The Ubuyashiki mansion was unusually silent that night. A faint wind rustled through the trees, but even the insects seemed to hold their breath.
Outside the tall wooden gates stood a man dressed in a sharp black suit. His scarlet eyes held an eerie vertical slit, glowing faintly in the moonlight.
It was none other than Kibutsuji Muzan.
Nakime had reported that James was far away on assignment. With the strongest warrior gone, this was the perfect opportunity. Muzan had come personally to settle a centuries-old score.
"Let's see what your plan is, Ubuyashiki…" he murmured, taking deliberate strides toward the gates.
An oppressive aura surged from his body, heavy and stifling. The surrounding grass and trees bent as if in fear, though no wind stirred.
Bang!
The gates exploded inward under an unseen force, splinters of wood flying like shrapnel. A violent wave of energy burst into the courtyard, scattering dust and loose stones.
Muzan walked in slowly. Each step he took echoed ominously against the wooden floorboards and stone path, reverberating through the vast estate like a ticking clock counting down.
The sliding shoji doors opened.
Inside, Ubuyashiki Kagaya lay on a tatami mat, his body wrapped in thick bandages, his skin pale, lips trembling. Beside him knelt Ubuyashiki Amane, silent and composed.
"Ahem!"
Kagaya coughed into a blood-soaked cloth, his face straining with every breath. Muzan's brows creased in disdain at the pitiful sight.
"Ubuyashiki, you're even more pathetic than I imagined," he said coldly.
"Ahem... Is that you, Muzan?" Kagaya asked weakly. "Amane… What does he look like?"
"He appears as a middle-aged man in a Western suit," Amane replied softly, "with red eyes—vertical pupils like a snake."
"Yes… Yes… It's really him. The one we've pursued for centuries," Kagaya smiled faintly.
Muzan scoffed. "You people are a joke. Weak, dying, and clinging to delusions of grandeur."
"I apologize if I disappoint you," Kagaya rasped. "But we of the Ubuyashiki clan... are cursed with short lives. Because, ahem… long ago, a demon was born from our bloodline. A demon who devoured innocents, who sowed horror across the land... And that demon... is you, Kibutsuji Muzan."
Amane quietly dabbed her husband's lips with a cloth as another cough racked his body.
"Ridiculous," Muzan said sharply. "Meaningless superstition."
"You're wrong," Kagaya replied. "We don't gather for meaning—we gather for will. You have slaughtered too many, Muzan. And for each life you take, another rises to oppose you."
Muzan's expression darkened. "Enough of this sentimental nonsense."
With that, he extended his right hand. Claws grew from his fingers, gleaming ominously in the moonlight.
"Are you ready to die?"
Kagaya sighed gently. He did not flinch, nor did Amane. Instead, they gripped each other's hands tightly.
"Thank you, Amane... for staying by my side."
"This is my duty," she replied.
Suddenly, the floor beneath them began to glow a sinister red. The dust in the air floated upward. Moisture evaporated into thin mist. Then, flames erupted from the foundation.
Boom!
A devastating explosion tore through the night. A vortex of flame, heat, and pressure exploded from the Ubuyashiki residence, consuming both Kagaya and Muzan in an instant. The mansion disintegrated in a roaring inferno, sending shockwaves miles across the region.
A towering mushroom cloud rose into the night sky. The shockwave radiated outward, flattening trees, cracking stone, and shaking the very earth beneath the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters.
From all corners of the Corps, slayers looked toward the horizon where the light flared red.
"Ubuyashiki Mansion!! My lord!!"
Without hesitation, the pillars sprinted toward the explosion's epicenter.
---
In the smoldering wreckage, a charred body fell heavily to the ground. Blood oozed from the scorched face. The figure twitched, healing.
Flesh squirmed. Bones reassembled. Limbs regenerated. Slowly, Kibutsuji Muzan stood back up, his eyes burning with rage and disbelief.
"That man's hatred for me was buried under a smile… Just like a lion hiding its fangs."
His gaze swept the remains.
"There's no way that was the only trap."
He was right.
Suddenly, blood spheres began to float around him, forming a tight circle.
"Blood Demon Art…?"
The spheres expanded and shot out countless crimson thorns, stabbing deep into Muzan's flesh. The thorns embedded themselves and sprouted, rooting into him like vines and locking his body in place.
"Tch… No matter. I'll absorb this too—!"
A hand suddenly plunged into Muzan's chest.
It was Tamayo, veiled in illusion thanks to her hidden amulet.
"Tamayo!?" Muzan roared, stunned. "What are you doing here?!"
"You never expected this, did you, Muzan?" Tamayo said, beads of sweat running down her face. "You absorbed my blood and body… But do you know what I planted inside?"
Her hand trembled as she forced it deeper.
"A human-conversion drug!"
"No… That's impossible!"
"Oh, it's real," she snapped. "I couldn't make it alone… but I had help."
Muzan's face twisted in fury. "Do you know what you're doing?! It wasn't me who killed your family—it was you! You devoured them! You became a demon!"
Tears welled up in Tamayo's eyes. Her voice trembled.
"Yes… Becoming a demon was my greatest sin. And tonight, I'll end it. You will die here with me, Muzan!"
She let out a desperate scream.
"Mr. Himejima!! Now!!"
Suddenly, a deep whoosh echoed across the field.
From the smoke, Gyomei Himejima, the Stone Pillar, launched forward like a boulder, swinging his massive red-hot meteor hammer with divine might. The weapon spun through the air, whistling, glowing with concentrated heat.
Just as it was about to land—
"Breath of the Moon—Eighth Form: Moon Dragon's Tail!"
From the shadows, a massive crescent blade of energy slashed forward. It was Kokushibo, Upper Rank One. His giant sword clashed with the meteor hammer in a blinding collision of light and force.
Dust exploded, fire roared.
Two more figures suddenly appeared beside Muzan.
Douma, Upper Rank Two, grinned coldly.
Akaza, Upper Rank Three, cracked his knuckles.
Muzan's lips curled into a cold smile. "I brought my elite. I anticipated betrayal."
But even with them here, Muzan had miscalculated.
He had underestimated the hatred Ubuyashiki bore him. The trap was not just physical—it was tactical.
The Upper Moons, caught off guard by the initial blast, had been flung aside. Now, as they regrouped, the Hashira arrived from all directions.
Cries of anguish and fury filled the battlefield.
"That's Muzan!!"
Every Slayer, shocked by the realization, drew their Nichirin Blades.
Yet none rushed in.
Because just behind the battlefield, amidst the shattered remains of Wailing Island, stood a lone figure.
---
It was James.
He had been waiting.
Standing silently, he watched the chaos unfold.
A pale blue lotus rotated slowly within his ice-cold eyes, its image mirrored in the faint mark blooming across his forehead.
The white Nichirin Blades in his hands began to glow—first red, then deep crimson, then violet, and finally, a dim blue. The air around him was unnaturally still.
Everything near his blades disintegrated into dust.
A terrifying pressure built within him. His breathing technique surged to its peak. The energy in his body flowed like a raging river.
James pressed his right foot into the earth.
Crack!
The ground beneath him—within a radius of ten meters—compressed and crystallized under the force.
Then, with speed that defied vision, he moved.
"Anode Breathing Technique—Slashing Style!"
---
The final battle had begun.
Muzan had come with fury. But the Demon Slayers had prepared with resolve.
This night would be remembered.
The Ghost King had arrived.
And so had his reckoning.
Øóffer going on for diamond tier
pàtreøn (Gk31)