When Kyoujurou was transported alone to the Infinite Castle and faced off against Akaza, among the nine Hashira, another also encountered an Upper Rank alone.
This Hashira was none other than Shinobu.
"East! East! Head east!"
A Kasugai Crow called out above Shinobu's head, trying to guide her to join the others.
However, she didn't comply.
Instead of heading east, Shinobu walked slowly in the opposite direction, as if drawn by something invisible, and silently arrived at a lotus pond, a place that didn't fit with the architecture of the Infinity Castle.
It was here that the mysterious presence Shinobu had been searching for appeared.
"Oh my, welcome."
A man appeared on the wooden bridge over the lotus pond, wielding a pair of golden iron fans, draped in a black cloak, and wearing a hat reminiscent of a priest, smiling as he turned toward Shinobu.
With these words, the man removed his hat and bowed to Shinobu.
"First of all, welcome to my lotus pond. I'm Douma, founder of the Eternal Paradise Faith, and, of course, an Upper Rank of the Kizuki—number 'Two', to be exact."
He was none other than the Upper Two, Douma.
Shinobu, rarely appeared without a smile, silently gazed at Douma's head, then at the golden fans in his hands.
As soon as her gaze landed on the golden fans, an azure butterfly-shaped mark emerged on her collarbone, and a chilling murderous aura emanated from her body, causing Douma to widen his eyes slightly.
"Oooh, quite an impressive murderous aura. I see, you're no ordinary member of the Demon Slayer Corps, huh?"
Douma clapped his hands and happily remarked.
"I understand, you're a Hashira, yes?"
"Wow, what a stroke of luck, meeting a Hashira as the first girl I come across..."
Douma seemed as if he were thanking the heavens for this auspicious encounter, smiling broadly.
"...Do you really like girls that much?" Shinobu asked coldly.
For reasons unknown, she uttered these words.
"Yup." Douma, seemingly unaffected, nodded repeatedly. "After all, females are more valuable than males, no?"
Such was his belief.
Upper Two Douma enjoyed consuming women.
From this perspective alone, he might be similar to the former Upper Six, Daki, who also enjoyed eating women, but their motives were different.
Daki simply found ugly things inedible, preferring beautiful women, much like how humans enjoy exquisite food but lose their appetite for badly cooked dishes.
Douma was different.
He believed that since women could carry embryos in their bellies, they should possess more nutrients than men. With this belief, he thought that by consuming more women, he could become stronger more quickly.
As a result, he liked women, especially those who were strong, earnest, and hardworking, genuinely feeling fond of them.
Naturally, this involved no human emotions.
Shinobu was aware of this and tightened her grip on her sword.
"Upper Two Douma..." Shinobu suppressed her emotions and said in a low voice. "Do you remember, in the past, you once fought against a female Hashira?"
"Hmm?" Douma tilted his head, not understanding.
"Just a few years ago, there weren't as many Hashira in the Demon Slayer Corps as there are now. Back then, among the Hashira, there was a swordswoman skilled in Flower Breathing."
Ignoring Douma's clueless reaction, Shinobu continued, lost in her own thoughts.
"She was the Flower Hashira, a genius who derived Flower Breathing from Water Breathing."
Shinobu's Insect Breathing precisely originated from Flower Breathing.
"In the end, she died... killed by a demon."
Shinobu stared intensely at Douma, saying each word slowly.
"Before she died, she told me what her killer looked like."
"It was a demon with a head that looked like it had been splattered with blood, wielding a pair of golden iron fans."
There was no need to elaborate further on who this demon was.
"She... that Flower Hashira was my elder sister..."
Shinobu forced these words out of her throat.
Meanwhile, upon hearing her words, Douma first seemed confused, then suddenly had a look of realization.
"Ahh, I remember now, there was such a person."
Douma thumped his palm.
"Yeah, that girl was strong. She wasn't as strong as the Upper Ranks, but definitely stronger than the Lower Ranks. I planned to devour her, but the sun came up too soon, so I missed my chance."
"I see, so she hadn't completely died yet and even left her last words, huh..."
"Moreover, you're her younger sister? Really?"
Douma asked in a surprised tone.
"Both sisters becoming Hashira? You two are impressive!"
He spoke so casually, with no sense of being the sworn enemy who had killed someone's kin. Instead, he felt inexplicably moved and happy, as if he were encountering an extraordinary character, hearing an incredible story, or seeing something remarkable, and he sincerely expressed admiration.
It was clear from this that he lacked normal human emotions, even empathy, merely disguising himself with rich tones and language.
Seeing this, Shinobu obviously couldn't suppress her emotions any longer.
*Swish!*
Suddenly, Shinobu's figure shot up like a bullet fired from a gun, astonishingly fast. She appeared in front of Douma in an instant, her Nichirin Sword drawn without him noticing, like a stinging bee aiming for his eyes.
"?!"
However, before the strike could hit Douma, Shinobu seemed to sense something. Her expression changed slightly, and without hesitation, she swiftly retreated.
*BOOM!*
Almost simultaneously, a cold wind swept through, lifting ice and frost, crashing down where Shinobu had stood just a moment ago.
Under the assault of the icy wind, the wooden bridge began to freeze, and even the lotus pond was encased in ice. Soon enough, ice crystals fell like rain, causing the temperature to plummet by several degrees.
"Ice?"
Shinobu landed at the edge of the lotus pond after her hasty retreat, her eyes flickering as she surveyed the scene.
"You dodged that?"
Douma, somewhat surprised yet intrigued.
"Seems like you're much stronger than your sister, despite your delicate appearance."
He was a demon of ice.
His Blood Demon Art allowed him to freeze his own blood into misty ice crystals, which he dispersed with his fan.
Of course, these ice crystals possessed lethal power. Not only could they freeze objects, but touching them would instantly freeze the skin. If inhaled into the lungs, they could cause breathing difficulties and even necrotize lung tissue.
Using this Blood Demon Art, Douma wielded an abnormal control over the air. By dispersing ice crystals throughout an area, he made himself unbeatable against any opponent.
Yet, Shinobu, relying on her sharp intuition and formidable physical prowess, managed to evade all of Douma's ice crystals.
In the past, she would not have been capable of such a feat.
'All thanks to that insanely powerful guy, I've got the strength I have now.'
Remembering Riezel, Shinobu calmed herself before speaking to Douma with hatred.
"Originally, I planned to kill you with poison. But thanks to that guy, that plan went up in smoke."
Shinobu had long prepared means to deal with Douma.
Knowing that her elder sister had died at his hands, she constantly plotted revenge against him.
In other words, even before Riezel appeared, she had readied herself to face Douma, prepared to take both of them down together. No one knew that she had been regularly ingesting the poison from wisteria flowers.
Based on information left by her elder sister, she knew the demon who killed her sister was fixated on devouring women—an abnormal obsession.
As a Hashira, not only was she a woman, but she also possessed exceptional strength.
Needless to say, if this demon encountered her, he would surely try to devour her.
Based on this assessment, she spent over a year continuously ingesting the poison from wisteria flowers, saturating her blood, organs, and fingertips with a high concentration of the poison.
If a demon consumed her, it would be akin to ingesting a poison dosage equal to seven times their body weight—an amount lethal enough seven hundred times over.
She made these preparations, intending to kill the demon who had murdered her elder sister with all she had. Even if she wasn't his match, she would drag him down to hell with her.
However, two months ago, Riezel's treatment shattered her plan.
Under Dia Fratel's treatment, not only did she recover fully from her injuries, but the poison within her body was also neutralized as well.
Fortunately, she gained new strength.
*Chi—*
As Shinobu tightened her grip on her sword handle, her Nichirin Sword began to turn bright red.
"Even though I can't use the Transparent World, with the Mark and Bright Red Nichirin Sword, I can still take you down, Upper Two!"
Shinobu shouted with anger, no longer concealing her hatred.
"My, my, you—"
Douma squinted his eyes, about to say something, when another voice interrupted.
"In that case, count me in too."
A deep voice reverberated as a monk wielding a chained flail and axe slowly approached the lotus pond.
"Hi-Himejima?!" Shinobu exclaimed in surprise.
"I've come to join you." Gyoumei nodded.
Although his eyes were blind, they still carried a hint of sorrow.
"I never imagined I'd encounter the murderer of your elder sister here."
Gyoumei naturally knew Shinobu's elder sister, as he had once saved both of them and had been their mentor for a time.
"Now, I can do something for you sister."
In the next moment, a mark resembling gray-black fissures appeared on Gyoumei's arm, while veins pulsed with anger at his temples.
'Okay, this doesn't look too great...'
Sensing the formidable aura emanating from Gyoumei, Douma finally broke into a cold sweat.
He knew he was in real trouble now.