Kotoha seemed to sense something.
She paused her sewing, lifting her head in confusion.
What met her eyes was a face split open to the ears, saliva dripping from it.
"What a… beautiful mother…"
Sasaki laughed hoarsely. His right hand—now transformed into a massive bone blade—rose high into the air.
Twisted delight flickered in his single eye.
"That high-and-mighty divine child… that arrogant little brat…
"If he saw his own mother turned into a pile of minced flesh, what kind of expression would he make?"
Kotoha's pupils dilated instantly.
The red light in Sasaki's eye flared violently as the bone blade howled through the air and chopped down!
"DIE!!"
However—
Just as the blade was an inch from Kotoha—
Whoosh!
A streak of pink light instantly coiled around the bone blade.
"Huh? Where did this ugly freak come from?"
An arrogant, killing-intent-filled voice rang out from the rooftop.
Sasaki froze and looked up.
Countless gorgeous pink sashes danced wildly in the night sky, and at their center, Daki gazed down at him from above, naked disgust in her eyes.
"What do you think you're doing with that filthy hand?
"Trying to touch Lady Kotoha?
"Do you want to die?!"
Before Sasaki could even react, an even colder, darker aura surged up behind Daki.
Hunched over, Gyutaro stepped forward, twin blood sickles dripping poison under the moonlight.
"I'll rip your guts out…"
Upper Rank Six — Daki and Gyutaro, present!
"U–Upper Rank?!"
Sasaki's pupils shook violently.
But that was only the beginning.
"A piece of trash with no martial spirit, who only bullies the weak."
A voice far more oppressive came from the front gate of the courtyard.
Sasaki whipped his head around.
A pink-haired, tattooed man was walking toward him step by step.
The ground beneath his feet cracked with every stride, the blue Compass Needle spinning wildly below him.
"Normally, I despise protecting the weak…
"But if it's that woman, that's another matter entirely."
Akaza took a stance, golden eyes blazing with tangible fury.
"Destructive Death — Air Type!"
BOOM!!
From dozens of meters away, an invisible, terrifying pressure of fists slammed straight into Sasaki's chest.
He didn't even have time to scream—his body was blasted away like a cannonball, smashing straight through the courtyard wall.
Upper Rank Three — Akaza, present!
Sasaki spat out a mouthful of black blood and struggled to rise.
Fear—an unprecedented fear—swallowed him whole.
Why?
Why were there so many Upper Ranks here?!
"Ahhh… my, my…"
The temperature of the air suddenly plunged to freezing.
A figure stepped out from the shadows behind Kotoha, frost crunching beneath his feet, gently waving a golden fan.
He didn't even glance at Sasaki.
He took off his ornate cult leader's robe and carefully draped it over the still-trembling Kotoha.
Then he gently reached out and tidied her disheveled hair at her temples.
"It's alright now, Kotoha-chan.
"It's just a rather ill-mannered little mouse."
Only after that did he turn around slowly.
That beautiful face wore its usual smile—
But within those eyes lay only dead silence, and a malice so cold it could freeze the soul.
"Say…"
Doma tilted his head, fan resting against his chin.
"Who gave you the courage…
"To point those mud-stained filthy hands…
"At my Kotoha-chan?!"
Blood Demon Art — Cold Fierce White Princess
Two enormous ice maidens manifested out of thin air.
Upper Rank Two — Doma, present!
"AAAAAAHHHH—!!"
Sasaki screamed as his body began to freeze, his bone armor cracking apart.
Before these three apex beings, he was nothing more than an ant that had wandered into a dragon's nest.
"It's over…"
Sasaki closed his eyes, his heart filled with hatred toward fate.
As expected… I really am a man cursed with bad luck…
Even after becoming a demon…
"Bad luck?"
A voice that towered above all else suddenly sounded by his ear.
"No, Sasaki.
"I am your good fortune."
Time seemed to freeze at that instant.
The demons who had been about to tear Sasaki apart—
All of them stopped dead the moment they heard that voice.
A man in a black suit and white fedora had appeared at the center of the courtyard without anyone noticing.
He was like the night itself, devouring all light.
Kibutsuji Muzan.
"M–Muzan-sama…"
Daki collapsed flat onto the ground, trembling violently.
Gyutaro immediately knelt as well.
Akaza grit his teeth, withdrew his fighting spirit, and dropped to one knee, lowering his head.
Muzan didn't look at them.
He walked straight up to Sasaki and gently patted his head, as if soothing a frightened dog.
"See? I came to save you.
"Even when beating a dog, one must look at its owner.
"My dog—Upper Rank or not—cannot be killed at will."
Sasaki stared blankly at the man before him.
A wild joy of surviving death, mixed with twisted worship, flooded his chest.
"M–Master… Master!!"
After calming his new pet, Muzan slowly turned around.
Those plum-red vertical pupils swept coldly over the demons kneeling on the ground.
Finally, his gaze stopped on Doma—who stood in front of Kotoha, not kneeling, only slightly bowing.
"Can someone tell me…"
Muzan's voice was terrifyingly calm, yet it suffocated the air itself.
"Why you lot…
"Are all gathered here?"
"As Upper Ranks, instead of searching for the Blue Spider Lily, instead of eradicating the Demon Slayer Corps…
"You hide in this broken temple…"
Muzan glanced at Kotoha, who was shrinking behind Doma.
"Playing house?"
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Without warning.
Without any visible movement.
Daki's head.
Gyutaro's head.
Akaza's head.
Doma's head.
All of them exploded at the exact same instant.
Blood splattered across Kotoha's face.
"Husband!!"
Kotoha screamed, clutching Doma's body tightly.
Muzan frowned in disgust, pulling out a handkerchief to wipe his hands.
"Annoying.
"This woman… is she the birth mother of that rebellious brat, Inosuke?"
Ignoring the demons entirely, he walked straight toward Kotoha.
With every step, the suffocating pressure intensified.
"D–Don't come any closer…"
Kotoha retreated until she had nowhere left to go, her back pressed against the icy wall.
Muzan reached out, sharp nails lifting her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze.
"She does look quite good."
"Tell Inosuke," Muzan said coldly.
"If he doesn't want his mother turned into minced meat…
"Or into a mindless, man-eating demon…
"Then he'd better behave and obey me."
"Otherwise…
"I wouldn't mind letting him taste what it's like to lose his closest kin."
Muzan's fingers tightened slightly, a thin line of blood appearing on Kotoha's pale neck.
At that moment—
"Oh my, oh my, Muzan-sama."
A smiling voice rang out—pleasant, yet spine-chilling.
Doma's head had just finished regenerating, half his brain matter still hanging out.
Yet he stepped forward as if nothing were wrong, placing himself squarely between Muzan and Kotoha.
He was smiling.
Brightly.
Infuriatingly.
"What are you doing?
"Threatening a defenseless, weak woman?"
He waved his fan, speaking in a tone that sounded respectful—yet was dripping with mockery.
"This really doesn't suit your image.
"Could it be that you can't control a child barely in his teens, so you're throwing a tantrum and venting it on his mother instead?
"That kind of behavior…
"Is honestly quite embarrassing."
Dead silence.
Muzan stopped moving.
He stared at Doma's smiling face, veins bulging one by one at his temples.
"Doma…"
Muzan's voice dropped to an abyssal low.
"Have you been playing 'father' in this household for so long…
"That you've actually started thinking you're human?"
"How could that be~"
Doma kept smiling, even leaning a little closer.
"I'm just worried about you, Muzan-sama. Getting angry over such trivial matters will cause wrinkles, you know. And besides…"
For a fleeting instant, Doma's eyes changed.
Cold.
Like trash being appraised.
"She's my believer.
"If she gets damaged, it'll be very troublesome for me."
"Die."
Muzan exploded with rage.
Countless flesh-whips burst from his back, stabbing toward Doma's vital points!
If that strike landed, even an Upper Rank would be gravely wounded!
"Destructive Death — Disorder!!"
A pink figure charged in instantly.
Akaza grit his teeth and used his own body and fists to block Muzan's attack aimed at Doma.
Pshhk! Pshhk!
The flesh-whips pierced through Akaza's shoulders and abdomen, pinning him brutally to the ground.
"Akaza?!"
Doma froze.
"Shut up, you idiot!!"
Akaza coughed blood as he roared at Doma.
"Do you want everyone to die?! That's Muzan-sama!!"
Turning back, enduring the agony, he bowed deeply to Muzan.
"Muzan-sama! Please quell your anger!
"There's something wrong with Doma's head! He has no emotions! He's just spouting nonsense!
"Please don't lower yourself to his level!!"
Muzan looked at Akaza, nailed to the ground.
Then at Doma—still smiling, but with unmistakable killing intent hidden in his eyes.
Then at the trembling Kotoha.
After a long moment—
Muzan retracted the flesh-whips.
"Hmph."
He sneered, straightening his collar.
"It seems Inosuke truly is a calamity."
Muzan ignored the Upper Ranks and turned to Sasaki.
"Sasaki."
"Y–Yes! Master!"
Sasaki crawled forward on his knees.
Muzan thrust his hand straight into Sasaki's chest.
This time, the amount of blood injected was terrifying—far beyond a normal demon's limit.
The power was so violent that Sasaki let out a horrifying scream.
"AAAAAAHHHH—!!!"
Sasaki's body mutated again.
His once gray-black bone armor deepened in color, jagged bone spines erupting from his back like a forest of blades.
His crimson eye split again and again, finally forming a single vertical pupil, within which the faint character "Five" could be seen.
"Listen carefully," Muzan said, his voice seductive.
"I now appoint you as Acting Upper Rank Five.
"I'll give Inosuke one last chance."
"That position was originally reserved for him.
"But I've changed my mind.
"That brat is far too disobedient—he needs a lesson."
Muzan pointed toward the northwest.
"Just now, Nakime and Hantengu sent word.
"They've found traces of that brat.
"You'll go and cooperate with Hantengu."
"Go, Sasaki.
"If you can defeat him…
"If you can bring me his head…
"You'll become the true Upper Rank Five.
"Your so-called bad luck will finally come to an end."
Sasaki knelt on the ground, laughter bursting from his throat at the crushing power surging within him.
He looked at Doma.
At Akaza.
There was no fear left in his eyes—only provocation.
"Yes! Muzan-sama!!
"I'll prove it to you!
"That brat was just lucky! I'm the strongest one!!
"I'll chew his bones…
"One by one!!"
Sasaki rose and vanished into the night.
Muzan glanced at the wreckage-filled courtyard and left behind a cold sentence.
"All of you, reflect on yourselves.
"If I ever see this kind of childish playacting again…
"You'll all go sunbathing."
A biwa rang out.
Muzan vanished.
The courtyard fell into deathly silence.
Doma slowly stood up.
He didn't go to Akaza.
He didn't go to Daki.
He walked quietly to the still-trembling Kotoha, extended that clean hand of his, and gently—carefully—wiped the blood from her face.
"I'm sorry, Kotoha-chan.
"I couldn't… hold my tongue just now."
His voice was soft.
Gentle.
But when he turned his head toward the direction Sasaki had disappeared—
For the first time—
The face that always wore a smile showed no smile at all.
In those rainbow-colored eyes, monstrous killing intent surged.
"Lord Akaza," Doma suddenly spoke.
"…What?"
Akaza stood up, clutching his wounds.
"Tell me…"
Doma tilted his head, his tone icy.
"If that newly arrived piece of trash really hurts Inosuke…"
"Shouldn't we…
"Go collect a corpse?"
Akaza stared into Doma's eyes, silent for a moment.
"…You don't need to say it."
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