Disclaimer: Demon Slayer is not mine. This fanfic is a translation.
Enjoy Reading!
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"Kotoha?"
Inosuke stood with his legs submerged in the cold, rippling water. He lowered his head, pulled out the familiar boar mask from somewhere, and plopped it onto his head.
Then, he abruptly shot up a thumbs-up, pointed at himself with a decisive and dashing flair, and declared it in a high-spirited tone.
"Who's 'Kotoha'? Listen up! I'm the magnificent King of the Mountains!"
He had picked up the word "magnificent" from Tengen.
He stood with his hands on his hips, looking rather pleased with himself.
The two beady, light-reflecting boar eyes looked down at Doma.
As human and head stared at each other again,
Inosuke seemed startled, then realization dawned, and he took a step back.
He pointed at Doma's head and shouted.
"A talking head fell from the sky!!"
"A man-boar…" Doma drifted back and forth in the water, gazing at Inosuke as he murmured.
"…I mistook you for someone else."
His voice had become slow and heavy, his thoughts sluggish.
His vision began to blur. Doma tried to blink, but his eyelids felt increasingly heavy.
Memories of his life flashed before his eyes like a revolving lantern.
Everything except himself seemed to radiate a brilliant white light.
Fragments of memory raced through his mind, finally coming to rest on a single image.
Doma opened his eyes.
It was thirteen years ago.
He was sitting in the main hall of the Paradise Faith.
"Great Founder."
A woman with green eyes and hair as black as a waterfall, her features identical to Inosuke's, looked back with a gentle smile.
"Look!"
She held up a somewhat bewildered infant, showing it off to Doma, who was lost in thought.
"This is my child's name!"
Hearing the woman's words, he turned his head and glanced at the baby with a questioning look.
His gaze gradually drifted downward.
His eyes settled on the infant's loincloth, where a name was written.
Inosuke Hashibira.
"Hehe." The woman tilted her head and smiled gently. "It's a wonderful name, isn't it?"
Doma was taken aback.
The scenery around him rapidly receded. The image of the woman smiling as she held the baby shrank into the distance, its edges stretching into infinitely long threads of light.
...
"Your name…" Doma's pupils constricted slightly. A look of sudden realization crossed his face.
"Is it Inosuke...?"
The moment the words left his mouth, ash scattered from the severed part of Doma's head, the burn marks spreading up to his chin.
"Huh?" Inosuke, who had been on high alert, was stunned. Behind his mask, his expression froze.
A gentle breeze passed.
"That face… there's no mistaking it…"
"Kotoha… is your mother's name."
Doma's calm voice lingered in his ears.
Inosuke stared at the ashes on the water, momentarily speechless and dazed.
And thus,
The last remnant of the Upper Moons, Doma, was destroyed.
Rumble!!
The ground shook violently, and the pool beneath his feet began to churn.
Boom!!
A tremendous crashing sound came from beside him. Inosuke instinctively turned to look.
With Doma's death, the five surrounding ice Buddhas collapsed in unison.
The shattered heads of the ice Buddhas plummeted from the sky, massive chunks of ice striking the water.
A towering white wave surged up.
Inosuke stood there frozen, watching as the colossal wave rushed straight toward him.
He didn't move. The surging wave quickly engulfed him.
A chilling mist hung over the water's surface.
"…Is it over?"
Tengen stood on the rooftop. He surveyed the damp ruins around him.
His carefully arranged white hair had come undone, and he was soaked through from top to bottom.
He could see his comrades waving toward him at the top of the ice sculptures.
Michikatsu and Hakuji were crowded around Tanjuro, intently examining his katana.
"Thank goodness."
Tengen looked away, letting out a small sigh of relief. An involuntary smile tugged at his lips, and his eyes seemed a bit weary.
In this battle, he hadn't been able to contribute much.
Last time, too.
Waves continued to lap across the water's surface, crashing against the remnants of the eaves where Tengen stood.
Clink.
Something hit Tengen's foot as he looked down to see what it was.
It was a shinobi forehead protector, once meticulously maintained, now reflecting Tengen's expression as clearly as a mirror.
Tengen stared blankly for a moment, then bent down and picked up the forehead protector resting on the damp stone slab.
His expression was unreadable.
---
-Location: Infinity Castle-
"Damn it."
Muzan paced back and forth, his face tense with anxiety. "Of all places, it had to grow there."
Ordering another demon to go and collect the blue spider lily for him was out of the question.
He was always cautious and trusted no one.
Naturally, he remained constantly wary of his own minions.
The Upper Moons were never permitted to gather for this very reason, to prevent them from conspiring against him.
Even ordinary demons, if they uttered his name, would be instantly killed by the instinct embedded in their blood.
And now, the location of the Blue Spider Lily was right near the house where he had first encountered "Tsugikuni Yoriichi."
"Could that man…" Muzan gritted his molars, his demon fangs showing slightly.
"…have been guarding the Blue Spider Lily all these centuries, waiting for me to take the bait?"
Just as Muzan was mulling over his options in his mind, the blood link connecting him to Doma snapped with a thud.
Doma was dead.
Muzan's head snapped up, a glint of hope igniting in his crimson eyes.
'That's right!'
'That man is busy in Doma's territory right now!'
With that thought, Muzan whirled around, a fierce, ecstatic grin spreading across his face. The fog of anxiety in his mind had completely cleared.
"Nakime!!"
He threw his arms wide with unrestrained arrogance and shouted. "Transport me to these locations!!"
His crimson eyes reflected the dim amber light of the castle.
At this moment, only one thought filled Muzan's mind.
The moment he was transported out, he would claim those buds.
Then, he would return directly to Infinity Castle!
That way, even that man wouldn't notice a thing!
"Yes, Muzan-sama."
Nakime inclined her head slightly.
Clang!
Her hand swept across the biwa in her arms.
And Muzan vanished from Infinity Castle.
Nakime stared blankly at the spot where Muzan had been.
'The last time Muzan-sama left Infinity Castle…'
She lowered her head, resting her chin on her hand, savoring this rare moment of solitude within Infinity Castle.
'It felt like such a long time ago.'
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Notes:
From this point on, we're entering the final arc. I would like to publish all the chapters at once so you guys can enjoy it in one sitting and crap all over our PTSD-ed MJ-wannabe.
In the meantime, why don't you guys check out this cool Detective Conan fanfic on my profile?
Detective Conan: Phantom Man of the Police Academy!!
The MC is a policeman going undercover in the Black Organization, where chaos, hilarity, comedy, and heart-to-hearts ensue!!
One of the best parts, there is no system, memory reincarnation, or those other supernatural elements. Just pure science, deduction, and action!!