Hard.
Far too hard.
Shinichi felt as though his Nichirin blade had sunk deep into a block of diamond.
No matter how much strength he poured into it, he could barely move it another inch.
Blood continued pouring from his neck, draining the strength from his body. He could even feel his warmth leaving him little by little with every stream of hot blood.
Even so, he refused to let go of his sword.
"AAAHHH!!!"
Shinichi roared through a mouthful of blood, and the Nichirin blade buried in Shōkyū's face trembled violently.
At the same time, Gyomei Himejima's massive Nichirin axe, embedded in the left side of Shōkyū's neck, crushed through the constantly regenerating flesh and bone inch by inch with the weight of a mountain.
On the right, Giyu Tomioka and Sabito's water-blue blade lights intertwined as they forced their swords deeper into Shōkyū's neck.
"ROOOAAARRR!!!"
As Shinichi recklessly poured more and more life force into him, Shōkyū let out one final howl.
It sounded like a wild beast driven into a corner.
His enormous body shook violently, and all the thorn whips that had been thrashing wildly through the air suddenly froze.
The flesh around his neck began to break apart.
His bones started to crack.
And in those crimson eyes, Shinichi's bloodstained face was reflected clearly.
Just then, a purple figure stumbled to Shinichi's side.
Tear tracks still marked Shinobu Kocho's face.
Her left arm hung limply at her side, clearly injured when Shōkyū had grabbed her earlier, but she did not stop.
With her remaining hand, she tightly grasped Shinichi's hand around the hilt.
Her hand was small. Blood covered her fingertips, and they were still trembling faintly.
Yet the moment her hand closed over his, Shinichi felt an overwhelming warmth.
"Shinichi, together."
Shinobu's voice was soft, but utterly resolute.
Shinichi turned his head, and their eyes met.
In her violet eyes, he saw both tenderness and unshakable determination.
His mouth was full of blood, leaving him unable to speak, so he simply gave her a firm nod.
Three hands.
One sword.
The currents of Life Breathing and Insect Breathing converged and overlapped. At last, the trembling Nichirin blade began to move.
Little by little.
The movement was almost imperceptible, but the blade was slowly cutting downward.
"CUT THROUGH!!"
"END THIS!!"
Shinichi's muffled roar and Shinobu's sharp cry rang out together.
Gyomei, Giyu, and Sabito's shouts followed immediately after.
Five sources of strength merged into one unstoppable torrent and tore completely through Shōkyū's neck.
Crack!
The sound of bone breaking rang out clearly.
Pshk!
A torrent of foul-smelling blood erupted.
The massive, hideous head was finally severed from the body in a burst of blood.
It spun through the air in a wide arc before crashing heavily to the ground with a dull thud.
Shōkyū's gigantic headless body froze where it stood.
The thorn whips began breaking apart inch by inch, turning into dark-red dust that drifted through the air.
Cracks spread across the swollen masses of flesh, and the enormous body gradually shrank like a fruit drying and withering away.
Shōkyū's head lay silently on the ground.
His crimson eyes were still open, but the light in his pupils was fading quickly.
He looked at Shinichi.
At Shinobu.
At the Demon Slayers who were covered in blood but still standing.
"Heh…"
His lips moved, releasing one faint sound.
Then his eyes slowly closed.
The battlefield fell silent for a moment.
And then—the demons still fighting the Demon Slayer Corps all shuddered at once.
One.
Two.
Ten.
A hundred.
Every demon froze at the same time, as if someone had stopped them in place. Then their bodies began to collapse, turning into ash inch by inch.
Their hideous faces did not even have time to show fear before they disappeared completely.
The entire process was eerily quiet.
There were no screams.
No struggling.
When the final demon crumbled into ash, all that remained across the battlefield were bloodstains, broken ruins, and exhausted Demon Slayers drenched from head to toe in blood.
Then the cheers erupted like a tidal wave.
"We won!!!"
"We actually won!!!"
"All the demons are gone!!!"
"Long live the Demon Slayer Corps!!!"
The Demon Slayers raised their Nichirin blades and celebrated. Some wept. Some embraced one another.
Some threw back their heads and shouted, while others quietly pressed their palms together and prayed for their fallen comrades.
Every young face was covered in blood and tears, but they all wore the same smile of victory.
Sabito dropped heavily onto the ground, planting his Nichirin blade beside him as he gasped for breath.
Blood was still running down his arm, but he could no longer feel the pain.
Giyu stood beside him, breathing just as heavily. He used his water-blue Nichirin blade to support himself, but his eyes were fixed on the blood-soaked figure in the distance.
The corner of his mouth shifted slightly.
It was the closest thing to a smile Giyu rarely ever showed.
Gyomei's knees finally gave out.
His towering body slowly sank to the ground, but his blind eyes remained turned toward the battlefield as he quietly recited a Buddhist prayer.
His Nichirin spiked flail and great axe lay beside him, both coated in dried blood.
Kyojuro Rengoku leaned against a broken wall. The wound in his chest still throbbed, but his laughter remained loud and clear.
"Umu! We won! Just as I knew we would! Excellent work!"
Sanemi Shinazugawa rested on one knee, staring at the ash scattered across the ground with his remaining eye.
Then he turned to Kanae beside him and muttered something under his breath.
Kanae did not hear what he said, but she saw the corner of his mouth lift faintly.
Obanai Iguro and Mitsuri Kanroji supported each other.
Blood was still seeping from Obanai's left shoulder, and the wound across Mitsuri's face continued to ache, but neither of them spoke.
They simply leaned quietly against one another and watched the demon ash drift away in the distance.
Muichiro found Yuichiro among the ruins and helped his brother sit up.
Yuichiro coughed several times, spitting out two mouthfuls of bloody foam before grinning.
"I heard everyone cheering. Did we win?"
Tengen Uzui lay flat on his back, staring up at the ceiling.
"A flamboyant victory…" he murmured.
At the center of the battlefield, in the deepest pool of blood, Shinichi lay half-reclined in Shinobu's arms.
His face was deathly pale, and blood continued to seep from the wound in his neck.
Life force was barely repairing the torn blood vessels and muscles, but the process was far too slow.
Shinobu knelt on the ground and held him as tightly as she could.
Her hands trembled. Tears kept falling onto his bloodstained face, and her voice broke as she spoke.
"Shinichi… look at me. You're not allowed to fall asleep. Do you hear me?"
Shinichi opened his eyes.
Her tear-streaked face was reflected in his black pupils.
The corner of his mouth lifted into the weakest of smiles, and in a voice barely loud enough to hear, he slowly said, "Don't cry… I'm just… resting. I'm fine…"
Shinobu's tears only fell harder. She tightened her arms around him.
"You can rest, and I'll rest with you, but you have to keep your eyes open! You have to keep looking at me!"
Shinichi looked into those violet eyes, which were filled with so much fear and worry that it seemed she believed he might disappear forever at any moment.
His lips moved.
In the end, he answered softly.
"Okay."
Shinobu pressed her lips together and nodded firmly. She said nothing more, simply holding Shinichi close.
The cheering around them continued.
Shōkyū was dead.
Everything seemed to be over.
In the end, Shinichi could not resist closing his eyes for a moment.
He felt the warmth around the wound in his neck and listened to Shinobu's breathing beside his ear.
The tension that had been wound tight inside him for so long finally began to loosen.
He suddenly remembered the courtyard from the illusion.
The wisteria trellis.
Those two adorable children.
And the woman who had rested her head on his shoulder beneath the setting sun.
'Once I recover, maybe I really can live a life like that.'
But after a while, Shinichi's brows drew together slightly.
He opened his eyes.
The demons had indeed all disappeared.
Their ashes were slowly fading away, while the Demon Slayers continued celebrating, embracing, crying, and helping one another tend to their wounds.
Everything looked normal.
And yet Shinichi could not shake the feeling that something was wrong.
His gaze passed through the celebrating crowd and settled on the Infinity Castle structures still standing in the darkness.
The twisted pavilions, intersecting corridors, and shattered houses had been mostly destroyed by the battle, but they were still there.
This entire space had been created through the Blood Demon Art of Upper Rank demon Nakime.
All the demons had disappeared.
So why was the Infinity Castle still standing?