What a Fierce Battle That Was

Tanjiro alone had always chosen to believe in Asuramaru, never wavering. "Asuramaru, you must have a way, right?"

At that, Lin Fan lowered his hand, turned to face everyone, and spoke unhurriedly.

"Of course. A curse only needs its source to be found and dealt with. The source of the curse upon you is Muzan Kibutsuji.

"As long as he is slain, the curse entangling your Ubuyashiki Family will naturally disappear."

It sounded simple enough, but doing it was difficult.

The Ubuyashiki Clan and the Demon Slayer Corps had fought against Muzan Kibutsuji for a thousand years without managing to kill him. They could not even get a grasp on his whereabouts.

Trying to kill Muzan Kibutsuji was simply as difficult as ascending to heaven!

Yet this did not discourage Kagaya Ubuyashiki. The corners of his lips rose slightly as he looked at the sorrowful people below and said,

"Even if it had nothing to do with the curse, killing Muzan Kibutsuji has been my lifelong wish. I believe that the Hashira gathered here today are the finest group of warriors since the swordsmen of the Warring States era.

"With Tanjiro and Asuramaru joining us as well, I believe we will surely be able to bring Muzan to a complete end. Then I will die without regrets."

"Master..."

The Hashira were filled with grief.

The Insect Hashira, who had been deep in thought, asked a crucial question. Her pale violet eyes settled on Asuramaru as she asked urgently,

"Even if the curse cannot be removed, you can still heal the illness caused by it.

"Then if the curse erupts again and causes the illness to return years from now, can you heal it again?"

That question hit the nail on the head. Lin Fan had just been worried that no one would ask. Now, he could finally bluff without restraint.

"Of course I can heal it. However, as time passes, the curse will grow stronger, and I will need more power to suppress it."

Having received that answer, the Hashira were finally relieved. This meant they had gained a little more time.

At that point,

Kagaya Ubuyashiki, standing beside him, had more or less understood. Still, he did not expose it. After all, one could not expect a horse to run without feeding it.

"Your power has not fully recovered yet, has it? I read the letter. To recover your strength quickly, you need to kill evil creatures, correct?"

Lin Fan answered matter-of-factly,

"That's right."

After receiving confirmation, Kagaya Ubuyashiki smiled kindly and decisively responded,

"Then killing demons must be the best way for you to recover your strength. From this day forward, the Demon Slayer Corps will submit all gathered information on demons to you. You may choose whichever missions you wish to undertake."

Having said that, he changed the subject.

"However, in return, I have some questions I would like to ask. Would you be willing to answer them?"

This was clearly a transaction.

Both sides understood that. Lin Fan had expected it and was prepared, so he asked without hesitation,

"What do you want to know?"

Seeing that he had agreed, Kagaya Ubuyashiki let out an almost imperceptible sigh of relief. Then he asked three questions with a gentle expression.

"How much of your power has recovered? What abilities can you use? And what do you know about Muzan Kibutsuji?"

Even if Lin Fan did not say anything,

these people could get a rough idea by asking Tanjiro. So he did not hide anything and simply told them everything he knew.

"My power has not recovered much yet. One ability I can use is Blood Cry. Any enemy I cut will find their wounds difficult to heal, and they will bleed without end.

"And there is the healing ability you just witnessed. Even if a body is utterly broken, as long as the person has not died, I can heal them completely..."

Before he could finish,

those words alone had already shocked the Hashira.

When facing demons,

the hardest things to deal with were their terrifying regenerative abilities and the frail bodies of humans.

But with this blade,

the demons' advantage would vanish completely, while humans would gain bodies as undying as demons!

That alone was enough to leave them utterly incredulous.

Meanwhile, in Infinity Castle, Muzan, who had organized several hunting operations and experienced this several times himself,

gave it an extremely high appraisal.

Wasn't this completely backwards?! You're a demon, and I'm a demon too?!

He had even nearly suffered a breakdown.

Fuck!

Seeing their stunned expressions, Lin Fan nodded slightly in satisfaction. Kagaya Ubuyashiki beside him, however, appeared perfectly at ease.

He had clearly known beforehand.

But Lin Fan's next words left everyone present except Tanjiro unable to believe their ears!

In their shock, they even wondered whether they had misheard him.

What Kind of Brutal Battle Was That?

[If you do not want to read the daily-life portions, you can skip ahead and start directly from the Infinity Train Arc.]

Lin Fan only spoke calmly and slowly.

"Besides that, I can provide Nourishment to my wielder. When my wielder uses me to kill demons,

"I recover Demon Power, and I can use part of that Demon Power to strengthen my wielder's body."

When they heard that ability, everyone's first thought was that it had to be fake. Yet when they looked at Tanjiro in the distance,

it was an indisputable fact that he had killed four Lower Ranks in one go on Mount Natagumo.

This time, even Kagaya Ubuyashiki could no longer remain calm. If that were true, would that not mean the Demon Slayer Corps could nurture an ultimate powerhouse capable of easily killing Muzan?

As for the Hashira, if they had not known that Asuramaru would not change masters, they would probably have already stepped forward to try poaching him.

Just kidding. Who would not want a blade capable of increasing its owner's strength?

Fortunately, no one had lost their heads.

Kagaya Ubuyashiki, standing by the corridor, came back to his senses. His smile faded as he asked with utmost seriousness,

"Are there limits to this enhancement?"

Lin Fan's crimson eyes turned toward him. Seeing the determination in his gaze, he answered,

"There are no limits. However, the stronger the wielder is, the more Demon Power my Nourishment requires to have an effect on him."

The stronger one became, the harder it was to improve further?

That was reasonable.

That was what Kagaya Ubuyashiki thought.

He had even begun considering how to train Tanjiro.

As he pondered, Lin Fan did not stop and continued, "Furthermore, I can possess and control my wielder's body, activating a Demonification state.

"Once in that state, they can use the powers that belong to me, Asuramaru. The only drawback is that remaining in it too long will cause them to become a demon completely!"

Afraid they might misunderstand, he deliberately added, "The demons I speak of are not the same as the demons you know."

Everyone here knew at least a little about legends and had some understanding of the so-called demons from those tales.

So no one said anything further.

Besides, it was not nearly as shocking as the Nourishment ability.

Still, Kagaya Ubuyashiki could not help asking, "How great an improvement does Demonification bring when using your powers?"

"Ask Tanjiro yourselves."

Lin Fan could not be bothered to answer such a tedious question.

"As for my other abilities, I cannot use them in my current state." After briefly explaining his abilities, he moved on to the third question.

This was also what the Demon Slayer Corps members were concerned about. As for how to describe Muzan, Lin Fan simply said whatever he knew.

He also took the chance to teach these people something useful.

"Muzan Kibutsuji is extremely cowardly and bullies the weak while fearing the strong. Yoriichi Tsugikuni nearly killed him once, and from then on, he hid until that man died before daring to appear again.

"Still, his strength is real. He possesses many Blood Demon Arts. The more troublesome ones are the thorned whips that grow from his spine, as well as the fanged bloody mouths covering his entire body..."

As he spoke, he looked directly at everyone present and said bluntly, "If you encounter him, he will probably kill you with ease. You are all too weak right now."

The moment those words fell,

the Hashira below wore a variety of expressions. No one would be happy to have their strength called weak so directly.

But they had never seen Muzan, and Lin Fan's identity was special, so they could not really say anything.

Tanjiro watched from the side, his heart pounding wildly.

Fortunately, Kagaya Ubuyashiki stepped in to ease the tension. "Are my swordsmen truly that weak?"

Lin Fan looked at everyone below again. Then he nodded slightly and said with certainty,

"They really are weak. Breathing Styles can be divided into three stages: mastery, Demon Slayer Mark, and Transparent World. Yet among you, there is not even anyone capable of awakening a Demon Slayer Mark."

Everyone present was hearing this knowledge for the first time, including Kagaya Ubuyashiki.

But that was normal.

After all, those who awakened a Demon Slayer Mark did not live long, making it difficult to pass the knowledge down. And almost no one could master the Transparent World, so it was perfectly understandable that no one knew.

Hearing this knowledge for the first time,

Kagaya Ubuyashiki urgently wanted to know more and quickly asked, "Then how does one awaken the Demon Slayer Mark and the Transparent World?"

Lin Fan could not explain how they were awakened either, so he could only brush it off vaguely.

"When the time comes, they will awaken naturally. Also, while awakening a Demon Slayer Mark greatly increases one's power, it causes the user to die before the age of twenty-five."

At that moment, the place fell completely silent.

After a while,

Kagaya Ubuyashiki was still the one who stepped forward. With a solemn expression, he asked, "Forgive me, but may I ask who Yoriichi Tsugikuni was? And why was Muzan nearly killed by him?"

In response, Lin Fan's gaze drifted toward the box containing Nezuko in the distance.

Kagaya Ubuyashiki immediately understood and announced before everyone, "I have accepted Tanjiro and Nezuko. I hope all of you can accept them as well."

The Hashira below no longer held such great hostility toward Tanjiro, but they still could not accept Nezuko as a demon.

Yet no one wanted to make trouble at this moment.

Kagaya Ubuyashiki knew that he could not make everyone accept Nezuko with just a few words. There was nothing he could do about that.

Fortunately, Lin Fan did not dwell on it. After sweeping his eyes over everyone once, he began speaking on his own.

"Yoriichi Tsugikuni was the origin of all Breathing Styles. He created Sun Breathing and was born with both a Demon Slayer Mark and the Transparent World. He was probably the strongest human in this world."

It was only a brief introduction.

Yet everyone present seemed to glimpse just how powerful that legendary man had been!

"When he first met Muzan, he discovered that Muzan possessed five brains and seven hearts, and had overcome the weakness of decapitation.

"Only Sun Breathing and sunlight can kill him completely."

The moment those words were spoken,

everyone present was truly stunned.

It was difficult to imagine how such a powerful Muzan had been defeated by Yoriichi Tsugikuni, or what kind of terrifying battle had erupted between them.

But Lin Fan's next words completely shattered their fantasies. "Still, it is rather funny. Muzan was instantly defeated by Yoriichi Tsugikuni. If he had not run fast enough, he might have died long ago."