Day by day, time passed, and Yosuke gradually grew accustomed to having Hakuji and Koyuki by his side.
One evening, Yosuke sat alone in the wooden hut, quietly drinking sake.
Outside, Hakuji and Koyuki were training in their own Blood Demon Arts.
"Soryu Technique — Destructive Death: Disorder!"
Hakuji unleashed a flurry of blows at a single point with incredible speed. The ground soon cracked open into a deep crater.
But the shockwaves from the attack instantly caused the already fragile wooden hut to collapse in on itself.
Inside the ruins, Yosuke stumbled out, covered in dust, his sake cup now filled with nothing but ash.
"Haku—ji—!!"
The fury in Yosuke's voice made Hakuji's entire body stiffen. Just as he was about to bolt—
"Blood Demon Art — Dark Binding!"
Black tendrils lashed out, restraining Hakuji and slamming him to the ground.
As Yosuke approached step by step, Hakuji turned pitiful eyes toward Koyuki, silently pleading for help.
But Koyuki only glanced upward, pretending not to notice.
Utterly despairing, Hakuji could only watch helplessly as Yosuke loomed over him.
Hakuji forced a nervous smile, stammering,
"Yo-Yosuke-sama, I didn't mean to—"
Expressionless, Yosuke hauled him up by the collar.
"Didn't mean to? How many times is this now, just this week? If you want to train, I won't stop you. But must you do it here? You love your Blood Demon Art so much? Fine. If you want strength, then being beaten is part of the path. …Koyuki."
"Yes, Yosuke-sama!"
Koyuki gave a sweet, apologetic smile.
"Sorry, Hakuji. I really don't want to do this, but Lord Yosuke has ordered it~"
"Can you please wipe that smile off your face before saying that?!" Hakuji muttered bitterly.
Koyuki's expression darkened.
"Oh? So you've changed, Hakuji. You never used to say such things to me~"
Hakuji's eyes went wide in terror as Koyuki pressed her hand against him.
"Blood Demon Art — Prism Ice Seal."
A freezing cold surged from her palm, and in the blink of an eye, Hakuji was transformed into a frozen human ice sculpture.
It wasn't until sunrise that Yosuke finally released him.
Shards of frost still clung to his face, and Hakuji realized with despair that the gentle Koyuki he once knew had vanished forever.
After this incident, Hakuji behaved himself for several days.
But just as Yosuke began to enjoy this rare stretch of peace, Koyuki appeared holding a cat in her arms.
"Yosuke-sama, look! This cat is a demon too~"
Yosuke froze the moment he laid eyes on the feline.
"…Chachamaru?"
The cat meowed, wriggled free from Koyuki's arms, and rushed to Yosuke, rubbing against his legs.
Yosuke bent down, scooped up Chachamaru, stroked it affectionately, then set it gently back on the ground.
"Go home, Chachamaru."
But Chachamaru refused to leave. It pointed with its paw toward the pack on its back, signaling there was a letter inside.
Yosuke petted its head, then shook his own.
"Some letters don't need to be read—you already know what they say. Go, Chachamaru. Return to your master."
The cat looked at him one last time with reluctant eyes, then disappeared into the night.
Yosuke silently watched it vanish, saying nothing for a long while. At last, he sighed.
"…It's time to leave, Hakuji, Koyuki."
Hakuji opened his mouth to ask something, but Koyuki tugged gently at his sleeve.
He turned to her. She only shook her head.
With her keen intuition, Koyuki had already sensed it—there was a story, a painful past, between Yosuke and the master of that cat.
Not long after Yosuke departed, Chachamaru returned, this time with a stunning woman in a kimono.
Tamayo gazed sorrowfully at the hearth, its fire newly extinguished but still warm.
"Yosuke… you still refuse to see me? You won't even give me the chance to apologize face-to-face?"
Her expression was steeped in grief. Chachamaru sensed her sadness and rubbed against her to comfort her.
Meanwhile, on the road, Hakuji asked curiously,
"Yosuke-sama, where are we going now?"
"…I don't know. Wherever our steps take us. Didn't you say you wanted to fight? Then how about this: every demon we meet along the way will be yours to handle."
"Yes! Leave them all to me! As the champion of the Soryu Dojo, I'll make sure the name of Soryu resounds throughout the world!" Hakuji pounded his chest in confidence.
They arrived in the town of Ōsumi.
Hakuji noticed that, at night, the streets were nearly empty. The few people they did encounter all looked terrified, as though cowering from some unseen terror.
Yosuke soon felt it too—a demon's aura lingered nearby.
"Hakuji. Ready yourself. There's a demon here. From its aura, it's not a weak one."
Hakuji's face lit up with a battle-hungry grin.
"Koyuki, Yosuke-sama—watch closely. No matter who the opponent is, I'll defeat them!"
Following the demon's presence, they arrived at a ruined temple deep in the forest.
A heavy stench of blood seeped from within.
Hakuji threw open the doors—and froze in shock.
From the rafters hung dozens of still-living humans.
Their faces were twisted with terror, their mouths gagged with cloth, unable to cry out.
When they saw Hakuji and Koyuki, muffled cries of "mmph! mmph!" rose from them, pleading for help.
At the far end of the temple, on the altar where a Buddha statue once stood, a demon crouched, gnawing at the flesh of a corpse.
Koyuki covered her mouth in horror.
"How could anyone be so cruel…"
The demon turned its head toward them. Twin horns jutted from its forehead, and its blood-red pupils gleamed.
Swallowing the organs it had been chewing, it licked its lips.
"Do you know? Thirty minutes after death, the taste completely changes. Only by keeping them alive can you enjoy the finest delicacies."
Hakuji's face grew solemn. He ignored the words and instead lowered into the opening stance of the Soryu style.
The demon's eyes glimmered with interest.
"Oh? How amusing. Do you mean to steal my food? If you can, then try. Impress me, and perhaps I'll even let you have a fresh human."
Hakuji snorted.
"Demon who slaughters humans without cause… are you ready to die?"
"Technique deployment!"
A twelve-pointed snowflake sigil spread beneath Hakuji's feet.
"Soryu Technique — Destructive Death: Disorder!"
He lunged forward at incredible speed, fists slamming down in a furious barrage.
Dust exploded throughout the temple.
When it cleared, the demon stood unharmed before him.
"A demon trying to save humans? How rare. I wonder… will your flesh taste different from theirs? Perhaps demons are even more delicious."
The demon raised its hands. In its palms yawned gaping, fang-filled mouths.
Two impossibly long tongues shot out from them, dripping with foul saliva, whipping straight toward Hakuji.
"Soryu Technique — Destructive Death: Air Type!"
Hakuji struck six times into empty space, the shockwaves severing the tongues in an instant.
The demon only grinned.
"Judging from your aura, you've only just become a demon yourself. And yet, you've already mastered a Blood Demon Art? Not bad at all."
Even as it spoke, the tongues shattered by Hakuji's blows regenerated in seconds, writhing back to life.
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