Deep within the heart of the Forbidden Mountains, in a castle of blackened stone and swirling shadows, Muzan Kibutsuji seethed. His domain was a place of perpetual gloom, its spires clawing at the heavens as if to tear them down. Inside the cold, echoing halls, Muzan sat upon a twisted throne of obsidian, his crimson eyes narrowed with fury. The flickering torches cast jagged shadows across his sharp features, his pale hands drumming against the armrest in a slow, deliberate rhythm.
Before him knelt the Upper Kizuki—Douma and Akaza—their once-arrogant expressions replaced with unease. The oppressive silence stretched, heavy and suffocating, until Muzan's voice sliced through the air like a blade.
"Sixteen years." His tone was low, venomous. "Sixteen years, and not a trace of her. Not a whisper, not a shadow. Do you mean to tell me that you, my most loyal servants, have failed me so completely?"
Douma, ever the sycophant, offered a nervous laugh, his hands spread in a gesture of exaggerated innocence. "Oh, Muzan-sama, you wound us! We've searched everywhere!" He grinned, though it faltered under Muzan's piercing glare. "The mountains, the forests, the villages—"
"Yes, yes, everywhere," Akaza interrupted, his voice rough but tinged with frustration. "There wasn't a single rock left unturned."
Muzan's eyes darkened further, and the torches in the room flickered violently. "Everywhere?" he repeated, his voice dangerously quiet. "What about the towns? The deeper parts of the forests? The hidden caves in the mountains?"
Douma shrugged, trying to keep his usual playful tone. "Oh, of course, the caves, the forests, the towns—why, we even searched the cradles!" He clapped his hands together as if this were a brilliant revelation.
"The cradles?" Muzan's voice sharpened, his posture stiffening.
"Yes, yes!" Douma chirped, nodding enthusiastically. "Every cradle in every village!"
"The cradles?" Muzan echoed again, his tone growing icy as his gaze bore into Douma.
"Yes, Muzan-sama," Akaza added quickly, trying to back up his companion. "We checked every single one."
For a moment, Muzan's face remained impassive. Then his lips curled into a smile—a slow, cruel thing that sent a chill through the room. "A baby," he said softly, his voice laced with mockery. "You've been searching for a baby."
Douma blinked, his smile faltering. "Well, yes—"
"A BABY?!" Muzan roared, rising to his feet in one fluid motion. The torches flared as the room seemed to tremble under the weight of his rage. His voice echoed like thunder, sending waves of dread rippling through the air.
The Kizuki shrank back instinctively, Douma's nervous grin vanishing entirely.
"Sixteen years!" Muzan thundered, his voice shaking the very walls of his castle. "Sixteen years of my patience, my resources, my power wasted because of your staggering incompetence! Did you idiots think she would remain a baby forever?"
Douma opened his mouth to respond, but no words came out. Muzan didn't give him the chance. He turned sharply to the massive raven perched on the twisted spire beside his throne. The bird's feathers gleamed like obsidian, and its red eyes mirrored Muzan's fury.
"My pet," Muzan said, his voice chillingly calm now, though his hands still trembled with barely restrained anger. "Did you hear that? These fools, these pathetic excuses for demons, have spent the last sixteen years searching for a baby."
The raven tilted its head, letting out a harsh, grating caw. Muzan's lips twisted into a humorless laugh, which quickly grew louder, echoing through the hall. The Kizuki, desperate to stay in his favor, hesitantly joined in, their laughter forced and nervous.
Muzan's laughter stopped abruptly, his face twisting into a mask of cold fury. "Silence!" he bellowed, his voice cutting through the air like a blade. The demons froze, their laughter dying instantly. "Fools! Idiots! Imbeciles!" Muzan strode toward them, each step a thunderous declaration of his wrath.
He raised a hand, and dark, pulsing energy crackled around it. With a flick of his wrist, the force slammed into Douma and Akaza, sending them sprawling across the floor. They scrambled to their knees, heads bowed low, trembling under the weight of his power.
"You are a disgrace to the forces of evil," Muzan hissed, his voice low and venomous. "I should strip you of your ranks and reduce you to ash for this failure."
"Muzan-sama, please—!" Douma began, but Muzan silenced him with a glare.
"You are hopeless," Muzan continued, his tone dripping with disdain. "Utterly hopeless." He turned away from the groveling demons, his focus shifting back to the raven.
"My pet," he said, his voice soft but no less menacing, "you are my last hope. Take to the skies and search far and wide. Find her—find the girl of sixteen with hair like sunlight and lips as red as roses. Search every corner of this land. Do not fail me."
The raven let out a piercing cry, spreading its massive wings. With a single powerful beat, it launched into the air, disappearing into the darkness beyond the castle's windows.
Muzan watched it go, his expression unreadable. Slowly, he turned back to the Kizuki, who still knelt before him. "Get out of my sight," he growled. "You will not fail me again, or I will remind you why I am the one you fear."
The demons scrambled to obey, disappearing from the hall without another word. As the sound of their retreating footsteps faded, Muzan returned to his throne, the shadows of his castle closing in around him.
For a long moment, he sat in silence, his fingers tapping against the armrest. Then, his lips curled into a small, sinister smile.
"Sixteen years," he murmured to himself, his voice soft and deadly. "You can't hide forever, little princess. I will find you… and when I do, this kingdom will crumble beneath my feet."
The castle plunged into darkness, the faint echoes of his laughter reverberating through the stone halls.