Chapter 40 Trap
In a dark alley, two drunkards surrounded a beautiful, pale-faced young woman with cold eyes.
"Hehehe, beautiful, can you play with us for a bit?"
One of the drunkards reached out to touch the young woman's face.
*Thud!*
His arm snapped off cleanly, blood splattering onto the face of the man beside him.
"Ah! Ah! Ah!"
His face contorted, but before he could even scream,
a cold light flashed.
Both men clutched their necks, collapsing in terror.
Muzan Kibutsuji walked past the two corpses expressionlessly.
Kyogai was dead!
Devoured by a traitor!
A new Lower Moon Four hadn't been chosen yet, and Lower Moon Five and Lower Moon Six had died one after another, leaving the Lower Moon half-destroyed.
Since the Twelve Demon Moons were established, although Lower Moons were occasionally killed by demon slayers, never before had half been gone.
How did that traitor manage
to find two Lower Moons in succession
?
Suddenly, Muzan Kibutsuji stopped in his tracks: "Is he intentionally hunting Lower Moon demons? Does he devour demons to grow stronger like demons devour humans?"
His eyes flashed with even greater coldness: "Then I'll give him a chance!"
...
After killing Kyogai, Aoki had no specific target.
However, he didn't stop there; instead, he worked even harder.
Four powerful skills lay before him, waiting to be learned, like a carrot dangling in front of a donkey, giving him immense motivation.
Aoki became a workaholic, traveling and gathering information during the day, hunting demons at night, without a moment's rest, more dedicated than the Demon Slayer Corps.
After January, the weather gradually warmed, and the world began to recover.
Aoki walked slowly down the street.
Although not as bustling as Asakusa, it was still a very prosperous city.
He didn't actually like big cities like this.
The possibility of ghosts here was high, but the chances of him finding one were slim; he'd rather go to rural towns or the countryside.
However, he'd overheard a traveler say that the place was haunted, so he decided to come and see for himself.
"Boss, please fill this gourd."
Aoki stopped in front of a tavern and handed over the ghost wine gourd.
While waiting, he casually asked, "Boss, I heard this place is haunted?"
Hearing his words, the tavern owner's expression froze, and he looked rather grim: "That's right, more than a dozen people have been killed in the past month!"
"That serious?" Aoki was slightly surprised.
"Indeed, it's causing widespread panic, and no one can sleep well at night."
The shopkeeper handed Aoki a gourd filled with ghost wine. "It's said that man-eating demons have words carved in their eyes. If you see someone like that, you must get away as soon as possible!"
Aoki paused in tying the gourd. "Words carved in their eyes? What words?"
"It seems to be 'Lower Three'?"
The shopkeeper's tone was uncertain. "However, these are just rumors, I don't know the specifics!"
"Lower Three? Lower Moon Three? Did I really just stumble upon this by sheer luck?"
Aoki instinctively felt that something was wrong.
With the strength of a Lower Moon, how could someone be seen killing?
Or rather, how could someone who could see him survive?
Although he felt something was amiss, Aoki didn't intend to give up.
Just kidding.
This was the first time he had received news of a Lower Moon since becoming a "White Demon"—Rui and Kyogai had found him based on information from his previous life.
If he continued to wait, who knew when he would be able to complete the "End of the Lower Moons."
Night fell.
Aoki sat on the roof of a two-story building, drinking his wine by himself.
Back in Asakusa, he had clearly realized the difficulty of finding a demon in a large city.
This time, he planned to change his strategy—wait!
Wait for the demon to show itself.
According to the information he gathered during the day, the demon suspected to be Lower Moon Three was extremely arrogant, making a huge commotion every time it appeared, as if afraid no one would notice.
With Aoki's senses, he couldn't monitor the entire city; even if the demon made a fuss, he wouldn't be able to detect it if he wasn't nearby.
But that didn't matter; he could wait patiently.
The information about Lower Moon Three was worth his time.
The first day passed without incident.
The second day, the demon appeared again, but it wasn't in the area Aoki was monitoring, and he missed it again.
Aoki wasn't in a hurry, patiently waiting.
As an excellent hunter, he knew very well that patience was an essential quality in hunting.
Aoki wasn't in a hurry, but someone else was.
To be precise, a demon was in a hurry.
In a forest outside the city,
Byakuya was completely hidden in the shadows.
"It's been over a month. Will the defector really take the bait? We don't even know where he is. Isn't this too inefficient? What if we attract the Demon Slayer Corps if we continue?"
After waiting for a while without receiving an answer, Byakuya couldn't help but look in another direction.
"Akaza-sama?"
Akaza glanced at him, his gaze icy: "You just need to carry out Muzan-sama's orders. You don't need to ask so many questions! So what if the Demon Slayer Corps comes? Just deal with them!"
Sensing the killing intent in his eyes, Byakuya felt a chill and quickly lowered his head: "Yes! I understand! Actually, I was just worried about delaying your business, sir."
When they first met, he had some resentment towards this Upper Moon Three, but after their exchange, that thought never resurfaced.
Akaza lowered his head and continued to ponder a martial arts problem he had encountered earlier.
Although the highest realm was still a long way off, he believed that as long as he continued to cultivate, he would reach it one day.
Night fell again.
Byakuya, according to plan, got up and flew towards the city ahead.
Although being trapped here and unable to leave was a bit frustrating, he had been eating quite well these past few days.
The only problem was that he couldn't eat women.
It was said to be a taboo for this Upper Moon Three.
However, he wasn't picky; he liked anyone as long as they weren't particularly old.
"What kind of person should we eat today? The past few days have all been adults. How about a change?"
Byakuya licked his lips, a bloodthirsty desire flashing in his eyes, and quickened his pace.
Akaza followed far behind.
His mission was to wait for the traitor to appear and then deal with him.
In fact, it wasn't just them.
Lower Moon One and Lower Moon Two, following Muzan's orders, had also deliberately exposed their presence.
They were accompanied by Upper Moon One and Upper Moon Two.
The three most powerful Upper Moons were moving out at the same time.
As long as the traitor appeared, he would surely die!
"Lord Muzan said the traitor's strength has surpassed that of the Lower Moons. I hope he won't disappoint me!"
Akaza's eyes burned with a fierce fighting spirit.
He hated the weak, and his purpose in living was to become stronger.
Fighting against strong opponents is the most exciting thing for him.
Read 15+ chapters ahead at p4treon.
[email protected]/Horizons685
(End of Chapter)