In the dark night, a hungry demon and an injured Shiba Inu walked aimlessly down the road, one in front of the other.
Perhaps hearing Maru-ni whimper from behind, Shinichi stopped his numb footsteps, turned back to pick up Maru-ni, and stroked Maru-ni injured neck, apologizing softly.
"I'm sorry, Maru-ni, I'm sorry."
Shinichi didn't know how he had turned into a demon. He had only first heard about these legendary monsters from Toshihiro mouth a few days ago.
What did it feel like to become a demon?
It was hard to describe.
The first thing Shinichi felt was that gnawing hunger, and an extreme craving for human flesh and blood.
Shinichi saw his current appearance in the reflection of a small stream.
His originally black eyes had turned crimson red. His once sallow and thin face had, for some unknown reason, become full and exceptionally handsome and delicate, as if this was how Shinichi should have looked originally.
Besides this, Shinichi also gained a pair of incredibly sharp black claws and long fangs in his mouth.
Becoming a demon also gave Shinichi inexplicably great strength. He could easily tear apart a thick tree and he could run dozens of meters in a second.
But similarly, Shinichi also felt weakness.
The constantly spreading weakness was his body reminding him that he needed to eat human flesh!
Only by eating human could he suppress the weakness and even become stronger.
But Shinichi resisted the craving for flesh and blood.
After burying all the corpses in the dilapidated temple, he chose to leave.
Saburo was dead, shattered to pieces, but even if he were still alive, he couldn't have stopped Shinichi now. The ruined temple he had once desperately wanted to escape from had become ruins, but Shinichi's heart was filled with darkness.
The promise to take that child to Kyoto could never be fulfilled now. That smiling child was forever resting in the small mound behind the ruined temple.
Whenever he thought of this, surging hatred flooded Shinichi's brain.
That man in the suit! It was him!
That man who called himself Muzan!
It was him!
He was also a demon!
Shinichi recalled when that man bone whip crushed his waist. While his brain was experiencing intense pain, it also entered a strange state. Everything before his eyes seemed to have been paused.
Shinichi could even see the static dust particles in the air. He could feel and even see the internal organs and muscles inside the body of that man called Muzan.
That man, no, that Demon! he might have multiple hearts and brains!
It was in this miraculous state that Shinichi used the dagger hidden in his sleeve to cut Muzan face, making Muzan bleed.
Shinichi memory stopped here.
Now, thinking of the terrifying aura surrounding Muzan, a trace of instinctive fear welled up from the depths of Shinichi soul.
"No! Damn it! Why should I be afraid? No matter who he is! I will definitely make him pay!" Shinichi roared irritably.
It was at this moment that in the pitch-black night sky, a glimmer of light began to appear on the horizon.
The sun was rising!
Sizzle!!
Like the sound of raw meat being scorched, Shinichi retracted his right hand from the sunlight as if electrocuted. Intense pain stimulated his nerves.
After just one second in the sunlight, Shinichi's entire right hand was now charred.
The incredibly sharp black claws had also become dry and brittle.
Just like in the story, evil demons can't stand sunlight. No matter how strong the demon is, they're all the same, even that demon called Muzan.
Shinichi, carrying Maru-ni, hid in a mountain cave.
The feeling of hunger in his stomach grew stronger and stronger.
Lying in the cave, Shinichi consciousness began to blur due to hunger. A voice in his mind kept tempting and urging him to kill people, to eat people.
Whether in his past life or now, Shinichi moral compass couldn't tolerate the idea of eating people. If he really ate someone, how would he be any different from the evil demons in the story? He didn't want to become a monster.
Shinichi closed his eyes.
In his daze, he seemed to see that evil demon called Muzan.
He glared with crimson eyes, countless sharp bone whips rising behind him, surging towards Shinichi like a tidal wave.
Shinichi felt like a cat trying to stop a car, helplessly watching as countless bone whips pierced through his body.
"Weak human, since you've had the fortune to become a demon, you should fulfill your role properly. We demons are superior beings, more perfect than humans. Go! Kill humans to your heart content, eat more and more humans! The more people you eat, the stronger you'll become! You might even become the strongest!!"
A seductive voice echoed in Shin'ichi ears.
But at this moment, Shin'ichi only felt irritated. He bared his sharp fangs, desperately resisting the invisible temptation and restraints.
"Get lost! I will never become a monster like you! And I absolutely won't eat people! Go to hell, bastard!!"
As he resisted, a faint green light seemed to appear before Shin'ichi eyes.
With an angry roar, the illusion before his eyes shattered into pieces.
Bang!
For some reason, when Shinichi suddenly opened his eyes, he felt as if some restraint had been lifted from his body. He felt an inexplicable sense of relief, and even the intense hunger in his stomach lessened somewhat.
At the same time, in a luxurious mansion in Shimane Prefecture, a pair of crimson eyes with black vertical pupils suddenly lit up in a dark room, filled with murderous intent.
"What's going on? This feeling of losing control? Tamayo?!"
Outside the room, the shattered bodies of the mansion owners were scattered everywhere, their blood staining the floor red.
...
Night finally fell.
Shinichi, almost driven mad by hunger, left the cave with Maru-ni, trying to find some food to alleviate his hunger.
But after wandering in the forest for a long time, whether it was fresh wild fruits, salmon from the stream, or even a rabbit that Shinichi caught and tore apart, as soon as he swallowed anything, the moment the food reached his stomach, Shinichi would vomit violently, completely emptying everything he had eaten.
The little Shiba Inu, Maru-ni, happily gnawed on a plump rabbit leg, the wound on its neck showing signs of improvement.
Stroking Maru-ni little head, Shinichi felt somewhat dejected.
Could it be that demons couldn't eat anything other than human flesh?
Was he going to starve to death?
Maybe... he should try...
Surely there were bad people among humans too?
Perhaps...
When the thought of eating people suddenly emerged, Shinichi was startled.
What was he thinking? No! Absolutely not!
He absolutely cannot eat people! Not even evil people.
Once the Pandora box of cannibalism is opened, Shinichi couldn't be sure he wouldn't completely fall into becoming a bloodthirsty demon.
But the feeling of hunger in his stomach was growing stronger.
If he just endured it like this, how long could he last?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
On the small road at night, the extremely hungry Shinichi walked aimlessly in silence.
After some time, a glimmer of light appeared on the distant road.
As he got closer, Shinichi saw a wooden cabin by the roadside.
Was someone living there?
Thinking of humans, Shinichi swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
No, he can't go there.
His current fierce and terrifying appearance would surely frighten the people there.
Holding Maru-ni, Shinichi prepared to take a detour, when suddenly, a faint scent of blood entered his nostrils.
The extremely hungry Shinichi instantly recognized what this smell was!
It was the scent of fresh human blood, and it was a very fresh bloody smell! And the source of the bloody smell was that wooden cabin!