Demon Slayer: I am a Demon.

The girl's face flushed slightly. She turned her head and glared at the man with her beautiful eyes:

"Say less."

At this moment, the girl's eyes even held a hint of pleading.

"what……"

It was as if his neighbor's daughter was looking at him with those eyes, which made Su Mu unable to help but laugh.

Makomo was completely helpless. Looking at Su Mu laughing heartily, she really couldn't imagine that this person didn't know that they were in Fujisaki Mountain.

We're about to face evil spirits, and you still have this attitude?

But for some reason, I felt much less nervous and my mood became unusually relaxed.

Makomo has always been under a lot of pressure. Although she never says anything, she has always kept everything to herself and kept it all bottled up inside.

But at this moment, he suddenly felt that his shoulders were not so heavy, and he felt a rare sense of relaxation. The faint gloom between his brows and eyes seemed to have disappeared.

"Roar……"

A demon seemed to have smelled the food in the area, and roared from afar as it rushed towards them at great speed.

"Be careful."

Makomo spoke to Su Mu, her petite figure already at the front, her hand lightly pressing on the scabbard of her Nichirin Blade, her eyes slightly narrowed as she looked ahead.

Regardless, she will protect these people until she dies.

Even if she ultimately fails to do it, at least she should die before these people.

"Roar, roar..."

A rude roar came from afar, followed by a dull thud from the ground in the distance. Soon, a monstrous demon with bluish-purple skin and a ferocious face appeared in everyone's sight.

Seeing so much delicious food all at once was an unprecedented happiness for the demon who had been starving on the summit of Fujikasa Mountain for a year. His scarlet eyes seemed to turn eerie green at this moment.

"Wow... such delicious food! Finally... finally I can have a big meal."

The demon licked its tongue and lay prone on the ground like a wild beast, beginning its hunt.

Makomo scrutinized the demon, only sensing its frailty. It seemed weak, unlike the demons she had hunted with Hiroshi Furukawa and the others.

So weak, so weak, how could such a weak evil spirit kill its own senior brothers and sisters?

How did they kill the Sacred Rabbit?

I find it very incomprehensible.

Tanjiro gripped his axe tightly, staring at the demon before him, somewhat nervous. This was the first time he had ever seen a demon other than an adult. These demons were truly no match for adults.

"Roar!"

The demon roared again, pushed off the ground, and launched itself at Makomo like a cannonball.

Faced with the demon's attack, Makomo's delicate face remained calm. Her hand rested on the hilt of her Nichirin Blade, and as the demon lunged at her, she uttered a whisper.

"Water Breathing. First Form: Water Surface Slash".

The knife was drawn, its cold blade moving with incredible speed, almost instantly reaching the demon's neck in its incredulous gaze.

"May I cut off its head?"

A very faint sound came from behind.

Even though the battle was about to end, even though it involved life and death, and even though it was something that was impossible to agree to, for some reason, upon hearing that gentle voice, I inexplicably didn't want to disappoint the owner of that voice.

The blade veered to Makomo's disbelief, slicing through the demon's limbs almost instantly.

"boom……"

The ghost, which was running at high speed, crashed to the ground in an instant, letting out a painful howl. Its limbs, which had been severed nearby, were still writhing, as if trying to return to their master's side.

Makomo sheathed her sword, turned around, her small face tense: "What... are you going to do?"

"I just wanted to experience what it felt like to sever a demon's neck."

He shrugged.

"In battle, this is no joke."

The girl scolded him with a tense expression.

"I'm really sorry."

Su Mu chuckled, but his face showed no sign of apology whatsoever.

Makomo turned her head away, pretending not to see, and said very seriously:

"Just this once, and never again."

Su Mu stopped looking at Makomo and instead focused his gaze on the demon whose limbs had been severed by Makomo. An ordinary person would probably be dead after suffering such injuries, but even though the demon in front of him was so weak, there was still no sign of death.

Perhaps facing the threat of death, the demon's desire to devour flesh and blood diminished considerably, and at this moment, it turned its attention to Su Mu, who was approaching him with the Nichirin Blade.

I can smell it; it's a very familiar scent, like something from another species.

"Are you a ghost too?"

"Yes!"

Su Mu nodded.

"Are you a ghost too? Why didn't she attack you?"

The demon's eyes widened in disbelief: "Why did you cut off my limbs? Why did you hurt me like this? All I wanted was to eat some meat."

Makomo, who was angry, suddenly turned around and stared at the demon.

Su Mu stopped in his tracks, turned around, and looked at Makomo.

Makomo stared at the demon with disgust, then looked at Su Mu, who had stopped, and couldn't help but urge, "Why don't you cut off his head? This disgusting demon treats you like one of its own. I don't want to see such a disgusting thing for even a second longer."

Upon hearing this, Su Mu turned around, looked at the demon, gripped his Nichirin Blade, and gestured towards the demon's neck, seemingly considering where to strike.

"Why? Why? He was a demon too, so why did he kill me?"

"He's a demon too!"

The ghost stared wide-eyed in disbelief, glaring angrily at Su Mu, who was gesturing towards his neck: "You should cut off his limbs too, he's a ghost too!"

Makomo was a little annoyed. Looking at Su Mu, who was still brandishing the knife, she couldn't help but urge him, "Hurry up."

"I think what this ghost said might not be entirely unreasonable."

Su Mu looked up, smiling at Makomo, a hint of deep crimson gleaming beneath his dark eyes.

"Ha, who would believe a ghost?"

Makomo sneered, unaware of the deeper meaning hidden in Su Mu's eyes.

Su Mu turned around, looked at the wide-eyed demon, and gave it a friendly smile: "You see, who would believe what a ghost said?"

"You are clearly...you are clearly a ghost too! Why, why don't they cut off your head? Why do they accept you? You are clearly a creature just like us!"

"Yes! I'm a ghost too."

Su Mu seemed to sigh slightly, and then, under the ghost's terrified gaze, he raised the Nichirin Blade.

The blade sliced ​​across the neck, easily severing the demon's neck.

Blood splattered, and the ghost's head rolled to the ground. The ghost's eyes were wide open, and even in death, its gaze was fixed on Su Mu, unable to believe what was happening before its eyes.

Clearly... everyone here is a ghost!

As its neck was severed by the Nichirin Blade, the demon's body began to dissipate into wisps of black smoke, filling the air with a foul stench.

Perhaps it is in the last moments of life that one recalls the memories of being born as a human being.

At the last moment, the ghost no longer clung to the question of why it hadn't severed Su Mu's head. Instead, it felt pain and sorrow for everything it had done since becoming a ghost.

A very sad atmosphere began to permeate the air.

Makomo stood still, unable to smell the aura. She glanced at the severed head of the demon, then looked around warily.

Su Mu smelled the sorrowful scent emanating from his former kind and quietly watched the corpse slowly dissipate.

"So sad, so sad."

Tanjiro looked at the dead demon and vaguely sensed something. He couldn't help but move closer. At that moment, it was as if he saw his past as a demon, the beauty of being human, which he had destroyed one by one after becoming a demon. When death came, all his memories returned, and he realized what he had done.

Without hesitation, Tanjiro stepped forward, walked to the demon's head, looked at its wide-open, unseeing eyes, hesitated for a moment, then knelt down and gently closed the demon's head, whispering:

"rest in peace."

A tear rolled down the corner of the ghost's closed eye.

Makomo, holding her Nichirin Blade, stood to the side, utterly bewildered by Tanjiro's actions: "They're all demons! Was it really necessary?"

Tanjiro looked at the demon whose eyes had been smoothed, and at the tears streaming down his face. He couldn't help but whisper, "I just feel a very strong sadness, perhaps..."

Do ghosts feel sadness?

Makomo didn't quite understand. She couldn't smell the sadness emanating from the air like Tanjiro could, nor could she feel the omnipresent sorrow. She only knew that the demons had done many, many terrible things, ruthlessly taking away the lives of her senior brother, her senior sister, Sabito... and so many other people, cruelly robbing so many other people of their happiness.

She looked at Tanjiro and said seriously, "Demons, these cruel and disgusting things, are creatures that should go to hell and should not exist in this world."

Tanjiro looked at Su Mu with some concern after hearing this.

Kanao, who had been following Su Mu, raised her pinkish-purple eyes and stared quietly at Makomo's throat, heart, and any other vital spot on her body.

Su Mu, who was a demon, seemed not to have heard any of this. He simply sheathed his Nichirin Blade and sighed, "Miss Makomo was right. Demons! They really are creatures that should go to hell!"

He closed his eyes slightly, silently feeling the power beginning to surge within his body.

Although he had only killed a very weak demon, he felt his heart beating even more violently, with each beat providing more blood flow.

At the same moment

He also focused his gaze on the character panel deep within his mind.

The long-lost character panel faithfully recorded his physical condition, and just as he felt, the panel changed accordingly.

Chapter 131 My Lord, You've Become Stronger (2/4 (Two-in-One))

Name: Su Mu