Muzan understood now. The man before him was definitely doing this on purpose. He surely had countless ways to kill him, yet he had chosen the most agonizing one.
What exactly was he after? What exactly did he want?
In theory, even if he fought for days, he would never grow tired, but only if he wasn't being pulverized so effortlessly, as he was now.
Reconstructing his entire body still took a great deal of energy and spirit.
"What exactly do you want?!"
Muzan was truly afraid.
"To send you to your end, of course. It's that simple."
Lu You naturally had another goal, but he worried that saying it aloud would render it ineffective, so he still spoke with a perfectly serious expression.
"Looks like the sun is about to rise."
He raised his head and looked at the already tottering Infinity Castle. An enormous crack was slowly spreading across its vaulted ceiling. It probably wouldn't be long before it collapsed completely.
According to Muzan, everyone in the Demon Slayer Corps had been stopped and could advance no farther.
Fortunately, when Lu You made his plans, he had never expected to need their help.
In fact, if he truly wanted to kill Muzan, he could have prepared countless other means of doing so long ago.
However, killing Muzan was only one of his goals.
Lu You spoke lightly.
"My final curtain call is about to begin."
He formed a hand seal with both hands, but it wasn't Malevolent Shrine. It was another seal Muzan recognized.
"Domain Expansion-Wheel of Reincarnation and Burial!"
A pitch-black curtain swiftly descended from the heavens, enveloping the two of them and forming an enormous floating black sphere.
Muzan blinked, and the world had already changed. Beneath his feet lay a churning sea of blood, and a dim red moon hung high and aloof in the sky.
Lu You held two fingers together and raised them slightly.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Dozens of thin threads of blood suddenly sprang from the bloody ocean below, instantly piercing Muzan's body and pinning him firmly in place, unable to move.
To his shock and fury, Muzan discovered that the blood inside him was being drained at a frantic rate. An immense sense of weakness washed over him.
Even having every drop of blood drained wouldn't matter to him. After all, he could regenerate.
But Lu You's intention was far too obvious. He didn't want to kill him again. He wanted to trap him here until he died.
That was the most terrifying thing of all.
Blood Manipulation's Domain Expansion was called Wheel of Reincarnation and Burial, a domain that had never appeared in the original work.
Yet in Yuji Itadori's template, the Blood Manipulation entry contained knowledge of this domain.
In other words, over those three hundred-plus years, Itadori had also developed Blood Manipulation to its ultimate extent.
This was something the Kamo Clan, one of the Three Great Families, had failed to achieve over generations.
The domain's effect was a guaranteed hit and a guaranteed kill.
If an opponent caught inside it didn't counter with a domain of their own, all the blood in their body would fall under its control.
The domain's user could also exercise unlimited control over the sea of blood beneath their feet, unleashing hundreds of Piercing Blood attacks in an instant. It was extraordinarily powerful.
During the massive explosion at the Valley of the End, Lu You had used a Barrier Technique to compress this sea of blood, wrapping himself in layer upon layer to form a blood egg.
Thus, no matter how powerful the explosion, it had difficulty penetrating such a thick, ocean-like body of liquid.
"Every Cursed Technique of the Three Great Families is interesting: the Gojo Clan's Limitless, the Zenin Clan's Ten Shadows Technique, and the Kamo Clan's Blood Manipulation.
"The first two are quite powerful even before you learn their domains, but eighty percent of Blood Manipulation's power lies in its Domain Expansion.
"Except for Itadori and Choso, of course."
Blood was the core of Blood Manipulation, but humans didn't have that much blood to control.
Only those with a cursed spirit bloodline, who could turn cursed energy into blood, could use its various moves without end.
Once the domain was expanded, however, its sea of blood gave the user an inexhaustible supply of blood to control, even if they were human.
"The sun is almost up, Muzan."
"Is that so? But you're about to die too."
By now, Muzan had inexplicably calmed down.
He knew he couldn't escape now, no matter what. Though he feared death, if there was no escaping it, he still had his pride as the Demon King...
As if!
He was absolutely terrified!
"Yes. That's exactly what I want."
Lu You sighed with feeling. His blood-soaked clothes were crimson as he gently stroked the Nichirin Blade at his waist.
"Sorry, brother. I can't take you with me."
Muzan gritted his teeth, suppressing his dread of death, and asked in a low voice, "Aren't you afraid?"
"What's there to fear? Death is a cool summer night, a sleep free of care."
His pupils suddenly contracted. Muzan abruptly realized something and said in disbelief, "You bastard, you're deliberately taking me down with you?!"
Boom!
Like a thunderbolt out of a clear sky, the crack in the Infinity Castle's vaulted ceiling above the domain's black sphere rapidly widened before collapsing with a crash. The entire Infinity Castle shook.
Brilliant sunlight pierced countless towers and halls, spilling throughout the castle.
Countless demons burned to ash amid terrified screams.
Muzan, too, felt that deepest of terrors.
Lu You changed his hand sign, and his domain transformed in an instant. The sea of blood dried up, revealing earthen ground. The blood moon vanished, and clear blue skies stretched endlessly overhead. Muzan felt that he could move again.
"What is this place now?"
"Mysterious Farmhouse."
Lu You spoke with a touch of humor. Unfortunately, Muzan didn't understand what he found funny.
An old ox covered in mud ambled past nearby, still chewing grass and letting out a low moo. Houses of mud brick and roof tiles stood throughout the quiet village.
Domain Expansion-Malevolent Shrine-soul version.
Unlike Itadori's farmhouse, Lu You's rural scenery more closely resembled his old hometown in China from his previous life.
After all, the farmhouse was essentially a projection of the mind. Naturally, he couldn't project what lay in Yuji Itadori's heart.
"Time to go, Muzan."
"What a mess. Why didn't you use this move earlier?!"
"Because I only just learned it."
"Heh. Lu You, I'll be waiting for you down below."
Muzan snorted coldly. Without needing Lu You to say anything, his figure gradually faded away within the farmstead.
When Lu You opened his eyes, his domain was cracking. Before long, it shattered completely.
Extreme weakness immediately swept over him. He patted the ground and sat cross-legged.
Sunlight bathed him, painting him gold, while Muzan across from him had already lost all signs of life.
Only his body remained. His consciousness had been annihilated.
Mysterious Farmhouse struck directly at the soul.
Through the haze, the bewitching Black-and-Red Nichirin Blade stood planted in the ground, barely supporting him as he kept his back straight.
"So this is what approaching death feels like. How remarkable."
The life force within his body was draining at a frantic speed.
The Demon Slayer Mark granted power by burning life force. Those who awakened it generally didn't live past twenty-five.
The body Lu You had entered this world with had been modeled after his original body. His original body was twenty-four, and he had been here for over two years, making him twenty-six now. He could be considered quite old within the Demon Slayer Corps.
He actually also had a cursed spirit bloodline.
Unfortunately, no one in this world produced cursed energy. Otherwise, the Demon Slayer Mark could never have burned through all his life force.
Of course, this suited him perfectly.
Supporting himself with his Nichirin Blade, Lu You closed his eyes to rest, quietly awaiting the arrival of his final moment.
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
As he turned to dust in the sunlight, Kokushibo looked skyward and heaved a long sigh.
"In the end, I still failed to surpass you, Yoriichi."
The battered members of the Demon Slayer Corps stood panting. They stared in disbelief at the disintegrating body, despair rising within them.
"How could a demon be so powerful..."
This Kokushibo was different from the one in the original work. He had overcome decapitation by a Nichirin Blade and entered his final stage, and he hadn't been tormented by his own ugliness.
Most importantly, none of the Demon Slayer Corps members had awakened the Transparent World or a Bright Red Nichirin Sword!
This was Lu You's arrangement!
Under the plan, all the Hashira-level swordsmen had killed the Upper Ranks with ease. Without the pressure of facing death, there was naturally no chance of breaking through their limits.
Swordsmen with nothing but Demon Slayer Marks were absolutely incapable of defeating Kokushibo in his final form...
That was what had allowed Kokushibo to hold his ground for so long.
One man held the pass, and ten thousand could not break through.
Of course, who could say this was a bad thing?
The benefit of suffering no losses would always come with a few side effects.
"Big brother You!"
Dragging his blood-covered body, Tanjiro sprinted through the shattered Infinity Castle.
The other Hashira did the same, racing ahead with shaken hearts toward the two terrifying presences that were gradually fading.
After planning for so long, Lu You was about to fulfill his final objective! Surrounded by everyone... he would die!
Before you continue