After Itsuki saved Zeno, he was taken to the royal palace. They gave him clean clothes and washed him, and a room was offered to him, but he refused.
"Thank you for your kindness, but I can't accept it."
Itsuki said:
"Why? Didn't you like the room?!"
Zeno smiled and said:
"No… I just don't like taking something I didn't struggle for… Whatever I want, I obtain it with my own power and effort."
Itsuki laughed and said:
"I like your determination!… But let me at least pay you a small amount as an apology for my foolish uncle."
Zeno wanted to refuse, but Itsuki insisted, and eventually he accepted.
"I'm only accepting it because of you."
Inside the city, around the slums:
Zeno held a gold coin with a crown design in his hand and was talking to himself when suddenly his eyes fell on the same shop where he had eaten his favorite food—curry with meat—the first time he arrived in the capital.
He looked at it, smiled, and said:
"I'll go eat something… and also see Hana."
He went inside and sat at a table. After a few moments, another ten'in (waiter) came to the table instead of Hana.
"What would you like to order, sir?"
Zeno looked around but didn't see Hana.
"Sir, your order?!"
Since he saw that Hana wasn't there, Zeno said:
"Grilled meat!"
He thought to himself:
"Maybe she went home… maybe she had something to do."
Deep beneath the Zailor Palace:
"Are the sacrifices ready?!"
"Yes, Supreme Kain. They are all ready."
Kain the Supreme of Zailor and his loyal right-hand, Chika, were standing directly in front of the Demon-Slayer Gate with a massive cauldron.
Zailor cut his thumb and poured his own blood into a bowl he held in his other hand.
He ordered them to throw all the half-demons into the massive cauldron and seal it.
The half-demons, mixed with fear, tears, and pleas, struggled desperately to avoid being thrown inside.
"Please, don't harm my daughter—sacrifice me instead!"
A mother pleaded in tears, begging them not to hurt her daughter and to sacrifice her instead.
But the man didn't listen and was pulling her daughter out of her arms when Chika pushed him aside, sat in front of the mother, looked straight into her eyes, and said:
"You know… I can save your daughter and send her somewhere peaceful!"
The girl's mother, crying with happiness, thanked Chika…
Slash—!!!!!
Blood splashed onto the mother, and a head fell to the ground…
Chika smiled and said:
"There… now she's comfortable and free from suffering."
The girl's mother's eyes filled with blood as she held her daughter's headless body in her arms.
"Daugh… daugh… my daughter!…"
The girl's mother went insane and kept whispering only one word:
"My daughter… my daughter… my daughter!!"
In the end, she and her headless daughter were also placed inside the cauldron, and the lid was sealed.
When the cauldron was sealed, Zailor sat on the ground and began drawing a demonic circle with his own blood.
When the circle was completed, a star with nine sharp lines appeared for nine of Zailor's greatest disciples.
Everyone took their positions and began chanting in the language of demons:
"O great king of demons, Shinigami, accept these sacrifices in exchange for granting us a small portion of your great and limitless power, so we may crush your enemies and opponents into dust and bring you glory… Komotsu no Bi Mahō!! (Weak sacrificial offering magic)"
After the chant was completed, a crimson fire rose from the magical circle Zailor had drawn, screaming with a terrifying sound beneath the massive cauldron.
The screams of the victims inside the cauldron reached the sky, but among the cries and screams, a terrifying voice emerged that silenced everyone.
"I!…"
Zailor and everyone outside the cauldron heard the voice.
"Is that voice coming from inside the cauldron?!"
"As a mother… as a daughter… as a woman… on behalf of all of us who were brought together… I wish upon you the most painful death imaginable!…"
The voice faded, but it left fear and a curse behind. Zailor shouted angrily:
"As long as my lord Shinigami is with us, no one can even scratch us! This curse is meaningless!… Insolent woman!"
"Can you come here for a moment—wooohooo… what happened? Why did my body suddenly tremble? My body feels cold!… Did I catch a cold?!"
Zeno, who had just finished eating, suddenly felt a shiver run through his body— a shiver that wasn't caused by the cold!…
When the fire beneath the cauldron went out, suddenly all the torches went out with it. Absolute darkness surrounded everyone. Fear and terror seized them. After a few moments, a groaning sound was heard.
"Ughhh…"
Zailor and Chika stood there calmly and without fear, but instead, his nine disciples began to groan and crumble into dust one by one with a crackling sound.
After all his disciples turned to dust and vanished, the torches on the walls lit up again.
Suddenly, the cauldron began to shake, and then the lid burst open under pressure. Inside it, there was a jar. Chika went and retrieved it, but while returning, he saw a mark carved there in blood—only one word:
"Curse!"
Chika was slightly surprised but ignored it, came outside, and handed the jar to Zailor.
When Zailor opened the lid of the jar, a crimson light flashed onto his face.
As the light touched his face, a strange and demonic smile spread across it, filling the entire space.
"There are accounts outside that I must settle!…"