𝙆𝙉𝙔 𝙭 𝘿𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙣! 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧

Chapter Nine

Roughly fifteen years have passed since all of that has happened, and although Kotoha didn't mention Inosuke as often, she was still not over what happened all of those years ago as she would visit his grave on a daily basis, perhaps expecting a miracle.

Seeing her in this state, you started feeling some kind of remorse - or rather responsible - for suggesting to turn her into a demon even against her will. However, looking at the brightside, you had a partner to accompany you on each and every mission.

During those years, you developed your own blood demon art after the harsh training you've received from your superiors. After all, you were well respected among the demons, including the upper moons, so they were all more than happy to help you improve your skills.

While you focused on training, the upper moons all agreed upon taking the mission of finding the blue spider lily after you failed miserably to occupy that rare flower.

And although you've improved quite enough to apply for a duel with a demon from the twelve kizuki, you still found yourself incompetent for those powerful demons let alone the fact that you didn't want to get on anyone's bad side.

In other words, you were uninterested in joining the kizuki ranks.

"But if you became a moon we'll attend meetings together!" Douma tried several times to convince you to join the ranks. "You've improved a lot since you first became a demon!"

"With all due respect, Douma-sama... I'm around you all the time." You sighed, leaning your head on your hand. "An hour or two won't make a difference."

"Well... we can go on missions together more often!"

"Douma-sama..." You closed your eyes, pinching the bridge of your nose.

"Okay got it! I'll leave you alone then!" He said with a wide smile plastered across his face. "Please think about what I said!" Saying that, he vanished into thin air, leaving you all by yourself.

You were happy that you've finally gotten some alone time, but your happiness was short-lived once you were summoned to the infinity castle.

To your surprise, the twelve kizuki were all present and you could feel their piercing gazes fixated on you as you were intimidated by the presence of these demons.

You clenched your fists, looking towards Douma who waved at you as soon as he noticed you. "If you're behind this in any way I'll kill you." You let out a sigh weighed by anger.

On the very right to you stood the upper moons, and on the other side, five of the lower moons were present. "Shouldn't there be six lower moons?" You thought as you started counting the demon moons.

"Lower moon five is late." One of the lower moons whispered.

"Who's this girl?" The female lower moon asked, looking in your direction, and you instinctively stared back at her.

"Yuki-san... I heard that she's well-liked among the upper ranks." Another one said. "What's she doing here?"

"She's here to duel a kizuki." The cold voice of your master made each one of the present demons bow to show respect. "She was recommended by upper moon two since we need a new member after Rui's passing."

"Ah Muzan-sama! I assure you that Yuki-chan won't disappoint you!" Douma spoke with his usual kind voice. "Especially after undergoing all kinds of harsh training!"

"I knew it! I'm going to kill you once this is over." You gritted your teeth and shot him a glare which he returned with a thumbs-up and an encouraging smile.

However, Muzan turned to the lower moons, ignoring Douma. "You lower moons are weak... Tell me... how many times have you been replaced?"

With all of the attention fixated on you, the lower moons didn't really think of what their master has said which made his blood boil with anger. "I asked a question... I'm not surprised that your attention is fixated on a lowly demon like her." He raged.

You could feel the lower moons tensing under the pressure they were facing, and so were you. "Meetings like that are quite unnerving..." You sighed, then shifted your gaze towards the upper moons who seemed to be enjoying seeing the lower ranked moons getting in trouble with Muzan.

"The quality of the demons is becoming worse by years." He said, once he got all of their attention. "The new demon who you're all so curious about will be challenging lower moon six, and her success or failure will determine your fate."

Hearing that alone was stressful enough, but you regained your composure just before you were sent by Nakime along with lower moon six to a vast empty room.

"You may begin."

Without a second thought, you saw the lower moon charging towards you with his blood demon art, and you quickly dodged his attack.

While you were avoiding his fierce attacks, you were thinking of a plan to defeat him; to you, a good strategy was the most important part in a fight.

You might not have been all that experienced in fights, but you knew you were well-trained and you weren't planning on disappointing the upper moons or Muzan.

"Defend, get close to your opponent, then attack." You recalled what you've been taught as you followed the steps carefully.

At that moment, you used your blood demon art, making a tall tree grow from underground and capture your opponent.

The worst part of your technique was that in order for you to launch an efficient attack, you must engage in a close combat which was quite risky for someone with a weak physique like you.

"Is it worth it?" You thought, looking at your opponent struggling to free himself as the branches pierced through his organs. "No matter what... I hope that this will all be a good start."

"I've seen enough." Muzan spoke, and with that, Nakime brought you back to the meeting room.

"Yuki-chan! How did the duel go?" Douma asked, waving to you from a distance, but you crossed your arms, ignoring him.

Glancing at lower moon six, you saw how slow he was regenerating, so you pulled out a flask and handed it to him. "I'm sorry, this will help you heal faster." You said, but it seemed like he wasn't listening to you. "Hello? Actually nevermind."

"I've decided..." Muzan spoke, grabbing everyone's attention. "Yuki will become the new lower moon five."

"Ah congrats congrats!" Douma cheered happily. "See master Muzan? I told you!"

"What can I say? I'm honoured to become a part of the twelve kizuki." You said, although seeming uninterested, being chosen as part of the kizuki was a great honour for any demon in existence.

"Come forward, and receive your rank." Muzan said with a rather satisfied smile as you approached him, and by that, you got a kanji reading 'lower moon five' in one of your eyes. "Now, you're officially a member of the twelve kizuki."

"The upper moons only are dismissed." The demon king said, much to your shock, and by that, the upper moons were each sent back to their territories.

"As for you... this may be your last notice." He threatened. "I was originally planning on dismantling the lower moons after the news of Rui's death, so consider the new moon your last chance to prove yourselves."

And by that, you were all dismissed.

Being a new member of the twelve kizuki, you knew that a lot of missions were awaiting you.

And your first mission - although not assigned by Muzan - was to get along with each one of the lower ranks.

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

Word count: 1281 words

-',✎ A/n: since it's fanfiction, why not add a few arcs? 😼