Kibutsuji Muzan had not really wanted to get involved in this matter at all.
However, when he watched the bandit leader carry that woman into the cabin where he was staying, a sickening feeling welled up inside Muzan. And the moment the man pushed open the wooden door, a wave of emotion that did not belong to Muzan himself suddenly erupted. It was like a wild beast whose territory had been violated—a surge of intense malice and a desire to attack flashed through Muzan's mind. This foreign emotion manipulated Muzan into killing the man, even though Muzan himself was entirely unaware of it happening.
*What the hell?!*
When he finally snapped back to reality and realized what had occurred, Muzan was stunned.
*I killed someone?*
*Are you kidding me?!*
Having transmigrated not long ago, Muzan only belatedly understood what he had done. As a human, it was inevitable that he would feel a sense of rejection and fear inside. But...
Looking at Shoji, who was collapsed weakly beside the corpse, Muzan felt no nausea or revulsion whatsoever. On the contrary... he felt terrifyingly calm.
What was this supposed to be?
Muzan could not figure it out.
"Boss? What are you do—What the—?!"
The voices of the other bandits drew closer, freezing the moment they caught sight of the headless corpse.
"Wh-What is going on here?!"
Someone roared in terror, while the others hurriedly scanned their surroundings and spotted Kibutsuji Muzan sitting on the wooden bed.
The instant they laid eyes on him, the bandits could only feel how unnervingly calm this man was.
Dressed in expensive clothing, his exquisitely sculpted face showed not a shred of fear. Instead, when that pair of eyes looked at the bandits, it was as if they were gazing at a bunch of garbage.
Still, someone noticed how wealthy Muzan appeared:
"Hey, hey, hey, look at that. The clothes this guy's wearing are clearly top-tier brand names. Even his skin... it's ridiculously pale!"
People were greedy.
The bandit leader's death could not stop that. Their gazes quickly locked onto the "wealthy magnate" before them.
"He's so pale, he clearly doesn't go outside to do any work! He must be some rich young lady who ran off into these mountains!"
Hearing their companion's words, the group of bandits instantly threw the boss's death to the back of their minds.
Right now, they figured that robbing this person's property would definitely be enough to fund their wild living for quite a while. Some of them even started daydreaming about using the money to pay for beautiful women.
Once an idea took root, they had to act on it.
The bandits drew their weapons; some wielded short blades, others carried heavy sabers. But all of them were predictably crude, ordinary weapons of shoddy workmanship.
Muzan let out a cold snort and slowly stood up.
*Ding! Quest detected. Please complete: Kill bandits 1/5. Quest reward: Random.*
The long-awaited system voice rang out in Muzan's mind. Once he understood the objective, Muzan's last remaining shred of hesitation completely vanished.
These scoundrels were headed for hell sooner or later anyway; they might as well end up in his stomach first.
"Look at that, he even dares to stand up."
The earlier bandit sneered at Muzan with contempt, seemingly believing that since there were more of them, overpowering a single person would be child's play.
Meanwhile, Muzan was still pondering whether he could accept the fact of feeding on humans—even though... he really was feeling a little hungry.
"I didn't get a good look just now... How come your complexion is so terrible, pal? Such a pale face, you look just like a... dead man! Hahahahaha—"
"!!!!! latter part"
The moment the man finished speaking, Muzan's pupils dilated as if shaken by an earthquake. A fury so intense it resembled a tidal wave welled up from deep within. This foreign emotion, equally not his own, instantly swallowed up Muzan's mind.
Before the man could even finish laughing, a series of black, thorn-like long whips suddenly shot out from Muzan's arm, instantly tearing him to pieces before the bandit could even react.
"Blood Demon Art: Black Blood Brambles"
Blood rained down as if the world had been frozen in place.
Human blood acted like an aroma enhancer in Muzan's eyes, drowning out his humanity and turning him into a beast. The remaining three bandits felt a sudden wave of heat as they were splattered head-to-toe with blood mixed with chunks of their torn companion.
Before they could even react and charge forward with their blades, Muzan closed the distance in a single bound, pulling himself right into their midst—
...
Meanwhile, taking advantage of the chaos, Shoji had escaped and used trembling hands to untie the ropes binding her female companions. Before the others could ask what was happening, she spoke at breakneck speed:
"Run! Those bandits are definitely going to die here today."
"Sister Shoji? What on earth happened?!"
One of the girls asked.
Shoji hoisted the girl who couldn't walk onto her back, telling her sisters only to run quickly and she would explain on the way. Seeing that their older sister refused to say more, the other girls cooperated and prepared to flee the place.
Right at that moment—
They abruptly heard the sounds of tearing, wailing, heavy objects crashing, and the sharp scraping of blades coming from the cabin not far away. A red liquid began to seep out across the ground—blood! So much blood!
"No, no... A monster, a monster!"
One of the bandits stumbled out of the cabin. With one arm severed, covered in blood and wearing a terrified expression, he looked as though he had seen something unimaginable.
He didn't even have time to care about the women who had already broken free; he only knew how to crawl and scramble away in a desperate flight into the distance.
At that moment, the sky grew dark.
Thick, heavy storm clouds blotted out the sun.
It was going to rain.
*Tap—Tap—*
Footsteps.
Kibutsuji Muzan emerged from the doorway of the cabin, stepping over the blood-soaked ground. His mouth and hands were stained with blood as well, but clearly... none of it was his own.
That pair of reddened eyes glanced up at the gloomy sky, then locked onto the bandit fleeing frantically in the distance. With a single teleportation, moving at a speed the naked eye could not possibly catch, Muzan instantly overtook the running man. His left hand then transformed into a mass of twisted flesh, opened a gaping maw, and swallowed the bandit whole in a single gulp—
*Crunch, crunch.*
Accompanied by the sounds of chewing and swallowing, Muzan restored his left hand to its original form.
The world fell silent.
Only scraps littered the ground, and the thick stench of blood hung heavy in the air.
Barely dozens of seconds had passed since the bandits entered the cabin, and yet the entire group had been wiped out, becoming Muzan's meal.
A cold wind blew, and dark clouds gathered.
Even the heavens were favoring Muzan, it seemed.
Was this supposed to be a reward for punishing evildoers?
...
Shoji and the other women were frozen stiff.
It wasn't until the man before them turned his head and locked eyes with them that Shoji snapped out of it.
This person was not human.
That was the thought in Shoji's mind.
Her heart was beating so fast. Merely making eye contact made her feel her legs trembling, every cell in her body gripped by fear and dread. Almost instinctively, she dropped to her knees and pressed her forehead against the ground.
Though the rest of the sisters didn't understand why she did this, the wave of suppression emanating from their hearts was no lie. Trembling all over, they all dropped to their knees and slammed their foreheads hard against the earth.
"......."
Kibutsuji Muzan absorbed every last drop of blood on his body. Looking at the four women kneeling before him, he suddenly had no idea what to say.
He only felt a slight headache coming on.
Because those emotions that didn't belong to him had surfaced far too many times. This unknown variable deeply annoyed Muzan—even if... he had no idea why he was annoyed.
"Your village..."
Muzan's magnetic voice drifted down from above the women.
"How many people are there?"