The air in the room grew unnaturally cold and still. The calm expressions on the faces of Kagaya Ubuyashiki and his wife, Amane, vanished in an instant. Their situation was already as dire as it could possibly be, yet they had clung to a sliver of hope. Even the High Priest of Amane's clan, for all his scheming, wanted Kibutsuji Muzan dead. The Ubuyashiki family had been used by the Priest Clan, but in a way, that meant they still had value. They hoped the same logic might apply to the demon king standing before them.
If Muzan truly wanted to kill them, he wouldn't be wasting time with words. But what was his real goal? That was the question that burned in the minds of Kagaya and Amane.
"As expected of the leader of the Ubuyashiki family," Muzan, in his guise as Tsukihiko, said with a widening smile. He seemed to read the thoughts right from Kagaya's mind. "You caught on quickly. It's true, I don't want to kill you just yet. But tell me, what would it take to finally break that famous composure of yours? What if I made you watch as I strip your wife of all her dignity, right here in front of you?"
As he spoke, he tightened his grip on Amane, pulling her flush against his body. She went completely rigid, her heart pounding with a cold, paralyzing fear.
"No!" Kagaya roared, his voice cracking. For the first time, his calm demeanor shattered, replaced by a mask of pure rage. Whatever issues existed between the Priest Clan and his own, Amane was innocent. She had worked tirelessly for years to hold the Ubuyashiki family and the Demon Slayer Corps together. Without her, everything would have fallen apart long ago. Seeing her in the clutches of this monster, about to suffer a fate worse than death, pushed Kagaya past his breaking point.
"I'll hunt you down," he snarled, his voice trembling with a fury he rarely showed. "I swear... I won't let you get away with this, even if I have to become a demon to do it!"
Such a threat was strange coming from the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps. After all, the man before him was the King of Demons himself. But the terrible irony was that one couldn't simply choose to become a demon. First, you needed the approval of Kibutsuji Muzan.
"Die!"
Just as Kagaya's mind was about to shatter from helplessness, Amane's expression hardened. In a fluid motion, a small dagger appeared in her hand. While she was a priestess, chosen for her temperament to marry into the Ubuyashiki line, her own abilities were modest. But she was still a member of the Priest Clan and had spent years surrounded by the strongest warriors of the Demon Slayer Corps. In a life-or-death moment like this, she could summon a strength that no ordinary person possessed.
Swish!
The blade plunged forward, sinking deep into the man holding her without meeting any resistance. Dark red blood immediately began to seep from the wound, staining the fabric of his clothes.
However, before Amane could even draw a breath of relief, a cold, mocking voice echoed from across the room, right where her husband had been standing. "Heh, I'm surprised. For a frail woman from the Priest Clan, you actually have some fight in you."
What!?
Amane's head snapped up. Her eyes widened in horror. The man she had just stabbed was not Muzan. It was her husband, the leader of the Ubuyashiki clan, the head of the Demon Slayer Corps, and the last direct descendant of his line. It was Kagaya.
Countless streams of blood poured from the deep wound in his abdomen where her dagger was now buried. The sight was horrifying.
"No... no, why? Why is this happening!?"
With a soft thud, Kagaya's body crumpled to the floor. Amane's mind reeled in absolute confusion. She was sure she had stabbed Muzan. How could it be Kagaya? Was this all some terrible illusion? Or had she, in her desperation, truly just murdered her own husband?
Her strength left her, and she fell heavily to her knees on the wooden floor. The world around her spun, and her mind teetered on the edge of collapse. "Husband… my husband…" she whispered, looking at Kagaya's unconscious form. The pain in her heart was unbearable.
Suddenly, her grief turned into a burning rage. "Damn you," she screamed, her voice raw with anguish. "This is all your fault!"
With newfound energy, Amane scrambled to her feet. She ripped the dagger from Kagaya's body and lunged toward the figure of Muzan, who stood watching with a cruel smirk.
"I'm going to kill you!" she shrieked.
She thrust the bloody dagger forward with all her might. But in the next instant, the smirking face of Muzan melted away, transforming back into the gentle features of Kagaya. At the same time, the body of Kagaya lying on the floor began to stir. It slowly rose to its feet, and as it did, its appearance shifted, reforming into the cold, perfect face of Kibutsuji Muzan.
"Ah! Ah! AHHH!" Amane screamed, falling into a complete and uncontrollable frenzy. Her mind was broken, unable to tell reality from illusion.
The Kagaya in front of her, the one she had just stabbed for a second time, offered her a faint, gentle smile despite the fatal wound. "Don't... don't be sad... for me..."
This was it. The final moment had arrived. No matter how much he cherished this world and the people in it, his life was now over.
"No..." Tears streamed down Amane's face, and her entire body shook violently. She had imagined her own death countless times, but never, ever like this. She never thought that she would be the one to end the life of the person she loved most in the world.
But… it's okay, she thought, a strange sense of calm washing over her despair. I'll be with you soon. I'm coming to find you.
Without another moment of hesitation, Amane turned the dagger on herself, plunging it deep into her own heart. A piercing, bone-deep pain shot through her, and then, everything began to fade. Her body went limp, falling heavily to the ground beside her husband.
"Truly a moving display of emotion," Muzan said, his expression perfectly calm as he looked down at the two dying figures. Their bodies were failing, but he could feel the endless hatred still burning in their hearts. "It's a pity, really. This was all just a tragic play, and I was the director."
He looked at them for a moment longer, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Then, let's change the ending."
As his words fell, he extended his hand. Two drops of his own dark blood slid from his fingertip, landing perfectly on the foreheads of Kagaya and Amane.
Buzz!
Instantly, a surging, terrifying power erupted from their bodies, so immense it seemed to shake the very air around them.
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