Although it was the strongest form of Mist Breathing, and although Tokito Muichiro was a genius swordsman, he was still not enough in front of Muzan.
Muzan easily dodged Muichiro's slash and kicked his blade, nearly knocking the Nichirin Sword from his grip.
"Ubuyashiki is already dead. Why do you insects, clinging to his will, still refuse to face reality?" Kibutsuji Muzan looked coldly at the two Hashira before him.
His long white hair danced wildly in the wind, and several grotesque, dark-red thorn whips extended from his back, slicing through the air with shrill, tearing sounds.
Facing such an enemy, Himejima Gyomei felt his entire body go numb.
So this is the Demon King? Just the killing intent he radiates is enough to make one tremble.
With a violent swing, Muzan sent Gyomei's heavy flail chain flying, while multiple thorn whips lashed toward him, about to pierce straight through his body.
To avoid his chain snapping, Gyomei immediately changed his stance, releasing Muzan while swinging the massive flail in a roaring arc!
"Stone Breathing, Third Form: Stone Skin!!"
The flail spun rapidly around him, forming an impenetrable wall of defense.
Clang! Clang! Clang!!
Muzan's thorn whips struck at speeds impossible to track with the naked eye. Each impact generated shockwaves strong enough to shatter the surrounding wooden structures.
Gyomei silently rejoiced. If not for mastering the Demon Slayer Mark through special training, he wouldn't even have the strength to resist!
Even so, he could only barely hold on.
Muzan snorted coldly. One of the thorn whips twisted strangely, slipping past the defensive trajectory of the flail and lunging straight for Gyomei's throat.
At that critical moment, a wisp of pale blue mist appeared.
Tokito Muichiro's slender figure darted through the haze, bringing forth another smooth and razor-sharp slash.
Slash—!!
His blazing Nichirin Sword cleanly severed Muzan's whip. The smell of scorched flesh instantly filled the air, making Muzan glance sideways.
"So it really is the bloodline of the Tsugikuni. Your combat reactions are fast," he remarked casually, before swinging another claw!
The battle was brutally intense.
No one could match Muzan. Even the physically strongest Stone Hashira could only struggle to endure under his tidal assault.
Gyomei's monk robes were soaked in blood, and Muichiro's breathing had already become erratic.
Whenever a flaw appeared in their movements and they were on the verge of being hit by Muzan, ordinary Demon Slayer Corps members would charge forward without fear of death, using their own bodies to block the strike for them!
"Charge! Push to the front lines!" A rank captain with a severed arm shouted, blood spilling from his mouth.
"Become shields for the Hashira! Go!!"
Another dying Demon Slayer roared hoarsely with his last strength, "We've been saved by the Hashira countless times. Without them, we would've died long ago!"
"Don't be afraid! Go!!"
"Fight! Fight!!"
They were just ordinary Demon Slayers. They might not even be able to block an attack, only momentarily disrupt Muzan's vision.
Yet they still surged forward one after another, just to protect the Hashira who could fight Muzan!
Their only goal now was to stall.
To hold this monster down at all costs and wait for reinforcements!
But that seemed like a distant dream.
"Caw—! Muzan has revived!! All personnel assemble! Assemble immediately!!"
The crows' cries echoed sharply throughout every corner of the Infinity Castle. Hearing the call, everyone ran frantically through the corridors.
But this was Nakime's domain.
Strum—!
The biwa sounded again.
As Rengoku Kyojuro rushed around a corner, the corridor beneath him suddenly flipped ninety degrees, sending him plummeting into the abyss below.
"Damn it! You won't stop me!" Shinazugawa Sanemi slashed through blocking doors in a frenzy, but beyond them was not the battlefield—only another endless spiraling corridor.
"...The space is constantly being rearranged!" Even Tomioka Giyu's usually calm face showed urgency.
Nakime sat at the core platform, her single eye spinning as her fingers moved like lightning.
Though she had no direct offensive power and was often underestimated—
In a chaotic battle like this, she was Muzan's perfect shield.
She continuously created traps, obstacles, and shifting gravity, isolating each Hashira into separate overlapping spaces.
"Hold on, Himejima-san, Muichiro!!"
Tanjiro ran wildly across the twisting stairways. He could smell the nauseating, blood-soaked scent of Muzan in the distance, yet could never close that final gap.
Anxiety spread through every swordsman's heart.
Pfft—!!
Gyomei, locked in a fierce clash, suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, shocking even himself.
"Not being killed outright by my attacks doesn't mean you're fortunate," Muzan said coldly. "I've mixed my blood into my strikes. The potent poison within it is more than enough to kill pests like you."
During the earlier battle, although Gyomei had resisted with all his might, he had still been torn open by multiple wounds.
Now the poison had begun to take effect. Every breath felt like swallowing flames, and the strain on his body grew heavier by the second!
The thorn whips struck again—but Gyomei's movements were already slowing!
"Himejima-san!!" Muichiro shouted anxiously, but he himself was being overwhelmed.
Rumble—!!
The entire Infinity Castle suddenly began to tremble violently!
"What's happening?" Muzan frowned deeply. His sure-hit attack missed.
To his shock, his connection with Nakime was fluctuating violently—the Infinity Castle was slipping out of control!
At the most hidden core platform, the situation had already changed.
A young man in a Demon Slayer uniform with purple slit pupils tightly gripped Nakime's head.
Yushiro!
His eyes were bloodshot, and his hands had transformed into countless fine nerve threads, forcibly piercing into Nakime's cerebral cortex.
He was using his own consciousness to seize control of this massive labyrinth.
"Kibutsuji! I'll blast you back to the surface!!"
"AAAAAAH!!!"
Yushiro let out a beast-like roar.
Strum—! Strum—!!
The biwa emitted several shrill cries before cracking apart.
The entire Infinity Castle began to rise wildly upward, and the chaotic gravity was forcibly corrected.
Beside Yushiro, a shirtless boy wearing a boar's head mask continuously cut down demons approaching to assist Nakime.
Hashibira Inosuke!
Before the Infinity Castle activated, he had already rendezvoused with Yushiro, using his spatial perception to locate Nakime.
Beast Breathing, Seventh Form: Spatial Awareness!
Relying on his animal instincts, he navigated the complex spatial maze and pointed out Nakime's hiding place.
With Yushiro's invisibility Blood Demon Art, they silently slipped behind her!
"Hahaha!! Watch closely, bird-head!! I'm the real ace hero who decides the battle!!!"
His confident roar echoed through the Infinity Castle, drawing Muzan's attention.
He realized the severity of the situation.
What's going on? Nakime has been taken over?!
And that boar head... if he's here, then—
Just as he prepared to erase Nakime remotely through their connection, a fist powerful enough to tear space apart burst from the shadows behind him with a thunderous roar!
"Kibutsuji Muzan—!!!"
A nimble figure shattered through layers of wooden walls, killing intent surging like a thunderclap!
He held no Nichirin Sword. Instead, he wore a ferocious tiger mask, his entire body radiating scorching, pure fighting spirit.
That was Akaza... no, it was a man who had reclaimed his soul.
Hakuji!!
After the Master's plan to lure Muzan into an ambush was set, he had joined forces with Tamayo and Yushiro, searching for a chance to deliver a fatal blow!
And now—was the moment to burn everything away!
"You traitor!" Muzan roared, his eyes icy with fury.
"No. I am human!!"
Hakuji's figure cut through the air in a sharp arc, the blue aura around his fists no longer cold and sinister.
He had fused his lifelong martial arts with his endless hatred for Muzan, forming the ultimate essence of his martial path.
"Soryu: Annihilation—!!"
Boom—!!
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