"Yamada."
Shinobu swallowed the rice cake and suddenly called his name softly.
"Do you think... we can really win?"
Although everyone's strength had greatly increased after a month of special training, facing that shadow that had ruled the night for a millennium, even she, normally so sharp-tongued and strong, could not avoid a trace of unease about the unknown in her heart.
Yamada didn't answer immediately. He put down his sake cup and looked at the pale crescent moon in the night sky.
An autumn breeze blew by, lifting the hem of his black yukata.
"Whether we can win is never something you think about, it's something you cut out."
Yamada turned his head, his pitch-black pupils devoid of any confusion, holding only an absolute self-confidence that put people at ease.
"A thousand years ago, Tsugikuni Yoriichi could hack him into eighteen hundred pieces, scaring him so much he didn't dare show his face for hundreds of years."
"Today, I can burn that pathetic stash of his in the Infinity Castle to ash, skin and bone. I'll leave him with nothing."
He reached out and put his arm around Shinobu's shoulder, pulling her into his embrace.
"With me here, the sky won't fall."
Listening to his steady, powerful heartbeat, the trace of gloom in Shinobu's heart was finally completely dispelled.
She leaned obediently on his shoulder and closed her eyes.
"Hmm. I believe in you."
—
Late at night.
Everything was silent.
In a secret forest a few kilometers away from the Ubuyashiki Estate.
The last scouting eyeball marked with the character "Four" was slashed to pieces by a member of the Kakushi.
But it was already too late.
All the intelligence had already flowed back to that eerie city buried deep underground.
Inside the Infinity Castle.
Muzan sat on a luxurious sofa. He was still wearing that black kimono, his long hair draped over his shoulders, his pale face devoid of any expression.
But around him, the air was visibly distorted due to his extremely compressed killing intent.
"Found you."
Muzan's voice echoed in the empty room, carrying a cruel pleasure of finally tearing off the prey's disguise.
"Kagaya... you bug hiding in the dark, you actually dared to concentrate all your combat power together. Do you think that with that lightning swordsman backing you up, you can contend with me?"
Muzan stood up slowly, a tyrannical light flashing in his slit pupils.
"Too naive."
"Since you chose to huddle together, I will grant your wish."
He turned his head and looked at Nakime standing on the high platform behind him.
"Nakime."
"I am here." Nakime said, holding her biwa and bowing respectfully.
"Prepare to activate your spatial technique. Lock onto the coordinates of the Ubuyashiki Estate."
Muzan's lips split into a curve so exaggerated it was hair-raising, revealing his stark white fangs.
"Tonight, I will drag everything there, along with that mountain, into my Infinity Castle."
"I want that arrogant swordsman, and those self-righteous Hashira, to have their last drop of blood drained by endless demons in this maze with no exit."
"I will personally catch that demon called Nezuko, eat her, and become a true god."
With Muzan's words, Nakime struck the strings.
Ting!
A sound, higher-pitched than ever before, suddenly tore through the barriers of space.
The entire Infinity Castle began to shake and roll violently. Countless pavilions and corridors intertwined and reorganized in the void, like a massive beast about to open its blood-red maw to devour the world.
The gears of the decisive battle, at this moment, meshed with a roar.
—
The tranquility of the Ubuyashiki Estate and the Butterfly Mansion was shattered in an instant by an abrupt sound.
Ting!
It was a biwa note with immense penetrating power.
Yamada, standing on the corridor of the Butterfly Mansion, narrowed his eyes slightly.
"It's here."
As soon as he finished speaking, the ground beneath their feet turned into nothingness without any warning.
Sliding doors opened one after another out of thin air—beneath their feet, above their heads, and even in the surrounding air.
The concept of space was subverted in that instant, and the laws of gravity ceased to exist.
"Ah!"
Shinobu, who was carrying medicine, felt the ground beneath her vanish. An intense sensation of weightlessness struck her instantly, and she fell uncontrollably toward the bottomless wooden abyss below.
Before she could even draw the blade at her waist, a hand wrapped around her slender waist, pressing her firmly into a broad chest.
"Don't panic, hold on to me." Yamada's steady voice sounded in her ear.
The next second, a surge of Chakra erupted from Yamada's body. The massive energy rapidly outlined and materialized in mid-air, forming a half-body Susanoo composed of skeletal ribs and arms, firmly protecting Yamada and Shinobu at its center.
"Waaaaah! Help! I'm falling into hell!"
Not far away, Zenitsu, who had also lost his footing, was flailing in mid-air, crying heart-wrenchingly.
Tanjiro tried to adjust his posture in the air, while Inosuke excitedly waved his dual blades, shouting about cutting these flying woods to pieces.
The Susanoo's giant skeletal hand lunged out, grabbing the three like chicks and pulling them into its palm.
"Shut up, or I'll throw you down." Yamada said coldly.
Zenitsu immediately covered his mouth, nodding frantically with teary eyes.
Meanwhile, the other Hashira at the Ubuyashiki Estate experienced the same upheaval. But thanks to the hellish special training over the past month, every one of them displayed astonishing reaction speed in the face of this sudden situation.
Wind Breathing, Fourth Form: Rising Dust Storm!
Sanemi slashed a wind blade upward in mid-air, using the reaction force to land steadily on a floating wooden staircase.
Gyomei threw his spiked flail, the chain wrapping around a thick beam, allowing him to land smoothly like swinging on a swing.
Kyojuro, Giyu, and the others also utilized their movement techniques, finding footing within this intricate, upside-down, and bizarre space.
Everyone looked around, shock filling their eyes.
This was an endless underground city. Countless pavilions, corridors, and stairs overlapped in a way that defied physical laws—bottomless and unreachable.
The Infinity Castle.
Muzan's absolute home turf.
"Welcome to my castle, you foolish Demon Slayers."
A cold, arrogant voice echoed through every corner of the Infinity Castle, transmitted via Nakime's Blood Demon Art.
"Kagaya, did you think that gathering all your fighting strength would allow you to contend with me? How naive. Tonight, this place will be the graveyard for the entire Demon Slayer Corps. I will devour you all, along with that demon named Nezuko."
Following Muzan's arrogant declaration, countless sliding doors in the Infinity Castle burst open.
Thousands of hideous, foul-smelling lower-ranking demons surged out like a tide from all directions, scrambling along the wooden walls and stairs, crazily rushing toward everyone to slaughter them.