A human… carrying a demon on his back?
As the Blue-Faced Demon was sent flying by the kick, his eyes widened in disbelief when he saw Nezuko leap out of the bamboo box strapped to Tanjiro's back. Never—not once in his life—had he imagined such a sight. A human walking around with a demon on his back, and more importantly… the demon wasn't attacking him?
To the Blue-Faced Demon, this was completely absurd. Humans who turn into demons always lose their reason; once the hunger sets in, they'll devour even their own families. Yet here was a human traveling with a demon—and still alive?
While he was still frozen in shock, Yuto stepped out from behind him. That snapped the Blue-Faced Demon back to reality. This was no time to stare—he had to run.
Though things hadn't gone quite according to his plan, he looked back and forth between Tanjiro and Nezuko in front of him and Yuto closing in from behind. He still had a chance. The demon girl was clearly protecting the human, but once the madman saw blood… he would definitely attack the human first.
And as long as the demon girl was busy protecting her human, she'd have no choice but to clash with the madman. That would give him the opening he needed to escape, leaving the two naïve kids to deal with the monster behind him.
Yuto and Nezuko moved at the same time, charging across the clearing at blinding speed. Seeing this, the Blue-Faced Demon smirked. Everything was unfolding exactly as he expected.
But the moment Nezuko's leg connected with his skull—and Yuto's claws tore straight through his torso—that smug grin vanished.
Nezuko's kick, powered by strength that could rival an entire national soccer team, sent the demon's head spinning like a kicked ball, while Yuto's claws sank into his flesh as effortlessly as plunging into tofu.
"Why…?"The Blue-Faced Demon stared, his severed head still airborne, completely dumbfounded. Why—why had Yuto attacked him first? According to everything he knew about demon instincts, the starving half-demon should have targeted the human boy, Tanjiro, before going after a fellow demon.
As Yuto dismissed his half-demon form, he turned to the stunned demon and flashed him a wide, wicked grin.
"It's pretty simple," he said. "We're on the same side."
At those words, the Blue-Faced Demon felt his worldview collapsing in on itself.
A human leading two demons… without being eaten? Since when did demons work together?Two ironclad rules of the world—humans and demons cannot coexist, and demons never cooperate—were breaking right before his eyes.
Yuto's long, crimson hair shortened, fading back to its usual light brown. His horns sank into his skull, his claws dissolved, and the frenzied madness in his expression gave way to the composed, refined look he normally wore. It was impossible to believe the rampaging monster from moments ago was the same calm, handsome young man now standing before him.
It wasn't that the Blue-Faced Demon was strong. If anything, he was even weaker than the four-limbed demon Yuto had encountered after first arriving in this world. The reason Yuto had gone half-demon was simple—practice. He wanted to use these endlessly regenerating demons to sharpen his control over his half-demon transformation.
Back in his original world, with its dense population and advanced technology, losing control even once could lead to catastrophic consequences. He had never dared to risk it. He suspected there were powerful hidden figures in his world too—if humans were really that fragile, they would have been wiped out long ago during eras when demons ran wild.
"Half-Demon Transformation" was undeniably powerful, but the loss of reason it induced was troublesome. Still, in this Demon Slayer world—a world already steeped in danger and chaos—Yuto didn't have to be nearly as cautious. Even if a powerful figure capable of killing him existed, they couldn't stop a rampage immediately.
So whenever no other humans were around, and he was alone with demons, Yuto would freely activate his transformation. Demons made the perfect training dummies—they could regenerate endlessly.
Fortunately, he was getting better. Although he still became bloodthirsty and manic in half-demon form, he could at least control the transformation itself and didn't need to wait until his demonic energy fully ran dry to revert.
"That house reeks of blood. It's not livable. Even if it weren't, Nezuko would probably lose control, so… we're sleeping outside," Yuto said calmly.
He picked up Tanjiro's axe and used it to pin the Blue-Faced Demon's head to a tree stump, then hurled the body off the cliff. Afterward he went into the mansion, grabbed some bedding, and prepared to sleep under the stars.
Tanjiro, softhearted as always, insisted on gathering the family's remains and giving them a proper burial. Only once he'd finished did he finally lie down to rest.
But the Blue-Faced Demon, realizing Yuto and Tanjiro were actually about to fall asleep, began panicking. He sputtered and shouted, desperate and terrified—the moment the sun rose, he would be the first to burn.
"Nezuko, quiet him down," Yuto said, already half-asleep. "He's keeping me and your brother awake."
Nezuko, energetic from her daytime slumber, obediently walked over. She looked at the incessantly babbling demon, then at Tanjiro peacefully dozing. Her tiny face scrunched in irritation.
Before the demon could utter another word, Nezuko's foot slammed into his face.
"You and that red-haired lunatic are both demons! When the sun comes up, you'll die right along with me!"
Knowing he had no hope of survival, the Blue-Faced Demon shrieked wildly. His reward was another merciless round of kicks from the tiny girl.
By dawn, Nezuko had returned to her bamboo box and pulled a burlap sack over herself, leaving the Blue-Faced Demon's head stuck on the stump, staring blankly into the morning light.