"We're already demons! Why are you still so obsessed with who you used to be?"
The words came from the demon's mouth in an almost furious roar.
Su Mu did not answer. He simply sat cross-legged where he was and gently closed his eyes. He was not obsessed with his former identity, nor was he truly unable to accept becoming a demon. After all, becoming a demon meant gaining a virtually endless lifespan, something countless people could only dream of.
Moreover, a demon's strength surpassed the limits of the human body. Even the weakest demon possessed physical abilities beyond human limits. Even if becoming a demon meant he could no longer endure sunlight, that was hardly such a terrible drawback.
What Su Mu truly could not accept was the uncontrollable instinct to devour flesh and blood. He could feel that the longer he resisted, the stronger that craving became. It would only intensify with time. Even if his willpower allowed him to hold out now, one day, that ever-growing hunger would crush his resolve.
Once his will broke, he would become a monster that had lost its true self, utterly incapable of resisting the urge to devour flesh and blood. That was why he clung so fiercely to his former identity.
Watching the silent Su Mu, the demon seemed to see his own past self, struggling just as hard when he had first become a demon. But in the end, as his demonic instincts deepened his craving for flesh and blood, his resistance had crumbled like a tiny dam trying to hold back a raging flood, battered apart by wave after wave.
No demon in this world could escape that instinct. Not even the first demon, the progenitor of them all, Kibutsuji Muzan, could free himself from it.
There was no demon in this world that did not hunger for humans.
"One day, you'll become just like me."
At that thought, the demon looked at Su Mu, still desperately resisting before him, and sneered. He picked up the thigh bone from the ground and quietly began gnawing on it. Tender, juicy flesh burst in his mouth. Anyone who tasted it even once would understand how delicious it was and inevitably become addicted.
If Lord Muzan had not imposed certain restrictions on every demon, he was certain he would hunt down countless victims every day.
Besides Lord Muzan's restrictions, there were also those hateful demon hunters. They pursued demons relentlessly, and once they set their sights on one, there would be no peace.
Although those demon hunters were frail humans too, their Breathing Styles briefly granted them physical abilities comparable to those of demons. They also wielded Nichirin Blades, which could kill demons for good.
Of course, what truly made them impossible to rest easy around was that they would stop at nothing to deal with demons. Their favorite method was to find them during the day, then devise a way to expose them to sunlight.
The thought of sunlight stirred an almost instinctive sense of revulsion and fear.
The demon continued devouring flesh as he pondered, his gaze occasionally drifting toward Su Mu beside him. He could sense the incomparable craving in Su Mu's body for the flesh he was eating. Although Su Mu was forcibly suppressing his demonic instincts, those instincts would grow stronger with every passing day.
"You won't hold out much longer."
The demon swallowed a large mouthful of flesh and looked at Su Mu. "Let's see how much longer you can last. One day? Two? Or... three..."
"Whew..."
Su Mu's eyes snapped open. His bloodshot gaze fixed coldly on the demon opposite him, but almost immediately, his eyes instinctively shifted to the thigh bone in the demon's hand.
Gulp!
Gulp!
His throat moved involuntarily. The scent of food made almost every cell in his body leap with excitement, urging him to imitate the demon before him and devour that flesh with its tantalizing aroma.
Under the pressure of that bodily instinct, his will seemed to be slowly giving way. It seemed to tell him that he only needed one bite. Just one bite would be enough.
Feeling his body's instinctive craving and his resolve teetering under its relentless assault, Su Mu's expression turned grim. He clenched his fists tightly, knowing that if this continued, he would eventually become just like the demon before him-a monster stripped of its true self, utterly unable to resist devouring flesh and blood.
He could never accept such a fate. But what could he change? However fiercely he resisted, how could his will stand against a demon's instincts? For hundreds upon thousands of years, no demon had ever been able to resist them.
If there was an exception, it was Nezuko, who had become a demon.
Even Nezuko had only overcome those instincts through both her own deep-seated resolve and the help of the Water Hashira, Sakonji Urokodaki.
And it was not merely because of the Water Hashira Sakonji Urokodaki's help. He remembered that the anime had also vaguely hinted at another detail: Nezuko had once eaten the Blue Spider Lily, which could remedy a demon's weaknesses. The Blue Spider Lily was something Kibutsuji Muzan had sought for a thousand years without success. It could make Kibutsuji Muzan, who was already infinitely close to being a perfect organism, truly flawless.
It might have been precisely because she had eaten the Blue Spider Lily that Nezuko was different after becoming a demon. She was the first exception in all those centuries, the first demon who had never fed on humans.
He had not eaten the Blue Spider Lily. No matter how hard he struggled to resist, his demonic craving for flesh and blood grew stronger every day. He had a growing sense that he would not be able to hold out much longer.
Watching Su Mu's throat work as he repeatedly swallowed, the demon's lips curled into a mocking smile.
"See? I told you you wouldn't last long."
Su Mu abruptly stood up, and a smile spread across the demon's face. "See? We're the same kind after all. Stop treating those frail creatures as our own kind."
As he spoke, the demon raised the thigh bone in his hand.
But Su Mu did not look at the bone the demon held up, nor did he take a single step toward him. Instead, he turned and walked toward the cave's exit.
The demon froze for a moment, watching Su Mu in confusion. Curious about what he intended to do, he followed him.
Soon, as the demon followed Su Mu closer and closer to the cave's mouth, dread began rising within him. An indescribable terror filled his entire being. He stopped almost instinctively, staring ahead with revulsion and apprehension.
Sunlight spilled down across the entrance. The darkness dissolved beneath it, and he could faintly sense its warmth.
It was the warm sunlight he had once been able to bask in as a human. But now, to a demon, that same warm sunlight was the most terrifying thing in the world.