End and Beginning
As Shiro and Douma battled fiercely, elsewhere in Mugen Castle, Kanroji Mitsuri and Iguro Obanai confronted Naruto, who controlled the entire space. Though Naruto's blood demon arts were uncanny, they were short-lived against the unwavering coordination and sheer power of the Love Pillar and the Snake Pillar. As Iguro Obanai's cunning "Snake Breathing - Second Form - Narrow-Headed Venom Fang" pierced Naruto's body, Kanroji Mitsuri's "Love Breathing - Land Form - Cat-Foot Love Wind" severed her head.
The core was destroyed, and the Infinite City let out a wail of being overwhelmed, and began to twist and collapse violently!
The feeling of weightlessness came again, and all the people who were still alive in the Infinite Castle - the wounded pillars, Tanjiro and his three companions, and Haku and Giyuu who had just finished the battle - fell from the collapsing space cracks as if they were vomited out, and fell heavily back to the real world, on the ruins of the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters that had long been devastated by the previous battle.
However, the scene before them made all those who were struggling to get up stunned for a moment.
In the center of the ruins, two figures engaged in a fierce clash! One was Muzan, his form increasingly distorted and roaring in fury. The other, wielding a strange-looking katana and shrouded in a cold moonlight, was none other than Upper Rank One, Kokushibo!
"Upper Moon One?! How could he..." Fuzukawa Miyabi clenched the Nichirin Sword tightly, his eyes filled with surprise and uncertainty.
At this moment, Bai's anxious voice sounded: "Teacher is on our side! He wants to kill Muzan!"
Everyone suddenly realized that, though it was unbelievable, the fierce attacks of Kokushibo, aimed directly at Muzan's vital points, could not be faked! They immediately suppressed their shock and doubts, regrouped, and attacked Muzan with raging anger and a determination to die!
At this point, Muzan, under the continued effects of Tamayo's potion, suffered a burning and festering attack as if doused in acid. His regeneration rate had visibly slowed, and his aura was significantly weaker than it had been in Infinite Castle. However, his thousand-year-old demonic power remained immense. Facing the siege of the Pillars and Kokushibo, he brandished countless tentacles, roaring and attacking frantically!
"You damn bugs!! Kokushibo, how dare you betray me!!" Muzan's anger almost burned away his sanity.
The battle was brutal to the extreme. Every clash was accompanied by splattering blood and shattered flesh. However, a despairing situation occurred - even though everyone worked together to decapitate Muzan, the head turned into a tumor the moment it hit the ground and reattached to the body!
"It's useless!" Muzan laughed wildly, "I have already conquered the Nichirin Blade! I am perfect! Immortal!"
The Sun Blade's beheading attempt was ineffective! This news was like a bucket of cold water poured over their heads, making everyone's heart sink.
At this moment, Kokushibo's deep, hoarse voice rang out, penetrating the clamor of the battlefield: "His regeneration isn't infinite... The potion is still taking effect... Hold him back! Hold him until sunrise!"
Only the sun is the ultimate weapon to end the Ghost King!
Hope reignited! Everyone's eyes met, instantly understanding the strategy. No longer aiming for a one-hit kill, they would instead rely on roving combat and containment, sparing no expense to keep Muzan firmly pinned to this ruin!
Giyu's Breath of Water turned into a dense defense net, Sanemi's Breath of Wind constantly cut and harassed, Rengoku's Breath of Fire illuminated the darkness, Gyomei's Breath of Rock resisted the most violent attacks like a rock, Mitsuri and Iguro's breathing laws cleverly found gaps... Tanjiro's God of Fire Kagura was like an unyielding flame in the dark night, attacking Muzan's defense line again and again.
Kokushibo's Moon Breathing became his main means of attack. The cold moonlight and countless crescent-shaped blades caused Muzan great trouble and continuous damage.
Bai retreated to a relatively safe area. Her spatial blood demon arts were temporarily unusable, but she gripped the Nichirin Blade tightly and watched the battlefield vigilantly, ready to respond to any emergency. She saw her teacher, the once ruthless demon, now fighting alongside her companions for the same goal.
Time slipped away amidst the brutal battle, and the eastern sky gradually began to turn pale.
"It's almost dawn..." someone said panting.
Muzan also felt the fatal threat. He let out a desperate and crazy roar, and his huge ghost power erupted without reservation. His body began to undergo extremely disgusting and terrifying changes, swelling into an extremely huge piece of flesh covered with tumors and mouthparts, trying to make a final dying struggle!
"Stop him! We can't let him escape!"
All those who could still fight let out a final roar and poured all their strength into the final blow!
The brilliant light of the breathing technique, like the brightest fireworks before dawn, together with Kokushibo's resolute Moon Breathing, completely submerged the ugly piece of flesh!
In the center of countless attacks, Muzan let out a last unwilling wail. Under the combined effect of the light of the breathing technique and the first ray of light from the rising sun, the huge piece of flesh began to rapidly collapse, disintegrate, and turn into ashes!
At this moment, Muzan Kibutsuji finally met his eternal end.
The morning sun finally jumped out of the horizon, and the golden sunlight spread across the earth, dispelling the darkness that had lasted for a thousand years.
At that moment, Kokushibo stood quietly at the edge of the sunlight. He looked down at his hands, which were beginning to smoke slightly in the sunlight, and then looked up at the rising, warm red sun. He took out the small bottle that Shiro had given him from his arms, pulled the cork, and drank the crystal liquid inside.
Under everyone's tense gaze, his tall figure hunched slightly in the sunlight. His six alien eyes slowly closed, and the ghostly aura around him receded like a tide. When he opened them again, they had returned to human form. While still piercing, they no longer held the blood and madness. His grotesque form also returned to normal, transforming him back into the warrior known as Tsugakugo Iwakatsu.
He looked at his hands in a daze, feeling the long-lost warmth and tingling sensation of the sun on his skin.
Bai broke free from Yiyong's support and walked up to him step by step. Tears of excitement filled his eyes, but his face was filled with the brightest smile. He said softly:
"Welcome back...teacher."
Ji Guo Yansheng looked at the disciple in front of him whom he had taught personally, who had once made him angry and disappointed, but who had finally made him make a choice. Seeing the joy in her eyes without any haze, his heart, which had been frozen for hundreds of years, seemed to be melted a little by the sunshine.
He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but in the end it just turned into an almost inaudible sigh.
At this moment, Bai made a move that no one expected. She forcefully pulled the hand of Yiyong, who had been silently protecting her. Then, under the rising sun, in front of everyone's astonished gazes, she pulled the still naive Yiyong into the arms of Jiguo Yansheng and hugged him tightly.
This is an embrace that transcends the boundaries between humans and ghosts, transcends the barriers between master and disciple, and is full of forgiveness, acceptance, and rebirth.
Jiguo Yansheng's body stiffened for a moment, and then his arms, which had just regained human consciousness, slowly and clumsily hugged the two most important people in his life.
Although Yiyong was a little uncomfortable, he silently accepted the hug under Bai's guidance. He could feel the slightly trembling body and a trace of... relief of this once powerful enemy, now a strange elder, in his arms.
The sun grew warmer and warmer, shining on this traumatized land that finally ushered in peace, and also on the three people embracing each other, opening a new era full of hope for them and all survivors.
The rising sun completely dispelled the gloom of the night, casting a warm golden light over every inch of the ruins of the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters. The bloody and demonic aura that once permeated the area gradually dissipated under the sunlight, replaced by a sense of post-disaster tranquility and... an indescribable emptiness and sadness.
The battle was over. Truly and completely over.
The surviving team members supported each other as they stood on the ruins, gazing at the long-lost sun they could finally bask in peacefully. Many could not help but kneel down and weep bitterly. These tears were for victory, but even more so for those who would never see the sunrise today.
Shinobu Kocho put down the broken Nichirin sword in front of her sister Kanae's grave, with a look of relief and deep nostalgia on her face. Fuzukawa Miya found his younger brother Genya. Although he was covered in wounds, both brothers were still alive. He rubbed his brother's head roughly, but his eyes were softer than ever before. Rengoku Kyojuro's loud laughter rang out again, encouraging everyone who was tired. Kanroji Mitsuri snuggled up to Iguro Obanai, looking at the sun, her face filled with tears of happiness. Beimeijima Gyomei was still crying, but those tears were full of comfort and compassion. Tokito Muichiro stood quietly by, as if trying to understand the meaning of "the end".
Tanjiro hugged Nezuko tightly, a smile of relief finally breaking through his tormented face, a smile befitting his age. Agatsuma Zenitsu cried and laughed beside him, while Hashibira Inosuke, in a rare moment of quiet contemplation, gazed at the sun, his thoughts unknown.
Under a relatively intact corridor, the atmosphere is somewhat subtle.
Tsugakuin Iwakatsu—the former Kokushibo—sat there somewhat uncomfortably, the sunlight streaming down him, bringing a long-lost burning sensation and a strange sense of weakness. Centuries of his demonic life had suddenly ended, and he had been transformed back into a human. He felt like a newborn, bewildered by everything.
Bai sat beside him, a satisfied and gentle smile on her face. One hand was still tightly holding Yiyong's, and the other hand was gently placed on her bulging belly. From time to time, she looked at the two closest people beside her, her eyes full of longing for the future.
Giyuu remained silent. He glanced at Shiro, then at Tsugakuin Iwakatsu, whose aura was completely different but still oppressive. Ultimately, he simply gripped Shiro's hand a little tighter. Perhaps the drastic changes in the world weren't as important to him as the safety of his wife.
"What are your plans next?" Finally, it was Tsugakuin Iwakatsu who broke the silence with his voice, now human, but still deep. He was asking Bai, but his eyes swept between her and Giyu.
Bai and Yiyong looked at each other, and there was a tacit warmth in their eyes.
"We want to find a quiet place." Bai said softly, her tone full of longing. "Build a small house, it doesn't have to be very big, and plant wisteria and cherry blossoms in the yard. My husband can continue to teach the children who are willing to learn swordsmanship, not to kill ghosts, but to strengthen their bodies and protect the people who are important to them."
She paused, then looked at Jiguo Yansheng with cautious anticipation in her eyes: "Teacher...are you willing to join us? You have so many years of swordsmanship experience, and...and after the child is born, he will also need a grandfather's guidance..."
The word "grandfather" sent a barely perceptible jolt through Jiguo Yansheng's body. He gazed into Bai's hopeful eyes, then glanced at her visibly bulging belly. Finally, his gaze reached out to the rising sun in the distance, a symbol of new life. Centuries of obsession and slaughter receded like the tide, leaving behind an empty beach. Perhaps... dedicating the rest of his life to protecting this hard-earned peace and warmth was a good choice.
He did not answer directly, but nodded very slightly, almost imperceptibly.
But this tiny action already made Bai extremely happy, and a smile brighter than the sun bloomed on his face.
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