Asakusa District, Tokyo.
"Crash! Bang! Clang!..."
Inside a lavishly decorated room, Muzan had smashed all the surrounding furniture to pieces, raging like a woman who had caught her husband cheating.
"That piece of trash Gyokko! He's driving me mad!"
Muzan had been in this state of fury ever since he sensed Gyokko's death. Everyone who had been in this house had already been killed by him.
Two minutes later, upon learning that Hantengu had followed in Gyokko's footsteps, his four hearts felt like they were about to explode.
However, as Hantengu's final memories flowed into his mind, Muzan's remaining three brains nearly crashed.
This time, the feeling wasn't anger, but excitement.
Excitement over Aomori's existence.
"To think another such a precious Marechi has appeared! The Gods must be helping me! I must acquire him this time!"
Thanks to the Disguise Glasses's effect, Muzan was unable to connect the Aomori before him with the man he had encountered previously. He believed it was the favor of the gods, who had thrown another evolutionary drug in front of him.
"Nakime, pull Doma and everyone nearby into the Infinity Castle." Muzan said without hesitation. He intended to eat Aomori and bury all the Demon Slayer Hashira at the same time.
However, Muzan's wounds were not fully healed. Although his side still held a massive advantage, the cautious and steady demon decided to dispatch his most valued cadres, Upper Rank One Kokushibo, accompanied by the fiercely loyal Upper Rank Three Akaza, to bring Aomori back.
They were accompanied by numerous minor demons temporarily strengthened into Lower Ranks.
This time, Muzan was putting everything on the line.
...
When Gyokko died, Doma, whose head looked as if it had been drenched in blood, was being ganged up on by four Hashira.
Doma no longer cared about slowly torturing his enemies. He knew that if the Hashira who defeated Gyokko arrived to join the siege, he would surely die.
Therefore, Doma made an instant decision and went all-out.
"Blood Demon Art: Crystal Dolls!"
"Blood Demon Art: Wintry Hues of White Princess!"
"Blood Demon Art: Freezing Fog - Bodhisattva of Wondrous Lotus!"
Unleashing three powerful techniques in quick succession nearly exhausted his demon energy, but the effect was significant. Doma, who could command the power of ice, summoned ice creations that shrouded nearly half the ruins in an icy mist.
Knowing the mist was poisonous, the Hashira quickly retreated, except for the Flame Hashira, Kyojuro Rengoku, who was burning with raging flames.
"Everyone, stay behind me!" He continuously used Flame Breathing to disperse the icy mist, carving a clear path forward for the others.
The four Hashira charged into the icy mist without changing expression, rushing toward Doma, who was trying to retreat.
"Stop him! Don't let him enter the underground tunnels!" Kyojuro roared.
But the ice creations were numerous and blocked their steps.
Just as Doma was about to reach the entrance to the underground tunnel, two figures descended from the sky, blocking his path.
It was none other than Sanemi and Muichiro, who had just finished off Gyokko and rushed over.
Sanemi's eyes were as wide as bronze bells. Having already claimed the heads of two Upper Rank Demons, he couldn't wait to claim Doma's head as well.
At that exact moment, Hantengu's presence vanished. Doma waved his fan, showing a helpless smile: "Oh dear, oh dear, this is truly awful."
Before Doma could try anything desperate, the surrounding scenery suddenly shifted dramatically, transforming from a rubble-filled ruin to a strangely familiar room layout.
"The Infinity Castle?" Doma, who had narrowly escaped, looked overjoyed. "Praise be to Muzan-sama!"
"Hey, hey, hey, what are you so happy about?"
Doma turned and saw Sanemi, Muichiro, and Kyojuro in the same room.
"Huh?"
...
The Hashira who were pulled into the Infinity Castle did not panic; they had already been spoiled by Aomori's plot revelations.
Because they were farther away from Doma, Kanae, Obanai, and Tengen did not end up in the same room.
"This must be the Infinity Castle."
"Seems like it."
"As Kakado said, if we enter the Infinity Castle and don't immediately encounter an Upper Rank Demon, we should fully concentrate on finding the demon holding a biwa. That demon can control the Infinity Castle."
"Let's go then."
They cut down the lesser demons along the way, searching for Nakime's location.
Gyomei and Giyu were in the same situation.
Meanwhile, under Nakime's manipulation of the Infinity Castle, Upper Rank One Kokushibo and Upper Rank Three Akaza stood before Aomori.
Kokushibo, dressed as a swordsman with six eyes and red flame-like markings on his left forehead and right neck, was formerly Michikatsu Tsugikuni, the twin brother of the legendary swordsman Yoriichi Tsugikuni. He was a swordsman who once used the Moon Breathing. In his quest for eternal time to hone his skills and surpass his impossibly gifted younger brother, he became a demon.
Yet, even when facing the 80-year-old, white-haired, wrinkled Yoriichi, Kokushibo, in his peak demon form, was nearly instantly killed by a single blow.
Being born in the same era as Yoriichi, who was like the reincarnation of a god, was the greatest misfortune for the competitive Kokushibo.
As for Akaza, with his short peach-pink hair, golden eyes, and full-body tattoos, he revered strength and despised weakness. He constantly sought powerful opponents to challenge, yet he had long forgotten the reason why he wanted to become stronger.
Both of these Upper Rank Demons had their own sorrows, but their common point was that they were both strong, exceptionally strong.
Normally, such powerful individuals would have too much pride to gang up on someone, but under the strong urging of Muzan, they reluctantly had to attack together.
"Such weak fighting spirit. Truly a weakling. You can be proud to die at the hands of us two demons," Akaza stated.
Kokushibo remained silent, his arms crossed, maintaining his aloof demon persona.
Facing the coming tough battle, Aomori was fearless. He drew his two Nichirin Blades, ready to take on the two of them.
Akaza attacked first, moving in a serpentine pattern. He arrived before Aomori, intending to launch a combination attack, but suddenly sensed Aomori's fighting spirit, which shot up like a soaring dragon.
"Crap!"
Thunder Breathing, Second Form: Rice Spirit!
His twin blades flashed, thunder roared, and Aomori unleashed a five-hit combo slash at the retreating Akaza.
"C-can't dodge!" Akaza could only raise his arms to protect his neck, but the sharp blades easily severed his arms and sliced towards his neck.
Clang!
At the critical moment, Kokushibo, who had been posing, brought his eye-covered demonic katana up, blocking Aomori's killing strike.
"You are strong," Kokushibo finally looked directly at Aomori.
"You're not bad either," Aomori countered.
The demon and the man simultaneously drew their swords and clashed. Kokushibo's three hundred years of honed swordsmanship met Aomori's chaotic, spontaneous slashes — Moon Breathing against Thunder Breathing. In the flurry of blades, Aomori had a slight edge, leaving several cuts on Kokushibo's body. However, these wounds were not enough to threaten Kokushibo.
Meanwhile, Akaza, who had cheated death, was filled with an uncontrollable excitement after a brief moment of fear.
"Amazing! Truly amazing! A strong fighter I've never encountered before! I want to fight you! Fight!"
With his powerful regenerative ability, Akaza's neck and arms recovered in the blink of an eye. He stomped forward, causing a snowflake pattern to appear on the ground.
"Destructive Death: Compass Needle! Technique Deployment!" Akaza, unleashing his full power, threw a devastating punch towards Aomori: "Destructive Death: Annihilation Type!"
The extremely wide-range attack enveloped both Aomori and Kokushibo. Aomori parried Kokushibo away and flashed to the side, while Kokushibo also flipped to the opposite side.
The man and the two demons stood in a triangle formation.
"Upper Rank Three, Akaza."
"...Upper Rank One, Kokushibo."
"Demon Slayer Rumble Hashira, Kakado."
After exchanging names, a new round of battle erupted. Against the combined assault of Akaza and Kokushibo, Aomori held his ground, fighting them to a standstill, at last living up to the name Kakado.
If no external force intervenes, the outcome of this battle may not be decided quickly.
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You can read the ahead chapter on Patr if you're interested: p-atre-on.c-om/Overgod [Just remove the hyphen to access normally]