The top floor of Kyogokuya. Warabihime's room was as quiet as the calm before the storm.
In her hand, she held a lavish invitation wrapped in red silk.
[You are invited to the Hyakka Yororan Banquet. Flowers of Yoshiwara, bloom tonight at Mugen Tower. - Ibuki Oiran-]
"This... arrogant bitch...!"
Warabihime's hand trembled uncontrollably. This was no simple invitation.
It was an overt declaration of war, meant to drag her out of her private quarters and publicly humiliate her.
"Oiran-sama, what will you do? If you refuse..."
Kumohime asked with a feigned worried expression.
"Refuse? Why would I? What if rumors spread that I ran away?"
She nervously crumpled and threw the invitation.
"I'll go. I'll go and... flatten that bitch's arrogance. I'll show her clearly who the true master of Yoshiwara is!"
Her pupils burned red with demon instinct.
"Prepare. Bring out all my most gorgeous kimono and jewelry! Even the necklace from Akatsuki Trading Company!"
Warabihime was caught in the vain hope of overwhelming Ibuki with her beauty and power.
Kumohime bowed her head behind her with a sly smile.
"I will remember, Oiran-sama. Tonight, the most dazzling protagonist will be you."
'Of course, as a miserable protagonist.'
That night, the streets of Yoshiwara were paralyzed by the procession heading toward Mugen Tower.
Ibuki's Hyakka Yororan Banquet was truly a spectacle.
The entire building was decorated with red lanterns, creating a nightless city, and the fragrance infused with Tamamo's sorcery dyed the streets in a dreamlike atmosphere.
The invited courtesans, and the men who flocked to see them.
Everyone, drunk on alcohol and fragrance, was enjoying a night faithful to instinct rather than reason.
Clink~ Clink~
Then, with the sound of high geta, the oiran of Kyogokuya appeared en route.
Warabihime, accompanied by numerous attendants, adorned from head to toe in jewels and silk, walked with an arrogant expression.
"Hmph, this should do."
She enjoyed the surrounding gazes as she headed toward the entrance of Mugen Tower.
But contrary to her expectations, people's gazes did not linger on her for long.
Whoosh~!
From the second-floor terrace of Mugen Tower. Suddenly, a intense purple demonic energy erupted as if exploding.
"What is that?!"
The moment Warabihime looked up in surprise, she witnessed a breathtaking sight.
Ibuki Oiran, wearing a purple kimono, was sitting on the railing, holding a long pipe and looking down.
Behind her, a giant moon hung, exuding overwhelming charisma as if the goddess of night had descended.
"Hey~ Warabihime Oiran-chan. You're late? They say the protagonist appears last, and you fit that perfectly."
Ibuki's voice echoed loudly throughout Yoshiwara.
Daki instinctively trembled.
The gorgeousness she had desperately adorned seemed shabby like a faded toy in front of Ibuki's presence.
"...!"
Warabihime bit her lip without saying a word.
Countless eyes alternated between looking at her and Ibuki.
What she felt in those gazes was not awe, but a curious and cruel comparison weighing who the true queen was.
When she entered the top-floor banquet hall of Mugen Tower, the atmosphere was already at its peak.
High-ranking officials staggered drunk, and numerous beauties moved among them, selling laughter.
Ibuki was at the center.
"You came? Sit over there. I saved your seat."
Ibuki pointed with her chin to the seat right next to her.
The seat of honor among honors. But to Warabihime, it felt like a seat next to the guillotine.
As she sat down, Ibuki filled a giant golden cup with sake.
"Now, shall we toast? To the former queen of Yoshiwara."
Former queen. A cruel expression that scratched the nerves of Warabihime, who had reigned over Yoshiwara for decades.
"...How arrogant."
Daki forced a smile and raised her cup. But the moment she drank, her expression twisted.
'This sake...!'
It was no ordinary sake. It was sake specially brewed by Tamamo, mixed with poison that amplified demonic energy and paralyzed reason.
"How does it taste? It's from my hometown, killer, right?"
Ibuki smiled sinisterly.
As the alcohol spread, her head grew hazy, and it felt like the instincts and emotions she had suppressed would explode from her chest.
Jealousy, anger, inferiority. And fear.
"Now, let's all drink to death today! Drink and die!"
As Ibuki raised her cup high, the entire banquet hall was covered in cheers.
"Long live Ibuki Oiran!"
"Long live Mugen Tower!"
Warabihime was thoroughly isolated amidst those cheers. She glared at Ibuki, clenching the cup in her hand.
'That bitch... I'll kill her. I'll definitely kill her!'
But her killing intent was powerless in front of Ibuki's overwhelming demonic energy.
Ibuki, as if seeing right through Daki's inner thoughts, smiled seductively and emptied her cup.
Her demonic eyes shone cruelly.
"Yes, struggle all you want, little one. That's what makes it fun to chew."
The night of Hyakka Yororan deepened, and the old queen of Yoshiwara was preparing to slowly and miserably crumble in the palm of the new queen.
After the banquet ended, past 3 a.m. The lanterns of Yoshiwara turned off one by one, and the streets were submerged in deep darkness and silence.
But the top floor of Kyogokuya, Warabihime's room, was boiling with hot killing intent.
"Grind... grind...!"
Daki gnawed at her nails with her teeth as she paced the room. The poison made by Tamamo flowed through her veins, burning her brain entirely with anger and shame.
`To the former queen of Yoshiwara.`
`Struggle all you want, little one.`
Ibuki's mocking laughter wouldn't leave her ears.
The disregard she suffered in front of countless people, the sympathetic gazes.
And what angered her most was the fact that in that moment, she was overwhelmed by that woman's momentum and couldn't say a word.
"A mere human... how dare a mere human...!!"
Bloodshot veins appeared in Daki's eyes. She still thought of Ibuki as a human with strange powers, or something akin to a demon slayer.
"I'll kill her. Right now, I'll go... chew her flesh and skin that proud face!"
Daki flung open the window. She didn't even need to retrieve her obi to return to her complete form.
Using full power to kill a mere human woman would rather be a disgrace.
In her black-haired form, four thick obi slithered out like snakes from behind her back.
She leapt into the night sky. Her target was Mugen Tower.
Just imagining sneaking in without a mouse knowing and strangling Ibuki's neck as she slept filled her with ecstasy.
Mugen Tower was quiet with its lights out. Daki landed soundlessly on the terrace of the top-floor special room.
'She must be sleeping?'
Daki twisted her lips into a cruel smile. She peered into the room through a crack in the window.
In the darkness, someone was sitting by the window where moonlight shone.
It was Ibuki. She hadn't slept yet and was drinking alone, using the moon as a companion.
'Acting all relaxed, how arrogant? That's your funeral wine.'
Daki couldn't hold back any longer.
Crash!
The glass window shattered as Daki rushed into the room. Simultaneously, the obi extending from her back whipped out like whips, aiming for Ibuki's neck and limbs.
"Die!! Ibuki!!"
No Blood Demon Art was needed. Her obi were weapons in themselves that could crush rocks and cut steel. A human body would surely be split in two just by touching it.
But.
Thud.
A dull yet light sound was heard. In a situation where blood should have splattered or screams should have been heard.
But Ibuki was too peaceful.
She brought the cup in her left hand to her mouth, while with her right hand alone, she grasped all four of Daki's obi. As if catching a bothersome fly.
"...Huh?"
Daki's eyes widened.
"What... what is this...? How...?"
Her obi couldn't be blocked by human strength. Maybe if cut with a sword, but with bare hands?
And while drinking?
Ibuki slowly turned her head to look at Daki. Her eyes were full of sleepiness and annoyance.
"Ah, how noisy. What kind of trouble is this while someone's drinking?"
Ibuki yawned widely and lightly shook the obi she was holding.
"Let go of this! Let go, I say!"
Daki strained to pull back her obi. But they didn't budge at all.
It was as if the obi were stuck in a massive mountain range.
"You... what are you! You're not human?!"
Only then did Daki realize. That the woman before her was something far beyond the category of human.
"Human? Puhahaha!"
Ibuki burst into laughter. Just the waves mixed in that laughter made Daki feel pain as if her eardrums would tear.
"Do I look like a weak human to your eyes? Your eyes are crooked, seriously crooked."
Ibuki yanked the obi she was holding.
"Kyaah!"
Daki screamed and was pulled like a paper doll.
Dragged right up to Ibuki's nose, she was lifted into the air by her neck in Ibuki's hand.
"Guh, gahk!"
"Tsk, stop making noise. It ruins the taste of the sake."
Ibuki's gaze cooled down. At that moment, the air in the room grew heavy, squeezing Daki's throat. Physically too.
It was different from the scent of Muzan-sama's blood. This was more primal, more rough, more ancient fear.
"You... who are you.... You're not a demon..."
Daki struggled and asked. The regeneration and strength unique to demons were useless before this woman.
Ibuki stared intently at Daki's face while holding her by the collar.
"Demon (blood demon)? Comparing me to those mixed-blood nobodies is disappointing."
A cruel smile spread across her lips.
"Listen well, little one. My name is Shuten Douji."
"Shu... ten... Douji...?"
Daki's pupils shook as if in an earthquake. A name only heard in old tales. The strongest demon in Japan.
"I came to see since you guys are playing at being demons. What? Upper Moon? In my eyes, you just look like malnourished worms."
Shuten threw Daki to the floor like a ragdoll.
Crash!
"Gahk...!"
Daki rolled on the floor, vomiting blood. Though her power was weak in her black-haired form, Shuten's grip strength itself was beyond specification. The pain of bones crushing didn't even allow a moan.
"Now, are you done?"
Shuten slowly approached and stepped on Daki's head with her bare foot.
Only now could it be seen. The horns on her head where the illusion had dissolved, those pointed ears.
"Shall I kill you? Or... do you want to be my toy?"
The overwhelming force pressing down on her head. Daki instinctively knew.
That this woman could crush her head like a watermelon with just the strength of her toes if she wished.
"Choose. Your life tonight... isn't even worth being a sake snack."
Under the bluish moonlight of dawn.
The old queen of Yoshiwara lay face down on the floor, covered in blood, while above her, the legendary true demon tilted her cup with a languid expression.
It was not a hunt. It was merely the light play of a predator.