

Thud!

The bag of medicine slipped from Chiba Yo's hand and fell to the ground. His mind went blank at the sight before him.

"Mother... Mother..."

Chiba Yo murmured, worry and fear filling his heart. Then he broke into a run toward home.

The gruesome sights along the way made his heart sink little by little.

What... happened here...?

Tears spilled from the corners of Chiba Yo's eyes, his heart full of confusion.

Just then, a figure emerged from a house ahead.

"Hehehehe, another human, and a child at that. What luck. Children's meat tastes better, after all."

By the moonlight, Chiba Yo got a clear look at the "figure."

Gray-green skin, a hideous face, blood smeared around its mouth, and a severed arm clutched in its hand.

The creature before him clearly could no longer be called human. It was nothing but a humanoid monster.

The monster licked the blood from the corner of its mouth and eyed Chiba Yo like food, then took a bite from the arm in its hand, whose owner he could not identify.

The sight of the monster made Chiba Yo even more worried about his mother.

What kind of monster... is this thing? Did it do all this to the village? Could Mother have...

Growing more frantic at the thought, Chiba Yo did not stop. He kept running toward home.

The monster watched Chiba Yo with interest. When it saw him move, it made no attempt to stop him and even stepped aside to clear the way. It did nothing as Chiba Yo ran past. It had already eaten its fill and had little interest in feeding anymore.

Chiba Yo ran a little farther before stopping. Home was only a short distance ahead, but there was no longer any need to go back.

The moment he saw what lay before him, his mind went blank. His eyes widened, bloodshot and seemingly ready to burst, while his entire body trembled with rage and grief.

Two trails of blood marked the road ahead. At their end lay a woman's corpse, her body torn apart. Her legs, arms, and torso lay more than ten meters apart. Her severed head rested crookedly on the ground, its face covered in dust, its eyes staring forward, directly into Chiba Yo's.

Chiba Yo stood rooted to the spot, unable to believe what he was seeing. Just then, the monster slowly approached.

"These old folks don't taste very good, but they're great fun to play with. Cut off their limbs one at a time and watch them go from running to hopping, then crawling forward inch by inch until they stop moving altogether. Hehehehe, those terrified, ridiculous looks are so entertaining."

The gray-green monster grinned, then continued, "It's a shame their bodies and minds are so fragile, though. Just take off both legs, and they can't hold on anymore. They stop trying to escape. So I have no choice but to show them mercy and eat them to end their suffering."

It spread its hands as it spoke. By now, the monster had reached Chiba Yo's side. Looking at the scattered limbs ahead, it said in an almost admiring tone, "But this human in front of you was different. She held on until the very last moment.

"Hehehehe, even though she couldn't use her legs, her will to live was much stronger than the others'. She actually crawled all the way here. Even after I broke off both arms, she still managed to drag herself another ten meters or so with her head and torso. She gave me plenty of entertainment.

"And before she died, she kept mumbling something like, 'I promised little Yo I'd keep living.' Hahahaha, it was absolutely hilarious."

Chiba Yo's heart shuddered. Then he turned his head stiffly toward the monster. Veins bulged on his forehead, and his teeth were clenched. Anyone could have seen the fury consuming him.

Seeing his expression, the monster licked its hand and chuckled, then said flippantly, "Oh? That's an interesting look. Don't tell me... this human meant something to you? Oh dear, could you be the little Yo she was talking about?

"Then that pile of limbs on the ground must be your mother, huh?"

"I'll kill you!!!!"

Tears streamed down his cheeks. He clenched his teeth so hard that he tasted the metallic sweetness of blood, and the flame-shaped Demon Slayer Mark on the right side of his forehead seemed to glow.

After roaring those words, Chiba Yo raised his fist and drove it toward the monster's face.

"Hahahaha, looks like I guessed right..."

The monster laughed gleefully, paying no heed to Chiba Yo's attack as it reached out with its left hand to block his fist.

But in the next instant, Chiba Yo's fist stopped in midair, and he drove a kick into the monster's chest.

Though Chiba Yo was only fifteen, his strength far surpassed an adult's. That kick sent the monster flying into a large tree ahead.

Impossible! It's like this brat knew what I was going to do!

The heavy blows to its chest and back left the monster's face filled with disbelief.

A moment later, its smile vanished. Humiliated by what had just happened, it flew into a rage.

"A mere human! How could you possibly knock me back?"

The monster roared in fury, rose to its feet, and charged at Chiba Yo with incredible speed before raising its right hand.

To Chiba Yo, every detail of the monster's muscles, the flow of its blood, and the workings of its organs were clearly visible, as though its body were transparent.

All that information told Chiba Yo what the monster would do next.

His rage and grief had filled Chiba Yo with hatred and the urge to kill, but they had not clouded his mind.

Chiba Yo turned sideways. The monster's fist swept past his face without so much as touching him.

Dodging another attack, Chiba Yo grabbed an axe resting on a nearby stump and swung it at the monster's arm.

The monster tried to dodge, but the axe fell far faster than it had expected, severing its arm.

"Aah!!!"

The monster cried out in pain and stumbled back several steps. But the stump at its shoulder soon stopped bleeding, and a new arm slowly began to grow.

Chiba Yo kept his eyes fixed on the monster before him. He could feel his body temperature soaring, the pounding of his heart echoing in his chest, far faster than normal.

"Impossible! Humans are nothing but food for us demons! There's no way you could have this kind of strength! What kind of monster are you?!" the monster shrieked at Chiba Yo, fear beginning to show on its face.

This was the first time it had encountered anything like this since becoming a demon.