Lucien's right foot, wrapped in golden lightning, sliced through the air and struck toward Kibutsuji Muzan with unstoppable force, leaving no room for escape.
Muzan's plum-red eyes widened.
Lucien's sudden burst of speed was so extreme that even he failed to follow it.
He raised his hand to block.
A heartbeat later, Muzan felt as if a mountain had slammed into him.
His right arm buckled under the overwhelming force, the impact crashing straight into his chest and sending him hurtling away like a firing cannonball.
His body tore through several structures before finally skidding to a stop, unable to resist the momentum.
Lucien descended from the sky, exhaling a breath of smoke as he flicked the cigarette held lightly between two fingers.
Behind him, Mitsuri held her skirt anxiously.
Her soft green eyes sparkled like stars as she stared at Lucien's back.
She hadn't even seen him move.
So handsome…
Mitsuri was completely captivated, her thoughts filled with nothing but Lucien.
A thunderous boom echoed from the distance as a violent gale rolled outward.
Muzan stepped out from the ruins, his plum-red pupils now fully blood-red.
His black hair had turned snow-white, and his arms, legs, and lower body were covered in blood-soaked fur.
Countless gaping maws filled with sharp fangs had manifested across his body.
This was Muzan's true form—his complete demon transformation.
Clearly, Lucien's earlier kick had caught even him by surprise.
Lucien exhaled another thin trail of smoke, frowning slightly when he saw Muzan standing seemingly unharmed.
"Someone as strong as you shouldn't die of old age," Muzan said, a twisted grin on his face. "Become my Upper Rank."
Besides wanting to witness Lucien's strength firsthand, Muzan had come here tonight with the goal of recruiting him.
"I haven't even fought seriously yet," Lucien replied calmly. "I want to see where my limits truly are."
The pressure radiating from Muzan was immense—crushing, suffocating.
But to Lucien, that pressure was welcome.
Perhaps only this monster could bring out his full power.
Loosening the Nichirin Blade from his waist, Lucien tossed it to Mitsuri before stretching his arms, completely bare-handed.
Truthfully, Lucien enjoyed the sensation of direct combat.
The feeling of flesh meeting fist, of bones cracking under impact—he preferred defeating enemies with his own hands, one strike at a time.
"Lucien?" Mitsuri caught the blade nervously, her expression full of confusion.
Was he really planning to fight Muzan without a weapon?
"Mitsuri, I told you I'm very strong. A Nichirin Blade works on other demons, but not on him. Muzan's only weakness is sunlight."
Lucien turned to give her a reassuring look.
Muzan smirked faintly.
As Lucien said, sunlight remained his only true weakness.
Even decapitation by a Nichirin Blade would not turn him to ash.
Mitsuri held the blade tightly, unable to hide her worry.
Lucien snapped his fingers.
Instantly, the war BGM, Victory, resonated through the night.
The fierce, triumphant melody shook the air.
Golden winds surged around Lucien as an ornate helmet, a right-ear pendant, arm guards, chest armor, goggles, and combat boots appeared around him, assembling seamlessly as if alive.
The metallic clinks echoing from the armor sent chills across the battlefield.
Thunder Breathing pushed past its limits, causing bursts of golden lightning to spark and snap around Lucien in rapid flashes.
To Mitsuri, he looked like a god descending upon the earth.
Her cheeks flushed pink.
She couldn't remain calm at all—Lucien's overwhelming presence was intoxicating.
As the armor finished assembling, Lucien bent his knees slightly.
The ground beneath him cracked in a spiderweb pattern before erupting, forming a massive crater.
Lucien vanished.
At that same moment, Muzan also disappeared.
A deafening explosion followed.
At the center of the battlefield, their fists collided.
The earth within fifty meters shattered, sending a shockwave that tore apart the ground and blew entire houses into the air.
A streak of golden lightning and a streak of crimson light shot into the sky.
Under the dark night, lightning flickered incessantly as Lucien unleashed his full strength.
Even so, Muzan kept up with him.
In the original history, Muzan only lost because Tamayo injected him with four specialized medicines—one reverting him toward humanity, one aging him fifty years per minute, one halting cell division, and the last one destroying cells outright.
Without those medicines, not even all the Pillars combined could have defeated him.
What Lucien faced now was Muzan at his absolute peak.
And Lucien's war BGM doubled his strength—but only for five minutes and twenty seconds.
High above the ground, Lucien's right hand hardened as he drove a punch toward Muzan.
Muzan blocked with his own right hand, while his left hand, tipped with sharp, gleaming claws, swept toward Lucien's neck.
Lucien didn't dodge.
His neck also hardened as he thrust his left hand forward like a dragon bursting from the sea.
Blood spurted from Muzan's mouth, his eyes filled with shock.
He hadn't been able to snap Lucien's neck.
It felt like gripping steel—not flesh.
He had initially assumed Lucien's armor was real, but after clashing with him, he realized the armor was only decorative—completely weightless and lacking physical material.
Then what was this body made of?
The battlefield trembled.
Rows of civilian houses collapsed, sending clouds of dust into the air.
Muzan lay buried beneath rubble before he shoved it aside, glaring coldly at Lucien, who now stood atop a utility pole.
Mitsuri, who was evacuating civilians, looked toward Lucien.
He had sent Muzan flying with his bare hands.
This was the Demon Progenitor—yet Lucien had matched him.
"Four minutes and thirty seconds left."
The golden lightning wrapped around Lucien once more.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared above Muzan.
The ground within thirty meters erupted upward as Lucien's hardened right foot plunged into the earth, leaving a deep crater.
Muzan appeared ten meters away, but with a flash of golden lightning, Lucien vanished again.
In the narrow alleyways of the civilian district, golden and crimson lights clashed violently.
Explosions rang out with every impact, dirt and debris flying everywhere.
One massive blast sent Lucien crashing through several houses before he landed on a hillside, cracks spreading widely beneath him.
Steam hissed from his body as the regenerative heat from titanization repaired his wounds.
Across from him, Muzan's expression was cold.
His own injuries rapidly closed and regenerated.
If Lucien had used a Nichirin Blade, this wouldn't be so easy.
Even if he wasn't afraid of the blade, fighting someone armed was entirely different from fighting someone unarmed.
"Awesome!" Lucien roared as the war BGM reached its climax.
He flashed forward, appearing before Muzan, sweeping his right leg in a fierce arc.
Muzan bent backward to dodge and countered with an uppercut.
Lucien leaned back, eyes narrowing, before swinging his right leg toward Muzan's chin.
Muzan retreated swiftly, while Lucien flipped backward, using his hands to spring upward into another sweeping kick.
Muzan blocked, countering with a powerful kick toward Lucien's chest.
The earth beneath them erupted.
Amid flying debris, both vanished and reappeared ten meters away, fists colliding as they once again disappeared into the air.
Moments later, they clashed mid-air, their knees slamming together.
Both spat blood as they were flung apart, their bodies regenerating rapidly.
Their close-quarters combat was blindingly fast—dangerous, brutal, and breathtaking.
_____
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