While Kairo Retsu and Kazuma Satou bickered in front of the Master, the people inside the Infinity Castle had already begun making plans to deal with Nakime.
Joseph Joestar had also quickly received Kairo's message and learned of the plan to lure Muzan to the designated location.
"I'll head over as soon as I can. Seriously, what a hassle," Joseph grumbled. "Why do all these demons have such troublesome abilities? Blood Demon Arts... they're basically superpowers!"
"Good thing our world didn't have any overpowered vampire Pillar Men with abilities like that," he continued over the Gathering Hub voice channel. "If we ever had enemies with psychic abilities or time-stopping powers or something—man, that'd be a nightmare!"
"...?" Kairo's expression instantly became complicated.
Joseph had only managed to watch the first two parts of Joseph's Bizarre Adventure before arriving here, and still had no idea about what comes next—about Ripple being replaced by Stands, or about the centenarian time-stopping vampire he'd eventually fight...
"Ah, yes, yes, totally," Kairo said. "Anyway, be sure Yushiro and Tamayo get control of Nakime. Whether we can deliver Muzan to the final location depends on you all."
"OK!" Joseph replied cheerfully, adjusting his attitude. "Let's polish off Muzan in style and then head back to the Gathering Hub for a proper training session! I've got to get serious about Ripple training."
"Huh!? You're actually gonna train Ripple voluntarily? You're not the real Joseph!" Kairo exclaimed. "You must be an evil demon from the Infinity Castle impersonating our comrade! I'll end you with my own hands—!"
"How lazy do you think I am?!" Joseph shouted back in indignation. "I'm going to look for Tamayo and Yushiro now. Hope Shield Guy can stall Muzan a bit longer…"
Just as Joseph finished speaking, Naofumi Iwatani's voice came through the voice chat, accompanied by the sound of Heavy Bowgun fire and Muzan's furious roars.
"Joseph, you should use my name, you know." Naofumi's voice was steady. "I'm not gonna last much longer. I'm nearly out of Bowgun ammo. Once I'm out… well, you know. Most of my current unlocked Shields don't have much offensive power."
"If I run out of ammo, Muzan's probably going to bolt." His voice turned low, clearly trying to keep Muzan from overhearing. "You guys need to hurry."
"...How long?" Kairo asked, flexing his fingers.
"Once I'm out of bullets… about twenty minutes. As for myself," Naofumi said calmly, "I can use the Four Holy Shields to stall Muzan for another ten minutes on my own."
Naofumi's few sentences effectively set the countdown for the final showdown against Muzan.
"Thirty minutes to subdue Nakime…" Joseph muttered, irritated. "What a pain… Fine! Got it!"
"Thirty minutes. That means we can't sit around," Kairo said, cracking his knuckles. "Still a long way till sunrise… As expected, we can't rely on fighting until daylight."
"Time to prep. Just like we planned!" Kairo declared.
And with that, the Hunters sprang into action.
"Kazuma! Pack your gear! We're taking to the skies by Wingdrake!" Kairo barked as he began changing equipment at the supply crate. "During the final battle, area-wide support's on you!"
"Leave it to me! In a world without skills or magic, my Stealth is unbeatable!" Kazuma said proudly. "I've already packed my bag full of potions and traps!"
"Then I'll…" Kairo opened the supply chest, returned his Long Sword, and swapped in his Insect Glaive and Kinsect. "We'll have to trouble Tamayo again."
"You're seriously gonna use that method?" Kazuma made a strange face. "Wait… actually, I used that once too. Though that was in the future…"
"If it's usable, we use it!" Kairo declared with conviction.
"Let's go!"
After bidding farewell to the Master, Kairo and Kazuma extended their Clutch Claws and latched onto a Wingdrake flying overhead, en route to the location where the Palicoes had already begun construction.
Watching the two depart, the Master's palms were slick with sweat.
A final battle with Muzan, in just thirty minutes—this was something the Demon Slayer Corps hadn't dared dream of for ages.
After all these years, they had finally forced Muzan out of the darkness. And thanks to the Hunters' help, their casualties in the Infinity Castle were minimal.
Like something out of a dream… the Demon Slayer Corps would be launching an annihilation operation against Muzan with virtually no losses.
"We can do this," the Master clenched his fists.
"We will do this."
"Exterminate… Muzan!!!"
――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――
When the Wingdrake carrying Kairo and Kazuma arrived above the valley, the sight before them left them utterly stunned.
They hadn't seen the valley before, but one thing was certain—
There was no way this valley originally had a massive, arena-style clearing like something out of Monster Hunter.
There wasn't even a single tree stump left. The central area was smooth and flat, like it had been shaved and plastered over. Around it stood barricade walls made of timber, lined with cannons and Ballistae.
Inside the arena, numerous contraptions were installed—most impressively, Kairo spotted a mounted Dragonator, a luxury of unimaginable scale.
"Meow! Guildmaster and Kazuma Hunter!" The working Palicoes noticed the newcomers, and Chief Engineer Ajay came scurrying over. "The arena setup is nearly complete, and many mechanisms have already been installed."
"You're seriously using this stuff to fight Muzan?! This is overkill!" Kazuma dropped to the ground and yelled at the Dragonator. "Can he even survive that kind of firepower?!"
"Meow, these are essential tools for hunting," Ajay responded earnestly.
"Because a Hunter's mission is to slay—not to repel, meow!"
"True… if Muzan escapes with even a sliver of flesh, we might really fail," Kairo grimaced.
"To kill Muzan completely, it's either sun exposure—or a Ripple bombardment from Joseph."
Still…
Kairo looked at all the progress the Palicoes had made in such a short time and once again reaffirmed what he already knew deep in his heart:
"Palicoes really can do anything…"