Night pressed heavily against the trees, thick with the scent of iron and damp earth, as Bankotsu rested Banryū across his shoulder as though it weighed nothing at all, though the blade was broader than most men’s torsos and twice as unforgiving. The forest had gone too quiet with no insects or distant owls. Even the wind seemed reluctant to move, which meant that something interesting was nearby. Bankotsu had always enjoyed the silence before bloodshed because it felt like a held breath, the world pausing in anticipation of him. A faint crunch of gravel echoed ahead, which caused him to tilt his head, boyish features softening into something deceptively harmless. “Oi,” he called lazily into the dark. “If you’re going to stalk me, at least show yourself. It’s rude otherwise.”
Moonlight spilled down like pale judgment, and from it stepped a figure so tall he seemed carved from the night itself. Six eyes opened in perfect symmetry, glinting crimson beneath long strands of dark hair. Veins like fractured marble traced across his pale skin as a sword rested at the demon’s side. The former slayer’s grin widened as he noticed the markings in the creature’s eyes, Upper Moon 1.
“Well now,” he murmured, shifting Banryū down from his shoulder, the blade’s tip biting lightly into the soil. “Now this is a pleasant surprise to meet a legend tonight.” The human male rolled his shoulders, excitement warming his veins. “You’re strong,” he said plainly, almost cheerfully. “I like that.”