Pshk!
Muzan's expression froze as Nakime's severed head crumbled into ash beneath the sunlight.
He slowly turned his head.
In the shadows not far away, Nakime's headless body remained standing where it was.
Dark-red blood gushed from the stump of her neck, while the biwa was still cradled in her arms.
Behind her stood Giyu Tomioka, gripping his water-blue Nichirin blade.
Blood remained along the edge, dripping slowly from its tip.
"She's dead," Giyu said, his voice cool and calm, as though he were merely stating a fact. "You can't escape now."
The corner of Muzan's mouth twitched.
His gaze moved away from Nakime and swept across the surroundings.
The structures of the Infinity Castle that had burst through the surface immediately lost the power supporting them after Nakime's death.
They began to crack, collapse, and fall apart.
But Muzan had no attention to spare for them.
Everywhere he looked, figures were slowly closing in from all directions.
Sanemi Shinazugawa glared at Muzan with his remaining eye. Emerald-green light flared along his battered Nichirin blade.
Kanae Kocho stood firmly beside him, one hand pressed against the wound at her waist.
Her face was pale, but her expression remained resolute.
Kyojuro Rengoku strode forward, orange-red flames leaping around his body.
Gyomei Himejima dragged his exhausted body onward, once again gripping his Nichirin spiked flail and great axe.
He stood directly in Muzan's path like an immovable mountain.
Obanai Iguro and Mitsuri Kanroji stood side by side.
The cold current of Serpent Breathing seemed to intertwine with the graceful energy of Love Breathing.
At his brother's insistence, Muichiro Tokito also raised his Nichirin blade and pointed it toward Muzan.
Sabito stood beside Giyu, their water-blue sword light gleaming beneath the sun.
Beyond the Hashira who could still fight, even more Demon Slayers approached with blades in hand.
Muzan's gaze passed over one face after another.
Every face was covered in wounds and exhaustion, yet every pair of eyes still burned with a flame that refused to go out.
Muzan suddenly smiled and raised one hand, his sharp claws scraping against one another.
"Are you truly so eager to throw your lives away?"
His voice was low, carrying killing intent that had been suppressed to its absolute limit.
"Do you honestly believe you can kill me now that I stand beneath the sun?"
No one answered him.
Their answer came in the form of every Hashira swinging their Nichirin blades at once.
Blades of every color intertwined beneath the sunlight.
Though their glow was less conspicuous in daylight, their power had not weakened in the slightest.
"Die, you bastard!"
Sanemi's roar came first.
The emerald-green blade light of Wind Breathing transformed into a raging tornado of cutting wind and tore toward Muzan.
It was immediately followed by Kyojuro's Flame Tiger, Kanae's Peonies of Futility, Gyomei's Arcs of Justice, Obanai's Slithering Serpent, Mitsuri's Catlove Shower, Muichiro's Lunar Dispersing Mist, and the Drop Ripple Thrusts of Sabito and Giyu.
Every Hashira attacked at the same moment.
Countless streams of power converged and poured toward Muzan.
The thorn whips behind Muzan spread open like a peacock's tail.
Dark-red whips thrashed wildly through the air, crashing against the multicolored blade lights.
Explosions rang out one after another like thunder.
The resulting shockwaves swept away all the rubble and broken tiles in the area, forcing many of the nearby Demon Slayers to stumble backward.
But no one stopped.
"Not enough! It's still not enough!"
Sanemi roared and swung his sword again.
"Push harder!"
"Give it everything you have!!" Kyojuro's voice thundered across the ruins. "For the Demon Slayer Corps!"
Gyomei suddenly exerted his strength and forcibly snapped the thorn whip wrapped around his spiked flail.
The massive Nichirin weapon immediately smashed toward Muzan's face again.
Giyu and Sabito charged in simultaneously from both sides. Their water-blue blade lights surged like two tides, slashing toward Muzan's neck from the left and right.
Obanai's Serpent Breathing struck from an unpredictable angle like a venomous snake, stabbing toward Muzan's back.
Muzan's expression darkened.
A terrifying eruption of thorn whips burst from his body, forcibly blocking the Hashira's attacks. He immediately increased both their number and strength.
The dark-red whips writhed beneath the sunlight like countless venomous snakes, driving back the approaching swordsmen again and again.
The battle quickly descended into a brutal struggle of attrition.
On one side stood the Demon Slayer Corps, whose stamina had already reached its limit.
On the other was Muzan, freshly restored and overflowing with power.
Meanwhile, at the edge of the battlefield, Shinobu Kocho held the unconscious Shinichi in her arms and watched the distant battle anxiously.
Her injuries were severe. She could barely grip her sword with one arm, and almost none of her stamina remained. Even so, she still wanted to rush forward and help her comrades.
But Shinichi had suddenly lost consciousness only moments ago.
"Lady Insect Hashira!"
Two Kakushi came running through the ruins, gasping for breath.
Both were injured, but neither slowed down. They stopped before Shinobu and immediately saw Shinichi in her arms.
"Lady Insect Hashira, please leave Lord Forest Hashira to us!"
One of the Kakushi spoke solemnly as he held out both hands.
"The Master is with Lady Tamayo. She must have a way to treat Lord Forest Hashira's injuries!"
Shinobu pressed her lips tightly together.
She looked into the two Kakushi's sincere and determined eyes, then lowered her gaze to the pale, peaceful face in her arms.
Her fingers tightened slightly.
At last, she nodded and carefully entrusted Shinichi to them.
"Please take Shinichi to Lady Tamayo." Shinobu's voice was soft, but her firmness allowed no argument.
"Make certain she takes good care of him."
The Kakushi nodded solemnly.
The two of them supported Shinichi between them and hurried toward the far side of the ruins.
Shinobu watched until their figures disappeared among the wreckage. Only then did she turn back toward the fiercely raging battlefield.
Her gaze passed through the tangled figures and settled on the one creating a storm of blood beneath the sun.
"Muzan!"
Shinobu tightened her grip on her slender Nichirin blade. Ignoring the injury to her left arm, she rushed toward the battle.
...
At the same time, news of the battle between the Demon Slayer Corps and Muzan in the outskirts of Yokohama spread outward like ripples from a massive stone thrown into a still lake.
The battle was far too destructive, and the number of casualties was staggering.
The civilians who escaped from the ruins fled in terror, quickly spreading what they had witnessed throughout Yokohama.
Some spoke of twisted buildings suddenly erupting from beneath the ground.
Others described a monster standing beneath the sunlight and wielding enormous thorn whips.
Still others had seen young people armed with swords charging at that monster.
The reports spread through telephone calls and telegrams with astonishing speed, passing through Yokohama, across Kanagawa, and eventually reaching Kyoto.
The information moved steadily upward through numerous channels.
Before long, a telegram arrived at the headquarters of the Moriki Group in Kyoto.
Chinatsu stood before her desk, tightly gripping the newly delivered telegram.
Her expression was grave, and her fingers had turned pale from the pressure.
"Yokohama… a monster… young swordsmen in black uniforms."
She quietly read the words written on the telegram.
It did not take her long to realize that they were members of the Demon Slayer Corps.
Chinatsu immediately rushed out of her office. The moment she found her assistant, she gave her orders in a loud voice.
"Gather every available security officer in the company immediately! Arm all of them! Mobilize every vehicle we can access—I want to reach Yokohama as quickly as possible! Contact the police and the military as well. We need reinforcements!"
"Yes!"
The assistant's expression sharpened. Without the slightest hesitation, he turned and hurried away to carry out her commands.
Chinatsu looked out through the window at the sun that had only recently risen.
"Shinichi, please hold on until I get there," she whispered.