On the eastern horizon, a faint grayish-white expanse is spreading slowly yet resolutely, like a drop of water being added to ink, gradually but irreversibly spreading, dispelling the darkness and bringing dawn.
Giyu quickly calculated the time in his mind.
In at most one hour, the sun will be fully risen, illuminating the entire earth!
One shichen is two hours!
Normally, two hours is a very short time, short enough to eat a meal, practice a few sword swings, and write a mission report before it's over.
But now, facing Upper Rank One Kokushibo, these two hours felt like an eternity. Every minute and every second was filled with the threat of death, and a single misstep could mean certain death.
We must stall for time! We absolutely must stall for time!!
Giyu and courage told himself with unwavering resolve:
Kokushibo is a demon, and demons fear the sun most! As long as we can hold out until sunrise, even if we can't kill him, he'll definitely run away and won't dare stay a second longer!!
How can we delay it?
Giyu looked down at his hands; the web between his thumb and forefinger was completely split open, and the cloth wrapped around his hands was soaked in blood, turning a frightening dark red.
The wound on my left shoulder is slowly healing thanks to my special constitution, but the pain of the fractured bone is still so clear; every movement is excruciating.
My breathing became erratic.
His lungs were truly at their limit; they simply couldn't withstand the high-intensity combat and the continuous operation of his Breathing Style.
He recalled the fierce battle in Blue Stone Town, and the moment when he grasped the Transparent World while on the brink of life and death.
Back then, I was truly teetering on the brink of death, every second could be my death, every strike had to be a gamble with everything, there was no turning back, I could only charge forward.
But what happened next?
After becoming the Water Hashira, the number of missions increased, and the number of demons he killed also increased. Lower Rank Two, Lower Rank Three, Lower Rank Four... those demons who were so strong that they inspired despair in the eyes of ordinary team members often couldn't withstand more than three moves from him before being cut down.
Have I unknowingly started to slack off?
Giyu gripped his Nichirin Blade tightly, blood seeping from between his fingers and dripping to the ground, but his gaze only grew more resolute.
It wasn't that he had slacked off in his training; he still swung his sword three thousand times every day, persisted in practicing his Breathing Style, and continued to study variations of Water Breathing, all in an effort to break through his limits.
It's a matter of mindset. A lack of motivation.
Accustomed to victory, accustomed to crushing opponents, accustomed to believing oneself to be invincible and capable of handling anything, accustomed to never losing or being defeated.
It wasn't until tonight, until he stood before Kokushibo, until he was sent flying by a casual slash, until he used up all his skills and risked his life to leave only a tiny, shallow mark on Kokushibo, that he realized—this was the real battle!!
This is the true power of Upper Rank One! The difference between a human and a demon is just too great!!
His lungs felt like they were burning, his muscles were screaming, and his brain, strained from Transparent World, was throbbing with pain. Yet, Giyu's eyes grew brighter and more resolute, like a knife on a whetstone, becoming sharper and more resilient with each use!
"Moon Breathing - Sixteenth Form - Moonbow - Lone Moon!"
Kokushibo's icy voice rang out again, carrying an unyielding killing intent that echoed throughout the courtyard.
He gripped the Kokyū Shinku tightly with both hands, raising it high above his head. The pure white light on the blade began to spin wildly, forming a massive vortex. At the center of the vortex, countless tiny crescent-shaped blades were constantly being born, annihilated, and reformed, their speed increasing and their killing intent growing ever stronger!
The long sword swung down fiercely!
Centered on Kokushibo, the entire space within a ten-zhang radius was instantly filled with endless moonlight. Countless crescent-shaped blades of light spun wildly, creating a massive, meat-grinding death zone where anything that entered was instantly torn to shreds!
Giyu a deep breath, inhaling too forcefully, which aggravated the wound on his chest, causing him to cough up blood that stained the haori in front of him.
But he didn't retreat an inch; instead, he took a step forward.
With the Nichirin Blade held horizontally in front of him, his left hand steadily supporting the back of the blade, he slowed his breathing, compressing all his strength into the next burst of power, waiting for the perfect moment.
Transparent World, fully open!!
I can definitely do it in one hour!!
Hold him off! No matter the cost, hold him off!!
Giyu roared inwardly, his body moving faster than his mind!
The Nichirin Blade was swung out in an instant!
"Eleventh Form ·Nagi!"
Within a three-inch radius around the blade, an absolutely calm vacuum instantly formed, isolating it from all energy impacts, pushing the defensive capabilities of Water Breathing to their absolute limit!
Countless moonlight slashes crashed wildly into this vacuum zone, only to be instantly deflected, guided, and annihilated upon collision!
Kokushibo's six eyes narrowed, a hint of surprise flashing in them, before turning into a deeper solemnity.
"Your judgment was correct. You actually found the flaw in my move and blocked the strongest attack with minimal effort. You're quite skilled."
He spoke in a low voice, and before he could finish, the way he held the knife changed from holding it with his right hand to holding it with his left hand!
At the same time, all six of his demonic eyes bulged with blood vessels, the whites of his eyes turned dark red, and his pupils shrank to the size of pinpoints, his aura growing increasingly terrifying!!
He, too, opened up Transparent World!!
Two powerful figures who have both unlocked the power of the Transparent World are about to engage in their ultimate showdown within this Moonlight Realm!!
The moonlight blades within the domain instantly doubled in ferocity, spinning faster, becoming more powerful, and radiating even greater killing intent as they launched a frenzied attack on Giyu!
The pressure on Giyu instantly doubled. Every time he blocked, he had to endure a huge impact, and his bones were making cracking sounds as if they were about to fall apart. But instead, he smiled, a very faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, so small that even Kokushibo didn't notice it.
Because he saw it, he saw that the grayish-white expanse of the eastern sea surface was finally tinged with a faint trace of orange-red.
The first rays of dawn are about to pierce the night sky; dawn is almost here!
Kokushibo stood at the highest point of the rooftop, all six of his eyes looking eastward with a complex expression that conveyed disgust, hatred, resentment, and a deep-seated fear.
For four hundred and seventy years, this sun has been chasing him. Every sunrise is like a resounding slap across his face.
Remind him that he is a ghost, a monster who cannot see the light, destined to live in darkness forever, never to bask in the sun, and forever unable to escape this damned fate.
He slowly turned his head to look at the boy ten feet away, at the wounded yet ramrod-straight-standing Giyu Tomioka.
Giyu Tomioka stood on the slanted roof tiles, covered in blood as if he had just been pulled from a pool of blood; he was unrecognizable from his original appearance.
Yet he still stood ramrod straight, his light blue Nichirin Blade held steadily in front of him, the tip of the blade precisely aimed at Kokushibo's heart, without the slightest wavering.
A drop of blood on the knife's tip, in the increasingly bright sunlight, was a dazzling red, yet also a resolute one.
It's dawn.
Kokushibo's voice remained calm, devoid of any discernible emotion.
"I'm giving you one last chance, Water Hashira."
He stretched out his left hand; his fingers were as pale as dead bones, completely devoid of color.
"Drink my blood, become a demon, and like me, possess eternal life and power."
"You will survive, you will become stronger, you will stand at the top of the world, witnessing countless sunrises and sunsets, and you will no longer be afraid of death or growing old!"
"Or-"
His right hand, holding the Kokyū Shinku, slowly rose above his head; the blade gleamed coldly, its killing intent soaring to the heavens.
"Before the sun shines on you, completely disappear from this world and turn to ashes!!"
Giyu didn't speak, but just looked down at the Nichirin Blade in his hand.
The light blue blade was already covered with dense cracks, like a piece of ice that could shatter at any moment, extremely brittle.
The four characters "Destroyer of Demons" on the blade appeared increasingly dim in the brighter daylight, yet they still conveyed the unwavering belief in slaying demons and eliminating evil.
Then, he slowly raised his head, his icy blue eyes staring straight at Kokushibo's six demonic eyes. His gaze was clear, firm, and unwavering. He just looked at him quietly, without flinching or showing any fear.
Silence is the final answer!
Kokushibo understood. He understood Kokushibo's obsession, his perseverance, and his determination to die rather than become a demon.
He slowly closed his eyes, took a deep breath, as if suppressing the anger and resentment in his heart.
"I see."
When they opened their eyes again, all that remained in those six eyes was pure, unadulterated killing intent—a terrifying killing intent capable of devouring everything, smearing everyone's faces with it!!
He remembered the perpetually cold figure in the suit in the Infinity Castle, he remembered Lord Muzan's emotionless voice, and he remembered Lord Muzan's order to him, "Kill all the Pillars of the Demon Slayer Corps, leave no one alive!!"
The killing intent exploded completely at this moment, soaring into the sky!!
"Fine, since you insist on dying, then I'll grant your wish!"
Kokushibo gripped the hilt of the Kokyū Shinku tightly with both hands, his demonic Demon Aura surging wildly and converging towards the blade.
The knife has begun to change!!
"Buzz~"
The originally clear, ringing sound of the blade instantly changed, transforming from a crisp metallic clang into a low, ferocious roar, filled with an aura of destruction!
The blade was also growing longer and longer, one meter, two meters, three meters... and it kept growing until it finally stopped at three and a half meters, like a giant killing machine, terrifying to the extreme!!
Countless bone-spur-like side blades sprouted wildly from both sides of the blade—one, two, three... Each side blade was crescent-shaped, its edge gleaming with a cold, moon-white light, incredibly sharp, capable of cutting through steel with ease!
Finally, the Kokyū Shinku, transforming completely into a three-and-a-half-meter-long monster, its entire body covered in countless crescent-shaped blades, like a killing machine crawling out of a nightmare, radiating a terrifying aura that made it hard to breathe!
But this is far from over!!
Suddenly, the skin on Kokushibo's right shoulder split open, and blood spurted out. A moon-white blade, exactly the same as the main sword, emerged from under the skin, over two meters long, gleaming with a deadly cold light!
Immediately afterward, a second blade emerged from below his left rib; on his back, a third, a fourth, a fifth... a total of six proliferating blades unfolded behind him, like a pair of deformed wings, each slowly rotating, its tip precisely pointed at Giyu, radiating murderous intent!
This is Kokushibo's Blood Demon Art, Moon Blades in Clusters!!
The air in the entire courtyard seemed to freeze at that moment; the air pressure was so low it was suffocating, and every breath felt like swallowing a knife—it was excruciating!
Giyu smiled, a slight upward twitch at the corners of his mouth revealing a relieved yet resolute smile.
Finally... it's here! This is Upper Rank One's true power!!
He took a deep breath, stretching his lungs to their limit, and his entire body activated his Water Breathing, unleashing a torrent of aquamarine energy that surged and roared like the sea before a storm!
Tiles beneath their feet were ripped away by the powerful gust of wind, shards of stone flew everywhere, and the roof shook violently, as if it might collapse at any moment!