The journey of dragon transformation starting from Demon Slayer

Some people succeed in holding hands and are filled with happiness; others end up with regret and cry.

However, he never thought at that time that he would become one of them one day.

Thinking back to the scene that just happened in the park, Kariya's heart ached as if it were being cut by a knife.

He had never predicted or imagined what he would become after being rejected by Aoi.

He originally thought that he had made sufficient preparations, but when he recalled the scene in which he was rejected by Aoi, Kariya was unable to control his inner grief and almost burst into tears.

After randomly picking a restaurant and enjoying a tasteless dinner, Yanye walked out of the hotel and stared at the moon in the sky in a daze.

Thanks to Tatsumi's advice, after a whole day of thinking, he has realized his feelings and found that he still has naive fantasies about Aoi.

He fantasized that Aoi would leave Tokiomi and return to him, and that he would live a happy life with Aoi and her daughter.

All the talk about protecting Aoi's happiness is fake. He is so persistent just because he doesn't want to give up.

If it weren't for the childhood sweetheart relationship, he would definitely become a pervert who is hated by everyone, right?

When he left his family and said goodbye to his brothers, it could be said that he almost abandoned everything, and then he got an ordinary life.

He doesn't have much, and the only thing he cherishes is Aoi.

Now, he finally has nothing.

“…”

Unable to help but recall Aoi's gentle smile, Kariya smiled self-deprecatingly, and then continued walking on the night street with a bitter heart.

It was not until he saw the bar on the corner of the street that he gradually slowed down his pace and immersed himself in the bright lights and wine.

"When you encounter unpleasant things in life, just use alcohol to numb yourself..."

Thinking of this, Yanye shook his head, stretched out his hand to push open the door of the bar, and strode in.

......

Late at night.

A hazy feeling of drunkenness enveloped his heart, and Kariya no longer knew how much he had drunk.

The sound of the shop closing the door lingered in his ears, and Kariya didn't even know how he walked out of the bar.

Walking drunkenly on the main street of Xindu, Yan Ye was like a lonely ghost wandering in the wild.

At this time, there were no pedestrians on the street, and even cars were pitifully few. It would take dozens of minutes before you could see a car speeding past you.

The light from the street lamps shone quietly on the ground, and when Yanye came to his senses, he found that he had crossed the Weiyuan River and returned to his hometown without knowing when.

The scenery of my hometown flashed before my eyes.

Unlike the bustling Xindu, this place is quiet and gloomy. Nothing has changed in the past ten years, as if the passage of time has no effect on this place.

The quiet alleyway street scene is exactly the same as I remember.

But even if I slow down here and immerse myself in the scenery of my hometown, none of the memories that come to my mind are pleasant.

Yanye knew that he shouldn't come back here. After all, he didn't have the slightest attachment to this place.

The only important person in his life had clearly rejected him today. Kariya didn't know whether he should continue to maintain this impossible relationship and give himself a concrete explanation.

Protecting Aoi's happiness is the meaning of his existence, but now he has almost lost the meaning of living.

If he wanted to die, Kariya felt that he could jump into the turbulent river of the Miyuan River without hesitation.

no way.

The 'winner' and 'loser' have been clearly determined.

The only connection between him and Aoi was that of childhood sweethearts.

Kariya did not admit defeat when Tokiomi appeared, nor did he admit defeat when he turned away from "Matou". Even when facing a difficult life, Kariya still did not lose.

But now that his confession had failed, Kariya even felt like he couldn't even be friends with them.

"If I die now, it might be a relief."

No.

Thinking of this, Kariya shook his head.

If I really did that, I would probably be looked down upon by Aoi.

Besides, he wasn't that carefree.

Originally, he left "Matou" because of his fear of death.

It would be too stupid to ask for death at this point.

Even though his brain wasn't very bright, Kariya still thought that this was a very stupid move.

And even if he really wanted to die, Kariya couldn't die in Fuyuki.

It must not be known by the people here. It would be best to die quietly in some unknown corner. This is what Kariya thought.

That way, at least you can maintain your final dignity.

Kariya didn't dare to imagine what it would be like if he were reported in the news. If Tokiomi and Zōken and their ilk knew about it, he even felt that he might be so embarrassed that he would die.

Thinking of this, Yanye took a sip of the beer in his hand, dispelled the thought of seeking death, and turned to walk towards the road leading to Xindu.

In an instant, the cool evening breeze blew towards him, dispelling the drunkenness that enveloped Yan Ye.

The next second, Kariya's body shook, as if he had caught a cold, and he shivered uncontrollably.

The rustling sound of leaves blown by the evening breeze kept lingering in his ears. Yanye quickened his pace, ignoring the strange noises hidden in it.

Gradually, the sounds in his ears became more and more chaotic. As if he had a premonition, Kariya stopped under a street lamp.

"Hey, look who is this? Reeking of alcohol, looking miserable, walking on the deserted street..."

"It's hard to imagine that the loser who had made up his mind to leave the family would end up like this..."

"Like maggots crawling on rotten meat..."

The old voice echoed in the night, and this terrifying atmosphere directly dispelled all of Yan Ye's drunkenness.

Yan Ye turned around and stared with horrified eyes at the hunchbacked old man made up of a swarm of insects who appeared in the darkness.

"Matou Zouken!!" Kariya gritted his teeth: "Why are you here?"

In the darkness, Zōken showed an evil smile and taunted Kariya, “Haha, your question is really poor, Kariya. This is where Matou lives. Where else can I go if not here?”

"But you, now that you're back, why don't you take a closer look at the scenery of your hometown before leaving?"

"It's been ten years since you last saw this scenery, right?"

As he spoke, Zang Yan walked out of the shadows with his cane, but his figure did not fully appear in the light.

Yanye snorted coldly. He was in a very bad mood and did not give Zang Yan a good look.

"Hmph! Is it necessary to look at such a gloomy scenery?"

"Even in the daytime, it is just a cover-up of the filth and ugliness..."

After hearing this, Zang Yan smiled and replied: "Haha, don't say that, I think the environment here is pretty good!"

"Although I said I don't want to see your face again, I haven't deprived you of your right to freedom..."

After saying this, Zang Yan showed a sinister smile: "After all, if I wanted to, you would not have been able to leave Matou..."

“Hmph, you don’t need to tell me about this! But I won’t thank you for your favor with a smile!” Yan Ye snorted coldly, his expression extremely cold.

Zang Yan smiled and said, "Of course, I am not so happy about your gratitude that I can't sleep..."

The corners of Kariya's mouth twitched, and he felt that his aggressiveness was not high enough, and he could not do anything with the dirty inkstone.

Then, as if he suddenly thought of something, Kariya's expression became much more relaxed, which made Zōken curious.

Under Zōken's gaze, Kariya's eyes revealed a hint of mockery, and he taunted the air in front of him, "Forget it! Let's end this meaningless topic right here! Besides, compared to all this, I'd rather know why you're here?!"

"Are you not sleeping at home at this time? Are you out here to enjoy the evening breeze like me? You are really leisurely and elegant..."

“Hmm? Wait…” After a pause of one second, Kariya suddenly showed an expression of sudden enlightenment, and said with a smile: “Could it be that…you were driven out of the ‘Insect Nest’? Zōken!!”

Hearing Kariya's teasing, the smile on Zōken's face disappeared.

He frowned in displeasure and muttered, "Looking at your expression, I think you know something, right? Kariya?!"

Kariya did not answer, while Zang Yan curled his lips and snorted coldly: "Hmph, the information you got is correct. I was indeed driven out of the workshop..."

"But compared to this, I am more curious about where you got this information from?"

A look of curiosity appeared in Zang Yan's eyes.

"Oh, how do I know that you don't need to know! Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you!" A smile of revenge appeared on Kariya's face, and he was happy about Zōken's situation.

He said cheerfully, "You've brought this upon yourself! Dirty inkstone!"

After saying this, Kariya reaffirmed: "Yes, this is your retribution!"

Zōken was silent for a second, then snorted coldly and said to Kariya, "You little brat are really not cute enough. You still speak rudely as before..."

Yanye said sarcastically: "Haha, you are still the best teacher!"

“I don’t have time to argue with you…” Facing Kariya’s sarcasm, Zōken did not show any embarrassment, but said calmly, “But since you already know about this, you must know that Matou Sakura summoned a ‘Heroic Spirit’, right?”

“What? You said Sakura summoned a ‘Heroic Spirit’?!” Kariya’s pupils shrank, and he shouted with his eyes wide open.

Hearing the word "Heroic Spirit" out of the blue, Kariya instantly thought of the Holy Grail War and showed an awkward expression.

“Oh? It seems you don’t know…” Zōken smiled evilly, as if he had noticed some details from what Kariya said.

Yan Ye also realized his own loss of composure and hurriedly adjusted his expression, but it was already too late.

Zōken paid no attention to Kariya's little action, but stood aside and added: "Haha, don't you think about it, besides the 'Heroic Spirit', what else can easily break into my old workshop..."

"Even if you are the magician of the Clock Tower, you won't be able to gain any advantage against me!"

Zouken's words were full of arrogance, which was the confidence brought by his experience of living for more than five hundred years and the power he possessed as a magus.

Under Kariya's shocked gaze, Zōken put on a serious expression.

"Few people know about this... Apart from me, that Heroic Spirit, and Sakura, I guess only Tsuruno knows a little..."

"Of course, I don't know the specific situation of Tsuruno now. After all, he was killed in an instant by that heroic spirit... and the workshop of the Matou family..."

Zouken said this with a lingering fear, but he suddenly sneered and said to Kariya, “As for Tsuruno...I guess he was cruelly murdered by that heroic spirit..."

As he said this, Zōken turned his head and looked in the direction of the Matou residence, continuing to mutter to himself: "Killing witnesses is the iron rule of magicians, because only dead people can't speak..."

"And for that 'Heroic Spirit', the 'Matou' mansion should be a perfect base!"

In Zang Yan's opinion, it is relatively easy to forge the news of the day. After all, there are many ways to control people.

Props that have no use value can be discarded at any time.

In Zōken's opinion, Tsuruno was as good as dead, and even if he was alive, he would be of no use to him.

Seeing Zōken's cold assessment of Tsuruno, as if he didn't care about human life, Kariya couldn't help but shudder. At the same time, he couldn't help but recall the pair of superior blue eyes he saw today.

Zang Yan is right.

If he were the owner of those eyes, he shouldn't have any concerns about taking someone else's life!

From what Kariya knew, the only person who could possess eyes like that was a magician!

"Let me guess..."

Zou Yan's words brought Kariya back to his senses. Under his gaze, Zou Yan slowly said, "Did you see Sakura? Kariya..."

Seeing that Zōken had accurately guessed the correct answer, Kariya's pupils shrank and his body stiffened for a moment.

Such a minor change in Yanye naturally could not escape Zang Yan's keen eyes.

Zang Yan raised the corner of his mouth and said with a smile: "Haha, have you seen the heroic spirit? Then the next step will be easy..."

Yan Ye frowned and asked in a cold voice: "What do you want to say? Zang Yan!"

Zang Yan was silent for a few seconds, then said coldly: "Of course it's revenge. After all, my workshop has been occupied by outsiders. As a magician, I can't just sit back and watch!"

For magicians, the magic workshop is very important, second only to the magic seal used for inheritance.

Building a workshop would consume a lot of a magician's time and money, and some of the things inside were even rare treasures, as precious as holy relics.

"Haha, I see. Do you think that coming to me can help you take back the Magic Workshop?"

Seeing that Zōken had finally revealed his true intentions, Kariya suddenly realized what had happened and immediately revealed a sneering expression.

"I think you are getting senile! Vampire!"