After speaking, the white light slowly began to dissipate, being reabsorbed by the blazing feathers.
As if oblivious to his fading body, Yamibari stared blankly ahead.
"Nanako, I'm sorry, you must have searched for me for a long time."
"I'm sorry, I forgot you..."
Akihiro was silent for a while, facing this demon who had once severed his head and fought him fiercely.
He slowly uttered a single word: "Okay."
The white light in his vision receded, and Akihiro's consciousness returned to his body. He turned his head and looked behind him.
There, a pair of rust-colored wings had appeared, below the blazing white wings. They were shorter than the blazing white wings but still quite long, with a wingspan of over two meters.
Trying to flap these two pairs of wings, Akihiro flew up wobbly. This time, he could reach the cave ceiling.
However, after a short while, he lost control again and almost crashed headfirst. But Akihiro felt he was just a hair's breadth away from being able to fly properly.
"Yamibari."
"I have received your strength. I promise I will personally ask him your question for you."
Muzan?
"Also, Yamibari, can you tell me, what exactly is a demon?"
Unfortunately, no one answered Akihiro.
Now, after the blazing feathers absorbed the black and red ashes of Yamibari, Akihiro was full of energy and vigor.
The previous gnawing hunger, which felt like it would grind his bones to dust, had completely disappeared. The remains in the cave were still emitting the smell of blood, but they could no longer make Akihiro feel any impulse.
Having consumed Yamibari's body, Akihiro felt that he wouldn't be hungry for a long time.
His physical condition had finally reached its peak. His stamina, strength, agility... all aspects had greatly improved.
However, Akihiro's heart was somewhat restless and troubled.
Because he felt immense sympathy for Yamibari, for this demon.
"What exactly are demons?"
"Are they truly all twisted, evil, and beyond redemption?"
Before, Akihiro believed that only he had undergone a mutation, retaining his human rationality and being able to actively restrain his urge to eat humans, while all other demons were utterly evil.
But now, his firm conviction was shaken. After seeing Yamibari's life, he inevitably felt sadness for him.
"Does every demon have a tragic memory behind them?"
"Is every demon like me, transformed into a demon after enduring unbearable suffering and losing their dearest ones?"
"Is there a possibility for demons to be pitied and saved?"
The blazing white wings and the rust-colored wings dissipated into the air, leaving only two small wing imprints on Akihiro's back skin.
Maintaining the Blood Demon Art was quite mentally taxing.
With a thud, Akihiro lay flat on his back, disregarding the dust and rubble on the floor.
He silently stared at the uneven cave ceiling, his chaotic thoughts refusing to settle.
...
The sun rose from the east and set in the west.
After three cycles of rising and setting, a wild rat scurried into the pitch-black bear cave. Following the scent of blood, it slowly moved deeper into the cave.
It had been hungry for several days. Even though there was a terrifying oppressive feeling in the cave, it had to take a risk. To survive, it would seek the source of that bloody scent.
Upon reaching the depths of the cave, the wild rat squeaked excitedly, for it had discovered a corpse with most of its flesh still remaining. If it could just tear off a piece of meat and quickly escape, it would be free from the torment of hunger.
But as it ran towards the corpse, it suddenly saw two bright lights ahead.
Then, the world spun, and it found itself lifted by the tail.
Those two bright lights were Akihiro's eyes, which had regained their vibrancy.
"Little one, eating humans is not allowed."
"I'll let you go this time. Leave."
Akihiro had a habit of carrying food with him. There were a few mochi balls in his pocket. He rummaged through them and found only one mochi ball that wasn't stained with blood.
He put the wild rat down, then placed the mochi ball in front of it, indicating that it could take it.
This wild rat was also quite intelligent. Although it trembled in fear from the terrifying aura emanating from Akihiro, it understood Akihiro's good intentions.
It bit the lotus leaf wrapped around the mochi ball and quickly dragged the mochi ball, which was almost as big as its body, out of the cave.
Only at the mouth of the cave did the wild rat look back, pause for a moment, and then, still biting the mochi ball, dart into the forest, disappearing into the night.
Akihiro slowly stood up and stretched his back. His previously confused expression had vanished.
After three days of contemplation, Akihiro had arrived at an answer to his questions that currently satisfied him.
"Man-eating demons are never worthy of pity, never worthy of forgiveness."
"What made me feel pity and sadness was not the demon, but the little boy who waited for his childhood Love to return."
"Demons, once they eat a human, can never go back. No matter the reason, all man-eating demons should be killed."
"Fate made me suffer and become a demon, yet it also gave me the blazing white wings to slay demons."
"Then let me become the seraph who ends the demons."
The goal of creating a world without demons will never change.
In truth, Akihiro felt a bit of lingering fear because what he had thought before was to eat evil people, to eat those who had already died.
But now he understood that a newborn demon might retain some humanity, but no matter the reason, once they ate a human, the demon's desires would grow and strengthen.
If he ate a human, regardless of whether they were evil or not, Akihiro would irreversibly become a man-eating demon, something he himself could not forgive.
"How could I have had the thought of eating people back then?"
It seemed that when he first became a demon, although Akihiro still possessed a human heart, the demon's instincts were subtly changing Akihiro's thoughts, pushing him towards the abyss of degradation.
But fortunately, after using the Hinokami Kagura, the demon's inherent instincts seemed to have been scorched and consumed by the sunlight and fierce flames, dissipating into nothingness.
Akihiro no longer needed to worry about being changed by the demon's inherent instincts and doing things against his true nature.
Moreover, there seemed to be an invisible shackle in his body that simultaneously shattered and disappeared. Could it have been Muzan's curse?
Never mind, it's better not to try it easily.
Walking to the side of the mutilated corpse, Akihiro crouched down and covered its fearful, pained little face with his hand, then gently stroked it, allowing the fear and pain to disappear, leaving a peaceful expression.
At this moment, the rust-colored small wing imprints on Akihiro's back trembled slightly, as if painfully repenting and feeling guilty.
Akihiro softly said, "Don't feel guilty. None of this was your intention. All the sadness, all the misfortune, stems only from that demon named Muzan."
The voice echoed in the cave, unanswered.
After a short while, Akihiro gathered the scattered limbs, then carried the relatively more complete corpse out of the cave.
Akihiro buried the corpse in a flat clearing, then looked up at the bright, clear crescent moon and the myriad stars in the sky.
Perhaps, next year, beautiful, vibrant flowers will bloom here.
Touching the earring on his right ear, Akihiro, at this moment, missed his family immensely.
"They say everyone turns into a star after death, then watches over their descendants from the night sky."
"Father, everyone, you are also some of those stars, watching over me now, aren't you?"
"I did it!"
"The Hinokami Kagura cleansed my body and mind, allowing me to break free from the shackles of being a demon."
"Now, I'm going to find Tanjiro. Bless me with smooth travels, and bless that Tanjiro is still alive."
Akihiro was now certain that he would not harm Tanjiro.
And this world, filled with demons, was truly too dangerous for ordinary people. Tanjiro needed his protection.
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