The wounded boy finally recognized who had entered and dropped the drum in his hands, opening his arms.
"Brother Kiyoshi!" Shoji cried out and rushed forward, throwing herself into the boy's embrace.
Aoyama stepped inside, his gaze falling on the drum near the boy's hand.
"Where did you get that drum?"
He already had a guess, but he wanted confirmation.
"I… At first, a monster captured me. Then other monsters showed up. They were arguing… saying I was something called 'rare blood'… fighting over who would eat me…"
The boy shuddered at the memory.
"Then a drum fell off. I picked it up and hit it. The rooms kept changing… and then…"
His voice trembled. Every one of them had wanted to devour him.
Aoyama crouched and placed a hand gently on his head.
"It's alright now. Hold onto the drum. If anyone besides me enters this room, hit it. It should keep you safe."
The boy nodded and clutched the drum tightly.
"You two stay here. I'll finish this and come back."
Just before stepping out, Aoyama added,
"The moment I leave—hit the drum."
He stepped outside.
Boom.
The drum sounded.
The room shifted violently before his eyes. When it stopped, the room—and the people inside—were gone.
This drum was truly useful.
At least in here.
"Rare blood… rare blood… If I eat it… it'll be like fifty… no… a hundred humans…"
"As long as I consume enough rare blood… I can… return… to the Twelve Kizuki…"
As Kyogai muttered, his left eye rolled upward, revealing the engraved character:
Lower Six.
"You're not going back."
A sliding door opened.
Aoyama stood there calmly.
"Muzan discarded you as trash. How could a failure return to the Twelve Kizuki?"
"And today—you met me."
Before the final word fully fell—
His blade flashed.
Slash—
Kyogai barely reacted in time to raise his arm.
His left arm fell cleanly to the floor.
"Die, insect!"
Kyogai struck the drum on his abdomen.
A razor-sharp claw mark tore through the ground like a gale.
Aoyama exhaled.
Good thing he'd already deciphered the pattern.
Right hand striking center drum—he dodged right instantly.
If he'd been slower—
He'd be in three pieces.
Kyogai struck again and again.
The room flipped, rotated, twisted wildly.
But now Aoyama understood the rhythm.
At worst, it forced him to move more.
"Damn insect!"
Kyogai roared, drumming faster and faster.
Elsewhere—
Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Shoichi suddenly felt the floor vanish beneath them.
Doors opened one by one below them.
After a plunge through darkness—
They burst through the final door and landed outside in the forest.
They had been expelled from the mansion.
Inside—
The floor dropped beneath Aoyama too.
He stabbed his blade into the wooden frame beside him, barely preventing himself from falling.
Kyogai was panting heavily now, sweat dripping down his face.
He desperately needed to eat that rare-blood child.
Aoyama swung himself back up with momentum.
"Kyogai. Do you know why you were expelled? Why your writing was rejected? Do you know?"
Kyogai froze.
He was a failure.
A writer whose work had been mocked.
A demon cast aside by Muzan.
"Shut up! Die, insect! Rapid drum strike!"
Both arms blurred as he struck the drums.
The room spun faster than ever.
Claw attacks increased from three—
To five.
Aoyama's feet barely touched the ground before it flipped again.
Water Breathing?
Light Breathing?
He calculated rapidly.
Then—
His eyes lit up.
He inhaled deeply.
Total Concentration. Water Breathing. Ninth Form — Splashing Water Flow, Turbulent.
In a violently rotating space, this form minimized ground contact and maximized mobility.
Perfect for now.
He darted forward through the chaos.
Suddenly—
He saw it.
The Line of Opening between them.
It snapped taut.
Opportunity.
Total Concentration. Light Breathing. First Form — Flash.
The spinning mansion stopped instantly.
No drumbeat.
Silence.
Aoyama landed, breathing hard.
Kyogai's head lay on the floor before him.
"…My… my manuscripts…"
His severed eyes stared at the scattered papers on the ground.
Aoyama suddenly remembered something.
From his sleeve, he pulled out an automatic blood-extraction device and launched it into Kyogai's body.
Slay the demon—
But never forget the blood.
"Meow."
A cat appeared out of thin air, carrying a small box on its back.
Another soft meow—
It took the blood sample and vanished.
The mansion fell quiet at last.
Outside, dawn was beginning to break.
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