Looking at the warm sunlight pouring in through the cave entrance, the demon felt as though he were staring at the most terrifying thing in the world.
Almost instinctively, he retreated deeper into the cave. Only after making sure that not a single ray of sunlight could touch his body did he finally let out a small sigh of relief.
Only then did the demon realize that Toji had not stopped.
He was still walking toward the cave entrance, almost close enough to touch the sunlight pouring inside.
"Hey! If you're exposed to sunlight… you'll die."
A trembling voice filled with fear came from the demon.
Toji paused slightly. Yeah...
He could clearly feel the instinctive fear rising from his body. An indescribable sense of dread gripped his heart, giving him the feeling of standing directly before death.
To humans, it was nothing more than ordinary sunlight.
But to the current Toji, it felt like the most terrifying thing in existence.
Just as demons instinctively crave human flesh, the fear of sunlight was deeply engraved into their nature.
As he drew closer to the light, the hunger for flesh that had filled his body vanished completely, replaced by an overwhelming fear of the sunlight before him.
His instincts screamed at him to stay away from that warmth.
Toji stood there quietly, staring at the sunlight pouring through the cave entrance.
That sunlight, once so ordinary and unremarkable when he was human, had now become something he could see but never touch.
He could feel the boundless fear filling his heart.
Yet at that moment, a relaxed smile appeared on Toji's face.
Because the endless craving for flesh that had been tormenting him was finally gone.
Of course, he knew the hunger had not truly disappeared. It was simply being suppressed by his instinctive fear of sunlight.
The fear of death itself.
For Toji, although death was terrifying, it at least brought him a moment of relief.
It allowed the will that had been stretched to its breaking point, resisting the craving for human flesh like a taut string ready to snap, to finally relax and recover.
He felt the instinctive terror his body had toward sunlight.
He felt every cell in his body trembling in fear.
His body continuously urged him to retreat into the darkness of the cave.
And yet, despite all of that…
He slowly moved forward, step by step, toward the place where the sunlight poured in.
Although his body's instincts were resisting with all their might, Toji still slowly and firmly extended his hand toward the sunlight.
"Madman… you're a madman…"
The demon behind him cried out in alarm, staring at Toji as if he were looking at a monster.
As his fingers moved closer to the warm sunlight, the fear of death nearly overwhelmed his heart.
Yet he still stretched his trembling fingers into the light.
The moment the sunlight touched them, he watched as his fingers began to dissolve like snow under the scorching sun, gradually vanishing from this world.
Toji stood there silently, calmly watching as his fingers slowly disappeared.
Only after a moment did he withdraw his hand and step back into the darkness of the cave.
Not until he was completely away from the sunlight, fully surrounded by darkness again, did the instinctive trembling in his body finally begin to subside.
"You're completely insane! Aren't you afraid of dying?"
The demon beside him stared at Toji as if he were a monster.
Bathing in sunlight was something no demon would ever dare to imagine.
Even the Progenitor of Demons, Kibutsuji Muzan, would never willingly expose himself to sunlight.
Toji ignored the demon's words and looked down at the fingers that had been melted by the sun.
He examined the wounds quietly.
In the past, injuries like this would have healed almost instantly, with new flesh growing back in moments.
But now, although he could still feel the regeneration beginning, the speed was dozens of times slower than before.
"It seems sunlight doesn't only destroy a demon's body… To injuries caused by sunlight also heal far more slowly."
Toji looked at his damaged fingers and murmured softly.
"You really are insane."
The demon stared at him as if he were looking at something abnormal.
"You stuck your fingers into sunlight just to test that? You're completely mad. Even being cut by a Demon Slayer's Nichirin Blade isn't as terrifying as facing the sun directly."
The demon shook his head.
He had seen many demons before.
But never one as crazy as this.
Demons cannot exist under sunlight. This was common knowledge among demons and an instinct deeply engraved within them. No demon would ever dare attempt such a thing, not even someone as powerful as Kibutsuji Muzan.
In this world, there was no demon capable of walking under the sun.
"We are creatures of the darkness. No demon can exist in sunlight."
The demon spoke softly from the side.
"No demon can walk under the sun?"
Toji murmured quietly.
"That's right. Don't indulge in such fantasies. This is the inherent flaw of being a demon."
The demon continued speaking, though a trace of resentment could be heard in his voice. After all, he had once been human. Something as ordinary as basking in sunlight had become forever out of reach after becoming a demon.
Toji simply stared silently at his damaged fingers.
To demons in this world, they were like rats hiding in sewers, forever forced to remain in the darkness. Even the Progenitor of Demons could not overcome this weakness.
But if Toji remembered correctly, Nezuko Kamado had eventually overcome this flaw after becoming a demon and became the first demon capable of walking under the sun. And the reason Nezuko had been able to overcome this weakness was because she had once consumed the Blue Spider Lily.
Blue Spider Lily.
Toji silently repeated the name in his mind.
This was the very thing Kibutsuji Muzan had been searching for unsuccessfully for over a thousand years.
Toji knew he had to obtain it.
Whether it was the uncontrollable craving for human flesh or being forced to hide in the darkness like a sewer rat, both were things he absolutely could not accept.
From what he remembered, the reason Muzan had failed to find the Blue Spider Lily for so long was simple.
It only bloomed during the daytime.
How could a demon, unable to endure sunlight and forced to hide in darkness, ever find a flower that only bloomed under the sun?
But for Toji, who knew this information, finding the Blue Spider Lily was not impossible.
If he remembered correctly… The Blue Spider Lily once grew in the place where Kamado Tanjiro lived.
___
Oh, someone's already translating it here on WN. If you enjoyed the story, you can check out JinTL's translation of Demon Slayer: I Am a Demon.