Chapter 117: Ideal Development

Chapter 117: Ideal Development

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"Mr. Aomura, what should we do now?" Himejima asked, his tone calm despite the tension in the air.

The demon was heading straight toward them, and behind them lay the "Blue Spider Lily."

"Let's take care of it—it's about time," Aoki decided without hesitation.

Two days of stalling had been enough.

If they could fool Kibutsuji Muzan, that would be great. If not, prolonging it any further wouldn't make much difference.

"Flowers! Blue flowers!" The demon's blood-red eyes widened as it staggered forward.

Hungry!

So hungry!

I really want to eat someone!

But there were no people on this mountain, and only a few wild animals. If it wanted to eat, it would have to leave. But before that, it had to complete its master's mission.

"Where are the blue flowers?"

The demon let out a harsh breath through its large nostrils.

Suddenly, a figure appeared in front of it.

The demon froze.

Where did this person come from?

It hadn't seen or heard them at all.

Then it dismissed the thought. It didn't matter how this person got there; what mattered was that they were there, and its stomach was growling with hunger.

"Wait, that's not right!" The demon squinted and froze again.

This wasn't a human—it was another demon.

And not just any demon; it recognized this one.

"Why is this demon just standing there?" Aoki wondered, surprised.

Lately, most demons had fled the moment they saw him. Could the "ripening" process really affect their intelligence so drastically?

Despite his confusion, Aoki didn't hesitate. He struck out with a punch, the air crackling with the force.

"I remember now—he's a traitor!" Fear flashed in the demon's eyes, but before it could react, its head exploded.

Of course, losing its head didn't mean death for a demon.

As the demon's body began to regenerate, Aoki grabbed its shoulder and activated "Demon Devour," absorbing it in an instant.

[Killed a demon and gained 30 experience points.]

"Not bad," Aoki murmured with a nod.

If ordinary demons were like mosquito legs, then lower-ranked demons were more like crab claws—small, but satisfying when you had enough of them.

After nodding to Tomioka and Himejima on the cliff, Aoki vanished without another word.

On the other side of the mountain, Kanae kept a close eye on the demon with the eyes on its head.

Next to her, Aoki appeared silently.

Kanae started, then relaxed.

"Mr. Aomura, what happened?"

"The demon over there reached the Blue Spider Lily. I took care of it."

"What about this one?"

"Deal with it too, but wait a bit."

They needed to make it look convincing. If the two demons weren't together, it wouldn't make sense to eliminate them at the same time.

Two hours later, Aoki used the same method to easily dispatch the eye demon, gaining another 30 experience points.

As she watched Aoki absorb the demon, Kanae said, "I wonder how Kibutsuji Muzan will react."

"We'll find out soon enough," Aoki replied.

The worst-case scenario was that Muzan realized it was a trap and decided to back off. But Aoki thought this was unlikely.

The Blue Spider Lily was fake, and the only people who knew were absolutely trustworthy—they would never reveal the truth.

Even if Muzan sensed something was amiss, he wouldn't be able to confirm it.

Most importantly, only a few demons had died. To Kibutsuji Muzan, that was hardly worth noticing.

…

On a lonely country road, Kibutsuji Muzan's face darkened, though he wasn't exactly surprised.

Lately, the defector had been killing demons faster than he could create them. It was something Muzan was getting used to.

This defector was even more troublesome than the one from before.

However, the fact that two groups of demons had died without yielding any useful information left him feeling uneasy.

Go there in person? He dismissed the thought immediately.

How could such a trivial matter warrant his personal involvement?

It would be worth the trip if he could capture the defector, but without a way to counteract the defector's ability to escape, even cornering him on that mountain would be meaningless.

He wasn't about to waste his time.

Give up? That thought never crossed Kibutsuji Muzan's mind.

What did it matter if a few demons died?

The sole purpose of their existence was to find the Blue Spider Lily for him. If they died in the process, it was a death well-earned.

"Send another group of demons, more this time!"

Kibutsuji Muzan made his decision.

If they couldn't win through strength, they would win through numbers.

Of course, he didn't expect them to unite and defeat the defector. But with more demons, it would become increasingly difficult for the defector to kill them all, and the chances of gathering information would increase significantly.

Demons were the least valuable thing to him.

As long as he found the Blue Spider Lily, even if all his demons died, he wouldn't feel a shred of sorrow.

…

At the location of the "Blue Spider Lily," Kanae gently descended, her butterfly-patterned haori fluttering like the wings of a real butterfly.

A young man dressed as a monk looked up at the sound.

"Mr. Himejima," Kanae called, "where is Mr. Aomura?"

"Amitabha," Himejima replied, clasping his hands together. "Mr. Aomura is out hunting demons. He should be back soon. Kanae, is something the matter?"

The next batch of demons hadn't arrived yet, but Aoki wasn't wasting time. He was out hunting demons to gain experience, even if it wasn't much. Every little bit counted, and it also served to confuse Kibutsuji Muzan.

Kanae said, "Another group of demons is coming. Like before, these demons should have power comparable to the lower ranks. But this time, there are ten of them, which exceeds our monitoring capabilities. And it seems there's a real lower rank among them!"

"Ten? I didn't expect to hear good news right after returning," Aoki's voice chimed in as he appeared next to them.

This was exactly how he had hoped things would develop. Kibutsuji Muzan was playing right into their hands.

"You're back, Mr. Aomura," Kanae said with a relieved smile.

These demons weren't particularly difficult to deal with, but Muzan Kibutsuji could strike at any time. Without Mr. Aomura, they wouldn't stand a chance.

"Amitabha, Mr. Aomura, what should we do next?" Himejima asked.

Aoki didn't answer right away. Instead, he asked, "Has Kokushibo shown up?"

Kanae shook her head.

"No trace of him yet, but the mountain is vast. We can only monitor a small area. It's possible he arrived, but we just haven't detected him."

Aoki thought for a moment. "Then let's deal with this batch of demons first"

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