In the depths of the Momoyama forest, the mutated state of Kokushibo had driven him into total madness.
He no longer resembled a man who had become a demon — he was a beast, pure and wild.
Facing this pitiful creature, Yohan couldn't help but feel a faint trace of sorrow. To abandon everything and reduce oneself to this, all for the sake of power — was it really worth it?
With a primal roar, Kokushibo reappeared before Yohan, his back blooming with thorny tendrils, sweeping toward Yohan like a net of death.
"Enough. It's time to end this," Yohan said coldly.
His iron fist, brimming with the power of dragons, landed — and Kokushibo's entire body collapsed like paper under a storm. The mountains shook with the impact. Flesh tore apart. Not a single cry could be heard from the demon — his body shattered beyond recognition.
Kokushibo was completely destroyed.
Such was the might of the Demonic Armor. Such was the terror of a man wielding the strength of dragons.
At that moment, Sound Hashira Tengen Uzui arrived just in time to witness the scene.
He had been searching through the forest when he heard the thunderous shockwave. Alarmed, he rushed over — and now stood frozen, breath caught in his throat, as he beheld the scene before him.
He had been prepared to unleash his breathing techniques, but now… now he could only stare as the body of an Upper Moon demon disintegrated under Yohan's fist.
Though not yet fully recovered, his own body ached as if sharing in the pain of the obliterated Kokushibo.
His mind went blank.
Was this a human? Or a demon?
How could a man possibly shatter a demon's body with a single punch? Hashira like them could only slay a demon by slashing their necks 480 times with a Nichirin Blade!
And that was with swords. This man used his fists!
For a moment, Tengen's mind flashed back to when Sanemi Shinazugawa had been smashed into a wall by Yohan. At the time, he'd thought Yohan was brutal — now it felt like Yohan had been merciful back then. If he'd truly hit with full force, they'd have lost a Hashira right there.
"Oh? Looks like someone else finally showed up," Yohan said casually, drawing back his fist as he noticed Uzui.
From the man's labored breathing, Yohan could tell he must've just crawled through his own bitter battle to make it here.
Naturally, Yohan greeted him with a bright smile.
"Y-Yohan… there's no need to be so polite," Uzui said quickly — almost unconsciously using honorifics. He probably didn't even realize it, but in his heart, he had already placed Yohan into a class of beings not to be trifled with.
After exchanging greetings, Uzui finally had a chance to survey the battlefield more clearly — and he spotted Tokito Muichiro under a tree.
Muichiro sat slumped with his head bowed, gasping for breath, back against the tree trunk.
On the other side, the Stone Hashira Gyomei Himejima was pressing forward with an unstoppable momentum, relentlessly assaulting Zohakuten.
Their rhythm matched perfectly with Yohan's — and just as Kokushibo's body shattered, Gyomei also broke through Zohakuten's final defense. His spiked flail smashed into the cowardly Urami, who had been cowering at the rear.
Unable to dodge in time, Urami was hammered into the ground, his body crushed and blood splattered in all directions.
"No! No, no!"
"I don't want to die!"
"Lord Muzan! Save me, Lord Muzan!"
Urami screamed in terror, convinced his death was imminent. In his desperation, he cried for Muzan, begging like a cornered rat. Having already given up on Kokushibo — especially after seeing the Upper One get obliterated — his fear of the Demon Slayers now far outweighed his fear of his own master.
"…Am I… kinda extra here?" Uzui muttered to himself.
Looking around, he couldn't help but feel like he'd rushed over for nothing. The battle was completely one-sided. Did they even need a half-recovered Hashira like him at this point?
He glanced at the resting Muichiro, at the victorious Yohan and Gyomei, and couldn't help but question his purpose in coming at all.
Without saying much, Uzui quietly walked over to Muichiro's side.
"Muichiro, how are you holding up?"
Muichiro weakly waved a hand, signaling that he was okay. But the sweat-soaked ground beneath him told a different story — his condition was anything but good.
"I… I'm fine. You… go help…" he murmured.
He hadn't lifted his head, and thus hadn't seen the state of the battlefield. Having awakened his Demon Slayer Mark, the energy drain was immense. Even now, just regulating his breath made his entire body scream in pain.
"…Ugh…"
At that moment, Uzui didn't know what to say.
The battle, meanwhile, had reached its final note.
"Die!"
Yohan and Gyomei shouted in unison.
"No!!"
The last wail of the demons echoed briefly — before their bodies disintegrated into the wind.
Upper Rank One: Kokushibo.
Upper Rank Four: Hantengu.
Dead.
Breathing heavily, Gyomei collapsed to the ground to recover his strength. Yohan deactivated his Demonic Armor and walked calmly toward the others.
"Yohan… this time, we truly owe you," Gyomei said, still panting, his breathing not yet fully stabilized. But his gratitude couldn't wait — he needed to say it.
As Gyomei finished speaking, the three Hashira turned their gazes toward Yohan.
"You all… should rest first."
"The battle is over."
Yohan waved his hand dismissively and said no more.
After a while, the group managed to recover somewhat. Though their injuries still required proper treatment at the Butterfly Mansion, for now they were out of danger.
As calm settled over them, a surreal feeling lingered. None of them — aside from Yohan — could fully believe what had just happened.
Tengen Uzui, the first to recover fully, still felt his mind spinning.
He had assumed that facing even one Upper Moon would be the limit of this mission. And now — three of them had appeared. And all three were dead.
Dead. Not escaped. Not injured. Slain.
This battle had resulted in the elimination of three Upper Moons. And when you added the ones Yohan had already taken out — Doma (Upper Two) and Akaza (Upper Three) — that brought the total to five Upper Moons eradicated.
Five.
Which meant… they were now just one step away from confronting Kibutsuji Muzan — the final demon king.
As for the remaining Upper Six? After everything they'd done, was there anything to fear from that one?
The Hashira could hardly believe that this had been accomplished. It had happened so fast — so suddenly — and now they stood on the verge of the final war.
"We must report this to Lord Ubuyashiki immediately," said Gyomei firmly.
He had long served the current leader, and he knew just how much this news would mean to him. For the ailing Kagaya Ubuyashiki, this would be a moment of pure joy — a beacon of hope after years of darkness.
"Mm."
Muichiro and Tengen both nodded. They understood.
"Send the message. Then we should all return. It's nearly time for the final experiment," Yohan reminded them.
"The experiment!"
"That's right!"
The others immediately remembered the meeting — and the plan that had been discussed.
At the time, they hadn't known when it would happen. But now, it seemed… the moment had arrived.
"Yohan, do you know how far along the experiment is?" Gyomei asked.
The Butterfly Mansion's Shinobu Kocho had been in charge, but the other Hashira hadn't heard much about the progress. Seeing an opening, they now took the chance to ask Yohan.
"I'm not entirely sure either," Yohan replied. "But last I heard, it was close to completion."
"So let's head back immediately."
"Right!"
The three Hashira all responded with brightened expressions — even the normally expressionless Muichiro looked visibly better.
The storm had passed — but what awaited them next… was the final dawn.