Since the age of eleven, Kamado Asaki had helped his father, Tanjūrō, chop firewood, and often carried the small bamboo basket to sell charcoal with him.
Later, after Tanjūrō passed away young, not wanting his younger siblings to suffer and hoping they could grow up healthy, Asaki took on all the heavy work by himself.
He would often go into the forest alone to find fresh, edible, non-toxic wild fruits for his family.
And in the process, Asaki had encountered many wild beasts.
Wild boars, lynxes, even packs of wolves…
But relying on the agility and reflexes he'd developed through training, along with his innate sense for combat, he had never feared these beasts.
Only that abnormal beast known as a demon had been able to strike him down with no chance to resist.
"Let me see just how powerful this demon body really is."
He clenched his fists, the joints cracking loudly.
Although Asaki was starving and severely lacking in energy, he could still feel the immense power contained within this body.
The strength of a demon, combined with the battle instincts he already possessed as a human.
Asaki believed he could probably handle an ordinary demon.
But what he didn't know yet… was that the one he was about to face wasn't ordinary at all.
...
Following the scent, Asaki tracked it for over ten minutes and finally stopped in front of a cave by the mountainside.
The entrance was well hidden, covered by man-tall bushes and weeds. Normally, he might not have noticed it.
But the thick, sweet scent of blood emanating from within was like a candle in the dark—his eyes had already turned blood-red from hunger, and he couldn't hold back from charging in headfirst.
Fortunately, after experiencing the hellish ordeal of his rebirth, Asaki had developed some mental preparation and resistance, just barely managing to suppress the impulse.
"Judging by the claw marks around the entrance, this must've been a bear den."
"This demon must've stolen a bear's winter shelter. What a bastard."
Back when he was still human, the one animal Asaki hated encountering most in the forest… was the bear.
Their noses were sharp enough to track scents for kilometers, they could charge explosively fast, and they could climb trees…
No one wanted to face a predator like that.
Before, Asaki had run into bears a few times. He had always held a healthy fear of their strength and avoided them from afar.
But now, when it came to demons—those terrifying creatures that shouldn't even exist—even a forest king like the bear was nothing more than prey.
The moonlight was bright, but none of it reached the inside of the cave.
The bear den before Asaki looked like a bloodthirsty beast with its jaws wide open, waiting to devour him whole.
But demons had night vision. It was a bit like cats.
As long as there was a sliver of light, they could see clearly.
To human eyes, this cave might have been pitch black, but to Asaki, everything inside was laid bare.
"If demons didn't twist their minds, didn't have to eat human flesh, and could walk in sunlight… they might really be perfect beings."
Asaki consciously slowed his breathing and stepped into the cave without hesitation.
From the outside, it looked like only one person could fit through the entrance, but as he moved deeper in, the space widened significantly.
No wonder a demon would fight a bear over this cave. It was spacious, and the entrance was well hidden. You could easily hide from sunlight here during the day. It was the perfect shelter.
Asaki couldn't help but consider claiming it for himself...
The cave was relatively deep. After walking over ten meters, he stopped at the peak of the blood scent's intensity.
He saw it clearly—a hideous figure, back facing him, hungrily tearing into a mutilated corpse.
The blood still steamed as it flowed out. The body had clearly died just moments ago.
It lay sprawled out, and the demon was devouring the middle section without pause.
From this angle, Asaki could see the child's face.
He was young, probably only twelve or thirteen. His little face was frozen in twisted pain and despair.
Who knew what kind of fear he had suffered before dying…
"Uninvited little shit. Don't you know not to trespass on someone else's hunting ground?"
The voice came after the demon, Black Fang, heard the heavy breathing behind him.
He raised the fresh heart in his hand and spoke to Asaki with a vicious tone.
Like a wild beast, demons had a strong sense of territory. Another demon entering his home uninvited pissed Black Fang off.
Asaki's breathing grew heavier. His eyes seemed glued to that fresh corpse.
The temptation this close was unbearable for someone so starved.
He needed a few seconds to resist the blood's allure—just to stop himself from losing control and giving in to his instincts.
Black Fang turned and examined him, then asked curiously, "You're… resisting?"
Black Fang's body wasn't bulky, but it was agile and lean. His upper body was bare, muscles taut with bulging blue veins.
He had three savage claw marks on each side of his face. His waist was wrapped in simple animal hide.
His whole appearance radiated wild power.
He held the still-quivering heart in one hand, making Asaki's breathing even more erratic.
Black Fang grew increasingly intrigued.
"So that's it…"
"A newborn demon with human memories."
"Looks like that guy was around here recently. I'd give anything to meet him again, but I'm too weak to follow him…"
He waved the heart forward. "Hey, kid. You really wanna eat this, don't you? Come on, take it. If you walk over here, I'll give it to you."
Normally, demons were highly territorial over food, but today Black Fang felt like playing.
Newborn demons were rare after all.
Desperate to eat, but still bound by human memory, hesitant to devour flesh—that look always amused him.
Watching a newborn demon struggle between instinct and morality… that was entertainment.
But what Black Fang didn't know was that Asaki wasn't struggling with morality. His conflict was between physical instinct and human reason.
And that… was a massive difference.
"How long can you last, kid?"
Newborn demons with retained memories usually lasted only a short while. Their minds would twist, and they'd eventually give in and gorge on flesh.
Black Fang believed this without a doubt. That was exactly how he'd started, too. He'd lasted less than thirty seconds before devouring human meat without hesitation.
Once a demon decides to unleash its malice, to make the world suffer, to indulge in evil—he discovers that evil… is addictive as hell!
So Black Fang really wanted to see how long this kid would last.
And to his delight, it took less than thirty seconds before Asaki moved.
He stared at the heart in Black Fang's hand, eyes red, and slowly stepped forward.
Black Fang laughed wildly. "That's more like it! A demon eating humans is only natural. What's with all the hesitation?"
"Come, take this heart with your own hands. Open your soul. Then devour it."
Giving away a heart that fresh was a bit of a waste…
But Black Fang wanted nothing more than to witness a demon's transformation firsthand.
It reminded him of himself back then…
(End of Chapter)
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Ps: Black Fang Is An OC character with his own histories & I didn't change his name as it doesn't really sound weird and more like a title. I guess, future OC's will have their name rebranded for more clarity and less weirdness.