Illusory Fragrance

The sudden turn of events stunned Chiba Yo for a moment. Then he immediately drew the Nichirin Blade hidden beneath his outer clothes, but he was already too late. His Bright Red Nichirin Blade flashed, destroying only a few chunks of flesh in front of him. The rest had already scattered in every direction. Even if he gave chase now, he could only destroy a handful more. There was no way he could kill the demon like this.

That moment of hesitation and the time it took to draw his blade had kept him from striking immediately. Otherwise, he might have been able to destroy all the chunks of flesh just after they burst apart, before they escaped too far.

But there were no second chances. The demon had escaped...

"Aaaah!!!"

"Murder!!"

"Help!!!"

"What are those chunks of flesh?!!"

"Get the police!"

The bustling crowd erupted into chaos. Everyone rushed to get away from Chiba Yo, terrified both of the chunks of flesh flying through the air and of the blade-wielding boy.

An empty space formed around Chiba Yo. No one dared approach him.

The demon had escaped, and worse still, it had caused a massive panic...

Looking at the scene before him, Chiba Yo felt at a loss. No matter how hard he tried, he could not understand why the demon had reacted like that. He had already hidden his Nichirin Blade and even deliberately smiled at the demon. Even if his expression had looked a little unnatural, surely that was not enough to reveal that he was a demon slayer?

And even if the demon had realized he was a demon slayer, it should not have known how strong he was. Why had it fled the instant it saw him? And why had it done so by splitting its body apart?

Chiba Yo could not understand it. He truly could not. He felt as though he were dreaming. Everything that had just happened defied all reason.

"Officers! He's the one with the sword!"

Several police officers carrying batons emerged from the crowd. Following the directions of a man among the onlookers, they ran toward Chiba Yo.

"You there, young man! Put down your sword right now! Otherwise, we'll use force!"

The officer in the lead shouted at Chiba Yo as he ran.

No choice. I'll have to run for now.

With the situation growing urgent, Chiba Yo had no intention of letting the police arrest him, only to give them a long explanation they would never believe. Seeing the officers closing in ahead, he turned and ran in another direction.

Bang!

A gunshot rang out.

One of the officers behind him drew a pistol and fired into the air.

"Stop and put down your sword! Otherwise, we'll shoot!" the officers shouted as they chased Chiba Yo.

People had already cleared away from that part of the street because of the earlier incident. Now, hearing the gunshot, everyone hurried into the shops on either side. But the crowd was so large that many remained stranded in the street with nowhere to hide.

Screams rang out without end.

Chiba Yo slowed his steps.

He could dodge the bullets himself, but if the officers opened fire here, the people around him might be hit by stray shots.

The officers chasing him brightened when they saw him slow down. They had only fired to frighten him. With so many people around, they could not actually fire recklessly.

They had thought Chiba Yo would not stop. After all, the area was packed with people. If he was certain they would not dare shoot, there was little they could do. At the speed he had displayed, they had no chance of catching him.

But now that he had actually stopped, they could only assume he was frightened.

"Phew..."

Letting out a soft breath, Chiba Yo turned around, set down his Nichirin Blade, and raised both hands.

He still had no intention of being arrested. He was only doing this so he could wait for them to approach, then knock them unconscious.

Sorry...

Apologizing to the officers in advance in his mind, Chiba Yo waited for them to come closer.

Just as Chiba Yo expected, the officers ran toward him.

"Blood Bewitchment: Scent of Visual Dreams."

Just then, a woman's voice rang out, followed by a sweet fragrance spreading through the area.

"What's going on? What are all these patterns? I can't see anything clearly."

The officers stopped, looking around repeatedly as though they had lost their bearings.

This is... a Blood Demon Art...

Chiba Yo immediately tore a strip from the Demon Slayer Corps uniform beneath his outer clothes and tied it over his face to cover his nose. He could always get another uniform, but he only had one set of clothes from Kyojuro.

After a quick look around, he found the demon who had used the Blood Demon Art.

She looked like a beautiful woman, with long black hair and pale purple eyes. She wore a dark purple kimono with a wide beige sash around her waist.

At the same time, Chiba Yo realized there was more than one demon. Beside her stood another, who looked like a man dressed in white.

The two demons stood among the crowd. The one who had used the Blood Demon Art was watching him, seemingly surprised.

Is she stopping those officers to help me escape, or does she want to eat people amid the chaos? Never mind. Since I can't tell, I'll take them both away first.

Chiba Yo could not yet determine their intentions from what the two demons had just done. He quickly picked up the Nichirin Blade he had set on the ground, then rushed over to them.

"You..."

The male demon was shocked by Chiba Yo's sudden appearance. He had barely uttered a word before Chiba Yo scooped him up with one arm and tucked him against his side.

Chiba Yo gave the other demon exactly the same treatment.

With both demons in tow, Chiba Yo swiftly fled the area.

"You bastard!! I'll kill you! Get your filthy hands off Lady Tamayo and put her down!!! Let me go! I'll kill you!!"

Along the way, the female demon barely reacted, but the male demon kept struggling fiercely to break free. He repeatedly threatened to kill Chiba Yo, and an astonishing bloodlust genuinely radiated from him.

He's showing such astonishing bloodlust toward me. Looks like he really is a man-eating demon.

Looking at Yushiro under his left arm, Chiba Yo considered killing him.

"Quiet down, Yushiro," said the female demon tucked under his right arm.

"Lady Tamayo! But he..." Yushiro was nearly beside himself with rage and did not immediately obey her.

"Be quiet for a while. I believe he won't hurt us. And if he wanted to, there's little we could do to resist," Tamayo told Yushiro again.

Like Muzan, Tamayo had immediately thought of Yoriichi Tsugikuni the moment she saw Chiba Yo. She knew Yoriichi Tsugikuni was already dead, but even so, the Demon Slayer Mark on Chiba Yo's forehead told her that neither she nor Yushiro was a match for him.

"...Yes..."

Yushiro forced down his anger and agreed.

He was not angry because he thought Chiba Yo would hurt them. The main reason for his fury was that he felt Chiba Yo had insulted Tamayo, something he could never tolerate.

From the two demons' conversation, Chiba Yo learned their names. Tamayo's attitude also improved his impression of them a little, and for the time being, he abandoned the thought of killing Yushiro.