Muzan was certain he had just killed the man standing before him.
When he devoured him, the first part to be digested was the man's head.
But in just that short amount of time… this man was once again standing before him, pinning Muzan's body to the ground with that bizarre weapon.
"Because I came back from hell, Muzan!"
Kairo Retsu pressed down on Muzan's flesh with his Insect Glaive, nailing him to the ground. "And someone in hell asked me to deliver a message to you!"
"So… let us send you back to hell so you can reply!!!"
Kairo Retsu twisted the Insect Glaive buried in Muzan's body with brutal force.
"This is impossible!!!"
Muzan howled, raising his hand in an attempt to morph his arm and kill Kairo Retsu again to escape.
But just as Muzan's hand rose—it froze.
The Insect Glaive that Kairo Retsu was holding… had Paralysis Affinity. Though it only built up paralysis gradually—
Muzan had already consumed those paralyzing raw meats prepared by Kairo Retsu earlier.
Now, the faint Paralysis Effect had been fully triggered.
The paralyzing force, just like the stun from before, swept through Muzan's entire body.
All he could do now was watch helplessly—paralyzed—as those eyes full of murderous intent closed in on him step by step.
"Even so—what of it!!!"
Muzan let out one final roar, the scream echoing throughout the entire arena.
"Other than the sun—I HAVE NO WEAKNESS!!!"
"You can't kill me!!!!"
"Once the paralysis wears off, I'll kill all of you and escape!"
"There's still plenty of time until sunrise, right?! Hahahahahaha!"
Muzan screamed wretchedly: "You can't kill me!! After all this time—you still can't kill me!!! You're just a bunch of sun-dependent, contemptible insects!!!!"
Muzan's ravings made Tanjiro and the others clench their jaws.
They were about to raise their blades—to try to kill Muzan no matter what.
But then—
Kairo Retsu sneered. "Muzan, do you accept fate?"
"Fate is a convenient concept. Maybe it exists, maybe it doesn't. But for you…"
Kairo Retsu stepped aside, giving room to another man to take hold of the Insect Glaive.
A tall, 195 cm, handsome and brawny Brit.
"For you, fate is this—I, Joseph, became a hunter!"
Joseph Joestar (Second Joseph) flashed a brilliant smile. "And next—taking you down won't even take a second!"
Muzan's pupils instantly shrank. He remembered the strange energy this man had used earlier to melt part of his body.
"I won't feel sympathy for you. I don't think you're even slightly pitiful."
Joseph drew a steady breath and channeled all his strength—unleashing his most powerful Ripple technique:
"OVERDRIVE!!!!!!!!!"
The dazzling Ripple energy, radiant like the sun, lit up Joseph's entire body. Channeled through the bio-material Insect Glaive, the energy transferred with near-zero loss, flooding Muzan's entire body.
"This can't be!! Why?! Why do you possess the power of the sun?!"
"You monsters!! Why did you even appear?!"
As his body dissolved in the Ripple energy, Muzan shrieked, cursing Kairo Retsu and the others:
"You monsters!! I curse you! I CURSE YOU!!"
"You freaks who can come back from the dead! The Demon Slayer Corps will regret you someday!!"
"You're more terrifying monsters than I ever was!!!"
"Just wait! Just wait!!!"
"I'LL BE WAITING FOR YOU IN HELL!!!!"
Muzan screamed on and on in agony, until his body was completely dissolved by the Ripple.
Elsewhere, the flesh shell Muzan had created also began to crumble away.
Everyone witnessed it with their own eyes—Muzan perished, consumed by Ripple light that burned like the sun.
A stunned silence held the arena for several seconds—
Then erupted into overwhelming cheers.
The jubilant members of the Demon Slayer Corps threw down their weapons and rushed toward the battlefield center, lifting up the warriors who had faced Muzan head-on and tossing them high into the air, cheering joyfully.
"We won! WE WON!!!!!!"
"We killed Muzan!!"
"Uwaaah… AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"
Tears and cheers exploded across the arena.
A centuries-long vow of the Demon Slayer Corps had finally been fulfilled.
Some laughed. Some cried. Kagaya Ubuyashiki clutched his chest, overwhelmed by emotion.
Beside him, Tamayo's knees gave out—she nearly collapsed.
Muzan is dead…
This message spread through the crowd like wildfire.
"TANJIRO!!! INOSUKE!!! We survived aaaaaaaaahhhhh!!" Zenitsu bawled miserably as he was tossed into the air.
Inosuke flew through the air laughing. "WAHAHAHAHA! I knew I was strong!!"
"Mhm… no one died… Is this really real… it's… it's so wonderful."
Tanjiro pinched his own cheek hard enough to leave a bruise—and still couldn't stop his tears.
But what no one noticed was…
At the other end of the field, within the remains of Muzan's discarded flesh shell, a small lump of meat squirmed free.
A single eye blinked open—glaring at everyone with boundless hatred—and attempted to slink away.
"Just you wait… One day… One day…"
Muzan thought hatefully.
It crept forward—almost free—nearly escaping the arena unnoticed.
Until—
An arrow, tipped with a bottle, pierced straight through Muzan's remaining flesh, spraying it with a special compound.
"Snipe~" came a lazy voice.
At that moment, the Sleepy Raw Meat and Sleep Coating Arrow Muzan had consumed earlier reached their critical threshold. Forced sleep overtook him.
Just before he passed out, he saw a green-caped boy rubbing his stomach walking over, mumbling under his breath, and casually tossing two Tranq Bombs onto him.
"Let's see… next up is Tranq Bombs for the capture, then drop a trap and that's a successful capture. After that, the Felynes'll handle the haul-off…"
"Sigh… in the end, it's always me and Kazuma doing the cleanup. Not like I meant to steal the final blow or anything…"
"Oh well! Sometimes you gotta read the mood! Let them celebrate all they want!"
As Kazuma muttered to himself, Muzan's consciousness was consumed by despair, finally swallowed by darkness—never to awaken again.