Demon Slayer: I am a Demon.

This was Kanae's first time meeting Doma. She observed him silently while maintaining the same fervent devotion to their leader as other believers.

Surrounded by a crowd, Doma walked up to the high platform and lazily sat down on the wooden cushion placed there. He looked at the people who worshipped him with a sense of listlessness and began to listen to the believers' words about wanting to enter the Pure Land.

Every time he saw this scene, Doma felt a pang of regret. Humans are truly a regrettable and pathetic species, lacking the ability to live forever yet yearning for it.

Despite living a terrible life, they always felt that by praying to God and making offerings to Him, they could go to that blissful world.

They even placed all their hopes on themselves, yearning to be able to redeem them.

Doma himself believed that he could redeem these people, and his way of redeeming them was to devour them completely, leaving no trace of their flesh or blood, so that they could live forever with him.

In this way, I can guide them to salvation.

That's probably his only redeeming quality.

At least, that's what he thinks.

Doma sat lazily on the wooden cushion, listening to the believers come forward one by one and listening to their heartfelt words.

Every believer has their own wishes and desires, hoping that they will be granted eternal life and led to a blissful world.

But these people are really delusional. Every time I satisfy their demands, they become afraid and develop a fear of me. They just want to be eaten by me and merge with me. By merging with me, this ghost, they can naturally gain immortality, just like me.

"I hope to stay by the side of the Pope and serve him forever, until the end of my life."

A warm voice, like the spring sunshine, rang in his ears, and the pleasant sound made the somewhat lazy Doma raise his head.

Another believer came up and knelt down in front of him.

She has beautiful purple eyes, long black hair, two strands of bangs on either side of her face, and butterfly hair accessories on both sides of her hair. She exudes a very gentle temperament.

The girl's eyes were truly beautiful. When she looked at him, she didn't have the same greedy desire as the others, yearning to lead them to immortality and guide them to paradise.

I just hope to be by his side forever.

"May I have your name."

For once, Doma asked a question.

Kanae.

Kanae Kocho lowered her head slightly and spoke softly.

The girl's voice was still as warm as the spring sunshine.

The voice had a warm tone, almost so gentle it seemed to reach into my heart. I really enjoyed listening to it; it made me feel happy and relaxed.

Who was the last woman who gave me this feeling?

With his excellent memory, Doma only needed to think for a moment to recall that the woman was named Kotohata, and she was also the first woman he hadn't planned to eat, but only wanted to wait for her to die of old age.

Well... it seems like quite a few years have passed.

But I still remember the scene: a woman holding an infant in her arms ran over, crying and begging for their protection.

The woman's body was almost entirely covered in mud, and her exposed skin was covered in marks from being whipped. Her face was also covered in bruises, and one of her eyes was almost blinded.

Then, the woman held the child, crying incessantly, and repeatedly kowtowed to herself in the muddy water.

"Please, Master, save my child."

"Please, Master, save us!"

"please……"

He granted the woman's request, took her in, and mercifully dealt with her abusive husband and killed her abusive mother-in-law.

After taking the woman back to the church, washing her up, and changing her clothes, they discovered that she was actually very beautiful.

But beauty meant nothing to Doma. The only thing that made Doma feel that the woman was different was her voice, which was really beautiful.

"The founder of the cult is truly a very, very good person."

After taking her in, the woman always liked to say that it wasn't just because her voice was pleasant, but because Douma could sense a pure quality in her voice, untainted by any desire, which was completely different from the voices of other believers, which were always filled with various longings.

On that day, he also learned the woman's name, Kotohachi, and like the woman named Kanae today, she expressed her wish to stay by his side forever and serve him forever.

After that, Kotohata stayed with the Eternal Bliss Cult.

As she recuperated here, the scars on her body gradually faded, and Kotoba's beautiful face became more and more striking. This kind of woman always liked to hold her child in the sunlight and always liked to gently coax the child in her arms.

Every time he saw this scene, Doma felt a sense of joy.

Unfortunately, he could not bask in the sunlight; he could only watch all of this from the darkness.

Finally, they learned the child's name from Kotohata: Inosuke Hashibira, a boy who looked like he had inherited his mother's appearance and would be very handsome in the future.

Gradually, he began to fall in love with Kotohachi.

Doma often engages in romantic relationships, frequently playing childish dating games and changing romantic partners, but these relationships don't evoke any feelings in him.

Just like when I was still human, my mother discovered that my father had slept with many female believers, so she hacked my father to death. Then my mother committed suicide in a near-mad state. When I was young, I saw all of this, I felt nothing, and my heart was not stirred at all. I just thought the smell of blood was very bad, and I only thought that dealing with the aftermath would be troublesome.

But with Kotohata, I always feel very relaxed and happy.

Chapter 258 The Multitalented Kanae

When did I stop feeling comfortable with Kotohata?

It probably started from the moment Kozuki Hirako discovered herself eating, watching herself enjoy the food.

Regarding this, Doma always felt that Kotohata should be able to understand his 'good deeds' and understand that he was just taking these 'foods' to the Pure Land.

He himself was merely allowing believers to merge into his body, so that they could live forever with him.

But at that moment, Doma couldn't see understanding in Kotohata's eyes; he only saw Kotohata's fear and dread, and saw her teeth chattering as if her blood had frozen.

"I am simply taking them to paradise."

Tong wiped the blood from his mouth and explained to Zui Pingqinye.

But Kotohata ignored her completely and fled in terror, almost clutching the child.

But how could they possibly escape?

On a mountaintop, Doma caught up with Kotohata, but behind Kotohata was a cliff, leaving him with nowhere to escape.

"Come back with me."

That's what Doma said. Although he could no longer feel comfortable with Kotohata, Doma still didn't really want to eat her.

"Monster, monster..."

Kotohata almost frantically retreated while holding the child, until she reached the edge of the cliff. Looking back, she saw a mountain stream flowing below.

"Go back with me."

Doma spoke to Kotohachi once again.

This time, instead of feeling any comfort from Kotohata, Doma felt a sense of heaviness. In fact, at this moment, Doma felt a strong sense of fear from Kotohata, just like those believers who had become one with him and were drawn into a world of bliss before their death.

At that moment, Doma realized that Kotohata was no longer a special being; she was no different from the other believers of the Eternal Bliss Cult.

However, Doma was still willing to give Kotohachi a chance and let her die a natural death.

But Kotohachi only held the child in her arms, crying and saying to the child, "Inosuke, Mommy loves you." Then, crying, she threw the child off the cliff into the mountain stream.

Throwing a child off such a high cliff basically means they are going to die.

She would rather lose her most important child than go back with him.

I was a little annoyed at first.

So, on the mountaintop, Doma held Kotohata in his arms and devoured her bite by bite. After all, she had promised to stay with him for a lifetime, but now she wanted to escape. So he decided to merge her with his body.

Suddenly, so many memories of the woman named Kotohata flooded his mind as Doma looked at the woman named Kanae in front of him.

The other person's voice was just as beautiful as Kotohachi's, but there was a difference between the two. Kotohachi's voice was initially pleasing because it was free of any desire, while the woman's voice was a compassionate gentleness.

It seems this woman wants to save everything.

I want to save everything from this cycle of sorrow.

His taste buds tingled involuntarily, and he wanted to devour the woman named Kanae in front of him. Didn't she say she would stay by his side forever and serve him forever until the end of her life?

Then you should satisfy the other person and integrate them into your body, so that they can stay by your side forever.

"Okay, then you can stay by my side."

Doma looked at Kanae with a gentle smile on his face: "You can sit next to me, and I will take you back later."

As he spoke, Doma raised his hand, looked at the group of followers, and then pointed at Kanae Kocho:

"I heard the voice of the gods. The gods told me that I could take the woman before me to a world of bliss, where she would receive divine blessings and be happy forever..."

Upon hearing this, the followers' eyes lit up with excitement, and their gazes toward Kanae Butterfly were filled with envy and jealousy. Many of them were veteran followers who had served the Eternal Bliss Church for so long, yet they had never been chosen by the founder or the gods. The woman before them, a new follower, had been directly chosen by the gods, which was unacceptable to many of them.

But the patriarch is the representative of the gods, and since the patriarch has said so, we can only accept this outcome.

Although he had already decided to enjoy a delicious meal, Doma was in no hurry. He listened to the voices of many believers and read some of the doctrines of the Eternal Bliss Church before getting up to leave.

Kanae Kocho followed behind, her face beaming with the excitement of being chosen, but deep within her gentle eyes lay a calm that contrasted sharply with the excitement on her face.

Doma, accompanied by the butterfly Kanae, continued their journey.

Kanae Butterfly followed along, her eyes constantly scanning the surroundings, comparing the information with the intelligence Su Mu had gathered earlier.

Soon, led by Doma, they entered a deep palace. It was pitch black all around, except for the lights that illuminated the darkness.

In a place in the palace where a soft carpet was laid out, Doma sat down and invited Kanae Chocho to sit down next to him.

Looking at the girl's delicate features and her pleasant scent, Douma felt a rare sense of comfort.

"You smell wonderful, like cherry blossoms."

Doma smiled.

"I took a bath with cherry blossoms before coming here."

Kanae lowered her head slightly, her delicate face blushing slightly. This was intentional, just to make it easier for Tanjiro's nose.

"I see."

Doma nodded, looking at the girl in front of him. He could sense that she was full of nutrients. Although her skin was soft, her flesh inside seemed very firm, indicating that she exercised regularly.

"When Kanae was at home, she learned some tea ceremony. Why don't you make a cup of tea for the patriarch?"