Accompanied by the gurgling sound of water, four pale, bloodless hands slowly stretched out from Gyokko's mouth.
The small hands pressed firmly against the rim of the ceramic pot, exerting strength as a head with crudely tied purple hair rose from within. At first glance, the face was revolting. Looking closer did nothing to improve that impression.
Two mouths coated in green lipstick were embedded into his cheeks, while the place where a mouth should have been instead housed a single grotesque eye. Another vertical pupil sat on his forehead, staring unblinkingly ahead.
Below his head, four small hands protruded unnaturally from his neck, while two more twisted and flexed where arms should have been. His upper body was thick and solid, yet his lower half tapered into a long, snake like form. The extreme contrast made his body all the more unsettling.
"It's good that you're safe, Lord Akaza. We haven't seen each other in ninety years, have we?" Gyokko said, one of the mouths on his cheek curling upward.
"I thought something might have happened to you, and my heart was overflowing with worry. Cough, cough. It truly ached."
Akaza stared at Gyokko with cold indifference. Then, as if sensing something else, he sharply turned his head.
Beneath the dimly lit staircase railing, a hunched figure came into view.
"So frightening… truly frightening," the figure muttered. "After so long apart, Gyokko can't even count properly anymore. The last time I was summoned here was one hundred and thirteen years ago. An indivisible number. An unlucky odd number. Odd numbers are terrifying."
Hantengu trembled as he spoke, clinging to the railing while cautiously peeking out.
Upper Moon Five Gyokko and Upper Moon Four Hantengu were both present.
Which meant one of the Upper Moons had fallen.
Gyuutarou?
Doma?
Or Kokushibo?
Unwilling to speculate, Akaza withdrew his gaze and turned toward the woman seated with a biwa.
"Nakime," Akaza said. "Is Lord Muzan not here yet?"
"Zheng."
The sharp pluck of the biwa answered him.
"Lord Muzan has not yet arrived."
Akaza frowned slightly. "Then where is Upper Moon One? He hasn't been eliminated, has he?"
"Oh my, don't be so impatient" a cheerful voice chimed in. "Aren't you even a little worried about me?"
Before the words fully settled, Akaza felt a cold hand with pale purple nails rest casually on his shoulder.
"I worry deeply for all of you," Doma continued, smiling pleasantly. "After all, you're all such important companions of mine."
The instant Akaza felt that touch, his expression darkened.
The aura behind him was nauseating. Disgusting. And now it was touching him.
"Doma."
Gyokko waved several of his small hands in greeting. "Oh, long time no see."
"My, Gyokko, it really has been a while," Doma replied warmly. "Is this your new pot? It's beautiful. The one you gave me, I used it to display a woman's head. It makes a lovely decoration."
"It's not meant for that," Gyokko replied, unbothered. "But I suppose that works too."
"Next time, come visit my place," Doma added cheerfully.
"Take it off."
Akaza spoke without turning around.
"Hm?" Doma tilted his head in confusion.
"Your hand. Take it off."
The moment the words left his mouth, Akaza clenched his right fist and swung it backward with brutal force.
A wet, heavy impact echoed through the hall.
Doma's chin shattered under the punch, blood spraying across the floor.
Hantengu, who had been watching from the shadows, instantly recoiled and hid himself.
Doma's expression never changed. Flesh and bone regenerated in an instant, his chin reforming as if nothing had happened.
"That was a fine punch," Doma said pleasantly. "You've grown stronger, Akaza."
He paused, then smiled.
"I know which Upper Moon died. Would you like to know?"
When Doma chose not to retaliate, he already understood that this gathering was unavoidable. The first Upper Moon death in a century was bound to provoke fury.
Whether that fury was directed at him or not, he had little choice in the matter. Given Raiden's condition at the time, persisting would have been dangerous even for him.
"The first one summoned was Upper Moon One," Nakime said calmly. "He has been here the entire time."
"Zheng."
The biwa rang out sharply once more. The structure of the Infinity Castle shifted and unfolded, revealing Kokushibo seated silently behind layered blinds.
"I am present," Kokushibo said. "Lord Muzan has arrived."
Drip. Drip.
The sound of liquid falling sent a chill down Akaza's spine.
That presence.
Gyuutarou is dead. The Upper Moons are now incomplete.
Muzan appeared above them all, his body inverted as though gravity itself no longer applied. Blood flowed upward from a dropper into a glass tube, defying all natural law.
"I must apologize," Doma said immediately, kneeling. "I was present as well, yet I was powerless. Even I found it difficult to deal with Raiden."
"How should I atone?" he continued smoothly. "Perhaps I should gouge out my own eyes?"
Akaza froze.
Doma was there?
And Gyuutarou still died?
Raiden… was it the Raiden he knew?
If even Doma found him difficult to handle, then Raiden's strength had risen far beyond expectations.
"What use are your eyes to me?" Muzan replied coldly. "I already foresaw Gyuutarou's defeat. As expected, Daki was nothing but a burden."
"But what I did not expect," Muzan continued, "was that even with you present, the demon slayers still survived."
Muzan observed the blood within the test tube, his expression unreadable.
"I did not wish for this outcome," Doma said mildly. "But you saw Raiden's condition at the time. Resisting him was no simple task."
"Was it resistance," Muzan asked, "or reluctance?"
He exhaled slowly.
"It makes no difference. I am growing bored."
"Demons who cling to their humanity continue to fall one after another. I no longer have expectations for you."
"You have failed to locate the Ubuyashiki family. There is still no trace of the Blue Spider Lily. Hundreds of years. A full hundred years, and you have found nothing."
Muzan slammed his hand against the laboratory table. His calm shattered instantly into fury.
"I no longer see your value."
"Mercy, mercy," Hantengu whimpered.
"The Ubuyashiki hide themselves too well," Doma added lightly. "And searching has never been my strength. What would you have me do?"
He tilted his head, smiling innocently.
"Lord Muzan," Gyokko interjected eagerly. "I possess information that will certainly bring you closer to your ideal. Just now…"
Before he could finish, Muzan seized Gyokko's head in one hand.
"I despise change," Muzan said coldly. "Changes in circumstance. Changes in form. Changes in emotion. In most cases, change is nothing more than decay."
"I value perfection. Preservation. Eternity."
"After one hundred and thirteen years, another Upper Moon has fallen. My mood is foul. Do not seek favor with unverified information."
"Zheng."
Muzan released his grip. Gyokko's head dropped heavily to the floor.
"From this moment onward, try harder," Muzan said. "Your status has made me too lenient."
His gaze shifted slowly.
It settled on Doma.
---