Scarlet flowers fell like smoke, scattering after Yuri's body was absorbed.
The arena, already battered by Doma and Yuri's attacks, had turned into ruins.
All that remained was pure ice, adorned with crystalline lotus flowers, but also snow.
The Infinity Castle fell silent once more after the duel between the two demons concluded.
All the demons who had witnessed this battle felt mixed emotions about its outcome.
Even though Yuri was unstable, she wasn't as irritating as Doma, yet the latter had proven his strength that night.
All the ordinary demons and Lower Moons could only swallow their contempt for Doma's actions and accept the result.
After all, in the world of KNY, the strongest fist always has the final say.
'He's definitely gotten stronger thanks to our sparring,' Kokushibo evaluated in his heart, though his facial expression remained unchanged.
He decided to stop training Doma and focus more on his own personal training.
After all, today Yuri died… and tomorrow?
Kokushibo recalled that Doma had called him a comrade, but the former demon slayer remained conflicted about the title.
The man had once abandoned everything for power and didn't expect a demon to do the opposite.
'A friend? I don't know if my path can accommodate a true one,' he thought, tightening his grip on his katana.
The road to the pinnacle of swordsmanship had always been a solitary one, in Kokushibo's view.
Did he want to share it with someone? Kokushibo didn't know, and Doma wasn't a true swordsman.
The only person who could have walked that path with him had died that day, and Kokushibo could only see his back at every moment on that road.
Meanwhile, Akaza furrowed his brow as he observed the arena.
He was seriously considering the feasibility of starting a bloody battle for the Upper Moon 2 position.
In the past, he could have defeated Yuri based on his estimation of the woman's strength, but he was a man of principle.
He avoided harming women, if possible.
Now that the second spot was occupied by a man, Akaza figured he could fight without holding back.
However… his train of thought was interrupted by a factual realization he couldn't refute.
Doma was far from weak, and his abilities somewhat limited Akaza in a direct fight.
He had heard Doma's words to Yuri, and Akaza couldn't entirely dismiss them.
Especially since he had personally experienced Doma's advice during training.
Even though he was stronger than Yuri, he wasn't certain he could defeat her before her vitality-draining plants consumed him entirely.
Of course, there was also the issue of the diseases emitted by Yuri's scarlet flowers.
Akaza would need to end the fight quickly.
'The other problem is Doma's strengthening…' His brows furrowed further as veins pulsed at his temple.
After devouring Yuri, Doma would only grow stronger due to Muzan's blood, making him difficult to defeat for now, according to Akaza's estimation.
"Hmm, I'll have to intensify my training," he muttered under his breath, not hiding his bitterness.
As for his former colleague?
Akaza wasn't particularly close to Yuri, and the woman wasn't naturally sociable due to her broken spirit.
So, Akaza didn't care too much.
Even though he hated devouring women, he couldn't impose his opinion in this situation.
"Eee-eee-eee! So scary… I-I'm scared!" Hantengu trembled from head to toe, clutching his head as he stole glances at Doma.
He was relieved that the ice demon hadn't challenged him.
The cowardly demon felt incredibly lucky after witnessing Yuri's fate.
"What an incredible battle! Ah, inspiration is back!" Gyokko swayed grotesquely, his mind steeped in his art.
Unlike most demons in the stands, he actually liked Doma.
The reason was the demon's honest compliment about his jars and appearance, which he had called unique and futuristic art.
The unfamiliar term "contemporary art" still eluded Gyokko's intellect, but the idea of futuristic art pleased him.
It meant he was ahead of his time!
"Alas, he didn't die," Nakime said, lowering her head while holding her biwa, feeling a bit sorry but also inexplicably relieved by Doma's survival.
She had been harassed for a decade; if Doma suddenly disappeared, she would have felt somewhat destabilized by the silence of the Infinity Castle.
'Huh? Why am I worried when I'd return to my usual silence?' thought the biwa-playing demoness, noticing the anomaly in her thoughts.
'Wasn't Doma's death supposed to be a cause for great celebration? Why do I feel reluctant about it?'
For a moment, Nakime was confused by the whirlwind of thoughts in her mind.
She felt as if the sky had fallen on her head, grappling with the effects of Stockholm syndrome.
Deep down, the widowed woman harbored a positive opinion of her musical tormentor.
The expressionless young woman was unsettled by the incomprehensible feelings she experienced at the thought of Doma's disappearance.
At the same time, Muzan gazed at the arena with complex eyes.
Unlike most of the demons present, he had clearly discerned a fleeting sadness in Doma after his declaration to Yuri.
"Could this guy have developed emotions?"
The idea made Muzan's female form frown, as he understood the implications of such a possibility.
Muzan didn't like Doma's lack of emotions, as being emotionless meant feeling neither fear nor reverence toward him.
Doma was literally the only demon without a real motive behind his service to the Demon King, an unstable element in the overly cautious Demon King's eyes.
However, this incapacity gave Doma something crucial in the eyes of the demon progenitor: a transparent, unfiltered perspective.
Normally, Kokushibo was the demon closest to this approach, but he saw himself as Muzan's blade or a close servant.
Doma, on the other hand, wasn't like that.
He might call himself a servant, but it wasn't sincere.
The man had no sense of loyalty, according to Muzan's understanding.
To Muzan, the ice demon operated rationally and logically.
It was in his interest to work for Muzan, as death would simply be… inconvenient.
A simple but effective logic.
This understanding was also why Muzan kept Doma around.
The demon progenitor held the kill switch for this "machine" called Doma.
Pondering all this, Muzan began probing Doma's thoughts.
He rarely read Doma's mind, as the ideas in his head were too bold and erratic; he feared being contaminated or developing strange notions.
Recently, he had wanted to try something using Doma's knowledge.
He transformed into a tanned, blond, handsome young man before approaching the wife of his current fake son and others around the mansion where he resided.
A pointless act that Muzan would never have considered doing on his own.
The result? Muzan discovered another form of amusement beyond simply intimidating lesser life forms with force.
His pleasure wasn't sexual but came from observing oblivious husbands and the scandalous acts of their wives with another man.
The funniest part, according to Muzan, was a servant who was aware of the mistress's actions.
Yet, this woman said nothing to the husband and secretly observed for a long time.
A humorous scene, in Muzan's view.
Amusement was a rare thing for an immortal creature like the demon progenitor.
But this situation also slightly frightened him, as the strange ideas in Doma's mind could distract him from his ultimate goal: true immortality.
A mind craving stimuli had become a Pandora's box from the demon progenitor's perspective.
What crazy idea had he come up with now to regain his emotions? This question haunted Muzan as he delved into Doma's mind.
'Even if I stumble upon… material, I can just ignore it… right?'
Upon connecting, Muzan sensed that Doma's inner world was still calm and unshaken.
An icy state.
'I knew it, this guy's always acting… wait, what's this? A shota… being bullied by an onee-san?'
Unfortunately for Muzan, he had dug too deeply into a significant part of Doma's mind.
He ended up triggering one of the protective mechanisms Doma deemed unsuitable for the Demon King.
Unbeknownst to the ice demon, the Demon King was growing increasingly interested in post-war Japanese culture.
If Doma hadn't set up multiple layers of security in his mind, like temporary memory alterations, Muzan might have stumbled upon something problematic.
'This shota says no, but he's clearly interested…'
An intriguing idea sprouted in the Demon King's mind, and he decided to learn more about the story of the shota being harassed by the onee-san.
Unfortunately, the timing was poorly chosen.
"Uh… Muzan-sama… am I officially Upper Moon 2?"
At Doma's sudden voice, the Demon King was slightly startled but let nothing show on his delicate face.
He gave a satisfied smile before nodding.
"Indeed, congratulations. You are now Upper Moon 2."
Muzan gave no speech or ceremony; he simply stood and left the scene with hurried steps.
Only Doma and Muzan knew that the Demon King had left the room to better read the doujinshi in the mind of Upper Moon 2.
***
Author's Note: Muzan is turning into another Veldora… sigh ~
Good news: I've managed to stockpile a decent number of chapters (I'm broke, lol).
More good news: the chat group officially appears in chapter 35 and is fully introduced in chapter 36.
Another note: a bonus chapter is possible if we reach 200 stones.