Kibutsuji Muzan was highly efficient. The night after receiving the photo, he led all the demons to surround the mountain where the Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters was located.
Then he saw a wooden puppet standing on the road at the foot of the mountain, holding up a sign that read:
"Ubuyashiki Family Head holds the Blue Spider Lily and invites Kibutsuji Muzan to the mountaintop to settle their grievances.
"As the Demon King, surely you aren't afraid to meet a sick man alone?"
Seeing the puppet, Kibutsuji Muzan sneered disdainfully. Then he struck it, smashing it to pieces in an instant, and scoffed,
"Pathetic tricks."
Kibutsuji Muzan wasn't stupid. He knew there had to be a trap on the mountain, but deep down, he genuinely looked down on the Demon Slayer Corps.
From Kibutsuji Muzan's perspective, the possibility that the Demon Slayer Corps might destroy the Blue Spider Lily worried him more than any trap.
So the next second, he said to the others,
"Nakime, come with me. The rest of you, wait at the foot of the mountain and stand by for my orders."
Kibutsuji Muzan thought that bringing Nakime along meant he was being as cautious as possible, so he strode straight up the mountain.
On the way up, Kibutsuji Muzan encountered no traps or obstacles. He didn't even run into a single person.
He continued all the way to the building that housed the Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters, where he saw Kagaya Ubuyashiki standing alone at the entrance.
Kagaya Ubuyashiki's mind was connected to Dan Lei, who had turned the entire mountain into a workshop. So even though Kagaya was blind, he could still see what Kibutsuji Muzan looked like. Dan Lei had also temporarily strengthened Kagaya's body, at least enough to keep him from falling over while walking.
Seeing that Kibutsuji Muzan hadn't come alone, Kagaya Ubuyashiki taunted him,
"Kibutsuji Muzan, you're just as cowardly as the records say. You don't even dare to meet me alone, a man cursed by you and too weak to hurt a fly."
Now that Kibutsuji Muzan saw Kagaya Ubuyashiki was truly alone—and that his body looked so frail a gust of wind could knock him down—he restrained his urge to kill him on the spot and asked instead,
"I'm here. Where's the Blue Spider Lily?"
Kagaya Ubuyashiki turned and walked inside.
"If you have the guts, come in."
Kibutsuji Muzan said nothing more and followed Kagaya Ubuyashiki into the Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters.
Kagaya Ubuyashiki soon led Kibutsuji Muzan into a courtyard. In its center, a blue spider lily sat in a glass cultivation dish.
Seeing it, Kibutsuji Muzan rushed to the dish in excitement, crushed the glass, and absorbed the Blue Spider Lily.
Then he glared fiercely at Kagaya Ubuyashiki and roared,
"You tricked me!"
It didn't take much thought to realize that Kagaya Ubuyashiki would never give Kibutsuji Muzan the chance to overcome his final weakness. The Blue Spider Lily had been dyed blue for one purpose: to lure Kibutsuji Muzan away from Nakime for a little while.
In Dan Lei's plan, Nakime had to be dealt with first. Whether it was luring Kibutsuji Muzan up the mountain alone or this current plan, everything was meant to take Nakime out right away.
So, as soon as Kibutsuji Muzan moved away from Nakime, Kojiro Sasaki, who had been lying in wait, instantly shifted from Spirit Body form to corporeal form. He cut off Nakime's head, then vanished with it in his hands.
The whole maneuver was executed seamlessly, fully demonstrating Kojiro Sasaki's Assassin class.
Kojiro Sasaki vanished after cutting off Nakime's head because Dan Lei had used a Command Spell to make him bring Nakime's head back and kill her. Kojiro Sasaki's sword couldn't kill Nakime.
So, from Kibutsuji Muzan's perspective, Nakime had died the moment her head was cut off.
At that moment, Kagaya Ubuyashiki's expression turned fierce as well.
"Did you enjoy the first surprise I gave you? Don't worry, there's a second one."
With that, Kagaya Ubuyashiki vanished. In his place appeared enough high-explosive powder to fill the entire courtyard.
Dan Lei had used Replacement Magic to swap Kagaya Ubuyashiki with the explosives inside the mountain.
Then a small mushroom cloud rose from the Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters, and the entire headquarters was instantly flattened.
However, Kibutsuji Muzan wasn't badly hurt by the flames of the explosion.
Dan Lei could clearly sense that Kibutsuji Muzan had used the power of the Abundance Destiny to protect himself.
The explosion had managed to break through his defenses, but with Kibutsuji Muzan's terrifying regenerative abilities combined with the Abundance Destiny, the damage was repaired in an instant.
But it wasn't over yet. Before the flames from the explosion had fully dissipated, Dan Lei used Replacement Magic to bring Gyomei Himejima, Sanemi Shinazugawa, and Kojiro Sasaki—two people who possessed the power of the Hunt—right beside Kibutsuji Muzan.
At that moment, the power of the Hunt covered Gyomei Himejima's entire body. He wept as he said,
"The war between humans and demons ends today, at last! Kibutsuji Muzan, prepare to die!"
With that, he charged in first.
Kibutsuji Muzan immediately transformed into his combat form and blocked the flail Gyomei Himejima swung at him with one hand.
At the same time, he extended a tentacle to block Sanemi Shinazugawa's slash.
But in the next instant, Kojiro Sasaki suddenly stepped forward with his sword raised. Three flashes of sword light struck Kibutsuji Muzan's neck at once, cutting his head clean off.
This was Kojiro Sasaki's Noble Phantasm, Secret Sword [Swallow Return].
At the same time, Tamayo suddenly appeared, injected several syringes of medicine into Kibutsuji Muzan's body and head, then vanished.
Kibutsuji Muzan realized that someone in the Demon Slayer Corps had an ability similar to Nakime's. He immediately ordered all the demons to attack the mountain in force!
The demons at the foot of the mountain had already been itching to move when the explosion went off at the summit. They'd simply been too afraid to act without Kibutsuji Muzan's orders.
Now that the order had been given, demons of all kinds used their various abilities to rush up the mountain.
However, the demons were intercepted as soon as they entered the mountain.
Large numbers of puppets wielding Nichirin Blades appeared out of nowhere among the trees. They were incredibly strong, and ordinary demons went down in just two strikes.
These were the guards of Dan Lei's Magic Workshop: puppets modeled after Yoriichi Type Zero. They might not have been strong enough to fight an Upper Rank, but they were certainly strong enough to take down ordinary demons.
Of course, Dan Lei had arranged opponents for the Upper Ranks, too. All the Hashira who hadn't gone to attack Kibutsuji Muzan were sent to intercept them.
Shinobu Kocho, who also possessed the power of the Hunt, wasn't with Kibutsuji Muzan because she had to kill Upper Rank Two, Doma, herself.
Of course, inside Dan Lei's Magic Workshop, the Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps weren't actually being made to fight the Upper Ranks alone.
Dan Lei had planted countless Blood Vines on the mountain, all steeped in the deadly poison found in Gyutaro's body. Even an Upper Rank would be weakened if one of them got its poison into them.
Moreover, Dan Lei could imitate Nakime's tactics in the Infinity Castle and continually swap everyone's positions with Replacement Magic, creating situations where several fighters could gang up on one opponent.
With the leyline nodes across the whole mountain supporting him, Dan Lei had an incredible amount of magic power. He could keep it up until daylight without any trouble.
Before you continue