Under the sunlight, Muzan's body crumbled entirely to ash.
Everyone watched Tanjiro standing there, still holding the pose of his final sword swing. For a long time, no one spoke.
Then the Nichirin Blade slipped from Tanjiro's hand, and he pitched forward.
"Brother!"
Nezuko was the first to rush toward Tanjiro.
"Hey, Tanjiro!"
Zenitsu and Inosuke followed right behind her, while everyone else snapped out of their daze and ran toward Tanjiro as well.
They all knew that this boy and his sister had held out against Muzan for so long. How much had that cost them?
His body had probably reached its limit long ago. Only sheer willpower had kept him fighting.
Now that Muzan was dead, his taut nerves finally relaxed.
And without his willpower holding him up, he collapsed.
"Has he burned himself out?"
Tetsuya watched from the side, but he could tell that Tanjiro wasn't dead.
He had merely passed out from exhaustion.
[It's finally over, my dear master. That certainly wasn't easy.]
Husky, who had been silent for a long time, finally deigned to show up after Muzan fell.
Tetsuya glanced at Husky, whom no one else could see.
Though he looked like a husky, Tetsuya could plainly see the exhaustion written all over his face.
"Husky, what have you been up to? You've been gone so long, and now you show up looking completely drained.
What, do you systems get tired too?"
Husky yawned.
[What else did you expect? Did you think we systems were just programs made of zeros and ones? We're special beings that exist in another form. We're alive, and we get tired too, okay?]
"So, what were you doing?"
[Ah, it's a long, tearful story.]
Husky looked utterly miserable.
``` [What else could I