The training camp began, and Charles' first step was to implant Curse Marks in everyone participating. This not only helped them accelerate the awakening of their Marks, but also prevented the side effect of burning away their lives.
The Hashira were already just a step away from awakening their Marks, and after receiving the Curse Marks they quickly gained Mark power one after another.
Kanao had already mastered Constant and soon awakened a petal-shaped Mark.
That lit a fire under Inosuke, who trained like a madman and grew stronger at breakneck speed.
Zenitsu, though, was the headache. When Charles brought him back, he clung to Jigoro Kuwajima, bawling and wailing that he was sure to die. During special training he dawdled and always looked half-dead.
The warmhearted Tanjiro spent quite a lot of time every day encouraging and supervising him. Because of that, the two quickly grew close.
Of course, it also had something to do with Zenitsu catching a glimpse of Nezuko by chance. After Shinobu saw that, who knows what she did, but in the end Zenitsu started putting in the effort too.
Training roughly split into two parts: the first was basic physical conditioning; the second was live combat—everyone together in high-intensity bouts against Charles.
Progress with the Transparent World and Red Blades, however, was not smooth.
Red Blades were manageable; there were some workaround methods. Although their power was far inferior to Yoriichi's Red Blade, they were already very useful in battle.
But the Transparent World had no shortcuts, only hard work and talent. Unexpectedly, the first to master it was the blind Stone Hashira, Gyomei Himejima.
Thinking about it, that made sense. Gyomei was the strongest among the nine Hashira; though blind, his perception of the world was all the clearer.
While the many near-death battles in training deserved credit, to master the Transparent World on the basis of just a few of Charles' remarks—Gyomei Himejima was worthy of being the Corps' strongest pillar.
After Gyomei shared his experience with the others, they too entered that realm one after another.
Even Charles benefited and grasped the Transparent World, making his perception in combat more comprehensive.
After Shinobu joined midway in medicine development, Tamayo finally completed her research two months later. That also meant the final countdown had begun for the plan to kill Muzan.
…
Muzan had felt uneasy lately, like something was about to happen.
Looking back, ever since the day he sensed danger at the foot of a mountain, nothing had gone smoothly.
Though he disliked it, he still distributed his blood to others—it was only to have a few useful helpers.
Especially the Twelve Kizuki; he had placed great expectations on them.
The Lower Ranks changed often; he was used to that. But the recent rate at which the Lower Ranks disappeared was a bit too fast!
After Rui, his favorite among the Lower Ranks, was slain, he decided Lower Ranks who could be casually killed were useless trash.
He had been planning to purge all the Lower Ranks, but then Upper Rank Six was cut down. Through Gyutaro's eyes, Muzan saw something that frightened him so much he couldn't even keep his composure.
In a rage, considering the future might require manpower, Muzan could only swallow his disgust and keep those eyesores.
They utterly betrayed his rare "mercy," getting slain one after the other.
What pained him even more was that Doma and Gyokko had also been killed. Most vexing of all, the one who killed Gyokko looked even more like Yoriichi than last time.
Just seeing him made the old sword scars across Muzan's body ache.
So Muzan had been irritable. He loathed this feeling of danger nearing.
In the Infinity Castle, Muzan set down the test tube in his hand and looked up. He sensed a distinct reaction and linked into a demon's sight.
It was the only one left among the Lower Ranks, the one he'd previously found barely tolerable to look at—Enmu, was it?
As the view cleared, he saw a kimono-clad girl whip a kick over.
Muzan's face changed, because this girl was a demon—but not one under his control.
He didn't remember when he had made her into a demon; turning people into demons was nothing he cared to remember.
In a thousand years, only Tamayo had broken free of his control. To think another had appeared without his notice.
Butterfly wings beat before his eyes, and Muzan watched a strangely shaped blade pierce straight in and drive into Enmu's throat.
Muzan could control every demon's sensory body; he felt a substance poisonous to demons being injected into Enmu through the blade.
If it had been an Upper Rank, they could have broken down the toxin easily; unfortunately, Enmu was only a Lower Rank. Muzan felt his body beginning to necrotize continuously.
Cursing the useless fool, Muzan moved to pull back his view—but stopped at once.
Because he saw the sun had already risen, and the demon girl bathed in sunlight remained unharmed.
Overcome, Muzan swept the bottles and jars on the table to the floor with a single swing.
"At last… at last, after centuries, a demon who has overcome sunlight has appeared! If I assimilate her, I will become a truly perfect being!"
Veins bulged on Muzan's face, but just as he was about to order Nezuko taken back, he calmed down.
Could this be a trap set for him? Muzan couldn't help the thought, and his suspicion only deepened.
He was torn. Nezuko's scene under the sunlight was not faked; it was certainly a chance to fulfill his millennia-old wish.
But if the Corps used it to set a trap for him, would it be dangerous? If so, he would have to consider giving up this opportunity.
Demons had infinite lifespans; he refused to believe the Corps could outlast him and Nezuko.
Just then, Nakime plucked a string on her shamisen, and a figure in a snake-pattern kimono appeared.
"Kokushibo, what is it?" Muzan asked coolly.
It was Upper Rank One, the strongest demon under Muzan: Kokushibo.
Kokushibo raised his terrifying, six-eyed face and spoke. "This subordinate has an urgent report.
I have turned a Corps swordsman into a demon, and he has reported an important matter."
"Nakime!"
At Muzan's order, Nakime plucked her strings, and a figure appeared before him.
It was Kaigaku, Jigoro Kuwajima's disciple and heir to Thunder Breathing—only now he had grown fangs, his eyes had gone black, his skin had turned deathly pale, and black tiger stripes had appeared on his face. He had become… a demon!
"Show proper respect before Lord Muzan," Kokushibo said coldly.
Kaigaku caught on immediately, dropped to one knee, and assumed a submissive posture.
Muzan spoke. "I hear you have something to report. It had better not be a triviality."
Kaigaku felt as if a mountain weighed on his back, cold sweat running down his face.
Under the crushing pressure he hurried to say, "The Corps has found a demon who overcame sunlight and plans to use her as bait to set a trap for you, my lord. All nine Hashira have already assembled, and senior slayers have received the summons."
Muzan snorted. The news did not surprise him; it merely confirmed what he had suspected.
Even so, he decided to reward Kaigaku.
He extended a finger, which lengthened like a venomous snake and stabbed into Kaigaku's forehead.
Muzan injected more blood into Kaigaku's body, the intense pain making him convulse.
Strong will to live kept Kaigaku from crying out, and at the same time the characters "Upper Rank" and "Six" appeared in his pupils.
Just then, Muzan's body went rigid, and another image reflected in his eyes.
It belonged to a demon whose head had already been cut off. The last thing to enter those eyes, about to turn to ash, was an unremarkable little hillside.
But on that hillside swayed a tiny flower—a Spider Lily, except its petals were a blue-tinged cyan.
The image dissipated after only a few seconds, yet left Muzan unable to calm down for a long while—he even forgot he was still infusing Kaigaku with blood.
Kaigaku's cries of pain brought Muzan back. He withdrew his finger with disgust.
Muzan felt fate smiling on him. To think that as a demon who had overcome sunlight appeared, the Blue Spider Lily he had sought for a thousand years had also shown a trace.
Although the Nezuko matter was a trap, the Corps would never imagine he had found another key to his evolution.
Once he obtained the Blue Spider Lily and became a truly perfect being, whatever trap the Corps had laid would be crushed.
…
In a desolate mountain forest, a group of people stood around a single blue flower.
Charles clapped his hands. "All right, the bait is set. Now we wait for the fish to bite."
______
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