Although Kiyohiko was internally complaining so hard that he could cry, he still clung tightly to the arm piercing his stomach.
His fingernails dug deep into the demon’s flesh, preventing the Hand Demon from pulling it back and launching another attack.
With great difficulty, he turned his head.
Although his blood-covered face was twisted in agony, his eyes were exceptionally fierce as he roared at Tanjiro:
“What are you staring at?!
Never seen a handsome guy bleed before?!
It can’t move right now… Cut off its head!
Hurry!!”
At that moment, Tanjiro saw it.
Amid the overwhelming stench of blood, a thread connected to the brief opening in the Hand Demon’s movements.
It was an opening Kiyohiko had created with his own body—
The Opening Thread!
The thread pulled taut.
Tanjiro’s gaze instantly became perfectly clear, displaying the intense concentration that came after casting aside every distracting thought.
He tightened his grip on his Nichirin Sword.
The ground beneath his feet cracked as his body transformed into a stream of water-blue light.
Following the thread, he charged beneath the arm pinning Kiyohiko in place and soared into the air!
“Total Concentration: Water Breathing…”
The Hand Demon tried to withdraw its arms and defend itself in terror, but Kiyohiko released a beastlike roar.
Ignoring the excruciating pain of his wounds being torn wider, he tightened his grip around the demon’s joint.
“The era changed again this year, you bastard!”
“First Form: Water Surface Slash!!”
The blade flashed, calm and sharp like the surface of still water.
In that instant, the Hand Demon’s enormous head separated from its neck and flew high into the air.
The final image reflected in its malicious eyes was that of a blood-covered demon hanging from one of its arms, still grinning wildly and shouting something incomprehensible.
“WAAAAAAAAH!!
IT DIED!
IS IT REALLY DEAD?!
THAT LONG-ARMED MONSTER?!”
A heart-wrenching scream shattered the post-battle silence.
The nearby bushes shook violently, and Zenitsu Agatsuma burst out with tears and snot streaming down his face, his golden hair bobbing wildly.
He had originally intended to run as far away as possible.
However, the image of that strange “good demon” charging off to save someone had continued haunting his thoughts, making his conscience ache unbearably.
In the end, he had come running back while crying the entire way.
“K-Kiyohiko!!
There’s a hole in your body!
Your intestines!
Are those your intestines?!”
Zenitsu covered his face and screamed while pointing at the horrifying wound in Kiyohiko’s abdomen, which was still slowly writhing as it regenerated.
The sight nearly made his eyes roll back into his head.
Then, he abruptly turned and saw Tanjiro supporting Kiyohiko.
“AH!
It’s you!
The guy I met at the entrance to Final Selection!”
Zenitsu pointed at Tanjiro in astonishment.
You’re still alive too!”
Although Tanjiro was confused by the title “hardheaded guy,” this was clearly not the time to dwell on it.
He looked anxiously at Kiyohiko in his arms.
“Now isn’t the time to talk about that!
Mr.
Demon is—”
“Shut up… You’re too loud…”
Kiyohiko cursed weakly as he leaned against Tanjiro, feeling his vision begin to blur.
It was not because of blood loss.
It was hunger.
Overwhelming, maddening hunger.
The scent of the ashes left behind by the Hand Demon, the rich smell of blood coming from Tanjiro, and…
The two unfortunate, unidentified candidates lying nearby.
They had probably been sent flying by the Hand Demon.
Their chests had collapsed inward, and their breathing was faint and labored.
Blood had dyed the grass beneath them crimson.
At that moment, the brilliant red color appeared more alluring to Kiyohiko than any gemstone.
It smelled ten thousand times more delicious than the finest A5 wagyu beef.
Gulp.
Kiyohiko clearly heard himself swallow.
Every cell in his body screamed at him.
Eat them!
While they’re still warm!
Just one bite and your wounds will heal!
Your strength will return!
No… I can’t eat them.
If I do, there’ll really be no going back.
Kiyohiko bit down hard on the tip of his tongue.
The sharp pain cleared his mind slightly.
They’re dying.
I need to hurry.
Kiyohiko found himself hesitating.
He did not know whether he could remain conscious if he saved them.
His current condition was simply too terrible.
However, as a medical student, everything Kiyohiko had been taught made it impossible for him to stand aside and watch someone die.
Think about it.
If I endure my hunger and save these two people who are certain to die, the contrast between a demon and that kind of saintly—
No, that kind of compassionate and merciful image would definitely raise my Bond Values with Tanjiro and Zenitsu to the next level.
Right.
Exactly.
Saving those two background characters is merely a side benefit.
And just like that, Kiyohiko successfully convinced himself.
He approached the wounded candidates.
The smell of blood was so overwhelming that it felt as though someone were forcibly holding Kiyohiko’s head inside a pot of spicy hotpot.
His pupils instantly contracted into needle-thin slits.
His fingernails lengthened uncontrollably, and a low, beastlike growl rumbled from his throat, like a predator guarding its food.
“Mr.
Demon?!”
Tanjiro immediately sensed that something was wrong.
Kiyohiko’s presence was now even more dangerous than it had been while facing the Hand Demon.
Zenitsu was so terrified that he hid behind a tree, his teeth chattering violently.
“H-H-His sound changed!
That’s the sound of someone who wants to eat people!
I’ve heard it before!
I’ve definitely heard it before!”
Kiyohiko abruptly shoved Tanjiro away.
He plunged both hands deep into the soil, forcibly suppressing the urge to pounce upon the candidates and tear into their flesh.
He raised his head.
His bloodshot eyes contained two conflicting forces: the rationality of a human and the madness of a demon.
“Listen… Tanjiro… Zenitsu…”
His voice was as rough as though he were chewing sand.
Every word was forced through his clenched teeth.
“I’m going to save them… I’ll use my Blood Demon Art… and transfer their injuries to myself…”
“What?!
But you’re already—”
Tanjiro stared in shock at the massive hole in Kiyohiko’s abdomen, which was still healing at an agonizingly slow pace.
“Enough!”
Kiyohiko interrupted him with a low roar.
He took a deep breath, and his gaze abruptly became incomparably sharp as he stared fixedly at the Nichirin Sword in Tanjiro’s hand.
“After I save them, I’ll become even hungrier… I might completely lose my mind…”
“If… I’m saying if…”
Kiyohiko extended a trembling hand and placed it against the chest of one of the dying candidates.
At the same time, he turned toward Tanjiro with a look of unwavering determination.
“If I truly become a monster that only knows how to devour humans…”
“If I turn my fangs toward either of you…”
“Tanjiro!
Don’t hesitate!
Aim for my neck…”
“And cut it off!”
Damn it, Kiyohiko.
Before transmigrating, you worked yourself to death saving people as a doctor.
If you die saving people again after transmigrating, that would be far too embarrassing.
Kiyohiko hesitated no longer.
Dark-red light erupted from his palm.
The candidate’s collapsed rib cage visibly repaired itself.
At the same time, Kiyohiko’s own chest abruptly caved inward, as though it had been struck by an invisible iron hammer.
By the time the dark-red light faded from his palm, the last of the two candidates was breathing steadily.
They remained unconscious, but their lives were no longer in immediate danger.
Tanjiro tried to approach and check Kiyohiko’s condition, but he quickly stopped in his tracks.
Kiyohiko’s eyes, once clearly divided between black and white, had now turned completely scarlet.
His pupils stood vertically like needles.
The fangs inside his mouth lengthened uncontrollably.
Saliva mixed with streaks of blood dripped from the corners of his lips, producing a faint sizzling sound when it struck the grass.