As the planned tasks were completed one after another, the Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen, whose operation should have ended perfectly, encountered the most terrifying obstacle of all!
Compared to the original story, Kokushibo's mindset had undergone a subtle change.
Yet that tiny change had now completely overturned everyone's original plan.
At the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters.
Kagaya Ubuyashiki suddenly clenched his fist. He had a bad feeling. Everything had clearly been going smoothly, developing just as Lu You had envisioned.
Why did he feel uneasy?
Countless tiny clusters of light were moving toward those two towering, magnificent suns.
Even with an Upper Rank still blocking their path, their advance had already become unstoppable.
Could it be because of that Upper Rank One?
"Wait, You's plan..."
Perhaps there was another possibility: Lu You's plan had concealed something from him from the very beginning.
"Just what are you trying to do, You?"
Knowing Lu You's character, Ubuyashiki's first instinct was not to suspect some ulterior motive, but to wonder whether Lu You had left himself no way out.
He could not see through it. He truly could not.
Whether it was the Demon Slayer Corps being held up or Kagaya Ubuyashiki's thoughts, Lu You could not possibly know about any of it, because he was still locked in a fierce clash with Muzan.
"You've awakened your Demon Slayer Mark!"
Muzan sneered. His entire body was now utterly transformed: pale hair, vicious, fanged mouths gaping across his torso, and tubular whips dancing wildly behind him.
This was his all-out state.
It also meant he was truly fighting for his life.
At that moment, an alluring floral pattern adorned Lu You's brow, crimson as blood. From afar, it resembled blazing flames; up close, it looked like a sacred mark bestowed by a god.
He held his Nichirin Blade across his body. His snow-white haori was already riddled with damage and stained with blood.
Although Reverse Cursed Technique could heal injuries, it had no ability to clean clothes.
"What, are you scared?"
"Heh. Anyone who awakens a Demon Slayer Mark dies before twenty-five, and you're already twenty-five, aren't you?"
Muzan continued trying to unsettle Lu You. If he could avoid fighting, he certainly would.
"How about a truce? We can join forces! We absolutely can work together. Once you become a demon, you'll only grow stronger."
"Childish."
Lu You glanced at him indifferently.
Even setting aside the absolute control Muzan would have over him once he became a demon, the inability to gain template synchronization alone was something he could never accept.
His ultimate goal was, of course, the Tiger Heavenly Emperor's core purple traits. Right now, he only had Black Flash.
Could Muzan be stronger than the Tiger Heavenly Emperor?
What a joke.
If one breath failed to kill him, it would count as a dud.
Hiss... Air flowed into his lungs, and Lu You attacked again, his entire body becoming an afterimage, his blade like the moon.
All he needed to do now was hold Muzan here, keep him confined and prevent his escape. Once daylight came, the sun rose, and the Infinity Castle shattered, Muzan would be doomed.
Muzan had not realized this. Although he had killed Nakime, seeing that the Infinity Castle remained intact, he had not thought much more about it.
In fact, this was another surprise Lu You had prepared for him.
The two clashed again. Every movement of Source Breathing carried tremendous power. Their figures crossed, and whips and spikes burst through the air with thunderous booms.
These whips were harder than steel, and dazzling sparks flew as they collided with the Nichirin Blade.
As his eyes shifted, Lu You willed the Malevolent Shrine Cursed Technique, recovered from technique burnout, into action again. Muzan's torso was instantly dismembered.
Sometimes, he was even sliced clean through the waist, and the Nichirin Blade swiftly beheaded the now-numb Muzan once again.
With a wet squelch, flesh regenerated. His limbs recovered in an instant, and Muzan resumed defending against Lu You's attacks.
If the man before him had been using Sun Breathing, he would truly have been in danger.
But Muzan also slowly realized that this fellow's Breathing Style was probably on the same level as Sun Breathing.
Its properties were simply completely different.
Sun Breathing carried the scorching power of the sun. It was the bane of demons, and the power Muzan feared most.
Yet nearly three full hours had passed since he encountered this fellow and began their fierce battle, and Lu You was only slightly tired, so...
This fellow's Breathing Style probably...
Had something to do with endurance!
"Your Breathing Style, could it be..."
"Heh. So you're not completely stupid. I don't mind telling you. Source-Flow Breathing, flowing endlessly. I can fight for a very long time."
Lu You mocked him with a smile.
The reason he had chosen an endurance-focused Breathing Style was actually simple: his need for cursed energy.
His Breathing Style served two purposes: conversion into cursed energy and performing Breathing Style sword forms. That meant twice the consumption.
Not to mention that Malevolent Shrine and Blood Manipulation were both absolute mana guzzlers.
He had no choice. He had obtained the Tiger Heavenly Emperor's cursed energy trait, but had no cursed energy, so he could only use this workaround.
"Are you kidding me?! Are you even human?!"
Muzan roared.
"Of course I'm human. If I weren't, you would have died ten thousand times already."
Lu You nodded, casually knocking an incoming spiked whip aside.
"I don't believe it! You must have a limit! You're already getting tired, aren't you? Hahaha, dream on!
"Those teammates of yours won't make it here even by dawn! That Tanjiro Kamado with Sun Breathing will never reach this place!"
The fool still thought Lu You was waiting for Tanjiro's Sun Breathing.
Lu You looked at him with pity.
But Muzan was right. His expenditure was staggering, and by now, he was almost at his limit.
Taking two steps back, Lu You slowly slid his Nichirin Blade into the scabbard at his waist. He shifted his right foot out, raised his hands, and took a fighting stance, saying calmly:
"The next round is boxing."
Muzan: ???
Why did this fellow put his sword away?
Does he want to negotiate peace? Impossible. If he had any intention of that, he would have stopped fighting long ago.
So he's going to use that move again...
A chill rose within him, and Muzan involuntarily retreated two steps.
Malevolent Shrine had left far too deep a scar on him. It was a literal version of "dying over and over."
Lu You found it funny. He understood what Muzan was thinking, but unfortunately, Malevolent Shrine consumed too much. He no longer had enough cursed energy to sustain it.
"Come on!"
Boom! He was almost instantly right in Muzan's face.
His body and limbs nimbly evaded the tubular whips' lethal attacks. After taking a few inconsequential puncture wounds, he abruptly twisted his fist.
Black-and-red lightning, dazzling as an abyss, erupted with a thunderous roar, raging wildly around them. The blast from his fist surged forward, ripping the roofs off several buildings!
The floor shattered in spreading layers like a spiderweb, and dust suddenly billowed up.
"Black Flash!!!"
Boom!!!
In Muzan's vision, that fist seemed to fill the entire world. His eardrums ruptured in the sonic boom, and then his entire head was smashed apart by a single punch!
An invisible shock wave spread across several platforms as fierce winds howled. At that moment, even a Hashira-level swordsman standing there would have needed to drive his Nichirin Blade into the ground to steady himself.
Lu You let out a long, deep breath.
Looking at the headless body before him, he shook his fist.
"I feel much better. Let's continue."
After landing a Black Flash, the user would enter a flow state, growing stronger the longer they fought. It also had a restorative effect.
Muzan's head grew back, and he looked at Lu You in silence.
He no longer wanted to speak.
Whatever other moves you have, bring them all out! Human!
One hour...
Two hours...
Three hours...
Only one final hour remained until dawn...
Lu You was drenched in blood from head to toe, and Muzan was also weakened to the extreme, his white hair withered, as though he had aged countless times over.
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