Ye Chen had already asked the system whether killing a demon counted as his kill if someone else landed the finishing blow. The system had answered that it did, provided he had dealt more than half the damage. That was why he felt he should leave the Hand Demon for Makomo to finish off. After all, there was no small amount of bad blood between them.
After Makomo finished off the Hand Demon, she did not leave. She simply stood there in silence, and Ye Chen quietly stayed by her side without saying a word. He knew she was mourning her fellow disciples.
"Thank you, Ye Chen."
Only after a long while did Makomo slowly turn around and thank him. The sorrow in her eyes had faded, giving way to their usual quiet clarity. Her expression was sincere and at peace.
"Mm... ah, it was nothing. I did promise your master, after all." Feeling a little uncomfortable under her gaze, Ye Chen answered with a sheepish smile.
"Hm? Did Master ask you to protect me?"
Makomo was a little surprised by his words, but after thinking it over, she accepted it. Ye Chen had sparred with Sakonji Urokodaki before, after all. It did not seem particularly strange that Urokodaki, who had already lost eleven disciples, would ask him to protect her.
"Uh..." Only then did Ye Chen remember that he had apparently told Sakonji Urokodaki he would protect her in secret. Not only had he failed to keep it secret, he had even given Urokodaki away. Embarrassed, he found himself at a loss for words.
"Then, Ye Chen, would you like to travel together from here?"
Makomo blinked twice, a playful spark in her eyes, and continued speaking to him.
"Uh, I think I still have..." Ye Chen remembered that he still had a hidden quest to complete and demons to farm. He was about to refuse, but when he saw the sincerity and clarity in Makomo's eyes, along with that faint trace of anticipation, he somehow found it hard to turn her down.
No, no! I'm a veteran Monster Hunter player aiming to become a top-tier powerhouse. How could I let some inexplicable romantic nonsense hold me back? What a joke. My resolve to become strong is unshakable. How could worldly attachments affect me? Besides, I'm busy right now. If I don't farm more demons, the system will punish me!
"Ahem, all right. I don't happen to have anything to do right now anyway, though I'll have a few things to take care of in a couple of days." Ye Chen coughed and agreed, looking a little embarrassed.
This isn't me eating my words. It's just a way to unwind. Farming demons has been exhausting lately, and I need a break. Besides, aren't there still four days before the Final Selection ends? My clones are out there working too. I still have time. Yes, that's it!
"Then I look forward to traveling with you, Ye Chen." Hearing him agree, Makomo's smile grew a little brighter.
"Uh, but you always used to call me Mr. Ye Chen. Why the sudden change?" Ye Chen remembered that Makomo had always addressed him as Mr. Ye Chen before, but now she had dropped the formality.
"Mm... it means we're friends now." Makomo's eyes shifted slightly as she looked away.
"Uh, weren't we friends before?" Ye Chen felt a little embarrassed. They had spent an entire week together, yet apparently they had not even counted as friends.
"...Who knows?"
To his surprise, Makomo now placed both hands behind her back, casually interlacing her slender, pale fingers. There was a peculiar look in her eyes, and her answer was thoroughly evasive.
"..." Ye Chen was utterly speechless. One reason he had found it so difficult to get along with girls in his previous life was that they would often answer him with things like "Guess," "It's a secret," or "Who knows?" His emotional intelligence simply could not keep up.
"Speaking of which, I suddenly remembered that scumbag boss. I wonder how he's doing now. I've killed so many demons all at once-has he noticed? He won't come after me for revenge, will he?"
Ye Chen pondered for a moment, then pushed those thoughts aside and stopped thinking about it. Makomo had already walked ahead and was waving to him, calling for him to catch up.
"Damn it! Damn it, damn it!"
Just as Ye Chen was thinking about Muzan, furious roars rang out in another remote location. A figure was attacking the surrounding trees, reducing the entire grove to a wreck. Had Ye Chen seen him, he would certainly have recognized Muzan Kibutsuji, the man he had once pummeled.
For some reason, however, Muzan was noticeably better-looking than before. Even without disguising himself at all, he looked more handsome than usual, and his skin was smoother. Yet he seemed to take no pleasure in it whatsoever, continuing to roar in fury instead.
Muzan kept venting his anger on the grass and rocks around him. But halfway through his rampage, a wound suddenly split open on his body, and blood spurted out.
"...Cough!"
Muzan coughed up a mouthful of blood and hurriedly stopped attacking. His violent movements had aggravated his wounds.
Normally, Muzan could recover from injuries immediately, but this time was different. Four hundred years ago, Yoriichi Tsugikuni had defeated him, and the sword wounds he had left behind were still burning through Muzan's body. Ordinarily, Muzan could ignore them, but the aftereffects of splitting himself apart earlier had been severe enough to aggravate those old wounds. On top of that, the strange boy's blue-and-white flames had drained a considerable amount of energy from his blood, leaving him in this miserable state.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it."
Muzan no longer dared to vent his anger by smashing the rocks, but he kept cursing. He had not been in such a wretched state for more than four hundred years. It was precisely because Yoriichi Tsugikuni had defeated him four hundred years ago that he had begun gathering subordinates, and the Twelve Kizuki had been born as a result. Now, however, he was starting to question whether creating them had been the right decision.
When he had faced Ye Chen, he had brought Upper Rank One and Upper Rank Two with him-the two strongest members of the Twelve Kizuki. Yet they had been beaten so badly that they could barely fight back. More accurately, none of their attacks had any effect on their opponent, no matter what they hit him with. Even the attacks of Muzan Kibutsuji himself, the Demon Progenitor, had been useless.
Moreover, that fellow had injected him with a syringe full of some unknown substance. It remained inside his body, and no matter how Muzan tried to suppress or expel it, he could not break it down.
The strangest part was that Muzan felt no discomfort at present. If anything, his face seemed better-looking than before, and his skin had become softer, smoother, and plumper. He had noticed no other changes, but his cautious, suspicious nature made it impossible for him to let the matter go.
"Do I have to do what I did four hundred years ago again, hiding until these damn bastards die of old age before I can show myself?"
Muzan's eyes widened, shot through with streaks of red and brimming with madness and agitation.
"No, absolutely not! I have to take action. Why did I create all this trash? To find the Blue Spider Lily! It's been hundreds of years, and there's still not a single lead. In that case, I'll create the Blue Spider Lily myself!"
Before you continue