Chapter 89 – Lower Moon Five: Rui!
Slice.
Slash.
The sound of cutting steel rang through the forest.
Dry leaves and splintered branches scattered with every step Yukinoshita Akira took as he pushed deeper into the mountain's heart.
The trees grew denser, their roots and branches intertwining into a maze of obstacles. The narrow path had long vanished, swallowed by nature.
But Akira didn't bother to find a way around.
With a smooth motion, he drew his Nichirin Blade—its crimson sheen glinting faintly beneath the canopy—and swung it effortlessly.
Each strike cleaved through vines and shrubs, carving a path through the wilderness as easily as if the forest itself bowed before him.
"The scent's getting stronger… he's nearby."
The air grew heavier, tainted with a stench that mixed rotting flesh and metallic blood.
There was no mistaking it—this place reeked of a demon's den.
With a sharp breath, Akira made one final swing. The dense brush ahead disintegrated, revealing the yawning mouth of a cave.
It was unnaturally clean—no vines, no moss, not even weeds dared to grow near it.
Above, the trees arched together, their tangled branches blocking every hint of sunlight.
"So this is it, huh? Then it's only polite to knock."
He exhaled slowly, his breath forming a pale mist in the cold air. Oxygen flooded his lungs—his breathing deepened, sharpened.
The blade in his hand shimmered, glowing with the heat of the sun itself.
"Sun Breathing: Flame of the Fire Dragon!"
Flames erupted from the Nichirin Blade, twisting upward into the roaring form of a fiery dragon.
Its body coiled in a serpentine dance, the heat distorting the air as Akira swung downward.
The dragon's inferno merged with his slash, crashing into the cave's entrance.
A thunderous explosion tore through the mountain, and a violent tremor rippled beneath the earth.
This wasn't a technique from the original Sun Breathing forms—it was Akira's own creation, a personal evolution beyond even the art of Tsugikuni Yoriichi himself.
He had honed his mastery to the very limit—surpassing what even legends could achieve.
But then—
A low vibration rumbled from within the cave. The air grew sharp, filled with killing intent that seeped out like venom.
Tap… tap… tap…
Footsteps echoed from the darkness.
"So you're the human Lord Muzan ordered us to kill," a voice said, smooth yet cruel. "I didn't expect you to come walking into my home."
From the shadows emerged a boyish figure with pale white hair that fell over his left eye. His right eye glowed red—and inscribed within it, two blood-colored kanji: Lower Five.
Rui.
Lower Moon Five—the Spider Demon.
Among demons, emotions like love or family were meaningless, fleeting remnants of a humanity long gone.
But Rui was different. His obsession with the concept of "family" ran deeper than his demonic instincts—something that had clung to him even after death.
In the world of Demon Slayer, Rui was the only Lower Moon allowed by Muzan Kibutsuji to build his own "family"—a twisted replica of love and blood in the Natagumo Mountain arc.
He was a contradiction among monsters.
"Lower Five, huh…" Akira murmured, a faint smirk tugging at his lips.
"Well, that saves me the trouble of hunting you down."
Rui's lips curled. "If I take your head and offer it to Lord Muzan, he'll be pleased."
"Pleased?" Akira tilted his head. "You sound confident for someone whose superiors—the Upper Six—have already been erased by my blade."
Rui's grin faltered slightly. "Then I should thank you."
"Huh?" Akira's brow furrowed. "For what?"
"Your actions enraged Lord Muzan. When the Upper Moons fell, he shared his blood among the rest of us—more than ever before. His goal is simple." Rui's expression twisted into something cruel. "Your death."
A faint hum filled the air.
Then—whip!—
A nearly invisible thread shot forward, fast enough to cut through steel.
Akira reacted instantly, sidestepping as the wire sliced past him, severing a tree in half behind him.
"More blood, huh? Just like I thought—Muzan Kibutsuji really is a coward."
"How dare you insult Lord Muzan…" Rui hissed. "You'll pay with your life. Blood Demon Art: Murderous Eye Basket!"
Dozens of silken threads glimmered like silver blades, weaving themselves into a deadly web that shot toward Akira from every direction.
"Sun Breathing: Third Form – Raging Sun!"
Flames spiraled outward in an infinite ring, a blazing circle that burned through every strand that dared approach him.
The forest lit up with the glow of his fire, consuming Rui's threads in seconds.
"More blood won't save you," Akira said calmly. "You're still just a Lower Moon."
Rui snarled. "Don't underestimate me! Blood Demon Art: Rotating Web of Incision!"
Dozens of razor-thin threads spun together, forming a massive cocoon-like vortex that whirled toward Akira.
He wasn't holding back anymore.
Even though the trees blocked most of the sunlight, it was still daytime. For a demon, that meant danger. Rui knew he had to end this fast.
But Akira simply smiled.
"Sun Breathing: Sixth Form – Burning Bones, Summer Sun!"
A blazing whirl of heat exploded from his blade, the fiery rotation devouring Rui's web in an instant.
The temperature soared—then fell silent.
Rui froze. His senses screamed.
"Sun Breathing: Seventh Form – Beneficent Radiance!"
A single flash.
A blinding strike faster than thought itself.
The world fell still as Rui's head separated cleanly from his body.
"…No way…"
The severed head tumbled, rolling across the dirt before coming to a stop.
Akira exhaled slowly. "Nothing's impossible. Even if Muzan feeds you more blood, I grow stronger too—faster than any of you could ever imagine."
"You…" Rui's voice trembled, fading.
Before his consciousness vanished, memories began to flood back—long-buried fragments of a life that once was.
He saw a frail boy struggling to walk. His body weak, fragile, sickly from birth.
He remembered hearing a story once—about a father who sacrificed his life to save his drowning child. Rui had believed that was true love. That was what "family" meant.
Then Muzan appeared.
Pitying the boy's weakness, Muzan had offered his blood—granting him strength, at the cost of his humanity.
At first, Rui was overjoyed. But soon came the hunger. The killings.
When his parents found out what he had become, they wept. Yet even then, they didn't abandon him.
His father resolved to die with him—to end the curse and atone for their son's sins.
But Rui saw it as betrayal. In his rage, he killed them both.
It wasn't until his mother's dying breath that he realized the truth—she hadn't hated him. She had only wanted to free him.
But it was too late. He had destroyed everything himself.
Even after becoming a demon, he clung to that hollow illusion of "family," trying to rebuild what he had shattered.
And now, in his final moment, the truth struck him like sunlight through darkness.
What he had longed for all this time… was something he had already possessed.
He just hadn't realized it—until it was gone.
"I really am… beyond saving…"
With that final thought, Rui, the Spider Demon of Lower Moon Five, disintegrated into ash—leaving only silence, and a faint warmth from the fading flames of the Sun Breathing user who had ended his sorrow.
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