Kibutsuji Muzan realized that he had indeed underestimated the Demon Slayer Corps. Since Tsugikuni Yoriichi, he had once again felt the threat of death.
Having his head chopped off was not a serious injury for Kibutsuji Muzan, who had five brains and seven hearts. He could simply blow up his head and grow another one.
The problem was the medicine Tamayo had injected into him.
Just like in the original story, Tamayo had injected Kibutsuji Muzan with four medicines: one that restored him to humanity, one that made him age fifty years every minute, one that prevented him from splitting apart, and one that destroyed demon cells.
Unlike in the original story, where Kibutsuji Muzan could slowly break down the medicine Tamayo had injected into him inside Infinity Castle, he had no time to break down the medicine this time.
Although no one in the Demon Slayer Corps had studied the Scarlet Blade this time, and no one had activated the so-called Transparent World or Demon Slayer Mark, the power of the Path of the Hunt was enough to offset the gap between humans and demons.
Moreover, Kibutsuji Muzan still had to face the siege of a genuine Heroic Spirit: Kojiro Sasaki.
Just as Dan Lei had predicted, Kojiro Sasaki really had no good way to deal with Kibutsuji Muzan's immortal body.
Without a Noble Phantasm or weapon designed to counter immortality, no matter how many times Kojiro Sasaki cut Kibutsuji Muzan, he could recover instantly.
Under the influence of the Abundance Destiny, the medicine that destroyed demon cells was far less effective. Kibutsuji Muzan's recovery ability had barely been affected.
However, it was wishful thinking for Kibutsuji Muzan to defeat Kojiro Sasaki in a short time. No matter how quickly he whipped the nine tendrils behind him and the eight tendrils on his legs, it was useless.
Kojiro Sasaki knew more than just Tsubame Gaeshi. He had pushed the One-Point Strike of the Gale Slash Style to its absolute limit. Every time he swung his sword, Kibutsuji Muzan lost something, and the tendrils were severed no matter how many he sent out.
Kibutsuji Muzan was too arrogant. His use of the power of the Abundance Destiny was extremely rudimentary. He only knew how to increase his recovery ability, not how to use it to protect himself.
As time passed, the medicines Tamayo had administered to Kibutsuji Muzan continued to take effect. Kibutsuji Muzan could clearly feel his strength constantly draining away.
All one could say was that this species of demon, which leaned toward being a Dead Apostle, could age as well.
This seemed somewhat counterintuitive, because ordinary people generally believed that the older a Dead Apostle was, the stronger it was in battle.
In reality, older Dead Apostles were strong because of what they had accumulated over the passage of time. To survive, they would constantly absorb energy from the outside world, and they naturally grew stronger over time.
If they adopted a different way of living and let an ordinary Dead Apostle sleep for several thousand years, would it become stronger or weaker after waking up?
After all, not every Dead Apostle was a True Ancestor.
Kibutsuji Muzan was now aging continuously without any accumulation at all. The Demon Transformation Medicine was simply not very effective on him; otherwise, once he returned to being human, Kibutsuji Muzan would immediately become a withered old man.
Of course, as time passed, the first to reach their limits were still the two pure-blooded humans, Gyomei Himejima and Sanemi Shinazugawa.
Even with the Path of the Hunt bolstering them and offsetting some of the gap in physical ability, humans still grew tired. Gyomei Himejima and Sanemi Shinazugawa could only barely protect themselves and restrain Kibutsuji Muzan during this battle. Against an enemy who could not be killed, their arms had gone numb from hacking at Kibutsuji Muzan.
At that moment, Dan Lei was observing the battle throughout the entire mountain from an underground cavern in the Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters.
Having completely secured the advantages of terrain and unity, and with puppets serving as cannon fodder, the Demon Slayer Corps had suffered quite a few injuries, but very few deaths.
The demons were in an entirely different state. Every demon below the Upper Rank that entered the mountain had been wiped out. Among the Upper Ranks, only Kokushibo and Akaza were still resisting stubbornly; all the others had already been eliminated.
Seeing that the time was about right, Dan Lei decided it was time to focus on dealing with Kibutsuji Muzan.
Thus, Dan Lei contacted Kojiro Sasaki through telepathy and said,
"It's about time. Execute Plan B. Lure Kibutsuji Muzan to the prepared location. I've already transposed the Blue Spider Lily there."
After the three received Dan Lei's telepathic message, Kojiro Sasaki immediately felt that something had appeared inside his clothes at his chest.
He immediately made a great leap away from Kibutsuji Muzan, deliberately taking out the Blue Spider Lily from inside his clothes.
This Blue Spider Lily was the real thing. Kibutsuji Muzan only had to look at it once before the instinctive desire in his body confirmed that the flower was genuine.
Thus, Kibutsuji Muzan instantly roared at Kojiro Sasaki,
"Give me the flower in your hand!!"
As he spoke, he unleashed the Blood Demon Art, Black Blood Thorn, drawing the blood from his own body and transforming it into iron-wire-like thorns that surged toward Kojiro Sasaki from all directions.
However, Kojiro Sasaki possessed A+ Agility. Once he decided to run, he slipped away in an instant, leaving the attack range of Black Blood Thorn.
After seeing the genuine Blue Spider Lily, Kibutsuji Muzan's physical desire had long since overwhelmed his reason. He did not even question why Kojiro Sasaki, who had been fighting him properly, had suddenly fled. He simply pursued him at full speed.
Gyomei Himejima and Sanemi Shinazugawa knew that Dan Lei had an inducement plan after they had worn Kibutsuji Muzan down for a while, but they had not expected Kojiro Sasaki and Kibutsuji Muzan to be so fast. In the blink of an eye, both of them had vanished.
Fortunately, Dan Lei immediately used a transposition to send them to the battlefield where Kokushibo and Akaza were fighting, so they could eliminate them as quickly as possible. After all, Dan Lei would no longer have the energy to continue supporting the Demon Slayer Corps.
Before long, Kojiro Sasaki had lured Kibutsuji Muzan deep into a cave, where one of Dan Lei's Magecraft Projections was waiting.
After seeing "Dan Lei," he threw the Blue Spider Lily toward "Dan Lei," then instantly spiritized and vanished.
The Blue Spider Lily was naturally transposed away by Dan Lei. After Kibutsuji Muzan entered, he saw only one person, and his perception of the flower was severed in an instant.
Without the temptation of the Blue Spider Lily, Kibutsuji Muzan's intelligence finally returned. He looked at the "Dan Lei" before him and asked,
"You used the Blue Spider Lily to lure me here. You're the one who used the Demon Slayer Corps to set this trap, aren't you? Judging by your clothes, you're not from around here. What grudge do we have? Why do you insist on killing me?"
In response to Kibutsuji Muzan's question, Dan Lei answered through the Magecraft Projection,
"Obviously, you're an Abundance Monstrosity. Everyone has the right to slay you.
"Besides, I'm extremely curious to see what can be refined from a thousand-year-old immortal after his magic power has been drained dry."
After he finished speaking, all the walls of the cavern suddenly lit up. Only then did Kibutsuji Muzan discover that the surroundings were not rock walls, but a base constructed with silver as its foundation.
At that moment, countless golden threads, together with gemstones, traced countless profound circuits across the silver foundation. Then Kibutsuji Muzan suddenly felt his hands and legs go limp, and his body collapsed onto the ground.
The Magecraft foundation Dan Lei had purchased with vast quantities of silver, gold, and gemstones had only one function: it was a life-force transmutation array, something ubiquitous in the Type-Moon Magecraft world.
Even a simple version of this kind of array could be deployed by Medusa when summoned as Rider—the barrier she released at the school in the TV series.
A more advanced version was the one that Medea's genuine Master, Atram Galliasta, demonstrated to Medea, directly refining Magic Crystals from humans.
And now, Dan Lei had used this array on Kibutsuji Muzan, wanting to see what could be refined from his thousand years of life.
Before you continue