Demon Slayer: Muzan, will you dance too?

"Slaying a ghost takes half a minute, but finding it takes days... Now it seems I'm just a clown, saying such ridiculous things."

"I never expected to encounter such a powerful demon here."

"Upper Moon Five, Gyokko, why is it here?"

Kiyokawa Izumi never expected that a routine mission would lead to an encounter with the Upper Moon.

What's so special about this little village?

Why is that bastard Yu Hu here?

"Get out of the way! Don't make me say it a third time!"

The two team members were intimidated by his stern tone, and Kiyokawa Izumi said somewhat impatiently.

"What's here is the Upper Moon!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the team members couldn't help but show expressions of fear, some of them disbelieving what Kiyokawa Izumi had said—this was a subconscious reaction.

Demons like the Upper Moon are too far removed from them.

Without any mental preparation, hearing Pillar say it was the Upper Moon caused a rather unpleasant subconscious reaction, but it was understandable.

They were no match for the Lower Moon. Despite being official members, the Twelve Demon Moons seemed incredibly distant to them.

It's not impossible that ordinary team members have encountered Upper Moons—no one knows about it, because encountering one means certain death.

There is no other possibility.

"You seem to know me? That's impossible; the news shouldn't have gotten out."

Hey, are you this generation's Pillar? How rare! How many years has it been since I've encountered a Pillar?

When was the last time a so-called Pillar was killed? Thirty years ago, or fifty years ago?

What kind of pillar was it again?

The plain white jade pot is engraved with patterns. It doesn't look ugly at all, but the thought that it's related to the Winding Jade Pot makes me feel nauseous for some reason.

It was probably because he was thinking of something Muichiro Tokito had said.

Your teapot is asymmetrical!

The pitch-black bottle opening seemed bottomless, and ten porcelain-white bone fingers extended along the opening, while the sound had already reached the other side.

This character is very low in anthropomorphism; in fact, it is quite different from a human in appearance.

It has two green lips around its eyes, and an eye on its forehead and another on its mouth—the lower one has a golden pupil with the number five engraved on it.

When the ordinary team members looked up, the word "Upward" was etched on the eye on their foreheads.

Cold sweat trickled down their foreheads, and their bodies trembled uncontrollably—Lord Pillar wasn't joking with them; it really was an Upper Moon!

Are you kidding me?

Why did we encounter Upper Moon here?

Those of them, who were somewhat experienced, knew very well that the Upper Moon demons had not changed for at least a hundred years.

Many pillars were killed by these powerful evil spirits!

His hands and feet wouldn't obey him, but his reason told him that he had to draw his Nichirin Blade and fight.

Kiyokawa Izumi only recently became a Pillar; he just passed the selection this year and still has a lot of room for improvement, and he can become even stronger... We must help him! We must fight!

I understand these things, but fear is unavoidable.

Unable to draw his Nichirin Blade as usual, just looking into that eye made him feel an intense sense of oppression, and all his courage vanished.

"Nice to meet you, Upper Moon Five, Gyokko!"

The jade pot, entirely white, had exceptionally well-developed muscles in its upper body, five purple fins on its head, and tiny, baby-like hands on either side of its body that were constantly waving.

"Before we start fighting, can we talk first? I haven't met a Pillar in a very long time, so I'm a little too excited. Please understand."

What kind of pillar was it last time? A water pillar? That was the time before last, wasn't it?

The jade pot swayed, its lower half as black as ink, with a snake's tail tightly connected to the spout.

Perhaps due to excessive excitement, his body kept swaying.

Its idea is easy to guess.

It had been too long since it had encountered a pillar—in its eyes, a pillar was an extremely rare material. Inspiration burst forth at this moment, and it had to carefully consider its options, for such a rare material could not be used casually.

What kind of artwork should we create?

These demon-slaying swordsmen all know breathing techniques. The pillar in front of me, whose aura is not obvious, seems to be using a breathing technique that I have never seen before.

Even rarer!

"Can you tell me what breathing technique you're using? Perhaps you should refer to this breathing technique, which is called the Pillar of Death."

What do you think of this name?

Kiyokawa Izumi remained silent.

I don't want to talk because of the excessive pressure.

A strange thought popped into my head.

Why don't you chat with this guy? Talk to him about art, ramble on, try to stall for time, and wait for possible reinforcements.

Every second you delay increases your chances of survival.

Asking him to wind up a gun now? Isn't that a joke?

He can be an excellent support when it comes to attacking the top four, five, and six, but how can you expect him to be the main attacker on his own?

"I'm really not a qualified pillar. Other pillars might be thinking about how to win, but I'm thinking about how to survive... How embarrassing!"