I want to meet that scumbag boss

"Ugh... damn it. I let my guard down..."

Kamunue's caved-in shoulder rapidly regenerated. He planted one hand on the ground and tried to stand, only to hear Ye Chen say:

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. I kicked you over there on purpose, because there's a trap there."

"What?" Kamunue froze, then felt his body sink. At some point, a large pit had been dug beneath him. Electricity crackled through it, shocking him so painfully that he could not move.

"What is this thing..." Kamunue struggled inside the Shock Trap, but could not break free. His entire body convulsed under the current.

"Hm?"

Seeing what had happened to Kamunue, Koyuki dared not hesitate. She leaped up, and a hole appeared out of nowhere in the ground. She jumped straight into it.

"Burrowing? Interesting." Ye Chen glanced over, an eerie smile appearing on his face. Then he picked up a sphere and tossed it toward her.

Bzzzt!!!

"Aaaah!!!" Underground, Koyuki felt her ears ring. For some unknown reason, the space around her shook violently and forced her back out. And that was not the end of it. Even after she emerged, the lingering vibrations and ringing left her collapsed on the ground, writhing.

A Sonic Bomb! In Monster Hunter, Sonic Bombs were specifically designed to deal with creatures that insisted on burrowing everywhere. And now, he had run into a demon that did exactly that.

Cold sweat trickled down Byōga's forehead. He had never encountered anyone with such bizarre tricks. He leaped up and darted at incredible speed among the dozens of trees surrounding Ye Chen, waiting for an opening.

"Don't you get tired of jumping around?" Ye Chen rubbed his brow, then quickly tracked Wakuraba's movements and tossed another item from his hand.

Whoosh!!!

Byōga saw nothing but white light. It blinded him outright, leaving his eyes stinging with pain. He crashed headfirst into a tree and fell to the ground.

A Flash Bomb! It had also come from the Monster Hunter Shop. Its purpose needed little explanation: it disrupted the target's vision, temporarily blinding them completely.

Then Ye Chen bent forward slightly and silently activated his Breathing Style. A moment later, he shot forward and kicked Kamunue, who had almost escaped the Pitfall Trap, flying. Without slowing in the slightest, he moved again and sent Koyuki, who was just recovering from the ringing in her ears, tumbling with a sweeping kick. Then he narrowed his eyes, abruptly drew his Samurai Long Sword, and cut Byōga, who had only just stood up, in half at the waist.

It all happened in the blink of an eye. In those few brief moments, Ye Chen had beaten the three Lower Ranks like insignificant grunts, leaving them completely unable to fight back.

"Ugh..." Koyuki struggled to her feet. Demons might heal quickly, but pain was still pain! At the same time, she began thinking of retreating. There was no doubt that the man before her was beyond anything the Lower Ranks could handle. Judging by what he had shown so far, he was at least on par with a Pillar-level Demon Slayer Corps member. His methods were also bizarre, completely defying convention and making him impossible to guard against.

Just as Koyuki was about to flee, Ye Chen appeared in front of her, a long sword already resting against her neck.

"Don't be so quick to run. Come on, tell Muzan I want to see him. Ask if he's interested in meeting."

Ye Chen applied a little pressure, leaving a shallow cut on her pale neck. "Muzan Kibutsuji, I know you're watching through their eyes. Well? Want to meet?"

"So this fellow really does know I can share other demons' vision."

Elsewhere, Muzan Kibutsuji heard Ye Chen's words through this Lower Rank's senses. He was not particularly surprised. With strength like that, why would the man need to disguise his appearance? Clearly, he was taking precautions against Muzan. But that was strange, too. If he's guarding against me, why does he want to meet me now?

A trace of suspicion flickered in Muzan's eyes. After a moment's hesitation, he sent Koyuki a message. "Koyuki, bring him here."

"L-Lord Muzan..."

The instant Koyuki heard Muzan's voice, her entire body tensed. She was so nervous that she could barely speak coherently. There was no question that she had failed the mission he had given her, and the consequences of failure terrified her.

"You failed your mission. We'll settle that later. Since he wants to meet me, bring him here."

Muzan was utterly exasperated with these three Lower Ranks. I knew you were weak, but who knew you were this useless? You went down in two or three moves. What a disgrace to the Twelve Kizuki.

In truth, they could hardly be blamed. No one had expected Ye Chen to possess such bizarre tricks. Sonic Bombs and Flash Bombs clearly had never appeared in this world, so they had been caught completely off guard. Of course, Ye Chen could have beaten all three without them anyway. Those items had merely hastened their defeat. Muzan, however, would not care about any of that. He cared only about results.

"Y-yes! Lord Muzan!" Hearing the displeasure in Muzan's voice, Koyuki broke out in a drenching sweat and hurriedly answered.

"Looks like Muzan agreed." Ye Chen smiled at her reaction, then turned toward Kamunue, who was preparing to flee. "Don't even think about running. At this point, if you don't come with me to meet that Trash Boss, I won't need to do anything. He'll kill you himself."

Kamanué gave an awkward smile and no longer dared to flee. He did not know why Ye Chen called Lord Muzan the scumbag boss, but, strangely enough, it sounded rather fitting.

Having reattached his body, Byōga also slowly rose to his feet. Now he felt that he could not make sense of the man before him. Everyone else avoided Muzan like the plague. Even the Demon Slayer Corps was incredibly cautious when dealing with him. Yet this fellow had declared, all on his own, that he wanted to meet Muzan. It was ridiculous. Even someone seeking death would not go about it like this.

Ye Chen gave them a meaningful smile. Under normal circumstances, he had planned to avoid Muzan for a while, too. But after thinking it over, he realized there might be a better approach. Since he was going to do it, he might as well go all the way and make this one count!

How should he describe Muzan? Was he strong? Absolutely. Absurdly strong, in fact. In the original story, even after losing well over half his strength, he had taken on several Pillar-level members along with the four protagonists, who had also reached that level, and still handled them with ease. His only defeat had come at the hands of that Sun Flame Swordsman over four hundred years ago.

And that Sun Flame Swordsman could not be judged by ordinary standards. At least, Ye Chen did not think he was remotely normal. He had awakened his Demon Slayer Mark at birth, innately knew a Breathing Style, and had grasped the Transparent World. The first time he touched a sword, he instantly defeated his instructor. Later, his encounter with Muzan had not even been a hard-fought battle. He had dealt with Muzan in just a few moves. Could anyone call that normal?

At the very least, Ye Chen could not defeat Muzan as he was now, much less in a few moves. Under normal circumstances, he probably would not last five minutes before that Trash Boss beat him into the ground!

Ye Chen dared to meet Muzan now because he had figured out some of Muzan's habits. Those habits were precisely what had allowed Muzan to live so long. They were both his greatest advantage and his weakness.

For example, after the Sun Flame Swordsman had utterly thrashed him, Muzan had escaped and hidden until the swordsman died of old age before daring to appear again. He was a demon, after all, with an endless lifespan.

Life gave me a beating? No problem. If I can't fight you, can't I hide from you? Once you're dead, I'll come back out and enjoy myself!

That was exactly how Muzan thought. And now, Ye Chen intended to give him another harsh lesson in life. Ideally, afterward, Muzan would never dare to appear before him again. Even making him hide for a year or two would be good enough.

Normally, Ye Chen would never dare to act so recklessly. But as luck would have it, he had a single-use trump card that let him do exactly that...