Disclaimer: Demon Slayer is not mine. This fanfic is a translation.
Enjoy Reading!
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"Clang! Clang! Clang-a-lang-lang!"
The urgent sound of the biwa echoed through the center.
The rapidly reverberating sound waves even seemed to distort the air, creating visible ripples.
With each echo of the notes,
Tanjuro's figure flickered like a glitched recording, rapidly teleporting back and forth within the surrounding two hundred meters.
"Hah!!" Nakime's entire body was tense. Her hand, plucking the biwa, had become a blur too fast to capture.
She curled up forcefully, sweat dripping from her forehead and scattering as her arm rapidly struck the strings.
Her large, solitary eye was filled with panic and terror.
No matter how she used her Blood Demon Art to teleport that human farther away, he would instantly reappear in her vision again!
Moreover, Muzan-sama had given an order.
To teleport this one farther away from his previous location.
'Muzan-sama… Is he sending me to my death…?'
Thinking these anxious thoughts, Nakime dared not slacken the movement of her hands on the biwa.
In fact, because Tanjuro's charging speed was so fast, in her haste, Nakime could only manage to teleport him back a short distance!
'What to do!? What to do!!'
Was she supposed to keep plucking endlessly?!
She didn't dare look up. At this moment, Nakime could only desperately wield her Blood Demon Art.
'No!'
Despair began to creep into Nakime's heart. Her playing hand unconsciously slowed for a moment.
If this stalemate continued, she would eventually die.
That man's distance from her was slowly shrinking!
Shing!
Pat.
The sound of footsteps on the wooden floor echoed clearly in Nakime's ears.
"It's time to end this."
Tanjuro suddenly appeared as a blur, looking down at the cowering Nakime from above. The Mortal Blade held high in his hand was poised to strike down.
"Eek!" Nakime caught him in her peripheral vision, squeezed her eyes shut in terror, and jerked her head back.
At the same time, her hand frantically swept across the biwa in her lap.
Clang-a-clang!
The biwa fell to the floor with a resonant hum.
Shing!
Tanjuro, who had been right in front of her, vanished instantly from the spot.
Nakime kept her eyes tightly shut, her head curled in fear, trembling uncontrollably, but her death never came.
Confused, she slowly opened her eyes.
She looked around blankly.
Seeing nothing in front of her,
Nakime froze for a moment.
Then, she looked down at her biwa in horrified disbelief.
Oh no!
She had plucked the wrong string!
...
It seemed that, due to Nakime's chaotic thoughts being almost entirely consumed by matters related to Muzan, and because she, controlling the entire Infinity Castle, was constantly aware of Muzan's location,
The combination of her tangled thoughts and her constant focus on his position resulted in Tanjuro being delivered.
Right in front of Muzan.
...
In another location, already reduced to rubble and broken walls.
Countless doors leading to the outside world stood open, surrounding the scenery.
Viscous, crimson blood dripped onto the wooden floor.
"Persistent bastards…"
Muzan leaned against a broken wall, panting in a disheveled state, hiding from his pursuer.
He hung his head low, clutching his severed arm that wouldn't heal. His eyes were filled with gloom.
Those scums in the Demon Slayer Corps!
No matter where he was, it was as if they had a precise lock on his location.
Muzan glanced at his own battered body. One arm had already turned to ash. This felt completely different from being cut by a Scarlet Crimson Blade.
It was as if the very possibility of regenerating his arm had been denied by the world.
Due to the severity of his injuries, the scar left by Yoriichi's attacks four hundred years ago had reappeared.
Muzan clenched his remaining fist in resentment.
'Tch!'
He absolutely could not engage them in a direct fight.
As he pondered, Muzan cautiously peered out from beyond the wall he was hiding behind.
It wasn't the mere two Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps that he feared.
Rather, it was the time wasted killing Hashira and the consequence of exposing his location.
Either one could cause a commotion that might attract Yoriichi.
"Watch out!!"
Shinjuro stood firm in place. He swept his arm, signaling the Demon Slayer Corps members advancing behind him to stop, his eyes scanning the layers upon layers of Infinity Castle buildings before him.
"Caw! Caw!"
The Kasugai crow flapped its wings and landed steadily on Shinjuro's shoulder.
Its small head twitched left and right.
Suddenly, it spread its wings and shouted. "Caw! A message from the Master!!"
"The Demon King is nearby! Stay on alert!!"
Muzan withdrew his gaze and stood up.
Swish, swish, swish!
Several doors leading to the outside world had already opened before him; he had decided not to waste any more time here.
As long as he stepped into the outside world and never opened the entrance to the Infinity Castle again, then that would mean everyone who had been summoned into the Infinity Castle would be trapped inside by him!
If Nakime died, these people would be buried underground along with the crumbling Infinity Castle.
Including Yoriichi!
A glint of excitement appeared in Muzan's eyes.
Just as he was about to step through one of the many doors before him,
Suddenly, he froze.
He slowly raised his crimson eyes and looked ahead.
A strikingly conspicuous dark red figure landed steadily from mid-air.
Muzan's vision blurred slightly. His pupils rapidly contracted twice, and his unfocused gaze finally locked onto the earrings swaying on the figure's ears as he landed.
'No way…'
Tanjuro, who had just steadied himself and was looking around in slight confusion, turned his head slightly, glancing over his shoulder at the familiar figure now in his view.
He nodded in realization.
"There you are."
Tanjuro turned around to face him properly.
The disheveled, one-armed Demon King was glaring in his direction with a hideous expression.
"Why…?!"
Muzan's dazed expression froze for an instant, then immediately filled with terror and rage.
The sudden face-to-face encounter had thrown him into a panic.
He stumbled back a step, his hand unconsciously rising slightly as if to shield his eyes from the monster in his vision.
His pale lips trembled slightly. His throat bobbed. He could barely speak.
Chaotic thoughts tangled in his mind.
'Is Nakime dead already?!'
'No… this man was teleported here…'
'Another betrayal?!'
Muzan's eyes quivered. The thoughts flashed through his mind the instant they met.
But Tanjuro wasn't about to let this golden opportunity slip.
He took a single step toward Muzan.
This was completely different from his previous, more sweeping movements that were easier to detect.
Using the length of the Mortal Blade, Tanjuro raised his hand and gently pushed the long, crimson sword forward.
Puchi!
The sound of a blade piercing flesh echoed.
"Bluaagh!" Muzan's horrified expression froze. A spray of blood burst from his mouth.
Tanjuro smiled, standing in place, having simply raised the Mortal Blade and, with remarkable gentleness and casual ease, thrust it into Muzan's body.
It all happened in a flash.
The pain instantly jolted the stunned Muzan awake. He gritted his teeth violently, his blurred vision spinning.
"Haaahhhhh!!"
"Nakime!!!"
His hysterical roar traveled through his bloodline, reaching Nakime at the far end of the Infinity Castle.
Then, the sound of a string nearly snapping rang out sharply.
Clang!
Muzan vanished from the spot.
…
Outside the castle.
In a place resembling a warehouse, surrounded by pitch-black darkness.
Creak — Bang!
A wooden door abruptly opened in mid-air.
Thud!
Muzan fell heavily from it, splatting onto the ground like a pile of soft, rotten mud.
"Is it wrong… to want to live?"
He muttered to himself, seeming to lose his grip on sanity, and staggered to prop himself up into a sitting position.
He looked up. The demon's powerful adaptability allowed him to see clearly in the dark warehouse instantly.
After a moment, Muzan gradually came to his senses.
The confusion in his eyes was slowly replaced by excitement.
He had escaped!
The plan had succeeded!
Yoriichi and those Demon Slayer Corps members were successfully sealed inside the Infinity Castle!!
The peak of his demon life!
A wave of excitement washed over Muzan's entire body when suddenly, he sensed something.
"Who's there?!"
Muzan snapped his head to the side.
Beside him, an open box lay on the floor. Next to the box, a figure holding swords stood unmoving.
Muzan followed the box and looked at the figure.
He froze in place.
The figure in the dark red haori was reflected in Muzan's gradually widening pupils.
That same indifferent face, that somewhat dusty dark red hair, even the earrings were achingly familiar.
Every element unmistakably pointed to the figure's identity!
"You! Tsugikuni Yoriichi?!"
Muzan gasped, the joy he had just felt vanishing into nothing. "Why're you here again?!"
His chaotic thoughts left Muzan no room to think. At that moment, he only felt as if he were living in a haunted mansion.
"Stay away from me!"
Muzan, mighty as the Demon King, could only scramble backward in terror when faced with such an absurd situation.
He staggered, propping himself up with his one arm, crawling backward with difficulty, his expression one of grief bordering on despair.
He randomly grabbed scattered stones around him and, helpless and despairing, hurled them at the figure.
"Die!"
Clang!
The stone struck the figure, producing a crisp sound of metal, unlike that of a human body.
It seemed the stone had triggered the doll mechanism.
Creak—
Yoriichi Type Zero suddenly raised its head. As if automatically locking onto a training target, its eyes instantly focused on Muzan, sprawled on the ground.
"Hah!" Muzan flinched and scrambled back a few more steps.
Whoosh!
The dark red haori was lifted.
Yoriichi Type Zero unfurled its six arms, planted its feet, and six different Nichirin blades instantly filled Muzan's vision.
Muzan's lips went pale. His breathing grew rapid. Despair filled his heart.
That stance was deeply familiar to him.
The starting stance of Hinokami Kagura.
"AAAAHHHHHH!!!"
"Nakime!!!"
Muzan's agonized screams echoed through the Demon Slayer Corps' supply warehouse.
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Notes:
As I was translating and editing this, I was snickering at the misfortune befalling our MJ-lookalike.
This one is definitely one of the easiest chapters to translate.