"UAAAAAHHH!!"
Inosuke threw his head back and roared.
The wounds that had just begun to heal split open again—only to be forcibly stitched shut by an even more violent surge of demonic energy.
But the pain of flesh tearing and regenerating wasn't the most terrifying thing.
What truly crushed him… was despair.
His field of vision was empty.
The demonification from the injector was different from the system's demonification.
There was no remaining-time display.
Which meant—
He was walking a tightrope blindfolded.
The "five minutes" Tamayo had mentioned might really be five minutes…
or three…
or perhaps the very next second, he would revert to that frail human body.
This was a gamble with everything on the line—
a pitch-black wager.
"Kokushibo!!!"
The ruins beneath Inosuke's feet exploded as he vanished in a blur and charged forward.
He had to create a miracle before that unknown deadline arrived.
"Meaningless struggle."
Disgust flooded Kokushibo's six crimson eyes.
In his view, Inosuke's brief loss and recovery of demonification was nothing but provocation—
Exactly like that cursed Dōma.
"Moon Breathing · Eighth Form · Moon Dragon Ring Tail"
A slash erupted that swept across the entire hall.
Like a colossal dragon formed of countless crescent blades, its tail lashed out.
"Rin-Nichi Breathing · Seventh Form · Frosted Sky, Solar Flame!!"
Inosuke swung his twin fans—
ultimate frost in his left hand, blazing sun in his right—trying to construct a defense.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The violent impacts pierced the eardrums.
But this time, Inosuke felt it clearly—
He was struggling.
That sensation of the Transparent World…
he couldn't find it.
That moment of enlightenment had been fleeting, like a flash of lightning.
Now his mind was overflowing—
Agonizing pain.
Burning urgency.
Fear of the unknown.
And terror for Kotoha's safety.
His heart was in chaos, thoughts rampant—
there was no way he could enter that selfless state again.
SHK! SHK!
Moon blades mercilessly tore through his defense, carving deep wounds into his thigh and abdomen.
"I can't see it…
It's too fast…"
Inosuke clenched his teeth and desperately blocked.
He could only protect his neck—
using the rest of his body to forcibly tank the lethal slashes.
Blood sprayed. Flesh flew.
Kokushibo's sword grew more violent, more merciless.
"What's wrong?
That moment earlier—
was it just coincidence?"
Kokushibo's voice was glacial.
His wrist twisted. Kyōkoku-kamushi let out a shrill hum.
The eyes along the blade rotated in unison, locking onto Inosuke's vital points.
"Moon Breathing · Ninth Form · Descending Moon · Linked Faces"
Countless slashes rained down from above like a warped chessboard, sealing off every possible escape route.
"I can't dodge—"
Inosuke's pupils shrank violently.
This time… I'll die.
At that instant—
"Hinokami Kagura · Blazing Red Mirror!!"
A crimson, crescent-shaped slash descended!
That flame carried a sacred, heart-shaking aura, forcibly cutting into Kokushibo's blade web and blocking the fatal blow meant for Inosuke.
CLANG!!
Sparks exploded.
A boy with a deep red mark on his forehead and sun-shaped hanafuda earrings stood in front of Inosuke.
Kamado Tanjiro.
Tanjiro's Nichirin blade screamed under the strain.
His grip split open instantly, blood pouring down.
"Inosuke!! Are you okay?!"
Kokushibo stopped.
All six of his eyes locked onto Tanjiro—
Those earrings.
That mark.
That breathing.
That red blade-light.
BOOM!!!
A killing intent ten times more terrifying than before erupted from Kokushibo.
Raging fury.
"These earrings…
This mark…
This breathing style…"
Kokushibo's voice trembled—
trembled with absolute rage.
"Why is it always this?!
Why do these imitations keep appearing?!"
Before he could act—
"Thunder Breathing · Fourth Form · Distant Thunder!!"
A streak of black lightning struck from the side.
Kaigaku lunged in, Nichirin blade stabbing viciously toward Kokushibo's ribs while his attention was on Tanjiro.
CLANG!
Kokushibo didn't even turn his head.
A casual moon blade blasted Kaigaku away—man and sword together—smashing him into the wall with a sickening crack of breaking ribs.
That was the final spark.
"A pack of insects."
Kyōkoku-kamushi elongated unnaturally, the eyes along its blade spinning.
"Moon Breathing · Sixteenth Form · Moonbow · Lone Remaining Moon"
Gigantic slashes crashed down from above.
Each was surrounded by countless smaller moon blades, covering the hall like a meteor shower.
The ground collapsed.
The air itself was shredded.
Indiscriminate annihilation.
"WATCH OUT!!"
Inosuke saw it instantly.
These two idiots—
they couldn't block this! They'd die! They'd definitely die!!
"AAAAAAHHH!!"
Inosuke roared, ignoring the agony as he charged forward.
He spread his arms wide, throwing his body in front of Tanjiro and Kaigaku.
SHK! SHK! SHK!
Countless moon blades carved into him.
Blood fell like rain, splashing across Tanjiro's and Kaigaku's faces.
"Inosuke!!"
Inosuke clenched his teeth and stayed upright.
His body was mangled, ribs exposed—regeneration completely overwhelmed by destruction.
"D-don't… move…"
He gasped, blood frothing at his lips, eyes still ferocious.
Kokushibo stared.
At Inosuke—
mangled yet protecting others.
At Tanjiro—
so eerily like Yoriichi.
"Why…"
Kokushibo stepped forward, six eyes filled with warped confusion.
"Why won't you become a demon?"
He pointed at Tanjiro, blade trembling.
"Why are you so like him?
Are you his reincarnation…?"
His emotions shattered completely.
Centuries of shadow were projected onto these boys.
He raised his blade—
aimed at Inosuke's neck, and at Tanjiro behind him.
The blade fell.
Too fast.
Inosuke couldn't block.
Tanjiro couldn't swing.
A guaranteed kill.
"It's too late—"
In that instant—
Kaigaku looked at the blood-soaked back shielding him.
The back of the man who once called him trash—
yet gave him a home, gave him dignity.
"Inosuke…
You wanna die?
Who the hell gave you permission to die before me?!"
Kaigaku's mind went blank.
All selfishness.
All resentment.
Gone.
Only one thought remained—
Protect him.
"NO!!!"
Kaigaku's eyes flooded with blood, skin splitting at the corners.
"I'M DONE BEING TRASH!!!"
His body moved—
Faster than thought.
That stance—
the one he'd practiced countless times, failed countless times, hated—
rose perfectly.
Feet gripping the ground.
Leg muscles exploding.
Breath roaring like thunder.
He finally understood.
This move didn't need talent.
It needed resolve.
The resolve to throw everything away for someone else.
"Thunder Breathing · First Form—"
BOOOOOOM!!!!
Jet-black lightning detonated within the hall.
"Thunderclap and Flash!!!"
CLANG!!!
Time froze.
Kokushibo's blade—capable of cleaving mountains—stopped.
It halted less than a millimeter from Inosuke's neck.
A plain Nichirin sword was wedged in its path.
Kaigaku stood there, black smoke rising from his body.
Both hands shattered.
Arm bones cracking with a nauseating sound.
But he blocked it.
He blocked it completely.
"Cough… cough…"
Kaigaku spat blood mixed with chunks of organ.
He looked at Inosuke's stunned, speechless eyes—
grinned wide, teeth stained red, savage and triumphant.
"What're you staring at…
This move…
I… learned it…"
Forest Path of the Paradise Cult
A golden lightning bolt tore through the woods.
Zenitsu ran at full speed, Kotoha on his back, Nezuko in his grasp.
"Faster! Faster!!"
He cried as he ran—
yet he had never moved this fast before.
As he burst around a bend—
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
Three powerful auras slammed into view.
Zenitsu skidded to a halt, boots carving trenches.
He raised his blade.
"Who's there?! Demons?!"
But—
What met his eyes were three fluttering haori.
Rengoku Kyojuro.
Shinazugawa Sanemi.
Tomioka Giyu.
The three stared at the blood-soaked blond boy shielding the woman behind him.
Their eyes held only shock—
and respect.
"Zenitsu, my boy!!"
Rengoku spoke first, voice thunderous, faintly trembling.
He instantly noticed Zenitsu's nearly-broken blade.
Whoosh!
Rengoku ripped a bundle from his back and hurled it forward.
"Catch!!"
Zenitsu caught it instinctively.
Heavy.
That familiar grip.
That yellow hilt.
That lightning-shaped tsuba.
His Nichirin sword.
The one he'd left behind at the Corps.
"That's your sword!!"
Rengoku shouted, grinning fiercely.
"I brought Inosuke's! Tanjiro's too!!"
Zenitsu saw them—
Two unused twin blades.
And Tanjiro's sword.
They'd kept them.
All this time.
Rengoku stepped forward and slammed a hand onto Zenitsu's shoulder.
"I'M SORRY, ZENITSU!!"
His voice boomed.
"We WRONGED you!!
You did wonderfully!!
You are a TRUE MAN!!"
Sanemi stepped up too.
He clicked his tongue, looking away—but his eyes kept drifting back.
"Tch…
Why're you crying?
Back in the Red Light District… that look in your eyes…
Even if Inosuke saved me…
I was still pissed at you brats…"
His voice dropped into a mutter.
"…Just—
good you're alive."
"Next—"
Rengoku drew his blade, gaze fixed on the Paradise Cult.
"Entrust the lady and Kamado's sister to Shinobu behind us.
This time—
we protect you."
As he spoke—
WHOOSH!
A purple figure dropped from the treetops.
Shinobu Kochō arrived, panting, hair disheveled, eyes resolute.
"Leave them to me."
She gently took Kotoha and Nezuko, wiping Kotoha's tears.
"Zenitsu—go.
Do what you need to do."
Zenitsu gripped his sword.
Warmth flowed from the hilt.
Trust—from the pillars.
Tears overflowed.
"…Yeah!!"
He nodded hard and turned to run back.
"I'm going to help Inosuke!!"
"Together!!"
Rengoku laughed and burst forward, Sanemi and Giyu right behind him.
Four figures—
charging toward despair.
Above them—
KRAAA!!
A piercing crow cry split the night.
Zenitsu looked up—and froze.
So did Rengoku.
Sanemi.
Giyu.
The night sky—
was filled with Kasugai crows.
They circled and gathered—
wing to wing, body to body—
forming a black bridge beneath the moonlight.
A bridge stretching from the Demon Slayer Corps
to the mountain of the Paradise Cult.
So dense it blotted out the moon itself.
Guiding the pillars.
Sanemi's eyes burned red.
"Tch…
pretty damn loyal, huh."
He tightened his grip and ran faster.
Infinity Castle
The air was suffocating.
Muzan sat on his throne—until suddenly—
A bone-chilling dread crawled up his spine.
CRACK.
The sound of thorny tendrils being snapped.
Muzan whirled around.
Dōma—once pinned in place—was breaking free, snapping the restraints embedded in his body.
Blood poured—but he didn't even flinch.
Dōma stood up.
No smile remained.
"Dōma."
Muzan narrowed his eyes, killing intent surging.
"What are you trying to do?"
POP!
Dōma's head exploded like a watermelon.
Absolute authority.
Yet—
Something horrifying happened.
Dōma remained standing, calmly straightening his blood-soaked collar.
Seconds later, flesh writhed—
a new head grew back.
"Oh dear, oh dear~"
He patted his new head, tone casual.
"Muzan-sama, no need to be so angry.
I'm absolutely loyal, you know."
"Loyal?"
Muzan sneered and blasted off Dōma's left arm.
"You want to die?"
"You can kill me."
Dōma spread his remaining right hand and walked forward.
"You can use Kotoha to threaten Inosuke, but…"
He raised one finger and gently shook it.
"The secret of the Blue Spider Lily—
only the Demon Slayer Corps' Master knows it."
The words froze Muzan in place.
"Inosuke…"
Dōma smiled wider, gambler's madness flashing in his eyes.
"He's just like me.
A complete lunatic.
If you kill me—or touch Kotoha—
that child will kill himself without hesitation,
dragging the Spider Lily clues
straight to hell with him."
"You're welcome to try."
Dōma leaned in, face-to-face with the Demon King.
"Which matters more—
controlling him…
or the immortality you crave?"
Muzan fell silent.
He weighed it.
Dōma was right.
Inosuke would absolutely choose mutual destruction.
And now—Hantengu was dead. Gyokko was dead.
If Upper Two died too…
and Inosuke died…
the Twelve Kizuki would be a hollow name.
More importantly—
the Spider Lily.
"And also—"
Dōma suddenly turned toward the woman holding the biwa.
WHOOSH!
He vanished.
In the next instant, he was behind Nakime.
A cold hand gently clasped her skull.
Frost spread instantly.
"The one controlling the Infinity Castle…
is you, Miss Nakime, right?"
He whispered at her ear.
Then looked up at Muzan, smiling savagely.
"Before you detonate my cells—
I'm absolutely confident I can twist her head right off.
And then…
what do you think happens to this castle?"
A naked threat.
Muzan's face darkened like burned iron.
He didn't move.
Dōma was right.
If he went all out, Nakime would die.
"…Very well."
Muzan laughed in fury, veins bulging.
"Dōma…
you ungrateful dog."
"Thank you for the compliment."
Dōma didn't care, fingers still on Nakime.
Muzan inhaled sharply and sent a mental command.
"Kokushibo.
Return.
Immediately.
Bring Inosuke back."
No response.
Kokushibo was completely lost to rage.
He couldn't hear Muzan at all.
"DAMN IT!!"
Muzan stood abruptly.
The situation—
was spiraling out of control.
Dōma tilted his head, smiling dangerously.
"Oh? Lord Kokushibo isn't listening?
Then, Muzan-sama—
do you release me…
or do I kill Nakime and leave on my own?"
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