Under Black Wolf Fang's disbelieving gaze, Yuu's body wobbled unsteadily as it stood up.
Simultaneously, from behind Yuu's headless torso, a pair of blazing white, massive wings unfurled and expanded to either side.
The wingspan of a single one of these blazing white wings was over three meters.
The wings trembled lightly, as if celebrating their own birth.
Black Wolf Fang looked down at Yuu's head, which he was holding, and found Yuu staring right back at him.
"Impossible! A newborn demon... how can you possibly use a Blood Demon Art?"
"My own talent was praised by that (sama) himself! He promised that if I mastered my Blood Demon Art, he would grant me the title of Lower Moon Six and allow me to follow by his side!"
"You... a newborn demon who doesn't even dare to eat humans... how dare you! How dare you use a Blood Demon Art so quickly!"
"You! How dare you!"
Consumed by jealous rage, Black Wolf Fang erupted.
"Blood Demon Art: Blade Prison!"
The bizarrely shaped cleaver reappeared in Black Wolf Fang's hand. His eyes were bloodshot, and even the six claw marks on his cheeks turned a bloody red.
Having lost his reason, Black Wolf Fang threw Yuu's head forward, raised his cleaver high, and brought it down with a sharp whistling sound, aiming to split Yuu's skull in two.
However, a sense of lethal danger suddenly assailed him from the side, targeting the back of his head and his heart.
This feeling was akin to the terrifying sense of death he experienced when facing sunlight after becoming a demon.
Every cell in his body screamed at him to dodge.
In this critical situation, Black Wolf Fang had no choice but to abandon his strike against Yuu. He performed an awkward roll to evade the unknown attack from behind.
Once he had put some distance between himself and the threat and readjusted his stance, Black Wolf Fang looked back.
He saw Yuu's headless body holding its own head and pressing it back onto the severed neck. Flesh instantly knitted together, and Yuu was whole once more.
"Feels good to have my head connected to my body again."
Black Wolf Fang then glanced at the wall and saw two blazing white feathers, steaming with heat, embedded in it. They were gradually dissipating.
That lethal sensation from before had come from these two feathers.
Now, Black Wolf Fang grew wary and uncertain. Suppressing the (violent) battle lust within him, he questioned Yuu.
"What is the deal with your Blood Demon Art?"
"Why does it give me the feeling... of facing the sun?"
Yuu replied calmly, "What's it to you? Weren't you feeling pretty pleased with yourself earlier? But now, do you still want to make me feel despair?"
On the surface, Yuu was utterly composed.
But in reality, damn it, he didn't know what was going on either!
When he was using the Hinokami Kagura breathing technique, Yuu's original plan was to use the breathing method to drastically enhance his physical capabilities, then suddenly burst into action to break free from Black Wolf Fang's restraint.
However, while performing the Hinokami Kagura, his body underwent a strange transformation.
Perhaps a demon's body operating a human breathing technique causes some deviations.
Two inexplicable masses of energy, connected to him by bloodline and sharing the same origin, rapidly grew and expanded with his breathing.
The locations of this energy were on his back, slightly above the shoulder blades, near the spine on either side.
Next, those magnificent, blazing white wings burst forth through the skin of Yuu's back with a proud, high-spirited (posture), as if breaking free from a cocoon.
In that instant, Yuu knew: this was his Blood Demon Art, Blazing Feathers.
An eerie silence fell between Black Wolf Fang and Yuu.
On one side, Black Wolf Fang was suspicious and uncertain about Yuu's Blood Demon Art. The more he looked, the more those wings seemed to be constructed from sunlight.
Feeling the constant lethal threat emanating from the blazing white wings, Black Wolf Fang dared not act rashly.
As for Yuu, he was curiously familiarizing himself with his new wings.
He reached out and touched a blazing white wing, but found it scalding hot. His fingers were burned, turning charred black.
"Is my Blood Demon Art... indiscriminate? Friend or foe alike?"
"What's going on? Why am I getting hurt too...?"
It seemed that even Yuu couldn't touch the wings freely. Although it was his own Blood Demon Art, it could still burn him.
Even though the blazing white wings had just appeared on his body, they felt like his own limbs, easy to control and full of (spirituality), without any sense of stiffness.
He tried flapping the wings, but unfortunately, after rising unsteadily about ten centimeters into the air, he nearly crashed headfirst into the ground.
Without any experience or skill in flying, even having wings didn't mean he could actually fly.
"To think... in my past life, what people always yearned for and pursued was to grow giant wings and fly without tools. After I became a demon, I actually have a chance to make it real."
However, Yuu believed that one day he would surely succeed in soaring into the sky.
Black Wolf Fang watched Yuu haphazardly flapping his wings from the side, and a sudden spark of insight flashed in his mind.
"His wings... they absolutely, definitely have something to do with sunlight. If I report this to that (sama)..."
"Haha, that (sama) would be overjoyed! He might even reward me with a large amount of blood, making me even stronger."
"Maybe... he might even make me Upper Moon One, second only to him, above all other demons!"
There were many things he hadn't dared to imagine before. Now, Black Wolf Fang grew more and more excited the more he thought about it.
"Brat, just wait for your Uncle Black Wolf Fang to return. I'll spare you this time."
Yuu: "Huh?"
He never expected that Black Wolf Fang would try to run away.
After saying this, Black Wolf Fang turned and sprinted away without hesitation. He didn't want to entangle himself in a fight with Yuu anymore.
Right now, the most urgent matter was to report the news of this newborn demon possessing sunlight-attribute wings to that (sama).
Yuu didn't know what was happening. He only saw Black Wolf Fang's face turning pale then flushed, finally revealing a nauseating, delusional grin.
"Why are you running?"
Seeing Black Wolf Fang flee, Yuu instinctively gave chase.
Even if he didn't understand what was going on, no matter what, preventing the enemy from achieving their goal was beneficial to him.
But Yuu had only taken a few steps when Black Wolf Fang, who had just run away, came running back, his face twisted with anger and frustration.
"Hey, you run away one moment and come back the next. So, are we fighting or fleeing? What exactly do you want to do?"
This demon had given Yuu immense pressure just moments ago.
But now, the more Yuu looked at him, the more he seemed... intellectually challenged.
Black Wolf Fang gnashed his fangs, saying unwillingly, "If it weren't for daybreak, if the sun outside hadn't risen already, why would I be running back and forth like this..."
Yuu understood. So that was it.
While he had been entangled with Black Wolf Fang inside the bear cave, the sun, hidden by the night, had quietly peeked over the horizon, radiating light and heat.
"So, you can't escape now. There's no way out."
In an instant, the atmosphere between Black Wolf Fang and Yuu turned deadly serious.
When two forces contend, one must be injured. Only one demon would walk out of this cave tonight.
"Escape? Are you looking down on me?"
Black Wolf Fang panted heavily, his eyes wide with fury.
Just moments ago, he had easily decapitated this kid and torn off his limbs. Did he think that just because he'd awakened a Blood Demon Art, he could suppress me now?
I, Black Wolf Fang, have fought demons and Demon Slayers for decades. Countless arrogant humans and demons have died by my hand.
Brat, even if your Blood Demon Art is exceptionally unique, I am not afraid of you.
In that case, let me take the trouble to tear off your limbs again and personally deliver you to him.