Without a vessel, the shared vision went completely dark. Muzan Kibutsuji's eyes snapped open, and at that moment, his plum-red eyes looked as though they might drip blood. His entire being radiated violence.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it…"
Muzan Kibutsuji slammed his fist onto the table in front of him, shattering it into pieces.
In over a thousand years, which demon had ever dared defy him?
Which demon had ever dared show such disrespect toward him?
Even that wretch Tamayo, who had once escaped his control, could only hide like a rat, terrified of being discovered by him.
Yet this accursed demon actually dared to act this way.
How hateful.
Never before had he been this furious, this completely out of control.
"He deserves to die. I must kill him at once."
Almost by instinct, Muzan wanted to go there immediately and seize that hateful demon himself. Not only did he want to torment him properly and make him understand the price of angering him, he also wanted to learn from his mouth why he could stand beneath the sun.
Muzan wanted to bathe in sunlight too.
Muzan Kibutsuji knew Gyutaro's location, and he was currently not far from Yoshiwara. If he went now, he might still be able to block Soma's path.
But just as he stood, Muzan Kibutsuji stopped.
His cautious nature made him worry that this might be a plot specifically aimed at him. First Doma, then Gyutaro and Daki—they had all been deliberately targeted, as though an invisible hand was manipulating everything.
If he went there now, would he fall straight into the enemy's trap, just as he had when facing Kagaya Ubuyashiki?
That frail man, that man who could barely breathe, that man he could have crushed to death with a casual squeeze, had used an explosion to inflict devastating damage upon him.
Could this time be the same?
Could it be even more specifically designed to target him?
As an immortal life-form, there was no need for him to take that risk personally, was there?
But letting this go so easily was impossible to accept.
That was the ability to stand beneath the sun. It was what he had pursued for over a thousand years. No matter what, he could not let it slip away. Any demon who defied him could not be spared.
"I must capture him. No matter what, I must."
Muzan Kibutsuji raised his head, desire flashing through his plum-red eyes. No matter what, he had to understand why the other party could bathe beneath the sunlight. If it was because Soma had consumed the Blue Spider Lily, then he must know where the Blue Spider Lily was. Muzan would finally be able to find the flower he had pursued for over a thousand years.
If not, or if it could not be found, then he would devour Soma. Or he would slice him apart piece by piece and study him, until he discovered exactly how he had overcome the weakness to sunlight.
"Kokushibo!"
Muzan closed his eyes and, through the source of his own blood, connected with the man currently staying in a room—Upper Rank One, the strongest demon beneath him.
Kokushibo's towering figure immediately stood. His six eyes lowered slightly.
"Move now. Capture him. No matter what, you must capture him."
That cold voice rang out. In Kokushibo's vision, Soma's figure appeared, along with the location he needed to go.
"As you command."
Kokushibo picked up the blade forged from his own blood and bone, Kokushibo's Flesh Katana, and almost immediately set out for Yoshiwara.
...
Yoshiwara Entertainment District.
Soma completely erased Gyutaro and Daki from the world, severing the vision Muzan Kibutsuji had cast through Gyutaro.
And as Gyutaro died, a sorrow so heavy it felt almost unbearable began to disperse into the air.
At the same time, Soma was feeling the power surging through his body after slaying Gyutaro and Daki.
Not only that, the Blood Demon Arts mastered by Daki and Gyutaro had naturally become his as well.
He silently experienced these powers.
Tap, tap…
Hurried footsteps approached. It was Sanemi Shinazugawa who arrived first, followed by Gyomei Himejima and Kyojuro Rengoku.
"It stinks. That's the smell demons give off when they die."
The moment Sanemi Shinazugawa arrived, he covered his nose in disgust.
"Demons are such foul, disgusting things. Revolting when alive, and still revolting even after death."
Soma, who had only just finished slaying Gyutaro and Daki, could not help raising his head and looking at Sanemi Shinazugawa. Although Sanemi had not meant anything by it, Soma still felt somewhat offended.
"Mr. Soma, has the demon been dealt with?"
Sanemi Shinazugawa gripped the hilt of his blade, looking around cautiously as he asked. He had no idea that his habitually sharp tongue had offended someone again. "Why don't I see that Upper Rank demon?"
"It has been dealt with."
Soma raised his head and answered.
Sanemi Shinazugawa was shocked. That had been an Upper Rank demon, yet not much time had passed from when they heard the commotion to when they arrived.
"That fast?"
Sanemi Shinazugawa was startled, even somewhat unable to believe it.
"In a life-or-death battle, if it ends quickly, it can be decided in a single instant." Soma answered casually.
Sanemi Shinazugawa knew this as well, but the shock in his heart did not lessen in the slightest.
Upper Rank demons were almost beyond what a Hashira could handle. There was a saying within the Demon Slayer Corps: to deal with an Upper Rank demon, at least three Hashira had to work together. And that was only for the lower-ranked Upper Ranks. If the opponent ranked among the higher Upper Ranks, even three Hashira might not be enough.
"Namu Amida Butsu."
Gyomei Himejima pressed his palms together and chanted a Buddhist prayer.
"I did not expect Mr. Soma to have already become this powerful."
"Didn't Mr. Himejima also slay Upper Rank Four, Hantengu?" Soma shook his head.
When they went to rescue the Swordsmith Village, Gyomei Himejima had single-handedly slain Hantengu, Upper Rank Four. That was far more impressive than Soma killing Upper Rank Six on his own.
Gyomei Himejima shook his head. Perhaps it was his imagination, but through his Mind's Eye, Soma's strength seemed to have increased once again.
"Mr. Soma is still too modest. In such a short time, you have already grown to this level. That is something all of us should learn from."
Kyojuro Rengoku clenched his fist, his eyes burning with enthusiasm.
"Huff, huff…"
Hurried footsteps sounded again. Mitsuri Kanroji, Tanjiro, Kenshin Himura, Makomo, and the others had rushed over.
"The sorrow in the air is so heavy."
The moment Tanjiro arrived, he was touched by the dense, sorrowful scent hanging in the air and could not help speaking.
At that moment, everyone else turned to look at Tanjiro.
"A scent of sorrow?"
Sanemi Shinazugawa sniffed, then frowned tightly. "All I smell is the foul stench of demons. I don't sense any sorrow."
"I can smell it."
Following the sorrowful scent, Tanjiro unknowingly walked to the place where Gyutaro and Daki had vanished. These days, Tanjiro had already slain quite a few demons, and almost every time he killed one, he could sense the sorrow they carried at the moment of death.
It was not sorrow at life ending.
It was the sorrow of recalling the time when they had once been human, at the moment their lives came to an end.
Tanjiro could sense that the sorrow in the air came from a pair of siblings. But this sorrow was different from the sorrow that had drifted from the demons he had slain before.
Many demons, when their lives ended and they remembered their human pasts, felt pain over the happiness they had destroyed after becoming demons. They felt the ache of having forgotten what had once been beautiful. It seemed that they all regretted becoming demons.
But the sorrow of these siblings…
held no regret over becoming demons.
They had chosen to become demons willingly.
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