Chapter 215: 215 Curtain falls! End!
"Boom——"
This was the sound of the earth trembling.
The cliff-like throne collapsed entirely like a mountain falling, finally smashing heavily onto the ground, stirring up a gale-like shock that caused the earth to tremble and clouds of dust to rise into the sky.
Broken stones and debris kept falling, hitting the ground and causing booming sounds repeatedly, the scene resembling nothing less than a landslide and an earthquake.
Amidst this destruction, the Sun’s Fire that radiated daylight came to an end, allowing the sky-high flames to gradually dissipate, and the giant infant had already turned to ashes, vanishing without a trace—with the body of the progenitor of demons at the heart of it all burned to nothing as well.
Only a head remained, falling from the sky like a dropping stone, landing on the ground and rolling several times before finally stopping after a long while.
Kibutsuji Muzan dumbly watched the scene before him, seeing the ground that was nearly within reach and pressed by the side of his face, feeling the absence of his body, and after what seemed like an eternity, he murmured.
"...How is this possible?"
He was unwilling to accept all this.
"Tap..."
A faint sound of footsteps arose, darkening the view in front of Kibutsuji Muzan and revealing a figure.
Kibutsuji Muzan subconsciously looked up.
Reiger appeared before him, holding a Sun Wheel Blade that radiated intense heat, looking down upon Kibutsuji Muzan from above.
"It’s over," said Reiger indifferently, "In the end, you still couldn’t obtain the Blue Spider Lily from my hands."
These words twisted Kibutsuji Muzan’s facial expression.
He desperately exerted his power, trying to regenerate his body.
However, under the dual suppression of Reiger’s Sun Wheel Blade and abilities, Kibutsuji Muzan’s regeneration had already been inhibited, and now that Reiger had burned his entire body to ashes with the Sun’s Fire, it was impossible for even a stronger Muzan to rapidly regenerate all the parts of his body other than his head at this time.
Just as Reiger had said, it was already over.
Realizing this, fear finally surfaced in Kibutsuji Muzan’s heart.
For the first time in centuries, since he was last seriously wounded by Tsukiguni Yoriichi, Kibutsuji Muzan felt fear again.
I am going to die—he deeply understood this fact and felt it, just like that time over three hundred years ago during the Warring States period.
Understanding this, Kibutsuji Muzan hesitated no more.
"Bang!"
Suddenly, his entire head just exploded, turning into countless fragments that shot in all directions.
Yes.
Kibutsuji Muzan self-destructed.
Just like during the Warring States period when he was seriously wounded by Tsukiguni Yoriichi, Kibutsuji Muzan once again chose to self-destruct and divide, turning into numerous fragments in a frantic escape.
As long as one fragment escaped from here, then, with Kibutsuji Muzan’s power, given some time, he could eventually recover.
This was Kibutsuji Muzan’s strongest escape technique, one even Tsukiguni Yoriichi couldn’t kill him by under these circumstances.
However, he was not facing Tsukiguni Yoriichi, but Reiger, who was fully prepared and possessed power and methods beyond his understanding.
"Hum!"
In the air, a humming suddenly arose, causing a barrier that shimmered with a faint white light to appear.
It was a barrier.
At this moment, Reiger finally used the power of magic, creating a small barrier with conjuration magic to completely isolate this area from the outside world.
"Bang bang bang bang——"
The fragments of Kibutsuji Muzan’s body immediately began to slam against the barrier, causing a series of loud banging sounds, yet without exception, they were all blocked, unable to escape any further.
"You can’t escape."
Watching all this, Reiger stretched out his hand, clenched his fist, and made a contracting gesture.
The barrier enveloping the area immediately began to contract, turning into a cube that landed in Reiger’s hand.
Inside the cubic barrier, countless fragments continued to violently hit the shield, yet they were completely unable to break through.
"What is this...!? What on earth is this...!?"
Kibutsuji Muzan’s voice, filled with panic and fury, echoed from within.
"I’ve said it’s over," Reiger said calmly, looking at the rampaging fragments inside the cubic barrier.
"No! It’s not over yet!"
Kibutsuji Muzan certainly wouldn’t surrender without a fight and immediately became even more agitated, while shouting into the void.
"Nakime! Transfer me out of Infinite City! Get me out of here!"
This was also Kibutsuji Muzan’s backup plan.
By transferring everyone from the Demon Slayer Corps into Infinite City, he wanted to use the terrain of the city to encircle and annihilate the Corps, wiping them out entirely. It was also to confine Reiger and the others like a cage, buying himself an opportunity to escape should the need arise.
As long as Nakime, the demon controlling Infinite City, was there, he could be transferred out of the city instantly, escaping to avoid capture, leaving all the members of the Demon Slayer Corps to die there.
This way, not only could he eradicate the entire Demon Slayer Corps once and for all, but he could also leisurely leave.
It must be said that Kibutsuji Muzan’s plans were not bad.
However, he was still going to be disappointed.
"Serpent Pillar Iguro Obanai and Sound Pillar Uzui Tengen have defeated the Upper Moon Five! Serpent Pillar Iguro Obanai and Sound Pillar Uzui Tengen have defeated the Upper Moon Five!"
"Upper Moon Five elimination successful!"
"Casualties: zero!"
When several messenger crows flew through the sky and brought such intelligence, Kibutsuji Muzan was stunned once again.
It was only now that he realized that Nakime had disappeared.
The demon who controlled the Infinite City, who could change the city’s terrain at will, theoretically making it impossible for enemies to ever get close to herself—being able to teleport away from danger instantaneously, Nakime, who should’ve been invincible, had already been defeated.
There was no other way.
"Did you think I hadn’t considered how passive we would become after entering the Infinite City?"
Reiger looked at the still fragment of violence within the barrier cube and spoke with an unrippled old well of a voice.
"I knew you would choose to start the battle within the Infinite City, and I was aware that if we didn’t deal with Nakime—the String Demoness of the Upper Moon Five—we’d be trapped by this Infinite City, so I had already told the Demon Slayer Corps that once they encountered the Castle Demon, they must prioritize dealing with her."
Therefore, once Nakime was encountered, even Iguro Obanai, who was anxious to assist Love Pillar Kanroji Mitsuri, had no choice but to set aside his worries and directly engage in battle with Nakime.
Nakime’s Blood Demon Techniques were troublesome, but they had a flaw.
That was the need to strum her biwa with every activation.
Reiger informed all the Pillars of this fact, and they each came up with several different combat strategies based on this knowledge.
Among them, Uzui Tengen’s combat plan was particularly effective.
As the Sound Pillar, Uzui Tengen had sharp hearing. Although he couldn’t detect distant footsteps, heartbeats, or even the sounds of emotion emanating from within a person’s body like Zenitsu, he could still catch some subtle sounds.
He had his unique understanding of music, too, possessing a set of original combat formulas that allowed him to study and determine the rhythm of an enemy’s attacks, translating it into musical terms and thus grasping their attack patterns and blind spots.
Once he finished calculating and converted the rhythm, he could attack during the gaps in the melody, just like adding chords to a song, hitting the enemy right where it hurt.
This ability was as if it had been created specifically to combat Nakime.
As long as Nakime tried to play her biwa in front of Uzui Tengen, he could quickly detect the pattern in which she launched her Blood Demon Techniques and make strategic moves, allowing himself to navigate changing terrains without getting trapped.
Adding to this, Iguro Obanai could swing strikes that could turn corners from blind spots, and as long as he seized the opportunity, it wouldn’t be difficult for him, a Serpent Pillar who had awakened his marks and could see through the Transparent World, to decapitate Nakime before she used her biwa to escape.
Nakime was unlucky to face off against Uzui Tengen, who was her nemesis.
Under such circumstances, even not dying would be difficult.
Of course, even if Nakime didn’t die, Reiger wouldn’t let her transfer Kibutsuji Muzan out of the Infinite City.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t studied interference magic; in fact, interference magic was the spell system for which he had the highest aptitude.
Therefore, even without having learned any particularly profound interference magic, with Reiger’s level, interfering with Nakime’s Blood Demon Techniques was still something he could do.
In other words, right from the beginning, Kibutsuji Muzan never had the chance to escape using Nakime’s Blood Demon Techniques.
And with Nakime’s defeat, the other Upper Moon demons were also successively defeated.
"Love Pillar Kanroji Mitsuri and Mist Pillar Tokitou Muichirou have already defeated Upper Moon Six!"
"Upper Moon Six’s defeat successful!"
"Casualties: Zero!"
Facing the Upper Moon demon who manipulated fierce tigers, Kanroji Mitsuri and Tokitou Muichirou, who both had awakened their marks and whose raw power had reached level 4 upper rank, indeed felt little pressure and quickly dispatched him.
"Wind Pillar Shinazugawa Sanemi and Water Pillar Tomioka Giyuu have already defeated Upper Moon Four!"
"Upper Moon Four’s defeat successful!"
"Casualties: Zero!"
Shinazugawa Sanemi and Tomioka Giyuu, both Pillars who had unlocked all three pieces of the set’s abilities and whose strength had reached the highest of level 4, found the half-masked demon’s clones to be no match for them. It was only a matter of time before they found and killed the main body.
"Rock Pillar Himejima Gyoumei and Insect Pillar Kochou Shinobu have already defeated Upper Moon Two!"
"Upper Moon Two’s defeat successful!"
"Casualties: Zero!"
Upper Moon Two’s Douma was strong, probably at the very limits of level 4. Even Kochou Shinobu, who had activated her mark, corresponding to upper rank of level 4, probably couldn’t have matched him. But with the presence of Himejima Gyoumei, equivalent to half of level 5, his defeat was inevitable sooner or later.
"Flame Pillar Rengoku Kyoujurou has already defeated Upper Moon Three!"
"Upper Moon Three’s defeat successful!"
"Casualties: Zero!"
Even Rengoku Kyoujurou overcame his destined rival, the very Akaza who had killed him in the original story, and clinched the victory.
The mark, which could increase one’s level by half a rank, on being activated by Rengoku Kyoujurou, who was originally the mid-rank of level 4, granted him strength equivalent to the very top of level 4, just like Shinazugawa Sanemi and Tomioka Giyuu.
As Upper Moon Three, Akaza’s strength was about the same, fluctuating slightly around the very top of level 4. Yet, unlike Rengoku Kyoujurou who had the Transparent World, his Blood Demon Techniques’ sensing of fighting spirit failed to work effectively, making his defeat by Rengoku Kyoujurou not at all surprising.
"Kamado Tanjirou, Agatsuma Zenitsu, Hashibira Inosuke have already defeated Upper Moon Seven!"
"Upper Moon Seven’s defeat successful!"
"Casualties: Zero!"
Finally, the trio of protagonists also achieved a major victory, defeating Upper Moon Seven, Kaigaku, with zero casualties.
With this, the seven Upper Moon demons had all been defeated.
"..."
Kibutsuji Muzan fell silent.
Inside the cubic barrier, all the frenzied fragments came to a halt and coalesced once again into the head of Kibutsuji Muzan.
Kibutsuji Muzan stared at Reiger, his eyes filled with fear and hatred.
"Why?"
In that question, there was resentment and a venomous unwillingness to accept reality.