Chapter 94 94: Muzan Kibutsuji, You'll Remember This!

Tanjirou remembered a voice.

When using Thunder Breathing, the most important thing is your feet. The shape of your body, the condition of every muscle, the way your strength gathers and releases...

The words surfaced from somewhere deep within his exhausted mind.

For a moment, the world around him seemed to slow.

The fleeing demons.

The closing distance to the Infinity Castle entrance.

The rising sun.

Nezuko burning behind him.

Tanjirou lowered his gaze to his legs.

Every muscle fiber.

Every blood vessel.

Every breath had to be driven downward, compressed, circulated, and released.

So this was Thunder Breathing.

His foot slammed into the earth.

The ground cracked beneath him.

Tanjirou leaned forward slightly, every ounce of strength in his body condensing into his legs. His muscles coiled like drawn bowstrings, trembling under the pressure.

Then he released it.

Thunder split the morning air.

Tanjirou shot forward in a burst of golden light, his body almost parallel to the ground. The grass, stones, and scorched earth blurred past his vision. In that instant, he looked less like a swordsman and more like a bolt of lightning tearing across the plain.

The fleeing demons felt the killing intent behind them.

Gyokko, who lagged at the rear, turned back.

The moment he saw Tanjirou rushing toward him, his expression froze.

This monster!

Gyokko immediately twisted toward one of his pots, trying to slip inside and flee.

Too late.

Tanjirou was already behind him.

The Asuramaru in his hand burned with fierce flames.

"Don't even think about escaping!"

His sword swept out.

"Hinokami Kagura, Soaring Flame Halo!"

A blazing arc cut toward Gyokko's neck.

Gyokko's panic faded for a fraction of a second.

The sword is short.

It won't reach.

Once this strike passes, I'll shed my skin, reveal my perfect form, and kill him. Lord Muzan will surely praise me then!

But the sword length he saw was an illusion.

The shimmering heat at the edge of the flame distorted his vision, making the sword appear shorter than it truly was.

By the time Gyokko realized that, Asuramaru had already crossed his neck.

His head flew.

It struck the ground and rolled across the smoking grass.

Only then did Gyokko understand what had happened.

My vision...

No.

I was beheaded.

I was actually beheaded by this monster!

He tried to move. Tried to regenerate. Tried to crawl back into his pot. Any ordinary demon, driven by such obsession, might have forced out one last struggle.

But the sun had risen.

There was no miracle waiting for him.

Only fire.

Gyokko's head began to burn, his features twisting in disbelief and resentment as ash crawled over his face.

Tanjirou did not stop.

Ahead of him were Kokushibo and Douma.

His mind was already at its limit. His body had been pushed past the point where pain could even be called pain. If he swung again, he might collapse before the strike finished.

Even so, he had no intention of stopping.

If this was the last thing he could do, then he would pour everything into it.

Tanjirou gripped Asuramaru with both hands.

"Hinokami Kagura, Secret Art!"

At the same time, he forced Water Breathing and the Thunder Breathing he had just grasped into motion.

Three Breathing Styles overlapped within one body.

The fiery dragon coiling around him surged violently. Ripples of water spread over its burning scales, and golden lightning erupted through the flames themselves.

"Purgatory Dragon, Modified!"

Blood filled Tanjirou's eyes.

His body was not built to withstand three Breathing Styles at once, not even after all the power Asuramaru had given him. Blood streamed from his nose and ears. The skin across his sword-wielding hands split open, red lines spreading across his palms and fingers.

But the dragon still grew.

Kokushibo and Douma felt the terror of the strike rising behind them.

Even Douma, whose heart had never truly understood fear, turned his head with widened rainbow eyes.

"Oh my. If that hits me, I really might die, won't I?"

His tone was playful, but his body moved faster.

Kokushibo's six eyes constricted.

This boy's Sun Breathing was still far from Yoriichi's.

But he had fused three Breathing Styles into one attack.

The destructive force of that strike could not be underestimated.

"The Infinity Castle entrance is close," Kokushibo said. "Move faster."

He held his sword in one hand and accelerated.

Akaza was already running at the front. Among the remaining demons, he was in the best condition, and his escape speed was the fastest.

Behind them, Tanjirou's teeth clenched until blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

In his mind, he saw Asuramaru's smile.

Then Nezuko's.

His chest tore open with grief and rage.

"Aaaaaah!"

His roar split the plain.

The giant dragon surged forward, tearing a trench through the earth. Flames, water, and lightning fused into one violent current. In a blink, it closed in behind Kokushibo and Douma.

"So fast!"

Kokushibo turned at once, gripping his sword with both hands.

"Moon Breathing, Ninth Form: Waning Moons, Continuous Slash!"

Several intersecting sword slashes cut through the air, layered with crescent moon blades that filled the space between them.

The dragon swallowed them whole.

Kokushibo's sword cracked inside the dragon's jaws. The next instant, the strike was about to take his head.

Douma moved.

"Blood Demon Art: Scattered Lotuses."

He swept his folding fan outward, scattering countless ice petals into the air. Each petal was as thin and sharp as a blade.

They struck Asuramaru's sword in rapid succession.

Not enough to stop it.

Just enough to shift its path.

The burning sword missed Kokushibo's neck.

Instead, it tore through him from the left shoulder downward.

The force of the strike blasted Kokushibo's upper body away from his lower half.

Akaza, already at the entrance, received Muzan's command and turned back without hesitation. He leaped, caught Kokushibo's severed upper body, and hurled himself into the Infinity Castle entrance opening beneath his feet.

Douma was not so lucky.

The dragon swallowed him.

From within the dragon's mouth, Tanjirou pushed his strength past the limit.

"Die with the weight of your sins!"

His sword flashed again and again.

Dozens of slashes tore through Douma's body.

The Upper Moon's flesh split apart piece by piece, scattering across the ground as the sunlight burned it to ash. Only his head remained relatively intact, falling amid the fragments of ice and blood.

Douma's rainbow eyes shimmered faintly.

"Ah... how beautiful. I wonder if Lord Muzan can defeat you."

Those were his last words.

His head crumbled into ash beneath the morning sun.

Tanjirou staggered.

He drove Asuramaru into the ground and used the sword to keep himself upright. His vision swayed. His lungs burned. His body was at the edge of complete collapse.

Still, he lifted his head and glared at the closing entrance of the Infinity Castle.

"Muzan Kibutsuji!"

His voice tore from his throat, raw with fury.

"You remember this!"

The entrance began to shrink.

Tanjirou's fingers tightened around Asuramaru's hilt until his split skin bled again.

"Even if you flee to the ends of the earth, even if you hide beyond the gates of hell, I will find you myself and sever your head!"

The Infinity Castle entrance closed.

Silence fell across the plain.

Only the crackle of burning ash remained.

Tanjirou stood there for a moment, barely breathing.

Then he turned his head.

Tears had already blurred his vision.

"Nezuko..."

His voice broke.

"I don't have a sister anymore..."

No matter how strong he had become, no matter how many Upper Moons he had slain, he could not stop the tears from falling.

Muzan had taken everything from him.

His family.

His peace.

And now, his last remaining family member.

The hatred in Tanjirou's heart reached a depth he had never known before.

Inside the sword, Asuramaru heard the System's notification echo in his mind.

[Ding! Detected immense negative emotions from Sword Master Tanjirou. Gained 5,000 emotion points!]

Outside, just as Tanjirou was drowning in grief…

.....

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