A huge crack suddenly split the level ground!
Everyone's spirits surged.
"It's starting!"
The final moment!
Tetsu no Sosuke's words still rang in their ears: "There's only one way to kill Kibutsuji Muzan... Everything before that is just to hold him back, not the final means of killing him. In the end... the room where we're fighting will be brought into the sunlight!"
How would it be brought into the sunlight?
When the earth split open, everyone saw.
A platform rose from underground. It was stained with blood, with severed heads piled high upon it.
Kibutsuji Muzan lay there quietly, seemingly drained of all strength. A Nichirin Blade had cut halfway into his neck.
But it had not severed his head completely.
Tetsu no Sosuke sat there gripping the Nichirin Blade, his eyes closed. Though covered in blood, he still wore a faint smile.
His hair had gone white as snow, then been stained red with blood.
His face was no longer smooth. Deep lines furrowed it.
His body no longer looked strong and powerful. He had grown so thin it hurt to see him.
No one knew when Shinobu Kocho had appeared beside Tetsu no Sosuke. Tilting her head, she gently poked his cheek.
"He's dead..."
Kibutsuji Muzan's voice rang out, hoarse and wheezing, wild and disjointed. "He's dead... I'm alive... I won! He killed me... all night long!!! But he's still dead!"
Shinobu Kocho said nothing. She silently gathered Tetsu no Sosuke into her arms and tilted her face toward the sky. Her mouth opened, but she could not force out a single word.
It was as though she had lost the ability to speak. At last, a frail, animal-like cry escaped her throat.
The cry grew louder until it became a wail of grief!
Her weeping seemed