Tsunami of Dead Tears: Part 1

Chapter 9

"Why haven't I heard of this place yet?!"

Akihiro was speaking with a few demon travelers, all of them huddled in a small campfire.

One of the demons answered his question. "Most demons in the south don't know about this place. That's because none of it's inhabitants never really leave.

Akihiro was fascinated by this location. A secret society of demons living beneath the trees of Mitsue.

After talking it over more, Akihiro decides to find this mysterious place. Being an ambitious demon, he always wanted to talk with Muzan himself, and this secret society seems to be a regular visiting place for the Demon King.

"It's somewhere around here." A traveler demon said. "Hidden beneath the roots of trees. The entrance is under a tree surrounded by yellow leaves. Here, I'll show it to you."

The traveler stood up and walked to some unspecified direction. Akihiro followed him. After what seemed like an eternity, they reached the tree.

The traveler demon reached to the floor and pulled one of the roots, which was actually a hidden lever. The ground split open as a wide trapdoor leading down a dark staircase emerged from the depths, leaves and dust falling off the sides. There was a cold breeze that erupted from the darkness, smelling of... candle wax?

"I heard that the Demon King is staying there for a good couple weeks, some part of a plan or something." The traveler said. "If you wanna give him a talk, better now rather than later."

The traveler walked away, leaving Akihiro to his own business. Akihiro took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself to face his king, then stepped down into the shadows.

After a minute of stumbling around in the dark, he finally saw torchlight at the end of the staircase. When he reached it, he looked up at his surroundings.

It was an entire underground city.

Well, maybe a city block.

Really, the lights just overwhelmed him. The truth was that it was just a long corridor that stretched out for a long distance. On the sides were stalls, rooms, lights, lanterns. Hotels, hotels, hotels everywhere, shoji doors with decorations littered all around the hallway. Most of the stalls were markets selling humans locked up in cages or chained together in a line. Most of them had their mouths gagged, dark circles around their eyes and miserable expressions, wearing nothing but pants, otherwise everything else was exposed. He caught himself staring at one of the women for a bit too long.

A few stalls sold weapons, which he already had, but one odd stall had a FOREIGNER demon selling pistols, although he spoke little japanese and the prices were already too high to begin with.

At the end of the hallway, a wooden door stood. Maple surface and golden knob. Akihiro was sure that this was where Muzan was.

He passed through multiple demons and opened the door. Almost immediately, a demon grabbed his face and buried it in the ground.

"..ow..."

Akihiro looked up, seeing Lower Moon 1, Enmu, and Upper Moon 2, Douma, sitting there. At the end of the room, there was a silk curtain that concealed a person's face.

It's Muzan. Akihiro thought. I can smell it.

"Oh!" Douma exclaimed. 'And who might you be?"

"A-Akihiro..."

The demon holding Akihiro let go of his head, going back to his post. Akihiro stood up and wiped off the dust on his clothes. He needed to look good.