Chapter 216: 216 Welcoming Tomorrow
"Why?"
Upon hearing Kibutsuji Muzan’s words, Reiger tilted his head slightly.
"At this point, you’re still asking why, does it matter?"
Reiger’s words caused more blood to appear in Kibutsuji Muzan’s eyes.
"I just want to live!" Kibutsuji Muzan roared, "What’s wrong with that...!?"
Indeed, to some extent, Kibutsuji Muzan was also an innocent person.
He had been ensnared by the shadow of death even before he was born, his heart had temporarily stopped while he was still in his mother’s womb due to frailty, and although he finally was born by a stroke of luck, it was as a stillborn, nearly dying on the spot.
Although Kibutsuji Muzan desperately crawled back from the brink of death and managed to live, he still was diagnosed with a terminal illness and wasn’t expected to live past the age of twenty. He used to spend his days bedridden, constantly battling with the Grim Reaper.
If he had just died like that, then he would only be a pitiable person whose life evoked sadness in countless people.
Such a man was indeed innocent.
However...
"In order to live, you truly sacrificed too many lives," Reiger said indifferently, "Is your life a life, and others’ lives not?"
Upon hearing this, Kibutsuji Muzan began to laugh.
And it was a very exaggerated, hearty laugh.
"Are you saying that it’s wrong for me to sacrifice others’ lives in order to survive?" Kibutsuji Muzan said sarcastically, "What about humans? Aren’t they making the same mistake as me?"
"To survive, they also have to eat meat, they also have to kill. They place the corpses of animals on their tables to continue to nourish themselves, to sustain their lives."
"If they can do it, why can’t I?"
"Just because they make their food look less bloody, does that mean they aren’t wrong?"
"Or are you saying that because they eat animals, not humans?"
"But I’m not human either! I’m a demon! To me, humans are just talking animals!"
Kibutsuji Muzan shouted at Reiger.
"Since that’s the case, why is it wrong for me to live, to be killed...!?"
Obviously, Kibutsuji Muzan still felt resentful about his current fate.
But his words only met Reiger’s icy gaze.
"If you truly can’t understand, then let me put it more bluntly," Reiger said, "Everyone wants you dead, no one wants to see you live, so no matter the reason, you can only meet this end. Understand?"
Kibutsuji Muzan’s expression froze.
"You should have realized this a long time ago," Reiger said coldly, "From the moment you began to kill others without reason, others had every right to kill you without reason, not to mention the reasons have always been there, it’s just you who thought they were not reasons at all."
"You’re right, you’re not human. Since that’s the case, if you can kill humans, and humans can kill animals, then why can’t humans kill you?"
"Talking to someone as cold-blooded and merciless as you about deep-seated hatred is probably something you can’t understand, talking to you about family bonds, you would likely think it’s some strange thing, I don’t care to explain that much to you."
"You just need to understand one thing, and that is, you indeed shouldn’t exist in this world."
Reiger said, word by word.
"Your death will allow many others who wish to live to continue having the right to live, instead of suddenly losing what you consider the most precious life in your eyes one day."
"Do you understand now?"
"Demon."
As all these words reached Kibutsuji Muzan’s ears, he fell completely silent.
His expression was no longer filled with bitterness, hate, or resentment; instead, for some reason, a hard-to-describe calm appeared.
Tamayo and Yushirou staggered out from a pile of rubble and debris, coming here, looking disheveled at this scene, and also fell silent.
Especially Tamayo, this woman who hated Kibutsuji Muzan to the bone, seeing the demon she had loathed for hundreds of years now reduced to just a head, held in Reiger’s hand, her eyes, filled with extreme ecstasy, also clenched her fists, somehow at a loss for words.
In this situation, Reiger flipped his empty hand, and took out a blue Forget-Me-Not from the storage space.
"What rises must set, what blooms must wither. After a thousand years, it’s time for you to atone for the evil you’ve done."
Reiger let go, allowing the blue Forget-Me-Not to fall to the ground.
"Boom!"
A flame ignited from that blue flower, burning it completely.
Watching all this, all the miscellaneous thoughts in Kibutsuji Muzan’s mind seemed to have been sucked away, his soul had been drawn out as he blankly watched the burning blue Forget-Me-Not, the blood in his eyes gradually disappearing.
It was as if his life, his dreams, everything about him, disappeared along with the burning of that flower.
In the end, Kibutsuji Muzan left only one sentence.
"...I am a demon, but I am not a monster."
Kibutsuji Muzan looked at Reiger and said sincerely,
"In my eyes, you and Tsukiguni Yoriichi are the true monsters."
Kibutsuji Muzan’s words didn’t cause any emotional fluctuations in Reiger.
"Thanks for the compliment."
With that said, a red ripple emerged from Reiger’s hand holding the barrier cube.
"Bang—"
The next second, Kibutsuji Muzan’s head, along with the cube imprisoning him, were disintegrated by Reiger’s dissolution magic into nothingness.
That scene, like glass shattering, completely erased Kibutsuji Muzan from this world.
"......"
Silence spread throughout the ruins.
Reiger turned around, as if he had done something trivial, slowly sheathing the Sun Wheel Blade, still radiating heat.
Tamayo and Yushirou watched Reiger, watching his back, their hearts filled with mixed feelings.
"It’s over..."
Yushirou muttered.
"...Yes."
Tamayo closed her eyes, her voice tinged with a bit of sorrow and grief.
"Everything... has finally ended..."
...
It had indeed ended.
It ended when Kibutsuji Muzan was disintegrated on the spot by Reiger’s disintegration magic, completely vanishing from this world. In Infinite City, numerous demons who were fighting against the Demon Slayer Corps Swordsmen stopped in their tracks.
They stood still.
They lost their breath.
The demon blood within them disappeared at an alarming rate, ceasing their existence as the creatures known as "demons."
Thus, they turned into ashes, as if exposed to sunlight, gradually fading away and soon vanishing into thin air.
The blood-soaked members of the Demon Slayer Corps looked at each other, unable to snap back to reality for a long time.
After a long while, someone finally spoke as if in a trance.
"... Is it over?"
This voice awakened the others.
"It’s... over...?"
"It’s over..."
"It’s over indeed...!"
"It’s over!"
People began to throw down their swords, dropping their weapons, tears streaming out bit by bit.
Then, a cheer loud enough to break through the ceiling suddenly erupted, and all the Demon Slayer Corps Swordsmen either cried loudly or hugged each other, their faces now uniformly filled with excitement and elation.
"It’s over!"
"It’s all over!"
"Kibutsuji Muzan is dead!"
As everyone was crying and smiling, the crows also flitted about, spreading the news.
"Head Ubuyashiki Yoriichi has defeated Kibutsuji Muzan!"
"The subjugation of Kibutsuji Muzan was successful!"
"The subjugation of Kibutsuji Muzan was successful!"
In the sharp voice of the crows, only one phrase remained in the end— "The subjugation of Kibutsuji Muzan was successful."
"We... succeeded!"
Kanroji Mitsuri cheered, surrounded by the bodies of many tigers.
"Thank goodness!"
Tokitou Muichirou also rarely showed an excited expression.
"Namo Amitabha Buddha..."
Himejima Gyoumei had just stepped out of the lotus pond when he heard the news, immediately bringing his palms together and shedding tears.
"He succeeded... sister..."
Kochou Shinobu, beside Himejima Gyoumei, held Douma’s iron fan, showing for the first time a sincere smile from her heart.
"He’s finally dead."
Iguro Obanai stopped running, unwinding the bandage that had always been wrapped around his mouth.
"This is really... quite splendid, Head!"
Uzui Tengen laughed out loud in front of Iguro Obanai.
"That guy..."
Shinazugawa Sanemi, holding the head of a little person, looked at the crows flying through the air, remaining silent for a long time.
"... Incredible."
Even Tomioka Giyuu, after a moment of silence, made such a comment.
"Big brother..."
Tanjirou, Zenitsu, and Inosuke lay together on the ground, all covered in wounds, looking at the sky with broad smiles.
Lastly, Rengoku Kyoujurou also emerged from a combat arena, dragging an injured arm, his resolute face bearing a smile bright enough to illuminate everything like the sun.
"Well done, Yoriichi young man..."
Recalling that incredible young man who had vowed to protect him on the Infinite Train, Rengoku Kyoujurou felt that he might never forget that encounter in his life.
This way, people cheered and jumped for joy, never ceasing for a long time...
...
The village of the swordsmiths.
By now, the sun had already risen.
"Lord Kagaya..."
"Father...!"
Ubuyashiki Amane and her children all showed expressions of extreme joy mixed with tears.
Because, in front of them, Ubuyashiki Kagaya had stood up.
The rotting marks on his body were disappearing bit by bit.
Feeling the long-lost strength and vitality flowing through his body, Ubuyashiki Kagaya discovered for the first time that he could also be moved by the fact that he was still alive.
"He... won..."
Ubuyashiki Kagaya, while smiling, shed tears.
The curse of the Ubuyashiki family had disappeared on this day.
This family embraced each other under the sunshine, welcoming this brand new day full of life.