The sound of sobbing gradually subsided, and I felt the strength slowly leave Tamayo's hands as they released their grip on my collar.
The fortunate part was that the fabric didn't tear.
Lady Shutara is truly remarkable; the quality of this clothing is undeniable.
While I was lost in such trivial thoughts, Tamayo, having finished her crying, slowly pulled away from my embrace.
Wiping the lingering tears from the corners of her eyes, she looked up at me.
"Thank you."
A simple word of gratitude, yet it was calm and heavy with many unspoken meanings.
"Do not mention it."
It would be a lie to say I wasn't curious about her circumstances, but I didn't press for details.
Every person has their own story, and I could eventually hear the specifics from the Muzan within me anyway.
More importantly, that wasn't what I needed to ask right now.
"If you wouldn't mind, may I ask you a few questions?"
Formal speech slipped out of me naturally.
And of course, it wasn't just because she was a beauty.
Among all the Demons I had encountered thus far—excluding Muzan—Tamayo looked the most indistinguishable from a human.
Going by appearances alone, she looked to be around my age.
However, there was a sense of composure and elegance about her—a depth of experience that felt far beyond her youthful exterior.
Even combining my past lives, it was possible she had lived longer than I had.
Tamayo gave a slow nod in response to my request.
"Yoriichi and the other Hashira were present back then; how did you manage to escape? And why did you seek me out? You must have known it would likely lead to your death."
While the Hashira had been incapacitated by Muzan's attack and couldn't move their bodies...
Yoriichi himself was there.
Even Muzan, the King of Demons, had to split his body into two thousand fragments to flee, and even then, over 1,900 of them were cut down, preventing him from a perfect escape.
In such a place, it seemed impossible for Tamayo to have gotten away.
Even with her Blood Demon Art, if it didn't work on me, it certainly wouldn't work on Yoriichi, who possessed the Transparent World—a realm far beyond my own.
Tamayo fell into deep thought for a moment before she finally spoke.
"At first... I intended to die."
@@@
In that moment long ago, I did not understand.
I didn't know what it truly meant to abandon humanity for eternal life.
I simply wanted to enjoy this time for just a bit longer.
I just wanted to be by their side for one more day.
I wanted to see the sight of my child growing day by day with my own eyes.
I wanted to grow old alongside my beloved.
And so, with my own hands, I shattered my own past.
I made a choice that could never be undone.
I killed my child with these hands, and I devoured my husband.
When I finally regained my senses, all that remained beside me was my enemy—and the flesh of my precious ones clinging to my hands like evidence of my sin.
A life where disobedience meant agonizing pain from a curse, a life where every moment was controlled.
And there I was, unable to do anything despite being in the presence of the nemesis who had stripped everything away from me.
In a state of utter despair, I lived a futureless life by that enemy's side, killing and devouring humans like any other Demon.
Then one day, something caught Muzan's eye.
The Moon Hashira, Tsugikuni Michikatsu.
The man who taught the Demon Slayer Corps how to use Breathing Styles, vastly increasing their military strength.
The cause that led Muzan to realize the necessity of an elite force—the Twelve Kizuki.
A Hashira who had systematically destroyed the elite Demons Muzan had painstakingly created, such as Saku and the Upper Rank Zero.
To Muzan's eyes, he was an incredibly galling presence.
A man he surely wanted to kill more than anyone else.
For Muzan was a wretched being who hated change and craved eternity.
But surprisingly, instead of killing him, Muzan decided to entice him and turn him into a Demon.
The reason was simple: he was curious about what kind of Demon a swordsman who used Breathing Styles would become.
'Tsugikuni Michikatsu, how would you like to become a Demon?'
And so Muzan met him, and Muzan made the offer.
Just as he had when he came for me.
'If you become a Demon, you can live for eternity.'
It was a devil's whisper that was impossible not to be tempted by.
What choice would he make?
Like my past self who had no future due to illness, he too had manifested a Demon Slayer Mark and was living a terminal life.
Same conditions, same offer.
He stood at the same crossroads of choice as I once did.
And the answer that man gave was—
'Absurd. I refuse.'
It was a response completely different from the one I had given.
He chose a different path than I did.
Instead of yielding to temptation for an eternal life, he chose the short life he had remaining.
Upon hearing the refusal, Muzan attacked him.
It was a natural outcome.
An arrogant creature filled with extreme selfishness would never spare someone who rejected his offer.
But the man was strong.
He was strong enough to block Muzan's attacks, which no one else could withstand, and engage him in combat.
However, the opponent was Muzan.
The reason Muzan could survive for five hundred years despite his childish, arrogant, and selfish behavior was because he possessed the power to back it up.
Even Michikatsu could not withstand all of Muzan's attacks.
Eventually, he succumbed to a hit, and Muzan's poison spread through his entire body.
The end for those who refused Muzan's offer was always miserable like that.
Until then, I had no thoughts about it.
It was simply the expected result.
But then, his next action—he ripped out Muzan's heart and began to chew it.
By his own will, he transformed into a Demon, created a black blade, and struck with a blow that split the very mountain itself.
Somehow having broken free from the curse, Muzan could exert no control over him.
A flicker of hope ignited within me.
Could it be that someone who escaped the shackles and performed a strike that cleaved mountains could... kill him?
But alas.
The man's strength failed him and he fell to his knees. Muzan survived that attack and rose once more.
The outcome remained unchanged. Even after taking such a blow, Muzan lived.
The hope I felt withered, and the spirit that had briefly flared up was shredded by reality once again.
At that moment—
A man who looked exactly like him suddenly appeared and decapitated Muzan.
Unlike before, Muzan seemed unable to regenerate from this attack. He desperately clung to his falling head, making choking noises.
Seeing that, I saw true hope this time.
Finally, the hope that that monster could be killed.
I bowed my head and stared with wide eyes.
My nerves were so frayed that I unconsciously clenched my fists, trying to soothe my thumping heart.
I focused my entire being on the spot where Muzan stood.
But...
When the man who had beheaded Muzan turned his gaze toward the fallen Tsugikuni, Muzan fled.
He divided his body into countless fragments and detonated them.
Though the swordsman cut down the majority of the flesh fragments, Muzan succeeded in his escape.
In the end, he had overcome the weakness of decapitation.
I sank to the ground and wailed.
Victory was just one step away, but that wretched coward managed to survive in the end.
I wailed and tore at my hair, screaming insults at him.
Thinking I didn't care if I died, I cursed him out to my heart's content.
I expected my body to swell and explode.
Yet, no such reaction occurred.
I'm not dying... Why am I not dying?
I did not die.
Could it be the curse...?
Just as I was questioning what was happening to my body, I made eye contact with him.
The Hashira were focused on the collapsed Moon Hashira and hadn't noticed me, but he alone had found me.
I don't know what happened after that.
I was so terrified of his eyes that I fled.
I don't know why I felt such terror in his gaze... even though I shouldn't have cared about dying anymore.
Strangely, he did not pursue me.
I ran and ran until he was no longer in sight, eventually hiding in the mountains.
At first, I planned to throw myself into the sunlight and end my life.
Though I had escaped him, there was no meaning in it anymore.
The ones I held dear had already died by my hands.
But I realized I couldn't die yet.
Muzan is a coward.
After experiencing such a thing, Muzan will surely never show himself to the world again until the being who showed him death is gone.
Which means there will be no one left to kill him.
That is why I sought out Tsugikuni.
To pass on the information I have about Muzan.
Aside from the other one, this man was the only person to ever drive Muzan into a corner—and since he is now a Demon, he will live forever.
I wanted to contribute even a little bit to dragging Muzan down to hell.
I don't know if he has been exiled or if he still belongs to the Demon Slayer Corps, and it doesn't matter if he kills me.
I have eaten people and killed my loved ones, so even in death, I will never be able to reunite with my husband and child...
But that is the punishment and atonement assigned to me.
@@@
I see.
So the reason she sought me out, knowing she might die, was to deliver information about Muzan.
Since I have 'M-GPT' within me, Tamayo's journey to find me could be seen as a wasted effort.
But I didn't say that out loud.
However, I hadn't heard anything about her from Yoriichi.
There was no way that fellow simply forgot.
That means he intentionally hid this fact and didn't report it.
Why did he hide this?
Did he think it was the right thing to do?
Tamayo, watching me fall into a brief silence, continued speaking.
"Muzan will never, under any circumstances, show himself again until your younger brother, Yoriichi-san, passes away."
Wait, what?
The words coming out of Tamayo's mouth were incredibly shocking.
Muzan won't appear until Yoriichi dies of natural causes?
So that was the reason why the quality and quantity of Demons dropped after Muzan's escape incident?
We're screwed.
Even my 'Nothingness' was something Muzan somehow managed to regenerate from.
Even the physical force that split a mountain failed to kill him.
Which meant the only person who could truly catch and kill Muzan was Yoriichi.
Otherwise, the only other way would be to pin him down until the sun rose.
As if that would ever happen.
Muzan is the type to flee the moment things go south.
On top of that, his escaping skills were so peerless that even Yoriichi failed to kill him completely.
And now we can't even use our tactical nuclear weapon?
God damn it, we really are screwed.
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