The nightclub was a cavern of grotesque luxury.
A massive chandelier, spanning over two square meters, stained the ceiling blood-red. Its crystalline light, fractured by layers of mirrors, fell onto the scarlet carpet not with brilliance, but with a heavy, stagnant hue—the color of over-steeped tea.
The club was structured in three tiers, encircling a central hall.
The walls were adorned with rich oil paintings, yet the wallpaper was done in a Ukiyo-e style—depicting Yaksha and demons. Nine black dragons, the Zhujiu-yin, coiled down the columns with twisted, agonizing expressions, as if they might crawl out of the wood at any moment.
At the very center of the hall sat a black coffin. An ominous, terrifying majesty radiated from it, warping the air. Simply standing near it made one's breath hitch in a primal, physiological fear.
"Ah... Taikou."
From a dark corner, a raspy yet feminine voice drifted out. It belonged to a woman—or perhaps a girl—in her early twenties.
Her every movement carried the sophisticated allure of a mature woman, yet her eyes held a crystalline purity that defied her age. She leaned against the bar, her long, black legs crossed, her voice a soft, teasing sigh that made the listener's skin crawl.
"How much longer until they arrive? I'm getting so bored..."
"Feidoku."
The man called Taikou sat with half his face submerged in shadow. His narrow eyes were fixed on the distance. Within his pupils, a vertical slit began to rotate, and a second, smaller black eye opened within the depths of his gaze.
"They are about two kilometers away. Hmm... let me see... they've split up?"
"Hee. Kira Nanami and two others have left the main group. Are they planning a decapitation strike?"
"My, my... how interesting." Feidoku giggled, a playful expression on her face. "What adorable children."
"Lord Hanami."
From another corner, Jakuin—the sour-faced old man—looked up. His gaunt face was twisted into a fawning smile.
"We will leave the protection of Tunzei to you. The three of us will go out to greet them."
Hanami. A Special Grade Cursed Spirit.
Black cursed markings crawled across his white, marble-like muscular frame. These markings were jagged and terrifying, resembling thick, coiled serpents. From his eye sockets grew two ivory branches—like deer antlers, but more like the gnarled, leafless limbs of a withered cypress.
"As long as you fulfill your promise," Hanami's voice was a dry, hollow rasp, "to cultivate the second King of Curses."
Hanami cared nothing for his own life or any sense of glory. He was born from humanity's fear of the forest. He loved the earth and the spirits within it. In Hanami's eyes, it was the existence of humans that caused nature to decay day by day.
He didn't care if it was he who stood at the top of the world a century from now. As long as it wasn't a human, it sufficed.
To him, this society was rotten. Only through absolute destruction could there be rebirth.
Over the past few days, he had been satisfied with the work of Jakuin and the others. Cultivating malice, letting humans slaughter one another in conflict—a new order would be forged in these flames. A new King of Curses would be born from the city's wailing, leading the world to a new stage of existence.
"Tunzei... how much longer until the ascension is complete?"
He looked at the black coffin, sensing the horrific aura within. He was impressed. Spreading fear through a curse was easy; the true difficulty lay in absorbing the vast, fragmented negative emotions of an entire city. In Hanami's memory, no Cursed Spirit had ever achieved a feat of this scale.
But Tunzei had succeeded. After days of devouring, its presence was becoming truly monstrous. Once it emerged, it would undoubtedly become the Demon King of the new world.
The humans had proven their worth. This was the only reason Hanami agreed to help them. One general's success is built upon ten thousand rotting corpses; Hanami was willing to be one of those corpses for the sake of the world's future.
Kira Nanami and his companions moved across the rooftops. The white rain fell over them like a thin blanket, but they discarded that blanket quickly—their speed was increasing. Raindrops struck their bodies and, before hitting the ground, were compressed into fine silver lines by the sheer velocity of their passage.
If anyone had looked up at the night sky, they would have seen three silver ribbons cutting through the rain.
Kira glanced back. Faint fluctuations of Cursed Energy were drifting from the rear; the battle had likely begun. He frowned and whispered to Todo:
"We've likely been detected."
"Why?" Mechamaru asked, his blue eyes scanning the ground as he kept pace.
"Don't you think these streets are too quiet?"
It was true. Eerily quiet.
There was only the sound of rain hitting the eaves, the occasional croak of a frog, and a distant bark that was quickly swallowed by the silence. The usually vibrant neon signs were dark, casting only dim, blurred halos of warmth through the drizzle.
Not a single soul was in sight.
"Isn't quiet a good thing?" Todo rumbled, his voice low.
"Don't you find it strange? we are approaching the enemy's most vital location, yet we haven't encountered a single scout or sentry. It's illogical."
"True..." Todo muttered.
"There is only one possibility," Kira said, his eyes fixed ahead. "They don't need scouts. We've been under surveillance the entire time. They have a superior detection method."
"You mean... an Innate Technique specialized for scouting? A Grade 1 Curse User?"
To maintain this level of surveillance, the observer would have to be at least Grade 1.
Kira was about to nod when a sudden chill raced down his spine. Every pore on his body snapped open.
He instinctively called out the name of Killer Queen in his mind. In a flash, the pink shadow manifested over him.
The next second, three massive spheres—woven from gnarled, supernatural wood—tore through the rooftops beneath their feet. Like anti-aircraft shells, they slammed into his position with crushing force!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The earth trembled. Roof tiles shattered into dust. The buildings, now sporting three gaping craters, began to collapse one after another like a row of dominos.
In seconds, the collapse spread across the block. As dust rose and mixed with the freezing rain, a massive, towering banyan tree suddenly erupted from the debris, crushing the road ahead.
Hanami leaned against the trunk, staring down at them from the heights.
Thanks to his Stand's protection, Kira wasn't injured, but he was in a state of disarray. Dust covered his brand-new coat. His clothes were ruffled. To a man with his level of OCD and germaphobia, this was a catastrophe.
He stood up from the wreckage, looking at the towering tree through the curtain of rain.
"Todo," he said softly. "It seems our 'stealth' mission has failed."
"Not necessarily..."
Todo punched a nearby pillar, snapping it in half. The partially collapsed roof behind them finally gave way, crashing down and creating a massive gust of wind that whipped their coat tails.
Todo stared at the shadow on the tree, a manic, borderline-insane grin splitting his face all the way to his cheeks.
"If we kill every single witness," Todo said, his voice trembling with excitement, "it still counts as a successful infiltration."
"Agreed."
Mechamaru's pupils vibrated. He flexed his mechanical arms, the sound of grinding gears echoing through the rain. "I find Todo's logic sound."