Warning: The following contains spoilers for Ayashimon Chapter 8, "Don't Tell Me It's in Bad Taste" by Yuji Kaku, Adrienne Beck and Brandon Bovia, available in English via Viz Media.
Chapter 8 of Ayashimon picks up with Maruo getting ready to fight Chairman Doppo one-on-one, thinking it will be a Ritual Duel. Doppo, however, has no intentions of partaking in such a fight. The tsuzumi drums his men are beating are only to cloak the fight so that nobody can see what's going on within range. He won't start a Ritual Duel with a human, and the drums and Doppo as he is currently are enough to fight Maruo. Urara says the best option is to run, but Maruo points out the Syndicate has the whole building surrounded, making escape difficult, if not outright impossible.
He charges at Doppo, believing that fighting is the only way they will leave the building alive. Doppo dodges the punch, causing Maruo to create a crater in the roof. He tells Doppo not to dodge because he'll wreck another building. Doppo is disinterested in anything Maruo has to say and even the fight itself. He summons fire around his feet and the surrounding ground, causing Maruo to fall. To his surprise, the fire isn't burning him -- it's freezing and causes his legs to go numb. Doppo explains that his fire steals heat rather than creates it. He lectures Maruo that Ayashimon fights are completely different from human ones, although he does like some of the human methods, and stomps on Maruo's head repeatedly.
Maruo tells him it hurts and that his body is so cold he can't move. Doppo replies that his violence has purpose to it -- to create fear, particularly in Urara. Torturing someone for information doesn't work sometimes because there are those who can withstand it and others who die before they can give out any information. Torturing someone's friend in front of them is a better method. Getting the target to start worrying about their friend causes them to break. He bashes Maruo's head into the ground.
Maruo stands back up and lands a punch to Doppo's face, saying all the blood warmed his body back up. He punches Doppo again, but he phases through Doppo's head. Doppo blows fires directly at him, covering his entire upper body. Doppo starts spouting facts about how the human body never fully regains its functions even after thawing because the frozen water in the cells damages the cell walls. He goes on to say that he's going to make Maruo fear the Enma Syndicate.
Urara begins worrying about Maruo's lack of experience with Yojutsu and the fact that Doppo is stronger than most Ayashimon. She worries about him and Hashihime, but tries to convince herself they are expendable. It doesn't work, and she pulls out a dagger from the obi sash around her waist. Doppo mocks her, asking if she has some hidden fangs. Urara questions herself mentally but says that she does. She thinks back to when she received the dagger from Hashihime as a child. Hashihime explained that the dagger holds Urara's true power within it, and to only draw it in an emergency.
She throws the cover away, revealing the dagger itself, and Doppo looks shocked that it's a carved horn sheath. The revelation of the dagger has confirmed to him that Urara is Chairman Kioh's daughter. Urara, in turn, is completely shocked at how quickly her identity was discovered. Doppo sheds a single tear and walks away, ordering his men to shoot and kill Urara. The henchmen hesitate because she is the daughter of the former chairman, but Doppo says that because she was hidden away, Kioh must not have cared about her and abandoned her.
His words shock Urara, and the henchmen are still hesitant, but the discussion is cut short when Maruo stands up again. He looks like he's going to charge at Doppo again, but instead stands in front of Urara, protecting her with his body. Doppo scolds him for his loyalty, but Maruo just smiles at him and says it's not loyalty -- it's gratitude for Urara hiring him and letting him fight people who offer him a challenge. He wants to keep going.
The next chapter of Ayashimon will be available on Sunday, Jan. 23.
