In a sense, Kyoujurou faced the most formidable Upper Rank.
In terms of sheer difficulty, Hantengu was far more challenging than Upper Three Akaza, who was ranked just above him.
Demons each had their own characteristics, their own traits—these were their most unique abilities and talents.
Like the Lower One, Enmu, who orchestrated the Mugen Train incident, was the demon with sleep manipulation, able to forcibly put people into dreams. With one misstep, even the Hashira would fall victim and lament.
Then there was the Upper Three, Akaza, a demon adept in combat. Whether it was his martial arts or Blood Demon Art, everything about him was geared toward direct combat with his enemy.
Compared to these two demons, Hantengu was even more peculiar and more troublesome.
He was a demon that engaged in battle with a Blood Demon Art called 'Emotion Manifestation'.
When Hantengu was in danger, his four strong emotions—joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure—materialized using 'Emotion Manifestation', splitting from Hantengu's body and forming four clones.
These four clones were named 'Urogi', 'Sekido', 'Aizetsu', and 'Karaku', each inscribed with corresponding characters on their tongues, each controlling a specific emotion, yet having independent selves, capable of fighting individually.
Urogi was a half-bird demon capable not only of unique flight abilities but also of easily crushing boulders with his bird claws, allowing him to swoop down on his prey like an eagle with high maneuverability. He could also roar out destructively high-decibel sound waves from his mouth, with the power to cause dizziness and even rupture eardrums upon heavier impacts, causing immediate loss of consciousness.
Sekido used a tin staff that could release lightning to attack his enemies.
Aizetsu wielded a cross-shaped spear capable of projecting thrusting attacks over great distances, enabling him to strike his enemies from afar.
Karaku used a maple leaf-shaped fan in his hand to fan out strong winds that could easily crush the ground.
These four clone demons could even freely split into degraded smaller clones to assist in their battles.
Facing such enemies, Kyoujurou not only had to contend with attacks from all sides but also, the more he cut down their bodies, the more enemies there were.
Although the main clones were only pleasure, anger, sorrow, and joy, this type of demon, undying with each cut and making it stronger instead, posed an even greater challenge for Kyoujurou, if compared to Akaza, who specialized in direct combat.
At this moment, Kyoujurou was caught in the middle of the four clones.
Either being struck by lightning from Sekido, targeted by the half-bird Urogi in the air, or directly engaging in a fight with Aizetsu, who repeatedly blocked his blazing slashes with his spear from afar, along with Karaku, who was lurking nearby, playing and frolicking as if it were a game.
On the other hand, Kyoujurou, who was besieged from both the ground and the sky, was left powerless and couldn't defend against them at all.
Eventually, Urogi seized the opportunity, emitting a high-decibel sound wave that caused Kyoujurou's brain to instantly shut down.
Following this, Karaku used his fan to send Kyoujurou flying, tossing him over half a town, pounded by the wind pressure all the way until he reached the sky above the Ubuyashiki Estate.
Only then did the wind pressure dissipate, causing Kyoujurou to fall from the sky and crash into the courtyard, appearing in a sorry state.
All of those events didn't need Kyoujurou to point out, Riezel, who was familiar with the original work, was well aware.
Therefore, upon seeing Hantengu's four clones representing pleasure, anger, sorrow, and joy, Riezel immediately knew that Hantengu had already split his body.
At this moment, Riezel focused his senses and activated Transparent World to observe the bodies of Karaku, Sekido, Aizetsu, Urogi, and their surroundings.
'He's not here?'
Riezel squinted his eyes, showing little change in expression despite not finding anything.
Regardless, in the next moment, the situation seemed to worsen.
Not only did Kyoujurou fall here, but another Hashira also seemed to have followed his step.
*BOOM!*
On the other side of the courtyard, another figure crashed into the Ubuyashiki Estate.
However, unlike Kyoujurou, this figure was thrown down.
"Shinobu!" Kagaya's eyes trembled.
Indeed, the figure thrown into the courtyard was none other than Kochou Shinobu.
Her condition seemed worse than Kyoujurou's. Her whole body was badly cut, her clothes dyed red with blood, barely clinging to life.
Soon, two figures leaped down from above, landing in the courtyard.
"Hmph, I'll devour you later."
Daki remarked disdainfully as she arrived at Shinobu's side and kicked her with resentment.
Shinobu's poison on Daki seemed to have deteriorated already, as her rotten head was already restored to its original state.
Next to Daki, there was a male demon.
He was an ugly-looking demon, with messy hair and many black spots on his body and face. His body was skinny, especially around the waist, almost looking like it could be snapped in half.
His hair was black and green, and his skin had a pale gray color like it was poisoned. His upper body was bare, wearing loose blue pants on the lower half. His arms were wrapped in red and black bandages, holding two meaty blood-red sickles.
On top of that, the pupils of his small eyes bore the Japanese characters 'Upper Rank' and 'Six.'
He truly looked like a humanoid praying mantis, extremely horrifying.
Standing next to a relatively prominent and beautiful demon like Daki, such an ugly demon undoubtedly created a stark contrast.
However, the four clone demons, Karaku, Sekido, Aizetsu, and Urogi, immediately focused their attention on the male demon, not even glancing at Daki.
"So you've come out, Gyuutarou!" Karaku clapped his hands and cheered. "This is getting interesting!"
"Hahaha!" Urogi laughed. "I thought you'd keep hiding inside your little sister, Gyuutarou."
"Hmph! Lagging behind, aren't you?" Sekido said with an indifferent expression. "You should've come out earlier, but you preferred to hide inside your useless little sister. It's infuriating."
"How sad..." Aizetsu sighed. "Having to take care of your little sister in such an important mission is truly sad..."
Meanwhile, Daki was bristled with anger as she heard their words.
"Shut up! You four ugly demons!" Daki exclaimed loudly. "I'm not holding him back! I just haven't shown my true power yet!"
Naturally, the four clone demons didn't believe her words at all.
"True power? Do you even have any?"
"I don't think so! Hahaha!"
"Why did Lord Muzan allow her to become an Upper Six with Gyuutarou?! It's infuriating!"
"She must have some usefulness, otherwise it would be too sad."
The four clone demons either chuckled, mocked, or sighed, almost making Daki burst into tears on the spot.
"Big Brother! Look at them!" Daki pointed at the four clone demons, actually complaining like a little girl.
"Be good…" Gyuutarou extended his hand, patting his younger sister's head.
His voice was somewhat hoarse, his gaze somewhat nervous, but his actions showed that he still cared for his younger sister.
Gyuutarou and Daki were both siblings and Upper Six, but compared to Daki, Gyuutarou was obviously stronger, appearing much more dominant.
It was obvious that the four clone demons only acknowledged Gyuutarou as an Upper Rank, seemingly looking down on his younger sister.
Even though this truly infuriated her, Daki didn't want to pick a fight with these four. Not because she was afraid, but because it was meaningless.
Just like the emotions they symbolized, Sekido was always angry, Urogi was always cheerful, Aizetsu was always sorrowful, and Karaku was always foolishly happy, never taking anything seriously. Even if she provoked them, their reactions would always be the same, which would only make her angrier and more irritated.
"Damn it, Hantengu of all people, probably hiding by now, huh?" Daki could only fume helplessly, throwing a tantrum. "And what about Gyokko? Where's that freak gone off to?"
Answering her question was Urogi, who had been flying around in the air.
"Gyokko's situation seems dire, huh?"
After saying this, he descended, clutching a vase in his bird-clawed lower half and tossing it on the ground.
From the vase emerged Gyokko, slowly crawling out.
However, when one looked at him now, his appearance had changed drastically.
Not only did he now have hair, but his body was also covered in hard scales. His upper body had taken on a humanoid form with a robust and larger build, webbed hands, and a lower body resembling that of a snake.
Clearly, this version of Gyokko was markedly different from his slick, smaller previous form, visibly stronger in this state. Yet, even in this form, his scales were burnt black, and this burn injury seemed unlikely to heal anytime soon, continuously causing him pain.
"Be careful of that boy called Tsugikuni Yoriichi!" Gyokko sweated profusely, shouting to every demon.
"His sword is dangerous, and his swordsmanship is terrifying! My scales are harder than diamonds, but he cut through them with just one slash. What's worse, the damage from his slash can't regenerate. If I hadn't teleported to another vase just now, I would've died!"
Upon hearing this, all demons present froze.
"Well done! Young Tsugikuni!"
Kyoujurou exclaimed with shining eyes, seeming to see a glimmer of victory.
While Kyoujurou and Shinobu faced total defeat, Riezel once again managed to single-handedly defeat an Upper Rank, as he did in the previous Mugen Train incident.
Moreover, from what the demon had said, it seemed to be effortless.
Such news undoubtedly bolstered Kyoujurou's confidence. Even the barely conscious Shinobu struggled to lift her gaze to Riezel's figure.
Surprisingly, in this situation, Riezel remained calmer than anyone else. One demon after another appeared, yet it did not affect his mentality in the slightest.
'Upper Four...'
'Upper Five...'
'Upper Six...'
'Three Upper Ranks gathered together? Even better.'
With this thought, Riezel finally opened his mouth.
"You know, I was just thinking about having a chat with Kibutsuji Muzan face-to-face..."
Riezel remarked calmly as he observed the surrounding demons.
"Since you've all come this far for me, let's deal with all of you first."