"Shinazugawa, being chased by a demon?" Obanai looked utterly stunned. "With his personality, no matter how you look at it, he'd be the one chasing the demon or fighting it to the death. How could he possibly just let a demon chase him?"
"Agreed. That guy has no sense of reason at all." Yuichiro looked in the direction Tengen had been staring. "But there really was a strange presence over there just now. Just in case... wait, someone else already went after them!"
But when everyone looked over, all they saw was the crimson haori disappearing into the distance.
"How strange..." Muichiro frowned as well. "I don't think anyone I know wears a red haori..."
Tengen hoisted his twin blades and, in a few leaps, sped away across the debris.
"We'll know once we catch up."
...
After dodging another crystal spike thrust toward him, Sanemi finally burst out of the collapsing Infinity Castle and felt solid ground beneath his feet again. But he did not dare stop, charging straight toward the mountaintop.
"Hey! What now? Am I supposed to keep running until dawn?"
"He isn't afraid of sunlight, caw!"
Sanemi dropped low in a rough crouch to avoid the crystal spikes shooting toward him, growing even more irritated.
"You expect me to compete in stamina with a demon who isn't afraid of the sun? I might as well turn around and fight him right now! Once he's outside, he can't use those damn crystal spikes anymore, right?"
"Wait a little longer! He's almost here, caw!"
"Then who the hell are we waiting for?!"
Hiru stopped in the clearing, but he did not look at the fleeing Sanemi. Instead, he frowned and looked behind him.
"...What a pain."
As his voice fell, the hollow space behind him, where countless rooms had been collapsing, was instantly stained gray. Countless fragments transformed into crystal, then shattered again. The figure in the vivid red haori instantly lost the footholds he had been using to leap across the debris, and his body dropped from high in the air.
Yoriichi looked at Hiru in disbelief, but Hiru answered him only with an icy voice.
"Since you can't bring yourself to attack me anyway, brother, don't get in my way at a time like this."
No matter how extraordinary Yoriichi's movement technique was, even he could not create force out of thin air while airborne. But just then, the sound of something cutting through the air came from behind him.
Yoriichi immediately swung his blade backward. The pitch-black sword struck the incoming chain flail head-on, and he used the force to step onto a crumbling wall panel nearby before rushing back up to the ground.
But as far as he could see, aside from the buildings destroyed by the Infinity Castle and the swordsmen fleeing from it, Hiru and Sanemi, who had been one step ahead of him, were already gone.
"That your little brother? Pretty rebellious, isn't he?" Tengen also leapt out from the collapsing void, smiling. "Knowing full well his brother works with the Demon Slayer Corps, and he still says he wants to eat people."
"I'm sorry. I'll stop him... Please give me a little more time."
After saying that, Yoriichi turned to Gyomei.
"Thank you for earlier."
"Amida-butsu... It is only natural for comrades to help one another..."
Muichiro looked up at Yoriichi and finally could not resist tugging at his sleeve.
"Hey, hey, have we met before? You look really familiar."
"Me...? Perhaps."
Yoriichi smiled faintly and reached out to ruffle Muichiro's hair.
"Sorry, I'm in a hurry right now."
Tengen's pupils abruptly contracted. The swordsman standing among them vanished as though he had never been there at all.
"So fast... I didn't see him clearly." The hairs on the back of Obanai's neck stood on end. "With that kind of strength, he should be a Hashira no matter what. Why do I have no memory of him?"
"That should be the work of that gentleman's younger brother too, right?" Mitsuri clasped her hands together, smiling brightly. "I remember seeing both of them wearing Corps uniforms during the chase earlier, so they should be our allies, right? They looked so handsome~"
"Ha, an ally who wants to eat his allies..." Tengen drawled, raising a hand to summon his crow. "Talk about irony."
...
Tamayo looked at her fingertips as they slowly crumbled apart, tears falling from her gentle violet eyes.
Hundreds of years had passed.
The thing she had dreamed of had finally come true.
Though she had not witnessed Muzan's death with her own eyes, the fact that her body had begun to break down told her everything she had longed to know.
"He's finally dead..."
Tamayo lifted her gaze to the star-filled sky. Tears would not stop falling, yet the corners of her lips curved into a bright, gentle smile.
"Wonderful... This is truly wonderful..."
"Lady Tamayo!"
Tamayo turned to look at Yushiro, whose face was full of panic, and her smile softened further.
"Yushiro, you're here?"
Yushiro took out his medical kit and frantically searched through it for medicine.
"How do we slow this down? Would Blood Demon Stop work? I..."
"Calm down, Yushiro."
Tamayo reached out and gently tucked the loose hair by his ear back into place.
"My body breaking down means the Primordial Demon who created me has completely died. The greatest wish I've held for these past few hundred years has been fulfilled... You should be happy for me."
"But! But Lady Tamayo!"
Yushiro raised his hand and pressed it over hers, sobbing so hard he could barely speak.
"What did you do wrong? Why should you have to die along with that piece of filth? You shouldn't... You shouldn't have to..."
"Yushiro, this is also my own choice."
Tamayo withdrew her hand, and the smile on her gentle face slowly filled with malice.
"We're both going to hell, but just thinking that Muzan will arrive there before me, and that he'll receive the harshest punishment for his sins, makes me unbearably happy. Even if I must suffer the same punishment, I don't care. As long as I can watch him suffer more than I do."
Yushiro looked at the malicious smile on Tamayo's face and lowered his head slightly.
"...Then what about me? What am I supposed to do?"
"Yushiro..."
Tamayo's expression softened again.
"You are a demon I transformed through a different method. You can survive. There is no need for you to meet the end with me."
"But... I want to stay with Lady Tamayo forever."
Yushiro lowered his head even further. Tears slid down his face and struck the ground, leaving dark spots behind.
"I... can't leave Lady Tamayo."
After a brief moment of surprise, Tamayo's expression turned gentler than ever. She reached out with her crumbling hand and stroked his hair.
"Aren't you afraid? The sins wrapped around me mean I am destined for hell, but you are different. Yushiro, you..."
"Without Lady Tamayo, this world would be the real hell for me!"
Yushiro raised his voice, choking on tears.
"I don't want to... I don't want to be separated from Lady Tamayo..."
"...All right. If Yushiro truly doesn't mind, then meet the end together with me a little later."
Tamayo withdrew her arm, her expression serene.
"But before that, this broken body of mine still has something it must do... Yushiro, have they arrived?"
Yushiro held Tamayo's hand tightly and lifted his other hand to wipe away his tears.
"Yes. The crow is leading them this way."
"I see..."
Tamayo looked toward the dust rising not far away, and the smile on her lips faded slightly.
"I only wonder whether Hiru is still willing to have a proper talk with me now..."
...
Sanemi could not figure out why the crow kept insisting he run up the mountain, but there was no denying that without its guidance, that guy called Hiru would have caught him back in the Infinity Castle.
When he saw the ruined remains of the buildings on the mountaintop again, grief welled up in his chest. Muzan's death should have meant Oyakata-sama's illness would slowly improve, yet their master had sacrificed himself to create an opening for them...
At that thought, Sanemi clenched his fists.
In the next instant, he saw Tamayo and Yushiro sitting amid the ruins.
Sanemi instinctively reached for his sword hilt, only for Kitaro to viciously peck and yank at his hair.
"Run straight past them, caw! Don't attack!"
Sanemi clicked his tongue softly and sprinted past the two of them. He did not believe for a second that these two demons, whom he could kill with a casual swing, could possibly stop the monster behind him.
But reality often moved in ways no one expected.
The danger prickling at his back suddenly weakened.
Sanemi saw Hiru stop in front of Tamayo, but just as his pace slowed, the crow smacked him across the back of the head with one wing.
"You idiot! Keep running, caw!"
Sanemi: "..."
Damn it.
With his temper, if this were not an emergency, he would have grabbed that bird by the neck and slammed it into the ground.
...
Hiru watched Sanemi disappear into the distance, but he did not chase after him. He merely stopped in front of Tamayo and lowered his head to look at her crumbling arm.
"...I'm surprised you're still alive."
"Ah, yes..."
Tamayo lifted her head.
"I truly have you and Yoriichi-san to thank for that. If I had relied only on myself, even if I had waited another few hundred years, I doubt I would ever have witnessed his death."
"There's nothing to thank us for. Yoriichi and I had a grudge against that man too."
Hiru's voice was calm.
"Do you have any last words? Or any final wishes?"
"I saw Hiru chasing that Rare Blood swordsman. Are you no longer able to suppress your urge to eat humans?"
"No. I just don't think there's any need to suppress it anymore."
Hiru's gaze fell on Yushiro, who was leaning against Tamayo with his head lowered.
"You two can live on."
Tamayo lowered her head.
"I know. It's just that, like Hiru, I don't think there is any need anymore. My wish of hundreds of years has already been fulfilled, and it is time for me to atone for what I did before.
But Hiru is different from me. If Hiru truly has not eaten a single person in over a hundred years, perhaps you can go to heaven..."
Hiru frowned faintly and turned toward the figure racing toward them from behind.
"What? Are you trying to lecture me?"
Tamayo smiled and shook her head slightly.
"No... I only wanted to tell Hiru that even if Hiru wishes to keep living like this, that is fine. Even if Hiru wishes to eat humans, that is fine too."
This time, Hiru was the one who froze.
"Eating humans... is fine too?"
"But Hiru must remember that humans are fragile creatures. Once a life is taken, it cannot be restored..."
Tamayo lowered her eyes to her left hand, which had already crumbled away completely, a bitter smile touching her lips.
"So, in order not to leave yourself with regret, even if Hiru eats humans, you must remember to stop after only a small taste."
"...Hmph. And you said this wasn't a lecture."
With Yushiro's support, Tamayo stood up. First, she nodded slightly to Yoriichi, who had just arrived, then raised her still-intact hand to straighten Hiru's collar, loosened by his violent movements.
Her smile grew gentle.
"Perhaps it is because I always unconsciously treat Hiru like a child. And now that my lifelong wish has been fulfilled, I cannot help wanting to fuss a little more. I'm sorry."
"Lady Tamayo isn't nagging. Lady Tamayo is always right!"
"Thank you, Yushiro."
Tamayo laughed softly. With her remaining hand, she took a vial of sky-blue liquid from Yushiro's medical kit and placed it in Hiru's palm.
"This is the medicine I injected into Muzan before. It is also the medicine I mentioned last time, the one that should work on Hiru.
This medicine can make a demon's body age at a hundred times its normal speed, and throughout the process, it will continuously weaken the body. Given Hiru's current condition, if the medicine has not lost its effect, you should age and die within three to five years...
Hiru should drink it when you wish to bring everything to an end. If this medicine has no effect on Hiru either, I have already handed the prescription to Ubuyashiki-sama. When the time comes, Hiru can go find him. I believe he would be very willing to help Hiru develop a new medicine."
"Hmph. An aging medicine, is it... I never thought I'd actually get the chance to die of old age."
Hiru lowered his head and looked at the liquid in his hand.
"I accept the sentiment. If there's nothing else to say, I'm going to eat."
Tamayo nodded slightly and raised her hand to brush the dust from Hiru's shoulder.
"Even if you start eating, you must not overeat. Otherwise, Yoriichi-san and Ubuyashiki-sama will have quite a headache."
Only then did Hiru turn to look at Yoriichi, who had remained silent the entire time, though he soon looked away again.
"That has nothing to do with me."
"Hiru! Enough. Let's go back to the mountains!"
Yoriichi reached out and grabbed Hiru.
"Since we have already erased the memories related to us from everyone's minds, don't create any new ones. Let the two of us stop here."
"Hah..."
Hiru turned and looked at him again.
"Does Aniue really have that resolve? If I eat a human, has Aniue made up his mind?"
"...I will absolutely stop you."
"Aniue, don't say things like that to fool yourself. Can Aniue truly bring himself to strike me?"
"Please, Hiru. Let this be the end."
Yoriichi's expression filled with sorrow.
"If you don't want to die, then we can keep living as we have for the past few hundred years. If you wish to leave this country and see the wider world, that is fine too. I will support Hiru in all of it...
But eating humans is the one thing you cannot do."
"What's wrong with it? When you're hungry, you eat. Isn't that how humans treat other living things? Then isn't it only natural for demons to eat humans too?"
"Hiru, it isn't the same. Those are indeed the instincts of living creatures, but we used to be human. We shouldn't..."
"Aniue said it himself. 'Used to.'"
Hiru looked at Yoriichi, who stood frozen in place, and pulled his hand back.
"We stopped being human long ago. Helping them deal with a nuisance like Muzan was already more than generous. Now that everything is over, there's no need to keep maintaining this false relationship."
Yoriichi looked even more sorrowful, but he did not know what else to say to stop Hiru.
Just then, Tamayo reached out again.
This time, however, she stood on tiptoe and gently ruffled Hiru's hair.
Then, while Hiru stood stunned, she did the same to Yoriichi.
"The two of you have truly taken care of me for these past hundred years and more. But now that we have finally fulfilled our wishes, you two must not quarrel at the very end..."
One of Tamayo's arms had already crumbled away completely, but the smile on her face remained gentle.
"Then I shall take my leave first. Though it may not be very noticeable, I would like to see the sunrise for the first time in so long. It is only a pity that this child Yushiro actually intends to accompany me into death..."
Yushiro clutched Tamayo's hand tightly.
"As long as I am with Lady Tamayo, I don't care what I have to face! As long as I have Lady Tamayo, that is enough!"
Tamayo smiled faintly but said nothing more. She only nodded gently to Hiru and Yoriichi before walking toward higher ground with Yushiro.
Hiru silently watched their backs recede until the two of them disappeared from sight.
Only when the clamor began drawing near from the direction he had come from did he lower his head and look at the test tube in his hand, filled with sky-blue liquid.
He pulled out the stopper, drank the medicine in one gulp, and his expression instantly soured.
"Pah... It's actually bitter.