"Yes, just come over and eat it," Black Wolf Fang said with a satisfied grin as he watched Kawagishi draw nearer. Meanwhile, Kawagishi’s gaze was fixated on the heart with a wild, feverish intensity—as if he could hardly wait to snatch it away and devour it.

  Taking a step forward, Black Wolf Fang held the heart out right before Kawagishi, practically within arm's reach. "Eat," he commanded.

  But then, Kawagishi suddenly looked up in terror. Black Wolf Fang, who had been closely watching him, felt his heart tighten. "Could there be a Demon Slayer hiding up there?" he wondered.

  Following Kawagishi’s gaze, Black Wolf Fang jerked his head upward. Yet, after a careful scan of the cave’s ceiling, he saw nothing—not a trace of any Demon Slayer, not even a shadow. "Then why did this little demon suddenly look up?" he muttered.

  For a moment, as Black Wolf Fang craned his neck, a thought flickered across his mind—then he quickly realized. "Damn! I’ve been tricked!" he exclaimed. Reacting immediately, he tensed his body, preparing to defend himself.

  But he was always one step too slow.

  A searing pain erupted at his chin as he felt a heavy blow land there—a dull thud accompanied by the sharp crunch of breaking bones. Seizing the opportunity, Kawagishi surged upward from below. Clenching his right fist, he landed a brutal uppercut directly on Black Wolf Fang’s chin.

  In his past life, to survive, Kawagishi had once spent some time boxing. Although he had been beaten pretty badly on several occasions, he had earned a fair amount of money and picked up some useful techniques along the way.

  One of the three most vulnerable parts of the human body is the chin—the other two being the liver and the back of the ear. A heavy blow to the chin or the back of the ear can leave the brain in a muddled state or even cause unconsciousness, while a strike to the liver can inflict severe internal damage. Even as a demon, these areas remain relatively weak.

  Kawagishi understood this all too well, so his strikes targeted the most fragile parts of Black Wolf Fang’s body. A vicious uppercut sent Black Wolf Fang’s head tilting back unnaturally. The sheer demonic strength behind the blow shattered his jaw, with splintered bone jutting through the skin. Compared to such overwhelming power, a demon’s natural defenses were rather lackluster—perhaps because their endless regenerative abilities made it unnecessary to evolve stronger defenses.

  For a moment, Black Wolf Fang’s vision went dark; he felt as if the world was spinning and his mind had turned to mush. He tried to fight back, but his body refused to obey. Seizing the opportunity, Kawagishi pressed his advantage without mercy—it was a classic case of beating a drowning dog.

  “Phew, that should do for now,” Kawagishi exhaled after a brutal, unrelenting combination. He then kicked Black Wolf Fang’s headless body aside, planning to check on the poor soul Black Wolf Fang had been hunting—and later figure out how to deal with Black Wolf Fang himself. After all, demon versus demon was a hard fight.

  Barely a few steps forward, a voice laden with fury echoed from behind. “I haven’t felt pain like this in ages! Getting your head blown off… it hurts like hell!” Looking down, Kawagishi noticed that the red and white substance splattered on his clothes was turning to ash and disappearing. He turned around to see that Black Wolf Fang had somehow managed to stand up again; his previously headless body was rapidly regenerating from the neck upward, flesh and bone visibly reforming as his mouth came back into place.

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  Kawagishi’s eyes narrowed with a tinge of regret. He’d made an error based on his past experience. He knew that demons regenerated quickly—he himself had regrown broken fangs and recovered from injuries inflicted by the black-haired demon while unconscious—but he didn’t know just how potent that regenerative ability truly was. Relying on his previous experience, he had assumed that shattering Black Wolf Fang’s head would cripple him. Even if regeneration were possible, it should take a considerable amount of time, as the head is crucial for humans. But demons defy conventional logic; within only a few breaths, Black Wolf Fang was already moving freely again. That mistake was one he could ill afford to repeat. Simply smashing the head wasn’t enough—he’d need to crush the entire body.

  In response, Black Wolf Fang and Kawagishi charged at each other, clashing head-on.

  "Little demon, I wonder how long you've been one," Black Wolf Fang taunted. "I've been a demon for decades—age is a symbol of our strength, after all." Black Wolf Fang had never taken Kawagishi seriously. Besides, demons are notoriously hard to kill, and the power gap between a newly turned demon like Kawagishi and someone like him was enormous. The earlier sneak attack was nothing more than a minor annoyance. After all, unless your neck is severed by a Nichirin Blade, what does it matter if your head is smashed?

  "Little demon, how can a newborn like you dare fight an old demon like me, Black Wolf Fang?"

  However, as soon as the fight began, Black Wolf Fang grew frustrated. Kawagishi was as slippery as an eel—no matter how vicious Black Wolf Fang’s attacks were, he just couldn’t land a solid grip. Speed wasn’t Black Wolf Fang’s forte. Meanwhile, Kawagishi silently gauged Black Wolf Fang’s strength and quickness, trying to assess his enemy’s true power.

  He recalled how, earlier, the black-haired demon had struck so swiftly that Kawagishi had seen nothing as he was lifted by a blow that pierced his cheek. That black-haired demon was several notches above the demon now before him. Yet that unknown foe had left the black-haired demon utterly defenseless, kneeling in submission to death…

  Kawagishi couldn’t help but sigh internally—the gap in power was immense. Black Wolf Fang’s strength and speed far surpassed his own, and the older demon pressed him relentlessly. Still, for now, this level of pressure was within Kawagishi’s capacity to endure. But to turn the tide of battle, this situation couldn’t continue. Black Wolf Fang wasn’t foolish; although Kawagishi had been dodging, Black Wolf Fang was steadily shrinking his available space. Continuing to evade would leave him with nowhere to go.

  Kawagishi needed a turning point—a moment that could reverse the battle. And he had already figured out how to create that opportunity.

  At that instant, Black Wolf Fang curled his hand into claws and lashed out fiercely at Kawagishi’s heart. Yet, as the ever-elusive Kawagishi darted about, his movement hesitated—a beat slower than usual.

  Black Wolf Fang’s eyes lit up with glee; he detested the notion of his opponent playing hide-and-seek rather than engaging head-on. Although such tactics would eventually force an enemy’s demise, the drawn-out cat-and-mouse game irked him. He preferred a straightforward, brutal confrontation.

  Seeing his chance, Black Wolf Fang gathered all his strength, determined to prevent Kawagishi from fleeing once again. His claws became even more savage—his razor-sharp nails extended just a bit further, their tips glinting like the edge of a knife.

  At that moment, Kawagishi smiled at him.

  "Idiot, you’ve fallen for it again."

  Then, much to Black Wolf Fang’s surprise, Kawagishi made no move to dodge. Instead, he stepped forward deliberately, offering his own heart directly into Black Wolf Fang’s grasp.

  “Splut!”

  Black Wolf Fang’s claws sank into him, drawing a spray of fresh blood. Kawagishi couldn’t help but spit out a mouthful of blood as the act unfolded.