The civilians stopped asking questions.
Clutching their bags and whatever belongings they'd managed to grab, they turned and fled.
"Just keep moving forward! There are more people up ahead directing the evacuation and helping you get to safety!"
Shouting after the sea of bodies streaming away, the Demon Slayer Corps members responsible for the evacuation finally let out long breaths of relief.
"They're gone at last. While we've got a moment, check the area for anyone injured."
At the order, they started searching again.
They pried up collapsed boards and peeled back broken planks, checking one by one.
"Meow!"
One of the Corps members froze.
He could have sworn he'd just heard a cat.
He followed the sound and found it: beneath a fallen board, a calico cat was half buried in debris.
"Poor little thing. Hang on, I've got you."
A Kakushi with three stripes stepped over, gently pushing the board off the cat.
"You alright? Can you get out?"
As if it understood him, the calico nodded and crawled free.
It shook the dust from its fur, ears twitching, then bolted in one direction.
The Kakushi's expression changed instantly.
That direction was the main battlefield where they were hunting Muzan Kibutsuji.
"Hey! Don't go that way! It's dangerous!"
But all he could do was watch the kitten vanish from sight.
"Fast little thing…"
He sighed. There were still too many people who needed help.
He couldn't afford to chase after a cat.
Back on the main battlefield, Obanai Iguro rejoined the fight in a blur, his movements so ghostlike that several of Muzan's strikes cut through empty air.
"Serpent Breathing, Third Form!"
A wavering slash landed on Muzan's left hand, severing it clean at the root.
Obanai spun a full one hundred and eighty degrees and kicked the severed limb away.
Muzan's lips curled into a cold smile.
Kicking it away to stop it from reconnecting?
A clever idea.
But it still underestimated his healing.
Flesh buds sprouted from the stump, and his left hand regenerated in an instant.
Then the storm returned, a relentless barrage like rain and thunder.
Obanai was forced to retreat, slipping out of Muzan's range in a heartbeat.
But Muzan didn't stop.
He twisted, redirected, and struck the closest target.
Giyu Tomioka.
"Water Breathing…"
Giyu dropped his weight and braced his stance, preparing to unleash Constant Flux again.
But before he could swing, Muzan's left hand coiled around the Nichirin blade.
Then it twisted.
The sword was wrenched into a forced rotation.
Giyu stared at the weapon flying from his grasp, eyes trembling.
"My grip… has my grip finally failed me?"
He watched his sword spin away, and then he saw the fanged blades rushing at him.
A flicker of despair crossed his face.
His hands were shaking from nonstop combat.
The veins in his arms had already ruptured, both palms soaked in blood.
Just as his body was about to be pierced through, a blue-green gale erupted across the air.
Wind Breathing.
The gale carved Muzan's left hand into ragged wounds.
And Vincent Fox appeared like a flash, tearing it off completely.
He tossed Giyu's Nichirin sword back within reach and immediately chased Muzan again.
"Next time you space out, I'll be the first one to cut you down!"
Sanemi Shinazugawa roared, then turned right back to dealing with the dense swarm of tentacles.
Giyu bit his tongue hard enough to taste blood, forcing his mind to stop spiraling.
What was he doing, thinking about useless things at a time like this?
If he could still fight, then he would not disgrace the title of Water Hashira.
Not until death.
"Water Breathing, Tenth Form!"
"Constant Flux!"
Giyu twisted in midair and unleashed a wave-colored arc that cut straight through the battlefield.
"Such stubborn brats. But it won't be long before you all drop dead."
Muzan's gaze swept over them, cold and indifferent.
"Look over there. Isn't that your hope?"
Everyone's hearts lurched.
Tanjiro Kamado lay sprawled atop the rubble, his left hand clamped around his own throat.
Foam spilled from his mouth, like a man poisoned.
"When you get hit by me, my blood seeps in with it. Don't worry, you won't turn into demons."
"For you, it's no different from a lethal toxin."
Even as he inflated his flesh to tank Vincent Fox's punches, Muzan's expression remained almost mocking.
"Five minutes? No, you won't even last five."
"My cells will kill you from the inside. You're only human, and you think you can kill me?"
"Keep dreaming."
"Even if I'm down to just one head, I'll still kill you and mince you into scraps!"
Sanemi didn't hesitate for a second.
A hurricane burst from his blade as he charged Muzan again.
Gyomei Himejima clenched his teeth.
If Muzan was telling the truth, they would never last until sunrise.
Obanai surged forward too.
No hesitation. No retreat.
Compared to the others, Obanai's smaller frame meant the poison would spread faster in him.
And on this battlefield, perhaps Vincent Fox was the only one still uninjured.
But everyone understood something terrifying.
If they all died and only Muzan remained, Vincent Fox would be left facing the Demon King alone.
And they knew Vincent's current state could not last forever.
Then, suddenly, something entered their line of sight.
"What the hell is that?"
Sanemi leapt high, eyes sharp and wary, tracking it through the air.
And then he saw it clearly.
A kitten.
The calico flipped midair, and the box strapped to its back popped open with a sharp snap.
Several syringes shot out.
Some flew toward the Demon Slayers.
One flew straight toward Muzan Kibutsuji.
Crack!
Muzan shattered the syringe aimed at him instantly.
But the others couldn't spare a hand.
They were pierced, one after another.
"That little vermin…"
Muzan slashed the calico in midair, cutting it into pieces, and watched coldly as it fell toward the ground.
It felt strangely familiar.
And the moment that liquid hit the air, he felt something in his gut.
Disgust.
Then Sanemi felt an itch crawl across his face.
He wiped at it and froze.
The swollen tumors that had formed from the poison were gone.
The agony in his body eased, his blood steadied, the chaos inside him calming like a storm passing.
"Heh. I don't know what that stray kitten was about…"
"But it sure as hell saved our asses!"
Gyomei nodded, swinging his flail and smashing apart the attacks in front of him.
Sanemi unleashed another blast of wind, closing in on Muzan again.
"Even a kitten couldn't stand watching you anymore, you disgusting tentacled freak!"
"Die already!"
----------------------------------------------------
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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