The night sky above the ruined Demon Slayer Corps headquarters flickered with flames, but the darkness beneath it felt even heavier.
The explosion had torn the world open, and even from a distance, the blast still echoed like a dying heartbeat.
Kibutsuji Muzan stood before the remains of the main hall, half his body shredded, pale skin sizzling under the lingering wisteria remnants.
His expression was twisted with fury, disgust, and disbelief.
"Seeing you like this, I've lost all interest," Muzan said as he walked toward the mangled remains of Oyakata sama.
"The head of a clan who opposed me for a thousand years, yet this is what you amount to."
His crimson cat like eyes narrowed with disdain.
"The reason I became like this is all thanks to you."
Oyakata sama's voice trembled, not from fear but from the overwhelming strain on his sickly body.
"A thousand years ago, after you became a demon, the Ubuyashiki family became cursed.
Every child born, especially the men, were weak and died young.
To prevent the bloodline from ending, the clan followed the priest's advice and married into his family for generations.
Even then, none of us can live past thirty."
He took a shallow breath.
"The Ubuyashiki clan is tied to you by blood.
That is the curse.
Only when you die will our suffering finally end."
"So? You want to kill me?" Muzan smirked softly.
"How foolish."
Oyakata sama's voice sharpened.
"I've wanted to kill you every single moment of my life.
For centuries, the Ubuyashiki family has dedicated itself to your destruction."
His trembling hand tightened around the hands of Amane and his daughters.
"So, Kibutsuji Muzan, come to hell with me."
His left hand pulled the hidden fuse.
"You…"
Muzan's body stiffened as a surge of danger overwhelmed him.
Then the world erupted.
"Boom… rumble…"
Like a falling meteor, fire swallowed the mansion whole.
A burning mushroom cloud exploded into the sky, ripping apart stone, earth, and air.
Everything disappeared in a wave of blinding red.
High in the air, Lucien watched the inferno flare upward.
Flames reflected in his amethyst eyes as golden lightning crackled violently across his body.
The shockwave hit him like a hammer, and he lost stability, falling with a long tail feather of golden light behind him.
In the crater below, Muzan staggered, half of his head missing, his flesh struggling to regenerate through the choking scent of wisteria.
"This… isn't a normal bomb."
Regeneration stalled.
Cell tissue writhed sluggishly under the poisonous fragrance.
Before he could recover, dozens of fist sized chunks of flesh burst open around him.
This was not his flesh.
"Blood Demon Art."
"Boom…"
The flesh detonated, twisting into a massive tree of warped limbs.
Hundreds of thorn like branches erupted outward, skewering Muzan's weakened body until he resembled a mutilated porcupine.
Before he could react, a figure crashed into him.
Tamayo slammed into Muzan, her right hand piercing his abdomen as she crushed a vial hidden in her palm.
"Tamayo… why are you here?" Muzan hissed, coughing blood.
"Kibutsuji Muzan," Tamayo whispered coldly, "do you know what this medicine is?"
Her eyes burned with centuries of hatred.
"This is a formula that turns demons back into humans.
Die."
"Impossible…"
Muzan swayed as his cells screamed.
"Nothing is impossible.
Fall, Muzan."
A roar tore down from the sky before he could lash out.
Lucien, blazing like a golden meteor, hurtled downward trailing a comet like tail of fire and lightning.
"Trying to run."
Muzan sensed the overwhelming force descending toward him.
He seized Tamayo by the throat, desperate to keep her from escaping.
His abdomen writhed, absorbing her flesh while his cells strained to neutralize the medicine.
"Nakime!"
His shout reverberated across the ruins.
The ground twisted open instantly.
The entrance to the Infinity Castle swallowed Muzan and Tamayo whole, sealing them inside.
Lucien crashed down a heartbeat later.
His entire body crystallized as he slammed into the ground like a nuclear strike.
"Boom…"
A shockwave blasted outward.
Buildings folded, floors twisted, and Nakime, deep within the Infinity Castle, screamed as blood spilled from her mouth.
She collapsed through collapsing pavilions, buried under debris.
Smoke parted.
Lucien stood amid fire and ruin, golden armor forming on his body, flames dancing along its surface.
Kibutsuji Muzan, half gone, struggled against Tamayo's grip.
"This was a trap," Muzan snarled, eyes shaking with fury.
"The two of you planned this together."
Lucien smiled coldly.
"Smart."
A blazing kukri appeared in his hand.
With a burst of speed, he shot forward like a cannonball, his armor humming as a fierce war rhythm pounded through the air.
He attacked with everything he had.
He needed to kill Muzan before the medicine was neutralized.
If Muzan regained his full strength, the battle would become a nightmare.
"Kill him!"
With a roar, Muzan signaled again.
A biwa note chimed.
Muzan and Tamayo vanished, replaced by Douma and Kaigaku.
Both had been in the Infinity Castle the entire time.
Thunder crackled in Kaigaku's stance, an echo of the training he shared with Zenitsu.
Douma's cold aura froze the very air around him.
"Thunder Breathing, Fourth Form, Distant Thunder!"
"Blood Demon Art, Scattering Lotuses!"
They attacked in unison.
Lucien scoffed.
"You think this can stop me?"
He raised his hands.
"Bold demons, how dare you flaunt such pitiful tricks before a true force?
Great Might Heavenly Dragon, World Honored Ksitigarbha, Great Luo Dharma Incantation, Prajna Buddhas, Prajna Paramita Hum."
"Great Might Heavenly Dragon."
A thunderous dragon's roar shattered the air.
Time felt as if it slowed.
Lucien collided with both demons at once.
His burning kukri cleaved toward Kaigaku while the massive spectral dragon slammed straight into Douma.
Douma's eyes widened.
"Not good!"
The twenty meter divine dragon tore through his attack, through his body, through his bones.
"Boom…"
Douma exploded after only ten seconds, his body unable to withstand the scorching heat.
Lucien pivoted, blocking Kaigaku's strike with his kukri.
His right leg shot forward, hardened and carrying a sonic boom.
Kaigaku tried to block.
His arm snapped instantly.
His body shot back like a broken arrow.
"Thunder Breathing, Instant Kill!"
A streak of golden lightning flashed across the castle.
Lucien didn't chase Douma or Kaigaku.
He went straight for Nakime.
She was the key to this dimension.
Lucien knew her Blood Demon Art well.
He would not give her a second chance.
Nakime had barely pulled herself from the rubble when golden lightning appeared before her.
Her single exposed eye widened in horror.
A thin line appeared across her neck.
Her head lifted into the air before falling, pinned to the floor by Lucien's burning kukri.
Her scream echoed, cut short as the heat charred her flesh.
Across the hall, Douma reformed with difficulty, pale and trembling.
Kaigaku's body had recovered, but the footprint seared across his chest refused to heal.
The skin there smelled burnt.
Those cells had died completely.
"Eight Span Mirror."
The ground beneath Lucien cracked as he vanished with a sonic boom, rushing toward Douma like a phantom of golden fire.
"Blood Demon Art, Freezing Cloud!"
Douma's face twisted in fear as he unleashed a storm of glittering ice crystals.
---
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