The moment that voice reached his ears, Kagaya Ubuyashiki knew who had come, even as he lay on his sickbed.
"So it's you, Muzan… The Demon King the Demon Slayer Corps has searched for, pursued for a thousand years, without ever giving up."
"You finally came to me. It feels like you're right in front of my eyes…"
With a soft sigh, Kibutsuji Muzan turned his head to the woman beside Kagaya and asked calmly, "Amane. Describe what he looks like."
The white-haired shrine maiden nodded and studied him carefully.
"He looks about twenty. Almost no different from an ordinary person… but his eyes are blood-red. The pupils are long and narrow, like a cat's."
"I see…"
Kagaya's voice was weak, but steady.
"Muzan… I've been waiting for you for a long time. At last, before I die of illness… I've finally met you."
Muzan stood quietly a short distance away and spoke in an even tone.
"You knew I would come?"
"O-of course." Kagaya forced himself upright. "You must loathe the Ubuyashiki family to the bone, so you would definitely come personally… to kill me…"
Muzan shook his head lightly, drawing all of his killing intent back in.
"Look at you. Pathetic. You're dying even without me lifting a finger. There's no need for me to do anything."
"Even in your generation, you still don't know your place. For a thousand years, your clan has suffered this calamity. Why are you still so stubborn?"
"Ugly. Filthy. The stench of your corpse is already filling the whole courtyard. How many days do you have left? Three? Five?"
Listening to Muzan's sneers, Kagaya clenched his teeth and forced his body to sit up straighter.
"Yes. The doctors said I have only days left."
"But I've kept myself alive anyway, clinging on… because I want to defeat you, Kibutsuji Muzan!"
"Still dreaming on your deathbed?" Muzan's lips curled. "Then it's time for that illusion to shatter. How many breaths do you think you'd survive under my hand?"
Kagaya wiped the blood at the corner of his mouth and said weakly, "Perhaps you've forgotten… we were once the same bloodline."
"Even if a thousand years have passed, and the blood in your veins has changed beyond recognition…"
"What are you trying to say?" Muzan laughed with open contempt. "If you're about to beg with that ridiculous 'family' sentiment, save your breath."
Kagaya ignored him, voice still calm despite the tremble in it.
"Long ago, the Ubuyashiki family produced a monster like you. Because of that, heaven's punishment fell on every member of our clan."
"Children would be born only to die young, sickly and fragile. When our bloodline was nearly cut off… we accepted the priest's guidance."
"Only by defeating you could we lift the curse on the Ubuyashiki family. Generation after generation, we married women from the priestly line, so our descendants would not be so weak…"
"Absurd." Muzan's voice turned cold. "So now you want to blame your sickness on me? It doesn't matter. I don't care."
"But do you know what's amusing?"
"Heaven has never punished me."
"For a thousand years, I have slaughtered tens of thousands of humans… and I've never once seen a god or a Buddha."
"Why do you think that is, Kagaya? Can you answer me?"
Kagaya coughed, his chest shuddering.
"Muzan… so that's what you believe…"
"But I have my own understanding as well."
"For a thousand years… you've been chasing eternity. Immortality. The unchanging."
"Yes." Muzan's gaze sharpened. "And I'm about to achieve it."
Kagaya's bandages slipped, revealing the grotesque scars disease had carved into his face. His sightless eyes stared toward Muzan's presence.
"No," he said softly. "Your dream is destined to fail."
"You're very confident about where you've hidden Nezuko, aren't you?" Muzan's tone remained lazy, almost amused. "I have all the time in the world. Even if I have to flip this entire world upside down, I will find her."
"No. You misunderstand." Kagaya slowly shook his head and tightened his grip on Amane's hand.
"The reason humans can be eternal is because of will."
"Even if I die, I will live on in the hearts of my companions."
"But you are different."
"You can hardly be called human anymore. And where would you find companions?"
Those words disgusted Muzan from the bottom of his soul.
Killing intent surged. His black robe fluttered as if whipped by wind.
"Muzan… you still don't understand what you've been touching for all these centuries…"
"For thousands of years, the Demon Slayer Corps' inheritance has never been severed. Countless pitiful children have died… yet you still could not wipe us out."
"And in these thousand years… nothing you've done has ever been forgiven. Not once."
"I need forgiveness?" Muzan snorted.
Kagaya shook his head, still speaking with maddening calm.
"No. You don't."
"Because you are the Demon King."
"And no one will ever forgive you."
"The proof is simple. For a thousand years, you've trampled on tiger tails, touched the reverse scales of sleeping dragons…"
"Now they've awakened."
"And they will keep their eyes on you… until you are brought down."
The killing intent in the air thickened. Kagaya paused, then, unbelievably, smiled.
"Even if you kill me, it means little to the Demon Slayer Corps. We simply change lords."
"I am not as important as you imagine. I may even be… replaceable."
"But you wouldn't understand that, Muzan…"
A faint sound of children's laughter drifted in from the courtyard, where the twins had been playing. They wandered closer, peeking toward the adults' conversation.
"And if you die," Kagaya continued, voice soft, "then all demons will vanish as well… won't they?"
In that instant, Muzan's pupils contracted violently.
"The air… it's trembling. Did I say it right, Kibutsuji Muzan?"
"Shut up!" Muzan snapped, cold and sharp.
Kagaya nodded gently.
"I've said what I wanted to say. Thank you… for listening until the end."
The twins looked up, still curious, still innocent.
Muzan raised his left hand. Sharp nails extended, inching toward Kagaya's head.
"Since you're finished…"
"…then prepare to die."
"Emergency Assembly! Emergency Assembly!"
"Ubuyashiki Estate under attack! Ubuyashiki Estate under attack!"
Messenger crows circled above the estates of the Hashira. The moment the urgent call rang out, no one hesitated.
They moved.
"What? Under attack?"
"Our lord is in danger?!"
"Damn it, who found that place?"
"Lord Ubuyashiki… please don't let anything happen!"
Every Hashira erupted into motion at speeds they'd never shown before, right hands locked on their sword hilts.
To infiltrate the Ubuyashiki estate meant the intruder was no ordinary enemy.
Upper Rank Two? Upper Rank One?
Or…
Kibutsuji Muzan himself?
They raced toward the estate, hearts pounding.
"Why didn't the lord station two Hashira there…" Sanemi ground his teeth. To him, this might have been the only mistake their lord ever made.
At last, Sanemi Shinazugawa began to make out the outline of the Ubuyashiki estate.
"I see it… I can see it! Lord… I can make it in time. I have to make it!"
The estate grew clearer with every step. And even now, Sanemi still couldn't smell blood.
Maybe…
Maybe their lord was still safe.
Hope flared inside him, and he pushed even faster.
Then, suddenly, the sight ahead forced him to stop dead.
A brilliant light swallowed the Ubuyashiki estate.
The glow expanded before his eyes, swelling outward at a terrifying speed.
Boom!!!
The estate where their lord resided… exploded into nothingness right in front of the arriving Hashira.
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The deeper he goes, the more the truth unravels. Don't wait read ahead and witness Vincent's rise before the world catches up!
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