Haruto quietly studied the young man before him, who looked about seventeen or eighteen.
He was extraordinarily tall, taller than anyone Haruto had met except Himejima. His white hair hung loose, and everything about him was lavish, every accessory studded with colorful jewels.
Yet Haruto's gaze settled on the two pairs of relatively inconspicuous gold earrings on his ears.
When he had fought Lower Rank Three, Byōha, he had seen earrings of the same design on his ears.
Was it a coincidence?
Keeping his expression neutral, Haruto extended a hand. "Haruto Takanashi, Demon Slayer Corps."
"Demon Slayer Corps?" Tengen Uzui looked puzzled, though he understood the literal meaning. "Watchmen hidden in the darkness, like a ninja clan? No... compared with ninja clans already nearing their end, your existence might mean more to this world. Those foul demons..."
He glanced in the direction Lower Rank Four had fled and sighed. "They really aren't flashy at all!"
"Flashy?" Now it was Haruto's turn to be confused.
"That's right. Flashy." Tengen Uzui pointed at his own nose with his multicolored fingernails, then at Haruto. "This, this, and..."
He pointed at the three female ninjas nearby and flashed a brilliant smile. "My three wives-all shining examples of flashiness!"
Haruto stared blankly at him, then turned to look at the three female ninjas, each charming in her own way and all boasting stunning figures.
"Wives? You mean... wives?"
"You're saying all three of them-are your wives?"
Was there no justice? No law?
They were all around the same age, yet some men were married with sons and daughters, living in bliss; others had three slender wives and spent every night enjoying themselves...
And some men got smacked on the head and asked whether they had married every time they visited their family!
How was that fair?!
Absolutely not! He absolutely could not let Godogawa see this man with painted nails!
Otherwise, Haruto would be bundled up and sold off on the spot!
With help from the Kakushi who arrived, they found shelter for the farmers who had lost their homes.
Meanwhile, Haruto learned a little about this Tengen Uzui and his obsession with flashiness.
"So how did you see through her movements and spot her openings at the end?" Haruto suppressed his jealousy and focused on the earlier battle. "I mean, without learning a Breathing Style, that should have been almost impossible."
Tengen Uzui readily gave him a concise explanation of his score.
"With enough time, you can see through an enemy's weaknesses and openings?"
Haruto was astonished. Paired with someone on the front line who could take a beating, that skill would be a perfect counter to foul demons!
Almost immediately, he was ready to write to Kagaya and have that born leader, with his commanding presence, recruit Tengen Uzui.
Time was passing too quickly. The foul demons kept growing stronger, while the Demon Slayer Corps wasn't improving fast enough.
Himejima and Haruto alone weren't enough. The Demon Slayer Corps needed more powerful young blood.
Otherwise, were they supposed to tear Muzan Kibutsuji apart with just two Hashira?
That notion showed far too little respect for a Demon King who had lived for over a thousand years.
Infinity Castle
At the ringing twang of a biwa, Lower Rank Four, Koyuki, abruptly opened her eyes.
After escaping that Hashira's blade, she had devoured several people in one go, then hidden in an old residence to rest and recover.
Having expended too much flesh and nourishment during the battle, she had taken longer to recover than she expected.
But that note from the biwa set her nerves on edge again, leaving her even more panicked than when she had faced the Hashira's sword.
The wooden structure before her was strange, seemingly alive as it constantly shifted and rearranged itself.
Within the labyrinthine interior of Infinity Castle, Nakime sat silently high above, her biwa in her arms. Every room in Infinity Castle twisted around her, enough to make anyone dizzy at a glance.
Koyuki looked up and saw a slender woman in a purple cherry-blossom kimono, a blood-red spider lily adorning her head. Her eyes were gently lowered, making her look frail and easy to bully. But Koyuki knew that anyone who underestimated her, whether ordinary humans or demon slayers, would become nourishment in her belly.
She was Lower Rank One, Ubume.
Aside from Ubume, Lower Rank Two, Perowolf, in his military cap, the young demon Rui with his head bowed, and the panic-stricken Kamanué, she saw two other figures standing there in equal fear.
Had the Upper Ranks come too?
Her gaze darted across the surrounding space, but aside from those figures and Nakime, who remained silent with her head lowered, she saw no sign of any Upper Rank.
An overwhelming sense of danger washed over her.
"This... what is this place?" Kamanué, whom she was meeting for the first time, sounded bewildered.
His voice echoed hollowly through Infinity Castle, but no one answered.
All the foul demons remained silent-or rather, they were trembling.
Koyuki swallowed, struggling to breathe as though someone had seized her throat.
Twang!
Another note rang from the biwa, gathering the foul demons together.
Koyuki lowered her head. She could already sense "that lord's" presence in the air.
Sweat slid down her forehead as a pair of gleaming leather shoes gently came into everyone's view.
The terrifying pressure of a superior demon swept through Infinity Castle. Koyuki immediately pressed her forehead to the floor, her not-yet-healed demonic body aching as though it were being torn apart beneath that pressure.
He was a gentleman in a black suit, with slightly curled hair, a slender frame, pale skin, and eyes like blood moons hanging in the sky.
The Demon King, Muzan Kibutsuji, was the master of Infinity Castle and the one to whom all their demonic blood was bound.
Koyuki felt no shame at her own lowliness. In fact, aside from that young demon Rui, almost every Lower Rank knelt in the same instant.
The silence in Infinity Castle did not last long before the man's low voice sounded overhead.
"How humble."
Muzan lightly tapped his leather shoe against the wooden floor, producing a crisp click.
"Another word for humility is incompetence."
Koyuki shuddered, great beads of cold sweat rolling down her forehead.
"Byōha died at a demon slayer's hands, and Koyuki..." His voice was icy. "Everyone has heard how you ran for your life with your head in your hands."
"I'm terribly sorry! That swordsman was..."
"Did I ask you to make excuses?" Muzan cut her off coldly. "Aren't you the one who repeatedly thinks of fleeing whenever you face a Hashira?"
Koyuki shrank back, her cold sweat pooling into a little stream on the floor.
Muzan looked down with his crimson eyes, then his brow shifted and he turned his gaze toward the newly appointed Lower Rank Six, Kamanué.
"It's only human nature to want to flee from a powerful swordsman... that's what you're thinking, isn't it?"
Kamanué trembled and covered his mouth in disbelief, though he had made no sound.
"Human nature... so you still consider yourself human? After accepting my blood and eating so many people, you still classify yourself as a member of that inferior species?"
Muzan's expression darkened. "'Why can he peer into the secrets of my heart?' That's what you're thinking, isn't it?"
Blood vessels spread across the whites of Kamanué's eyes. "Please forgive me, Lord Kibutsuji!"
"Peer? Your thoughts aren't worth peering into. You're merely a piece of fish laid out on a plate, every vein plainly visible, yet you think so highly of yourself."
Muzan sneered and reached toward Kamanué.
A thick demonic claw covered in eyes tore through his sleeve and crushed Kamanué's head in one clean motion.
Blood mixed with gray-white brain matter splattered beside Koyuki. Every demon shook like a leaf.
"Koyuki, you know he died in your place."
Muzan had brought two new demons. Had this not been Kamanué's first meeting with Muzan, leaving him unaware that Muzan could read demons' thoughts, Koyuki would have been the one lying on the floor!
"Yes, Lord Kibutsuji! I will kill that swordsman!"
"No, no, no... there's no hurry." Muzan lowered his eyes and pointed at the two newcomers. "This is Mingjing."
The beautiful young married woman in a bright white kimono bowed her head slightly.
"This is Nekomata."
The cat-shaped foul demon swished her two tails.
"They will become the new Lower Rank Three and Lower Rank Four." Muzan looked at Koyuki. "As for you..."
Blood burst from Koyuki's right eye. She covered it with a muffled groan, not even daring to scream.
When she raised her eyes again, the inscription for Lower Rank Four had been erased and replaced with "Lower Rank Six."
"Until you find the courage to initiate a Rank Replacement Blood Battle, obediently serve me under the title of Lower Rank Six."
"...Yes." Koyuki bowed her head.
Muzan snorted coldly and snapped his fingers.
"One more thing."
All the foul demons straightened their backs.
Light and shadow flickered in the Demon King's eyes as unpleasant memories surfaced.
"Stop concerning yourselves with those ants in the Demon Slayer Corps. Aside from searching for the Blue Spider Lily, focus on finding the person wearing the Sunflower Earrings.
"Find him, then return and report to me."
The demons bowed their heads. "As you wish, my lord."
Muzan's gaze swept past them and drifted beyond Infinity Castle.
After all these years, why do you still have a successor in this world?
Why couldn't you die and leave nothing behind?
Yoriichi Tsugikuni!
Before you continue