Chapter 199: 199 Your life, I’m taking it
Under the blood moon, a gentle evening breeze brushed through, slowly dispersing the clouds to reveal the blood-stained moon that illuminated the darkness of the earth below.
Reiger, bathed in this ominous moonlight, sat in the hall, quietly sipping tea at a small wooden table.
The hermit’s sun wheel blade rested at Reiger’s side, lying on the ground as quietly as any ordinary sword.
This scene was so tranquil, so peaceful.
It wasn’t until a certain moment that Reiger suddenly spoke.
"Since you’ve come, why hide?"
His calm voice echoed under the moonlit hall, seeming so abrupt, so lonely.
No one responded to Reiger, making it seem as though he was talking to himself, which was quite amusing.
Reiger wasn’t in a hurry; he continued drinking his tea, as leisurely as if he were on vacation.
"Whoosh——"
After a long while, finally, a breeze swept through the courtyard, casting a figure like a bat into view.
He stood there beneath the moonlight, like a monarch of the night, exuding an unbelievable majesty.
It was, however, a dangerous majesty, a bit cold, and filled with the scent of blood.
Reiger did not look up at the figure, seemingly unconcerned about the other’s arrival, as he fiddled with the teacup in his hand.
In such a situation, the figure remained silent for a long time before finally stepping into the hall and approaching Reiger.
"Sit."
Reiger still did not look at him, speaking indifferently.
"..."
The figure also said nothing, appearing to carefully observe Reiger; only after a while did he sit down.
"It’s been a long time since I have sat face to face with someone like this," said the figure.
"Hardly," Reiger replied with such nonchalance, "You possess the ability to fully mimic others, often disguising yourself as a human and mingling among the crowd. Given that, for the sake of disguise, you must have sat down and chatted with quite a few people just like this."
"As you’ve said, that was a disguise," the figure replied emotionlessly, "Because it was a disguise, I endured it. Otherwise, how could ordinary humans possibly have the right to sit at par with me?"
"Truly befitting an ancient demon king of a thousand years," Reiger chuckled, although his laugh was still faint. He did show a slight smile as he said, "Your attitude of viewing humans as inferior beings through your words and actions is indeed sufficiently arrogant."
At these words, an icy smile emerged on Kibutsuji Muzan’s face.
"That’s because I am entitled to be arrogant."
Kibutsuji Muzan’s voice rose slowly.
"I have lived longer than anyone else."
"My power surpasses all others."
"I am the hunter of the night, while humans are the hunted."
"In the food chain, I am always the apex predator; by that alone, I am qualified to make such a statement."
When Kibutsuji Muzan spoke these words, there was no arrogance or superiority in his tone, only a plain matter-of-factness.
He genuinely thought this way and saw it as a given, therefore there was no need for pride, no need to be haughty; simply stating the fact was enough.
To this, Reiger did not object.
After all, to some extent, what Kibutsuji Muzan said was not wrong.
Humans are food for demons, and therefore, in terms of the food chain, they indeed have a hierarchical relationship; one above is the hunter and the other below is the hunted, like wolves eat sheep, sheep eat grass, chickens eat worms, and larger beasts prey on smaller ones.
But...
"The food chain is just that, a food chain. Even though elephants unquestionably occupy a higher tier, if it’s bitten by enough ants, it will still succumb," Reiger’s utterly calm voice subdued the terror inherent in Kibutsuji Muzan’s certainty.
Kibutsuji Muzan gazed deeply at Reiger, and then spoke, "That’s why I’ve come here."
Indeed.
Kibutsuji Muzan came here to avoid being devoured by the ’ants.’
Or rather, he decided to confront Reiger face to face in search of true immortality.
Once he attained that, becoming the flawless lifeform that no longer feared even the sunlight, who then, could kill him?
Not even the true resurrection of Tsukiguni Yoriichi would suffice!
In the age of the warring states, Kibutsuji Muzan almost fell to Tsukiguni Yoriichi because Yoriichi’s breath of the sun wielded the power of sunlight, and his Sun Wheel Blade could inflict harm on demons just as sunlight does, leading Kibutsuji Muzan to nearly meet his end.
If Kibutsuji Muzan were to completely overcome this weakness to sunlight, then even if someone were stronger than him, he would no longer be killed.
With this in mind, the way Kibutsuji Muzan stared at Reiger grew intense with eagerness.
"You’ve said before that the Blue Spider Lily resides with you," Kibutsuji Muzan finally asked, "This should be true, shouldn’t it?"
Kibutsuji Muzan’s choice to sit down and have a conversation with Reiger first was to clarify this very point.
He acted on the belief that it’s better to trust and possibly be disappointed than to distrust and forego hope, and it was with this shred of hope and an overwhelming obsession that he chose to battle Reiger.
Otherwise, given Kibutsuji Muzan’s nature, after realizing the strength in Reiger that made him apprehensive, he wouldn’t have chosen a face-to-face battle. Instead, he would have hidden away, slowly waiting for Reiger to perish.
Now, the critical moment had finally arrived.
After posing the question, Kibutsuji Muzan’s eyes clung to Reiger, his fists clenched tightly as well, unexpectedly feeling nervous for the first time ever.
To think that Reiger could evoke such an emotion from a brutal and inhumane Ghost King, who had caused countless tragedies, was certainly unprecedented.
One could only imagine how violent Kibutsuji Muzan would become if he discovered that Reiger was deceiving him and that the story about the rare blue flower was fabricated.
However, Reiger’s next words were like the sound of heaven to Kibutsuji Muzan.
"It’s true," Reiger said.
Reiger finally turned his head to look at Kibutsuji Muzan.
"The blue Spider Lily is right here with me now."
In saying this, Reiger was not lying to Kibutsuji Muzan.
Since the attack on Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters two months ago, Reiger had not only been training the pillars in the Swordsmith Village but had also used the Demon Slayer Corps’ intelligence network to have Shinobu’s people retrieve the blue Spider Lily.
"You probably don’t know this," Reiger said with a half-smile, "the blue Spider Lily is a rare plant that only blooms during the daytime, usually growing in places that receive prolonged sunlight. It blooms only two or three times a year, and if not preserved with a special method, it will quickly wilt without sunlight."
This revelation caused Kibutsuji Muzan’s eyes to widen slightly, a violent emotion brewing within them.
No wonder...
No wonder, after all these years of searching, despite creating many demons to aid in the search, he had come up empty-handed.
Its daytime blooming alone made it impossible for any demon to find the blue Spider Lily.
Because a demon cannot be exposed to sunlight; being hit by sunlight means disintegration.
He was no exception.
And yet, the blue Spider Lily only grew in places that received long hours of sunlight and bloomed only two or three times a year. If it lost sunlight, it would wither, making it difficult even for humans to obtain a complete blue Spider Lily, let alone demons.
Even if a human acquired the blue Spider Lily during the day, improper preservation that led to the absence of sunlight would also result in the flower’s death.
As a result, the chances of the blue Spider Lily being found and delivered into the hands of Kibutsuji Muzan were virtually zero.
This realization sent a chill through Kibutsuji Muzan.
If he hadn’t learned the truth from Reiger, he might have searched in vain for the blue Spider Lily forever.
But now...
"The flower is right here," Reiger said as he placed a wooden box on the table.
"———"
Kibutsuji Muzan stared at the wooden box, radiating a terrifying presence akin to a hellish demon.
He could feel an energy emanating from the wooden box, equal to that of sunlight.
The box might have been made with Scarlet Crimson iron ore and Scarlet Crimson sand iron, essentially the same materials as the Sun Wheel Blade.
Such a box was undoubtedly the most suitable receptacle for the blue Spider Lily, which required sunlight to bloom.
In front of Kibutsuji Muzan, Reiger opened the wooden box.
The next second, a blue flower appeared within the box.
Seeing the flower made Kibutsuji Muzan’s breathing grow heavy.
That’s it!
That’s it!
This was the blue Spider Lily! No doubt about it!
Kibutsuji Muzan had memorized the blue Spider Lily’s appearance, characteristics, and even its scent from the worn-out book of the Physician who had been concocting medicines for him, obsessing over the flower’s image every moment, day and night.
Therefore, the instant he laid eyes on the blue bloom, Kibutsuji Muzan was certain this was indeed the blue Spider Lily.
At that moment, Reiger’s voice rang out again.
"By the way, this might be the last blue Spider Lily in the world."
Reiger’s voice echoed again, his smile cold.
"I personally ordered those who searched for the blue Spider Lily to bring back only this one, destroying all the rest, uprooting them completely. Even if it wanted to, the chance of regrowth is now nearly impossible."
At this statement, Kibutsuji Muzan’s violent aura became uncontrollable.
"...Give it to me," Kibutsuji Muzan managed to say, using the last of his resolve to rein himself in.
"Give it to me, and whatever you want, I can find it for you," he bargained.
This was Kibutsuji Muzan’s final vestige of rationality.
He wanted to see if he could achieve his goals without battling Reiger.
After all, he still harbored some fear towards Reiger.
Unfortunately, his attempt was futile.
"I don’t want anything," Reiger countered, shaking his head and revealing a cold smile to Kibutsuji Muzan.
"But your life, I’ll take it."