Did You Have a "Nightmare"?

Tan Man looked toward Naoya as he slowly entered the room. This was his half brother in the Zenin Clan, born to the same father but a different mother.

But Naoya merely looked Tan Man over with contempt and disgust. Tan Man knew that look all too well.

Whether in his previous life or with his mother in this one, Tan Man had always been looked at by his family with that kind of gaze.

No matter where he fled, that look never left him alone.

His very existence was constantly denied, and it always began with his closest blood relatives.

That was precisely why, as Tan Man looked at Naoya, he suddenly found him inexplicably irritating.

Simply because of the circumstances of his birth, Naoya could take everything the Zenin Clan offered for granted.

Yet Tan Man had staked everything and gone to such enormous lengths, only to barely qualify as a member of the Zenin Clan.

Tan Man did not answer Naoya. He simply watched him in silence.

Tan Man's reaction made Naoya feel that his authority was being challenged.

Normally, no one in the Zenin Clan except Toji dared ignore him-not the old men who served as elders, nor his uncle Ogi or his cousin Jinichi.

You're just a bastard Father brought home from somewhere. How dare you ignore me!

Still young, Naoya had yet to learn how to control his expressions. His anger was written all over his face.

Naoya walked to Tan Man's bedside and glared down at him.

But Tan Man's golden eyes showed no weakness, meeting Naoya's gaze without giving an inch.

To Tan Man, the attitude he showed now amounted to a declaration to the Zenin Clan.

He was declaring how he intended to live within this family.

He wanted not only Naoya to see it, but everyone in the Zenin Clan.

Tan Man no longer wanted to live at the mercy of others. With power of his own and knowledge of this story, he swore to become the master of his own life.

And how could Naoya possibly tolerate that arrogant look from Tan Man?

Furious, he seized Tan Man by the collar and hauled him straight off the bed, glaring at him as he demanded an answer.

"You beggar of a bastard, what's with that look? Do you even know who you're looking at?"

The doctor beside them, who was responsible for drawing Tan Man's blood, reached out to stop Naoya. But remembering the situation in the Zenin Clan, and who Tan Man might be given the need for a paternity test, he ultimately left his hand hanging in midair without intervening.

The Kukuri member assigned to protect Naoya simply watched events unfold with his hands behind his back.

To him, the conflict between Naoya and Tan Man was a microcosm of the power struggle about to unfold within the Zenin Clan.

As the present situation seemed to show, he did not believe Naoya, whom he supported, would lose to this Tan Man who had come from who knew where. His help was entirely unnecessary.

But Tan Man's response was to unleash his first Evil Eye of the day directly on Naoya.

In Naoya's eyes, Tan Man's appearance gradually changed.

His once-scrawny body grew muscular, becoming so powerful that it burst the collar Naoya held. A pair of pointed, demonic horns sprouted from his head.

The sudden transformation frightened Naoya almost into a stupor. He spoke in a trembling voice.

"Wh... what?"

The next instant, the ground shook violently, as though a magnitude-nine earthquake had struck. A massive fissure opened beneath their feet.

They fell, plummeting at terrifying speed, as though they would not stop until they reached the eighteenth level of hell.

Seven-year-old Naoya had never experienced anything like this. Terrified, he could only wail helplessly, while Tan Man spread a pair of pitch-black wings and watched him with keen interest.

By the time Naoya regained his senses, he was already in the great hell of Equal Lives, the first of the Eight Hot Hells. Wails rang out endlessly around him.

Chunks of corpses shredded by bladed wheels lay everywhere. Blood as thick and dark as ink covered the ground, surging like a tide with the rolling wheels and battering Naoya's body, while severed limbs struck him along with it.

The suffocatingly strong stench of blood, rising in the intense heat, left Naoya barely able to breathe.

Overwhelming-the sight of hell was so overwhelming to Naoya that he did not even notice he had wet himself.

Then an enormous bladed wheel hurtled toward Naoya, grinding and shredding everything in its path.

At that moment, the Tan Man within the illusion reached out, seized Naoya by the mouth, and spoke coldly.

"Welcome to the great hell of Equal Lives. Did you have a 'nightmare'?"

As Tan Man dispelled the Evil Eye's illusion, Naoya released his collar, clutched his own head with both hands, and screamed in panic.

"Aaaaaaaaah!"

Hearing Naoya's screams, both the Kukuri member and the doctor froze briefly, unable to understand what had just happened.

From their perspective as bystanders, Naoya had simply hauled Tan Man up, then begun screaming as though he had lost his mind only a few breaths later.

Tan Man's expression remained unchanged. He had not uttered a single word from beginning to end, and now sat on the bed watching Naoya coldly.

Terrified, Naoya scrambled and crawled to the Kukuri member's side, grabbing his trousers as he cried.

"Quick, kill him! He's a monster! He's a demon! He's going to drag me into hell!"

The Kukuri member looked down and saw the wet trail Naoya had left behind him. He could scarcely believe Naoya had been frightened into wetting himself.

Even before awakening his Cursed Technique, Naoya had participated in the training arranged by the Zenin Clan. He had also taken part in exorcising curses and witnessed the casualties that could occur during missions.

In his eyes, even if Naoya was only seven years old, he absolutely should not have lost control to this extent.

Perhaps it was only at moments like this that Naoya truly resembled a child his age.

But when he looked at Tan Man, whom Naoya wanted him to kill, those serpentine golden eyes seemed to hold a soul-gripping power. Even he felt a trace of fear.

The Kukuri member could not grant Naoya's request, even though he was a staunch supporter of Naoya's faction.

He could not bear the consequences of murdering the clan head's son.

"But, Master Naoya..."

Whenever fear reached its limit, it often turned naturally into anger.

Naoya paid no heed, tugging at his clothes and roaring hysterically.

"I told you to do it!"

It was at that moment that Naobito Zenin entered the room, having changed into a loose robe, casually holding a flask and drinking deeply from it.

Naobito Zenin first glanced at the distraught Naoya, his brow furrowing slightly. Clearly displeased with his behavior, he spoke in a low, stern voice.

"Enough. Stop making a spectacle of yourself!"

Only after seeing his father, Naobito Zenin, did Naoya recover a little of his composure.

"F... Father?"