Akuma No Tsume (English Translation)

Mirage

All the credits go to yuukiebabie they made this fic I'm just simply translating it for their English readers

Eyes fixed on the sky, he knew full well that the fall of night would overturn the scales. Pursued by the slayers for more than ten days, Muzan was at the end of this chase. He hadn't been able to satiate his monster hunger, during this race against the clock, he was now hungry, for blood and fresh flesh.

He knew that by entering this small village far from the world, he would have a few days of respite before resuming his fight, annoyed by this cursed race that was the demon slayers.
He found refuge at the end of a little busy alley that evening, he could now uncover his face, no longer having the threat of day, to the chastisement that it banish his soul.

He could breathe freely. Tilting his head back, he realized in a fraction of a second that his executioners were very far behind him, surely planted in the middle of the forest, which he had surveyed in recent days. Sharp canines, pointing his long nails at the woman he had just caught, Muzan relieved the hunger that haunted his thoughts during this pursuit.

The slayers had not decided to leave him in peace, he was forced to flee far from this race, which he hated above all else. To end this snack, he devoured the three remaining people in this small alley victim of the massacre, just to leave no witnesses on his way.

He even allowed himself to put on the clothes of these deceased, later throwing off his bloodstained kimono. Unfortunately, for him, the four bloodied victims hadn't satisfied his hunger. He wanted more. The quality of their blood was highly mediocre, moreover, it was out of the question to attack the most courted alleys of the small village.

Where could he hide once they discovered his true nature? It was just a story of gluttony, capricious as he was, he wanted to find the right prey to eat without being spotted. And he didn't need to look very far, since a few meters from his field of vision, he saw a young woman sinking into the forest, wasn't that the criteria he was looking for?

Taking care of a pretty woman was always more pleasant than an old merchant on the corner. She had long black hair, pretty dark blue eyes, wearing a simple outfit indicating that she was not from a wealthy neighborhood. He found it very amusing to follow her without her being able to notice his presence, just behind her.

To observe her, he seemed to be heading for a small, dilapidated cemetery, at the gates of the forest. He wondered what interest she had in coming at such a late hour frequented by such a beauty. She passed through the small stone gate, sinking into absolute mist.

Muzan entered the greatest of silences, the atmosphere was rather sinister, he confessed to having never seen this kind of woman before, good or bad surprise? After a few seconds lost in the absence of his vision, he saw the young woman near an old tomb, once the mist had dissipated.

He surprised her adorning it with small colorful flowers, she seemed meticulous in each of her gestures, which made the scene rather attractive. Just as he thought she was getting up to meet him, he was disappointed to see the same scene repeated, on a completely different grave. Muzan was not there to see this kind of rather special scenes, according to his tastes.

The bewitching smell of her blood interested him much more than the person she was. If he had followed her, it was not to play gardener by her side. She smelled good, extremely good, and he was only going to take a bite, preparing to surprise her from behind. He approached her without even keeping his discretion, the slap of his feet against the gravel scattered on the ground, announced his arrival.

He was even surprised that she had not turned once to look at him. He came to his back, while she was still on the ground, to sort hundreds of flowers. He was about to shorten his life, raising his hand to the sky. He had decided this time to kill her without her feeling any pain.

A pretty, discreet young woman deserved no less than that. As his ongo threatened to crash into her neck, he was surprised to see the young woman rise to his level, her clothes and bottom rubbing against her rigid legs. Upon contact with this woman, a shiver of desire to destroy her ran through his dark thoughts.

But he hallucinated at the very moment when she was no longer facing him, but at the gate of the cemetery. The fraction of a second that separated their contact and the present had escaped him. How could she have ignored him like that? Hadn't she noticed?

It was too late for him, the young woman had already gone down to the heart of the village, and he had failed in his mission to exterminate her, creating an unshakeable frustration within his being. She didn't pay to wait, and Muzan swore it to her.

Was she unconscious to the point of putting Muzan on her back?

END OF CHAPTER 01