Chapter Sixty-Seven: Eclipse Breathing?!
Hmmmm… forget it. Enjoy~~~
The forest was immersed in the stillness before dawn—that heavy silence that precedes a storm, or in this case, the end. There was no sound of wind, no rustling of trees; even the night insects held their breath in terror of the overwhelming aura emanating from the center of the devastated clearing.
At the heart of that silent hell stood "Tsugikuni Ren."
But this was not the younger brother they knew. His black hair had turned pure white, and his emerald eyes—once bright with intelligence and mischief—were replaced with savage crimson slits, their pupils contracting and expanding madly. The complete form of the "Demon King," Kibutsuji Muzan, had swallowed the boy's body, turning him into the embodiment of a nightmare.
Before this monster stood the two legends of the era.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni stood firmly atop a massive tree branch, his crimson Nichirin blade burning with real flames that coiled around the edge and cast a warm, sorrowful glow over his calm face. His cold eyes pierced through "Ren's" body, reaching directly to Muzan's spirit lurking within, a gaze that made the Demon King frown in irritation.
On the other side, Michikatsu Tsugikuni knelt in a ready stance, his violet aura charged with crescent moons scattering around him. He observed every muscle, every pulse of a vein in his younger brother's body, prepared to cut down any attempt at escape with speed beyond human perception.
Muzan was in an unenviable position. Despite possessing Ren's perfect body and his original power as the Demon King, he was cornered. Before him stood versions far stronger than Yoriichi and Michikatsu in the original story—versions personally refined by Ron to surpass human limits.
"He survived our previous attack…" Yoriichi frowned as he stared at Muzan's body regenerating from thousands of wounds in an instant.
In Tsugikuni Ren's mental void, Ron sighed in annoyance and regret. Because of seeing Rai's memories, he had lost control, causing his body to activate the Reverse Technique automatically.
"Sorry, Yoriichi… Michikatsu!" Ron apologized silently to the brothers for ruining their magnificent attack.
"You already know this will be your end," Michikatsu's voice cut through the silence, cold and sharp as a blade. "So… leave Ren. Get out of his body now, and perhaps… perhaps I will grant you a quick and painless death."
A mocking, demonic smile spread across Ren's (Muzan's) face, and he laughed deeply, the ground trembling beneath him.
"Run? Leave?" Muzan said venomously. "You speak as if I haven't tried, fool… Your beloved brother 'Ren' is the one clinging to me like a leech!"
Rage boiled within Muzan. From the inside, Ron was gripping his soul with an iron hold, preventing separation. The boy wanted the Demon King's power, yes—but at the same time he sought a suicidal death, suppressing the body's true potential and forcing Muzan to fight with only his own power against the strongest demon slayers.
He had barely escaped Yoriichi earlier by using a hostage, and now he was fighting Yoriichi and Michikatsu without even the ability to attempt escape.
"Ren…" Yoriichi called calmly, but his tone carried something terrifying that made Muzan freeze for a moment. "Return to us. Let us talk… We will find a solution together. There is no need for this."
Muzan's eyes widened briefly. Michikatsu thought Ren had regained control, but soon the insane smile returned.
"Hahahahaha!"
Muzan's laughter echoed sickly among the trees, darkening the brothers' expressions with irritation.
"How pitiful… it seems your little brother refuses to see you," Muzan mocked. Then suddenly, without warning, he vanished.
"Shing!"
In a fraction of a second, Muzan appeared directly behind Yoriichi. "I will kill you with your beloved brother's hands!"
Had it not been for his reflexes, Yoriichi's head would have flown. He turned at inhuman speed, his blade tracing an arc of flame.
"Sun Breathing: Fourth Form!"
The sword clashed against Muzan's bone claws. Yoriichi severed Muzan's arm and part of his chest, but he was surprised.
"Faster!" Yoriichi thought as he leapt back. "Did his speed just increase?"
Muzan laughed as he landed, his body regenerating in a blink, smoke rising from sealed wounds. "You see? Even while resisting me, his perfect body grants me power beyond my original one… I suppose he hates you enough to craft this body to kill you!"
Michikatsu sensed killing intent aimed at him. Muzan stood casually, knees bent, hands raised mockingly—but Michikatsu, his senses sharpened by hundreds of battles, felt danger from the side.
"Here!"
He turned swiftly, catching a bone sword that sprouted from nothing. It pierced through his palm to the bone.
He did not flinch. He did not scream. He looked into "Ren's" eyes with absolute coldness and exhaled white breath that formed a small crescent moon.
"I will kill you…"
He spoke so calmly it made Muzan's brow twitch. "Are they truly fighting their younger brother? They do not seem to care about the body's safety… They are monsters just like him!"
Muzan spun midair, severing the hand Michikatsu held. It regenerated instantly and turned into a fist aimed at his brother's head.
But Michikatsu was no longer there.
He kicked Muzan's chest violently and used the recoil to launch backward, creating distance for another attack.
From above, Yoriichi descended like a falling sun.
"Sun Breathing: Third Form: Crimson Mirror of the Sun!"
He drew a simultaneous defensive and offensive circle, severing Muzan's leg and the branch beneath him. Yet Muzan rolled like a wild cat, narrowly avoiding the fatal blow.
When Muzan rose, a strange sword formed in his hand, made of his own hardened bone, flesh, and blood, pulsing as if alive.
"Are you a match for his swordsmanship?" Muzan mocked, swinging the blade with skill inherited from the body's memory. "Let us see who is the stronger swordsman!"
Yoriichi frowned and landed calmly, while Michikatsu vanished, reappearing like a phantom behind Muzan, his blade glowing violet.
"Moon Breathing: First Form!"
Michikatsu slashed, and a dark crimson flash from Muzan's blade met it.
"Claaang!"
The swords collided, sparks flying. Michikatsu frowned at the weight of the strike, while Muzan grinned madly and drove a kick toward his abdomen.
"Boom!"
The kick pierced through Michikatsu's body—or so it seemed. The body faded like smoke.
"Afterimage?!" Muzan roared angrily. "Damn… aren't you two too fast?!"
He grumbled, yet deep within his twisted mind he felt something strange. His five hearts were beating faster—not from fear, but… excitement?
"No…" Muzan corrected himself while blocking another attack. "I do not enjoy battle. I enjoy nearing the goal. Once those two die, Ron's spirit will shatter completely. His resistance will collapse, and I will take full control."
He recalled the information taken from Ron's mind—the location of the Blue Spider Lily.
"Immortality… perfection… walking beneath the sunlight!"
Muzan's grin widened grotesquely as he launched like a predator, carving a trench into the earth from sheer force.
"Die!"
He met Yoriichi at the center. A black-crimson flash (Muzan) against a golden flash (Yoriichi).
"What is wrong, Yoriichi?" Muzan shouted, pressing his sword against Yoriichi's, their faces inches apart. "Do you regret your little brother? Do you hesitate to cut his throat? That hesitation will kill you!"
He kicked Yoriichi in the chest. Yoriichi flew back, crashing into stone as dust scattered.
He emerged slowly. He was not injured—he had blocked the kick at the last instant—but his expression was… broken.
Yoriichi looked at his crimson blade.
He remembered years ago when little Ren, face smeared with soot, had brought him that sword proudly. "Brother! I made it myself! This Nichirin metal is special… I poured my soul into it to protect you!"
"He enjoyed forging it to protect me…" Yoriichi whispered painfully. "And now… I use it to kill him."
His hand trembled briefly.
Suddenly, a warm, heavy hand rested on his shoulder.
Michikatsu stood behind him, eyes fixed on Muzan.
"Do not worry, brother…" Michikatsu said in a terrifyingly calm voice. "You do not have to do this alone. You do not have to bear the burden… Leave it to me."
Hearing his tone, Yoriichi understood. Michikatsu's anger had crossed the limit. He had decided to bear the sin of "brother killer" alone to shield Yoriichi from the pain.
"Michikatsu…"
Before Yoriichi could respond, Michikatsu vanished.
Not fast—instantaneous.
He appeared behind Muzan.
"Slash!"
A deep cut across the shoulder.
At the side.
"Slash!"
A cut at the waist.
Above.
"Slash!"
A cut at the neck.
He moved like a storm of violet moon blades, striking relentlessly. Muzan froze, unable to track the speed. He tried to raise his sword, but Michikatsu severed both arms instantly, trapping him in a cage of blades.
"Damn…" Muzan realized the horrifying truth. "That bastard… even Michikatsu has become a monster rivaling Yoriichi! And Ren's body does not respond quickly enough!"
He retreated, panting, regeneration slowed by Moon Breathing's cellular disruption.
Yoriichi observed. He sighed and lifted his head toward the eastern horizon.
The first threads of dawn appeared.
"The sun…"
Imagining his younger brother burning to ash under its light made Yoriichi tremble.
He remembered Ren's childhood smile. "I will be the sun that protects you!"
"Ren was our sun…" Yoriichi thought tearfully. "And now… will I use Sun Breathing… with the sun itself… to kill my own sun?"
Sorrow without bottom filled him. Yet he looked at Michikatsu's back as he fought desperately.
"No…" Yoriichi gripped his sword. "Michikatsu must not bear this regret alone. We began this together… and we will end it together."
He moved.
Muzan froze. His regeneration had nearly stopped.
Before him shimmered Michikatsu, moon aura surrounding him.
Behind him, he felt Yoriichi's heat, the sun burning.
"Nooooo!" Muzan screamed in terror as he saw the end.
The brothers dashed at maximum speed—crimson and violet.
"Sun Breathing…"
"Moon Breathing…"
A moment of absolute silence passed.
They crossed through Muzan's body and stopped on opposite sides, backs turned to the monster.
Time seemed frozen.
They flicked their swords in Ren's usual stylish manner—that elegant flourish their brother loved—and sheathed them simultaneously.
"Click."
At that moment, a shared memory flowed into their minds.
They remembered an old day when Ren was a child. They had dueled under his "strange" orders, ending in Michikatsu's frustration after being beaten.
Little Ren had sat beside him, applying a salve their mother made while singing a strange, beautiful song from a world not their own.
"Do not be sad, brother… The sun and the moon sometimes meet… and create beautiful darkness."
They did not know why they remembered it now. But they knew one thing.
Ren had named that song—and the technique he later created to merge their powers—"Eclipse."
The brothers spoke together, voices filled with love and pain:
"Eclipse Breathing: Final Eclipse Dance!"
"BOOOOOOM!"
Muzan's body exploded from within.
It was not ordinary severing. The technique targeted energy points, nerves, and the soul.
The highest form of breathing, reinforced by the shared Transparent World, destroyed Muzan's regeneration, separated his consciousness from the body, and completely paralyzed him.
He fell to his knees, eyes dull.
Michikatsu trembled as he dropped to one knee, blood flowing from his nose from the strain of using a technique he had not fully mastered.
Yoriichi walked calmly and stood before Muzan (Ren), who stared blankly ahead.
"It is over…" Yoriichi whispered. "We have severed his consciousness."
Now… all that remained was to await the sun.
—
End of Chapter 67.
I wrote this chapter while listening to sad music 😔 Ah, Ron stole the melody, not the lyrics… he is a respectable thief. 😂
Comments… comments, my brother, make me publish faster and more.