Chapter Twenty-Three: He Died a Hero…
『RYON』
Enjoy… or cry~~~
In the dark, towering structure at the peak of Mount Kumotori, the place was devastated—filled with blood, demon corpses, and a foul stench.
At the very top of the tower, the Hashira were facing the Upper Rank Two, Doma, whose ice covered everything around them.
But at that moment, the air froze.
This time, it wasn't because of Doma's techniques.
It froze because of a terrifying "pressure" that descended upon the battlefield.
Doma felt an endless killing intent and aura pressing down on him—an intent so intense that unpleasant memories surfaced in his mind: memories of a terrified Muzan, shaken by nothing more than a mere human.
Yukihara Ren stood there, blood covering half his face, the crimson mark on his forehead pulsing like a second heart. He no longer looked like a ten-year-old child. That look in his eyes… it was the gaze of an ancient warrior who had seen the end of the world and returned to prevent it.
"What resolve…" Doma muttered, and for the first time, he unconsciously took a step back. "You… how are you still alive?"
Ren didn't answer. Instead, he took an attacking stance.
"Hashira!" Ren shouted in a hoarse voice that nonetheless carried the authority of a commander. "I'll open the path… give me one chance! Just one second!"
All the Hashira looked at one another, then nodded as if they had reached an unspoken agreement.
They didn't hesitate.
They didn't ask how he could fight in that condition. They felt his resolve—something that surpassed the limits of logic.
"Got it!" Sanemi roared as he charged like lightning. "Don't you dare die, you brat!"
"Wind Breathing: Black Mountain Storm!"
Sanemi and Tengen launched together from the right and left, their swords moving at speeds that challenged the naked eye, aiming to distract Doma and tear apart his icy defenses.
"So annoying!" Doma shouted as he summoned his "Ice Children" (miniature clones) to block the attack—but Gyomei was ready.
"Stone Breathing: First Form!"
Gyomei slammed the ground with the chain of his axe, creating a localized quake that shattered the balance of Doma and his clones. In that instant, Rengoku and Ren charged forward.
Ren used Sun Breathing and pushed himself to his absolute limit, unleashing multiple Sun Breathing attacks that tore his exhausted body apart even further.
"Burn everything!" Rengoku roared, his flames merging with Ren's.
The battlefield turned into a vortex of elements: wind, stone, sound, flame… and at its core—the sun.
[ Ding. Warning! Host health has reached 10% ]
[ Ding. Warning! Host health is decreasing due to injury effects ]
Ren dashed forward.
He ignored the pain tearing through his muscles. He ignored the system's warnings that his heart was on the verge of exploding.
"Sun Breathing: Third Form!"
Ren moved in a zigzag pattern, leaving blazing afterimages behind him as he closed in on Doma at impossible speed.
"I won't allow it!" Doma screamed, his face twisted in terror. He gathered all his remaining power into a single, concentrated attack.
"Ultimate Demonic Blood Art: Crystal Ice Buddha!"
A massive ice spear, sharp as diamond, formed from Doma's arm and shot straight toward Ren's heart.
The Hashira saw the attack.
Doma had forced it out from within his own body, brutally tearing part of his arm apart.
That alone proved this attack was different from his usual ones.
"Ren!! Get away!!" Tengen screamed in horror. The attack was lethal—impossible to block.
Ren saw the spear approaching. Through the "Transparent World," he saw the only path to victory.
If he dodged, he would lose momentum, and Doma would rebuild his defenses. The opportunity the Hashira had created with their blood would be wasted.
So… Ren made his decision.
He didn't fully dodge.
Instead, he charged straight toward the spear, slightly altering his stance.
Crack.
A terrifying silence fell.
Sanemi's eyes widened. Rengoku gasped. Gyomei froze.
The ice spear pierced through Ren's chest and burst out of his back.
"Idiot…" Doma smiled in relief, believing he had won. "You killed yourself—"
His smile vanished when he saw Ren's hand.
Ren wasn't trying to pull the spear out.
He was gripping it tightly, anchoring it inside his own body.
"I've got you, you ugly bastard…" Ren whispered, blood pouring from his mouth, yet he was smiling—a savage, terrifying smile filled with victory. "Now… you can't escape."
Doma was connected to Ren through the ice spear that had grown from Doma's arm. He was trapped.
"You're insane!" Doma screamed as he tried to pull his arm back, but Rengoku and Sanemi had already arrived, severing Doma's other arms to stop him from defending himself.
Ren raised his glowing sword, its color shifting from crimson red to the radiant hue of the sun.
"I told you…" Ren said weakly, his voice echoing through the hall like a death sentence.
Doma remembered the boy's words at the start of the battle.
"Your fate is death at my hands."
"Sun Breathing… Thirteenth Form…"
Ren gathered all of Yoriichi's memories, all of Shinobu's rage, all of Rengoku's flames, and all of his love for his family into this single strike.
"…PAAAAARADIIIIIISE!!" (Heaven / Final Dance)
The sword fell.
It wasn't just a cut.
It was a purifying flash.
Doma's head separated from his body and flew through the air as the flames of the sun devoured what remained of his body, turning it to ash before it could touch the ground.
Doma's head hit the floor and rolled, his eyes staring in shock at his vanishing body.
Ren collapsed to his knees, the ice spear still piercing his torso, blood pooling beneath him.
"Why?"
The voice came from Doma's head as it slowly began to crumble.
"I… lived for hundreds of years… ate hundreds… lived as a king…" Doma looked at the dying Ren. "You… are just a human child. You had decades ahead of you—play, love, good food, family… why? Why throw all of that away just to kill me? What's the point of winning if you're going to die?"
Ren slowly turned his pale face toward Doma's head. His vision was fading, cold spreading from the wound to consume his body.
"Because…" Ren whispered with difficulty, a gentle smile on his face. "…there are things… more precious than immortality… and more precious than life itself."
Ren looked at the Hashira rushing toward him, their faces filled with horror.
"Protecting… the future…"
Doma's head completely disintegrated into dust, leaving behind only his shattered golden fan.
And thus, the Upper Rank Two was defeated.
But the price was enormous.
"Ren!!"
Rengoku arrived first, dropping beside him and gripping his shoulders with trembling hands. "Don't close your eyes! Don't you dare close your eyes! Shinobu is coming! Help is coming!"
(Shinobu is a doctor.)
"You idiot!" Sanemi shouted with a broken voice as he tried to press down on the wound with his hands, but the blood flowed endlessly, impossible to stop. "Why didn't you dodge?! We would've protected you! Why did you do this to yourself?!"
Gyomei wept silently, his heavy tears falling onto Ren's face. "Namu Amida Butsu… what a pure soul… what a sacrifice…"
Even Tengen, the loudest of them all, stood silent, staring at the boy who had saved all their lives.
They all knew that without Ren's sacrifice, the Hashira would have suffered severe injuries—and perhaps one or more of them would have died.
Doma might even have escaped. After all, stopping an Upper Moon from fleeing was almost impossible.
Because of Ren, they had finally slain an Upper Moon.
Ren felt cold. The pain began to fade, replaced by a comforting numbness. He knew this was the end. The system was blaring red warnings, but he ignored them.
He looked at them and saw the deep sorrow on the faces of these powerful warriors.
"Why…" Ren said in an extremely faint voice, forcing them to lean in to hear him. "…why are you making… such miserable faces?"
He tried to raise his hand to wipe the blood from his eyes, but he couldn't.
"I'm… not just a lost child…" Ren smiled, blood staining his cheeks and face. "I am… Yukihara Ren… the Tenth Hashira… I fought… fulfilled my duty… and protected my comrades."
Rengoku gasped and bit his lip until it bled to stop himself from screaming.
"I have no regrets…" Ren continued as his emerald eyes began to lose their light, fading into a misty gray. "But… I have one request…"
"Anything!" Sanemi said quickly. "Ask for anything!"
"My family…" Ren whispered, the image of his mother and his little sister Sakura flashing through his mind one last time. "Visit my family… in Tokyo… tell them…"
He paused, struggling to catch his fading breath.
"Tell my mother… that I didn't die afraid… tell her that her son was a hero."
"Tell Sakura… that her big brother… is very proud of her… and that he'll always be watching over her from the sky."
"Tell them… that I was happy… to be born among them… and proud to be my mother's son… and the son of my late father…"
His eyelids grew heavy. Darkness crept in from the edges.
"And proud…" his final words escaped with a long exhale. "…that I died… as a Hashira."
"Hashira… if I truly die… then my final words are…" Ren smiled through pain and sorrow. "When you face death in battle, all you have to do is fight… either you win and survive with pride… or you lose and die with pride… that is what men do."
Silence fell.
Ren closed his eyes.
His limp hand dropped to his side.
His chest stopped rising and falling.
At that moment, a silence heavier than mountains filled the ruined tower.
Then, a scream of grief tore through the sky—a scream from Rengoku, mixed with Sanemi's tears and Gyomei's prayers.
Amid ice and blood, the boy who defied fate died.
---
End of Chapter Twenty-Three.
😐 I won't talk much in this chapter for dramatic effect, but don't forget to comment 😅