Three days later, Sui draped her haori over her shoulders, bid farewell to Kanae, and returned to the shrine.
The mountain path was buried beneath deep snow. The demonic aura that had once lingered there had completely vanished, leaving behind only the profound stillness of the mountain's depths.
It was still bitterly cold, but the weather was clear.
Under the open sky, the snow scattered fine silver sparks of light.
Sui paused and exhaled, her breath billowing into white mist before her face. On either side of the trail, the branches of the snow-laden cedars rustled softly. A few ermine had appeared—rare spirits of the mountain—and after Sui entered the range, the little creatures had begun trailing after her as though especially fond of her.
With their tails, they swept at the snow along the path, seeming to help this poor blind woman in their own way.
"Thank you," she murmured toward the direction in which they vanished.
Ahead stood the shrine's torii gate. These mountain spirits would not lightly trespass upon sacred ground, so the moment Sui's serpentine perception brushed the gate, the creatures had already slipped back into the mountains.
She stepped onto the ancient stone stairs leading up to the shrine.
Sunlight filtered through her lashes, leaving slender shadows in her visionless gaze and staining them with pale golden light.
At the top of the stone staircase, Senko Myojin Shrine stood quietly upon the snowbound mountain peak. The people within, however, were anything but quiet.
"At this level, and you still think you can protect your teacher? You're too weak!"
The sound of clashing wooden swords rang from within the shrine grounds, accompanied by the low wail of strong wind.
It was Shinazugawa sparring with Yajima Hinori. Even though they were only using wooden swords, their exchanges carried the lethal edge of real combat.
Wood cracked against wood. Though Shinazugawa was holding back his strength, he still sent Hinori flying with ease.
"I'm only using as much force as you are, but your point of exertion is completely wrong, brat!" he barked, lunging after the retreating girl. Just like when he had once fought Sui, he used the nature of the wind to keep tearing through his opponent's defenses again and again until they collapsed.
"Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash!"
Hinori had no choice but to break away from Shinazugawa's relentless pursuit, so she unleashed a sword form in an attempt to escape the wind-like claws. But just as lightning flared around her, Shinazugawa caught her high-speed strike with one hand and, with the other, simply lifted her up and threw her.
Sui caught the girl steadily.
Looking at Hinori's wide-eyed astonishment, Sui merely smiled and smoothed her disheveled hair back into place.
"Huh." Shinazugawa rested the wooden sword on his shoulder.
He had known Sui was there, which was why he had deliberately tossed Hinori in her direction.
"Shinazugawa-kun," Sui greeted him.
"Yeah..." To her surprise, he did not call her a damn woman or some other insult as usual. Instead, he stared at her eyes and asked, "How are your eyes?"
"I suppose I can't see anymore," Sui replied calmly, without a trace of agitation.
"That demon—no, that thing called Kagetsuki—I'll kill it for you!" Shinazugawa said in a low voice.
"I appreciate the thought," Sui replied, placing Hinori gently on the ground.
Only then did Hinori notice the true state of Sui's eyes. They were beautiful and empty, like the finest glass jewels—exquisite beyond compare, yet utterly devoid of light.
"Sui-sama! Your eyes—!" Hinori blurted anxiously.
"It's all right, Hinori. Thunder Breathing users can live perfectly well with their eyes closed," Sui said, stroking the girl's head and nudging her toward the shrine grounds. Then she turned back to Shinazugawa. "Thank you for these past few days, Shinazugawa-kun—for looking after Hinori, and for protecting this city as well."
"There's no need for thanks," Shinazugawa said flatly, but then his posture slackened and a trace of helplessness crossed his face. "You people... you, Kyojuro, the Master, Butterfly... why is it that none of you are ever afraid of me?"
He sat down on the stone steps and set the wooden sword aside.
"I came to demon hunting fueled by hatred. That's all it ever was. The urge to destroy everything has always been sitting in my head. But after joining the Demon Slayer Corps, I found there were actually people who treated me like family. None of you gave a damn about how nasty or insufferable I was. We're all people carrying hatred and suffering, so why the hell is it that I'm the one all jagged and broken, while you bastards are all so soft?"
After a pause, he let out a quiet sigh.
"Have you ever heard of the cup of love?" Sui asked as she sat down beside him, eyes lowered.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Shinazugawa asked.
"Imagine each person's love as a cup of water," Sui said softly. "A child who grows up surrounded by warmth and affection has a cup filled to the brim. A child raised without love has a cup that is nearly empty. When the two meet, the overflowing water will naturally spill into the emptier cup."
She turned slightly toward him.
"So rather than calling it our softness, I would say the truly remarkable thing is that even after growing up in such a harsh environment, you still have such a gentle heart."
"Gentle?" Shinazugawa let out a rough laugh. "Me? How the hell do I have anything to do with being gentle?"
"Don't lie, Shinazugawa-kun. You're a hedgehog. Your back is full of spines to keep people away, but your belly is softer than anyone's."
He fell silent for a moment, then suddenly threw back his head and laughed.
"Hah! Hahahahaha! Sui, you really are something else!"
He looked up at the sun above.
"Fine, fine. I can't do anything with you people."
But then his voice grew quieter.
"The closer I get to someone, the less I can stand the thought of losing them. I've never had much to begin with. Before, demons took things from me. Now I don't want them taking anything else. But this is the Corps' fate, isn't it? Every single one of us—even the Hashira—could die at any moment."
He paused.
"When strangers died, I didn't care. But now, just imagining you idiots dying on some mission makes me feel like I'm gonna lose my mind. That's all your fault! So take responsibility for that!"
"Don't die, Sui," he said quietly.
"I'll take that blessing to heart," Sui replied.
Then she rose and stepped into the shrine.
Crossing the threshold, she descended into the inverted tower beneath the shrine.
At the end of the spiraling stone staircase, the demonic sword lay horizontally upon a sandalwood stand.
It was colder here than winter itself. A ghostly chill seeped from the blade and filled every corner of the tower.
Sui slowly seated herself before the platform, laid her hand upon the hilt, and drew the blade, revealing the inscription engraved on it.
"You're awake, aren't you?" she said suddenly.
"When did you notice?" a voice sounded at once in her mind, like rolling thunder, screaming wind, and the chanting of countless people mixed into one. At last, it settled into a hoarse voice that leaned feminine.
"From the moment I woke from the dream. I don't dismiss dreams like that as meaningless omens. You must have awakened, and you must have had something to say," Sui replied.
The voice fell silent for a moment.
"Sui, do you want to know why you came to this world?" it asked.
"If you are willing to answer, then yes. I do."
"Very well. I can tell you. You are the divine attendant I chose. You came to this world in order to take me out of it."
"To be honest, I am already dead. At present, I am in the process of being reborn. The Yamata no Orochi you saw in your dream was one of my former memories—but I was not the true Yamata no Orochi of my original world."
"I am the Yamata no Orochi of this world."
"In the world I originally belonged to, I was merely a young god still in gestation, one who did not even possess a proper divine name. During a collapse of the Age of Gods, a disturbance in time and space cast my divine core out of Yomotsu Hirasaka and into this world. Due to this world's corrective force, I could not replenish my magical energy and was forced to develop in a distorted manner into that monstrous demon god known as Yamata no Orochi."
"In the end, I was slain when the gods of this world manifested."
The voice sounded almost resentful, as if it still could not let go of its death as Yamata no Orochi.
"Still, the gods of this world are pitifully weak in influence. The Age of Gods is long gone. Otherwise, that blood-mutated creature would never have been allowed to rampage so freely."
"Blood-mutated creature?" Sui asked.
"The lifeform you call Kibutsuji Muzan. He inherited the blood of Yamata no Orochi, but only incompletely. Whoever gave him that divine blood clearly mixed something else into it—something that made him fear the sun. But what demons truly fear is not sunlight. They fear Amaterasu. The blood of Yamata no Orochi, slain by Susanoo, should not fear Amaterasu at all."
"I see..." Sui exhaled lightly.
"Why do you look so unsurprised?" the god asked.
"Crossing worlds is already incredible. Demons are incredible too. Adding a god on top of that doesn't feel like much of a stretch anymore," Sui said flatly.
Then another question came to her.
"What exactly are these eyes? Are they connected to you?"
"In our world, those eyes are called the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. They are your own power. Perhaps it was because you possessed such talent that I happened to choose you in the first place."
"I remained dormant for a very long time. I only regained a sliver of awareness when you awakened those Mystic Eyes. Then, as you continued slaying demons and the blood of Orochi flowed back into my embryo, I was finally able to speak with you properly today."
"My waking moments will not last long. At the very least, I would need the blood of one of the so-called Upper Rank demons to sustain my consciousness. It is a pity that the Upper Rank demon called Akaza was devoured by Tamamo Mae. Otherwise, my power would be greater, and I would be able to help you deal with the burden of the Mystic Eyes."
"Tamamo Mae?" Sui repeated, catching on that title immediately.
"That demon carries certain traits of Tamamo Mae. As for your eyes... honestly, the fact that you can use them at all is already remarkable. Trying to comprehend a divine-blood phenomenon from the perspective of a mortal is likely to burn your brain to ash if you aren't careful."
"The lines and points you see are Lines of Death and Points of Death. To perceive them at all, you must first understand what the target is. If something lies beyond the limits of your comprehension, the points and lines will become unstable—or may not appear at all."
"But I am Yamata no Orochi." The god's voice turned faintly smug, as though being associated with Yamata no Orochi was somehow a matter of pride for a nameless god. "If my revival advanced a little further, I could help you comprehend such things directly. You would not have to struggle so much on your own."
"So we're partners, then?" Sui asked with a quiet laugh.
"No. You are my divine attendant!" the god declared sternly.
A moment later, seeing that Sui did not respond, it relented.
"A partnership is acceptable too. I will help you kill the demons of this world, and you will help me leave it."
"Well?"
The god sounded almost impatient.
Perhaps in the eyes of a god, a contract carried immense weight.
"Very well," Sui said, sliding the demonic sword back into its sheath.
At the same time, the god's final whisper brushed her ear.
"That blade... is an imitation of Ame-no-Habakiri. Now that it has been unsealed, it can cut down demons as though it were the sun itself."
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 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 132)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter140)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter95)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter165)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 145
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 135
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 95
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 155
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 125
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 105
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 62
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 80
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 80
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 62
Uma Musume: I Want All 65
I Can Copy Unique Skills 53
Summoning an Evil God, but the 41
Supernatural Multiverse 45
My Harem Is Indescribable 35
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 46
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 26
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 36
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