"Nakime, the one who controlled the Infinity Castle, is dead. Muzan is awake."
Tamayo's assistant, Yushiro, was a genius. He had used his own Blood Demon Art in conjunction with paper talismans to create a miraculous device that functioned like a radio, allowing for group calls. With a small talisman placed on their head, everyone could link to Yushiro and join a group chat.
Ubuyashiki's son, Kiriya, was using this very system to relay all intelligence. With all the Upper Ranks eliminated one by one and Nakime now under Nagi's control, the Demon Slayers no longer had to waste their stamina on the endless swarms of lesser demons.
Thus, the martial artist Upper Rank Three, Akaza, had received the warrior's death he so desired, falling in a blaze of glory against the combined might of five Hashira and the story's protagonist, Tanjiro.
A new message came through the network.
[All units, be advised: the Infinity Castle is about to break through to the surface. If you encounter Muzan, focus on stalling him. Wait for backup from the other Hashira. Do not engage him head-on. Dawn is coming. We must hold him here at all costs!]
[Acknowledged.][Acknowledged.][Acknowledged.]
The confirmations flooded in.
With a final, deafening roar, the ground split apart. The Infinity Castle, no longer under Nakime's control, erupted onto the surface. A lone figure burst through a rooftop and fled into the night.
Damn it all! Akaza is dead? But he had already overcome the weakness of being beheaded, how could he have fallen? And Kokushibo is dead too? How? And Doma... sealed by some unknown technique? What a useless fool! I told him to get rid of that playful personality of his, but he never listened.
Muzan was a mess. His hair had turned completely white; the charming, demonic beauty he once possessed was gone.
Even Nakime was taken control of. Useless! All of them, damn them! You all deserve to die... After ruthlessly ending Nakime's life, Muzan had only one thought in his mind: escape.
He wasn't some noble warrior who fought for pride. He was simply a being in pursuit of the perfect, immortal life. A fight to the death with the Demon Slayer Corps? Don't be ridiculous. In a hundred years, not even the bones of these humans would be left. Only an idiot would fight them head-on.
Upon emerging, Muzan's mind was consumed by rage and the desperate need to flee. By sheer coincidence—or perhaps the hand of fate—his path crossed with Tanjiro's, who had been separated from the others during the castle's ascent.
"MUZAN—"
The moment Tanjiro saw him, old hatred and new collided. The gruesome memory of his slaughtered family flashed before his eyes, and they instantly turned blood-red. He unleashed Sun Breathing and charged.
"Hmph. It's you. You think you can stop me with your incomplete Sun Breathing?" Muzan scoffed, his body sprouting several long, whip-like appendages of flesh and blood.
These blood whips were not only sharp enough to slice through steel, but they were also laced with a potent poison. A single scratch was a death sentence.
Hoooo...
"Total Concentration... Sun Breathing..." Tanjiro took a deep breath and unleashed the full, thirteen-form cycle of Sun Breathing that was Muzan's deepest nightmare.
This was thanks to Nagi, who had pulled him aside for special training a few days prior. By demonstrating the original version of the Breathing Style, he had enabled Tanjiro to master the complete form in just two days.
How is this possible? Muzan felt the nightmare etched into his very cells begin to awaken—the memory of the man who had nearly killed him with a single slash...
Riding his protagonist-level plot armor and wielding the complete Sun Breathing, Tanjiro managed to hold his own against Muzan, narrowly avoiding instant death.
"Tanjiro, I'll help you! Thunder Breathing, Honoikazuchi no Kami—"
A flash of golden lightning streaked past. It was Zenitsu. Seeing him, Muzan gritted his teeth even harder. "You worthless trash. Don't you dare think you can hold me here."
"Everyone, I'm coming to you now," Nagi's voice came over the link. "Remember, just surround Muzan and keep him from escaping. I'll be the one to go in and finish him. If he self-destructs to escape, you must destroy every last piece of him. Do not let a single one get away."
With that, Nagi used the Flying Thunder God technique, teleporting the uninjured Love, Stone, and Serpent Hashira to Tanjiro's battlefield.
"Hahaha! You think two pieces of trash like you can stop me? Die!" Muzan laughed maniacally, one of his arms morphing into a spiked whip and lashing out to kill Zenitsu. But a chained flail flew through the air, smashing into Muzan and sending him flying.
"Muzan, today is the day you die!"
"What?"
Muzan turned to see three Hashira—the Love, Serpent, and Stone Hashira—standing before him. Before the Love and Serpent Hashira could even say a word, Muzan spun on his heel and bolted without a moment's hesitation.
The others gave chase. But before Muzan could get more than a few steps, several more figures teleported into his path.
It was Kanao and Inosuke, both still ready to fight, and Muichiro, who had insisted on joining the battle.
Nagi hadn't brought the Shinazugawa brothers or Shinobu. Their injuries were too severe, and they wouldn't be of much use. It would be disastrous if Muzan managed to pick them off in a careless counterattack.
"You think you people... you worthless filth can stop me—" Muzan roared. If only... if only his power hadn't been weakened...
From the moment he was injected with the poison, even after self-destructing a clone to escape part of it, the remaining toxins had continued to ravage his body. His hair had gone white, and his strength had been diminished by nearly seventy percent.
"Everyone, surround him! Don't let him escape! Tanjiro and I will handle the attack!" Nagi shouted to Tanjiro. "Tanjiro, use Sun Breathing! Let's go together!"
"Sun Breathing...!" +1 "Sun Breathing...!" +2
Nagi drew his Nichirin Blade, and a powerful solar flame erupted, coating the blade. When Muzan's blood whips lashed out, Tanjiro struggled to cut through them, but Nagi severed them with a single, clean slice.
Muzan whipped even more appendages at Nagi, but Nagi cut them all down with the fluid forms of Sun Breathing.
"Impossible... your sword—"
"Die, Muzan—"
Muzan's face twisted in a snarl as he stared at Nagi. It was this man who had brought him to this pathetic state. He glanced at the several battle-ready Hashira behind him and knew he couldn't continue this fight, no matter what. Besides, the sky was growing lighter...
"You want to kill me? In your dreams!" Muzan shrieked with laughter. His body suddenly expanded and then exploded, scattering into countless pieces of flesh that fled in all directions.
[He's doing it! Everyone, don't let a single piece escape!]
"Amaterasu—" Nagi was the first to act, incinerating the vast majority of the flesh fragments with his black flames.
The others frantically slashed at the pieces of Muzan flying in every direction, but in the chaos, a small number still managed to slip away.
Nagi's eyes narrowed. "I'll go after them. Everyone else, search this area carefully. Don't miss a single fragment. Make sure you destroy them with your Nichirin Blades."
"Namu Amida Butsu," the Stone Hashira intoned. "Whether we can exterminate Muzan today all comes down to this moment. Everyone, do not let even the smallest piece of him escape!"
An hour later, the sun rose...
But Nagi, who had gone in pursuit of Muzan, had not yet returned.