CH. 23: Bigger Threat

Kenshi looked down to see his legs covered in blood.

"What the hell just happened?" He said as his heart started beating fast. After all, experiencing something like this and still not passing out is already impressive.

Kenshi suddenly descended into contemplation.

'With the last thing he said being a foreign name and the words 'Ed', I can at least figure it's the name that the system mentioned - 'Edward'. But he was a child? Maybe he had shapeshifting abilities like Muzan? That could be the case. But there are so many questions that are still unanswered.

The Mayor probably died because he was about to reveal details about that guy, but how? Demons can't talk about Muzan because of the curse and they die if they do speak his name out.

Doesn't this all mean that this Edward guy had recreated Muzan's curse, and he can turn people into demons? which actually took tamayo 200 years to do. And all this happened 5 years ago. Who knows where this guy is now and what he was doing? Perhaps he might've already become more powerful than Muzan.

Muzan never used his intelligence in the manga. After all, he could've enticed some greedy humans to search for the blue spider lily, or he could've used his powers to infiltrate and manipulate any family with political power in Japan and made them search for the blue spider lily countrywide, but he never did all this.

But this Edward already had so many human slaves 5 years ago. What was his goal? He was an intelligent enemy. Could he also be a transmigrated person just like me?'

Kenshi's mind raced with so many questions that he almost had a burnout.

'Forget about that for now. I need to inform Shinobu about all of this. Now the Demon Slayers not only have Muzan to deal with, but this Edward guy as well.'

He turned his head to look at Kanao, who looked confused and worried.

"Kanao, I know you're confused about what just happened, but now is not the time to talk about this. Can you help me walk back to the town's center? The guy spoke something about a base there." Saying that, Kenshi looked up into the sky.

"It's midnight now. I don't know if any nearby Demon Slayers will come here. Let's go and check what that base is." He said as he tried to stand up from the place he was resting.

Hearing this, Kanao immediately stood up and helped him by holding his hand.

She supported Kenshi as they slowly made their way back to the town center. His leg throbbed with pain, but he pushed through it, determined to investigate the demon's base.

As they approached the large sakura tree, Kenshi scanned his surroundings with his Hyper Senses skill. He detected no demons in the vicinity. However, as they got closer, he noticed something shocking - the massive sakura tree had vanished. In its place was a giant hole, at least 3 to 4 meters wide.

He and Kanao exchanged stunned looks. Carefully, they approached the edge of the pit. A dank, earthy smell wafted up from below. Stone steps spiraled down into the darkness.

"This must lead to the demon's lair," Kenshi said. "We need to check it out. There could be clues down there about what this Demon is trying to do."

Kanao nodded, though her expression was uneasy. She helped Kenshi as they both moved down the steep stairs. The air grew colder and more oppressive as they descended. After several minutes, they reached the bottom.

They stood in a large cavern, the rock walls lined with torches. Several tunnels branched off ahead of them.

"Where should we go first?" Kanao asked nervously. The atmosphere was unnerving.

Kenshi closed his eyes, using his Hyper Senses. Not just for predicting a enemy's attack, this skill actually helped him in many situations and practically turned into his basic intuition.

He already found out that there is no danger in this hole with his skill, if there is, he wouldn't even step foot in here with the injured leg.

"This way." He said. "It appears to be deeper, let's check this out."

With Kanao's support, they slowly made their way through the left tunnel. It sloped gradually downward, the torches casting twisting shadows. After several hundred meters, the tunnel opened into a larger chamber.

Kenshi and Kanao froze, horror-struck by the scene before them. The cavern was filled with large glass cylinders, each containing a person floating in some kind of liquid. Tubes and wires were attached to their bodies. Most looked dead or comatose, but a few still moved sluggishly, banging weakly against the glass.

"What is this place?" Kanao whispered, shaken.

Kenshi's face was pale. "The demon must have been doing experiments on people down here. Maybe trying to turn them into complete demons?..."

His gaze landed on a nearby lab table, stained with blood. Dissected body parts were scattered around it. His stomach acids almost came out smelling the disgusting scent rose out of them. What kind of sick, twisted experiments had the demon conducted here?

"We should keep looking." He said tightly. "Be on guard."

They searched the horrific laboratory, but found no documents or clues indicating who "Edward" might be or any other details.

Kenshi did find a locked door at the back. Slicing it open with his katana, they discovered what appeared to be the demon's private quarters.

It was a lavish suite filled with plush rugs and furniture. A massive canopy bed dominated the room. Kenshi's skin crawled imagining the demon lounging here.

He noticed a desk in the corner, strewn with papers. Limping over, he rifled through them while Kanao kept watch. Most were indecipherable scribbles. But as Kenshi sifted through the wastebasket beside the desk, he found a crumpled note.

Smoothing it out, he read the message written in jagged handwriting.

"My loyal subject,

All proceeds according to plan. Your slaves have contributed immensely this time, to which you will be rewarded. We will meet again soon."

That was all information he could read. Below that text, there was some kind of cryptic code that Kenshi could not decipher. But the message was clear enough - someone had been helping the demon with his twisted experiments, likely this "Edward", and this demon was supplying Edward slaves.

Kenshi's blood ran cold. This was a dire threat, beyond anything he could have imagined. These experiments are extremely crazy and If they could create legions of demon soldiers...

"Kanao, we need to get out of here." He said urgently while subbing the paper into his pocket. "I need to tell Lady Shinobu about this right away. This is worse than we thought."

She nodded, looking shaken. They hurried out of the horrific underground base back to the surface. Emerging from the tunnel, they saw the faintest glow of moon light shining on the houses.

Kenshi winced as Kanao helped him limp away from the ominous pit. His leg screamed in pain, but it barely registered compared to the chilling discoveries underground.

Who was behind this? How had they learned to make artificial demons? Was it connected to Muzan somehow? Kenshi's mind swirled with questions. But one thing was certain - this shadowy threat needed to be stopped. The Demon Slayer Corps had a new enemy now, perhaps even more dangerous than Muzan Kibutsuji himself. An enemy who could manufacture demons...and probably control them as well....

Kenshi glanced back at the gaping pit that had swallowed the illusory sakura tree.

....

Right now, the Eastern part of the Sakurai Town looked extremely chaotic.

With all the Sakura trees withering, it formed a bizarre and wondrous sight.

The night travelers were flabbergasted as they looked at everything before their eyes. Even slumbering travelers had been awoken.

But in a house far from the crowds, over ten people were gathered around a table.

All of them were withered like matchsticks, seeming to have had their nutrients drained away.

"Master should be dead, right?"

"Of course he's dead! Can't you see the seeds in us are gone?!"

"Alas! My whole body hurts now. It feels like several organs are missing!"

"Could our dream of immortality really be gone just like that?"

"That bastard was too useless! He couldn't even handle a couple of brats!"

"How can you address him like..."

"Quiet!"

An extremely old looking man suddenly bellowed furiously. The surroundings instantly turned silent.

"No matter what, dead is dead! While we can no longer attain immortality, we still have Sakurai Town and money!"

The old man swept his gaze around. "Moreover, the Demon Slayers said places with high human traffic like ours are most prone to attracting demons. Indeed, a few have shown up before but were dealt with by that guy. But it's fine. It won't be long before we find a new demon and strike the same deal with it. Then we can regain our immortality!"

Everyone instantly nodded in agreement upon hearing that.

That's right! So what if he's dead! They can just find a new demon!

They were responsible for murdering and plundering while the demon handled destroying evidence and traces.

Not only would they gain money then, even immortality... they would obtain it too!

Suddenly, the roof above rumbled as a figure suddenly fell down, making a hole on the roof.

The room fell silent and everyone was flabbergasted. As the dust cleared, they saw a woman who had fallen on the ground and started wincing in pain.

The woman had sharp, angular features and piercing green eyes. Her long black hair was tied up in a high ponytail with a red strip of cloth around her forehead, pinning back her bangs. She wore a navy blue kimono with cherry blossoms, the standard Demon Slayer uniform haori jacket, and black boots.

At her hip was a glinting katana in a black scabbard. Despite her disheveled state, she had an intense, prideful gaze..

"Ow ow ow, you damn fools! Not only are you disgusting pigs who betrayed the human race, but you also don't know how to build a house! How can a roof crumble so easily?" The woman stood up, pushing back her long black hair.