"Upper Rank One was the first to be summoned."
As the two of them spoke, Muzan Kibutsuji's secretary, Nakime, suddenly opened her mouth.
Long bangs veiled her eyes. Her biwa was still cradled in her arms.
The moment she spoke, everyone's attention snapped toward her.
"He's been waiting there the whole time."
The three of them instinctively looked in the same direction.
In a loft-like chamber, a lone figure sat with his back to them, calmly wiping down a Nichirin blade as if polishing away the world.
Upper Rank One.
Kokushibo.
"I… am here. Lord Muzan… has already appeared."
All three stiffened, lifting their gaze toward that tall, upright silhouette.
Muzan Kibutsuji stood by a table, but unlike them, the gravity around him seemed reversed.
To their eyes, he was hanging from the ceiling, upside down, perfectly composed.
"Gyutaro is dead. Another piece has fallen from the Upper Ranks."
Muzan's tone was flat. His hands continued working with something on the table, precise and methodical.
"Really? Then I'm so sorry."
Douma knelt on the floor, his eyes full of apology as he looked up at Muzan.
"After all, I was the one who introduced Gyutaro. It truly is my fault…"
"But how should I atone? Should I dig out my own eyeballs? Or perhaps…"
"Who wants your eyeballs."
Muzan's voice didn't ripple at all, nothing like the way he spoke to the Lower Ranks.
"Gyutaro's death was something I anticipated. Daki was exactly the kind of burden I feared."
"If Gyutaro had taken control from the beginning, he would have won. Poison them first, then grind their lives away slowly."
He paused.
"No. Talking about it now is meaningless."
As he spoke, Muzan set down a test tube and began writing in a notebook with obsessive focus.
"Boring. It always starts with the ones who still cling to too much of their human side losing first."
"But it doesn't matter. I never placed much hope in you to begin with."
"You're saying something so sad again."
Douma scratched his cheek, smiling gently, neither servile nor defiant.
"When have I ever disappointed you?"
Muzan's pen stopped.
"Have you found the Blue Spider Lily?"
"And the successor of Sun Breathing? You still haven't killed them."
His voice rose, anger tightening like a wire. Veins bulged across his forehead.
"Perhaps I've been too indulgent with you because you're Upper Ranks!"
"I'm starting to wonder what purpose you even serve."
"If you're all so useless, you may as well die together."
Thud.
Upper Rank Four, Hantengu, dropped to his knees at once and bowed until his forehead hit the floor.
His entire body trembled like a leaf in a storm.
Douma awkwardly rubbed the back of his head.
"You know me. I'm not very good at searching and tracking…"
After a long silence, Kokushibo finally spoke, slow and heavy.
"I… have no excuse. Ubuyashiki hid himself too well…"
A head suddenly popped out of a pot with a wet, eager sound.
Gyokko.
"Lord Muzan, I'm different!"
He sounded like he was begging for praise.
"I found a lead. A way to approach the information you seek. Not long ago, I traced…"
He didn't finish.
The eye marked with the character for "Five" widened in shock.
In the very next instant, his head was in Muzan's hand.
"I hate change."
Muzan stared into Gyokko's eye, irritation dripping from each word.
"Changes in circumstance. Changes in emotion. Changes in flesh."
"Most change is nothing but decay and weakness."
"I prefer what does not change. Perfection, preserved forever."
"For one hundred and thirteen years, the Upper Ranks never changed."
"But now we've lost two at once. Do you understand what that means?"
"Don't greet me with uncertain information as if you're bringing good news."
He tossed the head aside casually.
Gyokko's head rolled back near his body.
"From now on, try harder."
"Otherwise, I won't hesitate to find new Upper Ranks to replace you."
With that, Muzan returned to his experiments as if the matter was settled.
"Gyokko. Go with Hantengu and confirm this information."
"This time, there will be no mistakes."
"Y-yes… my lord…"
Hantengu stayed pressed to the floor, voice shaking, stammering like a broken instrument.
Gyokko's head lay on the ground, and he was visibly annoyed.
Why was that trembling coward sharing his credit?
That was my information.
How is that fair?
And yet… unfairness like this was exactly what made it delicious.
"Lord Gyokko."
Douma strolled over and crouched, smiling brightly at Gyokko's severed head as if they were old friends.
"What kind of information is it? I want to go too."
Gyokko hesitated.
"I… well…"
Douma leaned closer, eyes shining with harmless curiosity.
"Can you tell me?"
A figure appeared behind Douma without a sound.
A fist swept out.
Boom.
Upper Rank Two's head exploded halfway off, blood spraying across the floor.
Gyokko's scalp went cold.
What the hell?
Upper Rank One… just punched Upper Rank Two.
"Douma… you're going too far."
Kokushibo's voice was quiet, almost gentle.
But the killing intent that rose from him was sharp enough to cut skin.
"Oh?"
Douma's head regenerated instantly. He smiled, still relaxed, eyes holding not a shred of fear.
"Sorry, Lord Kokushibo. I was only joking."
"You understand what I'm warning you about."
Kokushibo's gaze turned glacial.
"I worry about order collapsing. Chaos begins when hierarchy is overturned."
"Just now, did Lord Muzan give you an order?"
Kokushibo turned.
His face held six eyes, three pairs stacked in a terrifying symmetry.
All six locked onto Douma, and the murderous pressure nearly solidified into something visible.
"Alright, alright. Don't be so serious."
Douma lifted both hands in surrender, still smiling.
"I was joking. If you're this intense, how am I supposed to slowly build a relationship with you?"
"You know what I mean."
Kokushibo gave Douma one final look, then vanished.
Douma didn't mind at all. He waved cheerfully at Kokushibo's back.
"Bye-bye, Lord Kokushibo. You didn't listen to a single word I said, but I won't be mad!"
"We'll build that relationship, slowly!"
With the disturbance over, Gyokko finally exhaled.
Several small bumps swelled from his head, quickly forming tiny hands that propped it upright.
"Send me and Hantengu to the same location," Gyokko called down to Nakime.
Douma also looked at Nakime and pointed at himself.
"Wait, take me too…"
Strum.
The biwa sounded.
Gyokko and Hantengu disappeared instantly.
Douma's sentence died in his throat.
He blinked, then waved at Nakime again, undeterred.
"Hey, Miss Biwa… if you're free later, want to go on a date?"
"I refuse."
Nakime's rejection was cold as iron.
Her right hand plucked the strings again.
Strum.
Douma's vision flickered, and he found himself back in his familiar home.
"Everyone's so distant…"
He chuckled and sank into a plush sofa, lounging comfortably.
The door slid open.
A bald man peeked in.
"Lord Douma, a believer has come to see you."
"Really?"
Douma sat up straight immediately, smoothing his clothes.
"Apologies for making them wait. Let me put this on first."
He lifted a ceremonial hat from the side and placed it on his head, then gestured warmly.
"Please, come in. Hurry, hurry."
----------------------------------------------------
The deeper he goes, the more the truth unravels. Don't wait read ahead and witness Vincent's rise before the world catches up!
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