After instructing the cult members to be on the lookout for monsters that devoured humans at night, Doma's life remained unchanged. However, during this period, he had most of the believers stay downhill at night, leaving only a few of his "most trusted" cult leaders in the temple.
Well, they were just a bunch of guys completely consumed by greed anyway. It wouldn't be a great loss.
Late one night, Doma returned humming an unknown nursery rhyme, stepping through the moonlight. His attempt to have a chance encounter with a demon had once again been fruitless.
What a shame~
But tonight, the temple seemed darker than usual, and piercing screams echoed around, lingering for a long time.
Doma opened his golden fan to cover his lips, curiously approaching the room from which the screams came. He quietly poked his head through the open door.
Thump—
A blood-soaked body was thrown to the ground. The familiar face was frozen in an expression of extreme terror, its lifeless eyes staring directly at where Doma was. As far as he could see, the room was filled with corpses in gruesome states.
Blood snaked towards Doma's feet, and the thick stench in the air was nauseating.
A young man in a dark kimono stood calmly among the corpses. He turned his head and looked towards Doma.
His face was pale, his features handsome, and his plum-red vertical pupils were like the red moon in the sky.
The Progenitor of Demons, Kibutsuji Muzan.
"Oh dear, this will be very difficult to clean up," Doma said, blinking and pouting. Then, he smiled and waved at the man. "Hi, good evening~"
Kibutsuji Muzan walked over slowly, his cold and ruthless plum-red eyes sizing him up with interest. A human who wasn't afraid of him was indeed a bit interesting.
"Are you the founder of this cult?" Muzan's voice was low and magnetic, yet it carried a palpable sense of danger.
"Yes, yes, do you know me?" Doma nodded with a smile, his rainbow eyes shining ever brighter. "Mr. Demon~ you're a demon, aren't you?"
Muzan looked at him with a superior gaze, as if looking down at a worm writhing in the mud. "You were asking about demons?"
"That's right! It was I who had everyone inquire," Doma said, flicking open his fan with a swish, a carefree smile on his face.
"Your purpose?" Muzan asked, slowly approaching.
"Hey, Mr. Demon, could you please turn me into a demon?" Doma asked, closing his fan and looking expectant.
"Oh? Tell me, why?" Muzan glanced at him.
"Because I feel it's necessary to become one," Doma said after a moment's thought, his face innocent and frank. "I feel like it will bring about some interesting changes."
"Something different from before, something new, something unknown... just thinking about it is exciting~" He cupped his cheeks with his hands, an eager expression on his face.
Although he could have instantly come up with many lines of reasoning more likely to achieve his goal, he generally had no interest in lying, aside from the perfunctory speeches he gave to his believers. Ultimately, his attitude was one of indifference. There was no fear, no aversion, no urgent desire, and not much expectation.
Muzan's expression turned cold. Before Doma could see how he moved, his body was sent flying, crashing heavily through several walls.
"Cough, cough..."
Doma struggled to get up from the ground, coughing up a large pool of blood. The bones in his chest seemed to be broken, the sharp ends piercing his internal organs. Feeling he was seriously injured, he simply sat where he was.
"Oh my, was I rejected?"
Doma showed a disappointed expression devoid of any real emotion and looked up at the figure slowly walking towards him.
"Mr. Demon, are you going to eat me?"
He tilted his head and thought seriously. It seemed that was fine, too. So he smiled happily. "That's not out of the question~"
"I'm sure I taste better than those people over there. You can even keep my eyes as a souvenir." Doma tilted his head back, his beautiful eyes shining like colored diamonds.
Muzan looked down at him, seeing through his hollow interior with those emotionless rainbow eyes.
"A human without emotions?" Muzan sneered, extending a hand toward Doma. "A sample I've never seen before."
I still have a little bit of emotion!
Just as Doma was about to offer a serious rebuttal, a sharp pain shot through his head. Muzan's five fingers plunged into his skull, piercing his brain and injecting scalding blood.
A terrible burning sensation spread from his head throughout his body. Every inch of his flesh felt like it was being torn apart, every bone breaking and reforming. Doma fell powerlessly to the ground, his body convulsing instinctively from the pain.
The intense agony made him feel dazed, but his consciousness remained surprisingly clear and calm.
"I hope you can bring me a little surprise," Muzan said, disappearing from Doma's blurry vision without a second glance.
An unknown amount of time passed. The omnipresent pain suddenly vanished, and his body felt extraordinarily light and powerful. Doma slowly got up from the ground. A splash of ink-like bloodstain now patterned his white-oak hair, and sharp fangs grew in his mouth.
Muzan was gone, but the instinct from his blood conveyed a message: that man was the master he must obey absolutely from now on.
The massive amount of energy consumed during his transformation brought a ravenous hunger. Doma sniffed. The smell of blood in the air had become sweet, and his mouth began to water profusely.
But strangely, his reason was not consumed by the instinct to feed.
"Mmm, it really smells so good~" Doma shook his head. "But now is not the time to eat."
He sat cross-legged on the spot, closing his eyes to feel the blood, full of power and life force, coursing through his veins. Without any training, he smoothly activated his own Blood Demon Art.
With a slight movement of his fingers, a cold, white icy mist filled the air, and an exquisite, beautiful ice lotus flower floated delicately in his palm.
"Oh no. It's over."
Doma sat there stunned, holding the ice lotus, his expression calm, but his entire being... no, his entire demon self, seemed to have turned gray.
"Why~? Do I no longer have any obsessions?" He showed a wronged expression.
"No, that's not right. I can clearly feel that I'm disappointed."
Although that emotion was also fading fast. It couldn't be held onto, just like always...
Wait? It's not fading? I'm holding onto it?
A faint sense of loss lingered in his heart. It was still weak, but it hadn't vanished in an instant as usual.
Doma blinked. Everything before him dissipated like a soap bubble, and his thoughts sank into a vast, empty world of nothingness. There wasn't a single ripple in his heart, and his surroundings were empty. Only subtle thoughts floated, giving him a feeling that he could easily grasp them.
It was as if there were no thoughts at all, but in this state, all emotions, ideas, memories, and even desires were clearly discernible—as if they were things that could be painted over at will.
Emotion was a very pale color. Perhaps a normal person's emotions could be painted into a magnificent masterpiece, but the emotion remaining here... could probably make a single brushstroke?
A thought arose in the void. All emotions gathered together and were placed on the spot named "Joy."
"Mmm, I'm so happy~"
Doma revealed a child-like, innocent, and brilliant smile, finding that everything had returned to normal.
"Huh?" He showed a surprised expression and looked around curiously for a moment. "I don't know why I'm happy, but I just feel so happy~"
"Is this also my Blood Demon Art?"
"Why do I have two? Mmm, as expected of me. I really am favored~"
"How wonderful~"
Doma sat there giggling foolishly for a while, but soon found it boring.
"There's no reason to be happy at all. It feels a bit empty and fake," he mumbled, lowering his head dejectedly.
Following his instincts, he broke the influence of the Blood Demon Art. The joy in his heart instantly vanished, leaving only the long-accustomed calm.
"But this ability can indeed stop my emotions from dissipating further."
"Well, from now on, I'll just have to create my own happiness~"
Doma smiled, feeling the power of this unique Blood Demon Art. He had a feeling that this control over thoughts could probably be used on others.
But if his own and others' emotions and memories could be freely spied upon and distorted, what was the boundary between truth and falsehood? Where was the meaning in his desperate search for emotion?
"I've managed to retain a little bit of emotion, yet I feel that the very act has completely lost its meaning..." Doma murmured, his expression one of childlike curiosity and bewilderment.
"So this is a demon..." He shed tears of pity as usual. "Also a twisted and pathetic creature."
"What a... boring Blood Demon Art."
Doma thought expressionlessly, classifying this ability as "uninteresting." He sat silently like a statue, his eyes hidden in the shadow of his hair.
After a moment of silence, Doma suddenly raised his head, a brilliant smile on his face. He tapped the palm of his left hand with the fan in his right.
"I've got it! I'll call it 'Hisōten'!"
"It took me so long to think of this interesting name~"
He began to hum a song cheerfully, swaying from side to side.
But soon, a terrifying hunger swept over him again. Every cell in his body was protesting, sending him signals of starvation that made his head spin.
Doma's gaze fell on the surrounding remains. They were once his companions through thick and thin, but now... they all looked so deliciously fragrant~
"This is so sad."
Doma approached a corpse, tearfully examining the familiar face. It was the dear uncle who had watched him grow up, the one who had used the believers' donations to buy so many tender young girls over the years.
Doma reached out, dipped his sharp, purple nail in the blood, and licked it with the tip of his tongue, intrigued.
"So fragrant~"
His beautiful, rainbow-colored eyes became strangely eerie and dangerous.
Just as Doma was about to let himself be completely consumed by his appetite, the faint traces of emotion remaining within his "Hisōten" began to fade.
"Huh?"
Doma snapped back to his senses, expressionlessly using "Hisōten" to strip away the appetite that was about to completely devour him.
"If I succumb to a demon's instincts, will I lose my humanity and emotions?"
He could do without his humanity, but he couldn't lose his emotions!
The feeling of gnawing hunger didn't disappear. Doma swallowed, gave a reluctant glance back, and returned to the temple's main hall. Slowly, he walked to his favorite soft cushion and sat cross-legged without expression.
Tilting his head—
He fell into a catatonic state.
-------
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