"Caw—!! Caw—!!"
"Tokito Muichiro! Upper Rank Five! Defeated!!"
The Kasugai Crows that had been transported into the Infinity Castle along with everyone swiftly wove through the castle, guiding the Demon Slayer Corps' members while loudly broadcasting inspiring news to everyone!
Kokushibo, however, seemed deaf to it all, as if these matters had nothing to do with him.
He looked down at the wound on his chest, which was long unable to heal, writhing with flames.
A complex mixture of emotions intertwined in his six eyes: jealousy, anger, incomprehension, and a kind of fanaticism belonging to a warrior, finally erupting at this moment.
"Several hundred years.... A human who can push me to this point, aside from that man, you are the first."
His voice was no longer calm. Each word carried a hum that made tremble the space itself.
As his voice fell, the demonic aura around him began to swell and surge at a terrifying speed.
Creak— Creak—!!
The sound of bones shattering came from Kokushibo's direction.
His figure instantly became much more robust. Even vaguely bulging behind his back were carapace-like bone spurs. On his originally cool and stern face, veins writhed like black venomous snakes.
And with the full release of Kokushibo's demonic power, the long sword covered in eyeballs also let out an extremely bloodcurdling shriek.
The original blade itself began to madly grow. Bone-like substance proliferated outward from the hilt.
In the blink of an eye, the blade had not only lengthened by nearly double, but several forked blades had also obliquely grown from the sides of the main edge, also covered in rolling eyeballs.
It looked less like a sword and more like a spine pulled from a hellish demon.
"This is..." Taka's gaze faltered for a moment. He spoke with some surprise: "This sword of yours, is it also a Zanpakuto?"
"Zanpakuto?" This term was extremely foreign to Kokushibo. He did not understand this appellation originating from another dimensional world.
"Ridiculous."
Kokushibo suddenly stepped forward. The rubble beneath his feet instantly turned to dust.
[Moon Breathing: Catastrophe, Tenman Crescent Moon]
That grotesque long sword swept through the air, instantly flicking out several crisscrossed, massive serrated moon shadows that covered almost all of Taka's blind spots.
Like before, each moon shadow was interspersed with countless fine, razor-like moon fragments, only faster, more numerous, and more fierce.
This was the power of Kyokokukamusari, able to further strengthen Kokushibo's already highly lethal Moon Breathing.
Shing—!!
The spot where Taka stood was instantly shaved down several meters.
Although he had dodged this strike using Thunder Breathing and the explosive force of gathering Reiatsu, his right arm was still grazed by a stray moon fragment. Blood instantly stained his clothes.
'Such heavy sword aura....'
Taka could sense that the sword in the opponent's hand had not only lengthened, but the amount of demonic power it carried had multiplied several times.
"It seems your blade thirsts for my soul." Taka slowly landed amidst that terrifying wave of sword aura, no longer making any attempt to conceal his own momentum.
The Demon Slayer Mark burned as it crawled up his cheek. His Reiatsu Perception was released to its utmost, even Kokushibo's internal organs and bones were fully in view.
Hum—!
A crisp hum sounded. The Zanpakuto in his hand began to emit a blazing red light.
"As expected, a Crimson Blade...." Kokushibo's gaze hardened. He felt Taka's momentum rise another level.
The two erupted simultaneously, transforming into one red and one black afterimages, violently colliding on this rubble-strewn ground!
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Having unleashed his demon form, Kokushibo's swordsmanship had surpassed the realm of human understanding.
That long sword's forked blades could not only block slashes, but each was an independent short sword that could be wielded.
When Taka sidestepped to charge in, the forked blades could even eerily twist and thrust straight at Taka's back.
And Taka, having mastered and integrated the five Breathing Styles, was also no longer an existence that ordinary humans could match.
His Reiatsu spread out, forming a domain centered on himself. Any change in air currents could not escape his perception.
Although Kokushibo's sword momentum was extremely fast and fierce, it still could not truly threaten Taka's life.
The two weaved and flickered within the collapsing Infinity Castle. The two grotesque blades madly clashed together.
They fought from the dojo to the outer platforms, and then fell back down from the collapsed ruins.
Crimson and silver sword light shredded the surrounding rooms and corridors.
The shockwaves from each impact were enough to instantly annihilate any demon attempting to approach.
While Taka was locked in fierce combat with Kokushibo, in another corner of the Infinity Castle, the sound of thunder had also reached the limit of what eardrums could bear.
The terrain here was extremely precipitous… a shattered space composed of countless broken corridors, suspended above an abyss.
"Hahaha! Zenitsu! You haven't changed a bit, still looking like a whipped dog!"
Kaigaku leaped into the air. The black thunder patterns on his back looked especially ferocious in the darkness of the Infinity Castle.
The Nichirin Sword in his hand was coiled with pitch-black lightning… a mutated Thunder Breathing infused with demon blood.
"See this? This is true power! The kind of strength that useless old man could never comprehend in his lifetime!!"
"Thunder Breathing: Second Form: Rice Spirit!!"
Five slashes coiled with black lightning were instantly unleashed, blasting the corridor beneath Zenitsu's feet to smithereens.
Not only that, he continuously switched his Thunder Breathing sword forms, violently bombarding Zenitsu's direction, causing explosion after explosion.
Zenitsu rolled miserably. His original haori was already torn and ragged, his body covered in bloodstains.
Those black lightning bolts carried highly corrosive properties, constantly eroding his vitality.
But he remained silent.
Beneath that head of golden short hair, his gaze was cold and emotionless.
That grief, suppressed to its extreme, made the surrounding air heavy.
"Gramps, he...."
Zenitsu finally spoke. His voice was hoarse, trembling uncontrollably.
"Gramps... committed seppuku because of you...."
"Without even a kaishakunin... he died in agony!"
Kaigaku's figure paused momentarily in mid-air, then revealed even more insane ridicule: "Serves him right! That stubborn old fool, insisting on passing down that legacy to a waste like you! If he had given me all the essentials earlier, how could I have become a demon?"
"Shut up...."
"What's wrong? Isn't that the truth? If you've got the guts, prove it to me! Prove what value that First Form, which that useless old man valued so much, actually has!"
Zenitsu slowly lowered his center of gravity. The anger within him had finally reached its critical limit.
He tightly gripped the hilt of his sword. The scattered electrical arcs around him began to madly contract into the scabbard.
Then, they explosively burst forth! Scattering in all directions!
Reach the pinnacle.
"Wh...what is this?"
Such a momentum made even Kaigaku, now a Kizuki, involuntarily shudder.
Kaigaku sensed some immense fear descending. He madly swung his demonic blade, pouring all his demonic power into it.
"Thunder Breathing: Fourth Form: Distant Thunder!!"
A pitch-black spherical lightning bolt crashed down towards Zenitsu like a meteor.
However,
That flash of gold arrived earlier than the lightning.
In an instant, the darkness of the Infinity Castle was completely torn apart.
The Nichirin Blade did not bloom with ordinary electric light. It transformed into a massive dragon constructed from golden thunder, roaring as it swept across the void!!
Such speed was so fast that even gravity could not react. Space, even time itself, seemed to lose meaning.
Kaigaku's pupils contracted violently.
He didn't even feel pain. He only saw a flash of golden blade light, brighter than the sun, sweep across his neck.