Tanjiro could not understand Muzan Kibutsuji's way of thinking. No swordsman could understand it either, because this was not the mindset of any normal person.
Having one's family killed, having one's happiness destroyed beneath the scent of blood, having the people one treasured disappear forever…
For any normal person, such things could never be treated as though nothing had happened.
They could never simply continue living as before.
The people killed by Muzan Kibutsuji, the happiness destroyed by his hands—how could anyone accept his words and treat those tragedies as nothing more than suffering brought by a natural disaster?
Once hatred was born, how could there be no revenge?
Once resentment existed, how could anyone not wish to erase it?
Carrying their hatred for demons, their hatred for Muzan Kibutsuji, their wish to purge the world of demons, and their determination to protect humanity, the swordsmen launched a desperate charge against Muzan Kibutsuji.
But as the first demon and the absolute ruler of all demons, Muzan Kibutsuji's strength was unquestionably terrifying. These swordsmen could not possibly be his opponents.
Moreover, Muzan Kibutsuji was not fighting alone.
The demons who had previously been terrified by Soma regained their confidence once Muzan Kibutsuji appeared and saw how powerful he was.
Those demons had indeed been frightened out of their wits by Soma, and they did not dare trouble him again.
But against these swordsmen, against the prey in their eyes, they felt no pressure at all.
And so, a brutal battle unfolded.
Every second, a swordsman sacrificed his life.
Every second, a demon's head was cut off.
Yet the situation became increasingly unfavorable for the Demon Slayer Corps.
Fierce fighting raged everywhere.
Every swordsman was risking their life.
But strangely, the area around Soma was completely calm. No demon approached him, and no swordsman came near him either. It was as if the space around him had become a vacuum.
Muzan Kibutsuji struck again, killing several swordsmen who had surrounded him. But very soon, new swordsmen surged into the places of the dead and continued the assault.
They clearly knew they were no match for him.
They clearly knew they would die.
They clearly knew their sacrifice might be meaningless.
Yet these swordsmen still rushed forward one after another.
Just as they had for the past thousand years, these madmen had continued to seek trouble for him.
"So persistent! Truly so persistent!"
Muzan Kibutsuji threw another punch, striking the Stone Hashira, Gyomei Himejima.
Even Gyomei Himejima, whose body had been trained to the limits of humanity, was sent flying like a torn rag beneath that punch. Yet even so, Gyomei still forced himself to stand and continued attacking Muzan Kibutsuji.
The Hashira were like this.
The other swordsmen were the same.
For more than a thousand years, the madmen of the Demon Slayer Corps had always been like this.
Muzan Kibutsuji was annoyed, though he had long grown used to the existence of these lunatics.
Even so, anger still burned in his heart.
What enraged Muzan Kibutsuji even more was that Soma was clearly a demon too.
Why were these people not attacking him?
So many swordsmen were risking their lives only to end Muzan.
Yet in the distance, Soma was also a demon.
Some swordsmen clearly held hatred toward Soma in their hearts because he was a demon. So why were they so focused on Muzan?
Why did not a single swordsman draw their blade against Soma?
"How infuriating!"
Fury surged in his heart, and Muzan Kibutsuji's arm immediately transformed into a spiked whip, lashing violently toward everything around him.
Cold light flashed through the dark night.
"Puh! Puh!"
The spiked whip smashed into the swordsmen, instantly bursting human bodies apart. Flesh and blood flew everywhere, turning the scene before him into a slaughterhouse.
One swordsman after another died.
One swordsman after another fell.
Yet Muzan Kibutsuji remained unharmed. Worse still, there seemed to be no hope of ending him.
Despair, sorrow, and pain surged within every swordsman's heart. They knew they would die, yet they still charged forward without hesitation.
They were not afraid of death.
What they feared was that nothing would change.
"Let the entanglement of a thousand years end completely today."
Muzan Kibutsuji murmured as he swung the spiked whip in his hand.
In an instant, several swordsmen's lives were ended. Their blood had not even finished blooming in the air before the whip was already lashing toward the next swordsman, piercing straight through his heart.
At this moment, death became the melody of the battlefield.
Gyomei Himejima's blind eyes were filled with grief and pain. The situation before him was just like the last time they had surrounded Muzan Kibutsuji at headquarters. They had paid such a terrible price, and in the end, every sacrifice had meant nothing.
None of their deaths had changed anything.
THUD!
A swordsman's body fell from the sky and crashed to the ground, landing in front of Soma, where no one else stood.
The swordsman's heart had already been pierced through. Blood flowed endlessly from his chest, yet he still tried to force himself up, still struggling to grasp his Nichirin Sword and continue fighting.
But the strength leaving his body made it impossible no matter how hard he tried. Even his consciousness was growing hazy.
"You are going to die."
Soma, who had been standing there lost in thought over whether he should leave now, whether there was any need to risk himself for people like this, was awakened by the swordsman who had fallen before him. Looking at the man whose heart had been pierced, he spoke softly.
"I'm… going to die?"
The quiet yet heavy words reached the swordsman's ears, making him lower his head and notice the wound in his chest.
So I'm going to die.
The swordsman murmured, finally understanding his end.
He was so unwilling.
There were far too many things he had never done. Far too many regrets remained. The happiness he had once possessed had been destroyed by demons, so he joined the Demon Slayer Corps, striving for revenge, striving to purge demons from the world so that no one else would suffer the same fate as him.
He had worked hard all this time.
He had risked his life all this time.
Yet even at the cost of his life, he had still accomplished nothing.
All his efforts had come to nothing.
Even the price of his life had changed nothing.
He had not even managed to slow Muzan Kibutsuji's steps.
Not only was he going to die, but his comrades, the other swordsmen, the Hashira he respected, everyone would die by Muzan Kibutsuji's hands.
An ending like this was too unbearable.
He was so unwilling.
So unwilling.
At this moment, the swordsman who had never cared about facing death began to cry in pain and despair.
"Can nothing… truly be changed? Can the demons of this world truly not be purged?"
The swordsman murmured in despair.
"You have already done well enough."
Soma crouched slightly and looked at the swordsman whose breath was gradually weakening.
"But still, nothing changed."
The swordsman cried in pain. "Sir, can the demons of this world truly not be purged? Can they truly not be purged?"
"Are you asking me?"
Soma spoke softly. "You should know that I am a demon."
The swordsman's body trembled, and his voice choked.
"I still cannot believe you are a demon, sir. I truly cannot believe it. But even so, I still feel that you must be different. You must be different from those man-eating demons."
"You are different, aren't you, sir?"
Facing the hope in the swordsman's eyes, Soma did not know how to answer for a moment.
By the time he wanted to say something, the light in the swordsman's eyes had completely dimmed.
There was no breath left in him.
This swordsman's sacrifice seemed meaningless.
Just like all these years, the Demon Slayer Corps had clung stubbornly to the goal of purging demons. Yet after so many years, demons still existed, and the source of all demons, Muzan Kibutsuji, was still alive.
Soma did not know what he felt at this moment.
But his mind was filled with the way that swordsman had looked at him just now.
When the swordsman learned that Soma was a demon, there had been pain in his eyes. But there had also been the respect and admiration he once held for Soma.
And there had been expectation.
The expectation that Soma could lead the living and purge the demons from this world.
He had placed his hope in a demon.
He had expected that demon to purge the demons from this world.
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