The night wind howled across the wilderness, sweeping dust and splintered wood into the air.
The ruins of the Infinity Castle sprawled across the plains for several kilometers, resembling a vast graveyard.
Thousands of lower-ranked demons and mutated demons, once hidden within that extra-dimensional space, now swarmed through the wreckage like a disturbed hive, crawling and shrieking in dense masses.
The heavy stench of blood and decay filled the air.
"Kill them! Tear those Demon Slayers apart!"
"Muzan-sama is watching! Devour them!"
The demons roared greedily and surged outward in a frenzy, attempting to overwhelm the Demon Slayer Corps members who had just landed.
Sanemi Shinazugawa clenched his teeth, gripping his Nichirin Blade as the windmill-shaped Demon Slayer Mark appeared on his right cheek.
Just as he was about to charge straight through the demonic tide toward Muzan and the others, a calm voice came from ahead.
"Sanemi. Take the others and clean up the trash on the outskirts."
Rin lowered the Kusanagi sword from his shoulder, its tip angled toward the ground.
"There are thousands of them scattered across these ruins. I shouldn't need to explain what happens if they reach nearby towns. Form a perimeter. Don't let a single one escape."
"But…"
Kyojuro Rengoku stepped forward, his gaze fixed on the three overwhelming presences ahead of Rin. "That's the progenitor of demons, along with the top two Upper Moons. Rin-dono, please allow us to fight beside you!"
"Can't you understand simple instructions?"
Rin tilted his head slightly, a trace of cold indifference flashing in his eyes.
"Those three are mine. If you interfere, I'll ...cut you down as well."
His absolute dominance left the Hashira momentarily speechless.
Yet, recalling the godlike power Rin had displayed during their training, a quiet trust began to settle in their hearts.
"…Understood."
Giyu Tomioka spoke first. Turning toward the oncoming swarm, the water-patterned Demon Slayer Mark lit up on his cheek.
"Water Breathing, Third Form: Flowing Dance!"
A surge of water-like slashes roared forward, instantly cutting down the demons at the front.
"Don't let him farm all the aura! Spread out and wipe them out!"
Tengen Uzui drew his dual Nichirin Blades, explosions erupting throughout the ruins.
Tanjiro, Inosuke, Zenitsu, and the rest of the Hashira did not hesitate.
They left their backs to Rin and charged outward in different directions, forming a defensive perimeter against the demonic tide.
The center of the battlefield was cleared in an instant.
Only Rin remained, standing alone before Kibutsuji Muzan, Kokushibo, and Akaza.
"Arrogant."
Muzan stood unmoving, his pale face twisted with fury.
His arms had already transformed into dark red, barbed whips, while the flesh on his back writhed, ready to unleash deadly attacks at any moment.
"You think driving away those insects means you can face us alone? Kokushibo! Akaza! Kill him!"
At Muzan's command, Akaza's eyes flared with fanatic intensity.
In his mind, it had only been the sunrise that had interrupted his previous battle.
Now, reunited under the cover of night, he intended to crush this lightning-wielding swordsman in the most brutal way possible.
"Destructive Death: Compass Needle!"
A snowflake-patterned array spread beneath his feet. Akaza's body blurred into an afterimage, closing the distance in an instant.
"Destructive Death: Disorder!"
His fists erupted like a storm, each strike carrying compressed shockwaves powerful enough to shatter steel, sealing off every blind spot around Rin.
Facing the overwhelming barrage, a faint trace of mockery appeared at the corner of Rin's lips.
He simply raised the hilt of the Kusanagi sword, using the sheathed scabbard to block casually in front of him.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The impacts rang out in rapid succession, like a relentless drumbeat.
To Rin, Akaza's famed speed seemed almost motionless.
Every punch, every shift in muscle, every trajectory was intercepted with perfect precision by the scabbard.
"How is this possible?!"
Akaza's pupils shrank.
His Compass Needle couldn't detect the opponent's battle spirit at all.
Even worse, when his full-force strikes collided with that seemingly ordinary scabbard, his knuckles throbbed with pain.
"With this little strength, you can't even scratch an itch."
Rin flicked his wrist. The scabbard slid along Akaza's arm before crashing down.
The immense force shattered Akaza's balance.
Rin followed with a knee, driving it brutally into Akaza's chest.
Crack!
The sharp sound of a fractured sternum echoed.
Akaza spat out a mouthful of blood as his body was sent flying, crashing into the ground and carving out a deep crater.
"Moon Breathing, First Form: Dark Moon, Evening Palace."
At that moment, a low, hoarse voice sounded from Rin's left.
Kokushibo had moved.
His grotesque flesh-and-blood katana slipped free in silence, unleashing a razor-sharp crescent slash across the ground.
Around it, countless smaller crescent blades swirled in chaotic, unpredictable patterns.
Their trajectories were impossible to read. Even the slightest contact would tear flesh apart.
"Using a sword? Then you've chosen the wrong opponent."
Zheng~!
The Kusanagi sword was unsheathed.
Purple-blue lightning chakra surged along the pitch-black blade, and the piercing cry of a thousand birds rang through the night.
With a twist of his wrist, Rin unleashed a dazzling net of lightning. Instead of retreating, he advanced, cutting straight through the incoming crescent slash.
Chi—!
Lightning and moon blades collided violently.
The crescent blades of Kokushibo's Blood Demon Art were shattered on contact, breaking apart like rotten wood against the dense lightning chakra.
The residual force of the lightning surged forward, traveling along the Kusanagi sword and slamming into Kokushibo's flesh blade.
Sparks exploded in all directions.
Kokushibo's six eyes widened at once.
At the moment their blades met, he felt an overwhelming force.
In the next instant, a violent current surged through the blade and into his arms.
"Ugh…"
Kokushibo let out a low groan as his arm muscles stiffened under the paralysis of the lightning.
His normally composed mind wavered in shock. With a quick step, he retreated over a dozen meters, dispersing the lingering force.
"Just… who are you?"
Kokushibo stared at his slightly trembling hands.
For hundreds of years, aside from his younger brother Tsugikuni Yoriichi, no one had ever forced him into a disadvantage in a direct clash of swordsmanship.
"As for who I am… trash like you, who can't stand the light, don't have the right to know."
Rin flicked away the lingering arcs of lightning from the Kusanagi sword and raised his gaze toward Kibutsuji Muzan, who had been lingering at the rear.
By now, Muzan's expression had turned utterly grim.
He had originally believed that with Kokushibo and Akaza working together, they could at least force this young man to reveal his true power.
He never expected that in a single exchange, Upper Rank One and Upper Rank Three would be repelled so easily, like children.
Worse still, that life-consuming Demon Slayer Mark had yet to appear on Rin's body.
"Useless trash!"
Muzan could no longer suppress the fear and killing intent rising within him.
The flesh on his back suddenly split open, and nine dark red, barbed tendrils lashed out at Rin's vital points at terrifying, supersonic speed.
"Black Blood Brambles!"
These whips carried Muzan's deadly blood toxin, and their speed was so fast that even a Hashira would struggle to perceive them.
But Rin saw everything clearly.
Not only the whips themselves, but even the subtle distortions in the air they created were captured in his vision.
Within his dark pupils, the hexagram pattern of the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan locked into place.
The power of his right eye focused.
"Amaterasu."
Nine masses of pitch-black flames ignited out of thin air along the nine incoming whips.
"What is this?!"
Muzan's pupils shrank. He immediately activated rapid regeneration, attempting to sever the burning sections.
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