Chapter Fifty-Seven: Ron's Plan!
(The bonus chapter I promised, so yes... every 50 Power Stones means another bonus chapter, and every 10 reviews means a bonus chapter as a thank you!)
Note: I'm thinking of making Shinobu the main heroine, what do you think?
Question: Do you think that when Muzan became the first demon and overcame human weakness, he lost his humanity in exchange because it was a weakness in the face of evolution? Does that mean he lost emotions such as love, sadness, and desire?
Enjoy~~~
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The morning sunlight slipped into the luxurious bedroom of the Tsugikuni clan mansion, gently touching the face of the young man sleeping deeply.
"Young master! Young master Ren! Please wake up!"
Ron slowly opened his eyes, only to find the face of his personal maid extremely close to him, smiling with excessive enthusiasm, her eyes sparkling as if she were the one getting married today.
"Hah…"
Ron sighed heavily, stretched out his hand to gently push the maid's face away from him, then rose from the bed while lazily rubbing the back of his head.
"Good morning, my lord!" the maid exclaimed as she threw the windows wide open, letting in the cool morning breeze. "Today is the long-awaited day! Young Master Michikatsu's wedding! The entire mansion is in a state of joyful emergency!"
Ron stood and walked toward the window, looking out at the garden bustling with servants and decorations. He was now nineteen years old, while his brothers, Yoriichi and Michikatsu, had already reached twenty-one.
"Michikatsu's marriage…" Ron murmured quietly, his emerald eyes carrying a distant gaze. "The only reason I returned to this annoying mansion is to see my brother get married instead of turning into a six-eyed demon."
Ron turned to the maid, who was holding his formal clothes with excitement. "Leave the clothes and go out. I'll put them on myself."
"But my lord! I'm here to assi—"
"Go out." Ron said it calmly, but with a tone that allowed no argument. The maid quickly bowed and left the room, closing the door behind her.
Silence filled the room.
Ron began removing his sleepwear and putting on the luxurious white formal kimono, then wore his favorite black haori over it, its sharp contrast against the white kimono mirroring the contrast between his intentions and his innocent appearance.
As he tied his waist sash, he called out in his mind:
"Rina… can we begin executing the plan?"
Rina appeared beside him in the air, floating casually while looking at his reflection in the mirror.
[Answer: Yes, Ron. Calculations are complete. As long as you gather the required resources, I can exchange 'Soul Points' to create the required chemical compound.]
Ron's eyes gleamed with greed. "The Blue Spider Lily… right?"
[Correct. The flower that turned Kibutsuji Muzan into a demon, which he searched for for centuries without success.]
Ron sighed and continued adjusting his collar. "That idiot Muzan… he was looking in the wrong places, at the wrong times. But I know where it is, and I know when it blooms."
Ron walked toward the mirror and fixed his hair. Over the past years, he had been chasing Muzan's shadow. He had planned to kill him, absorb him, or even turn him into a mold to increase his own power.
But the "older brother," Yoriichi, ruined everything… somehow.
In the confrontation that happened years ago, Yoriichi nearly ended Muzan with a single strike. But Muzan, with his usual cowardice, used "Uta" (Yoriichi's wife) as a momentary hostage to distract Yoriichi and escape.
Since then, the Demon King vanished. There was no trace of him. Yoriichi's power terrified him so much that he decided to hide until this generation of Hashira died out.
"Waiting for that coward to crawl out of his hole will take decades…" Ron thought coldly. "And I'm not patient enough. If I can't take the Demon King's power from him… I'll make it myself."
Ron looked at his hand, imagining the power that would soon flow through it.
With Rina's help and his future knowledge from the "anime," he would create the potion that Muzan's doctor failed to complete.
"The Perfect Demon King Potion."
Ron listed the advantages in his mind, his smile widening:
"Eternal immortality… absolute regeneration that cannot be overcome… and complete immunity to sunlight."
He wouldn't need to eat humans. He wouldn't suffer from disgusting bloodlust. And he would eliminate the "human impurities": fear, sadness, and hesitation.
"If the original 'Ren' knew about this, he'd probably have a moral panic attack," Ron laughed softly with mockery. "As for 'Rei' (the justice version), he'd definitely try to slap me a hundred times and lecture me about humanity."
Ron clenched his fist, his eyes glowing red for a moment before returning to emerald.
"But I'm not them. I am 'Ron.' I am the embodiment of the desire for power. My goal is immortality, to become an invincible, undying entity. I will live forever, and I will possess enough power to trample anything that stands in my way… without regret."
Ron turned toward the door, his body emitting a heavy, dark aura completely unsuited to the wedding atmosphere outside.
"Just a few more years…" Ron whispered in a voice like a serpent's hiss. "The ingredients will be complete, and I'll drink the potion. After that… even Muzan will be nothing more than a light snack to increase my power."
As that terrifying smile split Ron's handsome face, Rina floated behind him, watching his back with an emotionless gaze, though her thoughts moved along a different path.
[Analysis: The ability of 'Reincarnated Souls' does not create evil copies…]
Rina thought as she watched him open the door and step into the light, while his heart sank deeper into darkness.
[…But that doesn't prevent the copies from choosing darkness of their own free will. Ron… you are turning into something that may force 'Ren' to fight you one day.]
"That won't happen…"
The echo resonated throughout the infinite mental void. Rina blinked, finding herself suddenly far from the Tsugikuni mansion, specifically in that calm place representing Ren's subconscious mind.
Ren was lying as usual on his comfortable couch, flipping through the pages of the Attack on Titan manga with focus and a mysterious smile that never left his face.
[What do you mean, Ren? Was my analysis of the situation wrong?] Rina asked as she floated above him.
"Hmm…" Ren murmured without lifting his eyes from the page. "Not completely wrong, but not accurate either."
Ren lazily stood up and walked toward the massive manga shelf stretching endlessly across the corner of the room. He carefully returned the third volume to its place and pulled out the fourth as he turned to her.
"I can feel everything… the thoughts and emotions of my other copies constantly flow to me. And even though Ron's plan looks insane and dark at first glance, he will never become evil or a threat to innocents."
Ren paused for a moment, staring intensely at the first page of the new volume.
[But Ren… Ron hasn't formed any real emotional attachments to anyone there. His actions are cold and calculated.]
"I thought you were good at analyzing emotions, Rina," Ren said with a faint smile as he flipped the page. "He acts like he doesn't care, and claims everything he does is for his grand plan… but if he truly didn't care, why did he save Yoriichi's mother? And why is he putting in so much effort to prevent Michikatsu from walking the dark path?"
Rina remained silent, staring at Ren's eyes, which glowed with a strange light behind the volume.
"Ron is the embodiment of our desire for power. But the more important question is: why do we desire power?" Ren continued in a more serious tone. "Our desire isn't for domination, but to prevent the deaths of innocents… to prevent tragedies from repeating. Ron wants to eliminate 'human weakness' because he hates the helplessness we once felt. He wants to be strong enough that no one would dare touch those he loves."
At that moment, Ren stopped reading and chuckled lightly. "Oh… it looks like Sakurai actually has some talent!"
His eyes shone as he watched the memory feed of his original body, where he was firmly training his three companions.
[Great power means greater responsibility… I think I'm starting to understand now.] Rina said calmly.
Ren turned to her and winked playfully. "Don't worry… my core consciousness is connected to 'Rei' and 'Ron' at all times. No matter what happens, they carry the same will as mine. Rei is my desire to achieve justice, and Ron is my desire for power to protect that justice. Ron will only be evil in the eyes of those who try to harm the people he loves."
Ren returned his gaze to the manga, as silence once again filled the mental void, while he thought, "Mikasa is really beautiful… I want to punch that bastard for acting like that toward such beauty."
["….."][]
Rina stared at Ren's expression as she read his thoughts. This person was carefree to the extreme.
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I'm just thinking of making a special offer…
Since the novel has reached almost 60 chapters within a month, I want to make a deal with you…
30 reviews on the novel, and you'll get all the chapters I have in stock.
Which are more than 10, at least.
So, what do you think?