"For the past hundred years, the six Upper Moons have never once been replaced."
"Every mission they take on is completed flawlessly. Even among the Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, there are countless who have died at their hands."
"But the Lower Moons have been replaced again and again."
Muzan Kibutsuji, still wearing the guise of an elegant noblewoman, spoke in a mild tone.
The five remaining Lower Moons trembled as they listened, daring only to argue silently in their hearts.
"Oh? You have objections?"
Muzan narrowed his eyes and fixed his gaze straight ahead, on Lower Rank Six, Kamanue.
Not good.
Feeling Muzan's killing intent settle on him, Kamanue broke out in a cold sweat.
"What is so 'not good'?"
Muzan asked softly.
Then his eyes flew open in fury.
Blue veins bulged across his face.
"Go on. Say it."
A massive shadow fell over Kamanue. In the next instant, his body was yanked upside down into the air.
"Please forgive me, Lord Muzan. Please, I beg you, forgive me!"
"I am sorry. I am so sorry. Please, just spare me, just this once!"
Muzan's left arm twisted into something monstrous.
His slender limb swelled grotesquely, turning into an enormous, blood red abomination. Dozens of eyes rolled and spun across its surface, and a huge maw full of jagged teeth yawned open.
Kamanue's lower body was already inside that mouth, being chewed apart. The searing pain tore through every nerve in his body.
Tears streamed down his face as he begged for mercy.
"I am sorry. I am so sorry. I am so, so… aah!"
His scream was cut short.
The giant mouth on Muzan's mutated arm snapped shut and swallowed him whole.
Drip. Drip.
Blood seeped out between those teeth, splattering over the remaining four Lower Moons from head to toe.
Their pupils shook violently as they stared and listened. None of them even dared raise their heads.
The monstrous mouth let out a satisfied belch, then shrank away as Muzan pulled his arm back to normal.
Lower Rank Three sat frozen in place.
Cold sweat mixed with blood streamed down his body, soaking his clothes through.
Am I next?
Am I really going to die here?
I worked so hard to finally become Lower Rank Three…
"Are the Demon Slayers more frightening than I am?"
Muzan's voice was slow and quiet as he looked over the survivors.
After a long silence, Lower Rank Four forced herself to speak, her hoarse voice shaking.
"No."
"When you encounter a Hashira, you always think about running away, do you not?"
"No…"
Lower Rank Four scrambled to deny it. Her nails dug deep into her own flesh, using pain to push back the fear.
"Lord Muzan, my life was given to me by you. If there is danger ahead, I will gladly throw it away for your sake."
But Muzan's next words shattered the last of her hope.
He stared at her coldly, his red lips barely moving as he spoke, his tone like ice.
"So you are denying what I just said?"
"You are claiming that I am mistaken?"
Tears burst from Lower Rank Four's bloodshot eyes.
Her entire body shook uncontrollably.
The instant Muzan spoke those words, she felt death close around her like a fist.
Her pupils dilated.
Thud.
Muzan's warped arm slammed into the floor with a dull impact.
When the blood haze cleared, there was nothing left but a fresh puddle of gore.
Lower Rank Four was dead.
Warm blood splashed outward and painted half of Lower Rank Three's body red.
His eyes had gone dull as he stared at the floor, mind spinning.
If I agree, I die.
If I deny it, I die.
And fighting back… that is Muzan. That is not even an option.
Lower Rank Three's whole body pressed low to the floor, his legs quietly coiling.
Bang.
He exploded into motion, pushing his speed to the limit and fleeing through the shifting corridors of the Infinity Castle.
Muzan did not move.
He simply watched Lower Rank Three's rapidly retreating back with cold, crimson eyes.
Lower Rank One, Enmu, tracked the fleeing figure with his gaze, his expression colored by faint disdain.
"How foolish."
Twang.
Nakime's biwa rang again with a clear note.
Plop.
A severed head landed in Muzan's hand.
Thick blood dripped steadily to the floor. Lower Rank Three was not fully dead yet. His eyes were still blinking weakly.
"With this, the Lower Moons are dissolved."
Muzan looked down at the platform, at Lower Rank One and Lower Rank Two.
"Do either of you have anything to say?"
"I… I am still useful to you," Lower Rank Two stammered. "If you… if you grant me more of your blood, and I become stronger, I can kill the Hashira."
"A useless piece of trash dares ask for more blood?"
His pathetic excuse only made Muzan angrier.
Muzan's eyes went round, the veins around them bulging as if they might rip through the skin.
"Why," he asked softly, "should I listen to you and share my blood?"
"How shameless."
"No, that is not what I meant. I… I only…"
"Silence. It does not matter what you say."
Muzan looked at Lower Rank Two as though he were already a corpse.
"I have done nothing wrong."
"Every decision belongs to me alone."
"What I say is absolute."
"You have no right to argue. If I say something is correct, then it is correct."
A chill flashed through his blood red eyes.
"You tried to dictate my actions. That is a crime worthy of death."
Crack.
Every bone in Lower Rank Two's body snapped at once.
Muzan lifted his hand, and the demon's broken, boneless form slid across the floor to his feet like a pile of sludge.
"You want more blood? Then I will give it to you."
Slash.
Muzan's index finger sharpened into a blade and slipped effortlessly into Lower Rank Two's skull.
"No. No, please… aaah!"
Lower Rank Two felt molten lava pour through his veins.
Muzan's blood devoured his own in an instant.
But that amount of blood was far beyond what his body could bear.
His screams rose to a ragged, inhuman pitch, then cut off as his flesh melted, his body dissolving into a rotting heap of meat.
Now Lower Rank Three's severed head lay on the floor, his body long gone.
He stared blankly at the platform where only Lower Rank One, Enmu, remained and seemed to see his own fate there.
It is over.
All of it is over.
Enmu would not escape either. When he died, the Lower Moons would vanish from the world entirely.
"Yes."
Lower Rank One, Enmu, slowly straightened his upper body.
He stretched out his arms as if embracing a dream.
"This feels like a dream already. To be killed by you personally, Lord Muzan, and to hear the screams of the others as they died… that alone is enough."
"I am truly happy."
"Even if this were all just a dream, other people's pain and despair are what I desire most. Thank you for letting me live this long. From this moment on, I can die without regret."
Muzan stood above him, eyes half-lidded as he watched Enmu's blissful expression.
His arm twisted once more, turning into a sharp, clawed limb that plunged into Enmu's neck. Muzan's blood flowed into Enmu's body in a steady stream.
"I am taking a liking to you. Let us see if you can withstand this much blood without dying."
"If you adapt, you will naturally become stronger."
The agony drove Enmu into unconsciousness. His body collapsed to the floor.
"Then you will serve me further. You will help me kill the Hashira… and that boy."
Muzan lifted a hand and tapped his own ear lightly.
"As long as you kill that Demon Slayer with the hanafuda earrings, I will grant you even more blood."
Twang.
Nakime's biwa rang out again, faster this time, the tempo building, the sound reverberating through the Infinity Castle.
As doors began to slam shut one after another in front of him, Enmu looked up at the disappearing passages with intoxicated gratitude.
"Thank you, Lord Muzan."
----------------------------------------------------
The deeper he goes, the more the truth unravels. Don't wait read ahead and witness Vincent's rise before the world catches up!
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