Moonlight poured over his figure, outlining his tall, well-proportioned frame and platinum-blonde hair, radiating an unnatural... beauty.
He looked as if carved from ice and snow. His skin was white to the point of being bloodless. The corners of his mouth were perpetually curved in a warmthless, hollow smile.
This was the cult leader of the Eternal Paradise Faith, Upper Rank Two… Doma.
Doma wore a black cloak of fine quality, lined with a scarlet top.
He casually fanned himself with his golden iron fan and spoke as calmly as if discussing the weather: "Oh my, oh my, I didn't expect so many visitors so late at night...."
His eyes, like inlaid rainbow-colored glazed beads, swept over the group, reflecting an inhuman, amused gaze: "Do any of you have suffering you wish to confide in me?"
"Who are you?" Taka gripped Tonan tightly, using his Reiatsu Perception to judge the other party's strength.
'Tch... The demonic aura is even denser than Upper Rank Three's.... How many people has this thing eaten...'
Hearing Taka's question, Doma looked somewhat surprised. He covered his mouth and waved his hand repeatedly: "Sorry, sorry! I haven't introduced myself, have I?"
"Pleased to meet you. I am Doma, the leader of the Eternal Paradise Faith. What a wonderful night it is...."
"Save me!!"
Just as Doma was contentedly admiring the moonlight, a girl covered in blood rushed out from the still-open sliding door: "These people are insane! They're lying! They—"
Before she could finish, Doma casually swung his golden fan.
Shing—!!
The girl's head hit the ground. It happened so fast that the assembled Hashira had no time to save her.
"Oh dear, I'm speaking with guests, you know? Can't you wait a little while to seek release?"
Although his words carried a hint of displeasure, Taka could sense… this creature felt nothing at all inside.
From the moment they arrived in this courtyard and saw Doma-
He was neither angry, nor afraid, nor as happy or leisurely as he pretended to be.
The other party had no emotional fluctuations whatsoever, like a dead person.
"We are terribly sorry, Leader-sama!!" The monks inside ran out in panic, bowing fearfully as they dragged the girl's remains into the hall.
"Ah, just put her over there. Thank you for your hard work." Doma smiled at those monks, showing no sign of anger at all. "Once I'm finished here, I'll help her attain rebirth in paradise~"
"Yes! Eternal blessings upon you!"
The monks didn't seem to find this bloody, terrible act strange at all. They respectfully closed the sliding door of the main hall.
Actually, it was understandable. For these believers and children born into families of followers who had grown up hearing the cult leader's legends—
Immortal, eternally patient and loving, helping those who can't go on escape the sea of suffering and attain rebirth in paradise....
Doma-sama was surely the God of the Mortal World, wasn't he?
"Don't be ridiculous...." Shinobu's emotions were clearly off. Her voice was ice-cold: "This person was clearly begging for help... clearly so terrified...."
"Yes, so I said I helped her~ After all, everyone fears death. But now, this child feels no more pain or sadness~"
"Properly accepting the sufferings of followers and guiding them to a higher realm is the duty of a cult leader."
"I will eat her well and let her coexist with me forever~"
Doma's syrupy-sweet, cloying voice spoke such nonsensical, inhuman words. Taka felt nauseated.
Shing—!
Shinobu had already drawn her Nichirin Sword. She spun it in a few flourishes, pointing the tip at Doma:
"What utter nonsense... makes me sick to my stomach...."
"Eh? We've just met, and you're already so rude...." Doma pretended to have a sudden realization and chuckled lightly: "Have you encountered something troubling lately? Why not tell me about it?"
A bone-chilling, nearly air-freezing killing intent suddenly erupted!
"Shinobu!" Taka instinctively called out, wanting to warn her to stay calm in battle.
But it was too late.
Shinobu's emotions had spiraled out of control. Her figure moved so fast that only a light purple afterimage remained in Taka and Giyu's eyes!
Her slender Nichirin Sword transformed into a crafty and vicious purple streak of light, lunging at Doma's head with a piercing shriek!
Pfft—!
Even Doma himself hadn't expected this small female swordsman to be so fast. In an instant, she was upon him, thrusting her blade through his eye!
"Wow! What an impressive thrust! You're Hashira, aren't you!" Blood gushed from Doma's rainbow-colored eye, a flicker of genuine surprise passing through it. He clearly hadn't anticipated such a direct attack.
"Too bad, though. You can't kill me with a thrust.... To kill a demon, you still have to cut the neck, after all."
As an Upper Moon demon, he naturally wouldn't be so easily defeated.
His golden iron fan whipped open with a sound. He casually traced a perfect arc in front of him.
"Blood Demon Art - Frozen Lotus!"
Countless ice crystals, formed from his blood, in the shape of razor-sharp lotus blossoms, instantly bloomed on the fan's surface! They spun and shot out!
These ice lotuses weren't simply physical attacks. They emitted a bone-chilling cold while raising a huge cloud of ice mist, freezing the area they passed through into a low-temperature zone, greatly slowing Shinobu's speed.
"So cold.... It feels like my breath is freezing...."
"Wind Breathing: Fourth Form: Rising Dust Storm!"
Seeing the ice mist about to envelop Shinobu, Taka howled forth, placing himself between them!
Ding ding ding ding—!
Tonan emitted ice-blue and emerald-green arcs of light, raising a skyward storm that shattered all the ice lotuses and blew away every trace of the ice mist.
"Careful! You can't inhale this ice mist. It's poisonous!" Taka remembered the monk's agonizing death.
If a Hashira-level swordsman couldn't freely use their Breathing Style in battle, they were no different from ordinary swordsmen. Their blades would pose no threat.
"Wow, you're that black-haired swordsman! Lucky me! I can claim credit with that lord now!"
Doma happily waved his fan and looked at Shinobu: "But you're such an impatient young lady. What's wrong? Have a fight with your lover?"
".....You make me sick! Don't you even recognize this haori!"
Although Shinobu had just escaped disaster, the flames of anger within her still prevented her from calmly facing the demon before him.
She clutched her butterfly-patterned haori and roared: "You're the demon who killed my sister, aren't you!"
From the moment he saw Doma, Taka had felt Shinobu's emotions were extremely off. And when Doma began attacking with his twin fans, he was certain.
In that dream, Shinobu's sister had said… the one who killed her was a demon wielding twin fans, with blood on its head.
'It was this creature...' Taka tightened his grip on Tonan's hilt.
"Eh?" Doma carefully looked at Shinobu's appearance, then at the butterfly hair ornament on her head. Understanding dawned: "Ah—! I remember now! That girl who used Flower Breathing!"
"Oh, but the sun was coming up then, so I couldn't eat her. A real shame...."
"I heard from other demons that she was also a Hashira? What was her name again.... Kanae?"
"Shut up—!!!"
Shinobu's eyes nearly spat fire. Her purple pupils were bloodshot from anger and pain.
"Don't you dare... speak my sister's name with that filthy mouth!!"
Pfft—!!
Right in the middle of Shinobu's roar, Doma suddenly vomited a huge mouthful of blood and collapsed awkwardly to his knees.
Taka remembered Shinobu's fighting style.
Poison.