Akaza froze.
Over the span of his long existence, the humans he encountered usually fell into three categories: those who dropped to their knees begging for mercy, those who ran for their lives, and those who readily offered up their friends and family just to buy themselves a few extra seconds of life.
Someone actually volunteering to become a demon? For a guy who practically operated like a cult recruiter, this was a rather refreshing change of pace.
Akaza tilted his chin up. "Do you even know what it means to become one of us?"
Tetsuya's lips curved into a subtle, knowing smile. The conversation had successfully shifted from 'Akaza killing him on a whim' to 'whether or not he should be turned into a demon.'
It was a tiny shift in the dynamic, easily missed by the untrained eye.
"I don't know," Tetsuya replied, his tone unwavering. He met Akaza's gaze fearlessly. "But I want to become strong. Stronger than you!"
After a long moment of silence, a look of genuine interest sparked in Akaza's golden eyes. With unyielding eyes like those, barring any unforeseen accidents, the kid was destined to become someone powerful.
Because he was Akaza! He lived for the thrill of battling the strong. He spared no effort in hunting them down, constantly yearning to reach the legendary Supreme Territory!
"Then let me see your resolve!" Akaza held out his hand. He sliced his own palm, forcing out a single, vibrantly crimson drop of blood.
It was only the size of an index finger, yet the moment it materialized, the blood moon above seemed to dim in comparison. The very space around the blood rippled faintly.
"What is this?" Tetsuya asked, his composure slipping.
Whoosh!
Akaza flicked his finger. The ruby-like droplet shot through the air, carving a bloody streak across the void. Before Tetsuya could even register the movement, the blood plunged straight down his throat.
He didn't even get a chance to taste it. As if possessing a mind of its own, the blood slid down his esophagus and rapidly dissolved into his system.
Tetsuya convulsed, the terrifying changes assaulting his body in real-time. His temperature skyrocketed. A faint, menacing red glow enveloped his skin, radiating a blistering heat. Scalding steam poured off him as every single cell in his body felt like it was being ripped apart.
"Rraagh!" Tetsuya roared, his eyes entirely bloodshot. He looked absolutely feral, a beastly snarl tearing from the depths of his throat.
Pure, unadulterated violence flooded his brain, leaving only one coherent thought behind: tear apart everything in sight.
Standing off to the side, Akaza watched the spectacle with keen interest. Just how far could this human push it?
Normally, turning someone into a demon only required a minuscule fraction of That Man's blood. This time, Akaza had injected over five milliliters into the boy—an amount more than enough to make an ordinary demon violently explode from the strain.
[Become my servant!]
A faint, imperious whisper seemed to echo right beside Tetsuya's ear.
So that was it. He finally understood. The blood invading his body didn't belong to Akaza. It belonged to Muzan Kibutsuji.
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Muzan's suffocating terror and cruelty threatened to completely shatter Tetsuya's sanity, desperate to hijack his body and reduce him to a mindless, flesh-eating monster.
"In your dreams!" Tetsuya growled through clenched teeth. He was the one who asked to become a demon. If he couldn't even stomach Muzan Kibutsuji's blood, that would be the biggest joke of the century.
Clamping his jaw shut, Tetsuya fought back with everything he had, violently suppressing Muzan's wicked will.
Slowly but surely, the crimson light radiating from his skin dimmed, retracting back into his body.
A flicker of pleasant surprise crossed Akaza's face. Based on that feat alone, this kid already possessed the qualifications to reach the Upper Ranks.
Over half an hour later, Tetsuya crouched on the ground, panting heavily. His features had sharpened into something predatory. Fangs elongated from his gums, and his fingernails sharpened into deadly claws. His skin took on a deathly pallor, while his eyes transformed into exquisite rubies, a sinister, bloody glint lingering in their depths.
"Haa... Haa..." Tetsuya gasped for air. He didn't even need a mirror to know what he had become.
An inexhaustible well of power seemed to bubble up from within him.
Thanks to the demonification, the shallow cuts and scrapes caused by the wind pressure of Akaza's punch healed at a visible rate. To a demon, even losing an arm or a leg was nothing more than a trivial scratch.
"You're already bordering on the strength of a normal Lower Rank. Not bad," Akaza evaluated, sensing Tetsuya's new aura.
For a normal human freshly turned into a demon, Tetsuya's starting line was already miles ahead of ninety percent of their kind.
"I'll be looking forward to the day you challenge me to a Blood Battle for a rank switch," Akaza chuckled.
Tetsuya feigned ignorance. "A Blood Battle?"
"A battle to the death between demons!" Akaza explained. "Only the twelve strongest of our kind earn the right to become the Twelve Kizuki, serving directly under That Man!"
"Don't worry, that day won't be far off!" Remembering his system task, Tetsuya slowly lifted his chin. He stared down his nose at Akaza, his eyes brimming with absolute disdain. "Because you're weak!"
Hearing that, Akaza's expression darkened.
'Nailed it,' Tetsuya cheered internally. Akaza completely despised the weak. Throwing that exact phrase at him carried as much psychological damage as walking up to a macho guy and asking, "Are you sure you can even get it up, string bean?"
However, Akaza's next reaction threw Tetsuya for a loop. The demon didn't erupt into the blinding rage he was expecting.
Instead, Akaza let out a cold sneer. "Then do your best to survive. Because with an arrogant attitude like that, a Demon Slayer is going to cut your head off real soon."
Tetsuya frowned, but it quickly clicked. Provocations only truly worked when both parties were on equal footing. When someone was overwhelmingly powerful, a stray dog barking at the side of the road didn't provoke anger—it just looked kind of cute.
Akaza tossed the yellowed drawing over to him. "This is the Blue Spider Lily. If you ever find a flower that looks like this, notify me immediately!"
"Sure thing," Tetsuya agreed, catching the paper. He silently mused that at least he had some emergency toilet paper now. At the same time, he held a moment of silence for Muzan Kibutsuji. 'If you had just hired regular humans to look for the damn thing during the daytime, you probably would have found it centuries ago.'
"See ya!" Akaza waved dismissively and turned to leave. Tetsuya was just too weak to hold his interest right now. The kid needed time to get used to his new demonic powers first.
Before long, Akaza's silhouette melted into the night. With his departure, the oppressive, blood-red moon in the sky faded away, revealing a bright, clear, silver moon in its place.
'So the red moon was just an illusion born entirely from his killing intent?' Tetsuya marveled, letting out a massive sigh of relief. Escaping with his life tonight had been no walk in the park.
Still, what's done is done. He was highly adaptable. He had already accepted the absurdity of transmigration, so waking up as a flesh-eating demon really wasn't that big of a deal.
Feeling the sheer might of his new demonic physique—the qualitative leaps in his strength, speed, and regenerative abilities, not to mention his newfound immortality—a genuine smile crept onto Tetsuya's face.
Knowing the 'Unlimited Death-Seeking System' and its tendency to throw him into suicidal situations, having a demon's insane regeneration was basically a mandatory requirement if he didn't want to get beaten to a pulp.
Of course, every advantage had its drawbacks. For now, sunlight was strictly off-limits.
Every demon in existence was spawned from Muzan Kibutsuji's blood. The very second they transformed, a cruel curse was carved into their cells. Revealing any intel about Muzan—or even uttering his name out loud—would trigger the curse and instantly destroy them from the inside out!
[Provocation successful. Death-Seeking Mission complete. Akaza's fury: 32%. Extracting special ability now.]