The following night, deep into the small hours—
The coastal factories were still belching black smoke, though the city itself had largely gone quiet. Faintly, from far away, came the rumble of factory machine beds.
Sui stood atop a rooftop, looking down from the height. The night wind lifted the hair at her forehead, and the tassels on her peachwood hairpin swayed softly. She held her Nichirin Blade, Hachiu, in one hand. A faint peal of thunder rose and fell in time with her breathing as she extended her senses outward, though the range was limited.
Osaka's factories and half-modernized architecture severely interfered with the reach of Thunder Breathing.
She had examined that snake scale carefully, but found no useful clue in it. After all, she had encountered too few demons to form any meaningful basis for comparison. The only conclusion she could draw was that its owner was far stronger than the demon with a Blood Demon Art she had faced on Mount Fujikasane.
For now, the owner of the scale was being referred to as White Snake, likely a demon on the level of one of the Lower Moons.
Sui breathed in a steady rhythm. Thunder Breathing greatly enhanced her hearing, one of the reasons she habitually kept her eyes closed.
The wind slapped lightly against her face.
Sui frowned.
There was a faint… cry for help.
In the next second, she locked onto the source. Leaping from the eaves, she vanished into the night in the blink of an eye.
In a dark alley, filthy water ran through the gutters.
"Daddy! Th-that thing's getting back up again—!" a little girl screamed.
At the mouth of the alley, reflected in the sewage, was the blue-faced, fang-bared silhouette of a demon. It crawled across the ground, its bulging spine twisting segment by segment like a centipede, giving off a shrill scraping sound.
"If you'd just let me eat your heads, it wouldn't hurt, you know?" the demon licked the blood from its claws—the blood of a vagrant whose belly it had ripped open not long ago. "But your daughter looks delicious. Much tastier than that stinking hobo."
The man shielded his wife and child behind him. The kitchen knife trembling in his hand was a joke in the demon's eyes.
They had been driven into this dead-end alley by the demon. There was nowhere left to run. Behind them stood a high wall.
The hideous creature crawled closer. The man could barely tell how it moved at all—one blink, and the monster was already in front of him. A foul gust struck his face. The girl curled in his arms was so terrified she nearly fainted, and his wife covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face.
It seemed the whole family was about to die.
"AAAHHH!"
Staring at that pale, grinning face, the man mustered the last of his strength and roared, swinging his knife straight at the demon's face.
Boom!
Far off in the distance, thunder rumbled.
Electric arcs burst across the clotheslines overhead, slicing them apart with invisible force.
"Thunder Breathing, First Form—"
Nichirin Blade Hachiu, wrapped in crackling lightning, split through the drying diapers and cleanly cut off the demon's outstretched claw. Sui slipped past the centipede-like body in a flash, and her blade traced a bright arc through the air, severing its torso at the waist. Thick demon blood splashed everywhere.
The man froze.
He stared blankly at the kitchen knife in his hand. It had happened too suddenly—he had not even seen Sui appear. All he had seen was the terrifying demon being instantly cut apart, its limbs and body sliced through. For a moment, disbelief overtook him. Had he somehow killed the monster himself?
"What… what just happened…?" he muttered.
"Daddy! Look over there!" the little girl pointed past the demon.
Beyond the split-open centipede body stood a slender figure, sword in hand.
The demon's severed torso squirmed, trying to regenerate, but before new arms could form, Sui cut it apart again.
"It hurts! It hurts, damn you, you little brat!"
"Question." Sui lowered her blade, the tip resting against the demon's throat. "Where is White Snake?"
"Hah? White Snake? What, some new tavern or something?" the demon snarled viciously.
"Your leader."
"What leader? What the hell is this woman even talking about?"
A flash of steel.
The demon's head rolled to the family's feet, still frozen in a bewildered expression. The girl shrieked and ducked behind her mother.
Sui flicked the blood from her blade, then turned and inclined her head toward the stunned family.
"It's all right now."
"Th-thank you! Please, may we at least know our savior's name—" the wife was the first to recover. She bowed deeply to Sui.
"There's no need to worry about that." Sui shook her head, crouched down, and gently wiped the tears from the little girl's face. Then she handed her a wisteria sachet. "This is a wisteria sachet. Wearing it can keep demons from attacking you. If you ever have no choice but to go out late at night, please make sure to carry it."
The girl stared blankly at Sui's face. The warmth in Sui's expression gradually drove the terror out of her heart.
Behind them, the demon's body began to burn and quickly crumbled into ash.
"Goodbye," Sui said.
"Wait! Please, you must let us repay you somehow!" the father called out loudly, stopping Sui just as she was about to leave.
Sui gave a small shake of her head. "There's nothing to repay. You were wonderful—truly brave. Your wife and daughter are safe because of you."
Before the man could say another word, Sui vanished from their sight.
Dark clouds drifted over the moon.
From atop a nearby building, Sui looked down in silence, watching the family leave safely together.
That had been an ordinary mutant demon, troublesome only because of its giant centipede-like body.
It knew nothing about White Snake.
At this distance, a low-level demon like that could not fool Sui's senses. It truly had no idea about any so-called White Snake, nor that a far more terrifying demon lurked somewhere within Osaka.
"Lady Sui! South-southeast! South-southeast!" Chihana, her Kasugai crow, cried in a low voice. "A demon! There's a demon over there!"
"Are there really this many demons in Osaka?" Sui murmured. "This isn't some mountain backwater. This is a modern human city."
She sighed and stepped forward again.
The next day, the city was full of talk about the thunder heard in the night. There had been no rain, yet the sound of unmistakable thunder had echoed across the city.
The police station was bustling as well. Seven missing laborers had been found alive. According to them, they had been abducted by a serial killer, and because that murderer had gone out in the night and never returned, they had managed to escape.
Some described the killer as a centipede-shaped monster. Others insisted it had been a two-meter-tall man. Still others claimed both accounts were wrong, and that it was clearly a child with an eye growing out of its forehead.
In the end, with no consensus, the authorities concluded it had all been hallucinations brought on by terror in a dangerous situation.
In one single night, Sui killed six demons: one demon with a special ability, two mutant demons, and three lesser underlings.
After that, she returned to the House of the Wisteria Crest.
Fujiwara's wife, Lady Anka, had already prepared food and hot water for her.
"Are you sure you don't want me to feed you, Lady Sui?" the woman asked with concern. "You've been hunting demons all night. You must be exhausted."
Sui ate quietly.
She wanted to say that a whole night of demon hunting was not exhausting at all, because not a single demon could survive one stroke of her blade. But after thinking it over, what she actually said was:
"Your cooking is wonderful. Being able to eat something this delicious makes the fatigue of the whole night feel much lighter."
"Oh my, really? That's wonderful to hear," Lady Anka said, beaming.
As Sui continued eating, she could feel Lady Anka's gaze growing even warmer.
She had not done it on purpose. This was just a small social trick—one that made people like you. Back at the shrine, Kannazuki often dealt with powerful officials and nobles, and this sort of thing had been essential for coaxing funding out of them.
But when Sui used it, the effect was a bit too strong.
After finishing her meal, Sui thanked her and prepared to change and bathe.
The Demon Slayer Corps kept much the same hours as demons did—they worked at night and slept by day. It suited someone like Sui perfectly, someone who liked lazing in bed through the daytime.
"Would you like me to assist you, Lady Sui?" Lady Anka eagerly followed after her, resting both hands on the girl's shoulders.
Sui froze.
Madam… what is this, some kind of adult doujin setup?
This, apparently, was the result of being liked a little too much.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 175)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 126)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter134)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 87
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 79
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 64
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 73
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 45
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 49
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 45
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 45
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 31
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 27
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 26
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