The man leaned against the wall with his arms folded. He wore a sleeveless, tea-brown shirt that exposed his heavily muscled arms, and the hair from his forehead to the crown of his head had been carefully shaved away, forming a distinctive chonmage hairstyle.
His scarlet eyes were fixed on Su Mu, brimming with hostility.
"Don't you know this area is my hunting ground? Have you no respect for the rules?"
The man straightened and slowly approached Su Mu. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused me by coming here?"
Over the past few days, the Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen searching the city had made hunting difficult for him. He was afraid those hyenas would set their sights on him.
After all, once those Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen marked someone as their target, they clung like glue and were impossible to shake off.
And the cause of all this was the ill-mannered demon from the countryside standing before him, who had brought those hyenas here.
These country demons were utterly crude, and their hunting methods were equally primitive. They often simply broke down doors at night, making a tremendous racket that soon drew the Demon Slayer Corps's attention.
City demons like them were different. They hunted with finesse, choosing homeless people or children trafficked into the city... prey whose deaths would go unnoticed.
He had always thrived in this town. Now, because this country demon had drawn the Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen here, his own life had become difficult.
"I'll leave in a day or two."
Su Mu lowered his head slightly and spoke calmly.
Demons generally lived alone. Each had a strong sense of territory and its own hunting grounds.
Clearly, he had trespassed on the hunting grounds of the demon before him.
"Heh..."
The man sneered. "You think leaving is enough? Do you know I've gone hungry these past few days because of you?"
With the Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen searching the city, he had not dared to hunt these past few days.
Su Mu said nothing, merely standing there in silence.
The man's face was full of anger. He wanted to beat Su Mu up, but feared the noise would draw the Demon Slayer Corps. As for killing Su Mu, the thought never even entered his mind-not because he did not want to, but because demons' immortality made it extremely difficult for them to kill one another.
Of course, although demons found it difficult to kill one another, difficult did not mean impossible.
One method, for example, was to devour the other demon.
That would naturally kill them.
Moreover, devouring another demon would make the one who ate them stronger.
However, demons were forbidden from devouring one another. Any demon who dared to do so would be personally executed by "the master."
No demon dared disobey "the master's" orders.
Almost every demon who had dared defy "the master's" orders had vanished from this world.
Although killing another demon was difficult, torturing one was simple. Their immortality and powerful vitality only made such torture more painful and twisted.
Thus, the demon was not worried that Su Mu would fail to know his place. He could sense how weak Su Mu's aura was-the aura of the weakest kind of demon, found only in those who had never consumed "flesh and blood."
Some Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen would not even kill demons this weak outright. Instead, they captured them and took them to Mount Fujikasane to serve as trial opponents for new recruits.
The demon strode brazenly up to Su Mu and stared at the demon with the feeble aura. "Get out of my territory today..."
But halfway through his words, his gaze suddenly fell on Kanao Tsuyuri beside Su Mu. Looking at the girl's tender body, he unconsciously licked his lips.
"What delectable food."
His eyes instantly filled with greed. With the Demon Slayer Corps keeping the city under close surveillance and searching it these past few days, he had not managed a proper hunt. His stomach had long since become ravenous.
Noticing the demon's gaze, Su Mu reached out and pulled Kanao Tsuyuri behind him. He raised his head and quietly looked at the demon who had approached him.
Seeing the "food" disappear behind Su Mu, the demon reluctantly withdrew his gaze and looked up at him. "Is this the 'prey' you caught today? She looks like quite a docile catch."
Normally, captured "food" would struggle desperately. Though that resistance usually meant little to a demon, such docility was genuinely rare.
"How about this? To make amends for trespassing on my territory, give me the 'prey' you caught."
The demon's throat bobbed involuntarily. Starving as he was, he could hardly wait to enjoy this delicacy.
Almost the instant he finished speaking, the demon reached for Kanao Tsuyuri behind Su Mu, utterly disregarding Su Mu standing in front of him.
In truth, he did not think much of Su Mu at all. Among demons, who lived by the law of the strong devouring the weak, weaker demons obeying stronger ones was the norm.
And he was the stronger demon.
Yet a moment later, anger appeared on the demon's face, because Su Mu had blocked the hand he was reaching toward the food.
A weak little demon dared defy him?
He wanted nothing more than to erupt on the spot and thoroughly torture the little demon before him. But the noise could attract the Demon Slayer Corps, and once those hyenas set their sights on him, he would be in trouble.
So the demon suppressed his anger slightly. "Fine, then. I'll give you a thigh afterward. That's the last mercy you'll get from me."
Clearly, the demon thought the other was only daring to act so boldly because he could not bear to surrender his "food."
Sometimes, starving demons lost sight of their circumstances, their eyes holding nothing but a craving for flesh and blood.
Su Mu said nothing. His other hand simply reached toward his waist, where a long object wrapped in strips of cloth rested. It looked like some sort of sword or blade.
That was nothing unusual. With the Sword Ban in effect, even Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen would not openly display their Nichirin Blades. They likewise wrapped them in cloth or concealed them in other ways.
Naturally, the demon noticed Su Mu's small movement and guessed that the object at his waist was probably a weapon, but he paid it little mind.
Humans were different. No matter how powerful a person was, even a small child could kill them if they let their guard down.
For demons, however, the chances of that happening were virtually nonexistent.
Demons' immortality made it extremely difficult for them to kill one another.
Even if Su Mu drew a weapon and attacked while he was off guard, he could only wound him, not kill him.
Doing so would not solve the problem. It would only enrage him further and provoke even more savage retaliation.
Thus, the demon did not believe Su Mu had the courage.
Yet now, under the demon's confident gaze, Su Mu's hand settled on the hilt at his waist.
Swish!
A blade faintly radiating scorching heat slid out of the cloth. Its gleam, seemingly the color of flame, filled the demon's scarlet pupils.
Everything became inconceivable and terrifying.