After a while, demons emerged one after another from the darkness, surrounding Aoki.
"How did you find out?" asked the demon with an extraordinarily long tongue hanging out of his mouth, his face stern.
"Such poor hiding techniques, it's obvious at a glance," Aoki replied, glancing at all the demons around him. "So many demons approaching me together, what's the purpose?"
The long-tongued demon didn't mince words: "Stop pretending. I saw you eat Shinichi Tsutsumi with my own eyes. Show me your demon-eating method, or you'll die today for sure!"
"I see," Aoki responded suddenly. "You've got some ideas."
He didn't bother hiding it; he didn't care if the secret was out.
In the second chapter, he became everyone's enemy in this world.
Demons were his food, and the Demon King was his revenge target. As a demon, he couldn't establish true trust with humans.
The long-tongued demon looked at Aoki's calm expression and sneered, "You must think demons can't kill other demons, so you're not worried about your own safety at all, right? But let me tell you, there are many ways to kill you! Imagine if you were tied up and left in an open field until dawn..."
Aoki glanced at the long-tongued demon. Though it was a quick glance, he recognized him as the demon he encountered near dawn yesterday.
"It seems he's leading this siege."
Being able to gather so many demons was indeed quite a skill.
Aoki had to admit the current situation was troublesome.
Demon power on Fuji Mountain typically ranged between 6 to 7, with very few reaching 8. In one-on-one combat, his current strength of 12 was overwhelming.
However, if harassed by other demons, he couldn't use "Demon Swallowing". If he couldn't completely kill the demons, he'd be dragged into a prolonged battle.
"You all want to know?" Aoki asked. "But what if only one demon can use my method?"
The demon group grew restless.
"You fools! Can't you see through such a simple ruse?" the long-tongued demon burst out. "It's none of your business. Just tell us the method and how we'll share it."
His voice abruptly stopped as he looked at the enemy suddenly appearing in front of him, momentarily unable to react.
"Are you ready to be divided?" Aoki's eyes turned cold, his fist swinging heavily.
Boom!
The long-tongued demon's head exploded like a tomato, and his body dropped.
Without pause, Aoki turned and pounced on the fanged demon next to him.
Tall and with added points, his muscles had developed significantly. Charging like a tank, Aoki overwhelmed his opponent.
The fanged demon froze in fear, momentarily forgetting it was a demon, standing there trembling and confused.
In the next moment, it followed the long-tongued demon, its head torn apart.
Other demons finally reacted.
"Get him!"
"Don't be afraid! We're demons; we can't die!"
"Kill him!"
"Show us how to eat demons!"
All the demons rushed towards Aoki.
A demon with bone spurs on its elbows leaped closest to Aoki, fists clenched like sledgehammers aimed at his head.
Aoki didn't even look back, sweeping his arms diagonally.
Poof! Like a knife through butter, the bone-spurred demon split in two.
This was absolute power crushing!
To Aoki, these demons were as weak as babies. Any punch or kick was unbearable for them.
Unfortunately, without "Demon devouring," there was no quick way to kill demons.
"Is there a way to inhibit demon regeneration?" Aoki pondered, grabbing two demons and using them as weapons, hurling them behind him.
Boom!
Four demons coughed blood and were flung away.
At that moment, a thick arm burst from the ground.
Aoki, unguarded against the surprise attack, lowered his head in time.
Boom!
His nose bridge cracked, his body recoiling two steps back.
"What power!"
Straightening up, Aoki's face reverted, spotting the hand-shaped target of the ambush.
"It's the Hand Demon!"
Aoki instantly identified the enemy. "Haha, we're all here now. If we can hold all these demons back, we'll complete the 'Fuji Mountain Dungeon' today."
The Hand Demon's appearance boosted the demons, already rattled by Aoki's blows.
"Hahaha, give up the demon-eating method or die today!"
The long-tongued demon felt solemn yet excited. "Thankfully, the Hand Demon joined us; otherwise, we might not defeat him today!"
"Does eating demons make you stronger faster than eating humans?" The Hand Demon's eyes flared, fists closing like rocket launchers.
Aoki snorted, not dodging or evading, meeting the punch with his own fist.
Boom!
The Hand Demon's arm exploded, flesh and blood splattering.
Before Aoki could continue, four demons rushed and held him back. By the time he broke free, the Hand Demon's arm had fully regenerated.
Boom boom boom!
The fight intensified.
Blocking another of the Hand Demon's attacks, Aoki frowned, watching the arm regenerate swiftly. "If there's no way to suppress their regeneration, there's no point in continuing this battle."
He couldn't lose, but he couldn't win either.
Continuing was just a waste of time.
Though it was a pity to miss such an opportunity, there was no need to force the issue if it wasn't possible.
Was there a way to suppress demon regeneration?
Certainly.
Ninchirin blade, part of the ultimate three-piece set for demon hunters, was a magical skill to suppress demon regeneration.
The problem was, Aoki had no idea how to use Ninchirin blade.
Was there another way?
An idea struck Aoki.
At that moment, a fanged demon charged.
"Let's try it!"
Taking a hard punch, Aoki slashed the fanged demon diagonally with his sword.
Boom!
The fanged demon's face cracked and trembled.
"Eat it!"
Aoki activated "Demon Devouring", turning his palm into a black hole, voraciously devouring the surrounding flesh and blood.
Poof!
The fanged demon's head split in two.
Aoki's palm, surrounded by rapidly rotating blades, scraped flesh and blood, automatically terminating "Devouring" before the fanged demon could struggle.
With keen eyesight, Aoki noticed something.
The fanged demon's head showed no signs of regeneration.
A sharp sound broke the air behind him. Aoki turned and punched. The moment he made contact, he activated "Demon devouring" again.
Boom!
Taking a heavy blow to the chest, Aoki gashed the demon's face.
Aoki observed the wounds; regeneration around them had stopped completely!
"That wasn't an illusion! This is the correct way to use 'Demon devouring'!"
Aoki's eyes gleamed, glancing at all the demons.
"Today, you all will die!"