Everyone stared blankly, unable to accept the outcome.
They had fought with everything they had, staking their lives countless times—yet due to a moment of carelessness, Muzan and the Priest Master seized the opportunity and used it to threaten Yōsuke, ultimately causing his death.
Everyone present had, in one way or another, received Yōsuke's help.
His passing now filled them with unbearable grief.
Hands clenched tightly around their blades, they glared with hatred at the Priest Master floating in the air. If not for him, the battle would never have ended this way.
The Priest Master remained completely unfazed by their hostility.
He spoke coldly:
"This was Yōsuke Ubuyashiki's own choice—exchanging his life for yours. You should cherish that, instead of letting anger cloud your minds and throwing away the lives he fought so hard to protect."
Suddenly, at the place where Yōsuke had died, a cluster of shimmering, rainbow-colored light appeared, faintly shaped like a human form.
The Priest Master, who had always been calm, could no longer contain his excitement.
"It's finally here—the incomplete power of the Rules!
I didn't expect your soul to merge with the power of the Rules, Yōsuke Ubuyashiki.
In that case, I'm sorry—but you no longer have the right to reincarnate.
Your soul and the Rule Power… I'll be taking them."
Unable to wait even another moment, the Priest Master teleported in front of Yōsuke's soul.
He spread his arms, releasing the same rainbow radiance.
A pillar of light connected him to Yōsuke's soul.
Yōsuke's soul was drawn toward him like metal to a magnet, dragged helplessly into the Priest Master's body.
"The moment of transcendence is near… Soon, I will rule the fate of this world.
I will become its god!"
But just as Yōsuke's soul was about to be absorbed, it suddenly halted, as if something were pulling it back.
"What?!"
The Priest Master couldn't understand.
By all logic, two sources of origin should attract each other smoothly and fuse without resistance.
He looked behind Yōsuke's soul—and froze.
Countless motes of light had appeared beside Yōsuke, taking human shape.
One by one, countless hands reached out and grabbed hold of Yōsuke's soul, preventing the Priest Master from absorbing it.
During the fusion process, the Priest Master couldn't use his abilities; he could only rely on his own strength, effectively having to physically pull Yōsuke's soul into himself—as though in a massive tug-of-war.
"Mere ants dare to resist me?
You think you can stop me?!"
The Priest Master exerted more force, dragging Yōsuke's soul a little closer. The soul continued to inch toward him.
With only spiritual strength, stopping him was nearly impossible.
Tanjiro saw that his own family members were among the glowing figures.
In soul form, Tanjūrō extended a hand to him.
"Tanjiro… it's not over yet. You can still save him.
Don't abandon the man who saved you!"
Everyone else saw the loved ones they had lost as well—each reaching out a hand to them.
Those present grasped the hands of those most important to them.
From them, they felt a burning desire—the desire to save Yōsuke.
The Priest Master's forehead bulged with veins.
"Why?! Why are you all so obsessed with a dead man?!"
Every single person answered firmly:
"Because we never abandon a comrade!"
"How utterly meaningless—your pitiful bonds!
You insects think you can stop me?
Once I transcend and become the true god of this world, I will kill every last one of you!"
But no one paid any attention to his mockery.
United as one, they focused solely on pulling Yōsuke's soul back.
Even the remaining Demon Slayer swordsmen outside the Infinity Castle—and the noncombat support corps, the Kakushi—joined in.
Everyone poured their strength into one thing: saving Yōsuke.
One person's strength was tiny.
But now, thousands had become a single rope.
The Priest Master staggered under the immense pressure; sweat streamed down his forehead.
"Ahhhh—!!"
With a roar, everyone pulled with all their might.
At last, Yōsuke's soul slowly moved out of the Priest Master's reach.
The Priest Master stared, horrified.
"How is this possible?!
You're just humans—how can you interfere with the fusion of Rule Power?!"
"You're always talking about destiny and rules, treating us humans as lower than insects…
But you forgot something."
A calm voice approached from afar.
Kagaya Ubuyashiki stepped forward, supported by Amane and Kiriya.
"That is… humans are beings capable of creating miracles.
Or rather—we are miracles."
Kagaya's sightless eyes were unwavering as he faced the Priest Master.
"Priest Master, your dream of godhood and transcendence will never succeed.
This world does not need a god."
His presence ignited the hearts of everyone present.
"Yōsuke has always been the one saving us.
Now it's our turn to save him!
Everyone—create a miracle once more!"
With Kagaya's command, everyone unleashed their remaining strength.
Yōsuke's soul was pulled higher and farther, beyond the Priest Master's reach.
Once, the Priest Master mocked them as ants trying to shake a great tree.
But now he was the withered tree, surrounded by thousands of ants stripping him down.
He used all his strength—but still couldn't pull Yōsuke's soul back.
Then terror overtook him.
As Yōsuke's soul drifted away, the Rule Power inside the Priest Master began pulling toward Yōsuke instead—drawn out of him.
Feeling his power draining, the Priest Master realized the truth:
The situation was lost.
If the fusion continued, every trace of Rule Power in him would be absorbed into Yōsuke's soul.
At that point, he would become nothing but an ordinary human—
a fate worse than death for him.
Having lived for thousands of years, the Priest Master was no indecisive fool.
Even cornered, his mind remained sharp.
He made his choice instantly.
With his hand forming a blade, he slashed the beam of light, forcibly severing the fusion.
The backlash was immediate.
His face turned pale, and he coughed up a large mouthful of blood.
Wiping the blood from his lips, he used the last of his strength to tear open a rift in space.
With a chilling gaze at everyone below, he spat:
"One day, I will return.
And when I do… it will be the day this world is utterly destroyed!"
He stepped into the rift.
It snapped closed immediately, vanishing from the battlefield.