That evil presence spread rapidly through the night like tangible ink.
Uesugi Sasuke stood at the highest point of the watchtower, the night wind stirring the hem of his clothes. His mismatched eyes had already pierced across hundreds of meters, locking firmly onto the courtyard of the Ubuyashiki Estate.
You finally deigned to crawl out of that dark rat hole of yours, Muzan Kibutsuji.
The atmosphere at the Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters froze solid at that moment. All noise and tranquility were replaced by this sudden, terrifying pressure. Countless Kakushi members on guard duty struggled even to breathe, as though an invisible hand had clamped around their throats, every cell in their bodies screaming in fear.
Sasuke could clearly sense the presences of the Hashira lying in ambush throughout the area abruptly grow heavy as well. Kyojuro's fighting spirit burned like flames, Shinazugawa's killing intent raged like a gale, and Mr. Himejima's imposing presence weighed like a mountain... Everyone's nerves were stretched to their limits.
They were all waiting for a signal.
Waiting for the signal from their Commander-in-Chief, Uesugi Sasuke.
But Sasuke neither moved nor issued any orders. In his plan, it was not yet time for them to take the stage. They were not the leading players in tonight's opening act.
Within his Rinnegan's field of vision, the shadows in the courtyard writhed, and a man in a fashionable black suit and white top hat stepped out without a sound. He had slightly curly black hair and a face so handsome it was almost otherworldly, but his crimson, beastlike slit pupils betrayed his inhuman nature.
Muzan Kibutsuji.
He had appeared without any earth-shaking fanfare, like an ordinary guest visiting late at night. Yet on the patch of ground where he stood, the vegetation was withering and blackening at