Listen to the Red Dragon's Roar! Starlight in the Palm!

Amid the ruins left by the collapse of Infinity Castle, the Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen who had just endured the battle against the Upper Ranks were tending to their gruesome wounds.

"Caw—! Battle report! Battle report!"

"Muzan Kibutsuji has returned from the dead! The Commander-in-Chief is fighting him alone!"

"Muzan Kibutsuji has returned from the dead! The Commander-in-Chief is fighting him alone!"

The Kasugai Crows' shrill cries tore through the sky, echoing amid the twisted wreckage as they delivered the terrible news the Demon Slayer Corps least wanted to hear.

Sanemi Shinazugawa violently tore open his blood-soaked uniform, hastily wrapped his new wound, and lowered his head with a beastlike roar.

"Damn it! Not even the sun could burn that monster to death?!"

Tengen Uzui picked up the metal orb from the ground, once radiant but now considerably dimmer.

He turned toward the Wind Hashira, who was struggling to get up, and shook his head in warning.

"You've lost too much blood. If you keep moving around, you'll die."

The veins on Sanemi Shinazugawa's forehead bulged as he snapped back.

"You expect me to sit here and wait?! Not a chance!"

"What a disobedient bastard."

Tengen Uzui clicked his tongue, stepped forward, and hauled him to his feet.

Supporting each other, the two staggered deeper toward the battlefield.

Mitsuri Kanroji gently placed the hairpin Daki had left behind beside the ashes Gyutaro had become, murmuring one final blessing.

"If there's a next life, make sure you're carefree, happy siblings."

Obanai Iguro carefully identified the direction, then said coldly,

"Mitsuri, we're leaving. The Commander-in-Chief needs us immediately!"

"Yeah, I know!"

On the scorched earth, twisted giant trees still burned.

Kyojuro Rengoku clutched his bleeding abdomen. A pale smile curled across his lips, and his breathing was unsteady.

"Sorry, Tokito. It seems my training still has a long way to go."

Muichiro Tokito wiped the sticky demon blood from his Nichirin Blade, his expression as calm as ever.

"If you hadn't held him back, I couldn't have locked onto his true body. Mr. Rengoku, you're strong."

A trace of relief flashed through Kyojuro Rengoku's eyes.

"Thank you. I'll leave the rest to you."

Muichiro Tokito nodded solemnly, then flashed away toward the direction from which the Kasugai Crows had sounded their warning.

Beside the lotus pond, Shinobu Kocho sat collapsed on the ground, her hollow eyes fixed on the pile of ashes that had once been her mortal enemy.

Her tears had long since run dry, leaving only deathly stillness.

Gyomei Himejima stepped forward, pressing his palms together as he spoke with grief.

"Namu Amida Butsu. Kanae would never wish to see you like this."

Giyu stood nearby, his lips moving, but in the end, he said nothing.

During the battle against Doma, his thoughtless remarks had unexpectedly thrown the demon into disarray and enraged him beyond measure.

It gave him the faint realization that perhaps—he simply wasn't good with words.

Grief had not swallowed Shinobu Kocho completely. She hastily wiped the remaining tears from the corners of her eyes, forced herself to stand, and looked toward her companions.

"Let's go. Mr. Kashu is still waiting for us."

But was Kashu truly waiting for the Hashiras' support at this moment?

Boom—!

A violent tornado tore open the earth. The ground, fragile as a paper toy, was effortlessly ripped apart, revealing the two combatants locked in fierce battle.

Kashu held his platinum longsword inverted in his hand. The smile on his lips only widened, and his fighting spirit burned even hotter than before.

Muzan Kibutsuji remained expressionless. Behind him, several grotesque whips of flesh and bone danced wildly, unleashing deadly tidal waves again and again.

Dragon Breathing: Sun Form: Red Dragon!

Kashu transformed into a gigantic crimson flame dragon once more. With a beat of his wings, he soared skyward before diving down with thunderous force!

Muzan Kibutsuji's thorned whips had not yet retracted. His face remained blank, but blood vessels suddenly filled his scarlet pupils as his counterattack arrived in an instant!

Blood Demon Art: Infinite Impact!

An invisible yet immense shockwave spread outward from him with brutal force!

The Red Dragon's dive was abruptly halted!

The shockwave was mixed with lightning that tore through space, savage hurricanes, and a strange power that disrupted the mind, continuously eroding everything in its path!

Before one wave had subsided, another rose.

Layer upon layer of shockwaves howled forward, as though they intended to grind heaven and earth into dust!

As smoke and dust spread, the flames around Kashu shuddered and withdrew. He stood firmly at the center of a massive circular crater.

"Not bad. Even though it's stolen power, it's far stronger than the original owner's?"

"What a pity. You act only on instinct and have even lost the most basic intelligence?"

"You're stranger than a demon. What exactly are you?"

Muzan Kibutsuji stiffly turned his head, his gaze empty. Clearly, he had no intention of communicating with Kashu.

Crack—!

The faint sound of shifting rubble reached Kashu's ears.

The Hashiras staggered over with their battered bodies, their eyes fixed firmly upon Muzan Kibutsuji.

"So that's... Muzan Kibutsuji?!"

"Did he cause all this devastation around us? What a horrifying monster..."

"Commander-in-Chief, how are your injuries? Do you need treatment first?"

"Namu Amida Butsu. Such demonic aura is truly terrifying."

"None of you come any closer! He's not someone you can handle. Stay where you are!"

Kashu shouted sharply to stop them, but his eyes never left Muzan Kibutsuji for even a moment.

The monster merely glanced at the Hashiras when they appeared. His ultimate target remained Kashu.

"But we..."

"No buts! Ubuyashiki isn't here, so I'm in charge!"

The Hashiras wore conflicted expressions. Their clenched grips on their sword hilts slowly loosened. Watching their comrade fight the progenitor of demons alone was agonizing.

With Transparent World active, Kashu took in every expression on their faces and could not help laughing in irritation.

"Hey! What kind of faces are those? Do you think I'd lose to trash like this?"

He sneered. "Forget it. Looks like I won't get any information out of him anyway. Let's end this."

Wind King's Barrier!

Besides using Breathing techniques to channel magic power and strengthen himself, Kashu once again invoked magic granted by Divine Blessing after a long time!

Invisible currents of air gathered madly. Terrifying wind pressure condensed layer by layer, and the platinum longsword in his hand gradually vanished from sight!

A savage tornado suddenly formed around Kashu, tearing at the already shattered earth as countless rocks and broken trees were swept into the sky!

As if sensing extreme danger, Muzan Kibutsuji's legs burst apart in an instant, extending even more grotesque whips of flesh and bone that shot toward Kashu in a sky-covering barrage!

Dragon Breathing: Fusion Ultimate Art: Red Dragon's Roar!

In an instant, searing heat swept across the battlefield!

Kashu perfectly fused magic and Breathing techniques. The wind fueled the flames, and the flames borrowed the wind's might!

The already blazing crimson flame dragon suddenly radiated heat at a level so terrifying it defied belief!

The next moment, the giant dragon raised its head and unleashed a dragon's roar that shook heaven and earth!

A supremely condensed blue-white stream of scorching breath erupted forth!

Wherever the breath passed, earth and stone melted, all things blackened, and even space seemed to twist from the heat!

Those flesh-and-bone whips capable of tearing through the air turned to ash the instant they touched the breath!

At the end of the torrent, Muzan Kibutsuji's figure was completely swallowed. Before he could release even a single cry of agony, he was annihilated within the endless light and heat!

Crack!

In the dead silence, Kashu vaguely heard a crisp and strange sound, like glass shattering.

Before he could investigate, a grain-sized starlight mark quietly appeared in the center of his left palm. It shimmered brilliantly, giving off an enigmatic glow.

Kashu's heart tightened at the sight.

What is this?

"W-We won? Muzan Kibutsuji... is dead?"

"We won! We won! There will never be demons in this world again!"

"Ha... Hahaha! Commander-in-Chief! What an utterly flamboyant victory!"

Hearing them, Kashu looked toward the Hashiras, overwhelmed with joy after surviving the catastrophe, and silently clenched his left fist.

This mark... I'll set it aside for now. This is the moment to savor the fruits of victory.