Muzan's strength was immense—so great that Mizuki couldn't stop him, leaving her only able to watch as he lifted the Nichirin Blade.
But it didn't matter.
They had already succeeded.
Rip...
Before Muzan could even rejoice at having knocked away Mizuki's Nichirin Blade, a sharp pain shot through his abdomen.
An unfamiliar presence had appeared right in front of him so directly.
It was as if it had appeared out of thin air, suddenly, without any warning at all.
That presence, unfamiliar yet carrying a hint of familiarity, compelled Muzan to look down.
Muzan's crimson eyes narrowed slightly.
"Tamayo..."
This woman had indeed joined forces with them.
"Long time no see, Muzan." Tamayo looked up, her face covered in cold sweat, yet wearing a mocking smile.
"How does it feel?"
The moment she asked this, Muzan instinctively sensed danger. His regenerated arm shot rapidly toward Tamayo's shoulder.
It would only take a moment to tear it off.
Mizuki looked down at Tamayo's right hand, which was embedded in Muzan's body. Within that transparent Domain, the medicine in Tamayo's palm had fully entered Muzan's body.
Seeing this, Mizuki didn't hesitate for a second; she grabbed Tamayo by the shoulder and threw her behind her.
Muzan was, in the end, a step too slow, only managing to tear a piece of Tamayo's clothing, forced to watch helplessly as the cooked duck flew away.
Mizuki's strength was so great that Tamayo's entire body was sent airborne, soaring high like a batted baseball, quickly vanishing into the night behind them.
Besides, demons couldn't be killed by a fall anyway.
With Tamayo gone, and taking advantage of the moment before Mizuki could regenerate, Muzan's sharp claws slashed and sliced off half of Mizuki's head again.
Mizuki, as if nothing had happened, stared at her bloody flesh and smiled at Muzan.
That gory expression made a chill run down Muzan's spine.
"Kokushibou, get that woman from earlier..." Before Muzan could finish his command, a whistling meteor hammer from the distance interrupted his thoughts, heading straight for his head as if to smash it to pieces.
"So they've arrived?"
With others arriving on the scene, the pressure on her eased significantly.
At least she didn't have to worry about being pincered by the two of them.
Kokushibou raised his hand and unleashed a crescent-shaped slash that flew upward, deflecting the meteor hammer's trajectory and steering it away from Muzan.
After plowing through a large patch of ground, it was retracted.
Scanning the area, the Ubuyashiki estate had already collapsed into nothing but ruins during the recent confrontation.
"Has someone come?" Muzan's reason returned to him somewhat. He knew that fighting on the surface was disadvantageous to him; these people were trying to trap him there.
He had to return to the Infinity Castle as soon as possible.
Before Muzan could discover the abnormality in his body, Mizuki slashed at him with her blade again.
Muzan instinctively whipped out his flesh whips to force her back, but Mizuki, bracing her severed body, forcibly pinned Muzan right in front of her.
Bloody ice spread up along his trouser legs, the freezing aura eroding Muzan's legs and climbing rapidly.
Feeling the various presences rapidly closing in around him, Muzan stared at the smiling woman before him, seized with panic.
This woman!
Is she trying to outlast him in a battle of regeneration?!
"Kibutsuji Muzan!!!"
"Muzan!!!"
With roaring shouts, figures arrived from all directions. Muzan looked up and saw familiar faces one by one.
It's the Hashira.
Although he understood the group's goal, Muzan's focus remained entirely on Mizuki, never wavering.
To him, even the Hashira were nothing more than slightly larger ants.
The dangerous one was this woman who had walked a different path than him.
Facts proved that the Blood Demon Art was indeed very troublesome.
These bloody ice blocks were affecting his body.
If not for the erosion of this cold, this woman's physical constitution might not be able to fight him head-on.
While he was thinking, he and Kokushibou had already been surrounded by the crowd.
Blade-wielding figures were closing in rapidly, seemingly about to hack them to pieces.
Muzan, who had been forcibly pinned in place by Mizuki, suddenly grinned, as if everything was under his control.
At this moment, the method that could allow him to turn the tables...
"It's coming."
Realizing what was about to happen, Mizuki's eyes widened slightly.
Clang~
Like the sound of a biwa being played, doors reflecting the light appeared from the surface and quickly unfolded.
Below was an endless, infinitely overlapping space.
For a moment, everyone in mid-air couldn't find any leverage and began to fall downward.
...
The group didn't show any signs of shock; they just tried their best to move closer to their companions.
Mizuki glanced in the direction of Tanjirou and Kochou Shinobu.
Tanjirou was with Giyuu and Kyoujurou, while Kochou Shinobu was with Kanae and Kanao.
Others were also more or less huddled together.
She was relieved.
She would hold Muzan back, and then the others would find the demon controlling the Infinity Castle and kill it.
Then throw Muzan out of the different space.
This was the strategy they had decided on from the very beginning.
Since it was unavoidable to be dragged into that different space, they would enter it voluntarily and destroy it.
As long as the owner of the different space died, the space would naturally collapse.
It was like falling from a great height; the buildings on both sides were intertwined in a chaotic mess, completely ignoring space and gravity, overlapping with each other.
The tie Mizuki used to bind her hair had long since fallen off, and her long white hair was flying everywhere in the wind.
Even as she fell from the heights, she still gripped Muzan tightly, refusing to let go.
This woman intended to drag him down.
Looking at Mizuki's determined expression, Muzan immediately understood her plan.
He was really being underestimated.
This... was his territory!
Crack, crack...
The bloody ice crystals covering the surface of his body shattered bit by bit, and his entire aura was surging.
In Mizuki's shocked gaze, Muzan grabbed Mizuki's wrists tightly with both hands, and flesh whips emerged from his body once again, like blooming flower buds, stabbing toward her.
Pfft, pfft...
The flesh whips pierced into Mizuki's body, stabbing her into a honeycomb.
At a glance, she looked like a broken, bloody mess.
These flesh whips did not retract immediately after piercing her body; instead, they fixed her in mid-air.
This guy... wants to devour her right here.
Alarm bells rang in Mizuki's mind. She kicked Muzan, but it was hard to shake him.
Her arms were gripped by Muzan, and the difference in strength made it difficult for her to wield her Nichirin Blade.
Oh no...
In this situation, close-quarters combat had instead restricted her.
Could it be... that she was the one who was going to fail?
This inexplicable thought sprouted in Mizuki's mind.
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