KNY Fanfic: Priceless Smile

Chapter 79: Lower Moons

     In the middle of a forteress, a woman sat on a cushion holding a biwa. As she strum the string of her biwa, lower moons have suddenly appeared.

'Why are we here?'
Lower moon six thought as he look around.

He managed to spot the lower moon one and three but didn't saw the others.

'Only the lower moons but, it's only me, lower moon one and lower moon three, where are the rest?'
He asked himself.

They heard another sound of the biwa again. In just a blink of an eye, all the three remaining demons have gathered in one spot. There they saw a woman.

'Who is this woman?'
Lower six asked himself again.

"Lower yourselves and bow." The lady said.

All three of them bowed in an instant.

'This voice.... it's Muzan-sama's voice. His aura and appearance changed I didn't even know it's him.'
Lower six thought, trembling in fear.

"As you can see, three lower moons are not here for they have been slayed. Lower moon two, lower moon four, and lower moon five." Muzan informed them.
"The only thing I wanna ask is why are you who are in the lower ranks so weak?! You get to be killed so easily! You in the lower ranks are nothing to be compared to those upper moons! Joining the lower ranks of the twelve kizukis is not yet the end but merely the beginning! You must eat more people in order to get stronger and be more useful to me!" He continued gritting his teeth.

Both the lower six and three trembled in fear while lower moon one just stayed silent and calm. Admiring Muzan in front of them.

"For more than a century, the members of the upper ranks of the twelve kizuki remained unchanged. The demons who put several Pillars to their graves are always in the upper ranks. But what about the lower ranks? How many times were the members of the lower ranks changed members?" He said in a disappointed tone.

'What are we supposed to say and do to that then?'
Lower six thought.

"'What are we suppose to say and do to that then?'" Muzan said being able to read his thoughts.
"You can answer my question."

'I'm doomed, he can read whatever's in my mind.'
The lower six trembled even more in fear.

"How are you doomed? What are you so worried about? Tell me!" Muzan demanded as he grit his teeth and veins popping on his forehead from anger, glowering down at the demon.

Kibutsuji Muzan, the progenirator of demons, the father of demons, have the ability to read the minds of those whom he shares his blood with. But the further they are, the less clearly he can read them, but he still can always pinpoint their location. He always knows where they are. Which means, when Nezuko was taken to the Ubuyashiki Estate, the Demon Slayer Headquarters, was a terrible thing. Because at that moment, Muzan already knows where the Demon Slayer Headquarters was.

But fortunately, due to Tamayo and Nezuko's efforts, he has not grasped that yet. The two demons have removed Muzan's curse upon them.

"FORGIVE ME KIBUTSUJI-SAMA! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!" The lower six pleaded as he was lifted up by Muzan's transformed flesh demon arm.
"PLEASE HAVE MERCY! PLEASE FORGIVE ME! I'M SO—"

The demon arm cut him off by eating him. His blood poured down the remaining lower moons. As this happen, the lower three can't stop trembling.

'Why is this happening?.... Why? I still wanted to do more.'
He thought as he grip on the floor tightly.
'He's going to kill me too.... So the only thing to do is.....'

Lower three jumped away from his spot and used his immense speed in order to escape. He ran around the fortress wishing to get out.

'What a fool.'
Lower one thought as he watch the escaping demon.

In just a blink of an eye, lower three's head is already held by Muzan's hand.

'How? Since when? I didn't even hear the sound of the biwa being played? Ugh.... I can't regenerate.'
The demon thought.

Muzan tossed his head and let it roll on the bloodied floor. He then glared down at the one and only remaining lower demon.

"Do you have any last words?" He asked.

'This one's gonna die too. It goes according to Muzan-sama's mood. I'm dying.'
The lower three thought as he look at the remaining demon.

"*sigh*.... Yes my lord. I am in a dream because finally, I could die by your own hands. I adored hearing the other demons' death cries. I revel in the misery and suffering of others. I relive it in my dreams each night. Thank you for leaving me for last." The lower one answered with a blush and a smile adorning his own face.

Hearing his answer convinced Muzan. His piercing death glare turned into a normal stare. He smiled for the praises he have heard from him. By then, a sudden needle like claw hit the neck of the remaining demon. The blood injected in him made him scream and twitch in pain.

"I like you. I will give you more of my blood as a reward. You may also die if you can't take this much of a blood transfusion but, you may also be able to overcome it. You will gain much greater strength. And for this, you must be useful to me and kill one of the Pillars of the Demon Slayer Corps." He explained as he look at the demon writhing in pain.
"If you also kill the demon slayer with hanafuda earrings and the the slayer with an ash-gray hair with black tips, I will give you more of my blood."

Right after his words, the biwa demon strum her biwa again and several doors slid open for Muzan to get out and the floor where the lower one is lying down was replaced by a door, opening making him fall out of the fortress. He landed on the ground still twitching.

'What's this? I can see something.'
The demon asked himself as he sees an image of a boy with a checkered haori, hanafuda earrings and a scar on his forehead coming closer.
'It's flowing inside of me along with Muzan-sama's blood.'

Not only did he see one but another figure standing at a distance smiling at him. Another figure, whom he thought as a boy, with an ash-gray hair with black tips wearing a black haori with red smoke edges.

"Tee hee! Hee hee hee! If I kill.... a Pillar and this boy with hanafuda earrings and the other one with an ash-gray hair.... what a dream it really is."