Disclaimer: Demon Slayer is not mine. This fanfic is a translation.
Enjoy Reading!
---
Groan!!
A roaring sound emanated from beneath the earth. The ground shook violently. The sounds of countless tree trunks snapping and collapsing overlapped one another.
"What's going on?!"
Muzan felt the violent tremors around him. His earlier rage instantly cooled. Unease filled his heart as he warily looked around.
He took a small step back, turning his head to instinctively glance at the path behind him, the one he had been fleeing along.
The moment he saw the achingly familiar Kamado family wooden house not far behind him, his eyes trembled.
The Hashira standing opposite him, however, showed no signs of panic, as if they had known this would happen all along.
"A very flashy entrance indeed."
Crack!
Tengen straightened up. He took a deep breath, casually rested his twin swords on his shoulders, looked up at the dark clouds in the sky, and murmured softly.
"Tanjuro-san."
Boom!!!
A dust cloud that blotted out the sky and erupted from the mountainside. A colossal shadow rose from the ground, instantly casting its darkness over the entire mountain.
Dust slowly rose along with the structure pulling itself out of the earth, trailing several wisps of smoke across the pitch-black night sky.
Rocks tumbled everywhere, mixed with dust, crashing into the surrounding forest.
Whoosh—
The high-altitude winds scattered the smoke at the top, revealing the behemoth hidden within the dust, bathed in moonlight.
"What?!" Muzan whipped his head back around in shock and disbelief, looking up at the top of the palace-like structure, which seemed like another mountain altogether. He murmured in astonishment.
"Ho-how is this possible…"
His crimson pupils trembled slightly, reflecting the building that now obscured the moon.
It was the entire Infinity Castle.
Muzan's mouth hung open, trembling faintly.
And standing atop the Infinity Castle were several figures.
The foremost among them had one hand gripping the head of Nakime, who was sitting cross-legged before him, while his gaze swept the area.
He turned his head and looked down. The hanafuda earrings hanging from his ears clacked together.
His gaze met Muzan's, who was looking up in sheer horror.
"Found you." Tanjuro's gaze was calm, but his free hand slowly rested on the Mortal Blade at his waist.
"Muzan."
"Eek!!" Muzan, standing on the ground, instinctively stepped back twice. Even though the distance was great, a wave of intense dread washed over him.
The aura he had possessed moments ago, vowing to kill all the Hashira tonight, had vanished without a trace. He gritted his teeth, staring incredulously at the behemoth.
Not long ago, he had ordered Nakime to completely destroy the Infinity Castle, to bury the rest of the Demon Slayer Corps underground.
And now, not only was the Infinity Castle intact, it had appeared directly above ground.
Muzan stared at Nakime, whose head was gripped by Tanjuro.
'Another betrayal?!'
It wasn't a betrayal.
Tanjuro's fingers were plunged into Nakime's temples. Crimson blood seeped through the gaps between his fingers. A blue-purple glow continuously leaked out.
On her neck, a thin, bloody line was strikingly conspicuous.
Nakime was already dead.
But her hands remained on her biwa, trembling as she controlled the Infinity Castle's movements.
A faint blue-purple glow reflected in Nakime's large, solitary eye, and within it, the faint outline of a kanji character for "puppet" could be seen flickering.
Puppeteer Ninjutsu.
This was Wolf's ninja technique. After a stealth kill, he could temporarily control the target's soul, turning an enemy into an ally.
Squelch!
Tanjuro released his fingers and shook off the blood.
Sss…
Nakime's head drooped. Her crossed legs had already begun to turn to ash.
The technique's duration was limited. In the world of Sekiro, it lasted at most four minutes before the target became immobile or the strings snapped.
Now, perhaps due to the different nature of demon bodies, the moment Tanjuro released his grip, the demon's soul quickly moved on.
Tanjuro looked down at Muzan, now cornered at the base of the towering Infinity Castle.
Shing!
The Mortal Blade was slowly drawn from its sheath.
Several figures also leaped down from the Infinity Castle before him.
The first was a demon wearing a short kimono.
"Muzan!!"
Hakuji's lips curled upward in a vicious, confident grin. His golden eyes were full of self-assurance. He clenched his fists.
He landed with a thud, kicking up a layer of dust; his peach-pink hair swayed slightly.
Then, Hakuji looked up and pushed off the ground with tremendous force!
Whoosh—
He transformed into a blur, charging straight at Muzan.
Before anyone else could react,
Bang!!
Hakuji slammed into Muzan.
A vast cloud of dust erupted in Muzan's direction.
"Aka—Hakuji, do not be impatient or reckless."
A black and purple serpent-patterned haori stepped out from the dark forest on the other side.
Michikatsu slowly walked out, his forked blade already drawn.
In the moonlight, his six simultaneously opened eyes were strikingly incongruous.
"Kibutsuji… is no match for you."
At the same time, in the center of the battlefield.
The dust cleared.
"You're tough!" Hakuji's outstretched fist was caught in a firm grip. His arm trembled. Veins bulged at his temples, but he still couldn't pull his fist free from Muzan's hand.
He clicked his tongue.
With no other choice, Hakuji tensed his abdomen, lifted his entire body off the ground, and forcefully twisted his own arm off!
Then, with two backward leaps, he easily returned to Michikatsu's side and crouched down.
He tensed the muscles at the severed end of his arm, and a new arm grew out.
Two more landing sounds came from their side.
The Hashira looked over.
"Namu…" Gyomei swung the flail in his hand, tears streaming from his eyes, one hand pressed together in prayer.
Beside him stood Shinjuro, who was regulating his breathing.
With this, all seven Hashira had gathered.
"I've had enough."
Muzan's voice rang out, calm but with a hint of tremor.
Muzan stood in place. His gaze had never once lingered on Hakuji. Instead, he trembled as he looked up at Tanjuro atop the Infinity Castle.
To be precise, he was looking at the moon behind Tanjuro.
Tsugikuni Yoriichi's figure was far too conspicuous. Even a single glance made Muzan's brow ache.
He held Akaza's severed arm in one hand and tossed it aside.
His crimson eyes reflected the scene in front of him.
The traitorous former Upper Moon One and Upper Moon Three now stood to his left.
Seven Hashira stood on the other side, surrounding him.
In truth, Hashira without Crimson-Hot Blades or Slayer marks, along with two Upper Moons, could not kill him.
So, the Hashira were merely surrounding Muzan, serving as "restraints" before the execution.
And the one truly wielding the blade, the executioner…
...was the figure standing atop the Infinity Castle, looking down at him—Tsugikuni Yoriichi.
Muzan felt numb inside.
For the four hundred years since the Sengoku period, everything he had done was simply to survive.
As for the time before the Sengoku period… he had never imagined that a human could threaten his life.
"Hmph, not a single one of them is useful."
He looked up, his gaze sweeping over the people before him, lingering for a moment on Michikatsu and Hakuji.
"The Demon Slayer Corps… a bunch of madmen who use every means possible for revenge."
"Now you've even stooped to cooperating with demons; it makes me sick."
Muzan's tone was icy cold, but a barely perceptible bead of sweat slid down his cheek, betraying his true thoughts.
He wanted to live!
Surrounded as he was, he was already in a hopeless situation, especially now that he couldn't split off pieces of his flesh to escape.
If he couldn't split himself voluntarily, then...
Unseen by anyone, a large mouth split open on Muzan's back.
Bwa!
It bit down on his own body. It writhed, trying to tear off a piece of his flesh. If this piece of flesh could successfully detach from his main body and, in the chaos, bury itself in the soil and burrow underground, he would have a chance to survive!
To cover up this scheme, Muzan deliberately shouted loudly toward Tanjuro at the very top of the Infinity Castle.
"Tsugikuni Yoriichi!"
He pointed at Tanjuro, his chest heaving violently. Looking at the blurry, familiar figure in his vision, Muzan couldn't help but let his emotions take over.
His throat bobbed. The words on the tip of his tongue stuck. Finally, he could only force out a few words from his throat.
"Why—"
Muzan had so many questions.
In the era after the Sengoku period, through his conversations with Michikatsu, Muzan had learned that the Breathing Techniques and marks within the Demon Slayer Corps were all brought by Yoriichi.
So much so that Muzan could vaguely see traces of Yoriichi in every breathing technique-user swordsman who came after.
The fact that a single man had single-handedly raised the Demon Slayer Corps' level of power was already unbelievable.
Why could a mere human be so powerful?
Why had the sword wound on his own body never healed to this day?
Why—
"—are you still alive, after all this time?!"
Muzan's eyes widened crazily.
For the first time, he looked up with unbridled rage at the figure atop the Infinity Castle. This was what he wanted to say most.
"Four hundred years! You persistent gho—"
Before Muzan could finish his sentence, the figure standing atop the Infinity Castle in his vision vanished!
A powerful, sudden gust of wind slammed into Muzan's face without warning.
Before Muzan could react in any way, Tanjuro landed on the ground. He had appeared before Muzan in an instant, both hands gripping the hilt of the Mortal Blade.
He crouched slightly, gathering force, his somber gaze looking up at Muzan from below.
Black-red crimson flames began to ignite from his blade.
Whoosh!
All of Tanjuro's previously accumulated Resurrection Power burned up in an instant. A surging wave of life force flooded into his body.
"Hiss!" The corners of his mouth parted slightly, high-temperature white vapor hissing out from both sides.
"Go to hell."
Tanjuro's voice was utterly calm.
)—Sun Breathing Thirteenth Form!—(
The entire sequence of actions happened in an instant.
"…Gah-ah!! Wait! Wait…!"
Muzan had no time to react. He instinctively leaned his body backward, his pupils contracting to pinpricks. He reached out his hands to block the incoming attack.
Every muscle in his body tensed involuntarily!
The bone whips behind him lost all restraint, merging with Muzan's arms to form two powerful whips.
Whoosh!!
They lashed out violently at Tanjuro.
Tanjuro's arms tensed.
Creak…
The hilt of the Mortal Blade groaned under his grip.
Having burned through all his resurrection power, amplified by the life force of several Upper Moons, his current physical state was infinitely close to, and perhaps even surpassed, that of Yoriichi four hundred years ago.
Shing!
He swung his arms in a full arc. The Mortal Blade traced a flawless semicircle before him without any hindrance.
The black-and-red crimson flame blade light passed right through Muzan's whips.
When you have enough power, parrying is no longer necessary!
Puchi!
A clean, decisive slash.
Blood splattered. Two writhing, grotesque flesh whips twisted and fell to the ground, flopping about.
"Guh-ck! Hah-ah!" Blood sprayed from Muzan's arms. He looked left and right, realizing his arms couldn't regenerate at all.
He could only stand there, mouth agape, letting blood gush from his body.
After a brief moment of hesitation,
Tanjuro looked up. His consciousness was crystal clear as he observed the several brains and hearts slowly moving within Muzan's body.
Tanjuro took a deep breath.
His entire body instantly transformed into a blur, vanishing from the spot.
Muzan also stopped moving at that very instant.
Then, like a gentle breeze brushing against Muzan's tattered, broken body,
Tanjuro, now stained with blood, passed through Muzan and landed behind him.
The long sword in his hand felt as convenient as a short blade. Tanjuro casually flicked the blade, shaking off the blood.
He exhaled a long breath and slowly straightened up.
With his back to Muzan, he held the Immortal Severance Blade point-down.
Aiming at the ground, he drove the tip of the Immortal Severance Blade into the earth.
"Haaahhhhh!!" Muzan suddenly let out a heart-wrenching scream of pain. He writhed, twisting his shattered body around.
"You—!!"
The whites of his eyes were stained red with blood. Muzan gritted his teeth with force. His sharp fangs were slowly turning to ash. He stared intensely at Tanjuro's back.
The tip of the Mortal Blade had precisely pierced a piece of writhing, struggling flesh.
That was the piece he had desperately bitten off moments ago, his last hope for survival!!
Several arcs of blade light wreathed in crimson flames rapidly flashed across Muzan's body.
Thud!
"Guh-ck!!" Muzan curled up, clutching his severed stumps, repeatedly trying to touch his neck. He knelt helplessly on the ground, clean, precise lines of blood beginning to appear all over his body.
The Hinokami Kagura delivered by the Mortal Blade had, in that single instant, passed completely through his body.
Muzan's eyes trembled. He felt as if he might die in the next moment.
'Die?!'
'No, no!'
He stared at Tanjuro, whose back was still turned to him, and forced a few words from his already hoarse throat.
"Yoriichi…! Bastard!"
The instinct to survive made Muzan crave any fresh flesh and blood.
Tanjuro slowly turned his head and walked toward him.
"…Muzan," he said. "I am not Tsugikuni Yoriichi."
Muzan froze, as if unable to comprehend Tanjuro's statement.
But the next moment, he understood.
Step, step.
Tanjuro walked slowly to Muzan's side, bent down, and met the gaze of Muzan struggling to support his body.
"My name is Kamado Tanjuro." He stated calmly. His dark red eyes reflected Muzan's terrified, disheveled expression with utter tranquility.
Pat.
He reached out, gently placed his hand on top of Muzan's head, which was barely holding him up, and grabbed hold of the other's curly black hair.
"The Tsugikuni Yoriichi you want to see is right here."
He squeezed with force. Blood immediately seeped through the gaps between Tanjuro's fingers!
)—Ninpo!—(
)—Kyōsha no Saikai – Tsugikuni Yoriichi!—(
(tr. Reunion of Strong Men – Tsugikuni Yoriichi)
Then, Muzan's pupils slowly dilated.
He froze in disbelief, no longer caring about his injuries that were slowly turning to ash.
In Muzan's darkening vision, an ancient scroll appeared.
Written on it was a question.
[Do you wish to challenge The Peerless Swordsman · Tsugikuni Yoriichi?]
Muzan was dumbfounded.
Though he couldn't understand what this was, he could still read the words "challenge" and "Yoriichi."
He quickly looked to the next line, as if searching for some lifeline.
A button floated on the left.
[Yes]
Muzan's pupils darted rapidly to the right.
[Confirm]
After a moment of silence, a sharp, piercing shriek echoed within Muzan's heart.