Tamayo cradled Yushiro in her arms, his body soaked in blood from the terrible wound that had nearly severed him in half.
Her amber eyes were filled with shock and confusion as she looked up at the two figures confronting each other, then at the blood still dripping from Shinichi's Nichirin blade.
It took her a long moment to find her voice.
"Shinichi-san?" she asked, utterly bewildered. "Why would you do something like this?"
Shinichi did not answer. His attention remained fixed on Shinobu, and a trace of impatience gradually entered his voice.
"This has nothing to do with you. There's no reason for you to stand in my way."
"The Demon Slayer Corps would never abandon its comrades!"
"Your stubbornness will prevent the balance between life and death from being restored!"
"Then to hell with that balance if this is the price!" Shinobu shouted, her voice growing hoarse with emotion. "If you want to kill Lady Tamayo and Yushiro, you'll have to kill me first!"
Tamayo stared at them in silence. From their exchange, she had finally begun to understand what was happening. She gently lowered Yushiro, whose wounds were still healing, onto the floor before rising to her feet.
"Miss Shinobu," she said, her voice surprisingly calm. "If I understand correctly, when Shinichi-san speaks of restoring the balance, he's referring to Yushiro and me, isn't he?"
Shinobu pressed her lips together without answering, but her silence told Tamayo everything she needed to know.
For a moment, Tamayo looked stunned. Then a small, accepting smile appeared on her face.
"I see. Well, I suppose I always knew something like this might happen."
She slowly lowered her gaze to her pale hands. More than four hundred years ago, those hands had belonged to an ordinary human woman, before Muzan transformed her into a demon.
"We're demons too," she murmured. "Our very existence is proof that the boundary between life and death has been broken. So if that boundary is to be restored, we must be eliminated just as Muzan was. Is that the only way this world can truly find peace?"
"Lady Tamayo!" Shinobu turned toward her in alarm. "Please don't say that! You and Yushiro are different!"
"But—"
"Hey!"
A weak but furious voice interrupted them.
Yushiro planted his hands against the floor and forced himself out of the pool of blood beneath him. Half his body had yet to heal properly, and fresh blood continued pouring from the wound, but his eyes were locked on Shinichi with an almost crazed fury.
"Shinichi Moriki!" he snarled. "And the rest of you Demon Slayers! You ungrateful bastards! Is this how you repay Lady Tamayo after everything she's done for you?!"
Shinichi glanced at him but said nothing.
"Lady Tamayo has spent hundreds of years trying to find a way to destroy Muzan! Hundreds of years! If she'd wanted to, she could have stayed hidden and left you all to be slaughtered! We could have watched Muzan kill every last one of you without ever lifting a finger to help!"
Yushiro's voice trembled, whether from anger or grief even he probably could not have said.
"But she chose to help you! And now you're standing here talking about some damned balance?! What gives you the right?!"
Something shifted faintly in Shinichi's eyes.
"I'm sorry," he replied. "I understand what you're saying, but I have no choice."
"Miss Shinobu."
Tamayo's gentle but resolute voice came from behind her.
"That's enough."
She stepped forward and rested a hand lightly on Shinobu's shoulder before moving past her to stand directly in front of Shinichi.
"Shinichi-san."
Tamayo raised her head and looked into his youthful face.
"If our deaths can truly restore the balance between life and death, and ensure that creatures like demons will never appear in this world again, then I'm willing to accept that fate."
"Lady Tamayo!"
Yushiro's voice was filled with grief and outrage. He turned his furious gaze back toward Shinichi.
"I'll follow Lady Tamayo wherever she goes! But you ungrateful bastards won't come to a good end either!"
"Yushiro, please don't say that."
Tamayo looked at him, her eyes overflowing with tenderness and regret.
"I'm sorry. You've worked so hard for me all these hundreds of years."
But how could Shinobu possibly accept this?
She immediately stepped between them again. The veins stood out along her remaining arm as she tightened her grip on her Nichirin blade, her violet eyes fixed unwaveringly on Shinichi.
"I already told you! If you want to kill them, you'll have to kill me first!"
An almost imperceptible light passed through Shinichi's black eyes.
Then he moved.
Bluish-green light gathered into the shape of a massive dragon, which roared toward Shinobu.
"Forest Breathing, Seventh Form: Wood Dragon Soaring Slash!"
"Insect Breathing, Shell Dance: Armored Form!"
Shinobu's blade flashed through a succession of rapid thrusts, the afterimages forming a circular barrier of steel that met the charging dragon head-on.
Clang!
The impact sent a violent shock through her Nichirin blade. Agony shot through the webbing between her thumb and forefinger, and the force drove her several steps backward. Even so, she immediately steadied herself and moved back in front of Tamayo.
This time, Shinichi did not hesitate.
His blade descended again, faster and more ruthlessly than before, and Shinobu threw everything she had into meeting it.
But she was already far too weak.
The terrible pain from her severed arm, the dizziness brought on by excessive blood loss, and the exhaustion of fighting long past her limits made every movement an ordeal. Simply raising her sword to block another strike demanded more strength than she could comfortably summon.
Shinichi attacked again and again, each blow forcing Shinobu to expend what little energy she had left.
At this rate, she would not last much longer.
It was in the middle of this desperate struggle that an unexpected figure appeared.
"Master?!"
Yuichiro Tokito stood at the entrance, thick bandages wrapped around his chest and his face deathly pale.
He had only recently awakened from unconsciousness and was still too weak to stand properly. Yet when the Kakushi came looking for help and told him what was happening, he had disregarded his injuries and forced himself to come.
He was the first of the Hashira-level swordsmen to arrive.
But the instant Yuichiro saw Shinichi and Shinobu fighting each other, he felt as though someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over his head.
"Master! Shinobu! What are you doing?!"
He stumbled toward them, his voice filled with panic and confusion.
"Why are you fighting each other?!"
Shinichi did not turn around. He did not even pause at the sound of his disciple calling him Master. His blade continued raining down on Shinobu like an unrelenting tide.
Shinobu clenched her teeth and struggled desperately to withstand the assault.
"Master! Stop!"
Yuichiro hurried forward, wanting to intervene, but he could barely remain on his feet in his current condition, much less insert himself into a battle between two Hashira.
Then, at last, Shinobu's remaining hand could no longer maintain its grip.
Clang!
With a sharp metallic crack, her Nichirin blade snapped beneath Shinichi's attack. The broken section spun through the air and embedded itself in the distant rubble.
At the same moment, the force of the collision tore Shinichi's own sword from his hand. His blade traced an arc through the air before landing on the ground a short distance away.
Shinobu staggered backward several steps.
Her left hand had gone completely numb, leaving her unable even to make a fist. Her legs gave way, and she collapsed to her knees, gasping for breath as her vision blurred until she could barely distinguish the figures before her.
Shinichi did not hesitate.
He made no attempt to retrieve his fallen Nichirin blade. Instead, he stepped aside, bent down, and picked up the broken sword Shinobu had dropped. Then he turned and rushed toward Tamayo.
"Master!"
Yuichiro tried to intercept him, but his body was simply too weak. After only a few steps, he stumbled and fell heavily to the floor, helpless to do anything but watch Shinichi draw closer and closer to Tamayo.
Tamayo sat beside Yushiro, watching Shinichi approach.
The broken blade in his hand gleamed coldly beneath the morning sunlight, but there was no fear on her face. She wore only the calm expression of someone who had already understood and accepted what awaited her.
Shinichi stopped in front of her.
Ignoring the fury in Yushiro's eyes, he raised the broken sword.
Then he brought it down.
But the blade stopped just short of Tamayo's forehead.
"Woof!"
A sharp bark rang out.
"I'm sorry!"
Without any warning, a blade plunged into Shinichi's back.
His body went rigid.
He lowered his head and stared at the sword tip protruding from his chest.
The familiar bluish-green steel was unmistakable.
It was his own Nichirin blade.
Slowly, Shinichi turned his head.
Behind him stood a girl trembling from head to toe, tears streaming down her face.
Shinobu's remaining hand shook violently around the sword's hilt. Her tears continued falling, running down her cheeks and dripping onto the hand that had driven the blade through him.
"I'm sorry, Shinichi…"
Her voice trembled.
"I won't let you hurt them. And I won't let you… become someone like this, either…"
Beside Shinobu, a black Shiba Inu stood whimpering as it looked toward Shinichi.
It was Maru.
The little dog had brought Shinichi's fallen Nichirin blade back to Shinobu, carrying it in its mouth.