Chapter Forty-Four
The night was alluring, a time when all should be quiet and people should be soundly asleep. Yet, not a single member of the Demon Slayer Corps could sleep peacefully.
Through the glass tube filled with scarlet liquid, Shinobu Kocho could clearly see the sky ablaze with fire.
She told herself that she had no choice but to take a gamble.
With her mind made up, she gripped the syringe and slowly injected the medicine mixed with Chinatsu's blood into Kanae's vein.
It was blood laced with deadly poison, but also blood laced with hope.
She was gambling, gambling that the power hidden in her blood could awaken her sister who had been asleep for many years, and that it could also help her at the most crucial moment—
It became the final blow that pierced the Demon King's heart.
As she had predicted, Muzan in the Infinite Castle was personally experiencing the horror of this blood.
Just as he wrapped Chika in his flesh and blood, attempting to devour her power, a burning pain, like sunlight, surged up his veins and assaulted every nerve.
"You...this...!"
The barely maintained human form began to crumble, and Muzan, struggling to hold on, let out a roar of shock and anger.
He tried to shake off Chika and expel the insidious poison, but it was too late.
He had seven hearts, which were supposed to be a life-saving idea, but now they've become a deadly pump.
With each heartbeat, the toxin seemed to come alive, taking root and spreading wildly within his body.
"Ha ha ha ha--!"
He slammed her to the ground, and Qianxia, covered in blood, chuckled softly.
Sensing his desire to escape, and ignoring the black blood constantly spilling from the corner of her mouth, she tightly hugged Muzan's arm, wrapping her legs around it as well.
Her bloodshot eyes were strikingly bright.
"Am I tasty? Muzan? Am I cloyingly sweet? Hahahaha—!"
His hoarse voice carried an almost manic pleasure that sent chills down the spine.
"You bastard!"
Muzan let out a roar that sounded inhuman, and the entire Infinity Castle trembled.
The enormous flesh and blood body swelled and contracted uncontrollably due to the deadly poison. The tentacles and buds that had tightly surrounded Chika withered and broke off, like rotting grass scorched by the blazing sun.
"Whoosh—!"
A sharp, tearing sound rang out, and dark red blood splattered like rain.
In his desperate situation, Muzan chose to sever his own arm and retreat several feet. Deprived of Muzan's blood, his flesh instantly turned to charred ash, dissipating around Chika.
Chika also fell to the ground with a thud.
Seeing Muzan's disheveled state, she quickly flipped over and stood up, her blood-stained golden hair dancing wildly in the turbulent air.
"Mukai! Muzan! Muzan! Kibutsuji—Mubai—!"
A series of frantic screams burst from her mouth, each one like a death knell striking Muzan's heart.
New flesh was wriggling at the wound, but the regeneration was much slower. An overwhelming fear spread through Muzan's heart, a tremor of impending death that he hadn't felt in many years.
There was no time to think.
"Take me away!"
Relying on the bloodline connection between the Demon King and his subordinates, he urgently summoned Nakime, who controlled the Infinite Castle, with his thoughts.
This was his last resort.
However, the moment his consciousness connected with Nakime, a new fear was doused like ice water.
Nakime was still the same Nakime. She sat there, her fingers lightly caressing the strings of her harp, controlling the entire space of the Infinite Castle.
But behind her, a figure stood silently, a chilling smile playing on its lips—
Yushiro.
"Hello, Lord Muzan!"
Yushiro's cheerful voice echoed through the Infinite Castle, creating an eerie contrast with the terrifying power he had gathered in his hands.
"Boom—!"
No one saw what Yushiro did; he simply waved his hand, and the entire Infinite Castle began to shake violently, beams broke, and walls collapsed.
The once meticulously functioning Infinity Castle crumbled like paper, and the disheveled Muzan was completely exposed to the dawn.
But what drove him to despair was far more than that.
With a muffled "bang" in my chest, a certain restraint was completely broken.
Meanwhile, Yuuki, who was enjoying watching the show from the sidelines, began to undergo an astonishing change in appearance.
Her body kept melting, deforming, and reforming itself.
As a pair of fair hands touched her forehead, strands of ivory-white hair began to fall.
She grew taller and taller, her body became larger and larger, and the smile in her eyes and brows became more and more familiar.
When the transformation was complete, standing before him was none other than Upper Moon Two, who had long since died.
Muzan gritted his teeth, the sound emanating from between them trembling with rage.
"This is impossible..."
Upon hearing this hateful roar, Douma slowly opened his seven-colored, glass-like eyes.
In the instant he awoke, his eyes were filled with a blank indifference, as if he had not yet recovered himself from the long death.
His gaze wandered aimlessly, and the first thing that caught his eye was Muzan's face, twisted with rage. Doma merely tilted his head slightly, his expression revealing a hint of detached laziness.
However, when his gaze swept around the arena and finally settled on the blood-soaked, disheveled blond figure, his indifference shattered instantly, like ice cracking.
A genuine, unbelievable surprise gradually surfaced in his eyes, like a pebble suddenly thrown into an ancient well that had been dormant for many years, creating ripples.
"Chinatsu~"
He murmured softly, his voice hoarse from just waking up, yet overflowing with joy.
This series of changes stunned everyone present, both those fighting and those not fighting, all turning to look at Doma.
Then, my gaze followed his movements in unison. I watched helplessly as he transformed into a white blur, creating a gust of wind, and pounced on Chika without hesitation.
Muzan: "..."
He had long known that Upper Moon Two was impulsive and that his mind was never filled with normal loyalty, but he never expected that the other party could be this strange.
On the battlefield of the final battle, in front of himself, the Demon King, he so unreservedly, even with a hint of elation, threw himself into the arms of the enemy who had almost perished with him.
this.......
This shows they don't take him seriously at all.
No, he's the newly appointed Upper Moon Two.
Just as Muzan was so angry he was about to explode on the spot, and his flesh and blood were churning uncontrollably due to the violent fluctuations of his emotions, Doma had already firmly embraced Chinatsu.
"Chika~" he called again, his voice filled with immense joy at having her back, his arms tightening as if he wanted to meld her into his own body.
"It's so wonderful to see you again! Is this a blessing from the gods?"
Chika stumbled from his embrace, nearly losing her balance. The frenzied fighting spirit in her bloodshot eyes hadn't completely faded, now mixed with obvious astonishment and confusion. "How could you... Douma?"
"Hmm, it's me!"
Douma interrupted her with a smile, completely ignoring the bloodstains all over her body. He even affectionately rubbed his fair cheek against her blood-stained hair, and his seven-colored eyes curved into joyful crescents.
"Although the process was a bit complicated, it seems we succeeded!"
Qianxia looked up at him, her face full of surprise. "What happened to you? How did you suddenly recover? Where is that woman?"
She didn't even have time to do anything.
"I don't know, maybe it's because Lord Muzan can't take care of me." As he spoke, he raised his hand and shook the prayer beads on his wrist. "It could also be because of that."
Chika blinked, suddenly remembering the pile of flesh and blood that enveloped him in her dream.
It's highly likely that she severely injured Muzan, indirectly weakening her control over Doma, but...
"Then, how did you resurrect yourself from someone else?"
She's still a woman, so is she considered a lesbian or...? Hmm—
"Ah, you mean Yuuki?"
Doma pinched her little face and smiled happily, as if he hadn't noticed her resistance at all, and hugged her even tighter.
"Yuuki is my clone, you know. I just suddenly remembered, ahhh, you know, it's been so long, I completely forgot~ Hahaha, even Yuuki herself forgot~"
"Just now, I suddenly remembered it, hahaha!"
I see.
Everyone suddenly realized.
Daki, who was watching the battle from the sidelines, screamed "Eee-ya-ya!"
"I knew it. How could that pervert have loyal subordinates? He's all about himself."
The words had barely left his mouth when, with a "whoosh," his head fell off.
Uzui Tengen grabbed her by the head and chuckled, "A perfect sneak attack!"
"Eee-yah!! Brother! Brother!"
Daki, who was being held by Uzui Tengen, burst into tears, her shrill voice piercing the sky.
This roar instantly shattered the battle.
Forced into hiding in the ground by the Love Pillar, Upper Moon Four began to flee, covering his head, "How terrifying, how terrifying. I'll die, I'll die..."
"Doma—! How dare you betray me?! How dare you—!!"
Muzan let out a more shrill and furious roar than before. His broken body trembled violently with extreme rage, and the newly formed flesh buds and broken tentacles danced wildly, but appeared chaotic due to the poison and severe injuries.
Faced with this roar that could almost tear your eardrums apart, Doma finally managed to take his gaze away from Chinatsu's face.
He turned his head to look at Muzan, who was disheveled and furious. The genuine and joyful smile on his face vanished instantly, replaced by his usual false expression, which seemed compassionate but was actually utterly empty.
"betray?"
He tilted his head, his tone carrying just the right amount of doubt, as if he were seriously considering the question.
"Lord Muzan, you can't say that."
He easily released Chika, but still kept one arm around her shoulder for support, while the other finger lightly touched his chin, speaking in his unique, aria-like tone.
"I admire Muzan the most, but it seems he only sees me as a worker~ There's nothing I can do but switch jobs."
Doma counted on his fingers, looking aggrieved, as if he were counting Muzan's faults.
"Working with adults means no salary, no meals, no accommodation, and no social insurance or housing fund benefits. We have to work 24 hours a day! It's outrageous!"
Chika shrank her neck, never imagining that the words she used to use to fool Doma would now be used by him as an excuse to betray Muzan.
hiss--
Did she ever mention anything about the "five social insurances and one housing fund"?
"From what you remember," Douma whispered in her ear, "by the way, are the five social insurances and one housing fund really that important?"
"Very important!"
Chika nodded very seriously, then reached out and slapped his face away.
"Don't try to read my mind. You're a peeping tom..."
The two chatted as if no one else was around, until Tanjiro, who was far away, shouted at them.
"Squat down—!"
It seemed too late for that sound; the sharp blade whizzed past her ear and landed on her neck.
"Breath of the Moon, Form Nine: Fallen Moon - Connected Face".
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