"Does life truly hold no value to you, Onii-san?"
Rin's voice pulled the ice demon's attention just as he was stepping out of the Infinity Castle, crossing the portal Nakime had opened.
The girl looked shaken, yet the golden eyes fixed on Doma carried a multitude of grievances.
'She resents me for all those deaths? Very well, I can understand that from a "human" point of view,'he thought, sketching his usual false smile.
Doma felt nothing before his descendant's fury, yet he couldn't help feeling a faint disappointment at how narrow her vision remained.
Like Angron the Primarch before the Emperor of Mankind in Warhammer 40K, the girl was incapable of grasping the scale of her progenitor's designs.
Still, Doma chose to be indulgent with her.
After all, Rin Ogai was still exceedingly young and far too immature in his eyes.
The demon had contemplated a full century of life—one hundred and eighteen years observing the world and its cruelties—while Rin had lived only seventeen.
A laughably short span, mere dust on the scale of beings like Hlökk and himself.
"No value? Not exactly, my dear Rin. Life and death are natural laws. All living things are equal beneath the heavens, and every one of them has the right to live and the right to die."
Doma laid out his view, then paused briefly.
"Unfortunately, humans decided to invent classes—kings, nobles—but before death… yes, before death, we are all the same as pigs. So tell me, what is the difference? In the end we all return to dust."
He shrugged, borrowing the words of a certain immortal sage.
Of course, Doma had adapted that man's words to fit the present situation.
"Every shadow and follower in the temple knows their own value is negligible in the grand scheme, and their insignificance in this world."
His rainbow-coloured eyes turned away from Rin.
Doma gazed at the night sky beyond the ruined monastery, allowing a glimpse of his true nature to show to Rin and his servants.
Beneath the moonlight he looked ethereal and elegant.
A vision utterly unlike the demon who, inside the Infinity Castle, had danced atop the corpses of his own followers.
The present Doma seemed both mysterious and strangely lonely. A striking scene, for he managed to radiate profound isolation even while surrounded by men and women ready to give their lives for him.
Regrettably, the ice demon resembled an island adrift in the river of time.
He could brush against other islands through shared interests or alliances, but faced with eternity he knew they would all crumble sooner or later.
Doma simply preferred to grant the benefit of the doubt to his wives and his friend.
"Then why? Why did you lead the guards and the shadows into that battle while sparing Muzan? Do you have any idea of the evil she has wrought? The price in lives we had to pay? That creature is a sinner!" Rin cried, pouring out her feelings.
Doma remained stoic at first in the face of the teenager's indignation. He could also sense that some followers and shadows agreed with her words.
The hearts of his subordinates burned with hatred toward demons—especially toward Akaza, sitting on the ground not far away.
Doma perceived it all. Yet he stayed silent before Rin's roars and passionate speeches.
Silence is not weakness; it is strength.
Doma could speak, but could he soothe their pain? Their hatred for Akaza and the demons of the Infinity Castle?
Yes.
He could, and easily.
But why?
Why on earth would Doma waste time explaining his view of time and the absurdity of existence to creatures he would never see again in a hundred years?
Ogai Mori is dead, Tatsumi Taiga is dead, the young maid Yuruzu is dead, Lin's daughter is dead, old follower Hans of the Effect is dead…
The list of lives claimed by time is long. A century in the endless river of time is trivial, almost meaningless.
Yet ordinary humans cannot surpass that single century.
That was why he first intended to ignore Rin, but the demon detected a possible flaw in his own reasoning.
The neglect of the value of life.
'Is this line of thought what pushed Muzan to such extremes? No, it merely contributed,'he reflected with a sigh before fixing his gaze on Rin again.
He set aside the "idea" that explaining the obvious absurdity of life to her was pointless, and decided to talk with her a little.
Even if Doma saw no need to include Rin or the followers in his plans for the KNY universe at this stage, the divine demon had no intention of throwing everything away now that he had attained godhood.
He was not Park Mujin.
"Sinner… That's the word you used for Muzan, isn't it?" he said calmly.
The sudden voice cut through Rin's frenzy. The girl was slightly startled by Doma's calm but nodded in answer.
"Normally I would simply have ignored you and waited a few decades, but…" Doma paused before continuing, "…you are my first little sister in a century of existence, so I will enlighten you about my choices—without debate."
At the words "without debate," Doma swept an empty gaze across everyone present.
Unconsciously, they all shivered. It was not killing intent or battle lust; it was merely the consequence of an existential gap.
Doma was literally a divine being now, while they were only ordinary humans.
An abyss separated them.
"Rin-chan, do you truly believe in morality? In justice? In sin? Haha~ Ridiculous."
Doma unfolded his fan after those words.
The demon locked his rainbow eyes onto his descendant's golden ones.
"My dear Rin, you are far too naïve. What is sin? Does committing sin mean one deserves death?"
Doma gently pushed aside Kikyo, who stood at his side, and stepped toward Rin.
Now the two stood face to face.
"They are nothing but the naïve, desperate hopes of the weak. They spread ideologies like justice, morality, and sin in the hope that others will submit to them and protect them."
His voice remained cold, emotionless.
Several followers and shadows shifted from anger to shock.
Yet Doma paid it no mind.
He was the former leader of a cult and one of those who propagated "moral" ideologies.
But he did not respect them.
Only his own will decided whether he was kind or cruel.
As for sin? Doma knew it existed—Paradise, Hell, reincarnation. That was precisely why he tolerated such teachings within his cult.
If he were in a "pure" world without the supernatural, he would never have allowed such things in his organisation.
'My dear Rin, you have been chained and trapped in a web for far too long,' he thought as he observed the girl's stunned face.
The image of the gentle onii-san cracked in Rin's mind at that moment.
'No… Onii-san would never say something like that. Yes, that's it—the demons must have bewitched him,'she tried to convince herself.
Unfortunately, she could hide the truth from neither her heart nor the Paradise of Vanity.
Doma was sincere in that instant, and Rin knew it.
"Yet the weak spread those ideologies hoping others will bow to them for protection. As for me, I wish to become the very sin you hate in Muzan.
I want to become something the word 'sin' can never reach, something that can wander freely through the world.
A demonic being? Perhaps, from others' point of view, my dear Rin-chan. Yet all I desire is the safety of those who follow my teachings. For that purpose, sin is but a small price to pay~ What do you think? Am I a sinner? And if so… what then? Do you intend to kill me? All of you as well?"
Doma turned his eyes from Rin, easing his pressure slightly, and looked at the hesitant followers.
"Are you going to leave me? Because I was once fully a demon? Because I committed sins, like devouring some of you? If so… then go ahead! Kill me and become the true leader of Eternal Paradise!"
After that outburst, no one answered.
"…Tch."
Doma turned and walked away with his wives, each radiating worried auras.
Something that did not go unnoticed.
Just as Doma was about to leave the compound, Rin's voice rang out behind him:
"I'm leaving… I-I refuse to stay under a being so callous and cruel. If anyone else feels the same, follow me."
Her voice was full of defiance.
Unfortunately, no one moved.
"Poor Rin-chan, you really are the least clever of my descendants," he said, shaking his head in disapproval.
Mugen looked away, and the shadows did the same.
As for the followers, they slowly, measuredly, lined up behind Doma.
"W-why?! He openly admitted he's no longer human and that he devoured some of you… he even spared those two demons and Muzan!"
Rin tried to speak again, but Lin silenced her.
"Haven't you understood? Doma-sama is the very reason they are alive today. Every member of the cult was in a desperate situation, but who reached out to them? The Demon Slayer Corps, perhaps?"
Lin turned her head away from the child she had watched grow up.
The woman who had lived over a century understood the cruelty of the world, just like the Shadows and the followers.
They did not like the truth Doma had revealed today, but if they had to choose, they would pick the lesser evil.
Doma was not the savior they had always believed him to be. Yet he was, and remained, their benefactor.
'If that had been Mori, I would have lost a good part of the cult tonight,' Doma thought as he watched his former little sister leave.
Even seeing his potential human bloodline possibly die out, Doma had no desire to keep Rin with mere words.
The demon had said it from the start: he would explain to Rin "without debate."
"Are you all right, darling?" Ume asked.
Doma merely nodded.
"Yes, and I have far too much to handle to worry about a spoiled brat who cannot comprehend the vastness of the sky," he replied, placing a light kiss on his wife's forehead.
He had a monastery to rebuild, a region to pacify, and rumours to control. Rin was not a priority.
'In any case, she cannot denounce me to the Demon Slayers,' he thought as he turned his attention to the monastery.
At that moment, Doma silently thanked Danzo Shimura for being a source of inspiration.
…
"I'm sorry, but we cannot help the needy right now," declared a bald man in guard uniform.
"B-but I have nowhere to go! And winter is coming…" the green-eyed woman pleaded.
The guard hesitated for a brief second after hearing her words.
However, he had received orders from the new acting leader's assistant.
He was not to add anyone else to the homeless-aid list, or… goodbye to his post.
"Sorry—" he began, but a familiar voice cut him off.
"Hey, old man, you seem troubled in front of this charming guest," said Doma, walking surrounded by his ordinary guards.
Around him, the shadows concealed themselves in various places, yet no one appeared to notice them.
"F-former… no, Acting Leader! I was about to ask her to leave and…"
The guard tried to explain, but Doma interrupted him again.
The ice demon smoothly and swiftly raised his fan to his mouth.
No one had seen him move—only that the fan was already in front of the guard's face.
"Shh… Didn't I say we must help those in need?" he asked in a relaxed tone.
The guard nodded, then mentioned Lin's name to justify his actions.
"Oh, Lin-san decided to conserve our resources," Doma commented, striking a thoughtful pose as if the two people in front of him did not exist.
Finally he lightly tapped his fan against his gloves (Hlökk), as though struck by an idea.
"Since Lin-san deemed it necessary, I will not encroach on her domain," he said calmly before continuing.
"However, I authorise the use of my personal funds to help more people. That way you won't disobey any order, and Lin won't be put in an awkward position. Does that work for you?"
"Absolutely! I can easily help those in need with your personal funds," the guard answered hastily.
His body clearly betrayed nervousness, but Doma sensed no fear from him—only admiration and respect.
"Excellent. Take good care of this charming lady and… her adorable little baby~" Doma said, turning his back on the woman and her child.
"W-wait, please!"
The woman lunged forward and grabbed the sleeve of his haori. The gesture carried no ill intent, yet every female warrior around fixed the green-eyed woman with sharp stares.
"A problem?" Doma asked, shifting his gaze between his slightly soiled sleeve and the woman.
"My name is Kotoha Hashibira. I truly want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for granting my unreasonable request!" she said, bowing deeply and clutching her baby tighter.
(Image)
Yet she received no reply.
'Was I too forward? Is he angry? I shouldn't have touched him with my dirty hands…'she thought as fear began to show on her face.
However, Doma reacted beyond the poor woman's—and the onlookers'—wildest expectations.
"May I be this child's father?"
Whitebeard mode activated.
….
Author's note: please don't vote with power stones for now, I'll be unavailable until next Sunday (or Saturday if I'm lucky).