The instant Muzan's body exploded, his flesh split into countless fragments of different sizes and shot in every direction through the ruins.
Each piece carried a sliver of his consciousness, fleeing desperately along a different path.
As long as even a fragment the size of a fingernail escaped, he would still have a chance to return.
Realizing what Muzan was trying to do, Shinichi swung his Nichirin blade with everything he had.
His slashes became a nearly solid curtain of light, destroying fragment after fragment, but the small piece carrying the main portion of Muzan's consciousness slipped past the edge of his blade.
No matter how desperately Shinichi attacked, some pieces still escaped.
They scattered through the ruins like panicked insects, some squeezing into cracks in the ground, others rolling into abandoned buildings.
There was no dignity left in the Demon King at all.
He looked less like the ruler of demons and more like a swarm of terrified rats desperately clinging to life.
Centuries ago, Muzan had escaped Yoriichi Tsugikuni using this exact method.
But this time, he was not facing Yoriichi alone.
He was facing the entire Demon Slayer Corps, united against him.
The Kasugai Crows that had survived the battle inside the Infinity Castle immediately spread the information to the Demon Slayers.
Once the warning reached them, the surviving Hashira began directing everyone who could still fight to hunt down Muzan's scattered fragments.
Gyomei Himejima stood atop a section of ruined masonry, the flesh beneath his Demon Slayer Mark radiating intense heat. His Nichirin spiked flail and great axe were badly damaged, but he still held them firmly.
"Namu Amida Butsu…"
He quietly recited the Buddhist prayer.
A fist-sized piece of flesh was trying to crawl through a crack three meters below him.
Buzz!
His great axe tore through the air in a heavy arc and struck the gap with perfect precision, smashing both the fragment and the surrounding rubble to pieces.
Gyomei's voice was deep and steady.
"Muzan, your sins end here today."
Elsewhere, Sanemi Shinazugawa's Wind Breathing swept through the ruins like a destructive storm.
His remaining eye was bloodshot, but his blade was still terrifyingly fast.
"Run! Go on, keep running!"
Sanemi grinned savagely as emerald-green wind blades shredded several fragments in front of him into powder.
"Weren't you the perfect life-form?! Weren't you going to rule the world?! Then what the hell are you running for?!"
Another mass of flesh tried to slip away in the distance.
Sanemi's wind blades caught up to it and tore it apart completely.
"Next!"
He immediately locked onto another fragment and charged after it like a wild beast.
Along another ruined street, Giyu Tomioka and Sabito supported one another as they advanced.
Water-blue blade light flowed around their swords, reflecting in shimmering ripples across the puddles underfoot.
A bloodstained lump of flesh rolled down from above them, trying to escape.
Sabito attacked first.
"Water Breathing, Fourth Form: Striking Tide!"
Layers of water-blue blade light surged forward like overlapping waves, completely covering the fragment's escape route.
But this particular piece contained a larger portion of Muzan's consciousness.
Driven by his desperate will to survive, it exploded apart again, splitting its already small body into even tinier fragments in an attempt to escape.
Giyu's blade followed immediately.
"Water Breathing, Fifth Form: Blessed Rain After the Drought."
A gentle water-blue slash descended.
The technique looked soft and almost merciful, but it enveloped every fleeing piece at once.
One after another, the fragments dissolved silently beneath the blade light.
"Nice one, Giyu!" Sabito praised.
Giyu remained calm, his water-blue blade glimmering faintly.
"It isn't over yet. Keep moving."
In another section of the ruins, Obanai Iguro and Mitsuri Kanroji advanced together.
Kaburamaru raised his tiny head high from around Obanai's neck, flicking his tongue continuously as he searched for the faint traces of demonic presence in the air.
"Over there."
Obanai's gaze locked onto a piece of rubble that was trembling slightly.
"I see it!"
Mitsuri's cherry-pink blade light flared instantly.
With a sharp cry, she swept her Love Breathing slash across the debris, shredding both the stone and the lump of flesh hiding behind it.
"Great! Obanai-san, it's getting weaker and weaker!" Mitsuri called excitedly.
Obanai gave a small nod. His Serpent Breathing cut apart one final piece attempting to slip away from the side.
"That proves Muzan doesn't have much power left. We're ending him today."
Kyojuro Rengoku and Muichiro Tokito closed in from opposite directions. Kyojuro's Flame Breathing reduced clumps of Muzan's flesh to charred remains, while Muichiro moved rapidly through the ruins, weaving an invisible net with his sword and destroying every fragment that tried to escape through his side.
And it was not only the Hashira.
Countless other Demon Slayers fought desperately to destroy the fragments as well, while the guards under China Rukawa joined the cleanup.
One piece after another was cut apart or blasted to pieces.
Muzan's consciousness grew weaker with every fragment destroyed.
By the time he lost count of how many pieces had been eliminated, he had become too weak to split himself any further.
Between Shinobu's poison and the lingering life force eating away at him, his strength was draining at an astonishing rate.
Even so, Muzan's desire to survive had not weakened.
'Run. Keep running.'
No matter how weak he became, as long as even one piece of flesh remained, he could survive.
The remaining fragments continued crawling and slipping through the ruins, keeping themselves hidden as best they could.
After the bloody hunt had gone on for some time, only a little more than a dozen pieces remained. Eventually, they gathered in one quiet corner.
It was an open patch of ground that had barely been touched by the battle, though the air still carried the scorched smell of burning debris.
When Muzan's remaining flesh fused together into a mass about the size of a fist, he suddenly noticed someone not far away.
A dark-red-haired boy was leaning on his Nichirin blade and slowly making his way back toward the center of the battlefield.
Tanjiro had exhausted far too much strength during the previous fighting.
Repeated use of the Hinokami Kagura had pushed his body almost to its absolute limit.
But the moment he thought of Muzan, he gritted his teeth and kept moving.
He had refused Zenitsu and Inosuke's offer to stay with him, telling the two of them to use what strength they still had to help the others while he followed as quickly as he could.
Muzan's remaining flesh was now so weak that even his demonic presence had faded almost completely.
His survival instincts forced him to suppress it further as the lump of flesh slowly crawled through the shadows toward the edge of the clearing.
If he could just cross this area, Muzan could reach the city farther away and escape the Demon Slayer Corps.
Then he would have enough time to recover his strength.
'Demon Slayer Corps, this is not over between us! Once I regain my power, I will erase every last one of you—and every trace that you ever existed—from this world!'
Everything seemed to be going smoothly.
Muzan's remaining flesh had nearly crawled past Tanjiro unnoticed.
Then—
Tanjiro's nose twitched faintly.