Upper Four

At this moment, the red lotus fire blossomed in the night, dispelling the darkness and evil, and purifying everything.

Kagaya watched the fire with intense focus, completely ignoring the destruction of his own courtyard. Of course, he also noticed the sword in Riezel's hand, though he didn't know when it had been drawn.

'A black blade?'

Seeing the sword's black blade radiating intense heat that warped the air, Kagaya was deep in thought.

'Is that the Nichirin Sword he made using those large amounts of Scarlet Crimson Iron Sands and Scarlet Ores collected by Kyoujurou?'

Riezel's sword indeed exuded an indescribable aura of power. Although Kagaya didn't know how Riezel had forged such a sword, it didn't stop him from feeling joy.

Riezel, who was already powerful, now wielded a Nichirin Sword with extraordinary power, making it natural for his strength to become stronger.

Now, Kagaya only hoped Riezel would grow even stronger, surpassing the legendary swordsman Tsugikuni Yoriichi from the Sengoku period. Only then would the Ubuyashiki family's long-held wish have a chance of being fulfilled.

Meanwhile, as Riezel landed back in the courtyard with flames surrounding his body, his brow furrowed slightly.

"What's wrong?"

Kagaya asked when he saw Riezel's expression.

"No, it's nothing..." Riezel shook his head. "It seems things are far from over."

His words made Kagaya pause for a moment.

Suddenly—

*Thud!*

A figure suddenly fell from the sky into the mansion, hitting the ground with a muffled sound.

*Cough!* *Cough!*

A swordsman holding a red-bladed Nichirin Sword, wearing a flame-patterned haori, struggled to stand while coughing up blood.

Seeing the newcomer, Kagaya's complexion instantly changed.

"Kyoujurou!"

Indeed, it was none other than Rengoku Kyoujurou.

"Master..."

Kyoujurou, covered in wounds from sharp weapons and claws, his body emitting charred smoke, looked extremely battered.

"I'm glad you're safe..."

Despite being covered in injuries and on the brink of collapse, Kyoujurou showed a relieved expression upon seeing Kagaya, clearly having been worried about his safety.

Riezel saw the pitiful state of Kyoujurou before looking straight up at the sky, making Kagaya realize something.

Kagaya lifted his head with effort and looked up.

Soon, he saw it.

He saw several figures appearing in the sky.

"He's a tough one, surviving even that! It's infuriating!"

A demon wielding a tin staff, dressed in a kimono, with horns on his head and the Japanese character for 'anger' carved on his tongue, spoke in a very agitated tone. His face always seemed to be always twisted in anger.

He then descended from the sky, landing on the ruins of a wall, and looked down at Kyoujurou with vicious eyes.

"My, my, he actually got blown to this place, but it's kinda interesting too!"

Another demon, looking exactly like the tin staff demon but dressed as a bare-chested priest, appeared in the courtyard. He had the Japanese character for 'pleasure' on his tongue and held a maple leaf-shaped fan.

Unlike the angry tin staff demon, this fan demon wore a constant silly grin, making him seem like a fool who had wandered onto the battlefield by mistake.

"Hahaha, looks like we got new toys to play with!"

Yet another demon, identical to the tin staff and fan demons, appeared.

This one had wings, a bird's lower body, and bird claws for arms. He had the Japanese character for 'joy' on his tongue and was flying around in the sky, laughing loudly and acting frivolous.

"Is this the time to play? The target is right in front of us, and you're still not serious. How sad."

A fourth demon, identical to the other three, landed in the courtyard, dragging a cross-shaped spear. He was dressed like a warrior and had the Japanese character for 'sorrow' on his tongue. Unlike the tin staff and fan demons, he stood alone in a corner, frowning and looking gloomy.

These four distinct demons had now gathered in the courtyard together, facing Riezel and Kagaya.

Seeing these demons, Kagaya's expression changed again. 

No choice.

These four distinct demons, apart from their similar appearances and different attire, shared another striking feature.

In addition to the Japanese characters on their tongues, their eyes also had Japanese characters engraved.

One eye had 'Upper Rank'.

The other eye had 'Four'.

'It can't be... All of them are Upper Four...?' Kagaya was dumbfounded.

At this moment, the bloodied Kyoujurou suddenly shouted loudly.

"Watch out! These four demons are clones of the Upper Four!"

===

Time went back a few minutes.

When Kyoujurou was swiftly heading to the Ubuyashiki Estate and encountered Hantengu on the way, he launched a surprise attack without a second thought, chopping off Hantengu's head in one slash.

At that moment, Kyoujurou was a bit surprised.

'Was it really this easy?'

He hadn't expected to decapitate the demon so effortlessly.

Although he didn't know who this demon was, there were clearly no characters carved in the demon's eyes. Since the demon looked like an ordinary coward, it seemed normal for the demon to be beheaded easily by a Hashira.

Yet, Kyoujurou was about eighty percent sure that this demon should be an Upper Rank.

Otherwise, how could the demon have approached him silently without being noticed by him?

If it hadn't been for him moving at high speed, causing the demon to make a slight noise while trying to keep up with him, he might not have detected the demon and noticed the anomaly.

Such abilities were definitely not something an ordinary demon could possess.

Whether the demon was approaching a Hashira silently or keeping up with his speed, it all told him that this demon was no ordinary demon.

Because of this, Kyoujurou decisively launched an attack without hesitation, knowing that if the demon was indeed an Upper Rank and he didn't seize the initiative, he might die.

It was clear that the brief encounter with Akaza had left a deep impression in Kyoujurou's heart, raising his vigilance and caution toward the Upper Ranks to the highest.

Yet, despite all this, he was able to easily behead the demon, whom he believed to be an Upper Rank.

'Could I have been wrong?'

Although Kyoujurou initially thought so as he looked at Hantengu's headless body, he soon dismissed this thought and became convinced that this demon was indeed an Upper Rank.

*Gu-lu*

With a strange sound, Hantengu's headless body not only didn't vanish but started to wriggle and change shape.

Not only did the headless body wriggle and change, but even the head, which had been chopped off and was flying through the air, began to swell and expand.

"What?!"

Kyoujurou's expression instantly changed, and he hurriedly slashed at the swelling head with his Nichirin Sword wrapped in flames.

*BOOM!*

As the flames cut through, they caused an explosion in mid-air.

Unfortunately, his flaming slash did not hit the swelling head but was blocked by a fan.

"Man, that was close, I almost got cut again."

With a light and playful voice, the swelling head finally took a humanoid form.

A fan-wielding demon, with the Japanese character for 'pleasure' carved on his tongue, was thus born.

"Upper Four!"

Kyoujurou eventually saw the Japanese characters engraved in the fan demon's eyes.

Upper Four, the fourth-ranked demon among the Twelve Kizuki, was ranked just below Upper Three Akaza, whom he encountered during the Mugen Train incident.

Realizing he was facing a demon of this caliber, Kyoujurou didn't hesitate. He gripped his Nichirin Sword tightly and prepared to strike at the fan demon's head.

Unfortunately, he failed because someone had interrupted him.

"How dare you turn your back on me? How infuriating!"

A voice filled with anger suddenly resounded from behind him.

*Clang!*

In the next moment, a tin staff struck the ground, producing a crisp sound and a burst of violent lightning.

*Bzzzt—!*

In an instant, the lightning suddenly erupted, striking toward Kyoujurou.

"AAAHHHHHH—!"

Without time to dodge, Kyoujurou was instantly engulfed by the lightning, his entire body burning and emitting charred smoke.

At this moment, Kyoujurou realized that the headless body of Hantengu had transformed into a demon wielding a tin staff that looked exactly like the fan demon but wore the same kimono as Hantengu.

This tin staff demon, with the Japanese character for 'anger' engraved on his tongue, also had Japanese characters symbolizing Upper Four in his eyes.

'Upper Four... two of them?' Kyoujurou was genuinely shocked. 'No, it's not that there are two Upper Fours, but that the Upper Four had split into two. That cowardly demon had split into two separate demons after being beheaded... Are they like his clones or something?'

He immediately understood what had happened and hurriedly slashed out with a life-risking attack, enduring the excruciating pain from the lightning.

"Flame Breathing - Second Form - Rising Scorching Sun!"

Kyoujurou's blazing Nichirin Sword slashed upward, cutting both the tin staff demon and the fan demon in half.

However, this was undoubtedly a bad decision.

In the next moment, after the two demons were split in half, their flesh swelled and expanded like before.

Before long, a half-bird demon and a demon wielding a cross-shaped spear were born.

'This is just...'

Kyoujurou tightened his grip on his sword, speechless.

Clearly, the situation had become much more serious than he had originally thought.