"Eriri, finish more of the draft first. I'm going to the bathroom."
"Okay!" Eriri nodded without looking up, her pencil moving quickly across the draft pages.
Tetsuya stepped out of her room. Outside, he saw Sayuri carrying a tray with snacks, likely on her way to her daughter's room.
"Tetsuya-kun, are you finished already?"
He gave an awkward smile. "Not yet. I just need to use the bathroom."
"Oh, I see…" Sayuri smiled knowingly and nodded.
Inside the bathroom, Tetsuya wasn't actually there for that reason. The chat group had triggered a new notification.
---
[Group Mission Triggered!]
[Mission Details: Group member Shinobu Kocho is facing a threat from an Upper Rank Demon. Group Mission activated. Rescue Shinobu Kocho. Important Mission: Kill Muzan Kibutsuji!]
[Mission Participants: Tetsuya, Esdeath, Hancock, Shinobu.]
[Mission Duration: 5 days.]
[Accept / Decline?]
---
A Group Mission…
Shinobu was facing an Upper Rank demon without realizing it. Even though Tetsuya hadn't opened the chat that afternoon, she should have only been hunting weaker demons, not one of the Upper Ranks.
"Five days… Well, Muzan is trash. With just me and Esdeath, he could die a thousand times," Tetsuya chuckled.
[Esdeath: @Tetsuya. A new mission, and I'm participating as well. I'll be waiting.]
Rather than worrying about the mission, Esdeath, battle maniac that she was, was more excited about fighting alongside Tetsuya.
[Tetsuya: I'll entertain you later. Shinobu hasn't sent any messages, she might be in crisis. Let's go. @Hancock, please don't punch me right away.]
[Hancock: …I will not.]
[Esdeath: Very well.]
…
In the world of Demon Slayer, it was also nighttime.
Tonight felt darker than usual. The whispering wind seemed to carry a thousand years of demonic terror. In a secluded, shadowed place, a man and a woman were locked in fierce combat.
"How familiar. Ah, you're the little sister of that butterfly woman. What a delicious girl," the man said with a playful tone, licking his lips as if reminiscing. His skin was pale white, with kanji in his eyes marking him as Upper Rank Two.
Shinobu Kocho, wearing her butterfly-patterned haori, gracefully swung her Nichirin Blade again and again. Yet none of her strikes could injure him, they were effortlessly avoided.
"Demon!"
Her usually calm expression twisted with anger. She would never forget the face of this disgusting demon, Upper Rank Two, Doma, the one who had killed her older sister.
She had consumed wisteria poison daily, turning her body into one potent enough to kill an Upper Rank demon. Everything was for the sake of avenging her sister. It was her only dream.
But now, facing him directly, she understood just how powerful he was. It was nearly impossible for her alone to defeat him.
"I remember now. Your sister, Kanae Kocho, wasn't it?" Doma smiled.
"Don't you dare say that name!"
Shinobu lunged forward, thrusting her specially designed blade, shaped for injecting poison, toward him. But she lacked the physical strength to decapitate a demon.
Doma flicked his fan, and a wall of ice materialized.
Her blade pierced the ice but became lodged within it.
Doma appeared behind her, smiling. "Shinobu Kocho, let me eat you."
It seemed her revenge would remain unfulfilled.
"!!!"
Doma suddenly narrowed his eyes. His demon instincts sensed something chilling.
Ice spread rapidly across the ground, freezing toward him.
Doma leapt backward as spikes of ice erupted where he had stood.
"Ice?" Shinobu frowned in shock. Was this his trick?
But Doma knew, it wasn't his power. His sharp senses detected something above.
"In the sky?!"
A staircase of ice formed in midair. Descending from the night sky upon crystal steps was Esdeath, her presence lowering the surrounding temperature.
"So this is a demon? Interesting creature," she said, eyeing Doma with growing excitement.
After all, she had heard they were immortal. Wouldn't that satisfy her craving for battle?
"Such a beautiful woman… You're not human, are you?" Doma asked, hiding part of his face behind his fan.
Shinobu immediately grew wary, gripping her sword. Another ice-type demon?
"Relax. That's Esdeath," Tetsuya's voice sounded from the side.
"Tetsuya-san…?" Recognizing him from the live broadcast before, Shinobu lowered her guard.
At that moment, another woman appeared, a tall beauty with long black hair and a strikingly elegant face.
She was Boa Hancock, participating in this third Group Mission.
Doma grew cautious at their sudden arrival. But seeing more beautiful women only made his eyes light up before he steadied himself.
"What lovely ladies," he said smoothly.
"Man! Don't look at me with those eyes!" Hancock snapped coldly, glaring at him with deep disgust.
In an instant, her power activated, turning Doma into stone. With a swift kick of her long leg, she shattered the statue, killing him immediately.
"…" Shinobu stood stunned.
Esdeath stared at Hancock silently.
"What?" Hancock asked flatly.
"You stole my opponent." Esdeath prepared to use her Teigu, Demon's Extract. "Fight me."
"Fight your butt. Can't you see what time it is?" Tetsuya muttered dryly.
Esdeath fell silent. No one had ever spoken to her like that.
Hancock glanced at Tetsuya. True to her word, she didn't strike him. Instead, she had her own thoughts.
Ignoring the two, Tetsuya turned to Shinobu. "Are you okay?"
Shinobu regained her composure, though her expression was complicated. Relief at her enemy's death… and regret that she hadn't avenged her sister herself.
But now that her target of revenge was gone, the confusion in her heart loosened.
"I'm fine, Tetsuya-san."
She shook her head and said to them, "Thank you, everyone, for your help."
"I didn't do anything," Tetsuya replied.
Hancock flicked her hair. "It was nothing. Easy."
"Regardless, I'm grateful."
Tetsuya nodded. "Forget that for now. We need to discuss what comes next."