There was a tone that echoed across the entire Verse Fusion Bubble.
It was as if a massive bell, almost the size of an entire planet, were tolling, its sound seeping into the entirety of the Source.
Muzan, possessed by the Verse Fusion Timeline, heard that bell.
All the demons, including the Moons, had already retreated to the Infinity Castle under his order.
Now, he only needed to wait it out, as the voice in his mind had suggested.
Because whatever abomination had attacked him would never continue to evolve.
Not here.
Not in this… his world.
Meanwhile, he? He would continue to grow stronger just by existing!
However, the moment the Demon King heard that bell, something odd happened—something that should have never been possible.
Even the voice in his mind gasped, adding to the gravity of the event's mere occurrence.
There was a crack, a rip, a tear.
Muzan remained connected to his Moons at all times as they held pieces of his consciousness. These pieces weren't given willingly, though. They were part of the process of turning a human into a demon. So, in a way, they were as much a symbol of his authority over his demons as they were a symbol of… being a demon.
With that inaudible crack in his mind, though, the piece of consciousness connecting him to one of his Upper Moons ceased to exist —
Akaza — the Upper Moon Three — the demon he had resurrected using Source Recall!
A deep gash appeared between Muzan's eyes as he held back a growl, his bloody, slitted eyes spewing such a thick bloodlust that many demons were flattened into filthy mush instantly.
Next to him, the rest of his Moons expressed concern, but he couldn't focus on anything at that moment.
He hadn't overly bothered about calling Akaza back because he had wanted him to defy him.
Once Akaza had died under the combined might of the Hashiras, then he would have resurrected him again, establishing complete dominance over him.
No matter how defiant a personality Akaza held, there was no denying that he was a singular case of how far a demon could grow using Muzan's blood, just like Upper Moons Two and One.
But things had obviously taken a drastic, inexplicable turn.
Now, Muzan couldn't even feel Akaza anymore.
It was as if…
"What's happening?!" the Demon King growled with such beastly ferocity that his fangs began dripping venom. "WHAT's GOING ON?!"
…
Where the earth and the sky had been burning red-hot and freezing ice-cold only moments ago, black and white had replaced everything.
Both colors were oozing out from a massive geyser of the same-colored Reiatsu that was shooting beyond the sky. It was so thick, so large, and so heavy that it was bending space, allowing people to see what lay directly behind it by warping the light.
Rengoku, who had been pulled away from getting shredded to pieces in time by Gyomei, now stood among the rest of the Hashiras, gobsmacked.
Not only him, but all the Hashiras, as well as Tanjiro's group, displayed the same expression.
And black and white drowned them all, too, as if they had never known any other color in their entire lives.
A swordsman then blurred into existence near the geyser of black and white Reiatsu.
The Hashiras had seen him only moments ago, when he had beheaded Muzan before disappearing.
But, instead of finding any familiarity, they found him lacking his earlier nonchalance.
The fact that he was so openly wielding his curved blade was also a sign that something had gone terribly wrong.
If that wasn't a bad enough sign, then what happened next made the Hashiras take a step forward together, their hearts skipping a beat.
There was a swirl; a vortex.
It was a phenomenon they had seen multiple times.
But this vortex had always looked blue, not black and white.
A man, wearing a white greatcoat, white pants, and white shoes, walked out of that vortex and stood next to the swordsman, his short white hair waving like water against the gusts of wind.
Kai Stormborn.
The man who had refused to show up all this time — despite all that happened — was here… just because of that Reiatsu.
…
"Of all the things I could imagine you accomplishing…" Kai said, staring right at the black-white Reiatsu with his hazel, purple-rimmed, slitted eyes. "… I'd never imagined that you would accomplish this… Akaza."
As if those words were the cue, a figure walked out from the Reiatsu-geyser.
This figure possessed some similarity to Akaza, but the colors were drastically different.
Where Akaza had blue stripes, this figure had white. Where Akaza had pink hair, this figure had white. Where Akaza had yellow eyes with blue sclera, this figure had only two blobs of whiteness, the eyes and sclera indistinguishable from each other.
But the greatest contrast came from the rest of its body.
Black.
Pitch-black.
Instead of the colors, though, Kai focused on a small detail that was smothered by that profound change.
Akaza's eyes held no Kanji that had introduced him as Upper Moon Three.
Akaza's stomach held no hole that had announced him as a Demon capable of unleashing Resurreccion.
"What should I call you?" Kai asked, making Mang Jian raise his brows next to him.
Why would he ask that question, when they knew exactly who was opposite them?!
Surprisingly, the figure, who could be no one but Akaza, smiled. "No more titles," he said, assuming a standard karate stance. "Show it to me, Kai. Show me… what being Selfless means…"
A thrill coursed through Kai's body, two swords appearing in his hands.
He took a deep breath, and, when he let it out, the breath gained a blood-like color and odor.
The Hashiras and Mang Jian, watching it happen, knew that it was Kai's Selfless Breathing Style. They could literally feel the power hidden deep within him surface with each subsequent breath, like a demon was awakening from a long slumber.
And then… they heard another breath…
… like fireworks going off in the distance.
********************
AN: Original Image of Awakened Akaza is available