Streams of information flooded in like a breached river, surging straight into Roy's mind…
Just then, the red sun fully cleared the horizon. Ten thousand rays of dawn fell over the boy, draping him in a robe of glowing clouds. Roy slowly closed his eyes. Like a reef rooted in the morning light, he quietly received Muzan's "talents," digesting them together with Kokushibō's and Nakime's as well…
Without realizing it, he slipped into another state of enlightenment.
His body shuddered. His soul slipped free—then rode the wind upward. Halfway up, he flipped and stepped onto a white egret, soaring into the high sky, piercing the clouds. When he opened his eyes again, he looked down on the land from an entirely new angle—and he saw…
That familiar mountain, that familiar little home—Father Tanjūrō, Mother Kie, little brother Tanjirō, little sister Nezuko, the two little troublemakers Takeo and Shigeru, and tiny Hanako in Grandma's arms… some leaning against the veranda pillars, some busy in the kitchen, some chopping wood and burning charcoal, some sewing and laughing.
He saw… Mount Sagiri, shrouded year-round in thick fog; a warm scene of an old man leading a dozen wooden "kids" to dig wild vegetables, all of them saying that when he returned, they'd make him a lavish wild-greens feast.
He saw… the secluded courtyard under the wisteria, where the Hashira—after receiving his reply at the Pillar Meeting—looked at one another, stunned. And Ubuyashiki Kagaya, thoughtful, while Gyōmei chimed a Buddhist prayer and sighed, "As expected of Rōichirō-sama," calming people, steadying hearts…
He saw Yushirō and Tamayo at the moment Muzan died—both freezing, then one clenching a fist, the other breaking down—embracing and sobbing, as if celebrating and also finally releasing the pressure that had crushed their hearts for centuries.
He saw peddlers and laborers… flowers and birds and fish and insects… streams babbling… deep green forests…
And in a daze…
His being turned eastward, sinking into that rising red sun—merging with it.
In that instant, no one could tell whether Roy was the sun, or the sun was Roy. And as a realization surged up, the last trace of blood-red in his eyes vanished. With the great sun leaping above the world, he said softly:
"The Demon King is dead. The world is cleansed."
Those words spread with the sunlight in an instant—
In the mountains, the red-haired boy chopping wood… the coughing man who always hugged a brazier under the veranda… the dozen wooden dolls digging wild greens with Urokodaki under the fog… the Hashira and Kagaya… Yushirō and Tamayo clinging to each other and crying… men and women, old and young living beneath the sun…
All of them looked up.
For a heartbeat, they went blank—craning their necks toward the red sun, where a hazy silhouette seemed to appear: flame-red hair swaying in the wind, and golden eyes pouring out immeasurable divine light…
Those who didn't understand were struck with terror. Their legs gave out, and they fell to their knees, pounding their foreheads into the ground as if possessed.
"A-a god…! Heaven—It's a god! A descent—God has descended into the world!!"
A shockwave erupted like a storm.
One person knelt, then two, then three—until, in a chain reaction, wherever humans lived, wherever sunlight reached, the world was suddenly carpeted with people kneeling and praying.
[Notice… Faith Power +1 +1 +1 +1…]
The panel alerts chimed nonstop, like rain hammering banana leaves.
Then, after ordinary people noticed, the Ubuyashiki estate erupted too. The Hashira and the whole family stepped out from under the eaves, staring up at Roy's soul in the sun.
Someone shouted, "It's… Rōichirō-sama!"
Rengoku—Roy's earliest believer—was overwhelmed. He laughed, loud and unrestrained, placed a hand to his chest, lifted his hem, and dropped to one knee.
"Praise the sun!"
Like a stone tossed into still water, ripples spread—Gyōmei stopped striking his bowl, flung his prayer beads down, and wept openly as he bowed.
"Praise the sun!"
Then Sanemi… Muichirō… Obanai… Giyū… Kagaya, Amane, the children… even the Kakushi—every last one of them—knelt and cried out:
"Praise the sun!"
On Mount Sagiri, Urokodaki froze so hard his trowel clattered to the ground.
"This… is Rōichirō?"
"It's him—our Rōichirō!" Makomo sprang up like a porcelain doll, staring at the sun and yelling, "Master—Rōichirō said he killed… the Demon King!"
"The Demon King…" The old man sucked in a breath. His dry eyes flooded instantly. Sabito clenched his wooden sword and said firmly, "I knew he could do it."
Behind them, Shinsuke and Fukuda and Watanabe were laughing and crying and hugging in a frenzy…
Down the familiar mountain, a red-haired boy's axe slipped from his hands. He stared up at the sun with amber eyes.
"Is that you, big brother…?"
He waved wildly, like Takeo and Shigeru sprinting out from the veranda, with Tanjūrō smiling behind them, Kie lifting the kitchen curtain, Nezuko supporting Grandma while Hanako clung to her… all of them smiling up at Roy.
"Yeah… it's Big Brother."
"It's Rōichirō."
"It's my child."
Emotion surged like a tidal wave.
Roy—haloed by the sun like a god descending—understood.
This perspective, this transcendent, uncanny experience… was the world's will—and also the viewpoint of a god looking down on the world.
Tick. Tick.
The curse on his hand kept counting down his life.
That unknown existence, lofty and distant—just as the world now looked up at him, needing to bow—had never lacked the intent to make him submit.
But—
"My great-grandfather didn't kneel. My grand-uncle didn't kneel. And now it's my turn…"
Roy's voice was calm.
"I won't kneel to you—or to anyone behind you."
A solar gale swept through. Roy's soul descended, reentering his body. The panel's alerts rolled in, finalizing upgrades.
…
[Notice: "Kokushibō" Blood Demon Art extracted…]
["Moon Breathing" is Yin-aligned. Yin Release +175.]
Yin and yang… life and death… Roy felt the Uchiha blood inside him stirring.
"Be quiet."
He steadied himself and continued reading.
…
[Notice: "Nakime" Blood Demon Art extracted.]
[Detected spatial attribute, compatible with "Swamp Space." Reforged and upgraded into: "Sumeru Mustard Seed."]
[Note: "Sumeru Mustard Seed"—the host may forcibly open a space in the real world and reshape it at will. Within it, the host holds absolute authority.]
Roy's mind stirred. He gathered a black sphere at his fingertip—space itself writhing around it, so violently it seemed to swallow nearby sunlight the moment it formed, echoing that murky, chaotic void he'd once chased into with Maha.
He suppressed the urge to step inside and explore. Instead, his thoughts flashed to a single jutsu:
Kamui.
With Sumeru Mustard Seed, he could "phase," imprison, even build layered "cells" inside it—fire prisons, water prisons, blade prisons—something like the Kidō "Black Coffin," but customizable.
This upgraded space was far more flexible than Kamui or Infinity Castle.
"Sumeru holds mustard seeds; mustard seeds contain Sumeru. Great and small accommodate each other… the world is only a step away…"
Roy murmured. With a snap, the black sphere vanished—like it had never existed, and like it had never truly left—becoming a stream of nen that returned to him.
He inhaled, then narrowed his eyes.
"Now… it's your turn, Muzan."
The panel expanded again, and Muzan's talents were stripped bare one by one.
…
[Notice: "Kibutsuji Muzan" Blood Demon Arts extracted…]
1) "Gift" → refitted and upgraded into "First Embrace."
[Note: "First Embrace"—the host may consume nen to forcibly bind a believer, share talents, and massively raise their potential. True 'shared growth': the embraced may grow with the host or on their own. If the embraced dies, everything they had becomes numerical feedback to the host—loss mitigation.]
[Current "First Embrace" slots: 3.]
2) "Dominion"
[Note: The host holds "Absolute Dominion" over embraced targets as well.]
3) "Multiple Organs" + 4) "Self-Splitting" → merged and upgraded into "Drop of Blood Rebirth."
[Note: As long as blood remains wet and tissue remains, the host will not die. In crisis, the host may self-detonate to survive; the number of fragments depends on strength.]
[Current max fragments: 5800.]
5) "Whip Technique" → refitted into "Sword-Bone."
[Note: Draw bone as blade; with a thought, the host may pull a bone into a sword.]
6) "Dead Infant Proliferation" → refitted into "Flesh-Bud Art."
[Note: Plant a flesh-bud, harvest a tree. The host may implant buds into bodies to siphon nen and physique.]
[Current implantable buds: 2.]
A long, shrill beep.
Roy stared at his swollen skill list in silence.
Then he exhaled.
"…I should've killed him sooner."
He steadied himself and focused—Sword-Bone, Drop of Blood Rebirth, First Embrace, Flesh-Bud Art…
The first two fit Muzan's cowardly survival instinct—useful, even if shameless.
But First Embrace and Flesh-Bud Art made Roy's eyes brighten.
His first thought was Wutong.
Wutong had loyalty and grit. What he lacked was talent—raw ceiling. If Roy "embraced" him, shared Roy's talents, and let him grow as Roy grew…
Wutong's potential could explode. Someday he might even beat Netero—maybe even Roy's great-grandfather.
Gods have angels and bishops… Muzan had Upper and Lower Moons… "First Embrace" for me and Wutong… it fits.
Roy felt the impulse to return to the Hunter world immediately—but Tanjūrō… and a promise.
He forced the thought down and looked to Flesh-Bud Art. His pupils gleamed.
If First Embrace was "light," then Flesh-Bud was its opposite.
Roy preferred a clearer name:
Parasite Art.
Siphoning nen and life through parasitism—arguably even more brutal than a god extracting faith. It was destruction from the root. The sun's cruel punishment.
Roy opened a fingertip pore and let a thread of nen wrap around it. His finger squirmed, forming a tiny flesh-bud, tipped with a long, mosquito-like proboscis—hungry for nen and life. The sight alone made skin crawl.
The bud "spoke," in a thin, begging whisper:
"Hungry… master… I'm hungry… I want to eat…"
~~~
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