The monsters acted quickly, and after getting Shizuku's consent, they immediately began to act. No one knew what means they used, but a few days later, Shizuku received a notice to attend a meeting at the location of the Twelve Demon Slayer Families. After receiving the notice, Shizuku drove straight there with great momentum.
Of course, knowing yourself and your enemy will ensure victory in a hundred battles. Before heading to the Twelve Families, Shizuku also obtained some information about the Twelve Demon Slayer Families from Shizumi Hisahisa.
According to Shizumi Hisahisa, there are only five left of the twelve Demon Slayer families, namely Tsuchimikado at number one, Kakumatsumori at number three, Amanega at number six, Yokoin at number ten, and Jinguji at number twelfth.
According to Jingshuijiu, the fifth one, Tianhe, has not awakened at all, so it has not been accepted at present, which means that only four are truly operating.
By the way, among the twelve families, except for the seventh-ranked Kusu family who failed in their challenge to the resurrected Nine-tailed Demon Fox and was wiped out, and the second-ranked Kamisakura family who voluntarily retired, the other disappeared families were either destroyed in the war or were cut off because they had no descendants to inherit the power.
This shows that humans are much more dangerous than monsters.
Currently, only four of the Twelve Demon Slayer Families are actually active, but they have no intention of filling the vacancies immediately, because according to Shizumi Hisahisa, the Twelve Demon Slayer Families attach great importance to tradition and family background, so even if they want to join the Twelve Families, they must be families with a certain reputation and history. According to the information currently circulating among the monsters, the candidates are the Hanakaiin family and the Tsuchimiya family. To put it bluntly, only demon-slaying families with a certain history are eligible to join the Twelve Demon Slayer Families. If they have no history, then even if they are outstanding, the Twelve Families will not consider their position.
This is also the reason why the Jinguji family, which ranks last, is looked down upon by other Demon Slayers. As the last of the Twelve Families, the Jinguji family does not have its own traditions. Later, in pursuit of power, it even learned Western black magic. It is also regarded as a heretic and scum among the Demon Slayers - no wonder the silver-haired girl immediately got furious when Shizumi Hisahi ridiculed her.
In fact, Shizuku could understand it very well. It was like if there was a cultivation force in China, with people either practicing Taoism or Buddhism, and then a family emerged from it, holding a cross and preaching the greatness of God all day long - they were lucky as long as they were not beaten to death.
If she were in his place, she would also look down on such a guy who worships foreign things and fawns on foreigners.
After all, cultivating a power that comes from the local gods of heaven and earth, what the Jinguji family did is almost the same as colluding with foreign countries - just like a country chicken that buys the Russian anti-missile system while being in NATO, or a Korean that buys the THAAD system while being in East Asia, it would be strange if they are not scolded to death.
Not long after, Shizuku arrived at the Tsuchimikado family, the leader of the Twelve Demon Slayer Families. It was a quiet courtyard far away from the downtown area, and it looked like a wealthy family.
Led by two guys in black suits who looked like gangster bodyguards, Shizuku walked through the corridor and came to the hall at the back.
And there, she also met the legendary Twelve Demon Slayer Families.
"Hello, nice to meet you, Miss Kasugano Shizuku."
The leading man stood up and nodded to Shizuku.
"I am Tsuchimikado Ailu, the commander of the Twelve Demon Slayer Families."
As he spoke, he looked at the twin sisters dressed as shrine maidens next to him.
"These two are the sisters of the Kamusumi family, Kamusumi Feibai and Kamusumi Feiling, and..."
"I'm Yeguangyuan Shu, and my job is a beautiful girl's psychological detective. Please give me your guidance, okay?"
On the other side, a girl who looked about fifteen years old and dressed in a very electric style also waved at Shizuku.
"I'm Kasugano Shizuku... I believe you've all heard of my name."
Shizuku also nodded slightly, staring at the people in front of her, while Tsuchimikado Airu nodded.
"Of course, in our circle, Ms. Kasugano is also considered a fairly famous exorcist."
"I just didn't expect that you would have any dealings with those monsters."
On the other side, the younger shrine maiden in shrine maiden costume snorted coldly.
"snort."
Shizuku glanced at her, then waved her hand suddenly.
"Before we begin, let me return this to you."
As Shizuku spoke, a crack suddenly appeared in the space in front of her. Then, a tattered silver-haired girl rolled out of it and fell heavily to the ground.
"Jinguji?!"
Looking at the silver-haired girl in front of them, everyone's expression suddenly changed.
"What did you do to her?"
"I just gave her a little lesson."
Shizuku chuckled.
"This woman came to my territory before and tried to kill my lovely friend. I'm giving her a lot of face now that she can vent her anger."
“Jinguji!!”
At this moment, the two priestesses and the radio girl also hurried to the front of the silver-haired girl and looked at her. However, the silver-haired girl turned a deaf ear to their calls. Her eyes were blank, and she curled up into a ball, shivering like a helpless kitten.
"What do you mean?"
Seeing this, the man in the suit suddenly looked gloomy and stared at Shizuku, who sneered at him.
"Actually, I originally rejected those guys' requests. After all, being a representative of monsters is troublesome and I don't want to spend any effort on a group of monsters I don't know. But... since you guys came to me, don't blame me for being rude."
As she spoke, Shizuku raised her right hand and clenched it into a fist.
"I finally understand. Some people only remember to be beaten but not to be fed. I killed Shuten-doji but it didn't seem to have any effect. So I think it's better to be more direct."
“…”
Hearing Shizuku's words, the man in the suit's expression suddenly changed. After a moment, he took a deep breath, lowered his head deeply to Shizuku, and bowed.
"I sincerely apologize for any offense caused to you by Jinguji, one of the Twelve Demon Slayer Families."
"ha."
Although the suit man's apology was very meticulous, Shizuku didn't buy it.
"Why do we need the police if an apology is useful? Your people came to my territory and started a fight, and you're done with just an apology?"
"So what do you want?!"
Hearing this, the priestess glared at her, while Shizuku reached out, took out a piece of paper, placed it on the table and swung it forward suddenly. The next moment, the paper slid across the table and came in front of the man in the suit.
"I'm here to set the rules for you."
"This is……"
The man in the suit picked up the document in front of him and began to read it. However, the more he read, the more tense his expression became, and in the end, it even turned blue.
"Ms. Kasugano, what do you mean by this? Are you trying to declare war on our Japanese demon slayers?!"
It was no wonder that the man in the suit was so surprised, because the content of the document was really unbelievable to him. According to the requirements of the document, the Twelve Demon Slayers and all demon-killing organizations were not allowed to kill monsters without any evidence. Just like humans punishing criminals, they must be arrested and then sent to a joint court composed of monsters and humans for trial to finally determine the crime.
If an exorcist kills a monster without authorization and cannot provide sufficient evidence to prove his point, the monster will kill him and no one is allowed to assist him. Anyone who assists will be regarded as an accomplice and eliminated.
"I told you, I'm here to set the rules for you."
Shizuku folded her arms and stared coldly at the man in the suit.
"Haven't you demon slayers always been so awesome? You can kill any demon you want when you see one, and no one will bother you anyway, right? Now it's different. I want to tell you that the days when demon slayers can kill demons whenever they want are over. You must be governed by law, just like the police, understand?"
"...Do you think that the Demon Slayer and other Exorcists will accept such conditions?"
"accept?"
Hearing this, Shizuku sneered, then she stomped her foot hard on the ground.
"boom!!!!"
At this moment, the incomparable dragon might erupted instantly. At the same time, the walls and ceilings of the house where everyone was located shattered and exploded one after another. In just a blink of an eye, the furniture, walls and roofs of all the buildings in the courtyard disappeared. Only those people were still standing on the ground, looking around in surprise.
“You have no choice.”
Shizuku stared at the man in front of her who was sweating and trembling because of facing Long Wei, then reached out and pointed at the document in his hand.
"This is not a contract, but a letter of defeat. All you have to do is nod and sign it obediently. Otherwise, I will send all of you self-righteous idiots to hell... Oh, don't worry that order will collapse after you die. I will let those half-monsters take charge of your duties. I believe that they, who are half human and half monster, can better maintain the order between humans and monsters. At least... they are much better than you idiots."
Having said this, Shizuku once again looked at the people in front of her.
"So... this is an offer you can't refuse."
"...Humph, it really is... a monster..."
However, even under the suppression of Shizuku's dragon power, the man in the suit still gritted his teeth and refuted.
"Do you think... you can make humans surrender by relying on the threat of strength...?"
"Huh? Aren't you the same, relying on strength to kill monsters? Could it be that what you rely on is not strength, but love?"
Shizuku sneered at the double standards of the man in suits. Defeating the devil with love is, after all, just an outrageous thing that only appears in fairy tales and cartoons. In the final analysis, the reason why justice defeats evil is not because of belief and trust, nor because of faith and hope, nor love and courage, but a more powerful force.
As for faith, hope, courage and the like, they are at best buffs used to increase strength.
Otherwise, with so many warriors challenging the devil, why is it that only the protagonist can defeat the devil? Are all those losers before them all walking corpses without blood, tears, courage, and faith?
Of course it’s because the protagonist is stronger than the Demon King.
"I'm already following the rules and procedures of humans. If you think this is not good, then we can follow the rules of monsters... How do you think about the survival of the fittest?"
“…”
Facing Shizuku's words, the man in the suit couldn't help but lower his head. To be fair, the conditions given by Shizuku were not excessive. However, for them, the demon slayers, it was not the conditions that were excessive, but the humiliation that a demon asked them to agree to. But even though they felt humiliated in their hearts, they seemed to have no choice now...
"Don't think so complicated. Look, didn't your emperor even sign the declaration of defeat? This is just a small matter compared to that, right?"
But at this moment, Shizuku was still there killing people and destroying their hearts.
“…”
Fight to the end?
The man in the suit looked around. The other demon slayers were lying on the ground, unable to get up. This was just the pressure released by the girl, not the demonic energy. The pressure alone could give people such a fear and powerlessness as if they were suppressed by a mountain. What kind of existence was she?
The man in the suit could imagine what would become of him in the future if he signed this agreement. After all, he was not the emperor.
But now... he seems to have no choice.