I crawled over to the fog machine. It was a bulky, industrial-sized metal box sitting near the curtain.
"Psst. Boss."
I looked down. My pocket was vibrating.
I carefully pulled out the Stray Spirit—the little slime blob I picked up in the cafeteria. It was shaking violently.
"Drums..." the blob whispered, its single eye wide with panic. "Big... drums..."
"Be quiet," I hissed, looking around to make sure no one was watching. "What drums?"
BOOM.
The sound didn't come from the band. It came from the air itself.
A deep, reverberating beat that shook the dust from the rafters. It felt like a heartbeat, but heavy. Malicious.
I activated my [Demon Sight].
The gymnasium vanished. In its place was a swirling vortex of dark red energy. High above the stage, clinging to the steel beams of the ceiling, was a figure.
It was massive. Pale skin, muscles bulging, and protruding from its chest and back were tsuzumi drums.
[Entity Identified: Kyogai (The Drum Demon).]
[Status: Vengeful Spirit (Class A).]
[Target: The loudest spiritual source.]
I followed the demon's gaze. It was looking straight down at the center of the stage.
Where Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Rengoku-sensei (who was shouting instructions at the lighting crew) were standing.
"Of course," I muttered, massaging my temples. "It’s attracted to the Main Characters."
BOOM.
The demon struck the drum on its chest.
To the normal students, it looked like the gym lights flickered.
To me, the entire room rotated ninety degrees.
"WHOA!"
Screams erupted as gravity shifted for a split second. Props slid across the stage. A ladder toppled over. Students grabbed onto curtains and railings to keep from falling.
"EARTHQUAKE!" someone yelled.
"No," Rengoku shouted, planting his feet wide. He didn't stumble. "IT IS NOT AN EARTHQUAKE! THE SPIRITUAL PRESSURE HAS SHIFTED!"
"Sensei, please stop speaking in anime quotes, we’re scared!" a student cried.
Up on the ceiling, Kyogai raised his hand to strike another drum. The drum on his right shoulder. That one controlled the "Claw Attack."
Invisible blades of air were about to slice through the stage.
Right where Shinobu was standing, checking the microphone.
[Crisis Alert: Key Character (Shinobu) in mortal danger.]
[If she dies, access to the Chem Lab is lost forever.]
I had a split second to decide.
If I did nothing, the Insect Hashira would be sliced into ribbons. The school would panic. The police would come. My cover would be blown.
If I saved her, I risked revealing my powers.
Think, Muzan. You are a genius. You are a manipulator.
My eyes landed on the fog machine next to me.
"Time for some special effects," I growled.
I kicked the fog machine to "MAXIMUM." Then, I jammed my hand into the machine’s output nozzle.
Blood Demon Art: Biokinesis - Flesh Manipulation.
I transformed my arm. My flesh elongated, turning into a cluster of thick, whip-like tentacles. But instead of exposing them, I channeled them through the dense cloud of white fog erupting from the machine.
BOOM.
Kyogai struck the drum.
Three invisible blades of wind slashed down from the ceiling, tearing through the air with a high-pitched whistle.
"Kocho! Look out!" Tanjiro screamed, sensing the danger even if he couldn't see it. He lunged for her, but he was too far away.
Shinobu looked up, her eyes widening. She couldn't see the wind blades, but she felt the killing intent.
Now.
I lashed out.
My hidden tentacles shot through the fog, moving faster than the human eye could track. I intercepted the wind blades in mid-air.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sound of impact was like metal hitting metal. The wind blades shattered against my hardened flesh.
But to the audience, it looked like a wall of dry ice smoke had suddenly exploded upward.
"Whoa!" a student gasped. "Look at the smoke effects! That's awesome!"
I retracted my arm instantly, returning it to normal just as the fog cleared slightly. My sleeve was shredded, and my arm stung, but I was intact.
Shinobu stood frozen on the stage, her hair blown back by the shockwave. She looked at the spot where the invisible attack had been blocked. She looked at the fog machine.
Then, she looked at me.
I gave her a shaky thumbs up. "Oops," I shouted, my voice trembling with fake fear. "Machine malfunction! Too much pressure!"
Shinobu didn't smile. Her eyes were calculating. She knew physics. Fog doesn't block shockwaves.
BOOM.
Kyogai wasn't done. Furious that his attack failed, he roared—a sound like grinding stones—and prepared to strike all his drums at once.
If he did that, the entire gym would collapse.
I looked around. The Slayers were confused. They could sense the enemy, but without their memories or their Nichirin swords, they were just athletic teenagers fighting a ghost.
Tanjiro was sniffing the air frantically. "It's coming from above! Up there!"
Zenitsu was curled into a ball on the floor, sobbing. "I hear it! It sounds like a bad rhythm game! I don't want to die!"
I looked at my bunsen burner hidden behind the costumes. The water was boiling. The reagent was ready.
I had the petal.
I could brew the cure right now. I could drink it and run away while the gym collapsed on my enemies. It was the perfect plan. The "Demon King" plan.
But...
I looked at the stage. Tanjiro had grabbed a broomstick and was standing in front of the girls. Rengoku was holding up a falling lighting rig with one hand. Even Shinobu had pulled a scalpel out of nowhere and was ready to fight.
They were heroes. Annoying, self-righteous, dangerous heroes.
And if they died here, who would protect the school from the real threats? Who would keep the balance so I could live my quiet, peaceful life?
"Damn it," I cursed. "I hate character development."
I grabbed the microphone for the stage manager.
"Lighting crew!" I deepened my voice, mimicking Rengoku’s authoritative tone. "Spotlight on the ceiling! We have a... bat! A giant bat!"
"A bat?" the lighting student asked, confused.
"JUST DO IT!" I shrieked.
The student panicked and swung the massive spotlight upward.
The beam of light cut through the darkness of the rafters.
It hit Kyogai dead on.
The Vengeful Spirit shrieked. He wasn't a physical demon anymore, but he was still a creature of darkness. The intense, 5000-watt beam burned him like holy fire.
"SCREEEE!"
The students gasped.
"Whoa! Is that a hologram?"
"It looks so real!"
"Is that part of the play?"
"Tanjiro!" I yelled from the wings. "The bat! Hit the bat!"
Tanjiro didn't hesitate. He didn't ask why there was a demon on the ceiling. He just acted.
"Right!"
He spun around, grabbed a prop—a basket of fake hard-boiled peaches meant for the play—and hurled them with the accuracy of a Major League pitcher.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
The peaches were infused with Tanjiro’s ridiculous "Sun Breathing" positive energy. They hit Kyogai like cannonballs.
The demon recoiled, losing his grip on the steel beam.
He fell.
Straight toward the stage.
"Rengoku-sensei!" I shouted. "Catch!"
Rengoku looked up. He saw the falling shadow. He grinned.
"EXCELLENT REFLEXES!"
Rengoku dropped the lighting rig (which luckily didn't hit anyone) and wound up a punch. His fist seemed to catch fire—actual, spiritual fire that only I could see.
"FLAME BREATHING... I MEAN, TEACHER'S FIST OF EDUCATION!"
POW.
He punched the falling spirit right in the stomach before it could touch the ground.
The impact was deafening. A shockwave blew the curtains apart. Kyogai dissolved instantly, exploding into a cloud of black ink and glitter.
The gym went silent.
Everyone stared at Rengoku, who was standing in a pile of glitter, fist raised triumphantly.
"HAHAHA!" Rengoku laughed. "THAT WAS A VERY REALISTIC PIÑATA! GOOD WORK, DRAMA CLUB!"
The students erupted into applause.
"That was amazing!"
"So cool!"
"Rengoku-sensei is so strong!"
I slumped against the wall, sliding down until I hit the floor. My arm was throbbing. My heart rate was 200 bpm.
I checked the "Karma System."
[Threat Neutralized. Assistance Provided: +50 Merit Points.]
[Karma Status: Slightly less Evil.]
I sighed, wiping the sweat from my forehead. "I need a vacation."
I looked over at my hidden Bunsen burner.
The beaker had been knocked over in the chaos. The water had spilled. The mixture was ruined.
"No..." I whispered, horrified.
But then, I felt a lump in my pocket.
I checked. The test tube was still there. The petal was safe. I hadn't used it yet.
I breathed a sigh of relief. I could try again. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe in the lab when Shinobu wasn't looking.
"Kibutsuji-kun."
I froze.
Shinobu was standing in front of me again. She wasn't looking at the stage. She was looking at my arm. The sleeve of my jumpsuit was torn, revealing skin that was perfectly smooth.
Too smooth.
My regeneration had already healed the cuts from the wind blades.
"You heal fast," she whispered, her voice barely audible over the cheering crowd. "Faster than humanly possible."
I pulled my sleeve down, hiding the evidence.
"I have... a really good moisturizer," I said weakly.
She didn't blink. She stepped closer, invading my personal space. Her dark purple eyes bored into my soul.
"You know," she said, a small, terrifying smile playing on her lips. "That fog trick. It looked almost like... a shield."
She reached out and adjusted my crooked glasses. Her fingers brushed my cheek. They were cold.
"You're full of surprises, aren't you, Transfer Student?"
"I just wanted the play to be a success," I improvised. "For... for you. Since you're the director."
Shinobu paused. The "romance" angle. It was my only defense.
Her expression softened—just a fraction. Or maybe she was just figuring out the best way to dissect me later.
"Is that so?" She stepped back. "Well then. Good job. But next time..."
She pointed to the ceiling, where the faint residue of the demon lingered.
"...don't steal the spotlight. It's dangerous."
She turned and walked onto the stage to accept the applause.
I stayed in the shadows, clutching the test tube in my pocket like a lifeline.
I had survived the Drum Demon. I had survived the Cultural Festival.
But as I looked at the window high up in the gym wall, I saw the sky beginning to lighten.
Dawn.
The night was over.
And I realized with a sinking feeling that I had forgotten the most important rule of anime high schools.
The Cultural Festival is always followed by the "School Trip."
And the permission slip on the bulletin board said our destination was Kyoto.
The ancient capital. The home of old temples, powerful spirits, and...
I checked my phone.
[Location Alert: Kyoto contains the highest concentration of Exorcists in Japan.]
I groaned, letting my head bang against the wall.
"I just want to go home."
But the sun was rising. The first rays of light hit the gym floor, inching toward my feet.
I pulled my legs back into the darkness.
"Not today, sun," I whispered, clutching my stolen petal. "Not today."
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