Shadow of the Entertainment District, Upper Rank Six

After telling Shinobu Kocho about the "special courtesan," Moyu set out for the Entertainment District. Instead of going straight to meet Tengen Uzui, he quietly made his way to the outskirts first. Although he knew where the hostages and the Demon were from the story, he still had to make sure. With the extraordinary perception of Six Eyes, he could clearly "see" Tengen Uzui moving at high speed like a leopard through the maze of streets and across rooftops, searching for clues. Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke had already infiltrated the three most suspicious teahouses as planned: Tokito House, Kyogoku House, and Ogimoto House, respectively.

Moyu did not interfere with their infiltration. It could also be considered relatively safe training for him. His gaze pierced through layers of walls and clamor, quickly locating several key energy signatures. They belonged to Demons, cold and twisted. Three were relatively faint and in unusual locations, clearly imprisoned; another lurked deep inside a lavish building, powerful and arrogant, with a strange aura that mingled the scents of face powder and blood.

"Found them," Moyu murmured. Like a wisp of blue smoke melting into the night, he appeared soundlessly beside Tengen Uzui, who was crouched on a rooftop, frowning in thought.

"Who?!" Tengen Uzui reacted instantly, his hand flying to his sword hilt. But when he saw Moyu, he relaxed slightly, his flamboyant diamond headpiece glinting in the moonlight. "Oh? Eye Hashira? What brings you here?" There was doubt in his voice, but no displeasure in his eyes, only a little curiosity.

"The situation is a little unusual." Moyu got straight to the point and raised a hand to indicate two directions. "Your three wives: Hinatsuru is being held in a storage room in the eastern corner of Kyogoku House's lowest level. Her aura is faint, but she's alive. The guard doesn't seem tight, though there are faint traces of demonic aura around her. Makio and Suma are trapped in a narrow underground cave about five zhang below Ogimoto House. A ribbon-like monster created by a Demon's Blood Demon Art is guarding them. It can attack on its own to some extent, and its strength is below that of a Lower Rank."

Tengen Uzui's face turned deadly serious, fierce killing intent and anxiety erupting in his golden eyes. "I knew it... They really were... Thank you!" He believed Moyu's information without hesitation, a decision born of his trust in his comrade's strength and his urgent desire to rescue them.

"One more thing," Moyu continued, looking toward the teahouse with the strongest aura—Kyogoku House. "Its top courtesan, 'Warabihime,' is the Demon we're looking for. Upper Rank Six."

"Upper Rank?!" Tengen Uzui's pupils contracted.

"Yes. I'll lure her to an open area outside the city. If we fight in the Entertainment District, the casualties will be uncontrollable." Moyu's tone was calm but brooked no argument. "Take this chance to bring Tanjiro and the others to rescue them immediately. Once the hostages are free, get them settled somewhere. Upper Rank Six isn't that strong; I can handle her."

Tengen Uzui nodded heavily. Even the flamboyant makeup on his face could not conceal his deadly seriousness. "Understood! I'll give them a flashy rescue, then come give you some flashy backup! Be careful, Eye Hashira!"

Both figures vanished at once, heading off in different directions.

A heavy scent of face powder and wine filled the luxurious room on Kyogoku House's top floor. Daki, or rather Upper Rank Six under the alias "Warabihime," lounged lazily on a couch, playing with a ribbon as smooth as satin. She wore a magnificent kimono. "Upper Rank" was engraved in her left eye and "Six" in her right, while pink tattoos extended across her left cheek and the right side of her forehead, lending her beautiful but arrogant face an eerie quality.

Suddenly, her mismatched eyes swung toward the shadows in a corner of the room, and her lips curled into a dangerous smile. "Oh? A little mouse slipped in~ And one with... a particularly special scent."

Moyu's figure slowly emerged from the shadows. His black uniform and white Haori stood in sharp contrast under the dim light, and his azure eyes, like frozen lakes, watched Daki calmly.

Daki's gaze lingered on his eyes for a moment before her smile grew more excited and vicious. "Azure eyes... Hahaha! It's you! The companion of that boy with the Hanafuda Earrings, the one Lord Muzan mentioned in particular—a Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps! I never thought you'd deliver yourself to my door!" She rose slowly, ribbons winding around her as though alive. "Perfect. Once I kill you, Lord Muzan will surely grant me even greater beauty and power!"

Moyu did not respond to her taunts. He simply drew Azure Star, its blade gleaming coldly like flowing water in the candlelight.

"Hmph, putting on airs!" Daki sneered. With a wave of her fair hand, three ribbons, sharp as blades, shot from her sleeves and from behind her, slicing toward Moyu in a triangular formation! They moved so fast that they left afterimages in the air!

Moyu shifted his feet, his figure flickering like a ghost as he easily evaded the cutting ribbons. He did not counterattack immediately. Instead, he deliberately slowed down, using his blade to block the ribbons that followed with metallic clangs, making it seem as though he was struggling.

"That's all you can do? And you call yourself a Hashira?" Seeing this, Daki grew even more contemptuous, her attacks becoming denser. "Blood Demon Art: Eight-Layered Obi Slash!"

Eight ribbons with impossibly sharp edges burst from her body like a blooming flower of death. They sliced at Moyu from every direction, cleverly sealing off every possible escape route! The furniture and screens in the room were shredded in an instant!

Moyu's gaze sharpened slightly. He set the Azure Flow Breathing Style in motion, Azure Star dancing in his hand as its flashes became spinning vortices that either drew the incoming ribbons aside or sliced cleanly through them! But the severed ribbons turned to black ash as soon as they hit the floor, while new ones instantly grew from Daki's body.

"Tch, what a nuisance." Moyu deliberately frowned, speaking in a level voice with a hint of mockery. "This is the strength of Upper Rank Six? Relying on a few tattered strips of cloth? No wonder you can only hide in the Entertainment District, pretend to be a courtesan, and eat people in secret. But..." He looked Daki up and down, pausing for a moment in particular on the distinctive tattoos on her face and her somewhat spiteful expression. "Looking closely at your face, your wrinkles are a little obvious. Even all that powder can't hide them, can it? With that awful temper, no wonder you need a Blood Demon Art to maintain your 'beauty.'"

"You... what did you say?!!!" The arrogance on Daki's face crumbled instantly, replaced by an expression twisted with rage. Veins throbbed at her fair temples. (╬◣д◢) "Ugly freak? Wrinkles?! You lowly mouse! I'll gouge out your eyeballs! I'll flay your skin and make new ribbons out of it!!"

Moyu's mockery struck precisely at what Daki cared about most—her looks and her age. To have the beauty she prided herself on described as "covered up with powder," and even to have her "wrinkles" pointed out, drove her madder than any direct attack!

"Die!!" Daki went completely berserk. More ribbons poured from all over her body like raging tentacles, smashing wildly at Moyu without regard for whether they would destroy the expensive room.

Moyu fought as he retreated, weaving nimbly through the storm of ribbon attacks. At times he blocked with his sword; at others he narrowly dodged. He deliberately left an opening, allowing one ribbon to graze his Haori and cut a slit in it.

"Tch, it's too cramped in here. I can't move freely." Moyu parried several attacks, looking "a little disheveled," then burst through the room's window and sped toward the outskirts of the city!

"Trying to run?! Not so fast!!" Blinded by rage, Daki pursued him without hesitation! She would never allow the man who had insulted her to live! Her eight main ribbons spread behind her like wings, propelling her after him at astonishing speed! Roof tiles and lanterns shattered wherever the ribbons swept past.

One behind the other, they streaked across the Entertainment District's night sky like two shooting stars, rapidly leaving the bustling area behind and heading for the desolate countryside outside the city.

Only when they reached an uninhabited stretch of riverside wilderness did Moyu stop. He turned and silently watched Daki arrive in close pursuit, hovering in midair with ribbons dancing wildly around her.

Daki had reabsorbed most of the ribbon clones she used to maintain her "Warabihime" disguise and keep watch in different places. Her hair had changed from black to white, its tips dyed an eerie green, and her demonic aura had surged to several times its strength in Kyogoku House! Her long white hair and green tips whipped wildly in the night wind. Together with her fiercely enraged face and mismatched eyes, she looked like a vengeful demoness.

"Run! Why aren't you running anymore, you lowly mouse?!" Daki looked down at Moyu, her voice shrill. "This is where you'll die! I'll cut you into ten thousand pieces!"

Moyu slowly raised Azure Star. Its blade still gleamed coldly, but his gaze had completely changed. The earlier "strain" and "mockery" were gone, leaving only cold, indifferent killing intent.

"Where I'll die?" Moyu's voice was calm and even. "True, the scenery is decent enough. A suitable place to bury you."

"Big talk!" Daki shrieked, sweeping out both hands. "Blood Demon Art: Eight-Layered Obi Slash!"

This was no longer a simple cutting attack. The eight ribbons split and intertwined in an instant, forming a vast net of death made from countless sharp "ribbon blades" that descended over Moyu! At the same time, dozens of thinner ribbons struck like venomous snakes from the ground and the sides, circling around to seal off every path of retreat!

Faced with an assault capable of grinding steel to pieces, Moyu finally got serious.

"Azure Flow Breathing: Zero Form, First Style, Vortex Slash: Extreme-Speed Barrage!"

His figure seemed to split into several at once! No, those were afterimages created by his incredible speed! Every "Moyu" held Azure Star and unleashed spiraling flashes of azure sword light! Rather than meeting the ribbons head-on, the sword light cut precisely into the nodes where their energy flowed and the weak points through which force was transmitted!

Puff, puff, puff, puff—!

A dense patter of slicing sounds rang out! The seemingly impenetrable net of ribbons fell apart from within the instant it met the sword light, tearing to pieces! Countless severed fragments scattered like dead leaves caught in a gale!

"What?!" Daki's eyes widened in disbelief. Her ribbons were incredibly tough, and ordinary Nichirin Blades could barely damage them. Yet now they had been severed so easily?!

What alarmed her even more, however, was Moyu's speed! After cutting through the net, his real body appeared diagonally in front of her as though he had teleported, his blade flashing straight for her neck!

"Don't even think about it!" Daki shrieked. The skin on her neck instantly transformed, becoming as flexible and smooth as a ribbon in an attempt to slip past the blade! This was one of her life-saving techniques—temporarily giving a vital spot the texture of a ribbon!

But an instant before Moyu's sword struck her neck, a fiercely blazing red suddenly lit up its blade! A Red Nichirin Blade!

Sizzle—!

Like a red-hot branding iron cutting through fat, the crimson blade swept through Daki's neck without resistance! Her ribbon-like defense was useless against the Red Nichirin Blade!

Daki's expression froze: fury, shock, incomprehension... Her head separated from her body and fell toward the ground. She instinctively reached out and caught it.

"Huh...?" She looked at the head in her hands, then at the headless body below, seemingly still unable to grasp what had happened. (☉.☉)?

Then an overwhelming sense of terror and absurdity welled up in her heart.

"I... I was beheaded? A Hashira... beheaded me? Impossible... I'm an Upper Rank... Upper Rank Six... How could this..." she murmured. Her mismatched eyes, golden and engraved with characters, began to lose focus, but her intense fixation and unwillingness kept her from immediately disintegrating.

"Brother... Brother..." Clutching her head, she began to cry like a little girl, great tears rolling down and mixing with the makeup on her face. "It hurts... Brother... Someone bullied me... He cut off my head... He said I was ugly... He said I was old..."

Her cries echoed across the empty riverbank, eerie and piercing.

Moyu stood with his sword in hand, its crimson blade slowly returning to azure. He did not lower his guard, keeping his Six Eyes fixed on Daki's headless body and the head she held in her arms.

Sure enough, a sudden change occurred!

The kimono on the back of Daki's headless body was abruptly torn apart by a vast demonic aura that surged out from within, colder and fouler than before! A gaunt hand with ashen skin, covered in black spots and scars, thrust out of the tear in her back!

Then came another hand. Both gripped the edges of the opening and tore outward! A figure even more skeletal, hunched and bent over, with sparse, disheveled hair, struggled out of Daki's back like a wicked Demon crawling from the abyss!

His eyes bore the same engravings denoting an Upper Rank—"Upper Rank" in the left eye and "Six" in the right. But in stark contrast to Daki's beauty, he was ugly, his gaze gloomy and sinister. A thick air of malice and death surrounded him, and he held a pair of strangely shaped kunai with sickle-curved tips.

The other half of Upper Rank Six—Gyutaro.

Gyutaro straightened up and twisted his neck with a crack. He looked at Moyu with lifeless eyes, then at his sister, who was clutching her own head as though broken. A hoarse, dry voice emerged from his throat, like a broken bellows:

"Was it you... who made my adorable little sister... cry?"