Chapter 19: Chapter 19: Mutation:
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The main hall of the Butterfly Mansion was where the Butterfly family received guests. In the past, villagers would come here for minor ailments like headaches or fevers. Occasionally, people from neighboring villages would also come for medical treatment. It wasn't uncommon for patients to visit at night.
A doctor's heart is kind. Dr. Butterfly was a meticulous man who treated everyone equally. Whether it was a farmer working in the fields or a miner digging in the mountains, to him, there was no difference.
It was because of such a father that Kanae Kocho grew up to be the person she was.
Therefore, he would never turn away a patient. Status or time of day would never be factors.
Shinobu Kocho had once been proud of her father for this. But now, she felt a hint of resentment toward him.
The story began tonight, shortly after sunset, when a patient came to the Butterfly Mansion seeking medical treatment. Seeing the patient's pale complexion, Dr. Butterfly didn't suspect anything.
Then, the nightmare began.
The visitor wasn't human. It was a "demon."
Legend had it that when night fell, man-eating demons would emerge from the shadows and attack humans. They held no deep grudges against humans—they simply saw humans as food.
They were more brutal than wild beasts.
Kanae and Shinobu understood this clearly.
After entering the room, the demon immediately launched a sneak attack. Its sharp nails pierced through the father's heart. What the demon didn't expect was that, even in his dying moments, the father grabbed its arms and locked it in place. Then, the mother, despite her frail health, told the sisters to hide and grabbed a farming tool to smash the demon's head.
—But it had no effect.
The monster, even with its head smashed, quickly regenerated. Seeing this, the mother urged the two to run, but the monster blocked the main entrance, and the windows were too high to climb.
The two children hesitated for a moment. And in that moment of hesitation, their parents were killed by the monster, losing their chance to escape.
It all happened in minutes. Both parents were dead, yet the monster, wearing human skin, stood there unharmed.
Then, it began to feed.
Disgusting, nauseating.
It was a scene of immense visual impact. Witnessing a monster in human skin devouring a human was utterly revolting.
Kanae felt her stomach churning, as if boiling water were swirling inside.
"Kanae, you must stay strong. You have to create a chance for your sister to survive."
"Shinobu. I'll create an opportunity for you. Then, you must run, understand? Go and warn everyone to be careful."
Kanae instructed her sister. Their parents were already gone, and now it was her turn to protect Shinobu. Her earlier hesitation had wasted the chance their parents had fought to create.
At the very least… Shinobu must survive.
"Sister… don't." Shinobu tugged at Kanae's clothes.
The two sisters were now in a corner of the room, with furniture separating them from the demon. But both knew that this distance and these barriers wouldn't stop the monster.
"Oh—?" The demon, who had been feeding, looked up. It appeared to be a young man in his twenties, pale and frail, with a sickly demeanor.
Such an appearance, yet it was a man-eating "demon."
It spoke, "Are you so eager to die? Even if you run out and call for help, it won't matter. Ordinary people are just food to me. You can't kill me."
Then, it grinned, blood and saliva dripping from its mouth onto the floor. The sight was horrifying. "You saw that man who went up the mountain with your father this morning, didn't you? I saw it with my own eyes—how he killed one of my kind. He was ruthless—decapitating, dismembering. So decisive."
"I bet he'll taste delicious."
That man?
Shinobu thought of the man who had arrived that morning, covered in dirt and leaves, as if he had been running wildly through the forest and then fallen. She had even called him out on his lie, saying he hadn't fought a beast but had been chased by one.
Had he been fighting these demons?
Did that mean these demons could be killed?
Shinobu's eyes lit up.
"Shinobu, don't rush." Sensing Shinobu's emotions, Kanae tried to calm her.
She didn't know why the demon was saying this, but… her instincts told her something was off. What enemy would teach their opponent how to kill them?
Yet, she had to admit that the demon's words held some truth. The villagers wouldn't be able to handle this demon. Seeing its head regenerate would shatter their morale. But perhaps that mysterious Mr. Li could.
Kanae remembered how, earlier in the afternoon, Mr. Li had told her to wake him at dusk. But when dusk came, she had seen him sleeping so soundly that she didn't have the heart to wake him.
Had he anticipated the danger?
Had she made a mistake?
"Kanae, don't dwell on this. Right now, think about how to get Shinobu out."
"Kanae, stay calm."
"I'm not lying to you. That man is the only one in this village who can kill me. Of course, you could try shouting for help. Maybe he'll hear you and come to your rescue. I'd love to see that."
The demon spoke with a smile, its expression almost innocent. But against the backdrop of blood, it looked grotesque.
The flickering light of the oil lamp reflected on the girls' faces. Kanae said, "That won't work. No one has come despite the commotion earlier."
Under her sister's calming influence, Shinobu suppressed the urge to make noise.
The earlier sounds weren't loud… Had the villagers not heard? What about that man named Li Mo? Wasn't he resting in the guest room? Why hadn't he heard anything?
"What a clever girl. I'll tell you this much—this room is surrounded by my barrier. No sound can escape. So no matter what happens here, no one will hear. Isn't that despairing? You should have run when you had the chance. But you wasted it."
"The only chance your parents fought to give you, gone in an instant. You see, human life is so fragile. I know this feeling well. When I was human, I was just as fragile. I often had to drink bitter medicine and endure needles from doctors. I still remember the fear and pain of the needle piercing my skin. The helplessness of watching it happen—it was awful."
"I've rambled on too long. Memories of the past just came flooding back. Ah, I remember now. The first person I killed was the doctor who treated me. I didn't want to kill him, but his body was so fragile. A single swing of my arm, and he…"
The demon stopped mid-sentence. Was it unwilling to continue? No, something had happened.
The demon realized that the girls' positions in its vision had changed. Were they trying to escape?
No, they weren't moving. It was moving. Its vision had shifted, and it saw its own body! Its head had been severed?
"You talk too much. And you didn't even close the door? You can't block vision, you idiot?"
Li Mo stood at the doorway,complaining as he swung his axe.