Time flies like an arrow.
One day later.
Infinity Castle.
This upside-down world, which could have turned Newton upside down, has such low air pressure that it seems capable of crushing steel into thin sheets.
In the empty wooden maze, even the usual monotonous Biwa had stopped.
Nakime huddled in the darkest corner, clutching her Biwa, barely daring to breathe, afraid that if she made even the slightest sound, she would become cannon fodder for her boss's wrath.
In the very center of Infinity Castle, on the most spacious high pavilion.
Muzan Kibutsuji sat on the luxurious leather sofa, his face so dark it looked like ink was about to drip from it.
Below the steps, a row of figures knelt respectfully.
If the Demon Slayer Corps were here, they'd be absolutely stunned.
The Upper Rank demons, who are usually arrogant and domineering in front of humans...
At this moment, they were all behaving obediently, like elementary school students who had made mistakes and were waiting for their homeroom teacher to scold them.
"Can anyone tell me...?"
Muzan finally spoke.
His voice was extremely suppressed, like an ancient beast brewing a roar in its throat.
"What exactly happened last night?!"
"Bang!"
Muzan kicked over the priceless coffee table in front of him, sending precious wood shavings flying all over the floor.
"I'd be better off raising a flock of crowing roosters than raising you Twelve Kizuki!!"
Muzan's crimson vertical pupils were fixed Muzan on the two people in the front row.
"Kokushibo! Akaza!"
The two top combatants who were named both stiffened slightly at the same time.
"You two, one is Upper Rank One, and the other is Upper Rank Three!"
"Two martial arts masters who have lived for hundreds of years, teaming up to fight a Water Hashira that hasn't even developed Demon Slayer Mark, and they're getting completely humiliated?!"
"In the end, I actually had to personally order Nakime to open the door and pick you all up like kids being picked up from school?!"
"Where is your face?! Where is your dignity?! Have they been eaten by dogs?!"
Kokushibo's six eyes were lowered, staring at the wooden floor in front of him.
This usually proud swordsmanship master was speechless at this moment.
His heart felt as sour as if dozens of bottles of aged vinegar had been poured out; the humiliation was driving him crazy.
That man named Giyu Tomioka not only perfectly mastered the techniques of Water Breathing and Moon Breathing,
He even used that damned Sun Breathing at the last moment!
The extreme jealousy and the frustration of being surpassed made Kokushibo wish he could disappear into a crack in the ground right now.
Akaza, standing next to him, gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead, his face full of resentment.
"Muzan, that man's fighting spirit is extremely strange..."
Akaza tried to explain his poor performance last night.
"And what's more, he actually poisoned his own blood in such a despicable way!... If we were to fight fairly, I could definitely twist his head off!"
"Shut up! A piece of trash is a piece of trash, don't make excuses for yourself!"
Muzan interrupted him Muzan hesitation, then shifted his murderous gaze to a figure beside him.
"And you too! Doma!"
Upper Rank Two, Doma, is currently kneeling beside Kokushibo.
His current appearance is, to put it mildly, indescribable, and even to the point of being terrifying.
Because he accidentally swallowed Giyu Tomioka's highly poisonous blood last night, Doma's cells suffered devastating damage.
In order to expel the toxins from his body, he underwent an extremely frantic process of rapid regeneration and physical dissection all night long.
Where is the once dashing and incomparably Eternal Paradise Cult of the Doma Sect now?
He's lost weight!!
Extremely thin!
"Oh dear, Lord Muzan, this really isn't entirely my fault."
Doma was still waving that tattered gold fan in his hand, and he could still maintain that carefree smile.
"That man with the facial paralysis has incredibly poisonous blood!"
"I only took a tiny sip, and my internal organs almost turned into a pool of bitter liquid."
"To force the toxins out, I sacrificed a full three trillion cells!"
Look how skinny I am now, I've even lost my abs, a gust of wind could blow me away.
"That's called a strategic retreat, it's to preserve our forces so we can continue to serve you loyally!"
Doma's shameless, skeletal appearance, still grinning like a lecher, ignited the last vestige of reason in Muzan's mind.
I'm forcing you to make a strategic shift!
"Whoosh--!"
A thick tentacle covered in barbs shot out from behind Muzan, moving so fast that even Kokushibo couldn't see it!
The tentacle, like a raging venomous snake, instantly coiled around Doma's poor neck and twisted violently!
"Snap!"
A crisp sound of bones breaking.
Doma's shriveled head was ripped off his neck, rolled twice on the ground, and finally came to rest next to Kokushibo's knee.
But the most outrageous thing is that even after his head fell to the ground, the smile on Doma's skin and bones did not disappear.
"Oh dear, Lord Muzan's tentacles are still so powerful, they feel so good squeezing my skinny neck~"
The head on the ground was still frantically flattering him.
Looking at this Muzan masochist, Muzan felt so angry that all seven of his hearts were about to stop working at once.
He withdrew his tentacles, rubbed his temples wearily, and decided to ignore this lunatic.
Muzan turned his gaze to the true form of Hantengu, the Coward Demon, who was kneeling in the last row, huddled in a ball and trembling.
"And you, you rat! You Hantengu!"
Muzan's voice was so cold it was like ice crystals.
"That idiot Gyokko was showing off his broken jar before he died, and he got killed in one strike without even leaving ashes!"
And what about you?
"You, as the Upper Rank Four, were actually cornered by three lowly trash who aren't even pillars, plus a blind monk?!"
"If it weren't for me, you'd be dead by now!"
The Coward Demon trembled all over, tears and snot streaming down its face, its withered hands clutching its head as it frantically kowtowed.
"Eek! Lord Muzan mercy!"
"Those Demon Slayer were so ruthless! They had no respect for the elderly or children. Three of them chased after me, a poor old man, with knives! It was terrifying!"
Looking at this room full of oddballs, defeated men, emaciated drama queens, and useless rats,
Muzan took a deep breath, feeling that his thousand-year-old foundation would sooner or later be destroyed by these idiots.
Just then...
"Splash--!"
A Japanese-style paper door at the edge of the attic was suddenly pulled open.
"I'm exhausted! I'm going to die!"
A charming yet deeply distressed female voice drifted in.
Upper Rank Six, Daki, walked in, panting.
Her alluring face was covered in fragrant sweat, and her courtesan kimono was disheveled.
On her back lay a gaunt, ugly man covered in black spots— Gyutaro.
"Lord Muzan! This is not fair at all!"
Daki slumped to the ground, completely oblivious to the oppressive atmosphere, and began to rant and rave to herself.
"Do you know how far it is from Entertainment District to Mount Sagiri?!"
"That's a distance spanning several counties! The journey is ridiculously long!!"
"She carried her brother on her back and ran all night! Her legs are so thin from running, and the soles of her feet are covered in blisters!"
"By the time we got there, it was already daylight!"
"That's right... Lord Muzan..."
The Gyutaro on his back also chimed in with a whistling sound.
"My brother and I are just suffering like ghosts running errands... We ran all night without even a sip of water. The physical distance is just too much!"
In the attic,
Kokushibo silently closed all six of his eyes.
Akaza covered his face in anguish, feeling ashamed to be ranked alongside these Upper Rank.
Even the skull on the ground, which resembled Doma, stopped chattering, seemingly pondering just how long this marathon would be.
Muzan looked at the pair of siblings who arrived late, their faces screaming "I've been running all night, I'm so wronged!" and his lips twitched wildly.
He truly doesn't even have the energy to curse anymore.
Leading this generation of Upper Rank is more torturous than making them sunbathe!
"Shut up, all of you!!"
Muzan finally unleashed a hysterical roar, the immense pressure nearly shattering the wooden planks of the attic!
Daki shrank back in fright, quickly shut her mouth, and hugged her brother tightly with a pitiful expression, no longer daring to utter a sound.
Muzan slumped back onto the sofa, his chest heaving violently.
On the surface, he was angry at his incompetent subordinates, furious at their ineptitude.
But in reality, only Muzan himself knew the truth.
He's scared!!
An extreme, soul-deep fear!
Whenever he closed his eyes, the image of Giyu Tomioka's expressionless, stoic face, and the Nichirin Blade burning with blinding flames, like the sun descending, would appear in his mind.
"That Giyu Tomioka... he's definitely the reincarnation of Yoriichi Tsugikuni! He absolutely is!"
Muzan roared madly in his mind, his seven hearts pounding wildly with extreme fear, his blood flow becoming erratic.
"That transparent form devoid of any fighting spirit, that scorching Sun Breathing capable of instantly annihilating the Gyokko..."
The reason Muzan has been able to live so comfortably for the past thousand years is...
He never relied on any ambition to dominate the world, but rather on his unparalleled survival skills ingrained in his very being.
When you encounter a weak opponent, strike hard; but when you encounter a seemingly invincible nemesis, just run!
Now that the Yaoshi has been completely eliminated, and all hope of perfectly overcoming sunlight has been shattered, why is he still going out to have fun?
Should we go and get ourselves killed again?
Muzan took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the trembling in his heart, and put on a dignified and cold expression.
He looked down at his men, who were in a pitiful state.
"Starting today!"
Muzan's voice echoed above the Infinity Castle.
"Infinity Castle is completely sealed off! Entering the highest level of defense!"
"Without my personal order, no one is allowed to provoke anyone from the Demon Slayer Corps!"
Muzan gritted his teeth, then deliberately emphasized his words, adding viciously:
"Especially that man named Giyu Tomioka! Anyone who dares to approach his territory without permission will bring me unnecessary trouble..."
"I'll crush someone's cells right now! I'll let them experience what it means to wish they were dead!"
After issuing this supreme order, which could be described as everyone cowering like turtles, Muzan flicked his sleeves and turned without looking back, walking into the darkness deep inside the attic.
All he wanted now was to find the safest corner, wrap himself tightly in the blankets, and get a good night's sleep to soothe his frightened soul.
As Muzan's aura completely disappeared.
In the empty attic, only a group of Upper Rank demons remained, staring at each other in bewilderment.
The once invincible Twelve Kizuki have been forced into a long paid vacation (stay-at-home) mode.
Meanwhile, the Demon Slayer Corps, far away in the outside world, finally ushered in a brief but invaluable period of peace before the storm.