Chapter 95: The Ultimate Lifeform Bathing in Sunlight

Through his blurred vision, Tanjirou saw a figure standing in the morning light.

For a heartbeat, he thought he was dreaming.

The world had already gone soft at the edges. His body felt hollowed out, his consciousness hanging by a thread. Even the sword in his hand seemed distant, as though he were holding it from the bottom of a deep lake.

His lips trembled.

"Ne... Ne..."

He did not dare say the name.

He was afraid that if he spoke it fully, the figure before him would disappear like smoke.

But the girl standing in the sunlight did not vanish.

Nezuko looked at him.

Her skin was touched by the pale gold of dawn. Her hair swayed gently in the morning breeze. There were burns on her body from the first moments of sunlight, yet those wounds were no longer spreading. The flames of destruction that should have reduced every demon to ash had stopped.

She stood beneath the sun.

Alive.

Then Nezuko opened her mouth, clumsy but clear, and smiled so beautifully that it felt unreal.

"Goo... good morning..."

The last thread holding Tanjirou together snapped.

"Nezuko..."

Tears spilled from his eyes.

They came so fiercely he could no longer see her face clearly.

"That's wonderful... You didn't turn to ash. You're still here..."

He tried to step forward. He wanted to touch her cheek, to confirm with his own hands that she was real, that the sister he thought he had lost was standing in front of him.

But his body had reached its limit long ago.

His knees buckled.

The world tilted.

Before he could fall completely, he heard voices rushing toward him.

"Tanjirou!"

"Tanjirou, are you all right?!"

"Get up! Eat something and you'll be fine!"

"Move aside! Hurry, take him back to headquarters!"

The voices became distant.

Tanjirou's eyes closed.

His consciousness sank into darkness.

Inside the sword, Asuramaru let out a long breath.

"After pushing him this far, he only barely managed to open the Transparent World..."

During that final modified form, when Tanjirou fused three Breathing Styles into a single strike, his body had briefly crossed a threshold.

The Transparent World had opened.

Only for an instant.

Not fully. Not consciously. Tanjirou himself had not even realized it had happened.

At most, he had forced the door half open.

Still, that was enough.

Even if Tanjirou could not enter that state whenever he wished, Asuramaru could use that experience when controlling his body. For now, that was acceptable.

Besides...

Asuramaru's attention shifted elsewhere.

Muzan Kibutsuji had certainly seen what happened.

Nezuko had overcome the sun.

The question now was simple.

Muzan Kibutsuji, what will you do?

...

At the same time, inside the Infinity Castle.

Muzan Kibutsuji had seen everything through Douma's final gaze.

The demon girl who had escaped his control.

The girl he once dismissed as a failed fragment.

She was standing beneath the morning sun.

She had become what he had sought for a thousand years.

A demon who had conquered sunlight.

For a moment, Muzan's crimson eyes widened beyond control. His usually composed expression twisted into something close to ecstasy.

"Finally..."

His voice trembled.

"Finally, a demon who can overcome the sun has appeared."

His breathing quickened. His fingers clenched so hard the flesh creaked.

"Kokushibo. You all did well."

No trace of grief existed in him for the fallen Upper Moons. Douma was dead. Gyokko was dead. Kaigaku was dead. He did not care.

All that mattered was the sight branded into his mind.

Nezuko Kamado, standing unharmed beneath the sun.

"There is no need to search for the Blue Spider Lily anymore."

Muzan's lips curled upward.

"For centuries, I created more demons. I spread my blood across the land. I made them search and search, yet none of them ever found what I wanted."

His eyes burned with obsession.

"But now... a demon who conquered the sun exists before me."

As long as he devoured her...

As long as he absorbed her...

Then he, Muzan Kibutsuji, would also overcome the sun.

He would become perfect.

No night would confine him. No dawn would threaten him. No weakness would remain.

But amid the intoxication of that possibility, Muzan's mind remained sharp.

He thought back to the battle.

The boy named Tanjirou was terrifying, but not invincible.

His body could recover from injuries far beyond human limits, but his spirit could still be exhausted. Enough damage, enough pressure, enough time, and his consciousness would collapse.

As for the monster inside the sword...

When Asuramaru separated from Tanjirou and manifested a true form, his strength was monstrous. Even Kokushibo and Douma together had been beaten into a miserable state.

But that form could not last.

The battle had shown it clearly. About half an hour. Perhaps less if forced to exert full power.

Muzan's excitement cooled into calculation.

With his remaining combat power, there was a chance.

A risky one.

He could strike now. Seize Nezuko. Devour her. Become the ultimate being.

His fingers twitched.

For a moment, the impulse nearly won.

Then his eyes narrowed.

No.

There was no need to gamble.

Nezuko was a demon. She would not die of age.

Tanjirou would.

Asuramaru was bound to him. Whatever that sword was, its current wielder was still human. One year, ten years, fifty years. Muzan had waited a thousand years already. What was a little more time?

He could hide inside the Infinity Castle.

He could wait until that terrifying boy died.

Then, once the greatest threat had vanished, he would take Nezuko for himself.

Muzan smiled.

Yes.

He only had to wait.

...

Inside the sword, notification after notification rang through Asuramaru's mind.

[Ding! Detected intense negative emotions from Upper Moon Six, Kaigaku, before death. Obtained 6,000 emotion points!]

[Detected intense negative emotions from Upper Moon Five, Gyokko, before death. Obtained 17,000 emotion points!]

[Detected negative emotions from Upper Moon Two, Douma, before death. Obtained 3,000 emotion points!]

[Detected negative emotions from Demon King Muzan Kibutsuji. Obtained 2,000 emotion points!]

[Total Demon Power obtained this time: 45,000. Thirty percent will be automatically granted as Feedback to the Sword Master!]

The prompts faded one by one.

At the same time, Tanjirou's unconscious body began to change.

Demon Power poured into his limbs, bones, organs, and blood. His already monstrous physical foundation surged again at a speed that defied common sense.

His muscles strengthened.

His bones hardened.

His heart beat with deeper force.

But Tanjirou felt none of it.

He remained unconscious as Sanemi Shinazugawa carried him all the way back to Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters and delivered him to the Butterfly Mansion.

By the time they arrived, Tamayo had already rushed back through the night.

She and Shinobu Kocho examined Tanjirou together.

Their conclusion was strange enough to leave both of them silent.

Tanjirou was not injured.

Not only that, his body was frighteningly healthy.

His pulse was steady. His organs were strong. His wounds had healed so cleanly that no trace remained. If they ignored his unconscious state, he looked less like a patient and more like someone who had simply fallen into a deep sleep after extreme exhaustion.

Even Shinobu, who was skilled at reading the body, found herself unable to do anything.

Tamayo was no less helpless.

There was no wound to treat.

No poison to neutralize.

No illness to cure.

All they could do was let him sleep.

On the other hand, their research had made a breakthrough.

Thanks to Nezuko's blood, the medicine to turn demons back into humans had finally been completed. Alongside it, Tamayo and Shinobu had also developed drugs meant specifically for Muzan Kibutsuji.

A drug to accelerate his aging.

A drug to prevent him from splitting apart.

The existence of those medicines meant the Demon Slayer Corps now possessed a blade that could reach deeper than any Nichirin sword.

But until Tanjirou woke up, no one could truly relax.

...

At the Ubuyashiki estate, Kagaya Ubuyashiki stood along the veranda and looked up at the sky.

His expression remained gentle, but worry lingered in his eyes.

Tanjirou had survived.

Nezuko had conquered the sun.

Several Upper Moons had fallen.

By every measure, the Demon Slayer Corps had achieved an unprecedented victory.

And yet, Kagaya could not fully celebrate while Tanjirou remained unconscious.

After a moment, his gaze lowered to the swordsmen kneeling before him.

A soft smile returned to his face.

"This time, all of you succeeded in slaying Upper Moon Five and Upper Moon Two. In addition, Zenitsu Agatsuma single-handedly killed Kaigaku, who betrayed the Demon Slayer Corps and became Upper Moon Six. Therefore..."

Before he could finish, Zenitsu, kneeling below, suddenly lifted his head.

"Oyakata-sama!"

His voice trembled, but his gaze did not.

For once, there was no panic on his face. No exaggerated fear. No whining. Only a desperate firmness.

"May I ask you to hide the truth about Kaigaku becoming a demon?"

The courtyard fell quiet.

Kagaya looked at him for a moment.

Then he understood.

Zenitsu was not asking for himself.

He was thinking of his Grandpa.

If Jigoro Kuwajima learned that his own disciple had become a demon, he would take responsibility for it. For a man of his integrity, that responsibility might mean ritual suicide.

Zenitsu had killed Kaigaku to prevent exactly that.

Kagaya's voice softened.

"Of course, I can do that. But if I seal away the truth of Kaigaku becoming a demon, then your achievement of slaying an Upper Moon alone must also remain hidden. Can you accept that?"

Zenitsu did not hesitate.

"I can!"

His answer came so quickly that it almost overlapped Kagaya's words.

"I don't need anyone to know. Please... just don't let Gramps hear about what Kaigaku became."

Kagaya nodded gently.

"Very well. I will seal away both Kaigaku's betrayal and your achievement."

Zenitsu lowered his head.

"Thank you very much."

Kagaya then continued, his tone growing formal once again.

"In addition, Zenitsu Agatsuma and Inosuke Hashibira both made great contributions in this battle. Each of you also manifested the Slayer Mark and demonstrated strength worthy of the title."

Inosuke's head snapped up immediately.

Zenitsu blinked.

Kagaya smiled.

"Therefore, I believe the two of you meet the qualifications to be promoted to Hashira. Your titles shall follow your Breathing Styles."

Zenitsu pointed at himself, utterly stunned.

"Me? A Hashira?"

He looked like he had been struck by lightning, which, considering his Breathing Style, was almost professionally appropriate.

"The... Thunder Hashira?"

Even as he said it, his expression was full of disbelief. He had never imagined himself standing alongside the Hashira. In his mind, Hashira were distant, terrifying, shining figures.

And now, someone was telling him he was one of them.

Beside him, Inosuke stood up with far more confidence.

"Hahaha! That's right! I, Lord Inosuke Hashibira, am the Beast Hashira!"

His laughter rang through the courtyard.

.....

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