Demon Slayer: Starting with the Kingdom

Her eyes gradually turned blood red, and her originally dark and round pupils twisted and changed shape until they finally became the same shape as the datura flower in her hand.

"Do you two believe that there has always existed a supreme deity in this world who can control the fate of everyone and manipulate all living beings at will?"

"I believe it."

On the ground, a massive array composed of mandala patterns instantly unfolded around Sanye. Within the dark red array, intricate patterns flickered and disappeared, enveloping the two people below.

A massive black datura flower rose from the ground behind the three leaves, its enormous black bud blooming in full glory, with countless tiny petals drifting down.

“Not only did I believe in Him, but I also stole a portion of His authority from His hands.”

The scene before them was so bizarre and dreamlike that the two people below, who were in the formation, were both stunned and looked up at Mitsuha above.

"Gentlemen! Now behold a miracle!"

Holding the black datura flower, Mitsuha laughed loudly and lightly touched one of the petals.

【Blood Demon Art o Karma Flower Picking】

The petal trembled slightly, then plucked the blood-red thread that was connected to it, a thread that only she could see.

At the other end of the thread, the water-breathing swordsman suddenly widened his eyes, then coughed up a mouthful of blood, clutched his chest tightly with both hands, and knelt on the ground in pain.

"Cough...you...how..."

Large amounts of blood mixed with froth kept spilling from his mouth, and the Water Breathing Swordsman looked up at Mitsuba in disbelief.

He seemed to want to say something, but in the end he couldn't say anything and collapsed to the ground, lifeless.

"team leader?!"

It was only then that the Windcaller swordsman finally realized what was happening.

He looked at the now-dead Water Breathing Swordsman with a face full of terror, then looked up at Mitsuba above, his eyes bloodshot, and said:

"What did you just do?!"

How did she just make that move?

Why was the captain killed without him seeing anything?

Has she become that fast?

"It is cause and effect, sir."

Faced with his question, Mitsuha patiently explained:

Everything in this world is connected by cause and effect.

And I have already discerned the cause and effect of his actions.

Your captain was injured in the lungs by a demon during a battle several years ago. Although he was rescued in time, the injury still left a hidden danger.

According to the divine arrangement, he should have died more than ten years later due to the worsening of this hidden danger.

But just now, I gently and carefully touched his causal thread, bringing his end forward by a little over ten years.

And so, he died…it was that simple.

This is the specific effect of the Three-Leaf Blood Demon Art.

After transforming into a ghost, she gained the ability to see the fate of others within her domain and manipulate it at will according to her own ideas.

A very simple yet powerful Blood Demon Art.

There are no fancy mechanisms, only simple and powerful features.

"To manipulate fate is a power that only gods possess."

And I am the only usurper in this world!

I have stolen this power that belongs to the gods. The fate of all living beings who step into my domain... is in my hands!

Her delicate face was filled with excitement and joy. She took in the fear in the eyes of the Wind Howler below. With that, Mitsuha laughed wildly and once again fluttered the mandala petals in her hand.

"Now it is your turn."

Chapter 32 Stealing the Authority of the Gods (Bonus Chapter)

The petals fluttered gently, and the cause and effect of fate trembled once more.

With just a slight twitch of her fingers, Mitsuha caused the Wind Swordsman to instantly feel a sharp pain in his left arm.

He quickly looked down and saw that the place where his left arm should have been had completely disappeared!

It is not a break, but a literal disappearance.

His left arm disappeared completely below the shoulder, as if it had been amputated long ago. The cut had even healed itself without a trace of wound!

At the same time, a memory that the Windcaller had no recollection of suddenly surfaced in his mind.

He suddenly remembered the serious injury he had suffered two years ago.

His left arm was torn off by a demon, but fortunately, the doctors in the Demon Slayer Corps were highly skilled and managed to reattach it.

No, that's not right, things didn't seem to go like that back then...

He remembered, his arm... it seems it wasn't successfully reattached back then?

It seems that he was delayed on his way back to the camp due to exhaustion, which caused the arm to be severed for too long. Even the most skilled doctor was powerless to do anything about it and had no choice but to give up.

No...this is not right!

He remembered that he hadn't delayed at all!

He remembered that his arm had been reattached!

How could this be...? No... Strange... His mind... These memories... What exactly happened back then...?

In his mind, two completely different memories are clashing and merging, with the latter constantly replacing the former and gradually filling the Windcaller's brain.

"It's been taken back."

Just then, Mitsuha, who was admiring the Windcaller's face full of struggle and pain, smiled and said:

"Sir, if you remember correctly, your left arm was indeed reattached back then."

"What did you say?"

"It's just that I slightly used my powers to change the cause and effect in your memory into a different result."

You see, the course of cause and effect in this world is so wondrous. By simply altering a tiny detail, we can steer the final 'effect' in a completely different direction... Don't you find that fascinating?"

"How could such a thing be possible..."

"Haven't I done it already?"

Standing quietly on the rooftop, Mitsuha smiled as she looked at the chilling fear in the eyes of the Wind Howler.

"The power of the gods is so vast and powerful that even a tiny bit is enough to achieve miracles that no living being would dare to even dream of."

But don't worry, after all, the meager power I stole can only be used in my own domain.

Therefore, as soon as you leave my domain, all the modifications I made to you will be instantly restored.

At that time, not only will your original memories be restored, but the arm you have lost will also return.

If you don't believe me, you can try it.

This is a limitation of the Three-Leaf Blood Demon Art.

Her power stems from her "theft" of divine authority.

Since the power comes from the gods, the gods can naturally change back what she changed.

It's just that within Mitsuha's own domain, she has a higher priority than the gods.

Once outside her domain, everything will return to its original state under the influence of the deity.

As Mitsuha deliberately closed her Blood Demon Art domain, the Windcaller's arm, which had disappeared, instantly returned to normal.

At the same time, all the memories in his mind that had been almost completely erased were restored at this moment.

Of course, not everything can be changed back exactly as it was.

At the feet of the Windcaller, the Watercaller, who had already died, could not be resurrected.

Even after Mitsuha withdrew her domain, he remained lying on the ground, motionless.

And this is the only place where Mitsuha, who "stole" the authority of the gods, can "disobey" them.

Because in this world, only living beings possess cause and effect; once life ends, all cause and effect vanish.

Therefore, anyone who dies within her domain is truly dead, and even if she removes the domain later, these people will never be able to come back to life.

Even the gods are powerless to change this established fact.

Because the dead have no cause and effect.

"How can this be……"

Everything returned to normal. Looking down at his left arm, which had returned to normal, the Wind Howler was filled with terror.

His body was trembling uncontrollably from extreme fear.

Manipulating cause and effect, arbitrarily altering everyone's fate... How could such a terrifying evil spirit be born in this world?

Is it really possible for them to defeat such an enemy?

His hand gripping the sword trembled uncontrollably. He looked up at Mitsuha, who was smiling at him. The swordsman was breathing heavily, and his forehead was covered in sweat.

The next instant, he pushed his breathing technique to its limit, his figure leaping more than ten meters away in an instant, and then turned and ran!

Escape! He must escape now!

But he wasn't fleeing to save his life!

He fled in order to bring back information about the female ghost's blood demon magic!

Otherwise, if this female ghost is allowed to live and continue to develop her Blood Demon Art, she will inevitably become a major threat to the Demon Slayer Corps in the future!

Its threat to the Demon Slayer Corps is so great that it may even surpass that of the legendary Demon King!

He had to escape back and inform his lord of the information about the female ghost!

"Oh dear, so they didn't choose to fight me to the death, but instead ran away..."

Watching the Wind Howler Swordsman flee into the distance, Mitsuha paused for a moment, then a bright smile appeared on her face.

"Sir, what exactly gave you the misconception that I can only use Blood Demon Arts and not martial arts?"

If you're not forgetful, I think you should remember that I just mentioned that my brother is also a demon slayer, right?

Thunder Breathing - First Form - Thunderclap Flash!

Her figure vanished from the spot, picked up the Nichirin Blade of the Water Breathing Swordsman from the ground, and with bursts of black lightning and a thunderous roar, Mitsuha's figure flashed past in the night. Almost instantly, she rushed behind the Wind Breathing Swordsman and then slashed out with her sword!

Its head flew high into the air, and the headless body, propelled by inertia, ran forward a few more steps before finally collapsing.

Chapter 33 Miss Tamayo, what kind of person are you? (Bonus Chapter)

There was no tense and exciting battle, nor any dazzling exchange of moves. Under the absolute crushing power, everything ended in an instant.

The sword technique Mitsuha just used was the Thunder Breathing technique that Yoriichi had previously demonstrated to her.

Thanks to the guidance of her brother Yoriichi, and with her amazing memory and imitation abilities, Mitsuha firmly memorized the techniques for using those breathing techniques and sword moves.

Of course, the Nichirin Blade of Water Breathing cannot unleash the true power of Thunder Breathing sword techniques.

But Mitsuha didn't care. After all, with the speed she had just charged, even if she couldn't fully unleash the power of Thunder Breathing, a single slash would have been enough to split a person's body in two.

All she needed was a knife; whether it had that extra power or not, the result would be the same.

Incidentally, Mitsuha's body is not actually suited to Thunder Breathing; the sword move just now was entirely driven by her reckless and forceful actions.

Fortunately, the demon has a strong regenerative ability, and even if its body is damaged, it can recover quickly.

Even so, it still hurt quite a bit, especially in her lungs and calves, where she felt a burning pain during her thrusting.

Well, I should try to use breathing techniques as little as possible in the future...

Tossing aside the broken blade in her hand, Mitsuha turned around and looked at the headless body on the ground, a datura flower condensing in her hand.

The flower was gently tossed onto the body, and in the blink of an eye, the corpse shriveled up at an extremely fast speed, as if something had rapidly drained the flesh and blood from under the skin.