The Upper Ranks Annihilated, Muzan’s Final Day

Akaza’s punching motion suddenly froze in place.

Vaguely, he seemed to see a gentle woman wearing a snowflake-patterned hair ornament identical to the pattern of his Blood Demon Art. He also seemed to see a man dressed in white training clothes…

"The reason I wanted strength was always to protect others, Koiyuki, Master Keizo…"

The next instant, seven Crimson Blades pierced various parts of his body.

This time, Akaza did not resist again.

His mostly restored head did not continue regenerating either.

Under the wary gazes of all the Hashira, he merely aimed his palm at his own chest.

"Destructive Death: Annihilation Style."

Powerful force burst from Akaza’s palm, instantly annihilating his body until it turned to ash and scattered away.

"Amazing! Tanjiro!"

Mitsuri Kanroji leaped up excitedly.

Shinazugawa Sanemi stared at Tanjiro in shock. Beside him, even Tomioka Giyu, who was usually expressionless, had widened his eyes.

"This is the first time I’ve ever seen someone talk a demon to death, Tanjiro."

Tokito Muichiro said in amazement.

"Tanjiro, can you talk Muzan and that demon to death too?"

Rengoku Kyojuro pointed toward another battlefield.

On the other side, after Uzui Tengen paid the price of being severely injured, Gyomei Himejima finally found an opening and chopped off Kokushibo’s head with a single axe strike.

But Kokushibo’s head quickly grew back. His body changed further, sprouting segment after segment of sharp tentacles and bone spikes. Long fangs protruded from his mouth, and a single horn grew from his forehead.

He had now become a complete and utter monster.

"I… don’t know, but we can try."

Tanjiro scratched his head.

"Why worry about that? Only two demons are left now. Muzan is being suppressed by… by Lord Master. With so many Hashira here, are we afraid we can’t suppress Upper Rank One? At worst, we hold out until dawn and let the sun burn these two bastards to death."

Shinazugawa Sanemi displayed the bearing of a true berserker as he charged ahead.

Even though Uzui Tengen had been severely injured and forced out of the battle, there were still eight powerful Hashira left. Kokushibo’s absolute strength was still some distance from Muzan’s level, so he was destined to be suppressed.

Soon, the several hundred surviving swordsmen had escorted all the ordinary people from the Entertainment District out and regrouped.

With the Daylight Lamp Flashlight and Crimson Blades, those two great weapons, the vast majority of the Demon Slayer Corps members had survived.

The Twelve Kizuki had some resistance to these things, but ordinary demons did not.

Weaker demons could not last more than a few seconds after being illuminated by the Daylight Lamp Flashlight before turning to ash. Even stronger mutated demons could not hold out much longer, reducing the casualties among ordinary swordsmen to the minimum.

Soon, Kasugai Crows cried out in the sky, relaying Amane’s orders.

Mitsuri Kanroji, Shinazugawa Sanemi, and Tomioka Giyu temporarily withdrew from the siege of Kokushibo and joined up with the ordinary swordsmen.

Because they had not yet mastered the Transparent World.

The reason the swordsmen who had mastered the Transparent World were being left behind was because the method they were about to use would greatly affect their vision.

The five swordsmen closed their eyes, relying solely on the Transparent World to fight Kokushibo.

One Daylight Lamp Flashlight after another switched on, all shining upon Kokushibo’s position at once. That entire area became brighter than daylight, bright enough to blind anyone within it.

The massive formation of several hundred Daylight Lamp Flashlights possessed astonishing destructive power against both humans and demons.

Layer upon layer of flesh continuously peeled away from Kokushibo’s body, turning into black smoke and dispersing.

The intense light of the Daylight Lamps caused Kokushibo’s regeneration speed to fall behind the rate at which his flesh was melted by the light, greatly weakening his strength.

At that moment, the five swordsmen only needed to keep Kokushibo pinned in place. No matter how powerful he was, he was doomed to die.

Naturally, Kokushibo wanted to break out.

But with five swordsmen possessing Hashira-level strength inside, and an encirclement formed by three Hashira leading hundreds of Demon Slayer Corps elites outside, Kokushibo still completely vanished into smoke after several minutes, even after fighting with all his might.

All the Demon Slayer Corps members silently turned their gazes toward the final battlefield.

Muzan was still getting beaten up.

After erupting for such a long time, Muzan’s desperate struggle had finally subsided.

Yet he still had not given up hope of escaping and continued desperately tangling with Shimizu.

"No… I won’t die! How could I possibly die? I am the creature closest to perfection! You can’t kill me! You can’t kill me!"

Before the terror of death, Muzan appeared somewhat deranged, countless bone spikes all over his body waving continuously.

Especially after Akaza and Kokushibo, the two strongest Upper Ranks, died one after another, Muzan, knowing no reinforcements would come, became even more frenzied.

Yet Shimizu remained as steady as ever, fighting methodically. He constantly wore Muzan down with his high mobility and powerful attacks, showing no sign of fatigue.

Muzan had an enormous health bar and recovered quickly. Though Shimizu could not kill him for the moment, he could keep him nailed in place indefinitely, unable to escape.

After Perfect Demon Transformation, Shimizu’s endurance was equally absurd.

The entire battlefield remained under his control.

Soon, the several hundred swordsmen arranged themselves into formation again.

The five Hashira who had mastered the Transparent World gathered together and leaped across the ruins toward the center of the battlefield.

Without question, they wanted to replicate upon Muzan the method they had used against Kokushibo.

Shimizu did not say much.

In the original timeline, these Hashira had all contributed to the battle against Muzan to varying degrees, but only two or three of them survived in the end.

Now that he was here to suppress Muzan, they only needed to provide a little restraint. That sort of outcome would not occur.

When the five arrived, Shimizu seemed to react in advance and closed his eyes together with them.

One Daylight Lamp after another switched on again. The intense white light was like flames, causing Muzan’s body to rapidly collapse.

"No!"

Muzan could not help clutching his head with both hands as he let out a howl.

Now, in the face of Shimizu and the Hashira’s attacks, he did not even fight back. He merely mechanically waved his arms around himself in defense while multiplying flesh with all his strength, until he became a gigantic infant over ten meters tall. He continuously dug into the ground, trying to hide somewhere the light could not reach.

Moreover, while a larger body did increase the surface area, the ratio between surface area and volume actually decreased. This form could also indirectly reduce the effects of the light upon Muzan.

Seeing this, Gyomei Himejima hurriedly threw his Nichirin Blade, intending to use the chain connecting his broad axe and spiked flail to loop around the giant infant’s enormous head.