What Do You Take Life For?!

Just as Rui's fury at his contemptuous attitude reached its peak, bloody light blazed from both hands, and he was about to unleash his ultimate strike.

"Blood Demon Art: Thread..."

Rui's roar had barely begun...

A blinding flash of scarlet light suddenly erupted in the dim forest.

Kirishima Bupai finally drew his blade!

He did not draw it fully, only an inch from its sheath, yet in that single inch, terrifying grip strength was instantly applied to it.

The end of the hilt immediately groaned on the verge of shattering...

Humm-!

The entire Nichirin Blade seemed to have been infused with lava from the heart of an active volcano...

In the blink of an eye, it became a Bright Red Blade burning with scarlet flames, radiating terrifying heat that seemed enough to warp space.

Scorching waves of air exploded outward, instantly drying the moisture from the surrounding air.

The soil sizzled and scorched, and even Rui's prized blood-red spider threads became brittle and charred the instant they approached this domain of heat.

The next moment, Kirishima Bupai vanished, his instantaneous movement like a leap through space carrying a flash of red that disappeared just as quickly...

Clang-!

Crack-crack-crack-!

A clear clash of metal rang out, accompanied by the sharp snapping of countless spider threads.

The interwoven, indestructible blood-red web of "Thread Rotation" before Rui burned to pieces the instant it touched that scarlet flash of blade...

Kirishima Bupai had already appeared before Rui, whose defenses lay wide open after his web shattered, a look of horror frozen on his face.

The blade flashed again, this time in a precise, merciless low slash.

Slash!

Rui felt a sudden chill in his lower body!

His legs, supported by the immense power granted to him by Muzan Kibutsuji, were instantly severed cleanly below the knees.

The cuts were charred black. Before any blood could even spurt out, the intense heat had completely carbonized and sealed them, and the Bright Red Blade's solar power utterly burned away their regenerative strength.

"Aagh-!"

The agony and the loss of balance as his support vanished drew a short scream from Rui. His body pitched forward uncontrollably, slamming onto the cold, hard dirt.

He raised his head in terror. What met his eyes was that scarlet blade, radiating destructive heat and the presence of death, and...

Kirishima Bupai's cold, merciless eyes, hidden behind his sunglasses.

Yet Kirishima Bupai did not finish him off immediately. In the next instant, his figure abruptly vanished again.

Tanjiro only felt a breeze brush past him before that tall figure appeared before him. Kirishima Bupai's gaze fell on the Nichirin Hanafuda Earrings he wore.

"Tanjiro," Kirishima Bupai said in a voice that brooked no argument, "let me borrow your earrings."

Tanjiro blinked, completely unable to understand what he intended to do...

But out of gratitude and trust toward this powerful senior who had saved both him and Nezuko in succession, he did not hesitate at all. He immediately removed the earrings and handed them over:

"Yes! Mr. Bupai! Thank you so much for saving our lives!"

Kirishima Bupai took the familiar Nichirin Hanafuda Earrings and rather casually put them on his left earlobe, though they looked a little out of place...

A second later, he was instantly back before Rui, who lay sprawled on the ground, his face filled with terror and despair.

At that moment, Kirishima Bupai's demeanor abruptly changed.

His earlier languid mockery was gone. Instead, he exuded a terrifying pressure that seemed to have crossed centuries, steeped in endless hardship and cold fury.

He slowly raised the scarlet Bright Red Blade horizontally before him, its burning edge pointing straight at Rui on the ground.

Kirishima Bupai's voice sank low, like an echo from an abyss, carrying a question that reached straight into the depths of the soul:

"Hey..."

"You..."

"What do you take life-"

"For?!"

"Answer me now!!!"

Those last words exploded like thunder...

Humm-!!!

The instant that question resounded through the forest...

Within Rui, the Demon King's blood that came from Muzan Kibutsuji, granting him power while also imprisoning his soul, instantly boiled.

An unparalleled, overwhelming terror, originating from the very source of his bloodline and powerful enough to destroy all reason, instantly engulfed every cell in Rui's body.

"Aaaaaagh-!"

Rui let out an inhuman howl of agony, his body twitching and convulsing violently.

In his mind, countless fragmented images that had been deliberately sealed away flashed wildly.

A figure appeared, dressed in an exquisite kimono, long hair hanging loose, eyes as cold as ten-thousand-year-old ice...

That figure kept slowly... overlapping with the white-haired figure before him, wearing the Nichirin Hanafuda Earrings and holding a scarlet Bright Red Blade!?

What do you take life... for?!

Answer me!

A distant yet utterly clear roar, etched like a nightmare into the deepest reaches of the Demon King's bloodline, exploded in the depths of Rui's soul.

"This... these are... Lord Muzan's memories?!"

Rui's thoughts struggled through the vortex of fear, shocked beyond measure.

These earrings... this question... this man... who on earth was he?!

Why could he stir the fear within Lord Muzan's blood?!

Just as this ultimate terror from his bloodline overwhelmed Rui's mind and nearly shattered his soul.

Kirishima Bupai moved. He bent down sharply, grabbed Rui by the collar as though snatching up a chick, and roughly hauled his entire body off the ground.

Their faces instantly drew close, so close that Rui could see the patterns along the edges of Kirishima Bupai's sunglasses... could feel his breath, carrying the scorching heat of the Bright Red Blade, spray across his face.

Then an even louder roar, brimming with even more emotion, slammed into the depths of Rui's chaotic consciousness.

"Do you remember now? Rui!!!"

"What your mother once said-"

"'I'm so sorry... I couldn't bring you into this world with a healthy body'!!!!!!!!"

That roar instantly drove into the door of memories deep within Rui's soul, sealed for a century beneath blood and sin, lies and distortion.

With a deafening crack, the door... opened!

A flood! A flood of memories instantly burst through the dam!

They were no longer hazy fragments, no longer vague feelings... but...

Vivid images! Heart-piercing voices! Cold sensations! Endless guilt and love!