"Splash--!"
Amidst the ruins, splinters of wood flew everywhere.
Muzan Kibutsuji, clutching the charred, gaping wound on his chest, stumbled out of the rubble in a disheveled state.
He watched as Giyu Tomioka, standing on a wooden plank and wielding a red and white sword, approached again from a distance.
Muzan Kibutsuji abandoned his foolish idea of continuing to fly the kite further away.
Clearly, against the opponent's ghostly speed and those strange eyes that seemed to see into the future, long-range shooting was simply making oneself a sitting duck!
Since we can't gain any advantage from a distance, the only option is to confront them head-on!
"Great! Excellent!!"
Muzan flicked his long, pale hair, his eyes flashing with a frenzied mix of blood and black energy!
"Buzz--!"
Muzan suddenly pulled and ripped through the void with both hands!
The Black Abyss Demonic Qi surrounding him instantly boiled and compressed!
In his right hand, black demonic energy rapidly condensed into a [Black Abyss Demon Spear], twelve feet long with its tip burning with raging black flames;
On his left arm, a [Black Abyss Demon Shield], half a foot thick and engraved with hideous ghost faces, had materialized!
Not only that!
"Crackling and popping--!"
Countless streaks of purplish-black demonic lightning, crackling with destructive energy, burst forth from every pore of his body, coiling around the twelve-foot-long demonic spear!
Holding a shield in one hand and a spear in the other, his entire body was wreathed in black flames and demonic lightning!
This progenitor of demons, who had been lying low for a thousand years, was finally unleashed. He stomped his feet on the ruins, transforming into a purple-black lightning bolt that tore through space, and charged towards Giyu Tomioka!
"Finally willing to fight head-on? That makes it a little more interesting."
Giyu Tomioka's eyes shone brightly with a crystal light. Facing Muzan, who was unleashing his Full Release power, he did not back down at Muzan. He activated the "Sun Wheel Moon Radiance Breathing" technique at full power, and wielded the red and white Nichirin Blade, transforming it into a dazzling red and white stream of light as he head-on clashed with it!
"Clang--!"
In that instant, it was as if two stars had collided at the center of the Infinity Castle!
A destructive energy shockwave, composed of crimson Heat Haze, pure white moon blades, pitch-black demonic flames, and purplish-black demonic lightning, swept outwards in a ring from the point where the two clashed!
"Boom--!"
"Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff puff--!"
The small fry hiding in the shadows were only swept by the aftershocks of the two's fight, and were blown into a cloud of blood mist!
Hundreds of towering pavilions and suspended corridors in the surrounding area also collapsed and crumbled in the aftershocks!
This is the sheer power of two of the world's most formidable opponents clashing at full strength!
Even the slightest ripple of its aftershocks would be an instant death for any ordinary evil spirit!
And at the very heart of that storm.
"Clang clang--!"
In a mere second, the red and white swords clashed with the Black Abyss Demon Spear more than a hundred times in that small space!
"Die! Die! Die for me!! Giyu Tomioka, the Black Abyss Demon Spear of mine is wrapped with demonic lightning capable of shattering nerves! Even if you blocked the tip with your sword, the transmitted lightning would be enough to numb your hands, wouldn't it?!"
Muzan thrust and swept across the room while roaring ferociously, trying to see a look of pain on Giyu's face.
"Masturbation? You're overthinking it."
Giyu retaliated with a strike amidst the flashing blades and spears, the red and white blade sliding upwards along the spear shaft, forcing Muzan to Muzan raise his magic shield to block.
"This level of electric current is at most helping to improve my blood circulation and remove blood stasis."
"Stop being so stubborn!"
Muzan, Muzan unleashed a torrent of fury, transforming his twelve-foot-long demonic spear into a myriad of deadly purple-black spear shadows that thrust, swept, slashed, and smashed!
Each thrust shattered the sound barrier, the black flames and demonic lightning at the spear tip constantly exploding into destructive thunderstorms as it was swung.
The black shield of demonic energy in his left hand worked perfectly in tandem; whenever Giyu's blade slashed toward his vital points, the black shield would immediately rise up to block it!
Even if Giyu cleaves the Black Shield in two with a single strike, Muzan can repair it in the blink of an eye!
Facing the Muzan, who combined offense and defense, Giyu Tomioka also brought the first six forms of the "Sun Wheel Moon Radiance Breathing" sword technique to its pinnacle!
As Muzan's Muzan lightning thrust approached his face, Giyu slipped his feet and swung his wrist in a swift motion, unleashing "First Form: Dawn of the Night: Ring Wheel," using a ring of red and white blades to Muzan deflect Muzan's spearhead along with the exploding lightning.
He immediately closed in, gripping the sword with both hands and unleashing a powerful "Second Form: Crimson Sky: Azure Moon" strike. The raging crimson greatsword, accompanied by a flurry of moon blades, shattered the demonic shield on Muzan's left hand and then ripped a deep, bone-revealing gash across Muzan's shoulder.
When Muzan used his regenerative abilities to forcefully counterattack despite his wounds, wielding his demonic spear to unleash hundreds and thousands of black flame spear shadows in an attempt to engulf Giyu immediately activated "Fifth Form: Flame Wheel: Moon Vortex" and "Third Form: Radiant Soul: Ruin Wind" in mid-air, transforming into a red and white storm of destruction to directly confront Muzan's Muzan spear shadows!
"Boom! Boom! Clang! Crack--!"
A blazing red sun, a pure white cold moon, pitch-black demonic flames, and raging purple-black thunder!
The four-colored energy streams collided, tore, and exploded wildly in the void of the Infinity Castle!
The two fought their way down from the sky to the buildings below, and then from the collapsed ruins to the upside-down dome!
They were like two runaway crushers; wherever they clashed, whether it was a pillar or a pavilion, everything was instantly shredded into dust by their sword energy and spear aura!
In a fierce battle, Giyu Tomioka unleashed his Muzan Kibutsuji matched, each a worthy opponent!
Neither side could gain the upper hand in a short time, and the battlefield was completely deadlocked!
At the same time.
On the other side, hundreds of miles away from the earth-shattering battlefield where Giyu and Muzan fought.
Inside a vast martial arts hall, surrounded by dozens of wooden pillars with coiled dragons.
"Zheng--!"
With a single note from Biwa, the portals in the air above the main hall swung open to both sides.
Immediately afterwards, a large, bony hand reached out from inside the door and violently flung out a young man dressed in a black and green checkered haori!
"Bang--! Sizzle--!"
Tanjiro Kamado rolled and slid across the floor for more than twenty meters, his back smashing through the screens before finally coming to a stop!
"Cough... cough!"
Tanjiro braced himself on the floor with one hand, coughed violently twice, and a trickle of bright red blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.
On his left shoulder, there was a horrific knife wound so deep that the bone was visible, which had nearly severed his entire left arm. At that moment, the muscles around the wound were slowly wriggling and healing.
Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, Tanjiro leaned on his Nichirin Blade, swayed as he stood up, and looked up at the tall, six-eyed swordsman in front of him who was taking steady steps as he walked out of the dimensional gate!
Upper Rank One: Kokushibo.