Once again, someone appeared using the Sun Breathing—and it was his lifelong nemesis, Ubuyashiki Yōsuke. Kibutsuji Muzan was utterly terrified.
"Impossible! How can you also use the Sun Breathing?! And why are you not being burnt by its flames?!"
The last time a demon used the Sun Breathing was Kokushibō, and his end had been miserable. While wielding the technique, he was also consumed by the flames it produced.
Yet now, as Yōsuke used the Su Breathing n, there was not even the slightest sign of scorching. Instead, he felt a warm, comforting heat spreading through his body, and an unending surge of power welling up from within.
The Priest Master saw through the truth, glaring resentfully at Yōsuke.
"I see… Because of the incomplete power of the Laws, all the wandering souls in the mortal realm have attached themselves to you."
"Sun Breathing — Fifth Form: Solar Splendor Thrust!"
Yōsuke didn't waste any words. Gripping his blade with both hands, he lunged straight at Kibutsuji Muzan.
"Kotodama — Reject!"
Muzan immediately invoked his word-spirit ability, wanting to blow Yōsuke away—but the ability that had never failed him… suddenly did nothing.
Yōsuke's blade pierced through Muzan's shoulder and flicked upward, severing the entire right arm at the root.
Horrified, Muzan unleashed a wide-range shockwave, hurling Yōsuke backward.
Flames from the wound seared Muzan's nerves relentlessly, his eyes bloodshot with rage and fear.
"Explain this!" Muzan roared at the Priest Master. "Why is your ability failing?!"
The Priest Master's expression was grave.
"My ability hasn't failed… it simply no longer works on Ubuyashiki Yōsuke. The power of the Laws inside him may now be stronger than my own."
"Damn it! I'm not dying here!" Feeling the overwhelming pressure of Yōsuke's current state, Muzan was already thinking of retreat.
"If it only fails against Ubuyashiki Yōsuke… then—Kotodama: Shift!"
Muzan attempted to teleport away.
"Blood Breath — Fifth Form: Blood Flash Step!"
Yōsuke appeared at the exact point Muzan vanished from, blade slicing through the air.
Space shattered like glass. Muzan—who should have disappeared—was forced back onto the battlefield, thrown out by the ruptured space itself.
This shocked even the Priest Master. It proved that even self-applied kotodama abilities had become ineffective against Yōsuke.
"Blood Demon Art — Blood Domain!"
With Yōsuke's invocation, the entire Infinity Castle was engulfed by the Blood Domain.
Unlike before, the domain was no longer eerie or grotesque—it resembled a blazing land of endless flame.
"Kibutsuji Muzan, you and I are very familiar with each other's abilities. Don't even think about escaping through self-division. The moment any fragment of your flesh touches these flames, it will be burned to nothing."
Feeling the scorching heat beneath him, Muzan was now truly terrified.
"If I die, you won't survive either!" he shouted toward the Priest Master. "Your soul is still inside me!"
The Priest Master's expression darkened. He had never anticipated the situation devolving to this point, nor that his ability to foresee the future would completely fail—because Yōsuke's fate had become entirely shrouded.
The Priest Master extended his hand; with a grasp at the void, a folding fan appeared.
"I didn't expect so many variables this time, Ubuyashiki Yōsuke. Aside from being the Priest Master, I have another identity—one far more well-known…"
"…the Great Onmyōji, Abe no Dōman."
Yōsuke had heard the name. In the writings of old, Dōman of the Harima-ryū was said to be the only rival who could match Abe no Seimei.
Legend said that Dōman was defeated by Seimei in a curse ritual and was then exiled to Harima, disappearing from history thereafter.
But Yōsuke, born in the mid-Heian period himself, had only ever read about their stories—he had never seen either Seimei or Dōman in person.
"Abe no Dōman? The Great Onmyōji said to rival the Imperial Court's first onmyōji, Abe no Seimei? How can that be? Isn't that just a legend?"
The Priest Master sneered.
"A legend? Hmph. Legends are nothing more than stories based on truth. In my case, every story was real.
I once said: in every era, an event must occur to correct the distortion of fate. At that time, Abe no Seimei was the variable—and thus, Dōman was born in response. People think that battle was my defeat… but the real winner was me."
The Priest Master flicked open his fan and swept it through the air. A talisman descended from the sky.
"After a thousand years, you descend once more… my strongest shikigami, the embodiment of calamity—Yamata no Orochi!"
As the talisman burned away, an enormous black rift opened. From within, several pairs of cold, predatory eyes appeared. With a thunderous hiss, the eight-headed Yamata no Orochi emerged.
Its colossal body shattered the Infinity Castle, while the Priest Master and Muzan stood atop two of its massive heads, looking down at Yōsuke from above.
"Yamata no Orochi… Impossible… Isn't that a mythical creature?"
"Can we really win against something like this?"
"Is this the end…?"
The overwhelming aura of the Orochi filled everyone with despair. Even Ubuyashiki Kagaya—who had remained calm while commanding the Demon Slayer Corps from afar—felt a wave of helplessness when he saw the creature through the talisman.
"It isn't over yet!" Yōsuke shouted. "Now is NOT the time to give up! Think of why we have fought for a thousand years without ever stopping!"
He looked over everyone behind him.
"We uphold our will—nothing can block our path!"
"Even if it's a god—we will kill it!"
Yōsuke's words rekindled the fire in everyone's hearts.
"We're not afraid of a god! It's just a big snake monster! What's there to fear?!"
"That's right! This time, we will not take a single step back!"
"All hope has been placed in us. We cannot lose!"
Everyone gathered beside Yōsuke, their fear replaced by resolve.
The glowing motes of souls within Yōsuke rose into the air and flowed into the bodies of his allies.
Like Yōsuke, flames ignited around every one of them—not merely flames of the Breath of the Sun, but the manifestation of their courage.