The bright moon hung high in the sky. Along with the light sound of footsteps, Muzan stepped into the mansion's courtyard.
Considering this should be her first—and perhaps last—face-to-face exchange with the Ubuyashiki clan, Muzan had dressed quite meticulously for this occasion.
She wore a suit, tied a necktie, draped a dashing overcoat, and finished with a pair of elegant leather shoes.
Muzan didn't use her courtesan appearance this time, because she always felt it would be strange to meet Ubuyashiki all dressed up prettily.
"You... have come..."
Muzan didn't deliberately suppress her footsteps. In the open inner room, Ubuyashiki—who noticed this movement almost immediately—subconsciously turned to look.
"This should be our first meeting... Muzan Kibutsuji..."
"What a tragically pathetic sight, Ubuyashiki."
Stopping before the corridor, Muzan looked down at Ubuyashiki, who couldn't even rise from his sickbed, her face carrying a smile that could only be called mockery.
"You have finally... come before me..."
Moving his arm, Ubuyashiki struggled, trying to make himself get up from the bed.
"The demon... hunted by our clan... by the Demon Slayer Corps... for a thousand years..."
However, God's curse had completely hollowed out his body. No matter how hard he tried, he could never make his frail body sit up from the bed.
In the end, Ubuyashiki gave up.
He simply turned his body and half-leaned against the bed, asking his wife behind him:
"Amane... what does he look like?"
"His appearance is no different from a male between twenty-five and thirty years old. His pupils are plum-red, with cat-like slit pupils."
"I see..."
Using his already blurred eyes to try to look in Muzan's direction, Ubuyashiki said weakly:
"I knew you would certainly come... For the past thousand years... you have hated our clan to the bone... I knew... you would certainly come to take my life personally..."
"But I am utterly disappointed right now, Ubuyashiki."
Looking down at him from above, Muzan said coldly:
"The Ubuyashiki who, for a thousand years, sent those ants to harass and obstruct me without any self-awareness, has finally become such an ugly sight.
Look at the stench of death filling this room, Ubuyashiki. Truly nauseating."
"I suppose so... After all, half a year ago, the doctor already declared that my life was nearing its end... Yet even so, I have persisted until today through my own will..."
"Muzan... do you know why this is?"
Finally able to sit up with Amane's support, facing Muzan's mockery, Ubuyashiki simply stared at him intently.
"It is because I have been determined solely to eliminate you, Muzan Kibutsuji."
"Have you finished your nonsense?"
Looking at him coldly, Muzan's patience was clearly exhausted.
"Muzan... speaking of which, you may not know this... You and I... a thousand years ago... we were originally of the same clan..."
"So what?"
Looking expressionlessly at Ubuyashiki, who spoke this secret, Muzan's heart remained completely unmoved.
"It was precisely because a monster like you was born into our clan... that God bestowed a curse upon us... Our clansmen died one by one... Newborns all perished...
Seeing our clan on the verge of extinction, we finally received the Divine Lord's counsel... to devote all our efforts to the cause of eliminating you, and for generations... to take wives from the priestly clan... and thus we have survived until today... *cough cough!*"
"So what exactly are you trying to say, Ubuyashiki?"
Still without the slightest change in expression, Muzan simply said coldly:
"Are you trying to tell me that you hunted me for a thousand generations just to extend your own lives?
Or are you trying to tell me that I should have obediently died for all of you back then?"
As she spoke, Muzan herself laughed.
"Hmph, Ubuyashiki. I see you're just like that Tamayo—always liking to vent your inexplicable anger upon me.
Since you say this is a curse God bestowed upon you, why don't you go find Him and cause trouble for Him instead? Why come looking for me? What does this have to do with me?
Whoever punished you, you go find them. Such a simple principle—don't you even understand?
Heh, I suppose so... After all, things like God and curses were originally lies you made up to deceive yourselves. After all..."
Slowly raising her hand to point at her own temple, Muzan spoke with absolute certainty, word by word:
"For a thousand years, I have never seen any God, nor have I ever suffered any divine punishment.
In this world, God has never existed."
"Is that so... So this is what you believe..."
Hearing this, Ubuyashiki slightly lowered his head, as if smiling.
"Muzan... can you tell me your obsession..."
Muzan didn't respond.
Because she suddenly felt something was wrong.
[This man is stalling for time.]
Slightly turning her head, she looked toward the two little girls playing with each other in the courtyard nearby.
[In such a situation, those two children can actually play so leisurely... As if a fierce tiger stands before them, yet the rabbits pay no heed... This is wrong.]
[As Mitsuba said, there must be an ambush here. These two little girls are probably also a distraction meant to lull me—a crude tactic...]
[But... what exactly is the trap he arranged?]
[All the way here, I clearly haven't seen a single Demon Slayer...]
"You are dreaming... a dream of eternal immortality..."
Amid Muzan's contemplation, Ubuyashiki spoke the thoughts in his heart.
"You are correct. And I will ultimately succeed."
"No, you will not..."
Shaking his head slightly, Ubuyashiki raised his hand with difficulty and placed it on his chest.
"True eternity is the eternity of will... In this world, only will can be eternal and indestructible..."
"Hmph..."
Hearing this, Muzan laughed disdainfully.
"Utterly foolish. In this world, no will can exist separate from the vessel of flesh.
How can summer insects speak of ice? Ubuyashiki, your wild words are merely because you have never seen truly eternal life.
But I will eventually break this precedent!
When that time comes, the very definition of eternity will be rewritten by me!"
As her words fell, Muzan's figure disappeared from where she stood, instantly appearing before Ubuyashiki.
"Enough. I am already tired of your boring conversation. It is time for you to die."
"Of course, I understand. This is also the ending I have long... prepared for..."
Slowly raising his head to look at Muzan before him, Ubuyashiki's tone remained as calm as ever.
"Let my death add the final fuel to the fire for those children..."
Click—
The moment Ubuyashiki's words fell, the earth beneath their feet suddenly cracked.
[What?!]