Demon Slayer: I am a Demon

Chapter 87 The Demon Who Only Has an Ever-Growing Obsession—Akaza (Part 2/4)

They silently buried the old man and the ghost.

The name of the deceased old man is unknown, as is the name of the ghost.

After death, all traces will slowly disappear from this world.

Kanao felt a little uncomfortable. She had never felt this way before when facing death. Even when she saw her father being killed by her uncle, she didn't feel anything.

But at this moment, I feel a little uncomfortable.

She didn't know the old man before, and had only eaten a bowl of wontons at his stall. She didn't even know the old man's name. The only thing she clearly remembered was when the old man walked away with his load on his shoulder, the uncle sighed and said that life was not easy.

This is Kanao's deepest impression of the old man.

When that ghost, just like my uncle, came, carrying the old man's corpse, and saw the old man's miserable state after death, I felt very uncomfortable.

I don't know if it's because of this old man.

It's still because of that ghost.

It felt like it was that old man, but even more so, it felt like it was because of that dead ghost.

Perhaps it's because my uncle is a ghost, so I always feel that even if other ghosts aren't as good as my uncle, they certainly won't be that bad.

But the other ghosts are nothing compared to Uncle.

That's terrible.

Why can't I learn a little bit of my uncle's gentleness, or a little bit of his kindness? I'm always so terrible.

"Uncle, the other ghosts are really awful! They have no manners at all."

Standing before the grave, Kanao looked up at Su Mu and spoke her innermost thoughts.

"Yes! It's terrible."

Su Mu nodded: "Most ghosts failed as humans and failed as ghosts as well."

"So, what kind of ghost is considered successful as a ghost?"

A sound suddenly came from behind.

Su Mu was startled and grabbed Kanao to his side, while simultaneously looking behind him warily with his knife in hand.

There was nothing there; it was completely empty.

A gust of wind blew by, and only a few fluttering leaves could be seen, instantly tightening one's heart.

Su Mu suddenly turned around and saw a person standing in front of the grave where he had just been buried.

It's not just a ghost standing there.

The other person did not turn around, leaving Su Mu with only a silhouette standing in front of the grave.

She was wearing a purplish-red short-sleeved shirt with black patterns on the back, a white short-sleeved bottom, a red belt around her waist, and was barefoot with red prayer beads hanging from her ankles.

Both arms were exposed, revealing extremely strong muscles. The exposed hands showed that the fingernails and toenails were the same blood red color.

She has short, peach-colored hair.

Looking at that figure from behind, a vague sense of familiarity made Su Mu grip the Nichirin Blade even tighter.

This ghost appeared out of nowhere, standing quietly in front of the grave, seemingly deep in thought.

Gentle moonlight shone down, and the ghost reached out its hand as if to grasp something, but it seemed to grasp nothing at all.

So, the ghost clutched its head in pain.

"Every time I see a grave, I feel like I've forgotten something, but I can never remember it, I just can't remember!"

The ghost clutched its head, clutching its peach-colored hair, as if caught in an endless dilemma.

Su Mu held the knife, watching the ghost that looked to be in great pain with caution.

Soon, the demon turned around, revealing a face covered in patterns. Its golden eyes had a hint of blue, with the character "僄" carved on one eye and "Upper Moon Twelve Demon Moons, Upper Moon Three, Akaza" carved on the other.

An extremely powerful demon, among the Twelve Demon Moons, only the Upper Moon One, Kokushibo, can truly overpower this demon.

"What kind of ghost is considered successful?"

Akaza looked up, his gaze falling on Su Mu, and then glancing at the Nichirin Blade in Su Mu's hand before moving on.

"have no idea."

Su Mu shook his head.

"You don't know either?"

Akaza spread his hands, a hint of sneer in his voice: "I thought you'd know?"

Su Mu silently gripped the hilt of the Nichirin Blade, pulling Kanao behind him.

Akaza watched as Su Mu pulled the girl behind him and suddenly chuckled, "I've seen plenty of ghosts, but this is the first time I've seen one like you."

I've only ever seen ghosts treat humans as food; I've never seen a ghost protect humans.

"Don't worry, I don't eat women. I'm not like Child Demon, who specifically targets weak and helpless women, like a sissy."

Akaza looked at Su Mu, who was still holding the Nichirin Blade, and chuckled softly, "Isn't it uncomfortable to hold a sword like that?"

As a Nichirin Blade capable of slaying demons, it contains the power of the sun to slay demons, making it extremely detestable to them.

Su Mu remained silent.

"Ha—you're holding on even though it's painful, is it to use the power of the sun contained within the Nichirin Blade to fight against your demonic instincts?"

Akaza tilted his head, his golden eyes staring into those crimson eyes: "You really are—too weak. What are you still clinging to, being so weak? What's there to cling to?"

As he spoke, Akaza lowered his head slightly. But the next second, Akaza's figure appeared before Su Mu.

I don't know when it arrived in front of me.

The whistling fist had already landed, and Su Mu, who had been on guard, only had time to raise his knife before the fist slammed into him.

"boom----"

A punch landed squarely on his chest, sending him flying backward before crashing to the ground with a dull thud, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Cough cough————"

Before the dust had even settled, Su Mu had already stood up again, his fists clenched tightly, and the Nichirin Blade had been knocked away.

"Really—you're so weak! How can someone as weak as you say that all other ghosts are failures?"

Akaza shook his fist slightly as he spoke, and then his figure disappeared from the spot again, only to reappear beside Su Mu once more.

The speed was too fast, so fast that Su Mu couldn't even see it clearly.

"Is this the power of the Twelve Demon Moons?"

He muttered to himself, gritted his teeth, and almost without hesitation swung his fist forward.

Similarly, Akaza's fist came flying at that moment.

The two fists collided, and almost instantly a cracking sound of bones breaking could be heard. Almost instantly, Su Mu's fist was shattered.

At that moment, Akaza grabbed Su Mu's arm, threw him to the ground, and then punched him in the abdomen, instantly rupturing his chest cavity.

"Cough cough————"

He collapsed to the ground, almost completely powerless.

The gap in strength has reached a point where it is impossible to fight back.

This is the difference between an ordinary demon and the Twelve Demon Moons—a difference so vast it's almost hopeless.

"Too weak, really too weak, your bones are too brittle."

Akaza stood there, shaking his fist: "How did you, a weak demon like you, come to the conclusion that all other demons are failures?"

"How did you arrive at that conclusion?"

"I thought you were strong? You're too weak."

"Now, let me tell you, the losers among ghosts are all weaklings like you, understand?"

Akaza crouched down, lifted Su Mu by the neck with one hand, and brought his face close to hers: "Understand?"

Akaza was about to say something when he suddenly seemed to sense something and lowered his head. Before he knew it, the girl protected by the demon had picked up the Nichirin Blade that had been knocked away.

The girl stared intently at him with her pinkish-purple eyes.

Then, without a word, he ran over with a knife in both hands and slashed at him.

For a moment I felt a little dazed.

A man-eating demon protects humans who are about to be eaten, while the humans who are about to be eaten also choose to protect the man-eating demon.

They're all equally weak.

fragile.

But as the girl fiercely wielded her Nichirin Blade, a very familiar feeling suddenly welled up in his mind.

It seems I've had that feeling before.

It seems that there was once a girl who cared about her just as much. That girl was just as frail as the girl in front of her.

It seems he made a promise about something—

But I don't remember.

It seems that as long as I keep getting stronger, I can protect something. But what is it? What am I protecting?

"Keep getting stronger, keep getting stronger."

Yiwozu murmured.

Kanao had already swung the Nichirin Blade over, and the sharp blade struck Akaza's body, but only produced a dull sound.

They only managed to cut some bloody skin off Akaza's thigh.

"Too weak, really too weak, your strength is too weak. Even if I gave you a sword to slay demons, it wouldn't be of any use."

Akaza lowered his head, watching the girl wielding a Nichirin Blade slashing at his thigh: "Pathetically weak."

As she spoke, Akaza turned around and looked at Su Mu: "You're both so weak, how can you protect each other?"

With that, Akaza casually tossed Su Mu's body to the ground like a rag doll.

The girl's eyes turned terrifyingly red at that moment. She gripped her Nichirin Blade tightly and desperately slashed at Akaza's body.

Akaza stood still, letting a young girl hack at him silently. His powerful muscular body, even without moving, meant that someone holding a knife couldn't inflict serious injuries.

Akaza's body is too rigid.

"Cough cough————"

Su Mu struggled to his feet, looked at the crazed Kanao, and whispered, "Come back."

The girl, who had already gone into a frenzy, suddenly seemed to have a timer pressed. With red eyes, she glanced at Akaza, silently returned to her uncle's side, and tried her best to help him up.

Blood flowed from her chest, a few drops landing on the girl's cheeks, flowing down her cheeks along with crimson blood.

"Cough cough, it's nothing, it's just a minor injury to a ghost."

Su Mu patted the girl's head to comfort her.

Kanao didn't speak, her pinkish-purple eyes fixed on Akaza, like a wounded tigress baring her teeth.

"Tch—These injuries are indeed minor for a ghost, but they are a different story for a weak ghost like you."

""

Akaza stood there with his arms crossed, looking at the human and the demon before him: "You haven't been with a human before, have you?"

The question was asked very calmly.

Su Mu didn't answer, but silently bandaged his own wounds. "Like me, they also don't want to use this method to improve their strength, but as a ghost, if you don't devour flesh and blood for a long time, you will become weaker and weaker."

Akaza said in a low voice, "Although you can improve your strength and become stronger through training, it is ultimately too slow. But the method of 'fetishing people' is simple and fast. Although you will reach your limit soon, it is at least very suitable for you now."

Su Mu looked up at Akaza, the demon who would kill the Flame Pillar, Rengoku Kyojuro, in the future, and then lowered his head again.

"Interesting, interesting."

Akaza couldn't help but clap his hands: "To be able to persist like this even at this point, to be honest, I admire you a little."

"Oh----"

Su Mu silently stretched out his hands; his fist, which had just been smashed, had recovered considerably.

For demons, no matter how severe the injury, it is nothing. As long as their necks are not severed by a Nichirin Blade, they are immortal beings.

"A very interesting newborn brat."

Akaza chuckled, narrowed his eyes, and glanced at Kanao: "There's another human child who cares so much about demons."

"I'm suddenly looking forward to it. I really want to know how long you can last, but I guess you won't last very long. Maybe it won't be long before the Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen find you and cut off your head."

"Get stronger quickly, kid."

Akaza shook his head, as if he wanted to say something, but then he looked up and said, "What a bunch of annoying hyenas, they've caught up with us again."

With that, Akaza looked at Su Mu and said, "Kid, let me show you what kind of ghost can be considered a success."

"Tap tap tap—"

The ground shook, and a group of swordsmen in Demon Slayer Corps uniforms rushed towards them from afar. Akaza, who had disappeared and then reappeared, was now in front of the group of Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen. A punch imbued with fighting spirit had somehow struck one of the swordsmen on the head, and with a scream, the swordsman's head was smashed open.

"It is Upper Moon Three Akaza."

A swordsman, his eyes filled with terror, still charged forward, gripping his Nichirin Blade.

The massacre was almost entirely one-sided.

The demon-slaying squad of nearly ten people was almost completely wiped out by Akaza alone in a short time, and their crimson blood was almost spilled all over the ground.

"Wow, that's really...too weak!"

"None of these swordsmen are durable enough to withstand a beating."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

With a single punch, Akaza sent a swordsman flying like a sandbag. Turning back, he said, "See that? That's what it means—"

However, the little devil seemed completely oblivious to this exciting scene, and had already carried the child away into the distance.

Seeing this, Akaza was slightly taken aback, then shook his head: "Like me? You don't like torturing these weaklings like this either. Indeed, it's really too boring. Only the strong have the motivation to fight."

"Actually, I don't really want to kill these people either, it's too boring, but they're just too annoying. If I don't get rid of them, they'll keep bothering me."

Shaking his head, Akaza unconsciously followed.

Akaza walked into a dark cave with his hands behind his back.

The cave was deep and dark, but it was nothing to a ghost, a creature of darkness.

Walking further in, they saw that Su Mu had already put the girl down and was busy working in the cave, while the girl was also helping out.

-

Akaza stood to the side with his arms crossed. After being a ghost for so many years, this was the first time he had ever seen such a different little ghost.

Suddenly I felt very interested.

It wasn't that he had any interest in this frail ghost; he had never been interested in the weak.

But he still developed some interest, perhaps related to the girl beside him, or perhaps not.

Akaza couldn't explain why either.

It was simply because—I saw a human girl fighting desperately for a weak demon.

This desperate act of protecting and safeguarding gave Akaza a familiar feeling, as if he had had a similar experience himself.

But upon careful reflection, I couldn't recall anything.

This feeling is painful and confusing.

A campfire had been lit sometime during the night, and under Akaza's watchful gaze, the little devil actually began preparing human food. "How funny, how funny."

Akaza almost bent over and burst into laughter: "You devil, don't you know that human food is useless to us? Don't you know that we don't need to eat?"

Su Mu raised his head and glanced at the ghost that had long forgotten its past as a human, a ghost that spent most of its time focusing on training and obsessed with becoming stronger.

He glanced at it once, then lowered his head and continued with his work.

The rice is steamed until fully cooked, then dried and set aside as dry food.

Akaza leaned against the wall, squinting as she watched the scene: "So it was prepared for the children around you? How thoughtful. But what's the use?"

He smiled as he looked at Kanao, who was glaring at him with hatred: "Does this child know that you're a man-eating demon? Aren't you afraid of being eaten by you one day?"

Kanao ignored the demon, and Su Mu ignored Akaza. After finishing everything, they sat in front of the campfire and silently wiped their Nichirin Blades with a rag.

Akaza frowned, a sudden surge of anger rising within him. He was about to step forward and give the brat another good beating, but he stopped abruptly when he saw the child guarding the brat's side.

Akaza retreated to his original spot, leaning against the wall, and continued to scrutinize the human and the ghost.

After glaring at Akaza for a while, Kanao started busying herself around the campfire. Soon, she handed a small cup of hot water to Su Mu, who was sitting there.

Su Mu stopped wiping the knife, picked up the cup, and slowly drank.

It's a very simple action.

Akaza, who was standing there, seemed a little lost in thought, vaguely feeling a sense of familiarity, as if he had experienced such a scene before.

But no matter how hard I try to recall it, I can't remember it.

It's so uncomfortable, so incredibly uncomfortable.

"I'm still too weak."

Akaza clenched his fist slightly, then, without looking at the human and the demon, began to train on his own.

"Weak, so very weak. Only by becoming strong enough can I remember anything. Only by becoming strong enough, strong enough."

"You need to become strong enough!"

Akaza kept training while constantly shouting.

Su Mu pulled Kanao back to the edge of the cave to avoid being hit by the aftershocks of Akaza's training, and also looked at the Twelve Demon Moons who only had the obsession to become stronger.