"It's over."
Shinichi raised his Nichirin Sword.
A verdant green light gathered on the blade's edge, aimed at the figure before him who had completely given up resisting, a mere walking corpse.
It was Akaza—no, it was Hakuji, who had recovered his memories and was now submerged in endless regret and agony.
This single strike would sever his sins in this world and grant this soul, lost for hundreds of years, its final release.
However.
"Who said it would end so easily?"
A cold voice, laced with dissatisfaction and ridicule, pierced through the layers of the Infinity Castle like a frigid wind and exploded in Akaza's ears!
Immediately following, an indescribably chilling aura descended—deathly still and ominous, filled with coldness and malice.
...
Within the darkest depths of the Infinity Castle.
Shokyu stood before a blood-colored wall, his scarlet eyes coldly watching everything unfold on the battlefield through Nakime's Blood Demon Art.
On the bloody altar behind him, the majority of the Demon Blood essence from Tamayo and Muzan's bodies had been extracted and fused into the two pulsating, fleshy vessels below.
The dark red liquid within the vessels emanated a heart-palpitating fluctuation.
After a long moment, Shokyu turned his head to look at Kibutsuji Muzan's withered and feeble form.
At this moment, Muzan had none of the Demon King's presence he had before.
His body was shriveled, and his eyes twitched slightly.
He seemed to have sensed something as well, raising his head to look in Shokyu's direction, his gaze filled with fury and venomous hatred.
"Akaza... useless... another one... useless... I told you long ago... emotions are a superfluous thing!"
Hearing this, a cruel and contemptuous arc formed on Shokyu's lips as his scarlet tongue licked them.
"Hehe, my dear brother... it seems your taste in subordinates is truly lacking. We brothers are quite alike, aren't we? Even when those fellows gain the power of an Upper Rank, they can still be shackled by boring emotions. Your most useful attack dog has become like this just because he remembered a woman who died hundreds of years ago? How amusing."
With that, Shokyu turned his head, his scarlet eyes that seemed capable of devouring all light glancing one last time at Muzan.
"However, failure is failure, but it can't end so easily. I don't want that boy, Shinichi Moriki, to finish off an Upper Rank so simply. Especially not Akaza after he broke through the beheading limit. No matter what, he's quite the excellent material!"
As his voice fell, Shokyu raised his hand.
The sharp claws on his fingertips glinted with a cold light as he spread his five fingers, aiming at Nakime, who was sitting quietly in front of him.
From his fingertips, grayish-red threads suddenly shot out and swiftly pierced into Nakime's head!
"Blood Demon Art: Netherworld Puppet Strings."
....
On the battlefield.
Shinichi's blade was about to fall.
Akaza stood his ground, showing no intention of resisting.
His face was a mixture of serene release and profound sorrow as he awaited the final end.
Obanai also let out a slight sigh of relief, his grip on his Crimson Blade relaxing for a moment, though he did not let his guard down completely.
In that instant, a sudden change occurred!
Twang!!
A clear sound of a biwa rang out.
The void suddenly rippled, and immediately after, several grayish-red threads materialized out of thin air, directly piercing into Akaza's body!
The next second, BOOM!!!
Akaza's blue fighting aura, which had already completely dimmed and dissipated, erupted once more without any warning!
But this time, the fighting aura was no longer pure blue.
It was mixed with a violent, grayish-black energy, filling Akaza's aura with brutality and chaos.
"Argh-ahhhhhh!!!"
Akaza's eyes snapped open, but his golden pupils now held none of the fighting spirit belonging to Hakuji or Akaza—only a hollow, grayish-black void.
His body began to twitch and contort unnaturally, like a puppet controlled by invisible strings.
"Watch out!" Obanai's expression changed drastically.
Having been on alert behind Shinichi, he immediately realized something was wrong.
His body shot forward like an arrow, his scorching Crimson Blade thrusting straight at Akaza in an attempt to stop his transformation.
However, the controlled Akaza leaped up with a speed far exceeding his previous self, his fist, now covered in a grayish-blue fighting aura, smashing viciously against Obanai's Crimson Blade.
CLANG!!
Obanai was sent flying backward, man and sword alike, crashing heavily into the distant ruins.
"Obanai!" Shinichi's pupils contracted.
He instantly flashed in front of Obanai, and only after confirming he was alright did he turn back to face Akaza.
At this moment, Akaza tilted his head with a stiff motion, his neck making creaking sounds.
The corners of his mouth stretched into a malicious grin as grayish-black mist slowly seeped from his eyes.
"Shinichi... naive. Not so easy... to end." Akaza spoke in a tone completely different from before.
He then slid his back foot, half-squatting into a ready stance.
As he did, a light bloomed beneath his feet, and a blue snowflake compass array, tainted with gray mist, materialized.
"Technique Deployment!"
"This disgusting stench... Shokyu, is that you?" Shinichi stared at Akaza's abnormal state and immediately realized what was happening.
In response, Akaza's (controlled by Shokyu) mouth curved into a stiff upward smile.
"Correct, but there's no prize. Hehe. Destructive Kill: Annihilation Type—Chaotic Blue Silver Afterglow!"
Countless blue light beams, mixed with grayish-black mist, lit up from the snowflake pattern on the ground.
Carrying a formidable killing intent, they surged toward Shinichi in a more violent and denser formation, like an out-of-control meteor shower, blanketing him indiscriminately!
The power was even greater than Akaza's previous techniques, and it carried an indescribable sinister coldness.
Shinichi dared not be careless.
He pushed his Breath of the Forest to its absolute limit, his Nichirin Sword becoming a blur of verdant green light, forming layer upon layer of a defensive screen of blades in front of him.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!
The dense explosions completely submerged Shinichi.
Even with his defense, the scattered grayish-black mist and blue light beams still riddled the surrounding ground with craters. Shinichi's haori was torn in multiple places, and marks of both burns and frostbite appeared on his skin.
"You bastard! It was you with Ancestor Shunichi before too! These souls who should have gone to the Netherworld to rest in peace are all being toyed with by you, you damn fiend! Shokyu, your soul deserves to be cast into the eighteenth level of hell!"
"Hehehe, don't make it sound so unpleasant. Rest in peace? You expect to rest in peace after becoming a demon? If Shunichi told you everything, then you should know that even you are just a soul I dragged out of the Netherworld! What right do you have to condemn me?"
The verdant green and grayish-blue fighting auras intertwined madly, destroying every inch of land and every structure beneath their feet.
The overflowing blade glints and fist shadows carried an immense aura of destruction.
Shinichi's black eyes glared fiercely into the grayish-black gaze in Akaza's eyes.
Both saw the unwavering resolve in the other's stare.
Shokyu was determined to achieve his goal of controlling the Netherworld, while Shinichi had likewise sworn an oath to slay Shokyu and put an end to this damned everything