"That's terrifying..."
Whispers drifted softly from the other side of the room, like the tips of leaves trembling in the night breeze.
Akaza looked in the direction of the sound.
In the shadow of the door frame, a thin, hunched figure was pressed tightly against the door panel.
He was an old man who looked to be in his seventies or eighties, with a tumor on his head, supported by two horns extending from his forehead.
It was none other Upper Rank Four, Hantengu.
Unlike the other Upper Rank, his eyes did not bear the markings of Upper Rank or Fourth Moon.
" Akaza, what happened to you just now? That aura felt so terrifying!" A clear, melodious female voice rang out.
Akaza turned his head and saw a woman dressed in a gorgeous kimono with long black hair slowly walking towards him.
The words "Upper Rank" and "six" are engraved on it.
However, Akaza merely glanced at Daki indifferently before looking away.
His attention was quickly drawn upwards.
There, a woman with cascading black hair, her face half-hidden by her long hair, sat gracefully on a high platform, gently holding an ancient-style pipa in her hand.
" Nakime, Lord Muzan not arrived yet?"
"Zheng--!"
Nakime lightly plucked the biwa before replying.
" Lord Muzan hasn't arrived yet. I only received his orders, so I gathered the Upper Rank together!"
"Oh dear, oh dear! Akaza!"
Before he could finish speaking, a voice with a hint of mockery and teasing came from behind Akaza.
Akaza knew who it was without even turning around.
Doma placed a hand on Akaza's right shoulder.
" Daki was just asking you a question!"
"We're all each other's most important companions! How can you be so cold?"
"No! No! No!" Upon hearing Doma's words, Daki waved her hands repeatedly.
" Doma, I don't mind that Lord Akaza is ignoring me!"
Upon hearing Daki's words, Doma feigned sadness.
"See? Daki is so beautiful, yet so kind-hearted. How can you bear to treat her like this?"
"No! No! No! Doma! I really don't mind!" Daki hurriedly explained.
However, neither of the two people involved paid any attention to Daki.
Akaza turned his head and glanced at the hand resting on his right shoulder.
Then he quietly turned his head to look at Doma, whose head was resting on his left shoulder.
Take your hands off my shoulders.
Indifferent words came from Akaza's mouth.
Doma said, "Oh dear! Really, didn't I just tell you that you can't treat your comrades like this..."
laugh--!
The rest of the words faded away as the lower half of Doma's face disappeared.
"Haka--"
Blood dripped continuously from the upper half of Doma's face. Without a mouth, Doma could only utter meaningless monotones from his throat.
Affected by the attack, Doma's figure also veered to the side.
The hand that was resting on Akaza's shoulder involuntarily fell down.
The sudden turn of events startled Hantengu, Gyokko, Daki.
The battles between the top three Upper Rank are truly terrifying...
I can't even see it clearly...
However, they didn't know.
At this moment, even Doma's pupils couldn't help but contract.
This injury is real.
Unlike before, when people didn't care about their injuries because they could regenerate and deliberately let others hit them.
This time, he was truly hit directly by Akaza.
That punch just now.
He couldn't even react?
I could see it clearly, but my body couldn't react in time.
The wound healed quickly.
That punch was really good!
It seems you've really made great progress this time!
It's on a completely different level compared to before!
Doma looked at Akaza amazement and exclaimed:
" Akaza- sama!"
Upon hearing this, Akaza's face contorted with rage.
This guy's way of speaking is as annoying as ever...
Seeing that a fight was about to break out, Gyokko quickly spoke up to smooth things over.
"Hi! Doma!"
Hearing Gyokko call his name, Doma turned his gaze in that direction.
"Ah! It's been so long, Gyokko!"
"Is that a new teapot underneath? It's really beautiful!"
"The teapot you gave me last time, I put a woman's head on it as decoration, and I put it in my room!"
"It's so beautiful!"
"For this reason, I feel like I understand art a little bit now!"
Upon hearing this, Gyokko's eyes twitched slightly.
That kettle isn't for plugging in...
Oh well, that's fine too, as long as Doma is happy...
"By the way, come over to my house next time! You can also see if the teapot you gave me last time looks good in my bedroom!"
Upon hearing this, Gyokko's lips curled into a frown.
I want to refuse, but I don't want to say I won't go.
Who told me I'm only Upper Rank Five, three ranks away from Upper Rank Two...?
He's starting to regret trying to smooth things over.
I should have just let them fight; it's none of my business anyway.
However, there's no going back now.
"If there's a chance..." came the conflicted words from the Gyokko pot.
"Zheng..."
The sound of the pipa rang out once more.
Those familiar with Nakime knew that someone else had been teleported in.
"Let me count who's come in!" Doma said.
He then raised his finger and began pointing at everyone present.
"I am Er."
"Lord Akaza is three."
" Hantengu is arrogant."
" Gyokko is one of the five."
" Daki is Riku."
"Two, three, four, five, six..."
Doma counted on his fingers, then seemed to realize someone was missing, and said happily.
"This time, it should be Kokushibo!"
"Ah! So it was Kokushibo who was teleported in this time!" Gyokko exclaimed in approval.
"Yes! Yes!" Doma nodded proudly.
Akaza glanced at Doma, who was putting on a show.
A feeling of disgust surged within me once again.
With just these few people, you can easily tell who hasn't arrived yet just by looking at them...
After confirming that it was Kokushibo had come, everyone stood quietly and waited.
As Upper Rank One, Kokushibo wouldn't have been able to detect him if he didn't reveal himself.
Akaza was the same in the past.
However, just as the sound of the pipa began...
Akaza seemed to sense something and turned his body in one direction.
Akaza's unusual behavior attracted everyone's attention.
Everyone looked in that direction.
A house floated there, its doors tightly shut, blocking everyone's view.
" Akaza, are you looking at something?" Gyokko asked hesitantly.
Akaza did not reply, but continued to gaze quietly in that direction.
This time, there was finally some sound in that direction.
"Tap, tap..."