Chapter 198: A Peering Presence
Hot springs were wonderfully soothing, but lingering in the scalding water for too long always brought its own set of complications.
Even though Akira and Kanae possessed physical constitutions that far surpassed those of ordinary humans, prolonged exposure to the intense heat still took a toll. Coupled with the lingering emotional turbulence of their recent, highly intimate contact, Kanae was the first to break. She hurriedly rose from the water, her footsteps echoing with a frantic, splashing rhythm as she fled toward the women's changing room.
Listening to her fading steps, Akira took a deep breath, slowly calming the heated rush of his own blood before lifting himself out of the water to do the same.
By the time they both emerged from their respective changing areas, Kanae's face remained a brilliant shade of crimson. The overwhelming shyness stemming from their close proximity had yet to dissipate. Her fair cheeks, flushed with a deep, rosy hue, looked exactly like perfectly ripe apples—so sweet and inviting that it took a considerable amount of willpower not to lean in and take a bite.
Truthfully, Akira hadn't entirely detached himself from those turbulent emotions either. He was actively relying on the Transparent World, circulating his breathing to forcefully suppress his body's natural, surging arousal.
Looking at Kanae's current state, shifting her weight nervously from foot to foot, he could only admit to himself that if he couldn't hold back, he simply wouldn't.
Just as Kanae averted her gaze, entirely overwhelmed by bashfulness, Akira closed the distance between them with a single, smooth step and pressed a soft, lingering kiss to her warm cheek.
Because he was still maintaining the heightened perception of the Transparent World, his movements were completely silent. With her gaze turned away, Kanae hadn't even noticed his approach. It wasn't until the sudden, warm pressure of his lips met her skin that she let out a soft, startled gasp, her shoulders jumping in surprise.
However, that was the extent of her retaliation. Aside from the flush on her face deepening by several shades, and the shy affection in her eyes becoming so thick it practically overflowed, Kanae offered no other reaction. She simply stood there, her fingers nervously twisting the fabric of her sleeves.
If it had been Shinobu or Makomo, they would likely already be in Akira's arms, playfully drumming their fists against his chest to hide their embarrassment. If it were Mitsuri, she would have probably turned into a human steam engine on the spot, her face burying itself into her hands.
As for Kanao... she wouldn't have just accepted a peck on the cheek. Before Akira could even pull away, she would have aggressively turned her head to capture his lips with her own.
Honestly, if it were Kanao, Akira wouldn't have dared to share a hot spring with her in the first place. He wasn't entirely sure when it had started, but Kanao's attachment to him had morphed into a fierce, almost predatory possessiveness. It forced him to keep their physical interactions strictly limited to innocent hugs; anything more, and the situation would rapidly spiral out of his control.
At least for now. Given Kanao's current age, crossing that line felt far too criminal for his conscience to bear.
Pushing those trivial thoughts aside, Akira gently reached out and intertwined his fingers with Kanae's. She squeezed his hand in return, and they walked out of the bathhouse together.
It wasn't that he didn't want to push for more intimacy—a real kiss, perhaps—but if he continued to tease her, Kanae might actually pass out from the sheer embarrassment., even while using the Transparent World, he couldn't suppress his bodily instincts forever. If he pushed the boundaries too far right now, he would be the one in trouble.
Some things simply didn't need to be rushed.
Stepping out of the hot spring building, they were greeted by a horizon painted in brilliant strokes of fiery red and deep violet. The sunset clouds stretched endlessly across the sky.
The warm afterglow of the setting sun cascaded over the two of them, casting a golden radiance over their features and highlighting the lingering blush on their faces.
Lighting truly could elevate a person's beauty.
Looking at Kanae bathed in the ethereal glow of the setting sun, Akira felt his restraint slipping again. She looked so breathtakingly radiant that he felt an overwhelming urge to pull her in for another kiss.
But this time, he stopped dead in his tracks.
The Transparent World, which he had been maintaining at a low output to conserve stamina, suddenly captured a distinct, chilling sensation. It was a gaze—one dripping with pure, unadulterated hostility and murderous intent.
Akira's romantic haze shattered instantly, replaced by cold, calculated focus. His jaw locked. He snapped his head toward the direction of the malice. The perception range of the Transparent World, previously restricted to his immediate surroundings, violently expanded outward like a shockwave.
The hot spring facility sat on the very outskirts of the Swordsmith Village. Just a short walk further out lay the dense, untamed mountain forests.
And that gaze was piercing through the foliage, coming directly from those woods.
Deep within the mountain forest just outside the Swordsmith Village.
A grotesque, disembodied eyeball hung suspended beneath the thick branch of a lush tree. It was perfectly concealed in a shadowed corner where the fading sunlight could not reach, its pupil locked unblinkingly onto the hidden village.
Etched directly into the iris of that eyeball was the kanji for 'Five'.
This was a biological 'camera', a scout created through Nakime's Blood Demon Art, capable of detaching and moving freely to gather intelligence.
After several grueling days of tracking the scattered personnel who occasionally passed through the surrounding regions, it had finally pinpointed this heavily guarded location, carefully hidden away by the Demon Slayer Corps.
Over the past few days, the eyeball had observed that most of the people returning to this valley wore comical Hyottoko masks. More, they all carried shipments of a very specific, special ore. Barring any elaborate traps, this was undoubtedly the secret manufacturing hub for the Demon Slayers' weapons.
Just as Nakime prepared to gather a bit more structural intelligence before night fell completely—desperately wanting to ensure Akaza wouldn't blame her if a raid failed—two figures wearing similar haori stepped into her line of sight.
Nakime didn't recognize the woman. But the man beside her sent a jolt of recognition through her shared consciousness.
Over the past two years, the Upper Ranks had suffered two devastating, successive losses. Both of those absolute disasters were tied directly to this single man: Akira.
This was the name Akaza had brought back to the Infinity Castle after suffering his only true failure in over a century.
Whether it was Muzan himself or the remaining Upper Ranks, every single demon of power had that name burned into their memories.
Akaza, in particular, spent every waking moment obsessing over finding that man. He wanted nothing more than to use his bare fists to ruthlessly crush Akira's bones bit by bit, forcing the human to experience the exact same agonizing humiliation he had endured when Muzan punished him for his failure.
And now, that very man had appeared right in front of her scout.
"Akira..."
Deep inside the shifting, gravity-defying halls of the Infinity Castle, Nakime subconsciously muttered the name aloud.
Sitting quietly on a tatami mat nearby, waiting for his deployment orders, Akaza vanished. In a fraction of a second, he reappeared directly beside her wooden platform, his fangs bared in a feral snarl. "Who did you just say?"
A suffocating, violently oppressive aura erupted from Akaza's body, cracking the wooden floorboards beneath his feet. The sheer bloodlust was so intense that Hantengu, who was lurking in a dark corner nearby, uncontrollably curled into a tight ball, letting out a series of pathetic, trembling whimpers.
Even Nakime was slightly shaken by the sheer density of Akaza's murderous rage. She steadied her breathing before answering, "I have found the exact location of the Swordsmith Village.... Akira is there."
"Send me there. Now!"
Akaza practically roared, his muscles bulging as he suppressed the urge to tear the castle apart with his bare hands.
"The sun has not yet fully set," Nakime replied, her tone unhurried and entirely devoid of his frantic energy.
"also, he has already discovered and destroyed my 'eye'. I cannot open a gate for you at this very moment."
As she spoke, her fingers lightly plucked the strings of the biwa resting in her lap. With a sharp, echoing twang, a brand new eyeball was teleported to a secondary location slightly further out in the woods, linking up with another hidden scout.
Hearing her reasoning, Akaza gritted his teeth so hard they nearly cracked. He forced himself to swallow the burning fury and urgency clawing at his chest, slowly backing away and sitting back down on the tatami mat.
This was the strict limitation of Nakime's Blood Demon Art.
Before her elevation in the Upper Ranks, she could only rely on a small handful of pre-marked coordinates for fixed-point teleportation. Now, her spatial manipulation had been vastly enhanced, but she still required a clear line of sight from one of her active 'eyeballs' to successfully open a stable teleportation gate to a new destination.
Back at the Swordsmith Village.
Akira casually tossed a small pebble into the air, caught it, and flicked his wrist. The stone shot forward like a bullet, cleanly piercing the foliage and shattering the grotesque eyeball monitoring them from the distant tree into a burst of foul-smelling mist.
He dusted off his hands and turned to Kanae. The shy flush on her face had instantly vanished, replaced by the cold, sharp focus of a seasoned Hashira.
"A demon has found this place," Akira stated, his voice calm but laced with absolute authority. "Go retrieve your Nichirin Blade immediately. Notify the village chief and have him organize the villagers for an emergency evacuation. Head in that direction."
Akira pointed toward the valley's rear exit, the exact opposite direction of where the destroyed eyeball had been stationed. It was the safest route, and the one most likely to shake off any remaining tracking arts Nakime might have deployed.
[Inorin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me!
Want to read ahead on our official home, or unlock 50 advanced chapters (plus an Ad-Free experience) to feed your addiction? Help keep this shameless translator alive here:
(P.S. Replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
🌐 Official Website: elysianreads[.]com
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters & Ad-Free): patreon[.]com/InorinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/InorinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]