"Take the medicine? Fine. I've already made my resolve."
Tamayo set down the culture dish in her hands, her expression solemn. "So… are we going to follow the Master's original plan?"
A few days earlier, she, Kurosaki Rei, and Gyomei Himejima had met with the Master in private. At the time, the Master's illness had worsened to the point where he had already accepted death, and thus devised a plan that none of the other Hashira would ever agree to.
However, Kurosaki Rei had not agreed back then. Instead, he had produced a strange medicine and administered it to the Master, stabilizing his condition somewhat.
Now, with Kurosaki Rei arriving in such a grave manner and telling her to take medicine, Tamayo naturally assumed he intended for her to follow the Master's plan—using death itself to scheme against Kibutsuji Muzan.
"Not that," Kurosaki Rei said, shaking his head. "Lady Tamayo, the medicine you need to take is the same one prepared for Nezuko. You need to turn back into a human."
Tamayo was stunned. "Mr. Rei, what are you saying? If I become human, I'll lose all leverage against Muzan. I also won't be able to let him absorb and assimilate me."
In the Master's original plan, he would act as bait, luring Muzan in and detonating the estate to heavily injure him. Then she would rush out and inject Muzan with the drugs. An enraged Muzan would surely devour her, thereby ingesting even more of the medicine.
"Does Yushiro know about this idea of yours?" Kurosaki Rei asked calmly.
Tamayo froze for a moment. "That child would understand. This is for the sake of destroying Muzan. As long as Muzan lives, more people will be harmed. No matter how many lives we save through medicine, it will never outweigh the damage Muzan causes to the world."
"Don't be foolish," Kurosaki Rei said flatly. "Muzan's harm to humanity doesn't even come close to humanity's harm to itself."
He was telling the truth. The Demon Slayer Corps was an unofficial organization—just a group of people who had been hurt by demons and banded together to kill them.
But objectively speaking, were demons truly that great a threat to society?
The number of demons and Demon Slayer Corps members alike was small, while Japan's population in this era was steadily increasing.
Why did Muzan become much more low-key after entering modern society? Was it really just because he wanted a peaceful life?
No.
It was because he knew that if he acted too brazenly, state power alone would be enough to crush him. Never underestimate the strength of a nation—especially in an era that already had cars and airplanes, that had entered the age of hot weapons. If the government truly mobilized the military to suppress him, aerial bombardment with bombs would be no joke. After all, even in the original story, Muzan was gravely injured by explosives in a courtyard. Clearly, he wasn't completely immune to modern weaponry.
If one compared things seriously, the number of people killed by the demons Muzan created over a thousand years—including Muzan himself—was probably not even on the level of a single devastating plague.
Muzan once uttered a particularly infuriating "famous saying" in the original story, asking why people didn't just treat him like natural disasters such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, or plagues—just bad luck if you ran into them—and instead chose to hate him.
As obnoxious as that sounded, the truth was that Muzan was still far from being on the level of a natural disaster. Compared to true calamities, his destructive power simply didn't measure up.
That was why Kurosaki Rei felt that letting a talent like Tamayo throw her life away was an utter waste. There were many ways to administer drugs—it didn't have to be at the cost of one's life.
Besides, he no longer needed Tamayo's drugs now.
He intended to cut Muzan down face-to-face.
"Mr. Rei… are you going out to look for Muzan?" Tamayo seemed to realize something. She stood up and grabbed Kurosaki Rei's arm. "Take me with you. I can be of use."
Kurosaki Rei shook off her hand. "Stay at the main base. Use the medicine to completely sever your connection with Muzan. Otherwise, once Muzan dies, you'll disappear as well."
Kibutsuji Muzan was the progenitor of all demons. Tamayo and Nezuko had broken free of his control, but that didn't mean they were no longer connected to him. The only demon not created by Muzan was Yushiro.
Once Muzan died, all demons born from him would perish—including Tamayo and Nezuko. Therefore, they had to turn back into humans first.
"I understand your goodwill, Mr. Rei, but Nezuko and I are different," Tamayo said, shaking her head. "If I turn back into a human… I'll still die."
Seeing Kurosaki Rei's confusion, she explained, "Because I've lived for an extremely long time—something humans simply cannot do. Once I become human again, the accumulated aging of my body will kill me."
"Is there really no other way?" Kurosaki Rei asked.
Tamayo pondered for a moment. "I could attempt to transform myself into a new species—half human, half demon. I'm not sure whether that would escape total extinction. But as long as Muzan can be killed, my own fate doesn't matter. After all, I am a sinner to begin with."
Kurosaki Rei understood Tamayo's mindset. She wasn't afraid of death—if anything, she yearned for it. The guilt of killing her husband and child had tormented her for centuries. If she could perish together with Muzan, it would be the ultimate release.
"Do your best to live on," Kurosaki Rei said. "Use your medical skills to benefit humanity, and atone for your sins."
Without waiting for Tamayo's response, he changed the subject. "I have a second matter to arrange. You can also relay it to the Master—he'll agree."
Tamayo knew time was short and didn't dwell further on herself. "Please speak, Mr. Rei."
"After I leave, if I don't return quickly, immediately gather all the Hashira to protect Nezuko. The poisons you and Miss Kocho have developed—distribute one dose to each Hashira."
Kurosaki Rei had already coordinated with the Stone Hashira, who would be patrolling this temporary headquarters.
The enemy would likely attempt a feint—luring the tiger away from the mountain. They had to be prepared. As much as Kurosaki Rei admired the Master's fearlessness, to be honest, at this stage, the Master was far less important than Nezuko.
Once Muzan absorbed Nezuko, he would truly become a Jo–level ultimate lifeform. That would be disastrous—he'd be able to roam freely even during the day, making him impossible to pin down.
Originally, Kurosaki Rei had planned to use Nezuko as bait to lure Muzan out. He had discussed this with Tanjiro, who said that as long as Muzan could be eliminated, the siblings were willing to bear the risk.
But now, it seemed unnecessary to leak information themselves—the enemy might already be knocking on their door.
After finishing his instructions to Tamayo, Kurosaki Rei glanced at the deepening night outside and headed for the exit, only to be stopped by a petite woman.
"Rei-kun, are you planning to go fight an Upper Rank by yourself?"
Shinobu Kocho looked up at him, dark purple eyes filled with hatred. "Take me with you. I'd like to test the effects of the new drug."
Kurosaki Rei sidestepped swiftly, passing by her. "Don't let your emotions control you. Do your job properly. I promise you—every demon I encounter on this trip, I will kill."
Setting aside his fondness for the Nine Hashira from reading the original story, these two months of training and daily interaction had made him truly see them as friends. There was no way he would watch Shinobu march off to her death against Dōma.
With Shinobu's strength, even after learning Ghost-God, she still lacked the power to sever a demon's head. She could only rely on poison. Even if she managed to defeat Dōma, it would be a one-for-one trade—and Kurosaki Rei could not accept such losses.
"Rei-kun…"
Shinobu turned back, still wanting to argue, but Tamayo gently took hold of her hand from behind.
"Miss Shinobu, let's organize the medicine," Tamayo said softly. "The battle may start on our side first as well. This night… may be a long one."
After Kurosaki Rei departed, Ubuyashiki Amane entered a room in the estate, holding a wooden basin as she wiped the Master's sweat.
"Amane," the Master asked weakly, "has the Sound Hashira already left?"
"He just departed the estate and is heading toward the location reported by the Kasugai Crow," Amane replied dutifully.
"Is that so…"
The Master struggled to turn his head, using his blind eyes to sense the moonlight outside. "Amane, is the moon full tonight?"
A tear slid down Amane's cheek. "Very full."
"Then activate the backup plan," the Master said gently. "I can roughly understand that child's thoughts, but I cannot let him bear everything alone. If a great battle truly breaks out, I am willing to offer up my life."
"I only hope… that the Sound Hashira returns safely."
...
In May, the warmth of early summer scattered the chill of late spring, turning it into a gentle breeze.
By an ancient road, a bright moon hung high, illuminating a thousand-year-old monastery.
Along the roadside lay gnawed corpses scattered in disarray, the air thick with the stench of blood.
Amid the cries of night crows, a black-clad man raced through the darkness, leaping and landing atop a tree like a nocturnal owl.
His gaze swept across the scene, sensing the surrounding auras, before turning toward the austere monastery.
"So… it's just you?"
From within the monastery, a figure stepped out. Under the moonlight, Kurosaki Rei saw his face clearly.
It was a rather handsome man with shoulder-length black hair tied into a ponytail at the back of his head. He wore black attire resembling a formal evening suit, along with plain white gloves, giving him the air of a refined gentleman.
Upon seeing Kurosaki Rei, he bowed politely. "My name is Qingfeng. It's an honor to meet a strong man like you."
Kurosaki Rei walked toward him at an unhurried pace. His perception detected no other demons nearby, which puzzled him.
Did this man really look down on him that much?
"I thought I'd be seeing all of the Twelve Kizuki," Kurosaki Rei said.
As he drew closer, he saw the man's eyes—pitch-black pupils with white characters carved within them.
Upper Rank Four.
Kurosaki Rei's expression darkened. "What did you do to the original Upper Rank Four?"
Qingfeng smiled. "Since I've obtained this number, the previous Four was naturally eliminated. Lord Muzan doesn't like useless trash that fails in succession battles."
He showed no tension at Kurosaki Rei's approach. Instead, he casually pulled out a human finger from his storage space and gnawed on it like a snack.
"On the other hand," he said with a crunch, "why are you angry over our side losing manpower?"
"That one was supposed to be one of my prey," Kurosaki Rei replied irritably. With Upper Rank Four already dead, that meant one fewer loot chest for him.
"What a strange person," Qingfeng said calmly. "Isn't the fall of the previous Upper Rank Four a good thing for you? I didn't really want to kill him either—after all, he was still a piece of combat power. But I needed status. Without status, one has no voice."
He spoke casually, chatting with Kurosaki Rei as if they were old acquaintances.
"Looks like you really did gain some clout," Kurosaki Rei said mockingly. "Must be tough scraping by under an idiot like Muzan, huh?"
He wasn't in a hurry to attack. He wanted to gauge the enemy's intentions—or see if any other Upper Ranks were lurking nearby. Acting rashly might cost him dearly.
"Tch, don't try to bait me," Qingfeng said with a smile. "I greatly admire that Lord, you know."
He chewed his "snack" with a crisp crackle. "I'm just curious… why do you fight?"
"Why do I fight? A boring question," Kurosaki Rei said, his hand resting on the hilt of his Demon-Imprisoning Blade. If no one else showed up, he had no intention of listening to more nonsense.
"How can that be boring?" Qingfeng looked straight into Kurosaki Rei's eyes. "You should be a warrior, right? Then you must have convictions. My goal in entering this world is very clear—I chose my current position because I want to destroy this country."
"And you?" Qingfeng asked softly. "Why do you help the Demon Slayer Corps? From our perspective… shouldn't that Lord be a hero instead?"
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