Chapter 98 98: Everyone Entering the Infinity Castle

The surviving demons fled in panic.

One after another, they threw themselves toward the open entrance of the Infinity Castle and vanished into the warped darkness below, leaving only the stench of blood and smoke behind.

Zenitsu stopped at the edge of the opening, his hand still locked around his sword hilt. His expression was grim as he stared down into the impossible space beneath them.

"Should we chase them?" he asked. "Muzan might be down there."

The Hashira arrived one after another.

Sanemi, Kyojuro, Mitsuri, Obanai, and the others all gathered around the entrance. None of them moved immediately.

The opening had not closed.

That alone was suspicious.

It sat there in the middle of the battlefield, quiet and waiting, like a mouth deliberately left open.

"This is obviously a trap," Obanai said, his mismatched eyes narrowing.

Sanemi gave a harsh click of his tongue. "Of course it is. The bastard wants us inside."

Before anyone could decide, several Kasugai Crows cut through the night and swooped down from above. Their wings beat against the smoky air as they dropped paper talismans into the hands of the swordsmen below.

"Wear the talismans! Wear the talismans!"

"Enter the Infinity Castle! Enter the Infinity Castle!"

The Hashira looked down at the talismans, then at one another.

That was when Yushiro came running through the trees.

Everyone present knew who he was, so no one stopped him. He arrived at the entrance with a cold face, his gaze sweeping across the Demon Slayer Corps members gathered there.

"Everyone, enter the Infinity Castle."

His voice was sharp and without room for argument.

"Tanjirou alone is enough for the outside."

With that, Yushiro placed a talisman on himself and jumped straight into the entrance.

The others no longer hesitated.

One by one, the Demon Slayer Corps members pressed the talismans to their foreheads and leaped into the Infinity Castle.

The instant they entered, the world twisted.

Rooms shifted.

Corridors spun.

Doors appeared where there had been walls, and staircases ran upside down through empty space.

Nakime's biwa rang through the castle.

With every note, the Demon Slayer Corps was scattered apart.

Hashira were separated from their teams. Lower-ranked swordsmen were thrown into distant corridors. Demons were sent out to intercept them, not to win, but to delay.

"Muzan-sama," Nakime said from her place within the castle. "The Demon Slayer Corps has entered the Infinity Castle. The passage to their headquarters is also complete."

Muzan Kibutsuji's lips curled faintly.

"Very good."

He looked back.

Kokushibo and Akaza were already waiting.

Both were silent.

Both understood what this meant.

"Send us there," Muzan ordered.

Nakime bowed her head slightly.

"As you wish, Muzan-sama."

The biwa rang once.

The Infinity Castle folded.

In the next instant, Muzan, Kokushibo, and Akaza appeared outside the Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters.

Night still covered the estate.

The air was quiet.

Too quiet.

Muzan looked toward the darkened buildings with a calm expression, but his eyes were cold.

"Kill anyone still alive here," he said. "Find the girl."

"As you wish, Muzan-sama."

Kokushibo and Akaza vanished at once, splitting off in different directions as they entered the headquarters grounds.

Muzan walked forward alone.

The three demons searched quickly.

But the headquarters was empty.

No children.

No servants.

No wounded.

Not even the faint scent of ordinary life remained.

It was a shell.

A battlefield prepared in advance.

Akaza was the first to reach the Butterfly Mansion.

He stepped into the courtyard.

Then he stopped.

On the veranda ahead, a young swordsman stood alone.

Tanjirou Kamado.

He was waiting there as if he had known Akaza would come.

Akaza's eyes narrowed.

Something was wrong.

He could barely sense any fighting spirit from Tanjirou.

No, it was not that Tanjirou was weak.

It was that his presence was quiet.

Too quiet.

It reminded Akaza of the feeling he had when facing Kokushibo, that strange, oppressive absence. The body was there, the enemy was there, but the killing intent was almost impossible to read.

Had this boy already stepped into that supreme realm?

A chill crawled up Akaza's back.

Cold sweat broke across his skin.

He took his stance without hesitation.

"Destructive Death: Compass Needle!"

A snowflake-shaped pattern spread beneath his feet.

Tanjirou looked at him from the veranda.

His hand slowly settled on the hilt of Asuramaru.

"I am the Sun Hashira, Tanjirou Kamado."

His voice was calm, but there was no mercy in it.

"I will take your head here."

He stepped down from the veranda and into the courtyard.

The flame-shaped Slayer Mark on his forehead quietly appeared.

He had not entered Demonization.

He had not drawn on Asuramaru's deeper power.

Even so, Akaza felt pressure crushing down on him from every direction.

"You monster!"

Akaza roared and slammed his foot into the ground.

"Destructive Death: Disorder!"

His fists blurred.

A storm of invisible shockwaves tore across the courtyard, ripping through the air as they crashed toward Tanjirou.

Tanjirou drew Asuramaru.

Flames burst along the sword.

He moved.

Several clean slashes cut through the darkness.

The shockwaves split apart and vanished before they could touch him.

Akaza's pupils tightened.

The speed.

The precision.

It was far beyond what he had seen in their last battle.

He did not hesitate.

"Destructive Death: Annihilation Type!"

Power gathered into his fists.

Akaza leaned forward and charged, pouring everything into one straight attack.

Tanjirou raised Asuramaru.

"Hinokami Kagura: Dance."

His sword flashed.

The motion did not end.

The next form followed immediately, flowing from the first without pause.

"Burning Sun."

It was a realization he had reached after mastering the Hinokami Kagura.

The forms were not isolated techniques.

They were connected.

They had always been meant to flow into one another.

Sword and fist collided.

Akaza's arm split apart.

The cut ran through his flesh, tore through bone, and carved into half his shoulder.

His body screamed danger.

Akaza kicked upward without stopping.

"Destructive Death, Leg Type: Flying Planet Thousand Wheels!"

The kick carried a violent shockwave. It slammed into Asuramaru and forced Tanjirou into the air.

Even as Akaza's foot was sliced open from the impact, he continued attacking.

"Leg Type: Flowing Flash, Light of the Lotus!"

A storm of kicks erupted.

Shockwaves filled the courtyard, overlapping like a net.

Tanjirou faced them without panic.

He gripped Asuramaru with both hands and took one deep breath.

Flames spilled from his mouth.

"Hinokami Kagura: Fire Chariot."

His body turned in midair.

"Burning Bones, Summer Sun."

The second form followed the first.

His sword descended in a burning arc.

Akaza's leg was severed.

The sword continued toward his neck.

Then Kokushibo arrived.

"Moon Breathing, Seventh Form: Mirror of Misfortune, Moonlit."

His flesh-forged katana extended at terrifying speed, crescent-shaped growths blooming along its length. With one swing, five sweeping sword waves fanned across the courtyard.

Tanjirou was forced back.

At the same time, Akaza, who had been caught within the range of the attack, was sliced into several pieces.

His body regenerated in the next breath.

But his expression had changed.

If Kokushibo had arrived a heartbeat later, his head would have been gone.

Tanjirou was stronger.

Far stronger than before.

Akaza stared at him, his thoughts racing.

Why had he not entered that special state?

Why had he not used the power of the monster inside the sword?

If he had, even Kokushibo's intervention might not have saved Akaza.

In the shadows, Muzan read Akaza's thoughts.

His gaze shifted to the sword in Tanjirou's hand.

He remembered the previous battle, when the monster within that sword had manifested and then disappeared after exhausting itself.

Could it be?

Had that thing used up its power?

It was possible.

More than possible.

Likely.

But Muzan did not move yet.

He continued watching.

There was no need to rush.

His true objective was not Tanjirou.

His objective was the girl who had conquered the sun.

The entire headquarters had already been searched.

Only the mansion behind Tanjirou remained.

If she was anywhere, she would be there.

And if she was not...

Muzan's eyes narrowed.

Then he would test whether this monster of a swordsman could truly be killed.

.....

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