Tetsu no Sosuke followed Shinobu Kocho down into the deep pit.
Shinobu Kocho carried a fresh batch of Wisteria Tea in a bottle, still at just the right temperature.
The moment Upper Moon Six saw Tetsu no Sosuke, he scowled and glared, on the verge of cursing him out. The main problem was that he couldn't: the Iron Skewer piercing his tongue still hadn't been removed.
No... more precisely, it was often taken out, but before long, it was stabbed right back in.
Komiyazaki and Yamamoto Yasumoto had lost the smugness they'd shown when they first met him. They seemed to have tried a few methods over the past two days, but none of them meant much to a Demon.
Now both men were beside themselves. The frustration with their situation was plain in their bloodshot eyes.
Even the eagerness and humility they'd once shown a Pillar had vanished.
It had never been genuine respect. Once their frustration reached its peak, they could no longer be bothered to keep up the act.
Tetsu no Sosuke didn't care about their attitude. After these two days, he'd seen the problem clearly enough.
Their methods could be cruel, but they still hadn't moved beyond what worked on humans.
Driving nails under fingernails, sawing off fingers and toes—such punishments were painful and terrifying for humans, but to a Demon, they were almost a joke.
Tetsu no Sosuke also knew that what made those methods work at all was the tea in Shinobu Kocho's hand.
When they reached Upper Moon Six, Shinobu Kocho pulled out the Iron Skewer and flicked the blood from it.
"Hammer Pillar! If you've got the guts—"
Before he could finish, there came a rapid glug, glug, glug as Shinobu Kocho poured all the "tea" from the bottle down his throat.