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Chapter 180: The Good News and the Bad News
I'm doomed! I'm doomed! I'm doomed!
Nezuko chanted the phrase over and over in her head.
Huddled in the dark confines of the closet, peering through the tiny sliver of light, she could profoundly feel that Suyan had absolutely already noticed her.
Just imagining how Suyan was going to drag her out of the closet and mercilessly scold her...
Nezuko's heart pounded in sheer terror.
She wished the floor of the wardrobe would magically split open and swallow her whole.
If she had known this was going to happen, she would have just agreed to Mitsuri's crazy threesome idea from the start!
At least then she wouldn't be trapped in this humiliating situation.
A thin beam of light filtered through the crack, illuminating Nezuko's face. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly.
She didn't dare move a single muscle, curling herself into a tight ball in the darkness, bracing herself for the impending judgment.
But several agonizing seconds passed.
And she still didn't hear the sound of the closet doors being thrown open.
Confused, Nezuko slowly cracked her eyes open.
The doors keeping her hidden were still firmly shut. Outside, Suyan and Mitsuri were still intimately entangled on the bed.
Did he really not notice me?
A massive wave of relief washed over Nezuko, and she exhaled a long, shaky breath.
Feeling braver, she leaned closer to the gap, carefully fixing her gaze back onto the two figures in the room.
But almost immediately, Nezuko's eyes widened in absolute shock.
Wait!
Something was wrong!
Why was Suyan carrying Mitsuri and walking directly toward the closet?!
"Little Mitsuri, you've been a bad girl."
Suyan leaned in close to Mitsuri's ear, whispering in a volume so low only she could hear.
"Mmph?"
Completely intoxicated by the haze of lust, Mitsuri failed to grasp the underlying meaning of his words. She let out a confused, hazy hum.
Puckering her lips, she instinctively leaned in, trying to kiss him again.
But Suyan calmly placed a hand against her forehead, gently pushing her back.
He twirled a lock of her cherry-blossom and lime-green hair around his finger, lightly tracing the ends against her exposed skin.
"It tickles~"
Mitsuri had no idea why Suyan had suddenly stopped the passionate foreplay to tease her like this.
She sniffled softly, looking up at him with a thoroughly bewildered expression.
"The person currently hiding inside the closet is Nezuko, isn't it?"
Suyan continued trailing her hair against her skin, asking in a hushed whisper, "So, care to explain what exactly is going on here? I'm fairly certain I didn't tell you to set this up."
Hearing that, the fog in Mitsuri's brain instantly cleared.
She had actually completely forgotten that Nezuko-chan was hiding in the room!
This was bad! This was so, so bad!
But could anyone really blame her?
Who told Suyan-san to be so impossibly seductive?
Wasn't it completely understandable that she lost her mind for a few minutes?
No, no, focus, Mitsuri!
Mitsuri scrambled to defend herself internally, but quickly realized that wasn't the pressing issue.
The pressing issue was that the hidden Nezuko-chan had been discovered by Suyan-san!
Mitsuri forced her brain into overdrive, desperately trying to formulate a rational explanation for Nezuko's presence.
But before her brain could supply an answer, her mouth acted on pure instinct, crying out his name. "Suyan-san..."
She didn't get to finish the sentence.
Suyan pressed his index finger firmly against her plush lips, cutting off whatever excuse she was about to give.
Mitsuri looked at him in total confusion.
He was the one who asked for an explanation! Why was he stopping her from talking?
"Shh."
Suyan shushed her gently. "Keep your voice down, little Mitsuri. We wouldn't want Nezuko to hear us."
Saying that, Suyan pulled his finger away, signaling that she could continue.
"Uh, well..."
This completely derailed Mitsuri's thought process.
He already knew Nezuko was in there. He blatantly called her out on it.
But now he wanted her to whisper so Nezuko wouldn't know that he knew she was in there?
She honestly couldn't begin to fathom what was going on inside Suyan's head.
But complex strategic thinking had never been her strong suit anyway.
If she couldn't understand it, she wouldn't bother trying.
It wasn't like Suyan would ever do anything to hurt her or Nezuko, right?
Adopting the excuse she had scrambled together moments ago, Mitsuri leaned in and whispered frantically, "Suyan-san, please don't misunderstand! I was actually the one who forced Nezuko-chan to come here."
"Oh? Go on."
Hearing Mitsuri take the blame actually sparked Suyan's curiosity. He gestured for her to continue.
God only knows just how massive the psychological shadow cast over his heart was when he was in the middle of heavily petting Mitsuri and suddenly heard a noise coming from the closet.
Of course, being cucked was impossible; this was anime, not a h*ntai.
Such a ridiculous thought had never even crossed Suyan's mind.
Furthermore, he wasn't exactly a typical "gentle protagonist" (yasashii) anyway.
What he had been genuinely terrified of was the possibility that the ones hiding in the closet were the Butterfly Estate Trio—those three little chaotic pranksters.
If he and Mitsuri got to the absolute climax, only for those three to suddenly jump out of the closet and scream "Surprise!"...
The sheer shock might have actually given him a heart attack.
So when he extended his En and realized the person hiding inside was Nezuko, he had let out a massive sigh of relief.
Mitsuri continued whispering, "Even though Nezuko-chan hasn't mastered Constant yet, I've seen exactly how incredibly hard she trains every single day."
"If she was left out just because of a few days difference, t-that would be way too cruel to her! So I thought..."
"That's a no-go, little Mitsuri."
Suyan wagged a finger at her, his voice low but firm. "Because this is a reward explicitly meant for the victor. Since Nezuko lost, she has to accept her defeat. If I just gave her the reward anyway, the entire competition would have been completely meaningless, wouldn't it?"
"But..."
Mitsuri tried to argue her point.
But in the very next moment.
Suyan pinched her lips together between his thumb and forefinger, forcing her mouth shut like a duck's bill, rendering her completely mute.
"No 'buts'."
Suyan's tone remained incredibly gentle. "Since the two of you have shown such blatant disrespect for the sanctity of the competition, I've made a decision. I am going to thoroughly punish both of you."
"Mmph?! (Punish?!)"
Mitsuri's eyes went wide as saucers as she stared at Suyan.
Suyan nodded. "Exactly."
He released his grip on her lips. Before the bewildered girl could even process what was happening, he slid his left arm under her knees and his right arm around her back.
Acting on pure instinct, Mitsuri wrapped her arms securely around his neck.
With a smooth exertion of strength, Suyan effortlessly scooped her up into a perfect princess carry.
Being abruptly swept off her feet like this sent a fresh wave of intense shyness flooding through Mitsuri's chest.
She couldn't help but bury her burning face into the crook of his shoulder.
But she quickly realized something was terribly wrong. Suyan wasn't carrying her back to the bed. He was walking directly toward the wooden wardrobe!
Panic instantly seized her features. "W-Wait, Suyan-san! What are you doing?!"
"Did you already forget what I just said? This is your punishment."
Suyan shot her a profoundly wicked, meaningful look. "Also, keep your voice down. We don't want Nezuko hearing you."
"Suyan-san~"
Mitsuri whined, dragging out his name in a desperate plea.
Whether it was because she had finally deduced exactly what Suyan was planning to do...
A deeply pleading look flashed in her eyes. Using her best coquettish tone, she begged, "Can't we just go back over there? Please?"
"Nope!"
Suyan ruthlessly rejected her plea. He lowered her feet to the floor, forcefully pressing the girl's bare, flawless back directly against the cold wooden doors of the closet.
"So, little Mitsuri," Suyan murmured, "are you ready?"
"T-T-This... This..."
Feeling the icy chill seeping through the thin wood into her skin...
Mitsuri violently shivered, every single hair on her body standing on end, goosebumps erupting across her arms.
Especially when the horrific realization hit her that the physical distance separating her and Nezuko was currently nothing more than a centimeter-thick sheet of wood.
The thought made her tremble uncontrollably.
And those violent tremors transferred directly through the wooden doors, allowing Nezuko—who currently had both hands pressed flat against the inside of the door—to deeply, physically feel the sheer terror and anticipation racking Mitsuri's body.
At this exact moment, both Mitsuri on the outside, and Nezuko on the inside, had achieved complete synchronization in understanding exactly what Suyan was about to do to them.
Nervousness, awkwardness, crippling shyness, outright terror...
A chaotic maelstrom of conflicting emotions violently clashed inside Mitsuri's heart.
Staring into Suyan's absolute, unquestionable gaze, Mitsuri's brain completely crashed.
She transformed back into the ultimate Steam Engine. Astonishing amounts of heat radiated from her body, and her skin turned a deep, flushed red, looking exactly like a thoroughly boiled lobster.
Suyan smirked. He fully prepared to conquer this steaming lobster right in front of the hidden Nezuko.
He was going to teach both of these girls a severe lesson about the consequences of trying to scare him.
But right at that exact, critical juncture.
He suddenly sensed an incredibly jarring anomaly enter the absolute edge of his En sensory radius.
Suyan's eyes narrowed dangerously. The wicked, lustful smirk on his face vanished in an instant, replaced by a mask of lethal seriousness.
He stepped back, releasing his grip on the trembling Mitsuri, and asked, "I currently have one piece of good news and one piece of bad news. Which one do you want to hear first, little Mitsuri?"
"The good news~"
Mitsuri, whose brain was currently completely melted, didn't even process his sudden shift in tone. She responded in a completely hazy, delirious voice.
Suyan answered, "The good news is, your punishment for tonight has been canceled."
"Really?! Thank goodness!"
Hearing that, Mitsuri was overjoyed. She instantly snapped out of her Steam Engine state, eagerly pressing him, "And the bad news?"
Suyan looked at her apologetically. "The bad news is, your promised reward will also have to be postponed."
"Ehhh?!!"
Mitsuri's pupils violently shook. "H-How could you do that?!!"
She had literally just mentally prepared herself to be taken by Suyan with Nezuko sitting three inches away on the other side of a wooden board!
And now he was telling her he didn't want to play anymore?!
Mitsuri instantly looked like a puppy that had just been abandoned by its owner. Shoulders slumping, she stared at him with incredibly pitiful eyes and asked, "Did I do something wrong?"
Suyan shook his head. "No, you didn't do anything wrong. Something happened."
Even Suyan hadn't anticipated that the trap he set over a month ago—leaking fake information about the Blue Spider Lily to the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters to bait Muzan—would trigger at this exact, wildly inconvenient moment.
He didn't suddenly halt his conquest of Mitsuri out of the goodness of his heart.
He stopped because Kibutsuji Muzan had arrived.
Suyan could clearly perceive the Demon King's presence through his En.
If Muzan had arrogantly waltzed into the Butterfly Mansion completely alone, mimicking how he confronted Kagaya Ubuyashiki in the original canon, Suyan would have just ignored him for a few minutes.
He could have easily stepped out, subdued the Demon King in seconds, and come right back to finish what he started.
But Muzan hadn't come alone. He brought the entirety of the Twelve Kizuki (minus the dead Upper Rank 6) along with a massive horde of grotesque, fodder-tier demons.
That complicated things.
With that many demons swarming the estate, he couldn't guarantee the absolute safety of Mitsuri and Nezuko—two rookie swordsmen who had literally only just mastered Constant.
Not to mention the Butterfly Estate Trio and Nezuko's younger sister, Hanako. He needed to evacuate all of them into Greed Island immediately.
Yes, a few days ago, the incredibly proactive Kocho Kanae had explicitly asked Suyan for several Equivalent Exchange Contract parchments.
She had subsequently Contracted the Trio and Hanako into his faction.
Suyan bent down, picked up Mitsuri's discarded kimono off the floor, and handed it to her, gesturing for her to put it on. At the same time, he conjured a Dimensional Gate leading to Greed Island directly in the center of the room.
He looked at the pouting girl and commanded, "Put your clothes back on. Then, go inside and gather Saeko and the others. Tell them I need their help right now."
"Oh. Understood."
Hearing Suyan ask her to summon her combat instructors, Saeko and the senior girls, Mitsuri instantly realized Suyan was talking about serious business. She didn't throw a tantrum, obediently nodding her head.
But internally, she cursed herself for being so incredibly weak.
She had only just mastered Constant!
If only she was stronger, she could actually stay and fight alongside Suyan-san!
Furthermore, she had a burning desire to personally brutally murder whoever had just interrupted her perfect night!
But she didn't voice any of her frustrations. She simply kept her head down and walked dejectedly through the Dimensional Gate.
Once she was gone, Suyan turned his attention back to the wooden wardrobe where Nezuko was hiding.
He reached out and violently yanked the doors wide open.
The intense room lighting flooded the dark interior, instantly blinding Nezuko.
But far more terrifying than the sudden flash of light was the towering figure of the man standing in front of the closet.
Nezuko offered an incredibly stiff, utterly humiliated smile. "G-Good evening, Suyan-ge."
"Do you have some kind of fetish for hiding inside closets?"
Suyan stared down at the adorable girl curled up into a tiny ball like a frightened kitten, his voice dripping with profound sarcasm.
His words felt like needles piercing directly into the young girl's heart.
Nezuko frantically waved her hands. "Suyan-ge, please, let me explain!"
"No need for explanations."
Suyan waved her off. Conjuring another Contract parchment in his hand, he shoved it toward Nezuko. "We are entirely out of time. Sign your name on this, then walk through that portal and go play with little Mitsuri."
Perhaps because Suyan had deliberately carried Mitsuri over and pinned her against the door...
The sheer, adrenaline-fueled terror had unconsciously stimulated Nezuko's latent prodigy-level talent. She was originally supposed to need a few more days to master Constant.
But as Suyan looked at her now, he could clearly sense the faint, steady flow of aura enveloping her body.
She had successfully achieved Total Concentration: Constant.
"Yes, sir!"
Nezuko nodded aggressively, snatching the parchment from Suyan's hand. The massive weight crushing her chest instantly vanished.
Thank goodness. All she had to do was sign a piece of paper.
She didn't care what this parchment was. Even if it was literally a contract selling her soul into slavery, she'd sign it without hesitation.
But just as Nezuko let out a massive sigh of relief, Suyan casually dropped another bomb.
"As for the stunt you pulled hiding in the closet to scare me? I'll thoroughly discipline you for that later."
"Huh?!"
Nezuko's blood ran ice cold.
She thought she had gotten away with it! It turned out her execution had merely been stayed!
What else could she do?
She could only grit her teeth, bite the bullet, and accept whatever punishment her Suyan-ge had in store for her.
It wasn't like his punishment could possibly be any worse than watching him almost do that with Mitsuri-nee right in front of her face, right?
Nezuko signed the Contract parchment.
Under Suyan's watchful gaze, she slowly walked into the Dimensional Gate.
She arrived in Greed Island, awkwardly coming face-to-face with Mitsuri—who had just arrived and hadn't yet gone to find Saeko.
With Mitsuri and Nezuko safely secured inside the absolute sanctuary of Greed Island, Suyan finally let out a breath of relief.
Alright, next up was evacuating the Trio and Hanako into Greed Island.
Once that was done, he just had to wait for Saeko and the combat squad to step out.
Then, they could all take a nice, leisurely stroll through the massive army of demons Muzan had thoughtfully brought along, and hand-pick whichever Blood Demon Arts they wanted to steal.
Time rewinds to twenty minutes ago.
The outskirts of the Butterfly Mansion.
Kibutsuji Muzan stood on an elevated ridge, his crimson eyes peering over the dense canopy of Wisteria trees.
His gaze locked onto the brilliantly lit Butterfly Mansion, nestled securely in the dead center of the poisonous forest.
No one could possibly comprehend the thoughts swirling in Muzan's mind right now.
Only he knew the truth.
After enduring a thousand agonizing years of hiding in the dark, unable to walk under the sun, he had finally found a legitimate lead on the Blue Spider Lily.
And the absolute pinnacle of irony? The ones who found it for him were the Ubuyashiki Clan—his sworn mortal enemies who had relentlessly hunted him for a millennium.
How could he not be overflowing with ecstatic anticipation over such a theatrical twist of fate?
Then allow me to put an end to my millennial rivals, and step over their rotting corpses to claim the Blue Spider Lily. I will finally become the perfect, eternal existence!
Muzan declared triumphantly in his heart.
Externally, he didn't show a single sliver of emotion. He remained as impeccably elegant and chillingly calm as ever.
But internally, he was vibrating with the frantic urge to tear through the Wisteria forest and rip that medical facility apart to find his precious flower.
Muzan glanced over his shoulder, scanning the grotesque, monstrous horde of demons he had brought with him.
Despite a full month passing since the Upper Rank meeting, he still hadn't bothered selecting a new Upper Rank 6.
Because there was no need.
As long as he obtained the Blue Spider Lily and achieved true immortality, that was all that mattered.
Everything else was completely inconsequential.
Including the lives of every single creature standing behind him.
After all, they were nothing more than disposable lab rats created solely for the purpose of finding a cure for his sunlight weakness.
He had never placed any genuine hope in their individual strength.
Though he looked down on these deformed failures, he had to admit, some of their Blood Demon Arts had incredibly convenient niche applications.
For example, right now.
Muzan pointed a pale finger at a specific demon whose arms were mutated into massive, jagged sickles. "You. Use your Blood Demon Art to carve a path for us."
Muzan had no idea what this insignificant pawn's name was, and he didn't care to know.
All he needed to know was that this demon's art allowed it to tunnel through the earth at breakneck speeds.
Even though he was the Demon King, and the ambient poison from the Wisteria flowers wouldn't cause him any lethal harm, he absolutely refused to subject himself to unnecessary discomfort or potential danger.
"Yes! Lord Muzan!"
The targeted demon nodded fervently.
Locking onto the trajectory, it leaped high into the air—much to the intense envy of the surrounding demons—and plummeted headfirst toward the ground.
The moment it made contact, its sickle-arms blurred into a frenzy of motion, violently shredding the earth.
In less than a minute, a massive, gaping sinkhole was excavated into the dirt.
It didn't take long at all. Tunneling deep underground, completely bypassing the poisonous roots of the Wisteria trees above, the demon rapidly carved a subterranean highway directly into the heart of the Butterfly Mansion.
Emerging from the tunnel inside the estate grounds, the demon horde was thrumming with bloodthirsty excitement.
In the past, outside of the Upper Ranks, what ordinary demon didn't live in constant, paralyzing fear of the Demon Slayer Corps?
But now, personally led by Lord Muzan and flanked by the Twelve Kizuki, they had breached the Corps' very own medical and logistical stronghold. They were going to slaughter them all!
Every single one of them was mentally screaming their absolute loyalty to the Demon King.
However, without Muzan's explicit command, none of them dared to move a muscle. They all stared at his back, eagerly awaiting the order to butcher.
But upon stepping foot into the Butterfly Mansion, Muzan remained entirely silent. His expression grew incredibly foul.
He had just sensed the aura of a deeply familiar existence. It forced a sliver of doubt into his mind—was this sudden appearance of the Blue Spider Lily actually a highly coordinated, elaborate trap designed specifically to assassinate him?
But even if it was a trap, he had no choice but to dive headfirst into it.
If he missed this opportunity, he had no idea how many more centuries it would take to find another lead on the flower.
Furthermore, with Nakime's Infinity Castle waiting as his ultimate trump card, he was supremely confident he could instantly retreat into his alternate dimension the moment any true danger presented itself.
"Destroy everything! Slaughter them all! Revel in the carnage!"
Muzan waved his hand dismissively, giving the horde permission to unleash absolute hell.
As for himself, he followed the faint, familiar scent tracing through the air.
He walked purposefully toward the presence that he recognized.
Tamayo.
"It truly has been a long time... Miss Tamayo."
Muzan offered a chillingly casual, almost friendly greeting to the familiar silhouette standing before him.
He carefully scrutinized her.
Despite not seeing her for centuries, her aura was just as pitifully weak as he remembered.
She was vastly inferior even to the weakest of the Lower Ranks.
"Muzan? What are you doing here?!"
Tamayo stared in absolute shock and sheer horror at the man who suddenly materialized in front of her—the living nightmare that had haunted her every waking moment for centuries.
Hot blood rushed to her head, flushing her pale cheeks red with fury.
She desperately wanted to lunge forward and rip this monster apart, even if it meant dying in the process.
But she couldn't.
She knew she wasn't remotely a match for Kibutsuji Muzan.
Her first instinct was to rely on the man who had brought her to the Butterfly Mansion in the first place.
Where was Suyan?!
Where was Mr. Suyan?!
Tamayo's brilliant mind rapidly formulated a desperate countermeasure. She had to use her words to stall Muzan. Just long enough for Suyan to arrive.
Gritting her teeth in raw, unadulterated hatred, Tamayo spat his name. "Kibutsuji Muzan..."
But Muzan had zero intention of engaging in a pointless verbal sparring match with Tamayo.
His entire being was utterly consumed by the desire to find the Blue Spider Lily.
Unleashing the full, suffocating weight of his absolute authority as the Demon King, he crushed her with his terrifying spiritual pressure.
Muzan's voice was absolute zero. "Tell me, Miss Tamayo. Was this information regarding the Blue Spider Lily a trap you deliberately fed to the Demon Slayer Corps, just to lure me out?"
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