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"what the hell is taking her so long?", sukuna complained, as he sat at the front with satoru, with a seat saved so that kiyo could sit in between them.

the kamo clan was on the right meanwhile the zenin clan was seated to the left, with the more irrelevant members of their clan sitting on the outside.

the more meager clans like the inumakis sat beside the kamo and zenin clan, with tables in front of all of them and an empty space in the center of the room for entertainment and such.

"it seems that lady kiyo's taking her own sweet time", the 26th head of the zenin clan — zenin naobito — commented, to which a few had whispered amongst themselves as satoru just softly hummed.

"well, someone's got to look good compared to you lot", satoru smiled, to which naobito had furrowed his brows as he huffed.

"my apologies for the late arrival", kiyo suddenly spoke, to which everyone's attention was on the utterly graceful gojō that was by the doorway.

itadori's jaw dropped as everyone's eyes widened at the winsome smile plastered on kiyo's delicate face, to which even though minimal makeup was applied, the woman was certainly the most elegant person of them all.

her cold, lapis blue eyes skimmed the room, meeting sukuna's ruby red ones, causing a haughty smirk to appear on the demon king's face.

the priestess took equal steps that nearly made no sound, as the bright assortment of fabrics dragged across the wooden floor, trailing behind the ever so proud gojō kiyo.

"I suppose we may start the feast now that everybody's here", kiyo announced, her crystal clear voice resonating across the eerily awestruck room.

"a toast to the gojō clan", the heads of the kamo and zenin clan said in sync, to which everyone else had proceeded to do the same, lifting their teacups as they hastily chugged the sake.

kiyo lifted her sleeve as her bottom lip grazed the edge of the cup, taking in all the alcohol as she softly coughed a bit, not used to drinking.

"I take it that everyone's doing well?", kiyo asked, to which she had earned a few hums here and there, with zenin naoya — the heir to the zenin clan — voluntarily speaking up.

"and I see you've yet to marry, lady kiyo. I'm afraid if you wait any longer, like my cousins over here, you might end up alone", naoya chuckled, clearly referring to mai and maki.

maki and mai only glared at their cousin, who didn't seem the least bit ashamed for downgrading women.

kiyo lightly laughed.

"well, ending up alone might honestly be a better option than marrying an insensitive misogynist", kiyo smiled, to which many of the men had nearly choked as sukuna just snorted.

naoya gritted his teeth as he too put on a fake smile, gripping unusually tight to his chopsticks as he let out a huff of air.

"pity, since women are only good for birthing children".

"you're not entirely wrong. after all, what can narcissistic men like you do without whoring around and trying to pass down your clan's technique, right?", kiyo chuckled.

fushiguro nearly choked on his rice as even inumaki was worried for the woman, who had so daringly spoke up against the future head of the zenin clan.

sukuna merely grinned, beyond entertained at the girl's ability to speak so threateningly yet calm at the same time.

"lady kiyo, I used to have some sort of respect for you, but—"

"respect? what type of respect have you shown me, naoya-san? is it the condescending glares or the curses you mutter beneath your breath every time we pass by each other? honestly, naobito-san, I expected you to have trained your son to be better. how can he become the next head of the zenin clan when he doesn't even know where he stands?", kiyo mocked, making mai and maki softly snicker a bit.

"lady kiyo's right. you must learn more from the gojō siblings, naoya. after all, they are sitting at the top as of currently", naobito bitterly reprimanded.

"yes, father".

"you surprise me everyday, miko", sukuna mumbled, to which kiyo had let loose a small smile.

"I can't expose every weapon I have up my sleeve can I now?"

"a-anyways, lady kiyo, how's your task going so far?", one of the more irrelevant clan members spoke up.

"ah yes, lady kiyo and itadori yūji's to be executed soon right? have you gotten ahold of the situation, milady?", another questioned.

itadori perked up at the mentioning of his name, quietly groaning as he had forgotten about the execution once again.

naoya cockily smirked as he examined the priestess's calm expression, to which he had hoped that he'd be able to see her at least somewhat frantic.

"I'll be paying a visit to his majesty soon. no need to worry about us", the girl simply replied, picking up some fish as she was delighted by how wonderful it tasted.

the dinner was awkwardly quiet, to which only the sounds of chopsticks being clipped together was heard, with the occasionally ruffling of fabric and slurping of sake.

yoshino and kugisaki suddenly understood why kiyo had wanted them to be careful, as this was no normal dinner.

it was a feast and only the strong survived.

"lady kiyo, I see that you've brought sukuna here today. is there any particular reason?", the head of the kamo clan inquired.

"every year we sport some type of musical entertainment, so instead, satoru and I suggested a fighting competition, against sukuna", kiyo hummed, to which many had gasped as they questioned whether it was truly alright for this to take place as of currently.

sukuna's heart pumped with great excitement, as now he could potentially find a worthy opponent. and whether the head of the three great clans had improved from centuries ago, could now be put to the test.

"how about a challenge, lady kiyo?", naoya spoke up, to which the priestess was all ears.

"a challenge between the two of us: whoever can immobilize sukuna for ten seconds, wins", naoya suggested.

the green-haired male was determined to prove that women are to stay home and serve men. they were biologically created to be weaker, and hence they should stay below him.

"just a friendly competition, hm?", kiyo smiled, to which naoya had nodded.

"what do you think, satoru?"

"eh? sounds fun! how about we all join?", the white-haired male suggested, to which sukuna became even more elated.

the demon king widely grinned as he started lowly chuckling beside kiyo, to which it had soon became a fit of mad laughter as he proudly stood up, walking towards the center of the room in a sultry way.

for once, he was the game; the entertainment.

"well, it wouldn't be fair if I wasn't allowed to go full out, huh?", sukuna muttered as he swiftly took of the bracelet and threw it towards a random section of the room.

the bloodlust was oozing out of the demon like a feral dog that's been suppressed in a cage for too long.

sukuna's energy could be felt at the main palace, where even the shogunate and the daimyos physically experienced chills running down the back of their spines as they felt their entire being drain of safety and assurance.

the shamans — who were all kneeling on their mats — nearly felt the need to touch their foreheads to the floorboards, as sukuna's malicious intent was devastatingly overbearing.

even satoru and kiyo held an ounce of concern as they watched the demon king rip off the top half of his sokutai as he grew another pair of arms.

kiyo's breath was unconsciously held as she had to remind herself that she and sukuna made a binding vow, and that no person was going to die today.

sukuna hummed as he licked his lips, glancing around the room full of sorcerers.

"so, who's first?"