"Master! Muzan has returned to the surface!" his wife, Amane, exclaimed, her usually calm voice tinged with excitement. Amane reached out and clasped her husband's hand, a worried expression on her face as she looked at Kagaya Ubuyashiki's pale countenance.
Having maintained a high level of tension and managed the strategy all night, Ubuyashiki's frail body was already failing him, yet he remained steadfast in his position.
His children were fighting, and he, too, had to advance with them… "Cough… cough, cough…" Kagaya coughed violently, struggling to swallow the coppery taste rising in his throat. His trembling hand tightened its grip on his wife's.
"Have the Kakushi Members… wait nearby, but… do not approach the battlefield!"
Suppressing his accelerating heartbeat, Kagaya breathed with difficulty, his light-colored eyes, their vision blurry, focused on the window. He only hoped now… hoped that today's sun would arrive sooner.
To bring a perfect end to this dawn, delayed by a thousand years.
[Butterfly Mansion]
"Where did my brothers go?" Nezuko, tossing and turning in bed, felt a sudden, inexplicable panic. Her hands and feet were terribly cold. Just moments ago, she had heard a huge sound echoing from afar.
Clutching her hands to her chest, Nezuko's pink eyes were filled with unease. She stared out the window, listening to the birds chirping in the forest and the rustling of leaves. Everything was so quiet, as if the sound she had heard earlier was just a hallucination.
It must be almost dawn… when it's light, my brothers will come back, right? Nezuko thought, taking a deep breath. She sat up from under the covers, put on her shoes, and fumbled in the dark to open her door.
Walking alone down the long corridor, the Butterfly Mansion was quiet at night, without the daytime hustle and bustle, profoundly peaceful.
I'll make breakfast for my brothers… Nezuko wasn't sleepy at all anyway. When her brothers returned, they could eat the hot breakfast she had prepared!
Nezuko smiled faintly. When she reached the kitchen door, she saw a light on inside. Pushing the door open, she found Kanzaki Aoi.
"Miss Aoi, aren't you asleep?"
A stunned Kanzaki Aoi was startled to see Nezuko and it took her a moment to collect herself.
"Nezuko, you're awake so early too."
Nezuko walked over to Kanzaki Aoi, smiling as she spoke.
"I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd make breakfast for my brothers."
"I see… Lady Shinobu left in a hurry last night. Yoizumi and Tanjirou aren't here either."
"It seems like a very important mission," Kanzaki Aoi recalled Lady Shinobu's anxious expression from last night, something she had never seen before.
"I hope the mission goes smoothly," Nezuko said softly.
"With Lady Shinobu and Yoizumi there, it definitely will!"
"Mm!" Nezuko nodded vigorously… Yoizumi, buried under the rubble, pushed away the fragments above his head, then pulled out Lady Shinobu and Tanjirou. He looked up at the sky.
Soon… Tanjirou was still unconscious from Muzan's impact. Yoizumi frowned, wanting to treat his brother, but the next second… "Whoosh!" A piercing sound came from his right. Yoizumi swiftly drew his nichirin blade and struck, instantly severing the long bone whip!
Muzan's blood splattered on his face, which Yoizumi wiped away with his fingertip. Everyone else was here; now was the best time!
After quickly treating Tanjirou, Yoizumi had no time to worry about why Tanjirou hadn't woken up, because Muzan's attacks, like a furious storm, rained down upon him.
Snow Breathing Third Form: Thousand Feathered Crane Snow!
"Shinobu, help me hand Tanjirou over to the Kakushi Members!" Yoizumi said in a low voice, his nichirin blade whirling, deflecting Muzan's attacks.
"Okay! You be careful!" Shinobu struggled to pull Tanjirou by the back of his collar. After dragging him a short distance, Lady Shinobu, during a moment of respite, looked at the current situation.
Gyoumei, Mitsuri, and Iguro had all joined the battle. Shinobu pursed her lips, looking down at her hands, which felt weak and tired even from just pulling Tanjirou. She frowned.
Gritting her teeth, she continued to drag Tanjirou away from the battlefield. Hearing a sound from a pile of rubble, Shinobu looked over cautiously, and a familiar, center-parted head appeared before her.
Murata, with disheveled hair and clothes covered in dust, saw Shinobu and cautiously greeted her.
"Insect Pillar!"
"Murata…" Shinobu looked in surprise at Murata, whose entire body was surprisingly only a bit dirty.
Murata rubbed his head, looking relieved.
"Ah… luckily, I was in the corner when the building collapsed. It's a miracle I wasn't crushed!"
Komi Kata, who had struggled to escape with a large bump on his head, said enviously,
"Murata, you're always so lucky."
"Am I? Hahaha…"
Shinobu took out a bandage she carried, handed it to Komi Kata, and entrusted Tanjirou to Murata, instructing him,
"Please look after Tanjirou."
After saying that, Shinobu rushed towards the battlefield without looking back.
"Eh?! Insect Pillar!"
Murata, carrying Tanjirou, shouted, at a loss… Finally, back on the surface, and with the time for the sun to appear getting closer and closer, Muzan finally felt urgent, his attacks revealing his impatience.
Must be quick!
Absorb Yoizumi as quickly as possible, then leave here!
Muzan waved an arm, a fleshy arm made of polyps, directly attacking Yoizumi. Its end also bore a hideous, gaping maw!
Yoizumi frowned in disgust. It truly was sickening.
He stepped back, bent his body, and the swirling snow carried an endless chill, covering the ground with a thin layer of fine snow.
Breath of Snow First Form: Falling Snow!
Transforming into a snowy afterimage, his nichirin blade instantly cleaved the fleshy arm in two. In a blink, he dashed in front of Muzan, striking at his head!
Muzan's lips curled. The bone whips that had been restraining Iguro and others were all retracted, coiling around Yoizumi's body. The gaping maws on Muzan's body were about to bite Yoizumi.
He couldn't break free… His hands were bound by bone whips, making it impossible to use aerial attacks… Even though Muzan's hideous face was within reach, Yoizumi showed no sign of panic.
Wind Breathing Eighth Form: Primary Gale Slash!
Sanemi Shinazugawa appeared, severing the bone whips and simultaneously grabbing Yoizumi's collar, pulling him away.
"Hey, hey, hey! If he eats you, what do you expect us to do?!" Sanemi Shinazugawa scolded, exasperated.
Yoizumi rubbed his constricted neck, his tone flat.
"Actually, I could have used Blood Demon Art to teleport away."
Hearing this, Sanemi Shinazugawa's mouth twitched slightly, and he said angrily,
"Then hurry up and use it!"
With his prey escaping, Muzan was furious. The nine thorny whips behind him all stabbed towards Sanemi Shinazugawa and Yoizumi, reaching them with extreme speed.
"Give me back what's mine!"
Water Breathing Fourth Form: Striking Tide!
Flowing water, splashing waves. Giyu Tomioka flew forward, slicing through the thorny whips. His calm blue eyes looked at Muzan, and he spoke softly,
"He's not a thing."
"…"
"?"
Yoizumi blinked, feeling like something was off…
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