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Muzan and Kokushibo stood high above, looking down at Kisaragi Rin with disdain.
"How can you kill me?"
---
At this moment, under Nakime's matching mechanism:
Wind Pillar, Insect Pillar, and Flame Pillar faced Upper Rank Two Doma!
Busujima Saeko faced Upper Rank Four Hantengu!
Water Pillar Giyu Tomioka faced Upper Rank Five Gyokko!
Shinobu Kocho looked at Doma, who had a smile on his face, and could no longer maintain her expression, angrily shouting, "Doma!"
Sanemi Shinazugawa stood in front of her, holding his nichirin blade by his side, with an inexplicable emotion.
"Although I'm very sorry, I've always liked your older sister, and Doma is my enemy too!"
Kyojuro Rengoku also drew his blade: "I also cannot tolerate man-eating demons continuing to exist in this world!"
"First Form: Dust Whirlwind Cutter!"
"Fifth Form: Flame Tiger!"
Facing the three nichirin blades coming at him, Doma simply opened his fan, letting a cold current descend upon the battlefield.
He covered his mouth and asked strangely, "I haven't done anything bad, so why does everyone seem to have a grudge against me?"
...
Karaku, Sekido, Aizetsu, and Urogi, the four Hantengu avatars, merged their flesh and blood, converging into Zohakuten, whose aura was terrifying.
Zohakuten also had a huge circular ring on its back, with five 'Hatred' characters written on it, and it looked quite young.
Its eyes were crimson, and it swept a contemptuous glance at Busujima Saeko, and countless wooden dragons burst from the ground around her, surging towards her.
"Woman, are you the only one?" Zohakuten's voice carried a hint of disdain.
"Isn't it better to be alone?" Busujima Saeko was fearless, the corners of her mouth slightly upturned.
Shizuka Marikawa helped her borrow a nichirin blade from the Mist Pillar, and Busujima Saeko could barely conceal her excitement, pulling it out with a fierce tug.
A trace of blood flowed along the blade, and instantly, flames rose, like a dazzling red lotus blooming in the darkness.
Strength surged in her eyes, making the strikes of the nichirin blade in her hand even more terrifying.
...
Giyu Tomioka calmly killed the demons on his way until he saw a pot.
Upper Rank Five Gyokko emerged from it, with two eyes growing on his mouth and forehead respectively, while his original eyes had grown two sausage-like lips, coupled with four floating baby hands, making him undeniably the ugliest existence among the Twelve Kizuki.
Looking at Giyu Tomioka, Gyokko sensed the aura of water, and with a somewhat intoxicated sigh, he exclaimed, "You will become my perfect art."
Unfortunately, Giyu Tomioka had no desire to communicate; like ripples on the water, his Sixth Form: Whirlpool violently thrust towards Gyokko at extreme speed.
...
Yukinoshita Yukino plummeted downwards, rooms flashing past behind her, warm yellow light flickering on and off, casting shadows on her face.
Taking a deep breath, Yukinoshita Yukino had already begun to circulate Insect Breathing, her clothes fluttering behind her, landing steadily like an agile cat.
Beside her were Mitsuri Kanroji and Yushiro.
Flame Pillar, Wind Pillar, Insect Pillar, and Water Pillar were the only four remaining combat forces of the Demon Slayer Corps.
This was the information Muzan knew.
However, Mitsuri Kanroji had only become a Pillar yesterday and hadn't even had time to be announced to the Demon Slayer Corps members.
Yushiro had always been hidden behind the scenes; Muzan didn't even know of his existence.
And Yukinoshita Yukino was weak enough.
Who would notice where they went?
Presumably, they had already evacuated with other ordinary swordsmen.
Under Yushiro's Blood Demon Art, their presence completely deceived Nakime's eyes, which is why they were not assigned to enemies.
Their mission was the most important part of the entire plan: to kill Nakime and return the Infinity Castle to the real world!
Large numbers of Kasugai Crows shuttled back and forth within the Infinity Castle, striving to map it out as quickly as possible.
Yukinoshita Yukino took out a Dragon-Seeking Radar, and its dull black surface began to spin.
"Please, you must point to Nakime!"
---
Muzan's willingness to act personally was partly due to Spider Mother as bait, partly because Kisaragi Rin had not shown overwhelming strength, and partly due to the sense of security provided by Nakime's ability.
Spider Mother aroused his greed, Kisaragi Rin's weakness gave him a reason to act, and Nakime's protection allowed him to act boldly...
The three together wove a lie for Muzan called "I can do it."
But lies are fragile; once he perceives a life-threatening danger, he will not hesitate to revert to being a cowardly and despicable Demon King.
He would choose to transfer Kisaragi Rin away or transfer himself away, then quietly wait for Kisaragi Rin to leave this world, and then hide for many years before resuming his search for his Blue Spider Lily...
Therefore, Nakime had to be killed before Muzan could react, only then would there be a chance to completely kill the Demon King.
And Kisaragi Rin and Spider Mother in front of him were the first step to attract attention.
The four Pillars on the surface were the second step to reassure him, and incidentally, they could also tie down any Upper Ranks who might be protecting Nakime.
All plans relied on information asymmetry, and Muzan was completely unaware of Kisaragi Rin's preparations.
...
"Black Wind Smoke Mist!"
Kisaragi Rin once again clashed with Kokushibo's Moon Breathing.
He couldn't expose his full strength, but he also couldn't hide too much, otherwise, it would only be counterproductive and make Muzan wary.
Because both Kokushibo and Kisaragi Rin possessed Transparent World, their confrontation had become a game of predicting the other's prediction, and predicting the prediction of the other's prediction...
Aside from a few instances of dealing damage with equipment advantage without alarming Muzan, they could only remain in a stalemate.
But even this was enough to make Muzan feel alarmed, because last night, Nakime's observation showed that Kisaragi Rin had spent a great deal of effort to kill Akaza, and Kokushibo's power was overwhelmingly superior to Akaza's.
"But it's nothing to worry about; it's just a stalemate. As soon as the other Upper Ranks are free, they can immediately deal with him."
Muzan suppressed the doubts in his heart, blood thorns constantly emerging from his body and stabbing towards Spider Mother.
At this moment, Spider Mother had completely transformed into the appearance of a demon from a storybook.
Her upper body was human, and her lower body was a giant white spider.
"Die!"
Spider Mother's eyes were filled with anger, and she unleashed her full power against the culprit who had turned her into a demon.
Spider silk continuously connected throughout the Infinity Castle, forming a web to contend with Muzan.
Muzan had no Blood Demon Art, or rather, his Blood Demon Art was simply immortality.
Facing attacks, he would regenerate in less than a single breath.
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