Chapter 8: Chapter 8. Upper Rank Summons (1)

Muzan summoned the Upper Ranks. At the faint resonance of the biwa, the Infinity Castle unfolded like an endless sheet of paper. Walls, ceilings, and floors all tilted and spilled apart, and unfamiliar doors appeared in midair. At the center of it all, the Upper Ranks began gathering one by one once again. The first to arrive was Upper Rank Two, Douma. His dazzling rainbow-colored eyes slowly swept the empty air. He opened his fan to cover his mouth and, as always, smiled brightly. “Ah, so this day has come again. If Muzan-sama is calling the Upper Ranks together... there must be some pleasant news, right?” Beneath his feet, a black ripple shivered as if splashing upward. Upper Rank Five, Gyokko, had appeared. The thick breathing coming from the vase quickly made the room feel damp and stale. “Heh-heh-heh, the scent of blood is still strong!” Douma waved his fan as if delighted. “Oh, Gyokko! Long time no see. Were you eating humans?” Gyokko leaned one long arm out of the vase and braced it on the floor, laughing soundlessly. “It’s been a while, Douma-sama! Have you been well?” Douma lowered his fan halfway and smiled cheerfully. “Of course. If you spend your time eating humans and chatting with pretty women, there’s no chance to get bored. Ah, but today is even more interesting. If Muzan-sama called us all here like this, then...” Gyokko drew in a deep breath from inside the vase. His voice was damp with moisture. “This feeling... it carries more weight than a simple order. It’s as if something is about to change...” Douma paused, covering his mouth with his fan as he cut off his laughter. “Hmm. If you put it that way... then today won’t be about pleasant toys, but a bloody story!” Then the floor of the Infinity Castle gave a heavy thud. “Stop your chatter.” With heavy footsteps, Upper Rank Three, Akaza, appeared. His eyes were already dyed red with the heat of battle. “While waiting for Muzan-sama, keep your useless mouths shut. Your lazy attitude is always disgusting.” Douma shook his fan with both hands and laughed theatrically. “Akaza-kun, long time no see! Still no fun at all. If you keep scowling like that, you’ll get wrinkles.” Akaza ground his teeth. “Shut up. I’ll make sure even the smile is stripped from your corpse.” Gyokko chuckled lowly as he tapped the vase. “Heh-heh, as expected, when we gather, Akaza-sama and Douma-sama start snarling at each other. Even Muzan-sama’s summons can’t stop this commotion.” Before the words had even ended, the air grew damp and gloomy. The space in midair trembled as if splitting open, and Upper Rank Four, Hantengu, appeared. His tiny clones filled the room with voices close to screams. “Eek! Why... why were we called? If Muzan-sama gets angry... we’ll all die! We definitely did something wrong! We’re dead, we’re dead!” Akaza narrowed his eyes and glared. “Coward. Your screaming is revolting to hear.” Douma, on the other hand, clapped his fan as if he were enjoying himself and laughed. “Ha-ha! Hantengu, you’re exactly the same even after all this time. Thanks to you, things never get boring.” Then, from the darkness of the Infinity Castle, another presence seeped in. “Hmph... noisy. Makes me want to rip out their throats.” A rough, hoarse voice. A grotesquely emaciated body, a face mottled with scars and boils—Upper Rank Six, Gyutaro, emerged from the shadows. Following behind him, his younger sister Daki, dressed in a gorgeous kimono, stepped forward. Daki first gave a light bow toward Douma. “...Douma-sama, Gyokko-sama.” Then Gyutaro tapped her with the back of his hand and muttered, “Quit acting cute for no reason, little sister. No need to bother with those guys.” Douma burst out laughing. “Oh! Gyutaro-kun, and Daki-chan too! The two of you together really do make things feel more glamorous! Daki-chan, you’re dazzling as always. Completely the opposite of your brother, aren’t you?” Gyutaro’s expression twisted at once. “What did you say...? Don’t go calling my sister so casually, you bastard. I’ll rip out that filthy tongue of yours.” Daki hurriedly tugged at Gyutaro’s sleeve. “B-brother, stop it! Muzan-sama will be here soon.” Gyutaro snorted and turned away with a grumble. “Tch... I’ll behave in front of Muzan-sama, at least.” The moment their words ended, all conversation sank into silence in an instant. The air itself changed density in a heartbeat. Six eyes emerged as if cutting through the dark. The pinnacle of the Twelve Kizuki, Upper Rank One—Kokushibo. With his arrival, the atmosphere of the Infinity Castle turned cold as moonlight. Even Douma lowered his fan, Gyokko drew his arms back into the vase, and Hantengu’s clones trembled as if they might faint and collapsed to the floor. Gyutaro and Daki also swallowed their words instinctively. Only Akaza kept his gaze fixed on Kokushibo without wavering. A brief silence. Kokushibo took his place without a word. His six eyes slowly swept over the Upper Ranks, and in that instant, everyone knew. His blade still carried the scent of the battlefield. Moonlight and blood, and the unextinguished spirit of a swordsman. Douma was the first to speak. “Kokushibo-sama, looks like you had another proper battle. That smell... human blood, but I guess you didn’t eat?” The tip of his fan trembled lightly. Curiosity shimmered beneath the laughter. Gyokko immediately twisted his arms and chimed in. “Heh-heh... truly strange. For lowly beings like us, if we don’t eat when we can, Muzan-sama would make us suffer for days. But Upper Rank One... do you transcend even that?” At that, Gyutaro snorted and muttered unpleasantly, “Hmph. Acting all refined, are you? What changes if you leave humans alive? They’re just things that’ll rot away anyway.” Daki glanced around and carefully tugged at Gyutaro’s side. “...Brother, be quiet. Don’t speak so carelessly in front of Kokushibo-sama.” Gyutaro ground his teeth and turned his head away. “Tch. Fine, I know. For that guy...” He trailed off and bit his lip. Hantengu’s tiny clones lay sprawled on the floor, muttering in fear. “Eek... scary... scaryyy... those six eyes... just one look and I can’t breathe...! We’re dead, we’re dead...” Even Gyokko shrank back into his vase and fell silent. Only Akaza still held his head high and glared straight at Kokushibo. “...I don’t care why you didn’t eat the human. But one thing is clear: a warrior must become stronger. Whether you eat or not—your strength won’t be proven by the result.” He clenched both fists and gritted his teeth. “I never once stopped fighting after becoming a demon. If you want to grow stronger, then you have to prove it somehow. But you... you cut down a human and still didn’t eat him. If that leads to strength, then I’ll acknowledge your choice. ...But I will not acknowledge you. I will definitely kill you!” In that instant, the air rang as if it had been torn apart. Kokushibo’s six eyes opened at once toward Akaza. Wordlessly, only with that gaze. “―――!” Akaza’s toes struck the floor on their own. His golden eyes wavered. Instinct screamed at him that if he moved, his head would fly off. And yet he clenched his teeth and did not retreat even one step. “...If my proof is wrong, then cut me down. But if you’re a warrior, then act like one— I can’t abandon the belief that you must become stronger!” Gyutaro and Daki held their breath. Gyokko jolted inside his vase with a clatter, and Hantengu’s clones cowered with their hands over their ears. Kokushibo stared at Akaza for a moment, then slowly looked away. His voice was low and cold as night. “...I do not deny your belief. But it is always foolish. If you do not leave a trace with your blade, you will eventually return to the earth. Even the struggle to become stronger is nothing but a cry into the void if it cannot be proven.” Kokushibo’s low, thin voice brushed across the latticework of the Infinity Castle and vanished. Akaza gritted his teeth and endured. His eyes remained firm, but cold sweat ran down his back. Gyutaro instinctively hid Daki behind him, and from inside Gyokko’s vase came the careful sound of porcelain scraping—tap, tap. Hantengu’s clones pressed their foreheads to the floor with both hands over their ears, and only Douma lifted his fan to the corner of his eyes, smiling faintly. “Still, it’s cool, Kokushibo-sama.” Douma whispered. “Whether it’s a foolish belief or whatever else, in the end strength says everything.” Akaza let out a low breath. But even then, he did not let the tightening grip around his throat take away his last word. “I don’t care if it’s the void. My fighting spirit is my belief. I’ll live only on that path!” A short silence. Kokushibo’s six eyes closed again, then opened by the smallest degree. Instead of words, there was silence—neither approval, nor request, nor denial. At that moment, the entire space of the Infinity Castle shook. The biwa sounded again, this time lower and longer. The walls collapsed, and the floor tilted. All the Upper Ranks looked up at once. Slowly, but surely. Black flesh gathered at the center of the space. Muzan. Just his presence, walking out from the abyss of darkness, was enough to make even Kokushibo remove his hand from the sword hilt. Douma pressed his hands together as if in prayer, Gyokko buried his vase deep into the floor, Gyutaro instinctively lowered his head, and Daki also held her breath and knelt. Hantengu’s clones wailed and clawed at the floor. “Eek... Muzan-sama... please, please spare us your anger...!” Muzan subdued everyone with a single eye. Though he said nothing, the air had already grown hot, as if blood were surging backward through it. “...You’re all rather leisurely. Your chatter has gone on long enough.” Just that one sentence made the Upper Ranks flinch in unison. Douma was the first to wave his fan and smile gently. “Muzan-sama, could you tell us why we’ve all been gathered like this? Perhaps there’s a new prey—” “Shut that mouth, Douma.” Muzan’s voice was as thin and cold as a blade. “I did not permit you to speak. I did not summon you for your ridiculous games.” Douma’s mouth corners dipped for an instant, then were quickly covered by his bright smile again. Muzan’s gaze moved directly to Kokushibo. “...Upper Rank One, Kokushibo. I will ask you first. The battle in the entertainment district. Report.” In an instant, every gaze locked onto Kokushibo. It seemed the reason for the Upper Rank summons had been Kokushibo all along.

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