Inside the Ubuyashiki estate, Kagaya Ubuyashiki sat quietly against the wall, gazing into the distance.
Under the faint moonlight, that shadow stained with endless sin slowly approached. The demon who had brought a thousand years of curse upon the Ubuyashiki family… the only stain that had existed within the family's history for generations… was finally here.
Kagaya silently watched the approaching figure. Then he slowly raised his hand and lightly tossed a tortoise shell into the air.
Clack—
The shell struck the ground with a crisp sound and landed face up.
At that moment, the hard surface of the shell was covered in countless cracks. With this final toss, it completely shattered apart.
Kagaya quietly stared at the broken shell.
The future he had once been able to see had changed. Everything had become unclear and distorted.
The only future he could still see clearly… was his own.
And within it, there was no hope left.
A faint smile appeared on his face. There was no fear of death in him, only a calm acceptance of everything.
As he waited for what might be the final moments of his life, countless memories surfaced within his mind.
From the time he was very young, he had already carried the burden of the Ubuyashiki family upon his shoulders. Every day, he received strict teachings from his father. Whenever he made even the slightest mistake, harsh scoldings would follow.
"You are an Ubuyashiki."
"You must do this."
"You must bear this responsibility."
Those words had echoed beside him every single day.
When he was around five or six years old, he once knelt beside his father's bedside and saw the man's appearance clearly.
His once handsome face had become covered in purple marks resembling wisteria flowers, while his skin had withered into something like the bark of an ancient tree, wrinkled and decayed.
That day, his father tightly held his hand and told him:
"You must carry the responsibility of the Ubuyashiki family."
"You must erase the only stain our family has carried for centuries."
"You must destroy that demon."
At the time, he did not truly understand those words.
He could not clearly grasp what that "stain" really meant to the Ubuyashiki family.
He only knew that on that very day, his father left forever.
After death, his father's skin had become almost the same color as wisteria flowers, disturbingly visible beneath the sunlight.
That day, his mother carried him away in her arms.
And from then on, he began handling the affairs of the Demon Slayer Corps like a puppet. He became the ninety-seventh leader of the Corps, respected by countless people as "Oyakata-sama."
There were many things he could not understand at first, but with others assisting him, he slowly learned. Gradually, he became more skilled at handling the countless responsibilities placed upon him.
When he was around six or seven years old, he finally found some free time and wanted to play with his younger brother.
But he was told that his brother had fallen ill.
After begging his mother again and again, she finally allowed him to visit.
His little brother lay weakly in bed, coughing up blood. Just like their father before death, his face was covered in purple marks resembling wisteria blossoms.
Kagaya held his younger brother's tiny hand.
And his brother tightly held onto his in return.
"Big brother… you must live on."
Those were the last words he heard.
That same day, just like their father, his younger brother left forever.
Only during the funeral did Kagaya gradually begin to understand why his father and brother had died.
Only then did he finally understand the curse that plagued the Ubuyashiki family.
And only then did he truly grasp the meaning behind the blood connection between the Ubuyashiki family and Kibutsuji Muzan.
He slowly came to understand why every descendant of the Ubuyashiki family was born weak and doomed to die young.
It was said that his younger brother had suffered the curse earlier simply because he had not followed the family tradition of being raised like a girl during childhood. He had secretly worn boys' clothing like other children his age.
And merely because of that, the curse had manifested sooner.
That was also when Kagaya learned another cruel truth.
Every generation of the Ubuyashiki family died before reaching their thirties.
Which meant…
He himself would likely never live past thirty either.
At first, the thought terrified him. Whenever he remembered that he would die before thirty, fear consumed him.
But little by little, he accepted it.
Once he accepted it, it no longer seemed so frightening.
There was only one thing he could not fully let go of—
Regret.
After that, his days passed in endless work. He expanded the Ubuyashiki family's influence across different regions, used the family's wealth to support the Demon Slayer Corps, met with the Hashira, and also spoke with ordinary swordsmen from time to time.
As time passed, Kagaya gradually noticed that some of the familiar Hashira had disappeared.
Only later did he learn that they had died while hunting demons.
The Hashira from his father's generation vanished one by one, while new Hashira slowly took their place.
Little by little, the center of his life shifted entirely toward the Demon Slayer Corps. He also came to understand why the title of "Oyakata-sama" was always inherited within the Ubuyashiki family.
Because the men of the Ubuyashiki bloodline rarely lived beyond thirty, the Corps would almost always gain a new leader every thirty years or so.
His father had passed the burden to him in exactly the same way.
The day he fully understood all of this, he went alone to visit his father's grave.
There, he saw that the wisteria tree he had planted beside the grave years ago had already grown tall. Countless blossoms bloomed from its branches, beautiful and gentle as the wind scattered petals into the air.
It was truly beautiful.
That day, a sudden thought entered his mind.
If he died like his father had… would his own son someday plant a wisteria tree beside his grave too?
But he was not married.
Nor did he have children.
In truth, although he sometimes longed for such things, he had never cared too deeply about them. The idea of leaving behind descendants still felt distant and vague to him.
At the time, he simply thought that if he could live to thirty, that would already be enough.
Gradually, he even began to enjoy handling the affairs of the Demon Slayer Corps. Every swordsman treated him with deep respect. Though he was still very young, he could feel the hopes everyone placed upon him.
Even when he made mistakes, the people around him remained incredibly tolerant toward their newly appointed leader.
Until one particular day—
He was brought to a shrine.
He only remembered the sunlight streaming through the windows that day, falling softly across her face.
She was beautiful.
Her hair was pale white, like strands of silver silk.
And for some reason, the moment he saw her, he could no longer look away.
That day, they spoke awkwardly for a while. She often kept her head lowered, though every now and then she would secretly glance up at him.
At that moment, his heartbeat became unbelievably fast. For an instant, he almost thought the family curse had suddenly worsened.
But it was not the pain described in the records of the curse.
Instead, he felt excitement.
Happiness.
A strange feeling he could not describe.
Only after returning from the shrine did he learn the truth.
She came from a family of shrine priests, and their meeting had been arranged for marriage.
She would become his fiancée.
And only then did he learn her name—
Amane.
For his entire life, everything had always followed a predetermined path. He simply carried out the duties assigned to him step by step, believing things would continue like that until the day he died before reaching thirty.
But after meeting that girl, his life suddenly seemed to gain a deeper meaning.
He even began hoping that he could see her every single day.
Not long afterward, Amane began visiting often. Once he finished handling his work, they would sit together and talk, or quietly stroll through the garden side by side.
Even though they had only known each other for a few days, it somehow felt as though they had already become deeply familiar with one another.
Every morning, the first thing he wished for upon waking was to see her face.
And it was during that time that he suddenly remembered the curse carried by the Ubuyashiki family.
For the first time in his life, a powerful desire rose within his heart.
He wanted to live longer.
He wanted to grow old together with her.
Not long after that, the formal marriage proposal was made.
That day, the girl kept her head lowered in silence for a long time.
They sat facing one another. She knelt quietly before him, and when she finally raised her head, the sight of her beautiful face almost made it difficult for him to breathe.
Someone as short-lived as him…
Would she truly not mind?
Would following a man destined to die before thirty really bring her happiness?
Did she even know the truth?
No matter what, he told her everything.
And at that moment, he saw hesitation appear in her eyes.
It was only slight. Others might not have noticed it at all, but he sensed it clearly.
For the first time, he felt her reluctance.
"I probably won't live past thirty," he told her quietly. "Being with me won't bring you happiness. If you stay by my side, you'll become tied to demons and trapped within this life forever…"
He lowered his gaze slightly before continuing softly.
"In truth… you can refuse this marriage. I'll tell everyone that I was the one who disagreed. No one will blame you for it…"
After saying all of that, Kagaya had already assumed she was preparing to refuse the marriage.
So he slowly stood up, intending to return to his duties, to continue handling the endless responsibilities of the Ubuyashiki family.
He had already begun waiting for her rejection.
"I accept."
Her answer was completely different from what he had expected.
For a brief moment, he thought he had heard wrong.
But he had not.
She truly accepted him.
Unable to understand, he quietly asked her why.
"Because… you're the first person who was willing to ask what I wanted."
Only after hearing those words did he suddenly realize something.
He and Amane were actually very similar people.
As the daughter of a shrine priest family, every part of Amane's life had been decided for her since birth. What clothes she should wear, what she should do each day, even whom she would marry—
Everything had already been arranged. Like a piece on a game board, she had always been moved according to someone else's will, never allowed to walk her own path.
On the day of their wedding, the wisteria flowers bloomed beautifully.
When they were finally alone together, he still clearly remembered Amane softly saying:
"Please take care of me from now on."
The days that followed were peaceful and happy.
Before long, they also had children of their own.
The moment Kagaya held his child's tiny hand for the first time, feeling the fragile warmth of new life, he finally gained a deeper understanding of the curse that had haunted the Ubuyashiki family for centuries.
No matter what kind of curse he himself suffered, he could endure it.
But he absolutely could not accept his children suffering the same short-lived fate.
All he wanted was for his children to live healthy and peaceful lives.
Yet such a simple wish was impossible for the Ubuyashiki family.
Unless Kibutsuji Muzan was killed, his children would face the same fate as him. Just like his father before him, they would eventually die beneath the curse.
From that moment on, Kagaya worked harder than ever before.
He traveled everywhere searching for talented swordsmen, invested even more resources into strengthening the Demon Slayer Corps, and did everything he could to make the organization stronger.
All for one purpose—
He wanted that demon named Muzan to die as soon as possible.
Every single day, he thought about how to defeat Muzan.
Every single day, he thought about how to kill Muzan.
And yet, he could not even find Muzan's shadow.
There was not the slightest sign of hope.
Until one day, when he gained the ability to glimpse the future.
And within that future, he saw himself, his wife, and his two daughters dying together in an explosion.
That future filled him with fear and unwillingness.
But in the end, he accepted it calmly.
If sacrificing himself could truly kill Kibutsuji Muzan, then he was willing to do it.
The only thing he could not bear was the thought of Amane and their daughters dying alongside him.
But for him, there had never been another choice.
Too many people had already sacrificed everything in order to kill Muzan.
Too much had already been lost.
No matter how unwilling he felt, he still had to continue forward.
Yet at some point, the future suddenly began to change.
The future where Muzan was destroyed disappeared completely.
All he could see now was his own death.
And because of that, he could no longer allow his wife and daughters to pay the same price with him.
His hand gently touched the purple curse marks spreading across his face as he felt the aged texture of his skin.
Suddenly, he desperately wanted to continue living.
He wanted to watch his children grow up, get married, and build happy families of their own.
He wanted to grow old together with Amane, until their eyesight faded, until their hearing weakened, until neither of them could walk properly anymore.
But in the end…
Those wishes would remain nothing more than dreams.
A Kasugai Crow flapped its wings as it flew away from the Ubuyashiki estate, its sharp cries echoing through the night.
"The Ubuyashiki estate is under attack! The Ubuyashiki estate is under attack!"
At that moment, every swordsman battling demons across the land looked up in shock.
"Oyakata-sama!"
Gyomei Himejima finally discovered Hantengu's true body — the cowardly hidden form.
His spiked flail crashed down heavily onto the demon's head, completely crushing it and severing its neck.
Upper Rank Four of the Twelve Kizuki, Hantengu, had fallen.
This was the first Upper Rank demon the Demon Slayer Corps had ever truly slain.
After such an intense battle, Gyomei Himejima was already breathing heavily from exhaustion. Yet the moment he heard that Oyakata-sama had been attacked, he did not hesitate for even a second and immediately rushed toward the Ubuyashiki estate.
He had spoken with Kagaya before and understood clearly that if anyone dared attack the estate surrounded by countless wisteria trees, then there was only one possibility—
Muzan Kibutsuji himself.
Ordinary demons could hardly endure the scent of wisteria long enough to approach such a place.
At the same time, the Wind Hashira, Sanemi Shinazugawa, was leading his younger brother Genya Shinazugawa in defending a Demon Slayer Corps outpost. The moment the message reached him, he immediately abandoned the battlefield and headed toward the Ubuyashiki estate without delay.
"Oyakata-sama!"
The Sound Hashira, Tengen Uzui, was also sprinting through the night after hearing the news.
The Flame Hashira, Kyojuro Rengoku…
The Serpent Hashira, Obanai Iguro…
The Kinoe-ranked swordswoman Mitsuri Kanroji…
Everyone was rushing desperately toward the Ubuyashiki estate.
…
Under the dim moonlight, Kibutsuji Muzan stepped into the grounds of the Ubuyashiki estate.
The scent of wisteria surrounding the area continuously weakened him the moment it touched his body.
For ordinary demons, it would have been almost impossible to even walk through a place so densely covered in wisteria trees.
But for Muzan Kibutsuji—
The first and strongest demon—
Such a price was still bearable.
With every step he took, the demon aura within his body violently clashed against the wisteria surrounding him. The intense reaction generated scorching heat, and each step caused mist-like steam to rise from his body.
Before long, Muzan saw Kagaya Ubuyashiki leaning quietly against the wall.
This family had opposed him for a thousand years.
This troublesome bloodline had created the Demon Slayer Corps, an organization he viewed as no more than insects, yet generation after generation they continued hunting him relentlessly.
Wielding their so-called Nichirin Swords…
Calling themselves protectors of justice…
Throwing themselves toward death again and again in endless waves.
Why?
Why did they insist on cutting off his path to survival?
Muzan stared at Kagaya Ubuyashiki.
That frail body.
That dying appearance.
It strangely reminded him of his own human self from long ago.
"Look at you… what an ugly human being," he said.
His words were directed at Kagaya Ubuyashiki.
Yet it felt as if he were speaking not only to the man before him, but to the Ubuyashiki bound by a thousand-year fate… and to the version of himself that had once been just as fragile.
...
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