Chapter 99 99: This Physical Body Is Terrifyingly Strong!

Muzan hid within the darkness.

He made no sound. He did not breathe. Even his presence was pressed so thin that it seemed to melt into the night itself.

From the shadows, he watched the courtyard with cold, calculating eyes.

Tanjirou stood before the Butterfly Mansion, sword in hand. Across from him, Kokushibo and Akaza had already received their orders.

Test him.

Break him.

Force him away from the mansion.

Kokushibo moved first.

His six eyes narrowed, and both hands closed around his grotesque katana.

"Moon Breathing, Ninth Form: Waning Moonswath."

The air screamed.

Crisscrossing arcs of sword force burst outward, layered so densely that the courtyard seemed to be swallowed by a net of pale moons. Each crescent carried its own unpredictable path, tearing through stone, wood, and air alike.

Tanjirou stepped forward instead of retreating.

Flames bloomed along Asuramaru.

"Hinokami Kagura: Clear Blue Sky."

His sword swept in a clean circle.

The motion did not stop.

"Setting Sun Transformation."

The next form followed naturally, one flowing into the other like breath following breath. The burning arcs carved through Kokushibo's moonlit slashes, splitting them apart before they could close around him.

But above him, Akaza had already been waiting.

The Upper Moon's body twisted in midair, muscles coiling like a drawn bow.

"Destructive Death: Eight-Layered Demon Core!"

His fist drove down.

A cluster of massive shockwaves exploded from the strike, each one far larger and more violent than the blows of Disorder. The courtyard trembled under the pressure before the attack even landed.

Tanjirou raised Asuramaru and blocked.

The impact drove through his arms.

Before the force could fully disperse, Akaza dropped from above and slammed his fist into the ground.

"Destructive Death, Crushing Type: Ten Thousand Leaves Willow!"

The earth burst apart.

Blade-like shockwaves ripped outward from the point of impact, slicing through the ground in every direction.

At the same time, Kokushibo seized the opening.

"Moon Breathing, Eighth Form: Moon-Dragon Ringtail."

His katana swept horizontally.

A massive wave of sword force surged across the courtyard, crescent blades blooming within it like teeth.

One attack came from above.

One rose from below.

Tanjirou made his choice in an instant.

He brought Asuramaru in front of him and met Kokushibo's slash head-on.

The moonlit wave crashed against his sword.

At the same moment, Akaza's shockwave struck Tanjirou's left leg.

Akaza's eyes flashed.

That should break it.

With that one blow, he could confirm whether the sword in Tanjirou's hand could still use its strange power.

Clang!

A clear metallic sound rang through the courtyard.

Akaza's expression froze.

The shockwave tore through the cloth around Tanjirou's calf.

But beneath the torn fabric, his skin had only been scraped.

A thin line of blood appeared.

That was all.

Akaza's eyes widened.

"How is that possible?"

His voice slipped, unable to hide his shock.

"You monster!"

Even steel should have been cut apart by that attack.

Yet Tanjirou's leg had taken it like a glancing scratch.

Kokushibo's six eyes also flickered with surprise.

Tanjirou's body was far stronger than it had been during their last meeting.

Not merely stronger.

It had become something unreasonable.

If the boy recovered enough to enter that special state again, then there was no doubt.

Both Kokushibo and Akaza would die here tonight.

Under their gazes, however, the tiny wound on Tanjirou's leg did not heal.

No black mist covered it.

No demonic aura repaired it.

Tanjirou simply stood there, breathing evenly, Asuramaru raised before him.

"If you want to touch my sister," he said, his voice low and steady, "then step over my corpse first."

His expression did not waver.

His stance did not shift.

Even Muzan, watching from the darkness, felt that this was not an act.

The boy truly believed Nezuko was inside the mansion.

The three demons did not know that, within the sword, Asuramaru was waiting with a patience sharper than any edge.

Come out, Muzan.

Show yourself.

The moment you do, I will make sure you regret it.

Kokushibo and Akaza exchanged no words, but both reached the same conclusion.

Continue.

Pressure him.

Break his stamina.

Kokushibo stepped forward again.

"Moon Breathing, Tenth Form: Drilling Slashes, Moon Through Leaves."

A spiraling wave of sword force tore forward, carving through the courtyard with a grinding roar.

Akaza followed close behind, ready to strike the moment Tanjirou's attention shifted.

Tanjirou gripped Asuramaru with both hands.

His fingers tightened until the sword began to glow red.

The Bright Red Nichirin Sword awakened in his grasp.

"Hinokami Kagura, Secret Art: Purgatory Dragon!"

Flames erupted around him.

A massive dragon formed from fire, coiling around his body as he charged straight into Kokushibo's spiraling slash. The fiery dragon twisted with the rotation, then rose, opened its jaws, and plunged down.

Kokushibo was swallowed whole.

Boom!

The ground collapsed beneath them.

A violent roar shook the courtyard, sending dust and broken stone flying into the air. For a moment, the entire battlefield disappeared behind a wall of smoke.

Then a figure shot out from within.

It was Kokushibo.

Half of his body had been severed.

The wound was hideous, cutting through flesh, ribs, and organs. Any ordinary demon would have already begun regenerating, but Kokushibo immediately prepared to cut away the damaged portion of his body, just as he had done before.

Then he paused.

The wound was healing slowly, but it was healing.

The terrifying suppression from before was gone.

There was still resistance, but that came from the Bright Red Nichirin Sword. Compared to the strange corrosion that had once eaten into his flesh and soul, this was negligible.

Kokushibo understood at once.

The monster inside that sword truly had exhausted its power.

Akaza noticed it too.

So did Muzan.

The same thought passed through all three demons.

That sword could no longer use its special power.

Even then, Muzan did not reveal himself.

His caution was carved into his bones.

From the shadows, he issued another order.

"Force him away from the mansion. Wound him. Exhaust him. Do not let him rest."

Without the sword's strange power, Tanjirou was only human.

A terrifying human, yes.

But human nonetheless.

Humans had limits.

Kokushibo and Akaza attacked with renewed ferocity.

They did not try to kill him outright. Instead, they circled, pressed, and dragged the battlefield outward by inches.

But Tanjirou did not move from his position.

He held the line like a mountain.

No matter how the two Upper Moons attacked, he refused to leave the front of the Butterfly Mansion.

That only deepened Muzan's certainty.

The girl was inside.

She had to be.

A feverish thought began to rise in him.

Should he kill this monster first?

Or should he devour the girl and become the ultimate being before finishing him?

The fantasy stirred something close to ecstasy in his chest.

Time dragged on.

The battle grew uglier.

Tanjirou fought one against two and still held the advantage, but without Asuramaru's healing and support, the cost of sustained combat began to show.

His breathing grew heavier.

Cuts opened across his arms and shoulders.

Blood slid down his sleeves and dripped from his fingers.

Even so, Kokushibo and Akaza were in far worse condition.

Kokushibo's body had been slashed apart again and again. His regeneration was slower than before, and every movement carried strain.

Akaza was missing flesh across his torso and limbs, his wounds repeatedly reopening under the pressure of Tanjirou's sword.

At this rate, they would fall before Tanjirou did.

That was when Muzan moved.

Taking advantage of the chaos, he slipped into the Butterfly Mansion.

Room after room.

Corridor after corridor.

He searched everything.

The infirmary.

The patient rooms.

The hidden corners.

The scent was stale. The bedding had been disturbed. Traces had been deliberately left behind.

But Nezuko was not there.

Not a person.

Not a strand of hair.

Nothing.

Muzan stood in the infirmary, his face darkening.

He had been tricked.

The rage that rose within him was almost enough to crush the building.

Then, slowly, another thought took shape.

If he could not devour the sister...

Then he would devour the brother.

Tanjirou and Nezuko shared blood.

If she could conquer the sun, then perhaps he carried the same possibility within him.

And that body.

That terrifying physical body.

If Muzan consumed it, he might gain far more than sunlight immunity.

The most important thing was that the sword seemed unable to use its power, and Tanjirou was already wounded and exhausted.

This was the perfect moment.

Muzan left the mansion and returned to the edge of the courtyard, hiding within a dark corner where the moonlight did not reach.

His eyes locked onto Tanjirou.

"Kokushibo," he commanded through his blood, "create an opening. I will kill him in one strike."

Kokushibo heard the order.

Akaza heard it as well.

Despite his heavy injuries, Akaza moved first.

He leaned forward, planted his feet, and shot out like a cannonball.

"Destructive Death, Final Form: Blue Silver Chaotic Afterglow!"

His fists vanished.

A hundred ultra-high-speed strikes erupted in an instant, hammering toward Tanjirou from every angle. The shockwaves overlapped so densely that defending against them was nearly impossible.

Tanjirou's expression tightened.

Even he could not avoid taking the brunt of it.

At the same time, Kokushibo appeared from the side.

"Moon Breathing, Sixth Form: Perpetual Night, Lonely Moon, Incessant."

Chaotic slashes flooded the courtyard.

Moon blades scattered through the air, each one carrying lethal force, turning the space around Tanjirou into a storm of death.

Tanjirou drew the second Nichirin sword at his waist.

With Asuramaru in one hand and the other sword in the other, he parried through the storm.

Steel rang.

Flames scattered.

Blood flew.

And from the shadows, Muzan moved.

.....

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