Kokushibo had been prepared. His blade flowed smoothly, intercepting Kurosaki Rei's strike.
The collision of their tremendous strength sent shockwaves through the platform. The stone slabs beneath Kokushibo's feet shattered, blasting backward behind him.
What truly shocked Kokushibo was that the force behind this strike was greater than any blow Kurosaki Rei had delivered in their previous exchanges—like a collapsing mountain pressing down upon him. Even refined force-dissipation techniques were unable to fully offset it.
Fine cracks appeared in his bones under the impact, though they regenerated in an instant. The platform beneath them, however, was far less durable. Cracks spread rapidly, and the entire structure began to collapse.
At the moment the platform gave way, Kokushibo and Kurosaki Rei leapt simultaneously, landing on a nearby platform to the side. Upon landing, Kokushibo retreated several steps in the opposite direction from Kurosaki Rei. Only after stabilizing himself did he grip his sword with both hands, staring at Kurosaki Rei with a grave expression.
Kurosaki Rei did not immediately press the attack. Holding his blade at his side, he looked at Kokushibo with a teasing smile.
"Let me ask you something—why did you pull away from me just now?"
Kokushibo's expression stiffened. Moments earlier, he had accused Kurosaki Rei of retreating, yet just now, upon landing on the same platform, he himself had instinctively withdrawn. By any definition, that too counted as "retreat."
"Your resolve isn't pure enough," Kurosaki Rei bared his teeth in a grin that Kokushibo found deeply provocative. "You're not even as good as Akaza."
"Arrogant!"
Kokushibo roared as he surged forward. Moon Breathing was driven to its limit, his blade slashing out as countless crescent-shaped blades of moonlight flew forward, blanketing every corner of the area Kurosaki Rei occupied.
Boom—!
A torrent of lightning surged upward, blocking all the moon-blade slashes. At the same time, Kurosaki Rei used Shunpo to shift to the flank, then stepped in and cut down from Kokushibo's upper left.
From unleashing the lightning torrent to repositioning and counterattacking, Kurosaki Rei's speed was so fast that even Kokushibo was startled. It was as though he was growing ever more accustomed to high-speed combat—his transitions becoming increasingly fluid.
The counterattack was so sudden that Kokushibo had no time to fully defend, only to dodge hastily.
A wet, bone-cutting sound rang out. Blood sprayed as an arm was severed and sent flying.
Kokushibo immediately leapt upward, planting his foot against the underside of a higher platform, regenerating his arm mid-motion.
At that moment, the black-clad figure charging up at him from below overlapped eerily with a shadow from his memories.
Damn it—Tsugikuni Yoriichi! Even in death, you still haunt me?!
Roaring inwardly, Kokushibo swung his blade downward while inverted.
Moon Breathing, Fourteenth Form: Catastrophe—Tenman Crescent Moon!
Countless vortices of moonlight layered together and pressed downward, intent on shredding both the phantom before his eyes and the specter in his memories.
Yet the figure below surged upward like a trapped dragon breaking free. Violent lightning tore apart the moonlight, and the blade pointed straight for his throat—just like that night hundreds of years ago.
The threat of death tightened Kokushibo's body. His bones and muscles trembled, but the sensation only fueled his unwillingness to yield. His spirit howled in defiance.
Boom—!
Blade met blade. Sparks erupted, illuminating their eyes—one filled with tangled emotions and raging fury, the other with pure, unadulterated battle intent.
Steel slid and clashed. Kurosaki Rei's Qiumo slipped past Kokushibo's blade, grazing his arm and severing his left arm once more.
Kokushibo regenerated almost instantly and resumed his two-handed grip, continuing the exchange.
The two fell through the air together, both without footing. Yet strangely, neither was blown away by the other's force. As they descended, their blades collided countless times, sparks flashing so rapidly it was like a giant incandescent lamp gradually igniting.
The moment they landed, both stamped their feet as if rooting themselves to the ground, drawing power from it, and simultaneously unleashed killing strikes.
Amid deafening clangs of steel, both were forced to lean back from the impact. Kokushibo did not move an inch—he had embedded his feet into the ground to anchor himself. Cracks spread beneath Kurosaki Rei's feet as well, the result of him bracing with a precise angle of force to resist being driven back.
Then the exchange erupted in earnest—blow after blow, like torrential rain colliding with a storm surge.
The high-speed slashes generated razor-sharp shockwaves, carving the ground with countless gouges. A demon attempting to sneak in and ambush Kurosaki Rei was torn apart by invisible blade pressure before it could even approach.
At last, the platform could no longer endure the strain and exploded apart in midair.
Neither combatant attempted to leap away. It was as though nothing else existed in their vision—only each other.
Two eyes met six. Battle intent and fury collided endlessly, just like the sparks bursting from their blades.
Crack—
In a heavy, decisive exchange, a crisp sound rang out. Empowered by Armament Haki, Qiumo split apart Kokushibo's flesh-forged blade.
The sudden turn left Kokushibo no time to evade. Kurosaki Rei's slash cut from his right side down to the waist, cleaving him cleanly in two.
Kokushibo's combat instincts were extraordinary. He instantly judged that trying to rejoin his body would expose a fatal opening, so he decisively abandoned his lower half.
He controlled his severed lower body to kick toward Kurosaki Rei. Under his flesh manipulation, the broken half of his blade fused into his leg, stabbing toward Kurosaki Rei's chest, while his upper body launched upward, using the momentary entanglement to regenerate.
What Kurosaki Rei did next stunned Kokushibo.
In a single instant, Kokushibo realized that in terms of combat talent, he and this man were not on the same level. The man before him truly was, like his younger brother, a gifted prodigy worthy of envy.
Kurosaki Rei did not deliberately evade. He did not even look at Kokushibo's lower body. His blade flowed upward, cutting toward Kokushibo's main body.
In a duel between masters, a hair's breadth decided victory.
Kokushibo had judged that as a human, Kurosaki Rei would instinctively prioritize self-preservation—but Kurosaki Rei had overcome that instinctive fear of injury.
Kurosaki Rei ignored the attack from below, choosing instead to trade injury for Kokushibo's life!
Black blade light surged upward, wreathed in lightning like a golden river flowing against the heavens. It shattered Kokushibo's last line of defense, severed the half-formed flesh blade, and continued straight for his neck.
Qiumo, drenched in crimson, traced a beautiful arc through the air as Kokushibo's head continued to rise due to inertia.
At that moment, the attack from the lower body arrived. From the spinning perspective of Kokushibo's head, Kurosaki Rei still managed to subtly twist aside, allowing the blade to pierce his shoulder blade instead of his vital organs.
After landing, Kurosaki Rei pulled the blade free from his shoulder, drawing a small spray of blood, and tossed it aside.
"You're the first person in this world to actually injure me."
Kokushibo's head fell to the ground, rolled several times, and came to rest. His six eyes stared at Kurosaki Rei, filled with complex emotion.
"Even after surpassing myself… I still couldn't reach your blade…"
Kurosaki Rei didn't know whether those words were meant for him—or for Tsugikuni Yoriichi. He stepped forward and spoke evenly:
"You were already very strong."
As the words fell, so did Qiumo, grinding Kokushibo's head to pieces.
An orange-yellow loot chest appeared beside Kokushibo's corpse. Kurosaki Rei picked it up and stored it away.
Kokushibo had indeed been powerful—no obvious weaknesses in stats or technique. In the final exchange, he had clearly achieved a breakthrough beyond his former self, likely even stronger than the original canon version. His performance had been excellent.
But he had underestimated Kurosaki Rei's ruthlessness.
That was the mistake.
From a young age, Kurosaki Rei had learned one lesson well—never rely on luck in a fight.
To Kurosaki Rei, Kokushibo's method was openly courting death. As long as Kurosaki Rei dared to trade lives, Kokushibo was doomed. And since Kurosaki Rei was confident he could avoid a fatal hit, there was no reason not to end it decisively.
After all, Kokushibo was a demon—far more tolerant of mistakes. Dragging the fight out would only be disadvantageous. So Kurosaki Rei seized the moment and finished him, rather than dodging and continuing a drawn-out battle.
Still, his praise for Kokushibo had been sincere. In terms of raw combat ability, Kurosaki Rei felt Kokushibo was stronger than Muzan—especially during that final, high-frequency exchange. Kokushibo had made almost no mistakes, something that required extremely high-level combat skill.
"Even… Kokushibo has fallen…"
The last surviving explorer in the Infinity Castle let out a despairing cry. He couldn't understand how things had come to this.
It was his first time entering a second-tier world. His first time obtaining a bloodline. His first time choosing what seemed to be the advantageous faction in a camp-based conflict.
So why—why did it all end like this?
Slash—
As black blade light flashed, his consciousness faded into darkness.
Kurosaki Rei swiftly swept through the Infinity Castle, searching for Nakime. He had to find a way out, or he'd be trapped here forever.
The explorers of Muzan's faction hadn't truly lacked a chance. Kokushibo and Muzan were both threats to him. If they had gathered from the very start and launched a full-scale group assault, he might genuinely have been unable to handle it.
But they had an unreliable boss.
Muzan hadn't united them early, giving Kurosaki Rei two full months to develop. Compared to when he first entered this world, his stats were now worlds apart.
The Infinity Castle was like a three-dimensional maze. Nakime had been deliberately hiding her position, so even with Ghost God active and Shunpo pushing him to near-supersonic speed, Kurosaki Rei couldn't find her immediately.
Frowning, he pondered briefly. Deciding to expend his remaining soul power, he prepared to use Kidō. More than anything, he was worried about the battle outside. Though he trusted the Nine Hashira he had strengthened, he couldn't be certain Muzan wouldn't take someone with him in a desperate struggle.
Kurosaki Rei focused, chanting in a low voice:
"Heart of the south, pupil of the north, fingertips of the west, toes of the east—gather with the wind, scatter with the rain!
Bakudō #58: Kakushitsuijaku!"
When the chant ended, invisible pillars of light shot skyward. Kurosaki Rei's spiritual pressure expanded instantly, spreading like an unseen net that filled the entire Infinity Castle.
This Bakudō was used to sense and track targets.
Very quickly, under Kakushitsuijaku, Kurosaki Rei located Nakime. She was hiding in a room behind one of the doors.
Once locked onto by this technique, no matter how she changed positions, he would always sense her location.
Even so, to prevent Nakime from preemptively using her spatial ability to escape, Kurosaki Rei casually walked toward the door, pretending to inspect demon corpses.
The next instant, Shunpo activated.
In a burst of extreme speed, he charged straight through the door. Before Nakime could react, his blade flashed—severing her arms, preventing her from plucking the biwa to trigger teleportation.
Then another slash followed, cutting off her legs.
Nakime screamed, trying to flee. But without arms or legs, her regeneration slowed under Qiumo's effect. She could only writhe helplessly, crawling deeper into the room in utter terror of this dreadful man.
Though she hadn't fought directly and had only supported the demons with spatial abilities, she had witnessed everything—Kurosaki Rei slaughtering every demon, including the mighty Kokushibo.
Even after being promoted by Muzan to Upper Rank Five, she was not a combat-type demon.
How could she possibly stand against a killer like Kurosaki Rei?
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