chsdbacks Page 43
Page 43
Divine intervention!
These four words spontaneously surfaced in the hearts of all the pillars. Looking at Gu Chuan's retreating figure, the awe in their eyes reached its peak.
"Now, let's see what these so-called Upper Moons are really capable of," Gu Chuan said with a smile, as if inviting everyone to watch a good show.
However, as Gu Chuan watched Muzan's suspicion and cruelty towards his subordinates in the Infinity Castle, and the Upper Moons' infighting that lacked any sense of teamwork, a hint of disgust and... boredom gradually appeared in his eyes.
“It’s…so ugly,” he said softly.
Originally, he wanted the Demon Slayer Corps members to fight against each of the Upper Moons one by one, as a final "graduation exam".
But now, he has changed his mind.
Dealing with this pure, aesthetically devoid "aggregate of malice" using schemes or tactics is an insult to "beauty."
The only way is to use the most absolute, overwhelming, and unreasonable force to completely crush it at its root!
"It wouldn't be fun if Muzan died too easily."
Gu Chuan suddenly said something that left everyone puzzled.
Then, to everyone's astonishment, he actually stepped out of that "safe observation space," his figure instantly solidifying as he landed directly in the center of the logically broken infinite city below!
He deliberately exposed himself!
"Observer!"
"Gu Chuan!"
"Hey!"
The Demon Slayer Corps members and Rin and the others gasped in alarm, but it was too late.
……
The Infinite City, upon the throne.
Because of Akaza's death and the threat posed by those three mysterious beings, Muzan Kibutsuji was plunged into the deepest fear and rage in a thousand years.
He had just dismissed all the Upper Moons and was preparing to have Nakime teleport him to the safest place to hide.
However, at this moment.
A calm, indifferent voice, seemingly from the heavens above, suddenly rang out directly in front of him.
"Kibutsuji Muzan."
Muzan suddenly looked up, his scarlet plum blossom pupils shrinking to their limit!
He saw it!
The black-haired boy who appeared in Akaza's last sight last night, who completely erased Upper Moon Three with just one finger, who made his soul tremble with fear, is now standing quietly in front of him!
How did he get in?!
Why didn't Nakime notice anything?!
Endless fear, like an icy tide, instantly overwhelmed all of Muzan's senses! His pride in being a "perfect creature" was shattered in that moment!
He couldn't even muster the thought of escaping. Every cell in his body screamed and submitted madly under the indescribable pressure from a higher level of life!
Gu Chuan ignored his ghost-like expression and slowly stepped forward, seeing his own reflection in those scarlet, fear-filled pupils.
He looked down at the pitiful creature, the so-called "progenitor of demons," huddled on the throne, and asked the soul-searching question in a judgmental, icy tone:
"What do you consider life to be?"
74 kills of Muzan
"What do you value life?"
Gu Chuan's voice was calm and undisturbed, yet it was like an invisible hammer made of laws, striking hard and precisely at the pillar of Kibutsuji Muzan's soul called "Pride" that had been sustained for thousands of years.
"——!!!"
life?
This word, this concept, was like the most vicious curse, instantly tearing away all of Muzan's pretenses! His handsome face, twisted with fear, became even more ferocious and crazed at this moment!
Those deep, crimson plum blossom pupils... (d9) (8) "Where he left behind, a terrifying memory, buried deep in his soul, which he thought he had long forgotten, yet which tormented him every moment, filled with the scent of sunshine, suddenly surged forth like a flood bursting its banks!"
He felt as if he had returned to that daytime hundreds of years ago, and saw that man again. That man, dressed in the swordsman's robes of the Initial Breathing Technique, wearing sun-shaped earrings, and born with markings, like an incarnation of the sun god—Yoriichi Tsugikuni.
That man, too, once looked down at himself, shattered and wretched, with the same calm, equally contemptuous gaze.
He asked a question that he couldn't answer, and dared not answer.
No! wrong!
The boy in front of me is more terrifying than that man!
Yoriichi's power represents the pinnacle of martial arts and the pinnacle of humanity. But this boy before us—his very existence is a trampling of the laws of nature, a mockery of the world! He is not human, he is not even a god! He is… he is a higher-dimensional, incomprehensible, indescribable… being!
"Ah...ahh ...
Muzan let out a shrill, inhuman roar. He tumbled off the throne, his whole body trembling violently. His seven hearts and five brains beat and functioned wildly and erratically due to extreme fear, almost bursting out of his body!
This scene was clearly witnessed by the Demon Slayer Corps members and chat group members through the "safe observation space's" God's-eye view.
[March 7th]: ...What's wrong with him? He was only asked one question! Why is he reacting so strongly? It's like he's...having a cramp?
【Sword Dao Asura】: Why does it feel like... the final boss of this world isn't that powerful?
[Alicia]: Heh, it seems our Observer has inadvertently touched the Demon King's... most vulnerable and fearful "switch." What a pitiful creature~
[Jewel Magician]: This guy... he's so weak! He's supposed to be the final boss! Just one sentence and he's already mentally broken?! I haven't even started fighting yet!
[Ice Queen]: Hmph, boring. A creature that doesn't even have the courage to face a strong opponent doesn't even deserve to be trampled under my feet.
[Little Thief Cat]: Isn't he a little too weak?!
"Observer... what did he do?" Mist Hashira Tokito Muichiro asked blankly, completely unable to understand the situation before him.
“No…” Shinobu’s eyes were more solemn than ever before. She said, word by word, “He did nothing. It is precisely because he did nothing that he is the most terrifying.”
"He was just standing there, and his very existence was enough to make Muzan Kibutsuji... completely collapse."
At that moment, something unexpected happened.
The god-like pressure emanating from Gu Chuan, enough to drive Muzan to the brink of mental collapse, suddenly... disappeared.
He concealed all his aura, sealed off all his powers, and even concealed the detachment in his eyes. At this moment, in the perception of all the ghosts, he was just an ordinary mortal, powerless and without even a trace of "battle aura" or "breathing techniques."
This sudden "ordinariness" only made the atmosphere in the Infinite City more eerie and suffocating.
The Upper Moons, who had just been summoned and were still in shock and uncertainty because of Muzan's outburst, were all stunned.
"Who...is this guy?" Douma tilted his head, his face still bearing that frivolous smile, but deep in his eyes was a cold wariness.
"...I can't sense him." For the first time, all six eyes of Upper Moon One, Kokushibo, simultaneously revealed an emotion called "confusion." In his perception, this boy was more fragile than a butterfly, yet he could appear here silently, which was the greatest inconsistency.
Muzan was also pulled back from the brink of collapse by this sudden change. He raised his head and stared intently at Gu Chuan. His seven hearts were still pounding wildly, but amidst the fear, a trace of... insane greed arose.
Not a swordsman? No Nichirin Blade? No aura of the sun?
Isn't that... the perfect, harmless... "food"?!
Perhaps... perhaps everything that just happened was just some kind of illusionary blood demon magic? Was I just scaring myself?
right! That must be it!
"Kill him..." Muzan's voice trembled with excitement, "Kill him! Bring him to me! I'll eat him! I'll devour everything he has!"
However, not a single upper string dared to move.
Because Gu Chuan smiled.
He looked at Muzan's ugly face, a mask of fear, greed, and madness, and slowly, softly, laughed.
Then, he raised his eyes, his eyes, now calm and indifferent, seemingly containing the birth and death of stars, meeting Muzan's gaze.
boom--! ! !
At this moment, Muzan's brain completely exploded!
He saw it in those eyes!
He witnessed the birth and destruction of the universe, the beginning and end of time, the cycle of birth and death of countless worlds, the fall of gods and the collapse of truth! He saw how insignificant, pathetic, and feeble his own life, which had lingered for thousands of years in the pursuit of "eternal life," was compared to such a vast and endless "existence"!
death!
For thousands of years, it has been the thing he feared most, hated most, and wanted to get rid of most!
At that moment, it materialized in an irrefutable and absolute manner, seizing his soul fiercely!
He will die!
He will definitely die!
Before this boy, he didn't even have the right to turn into dust!
"No...no...no!! I don't want to die! I don't want to die!!!"
The instinct for survival overwhelmed everything at that moment! Muzan Kibutsuji let out the most shrill and desperate roar of his life, and his "perfect" body exploded violently without warning in an instant!
"boom--!!!"
Flesh and blood flying everywhere!
He actually self-destructed, splitting his body into more than 1,700 writhing pieces of flesh of varying sizes! Each piece of flesh had a terrified, screaming mouth, and they fled madly in all directions of the Infinite City like a frightened herd of beasts!
"........."
"........."
"........."
An unprecedented, deathly silence fell over the safe observation space.
The nine Pillars of the Demon Slayer Corps, along with Kagaya Ubuyashiki, all stood motionless like wooden sculptures struck by lightning, their faces bearing the same expression—pure, indescribable... blankness.
[March 7th]: ...Huh?
【Alice】: ...Pfft.
【Sword Dao Asura】: ? ? ? ?
[Little Cat Thief]: What kind of move is that?!
[The Gem Magician]: Pfft, haha ...
After a brief silence, the chat group erupted in a deafening, unrestrained burst of laughter!
[Gem Magician]: He...he ran away?! He just...exploded?! He self-destructed and ran away the moment we met?! Is this...is this really the final boss?! I can't take it...I'm going to laugh myself to death...hahahaha!
[Ice Queen]: ...Seriously, this has refreshed my understanding of the word "ugly".
[Butterfly Dance]: (covers face) ...I really wanted to stay serious, but...sorry, I just couldn't help it...
"This...this..." Shinazugawa Sanemi pointed at the countless pieces of flesh scattered and fleeing below, his fingers trembling as if he were having a seizure. "This...this is...the end?"
End?
No.
"—Kill that man!!!"
Muzan's final command, filled with fear and resentment, resounded simultaneously in the minds of all the Upper Moons.
The Upper Moon demons awoke as if from a dream! Although they were also quite shocked by their boss's "outrageous actions," the blood curse from the progenitor was something they could not resist.
"Blood Demon Art..."
"Destruction Kill..."
At this moment, Kokushibo, Doma, and the other Upper Moons simultaneously unleashed their strongest powers! Dozens of attacks, filled with the aura of death and destruction, swept in from all directions, overwhelming the only "enemy" who still stood still in place!
However, Gu Chuan remained unmoved.
He simply closed his eyes slowly.
Then, he uttered two words softly.
"--dark."
That moment.