"Interesting, how very interesting."
"So… they've decided to fight back."
"Come on then! Let's play until dawn!"
Suddenly, six arms burst from Susamaru's body. Each of her hands clenched tightly around a temari ball as she hurled all six of them toward Tamayo and Yushiro.
Blood Demon Art: BlindFold.
Yushiro slapped a talisman onto Tamayo's back—and in an instant, the two of them vanished from sight right before Susamaru and Yahaba's eyes.
"Strange... Did they just disappear?"
"No, their presence is still here. Their scent lingers," Yahaba muttered, both the eyes on his palms opening wide, scanning the surroundings with intense focus. "It's a Blood Demon Art that messes with sight."
"Which means they haven't escaped," Susamaru said, irritation seeping into her voice.
"In that case, all we have to do is destroy everything around us—and they'll have no choice but to show themselves."
"Yahaba, work with me."
With that, Susamaru lobbed her temari balls straight at the place where Tamayo and Yushiro had vanished.
Yahaba activated his Blood Demon Art, Koketsu Arrow, through the eyes on his palms. These invisible arrows, etched in thin red lines, allowed him to alter the movement of objects—or use them as weapons.
Under the influence of his Blood Demon Art, Susamaru's temari balls twisted through the air in unnatural, vicious trajectories.
CRASH!
One ball slammed into Yushiro, instantly shattering his arm and breaking his concentration. The invisibility spell collapsed.
"There you are."
"This time, don't run. Play with me until the end," Susamaru beamed with manic excitement as Tamayo and Yushiro reappeared.
"I'm sorry… Lady Tamayo," Yushiro said, trembling with guilt as he looked at her bleeding arm, his own weakness crushing him from the inside.
"Yushiro, hold your breath."
Tamayo said no more. She merely raised her wounded arm.
Blood Bewitchment: Magical Aroma of Daylight
Tamayo's own Blood Demon Art. By inflicting injury on herself to release the scent of her blood, she could cloud the senses of anyone who inhaled it—creating vivid illusions and mental fog. The effect showed no mercy, affecting friend and foe alike. Victims experienced a drop in brain function, making it nearly impossible to keep secrets.
Standing right before them, Susamaru's expression was beginning to waver—already under the influence.
Tamayo's voice was cold and clear: "Do you know why Kibutsuji sent you two to capture me?"
"What are you talking about!?"
"It's because he's a coward."
"Don't—don't you dare talk about the master like that!"
"Isn't he always hiding? Always running?"
"Shut up! Shut your damn mouth!"
"Kibutsuji…"
Just as Susamaru was about to say Kibutsuji Muzan's name out loud, a temari ball shot from afar and smashed her to the ground.
"Susamaru, be careful! That woman's Blood Demon Art can mess with your mind," Yahaba shouted, frowning as he noticed her erratic behavior. With a quick flick of his palms, he used Koketsu Arrows to snap her out of it.
"That was close… I almost said his name," Susamaru muttered, a chill running down her spine. The realization sank in—if she had uttered Muzan's name, she would've been killed on the spot.
"You dare mock me?! I'll snap your limbs off and bring your head back as a trophy!" she screamed, now trembling with rage.
All her temari balls spun violently, soaring toward Tamayo and Yushiro.
"Lady Tamayo!"
"Is this the end…?"
Tamayo stared at the incoming attack. This was it. They didn't have the strength to defeat these demons head-on. Her last desperate gambit—to trick one of them into saying Muzan's forbidden name—had failed. Yahaba had stopped her just in time.
Damn you, Kibutsuji Muzan!
Tamayo resigned herself to her fate, bracing for death. Beside her, Yushiro watched her frozen in place, his scream rising from his chest in pure despair—
Iron Shell: Steel,
First Form: Unknowing Fire.
The temari balls aimed at Tamayo's limbs exploded mid-air into multicolored shrapnel.
Two figures stood between her and the attack.
Yohan and Mitsuri Kanroji had arrived.
Tamayo stared at the backs of the two humans who had stepped in front of her, feeling the aura that radiated off them. She whispered in disbelief, "These… are humans?"
"Humans?!" Susamaru frowned, clearly unsettled by the unexpected block.
"Two humans... and a demon?"
"Hah! This just keeps getting better."
"This is so much fun."
"Humans siding with demons? Protecting them?"
She laughed, wild and unhinged.
"But it doesn't matter. Lord Muzan said to bring back the 'runaway.' That's all that matters."
"And if you're in my way, you can all die."
Susamaru didn't care why humans would stand with demons. Anyone who interfered with her mission deserved only one outcome—death. If she succeeded, Muzan would reward her. More blood. More power. More purpose.
"Susamaru," Yahaba called out from a distance, "don't hold back. Use your full power. We take them down together."
He had felt it the moment the two arrived. The aura they carried—especially the man with the shield—was terrifying.
They weren't ordinary humans.
But Muzan's orders were absolute.
This would be a fight to the death.
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