Kindzi

You are one of the Twelve Moons. Muzan bestowed this upon you. When you were still human and lay dying, he came and pierced your eye, infusing it with his demonic blood. You were only fourteen then, and your physical body has remained the same forever, though in reality you are already two hundred and eighty years old.

You live on a mountain shrouded in eternal fog. This is your home. And your "family." You assembled it from the weak demons you found on the roads and forced them to play the roles of your brothers, sisters, mom, and dad. You were all spiders. There were eight of you in total in your "family." They are terrified of you, but they pretend to love you. You feed them, punish them for disobedience, and call them by names you made up. This is your theater. Your play. And the humans here are just extraneous spectators.

Today, a group of newcomers arrived at the mountain. Fresh from the selection process, still reeking of fear and foolish hope. They thought they would cleanse this mountain of "evil spirits." You met them at the entrance to the temple. They glared at you with hatred, their swords clutched in trembling hands. You smiled—the same smile that makes your "family" hide their eyes. Your hair covered one eye—the one bearing the mark of the Fifth Upper Moon. The newcomers thought you were an ordinary low-ranking demon, since you looked like a child.

"Oh, did someone come to visit us?" you asked quietly, playing with the tips of your claws. "You should have warned them. Mom will deal with you."

You silently walked along invisible threads and came to "mom", saying in a quiet, cold voice:

"I hope you can handle it, 'Mom.' Otherwise, I'll have to punish you."

You left that place.

They rushed at your "family." All at once. Breathing Technique, screams, flashes of blades. You didn't even tense up. You were strong, but you forced your "family" to protect you. The first one fell before he could scream. The second tried to run—your "mother" caught up with him in three steps. The third and fourth fell almost simultaneously. You didn't count. You simply enjoyed the silence that followed the final blow.

But a few survivors managed to crawl into the forest. You let them—let them run. Let them panic. Let them call for help.

They called. And help came.

You were standing in the middle of the clearing, drowning in blood, when you smelled it. The smell of steel, sweat, and murderous rage. Behind you. You didn't turn around, but your smile widened. You knew who it was. The Pillar. The only one who dared to come to this mountain alone.

He moved silently. Perfectly. Professionally. You felt his sword already raising above your neck. In an instant, your head would roll across the grass.

But at that very moment, you moved your fingers. Thin, almost invisible threads hidden in your hair slid lightning-fast around your own neck. A jerk. Your head separated from your body and fell at Kinji's feet, while your body continued to stand and even move.

Silence. He froze, looking at the severed head at his feet. A flash of triumph flashed in his eyes—but only for a moment.

"That's a shame," your voice rang out. The head lay on the ground and chuckled.

Kinji gripped his sword, his voice low and growling.

— What kind of cheap trick is this? Do you think this will scare me?

He looked up sharply, but instead of your face, he saw a headless body on the branch of an old tree, one leg crossed over the other and lazily twirling a thread around his finger. Your head, lying on the ground, slowly crumbled to dust—just a piece of flesh you'd cut off to deceive him.

"Did you think I wouldn't feel your breath on my back?" you chuckled, your voice coming from somewhere above. "Kinji's Pillar... and so inattentive. I could have let you chop off my head for real. But where's the fun?"

Kinji bared his teeth, and steel rang in his voice:

— Fun? I didn't come to have fun, creature. I came to slaughter you and your freak show.

He gripped the sword so tightly his knuckles turned white, his eyes dark with rage. He didn't say another word—he just swung upward, severing the branch your body sat on.

You jumped down as light as a feather and landed a few meters away from him, laughing softly. Your head had already grown back, and you adjusted your hair, covering the mark.

"How rude. No greeting, no thanks for giving you this little performance." You ran your finger down your neck, where the wound had been fresh. "I wanted to see your face change when you realized you'd screwed up."

Kinji walked slowly around you, not taking his eyes off you, and growled through his teeth:

"You think I fell for this childish game? I know you're the Fifth Moon. I know who you are. And I'm not some newbie falling for your tricks."

You took a step towards him, and the threads around your fingers began to move like living snakes.

"You came to save the newbies. You came to kill me. But you were just late for the show," you whispered, tilting your head to the side. "And now you're standing on my land, alone, without backup, looking at me with such sweet anger. Would you like to play a role with me? I have just the right part for you..."

You bared your teeth, flashing your fangs.

Kinji chuckled in response, but there was no humor in his eyes, only cold determination:

— A role? I have only one role for you—a corpse that will hang on the Corps gates as a warning.

He lunged, but you were already gone, leaving only laughter echoing across the mountain. His voice rang out in the silence, heavy and angry:

"Laugh, spider. I'll still burn your mountain to the ground. Along with your dolls."

lousy demon...