Chapter Sixty-One: Birth of the New King!
Enjoy~~~
"What did you just say?"
Muzan asked, his voice carrying a mix of doubt and shock, as if the mind that had lived for centuries refused to comprehend what his ears had heard.
Was his mortal enemy offering him survival?
Ren slipped his hands into the sleeves of his black kimono and turned to look at the crescent moon hanging in the sky, a mysterious smile forming on his face.
"Kibutsuji Muzan… I, Tsugikuni Ren, offer you a single chance to survive—and to achieve your dream of perfect immortality."
After saying that, Ren turned back to Muzan and began explaining his insane offer.
Ren already had a prepared plan to become the first demon, just as Muzan had done. So in truth, he didn't need Muzan himself.
But… what came after?
If he became the first demon on his own, even if he overcame the sun, he would still be "inferior" in terms of experience and raw power compared to the former Demon King who had lived for centuries, feeding on rare blood and developing his abilities.
Ren wanted to use Muzan as a "vessel of experience" and a means to completely conquer bloodlust and desire.
He wasn't ready to risk losing his humanity and turning into a man-eater; the very idea disgusted him.
"Muzan… you possess a method to transfer your consciousness and cells into another body, don't you? Even though you would never do it because you believe yourself to be the perfect being that needs no change… but my body is very appealing to you, isn't it?"
"..."
Appealing? Don't talk like that, people might misunderstand.
Muzan thought irritably, sighing as he sat down on the ground casually, looking up at the night sky.
"Don't you feel the urge to kill her?" Ren asked suddenly, tilting his head toward Tamayo, who was trying to quietly distance herself and escape.
"It's not that… I simply don't care about anything anymore," Muzan replied coldly.
"I'd rather talk about your strange offer."
"Hmmm… whatever," Ren shrugged.
"In short, you'll enter a wager with me."
Muzan frowned.
"A wager? What do you mean? Stop speaking in riddles."
Ren narrowed his eyes. It seemed the Demon King wanted to cling to his pride until the very end.
"Sigh… in short, I'll grant you permission to attempt to take over my body.
If you succeed in defeating my will and controlling me, you'll obtain my powerful body, all my memories, and most importantly… the location of the Blue Spider Lily."
Muzan's eyes widened.
Ren continued,
"This means no one will stand in your way afterward. You can do whatever you want—enslave humanity and the world, live as a normal human, or anything else… You could even act as if you were me, with your excellent acting skills, and live as the heroic Hashira who defeated the Demon King."
As Ren kept talking, Muzan's smile widened.
This wager seemed absurd, and its success nearly impossible—because it was unthinkable that Ren would be foolish enough to allow him to take control willingly.
He surely had a way to suppress him, like that strange power, "Domain Expansion."
But Muzan already knew his fate was inevitable death. There was no harm in gambling.
And even if he lost…
Muzan smiled darkly inward.
The memories of centuries of demonic acts, hatred, and evil would easily overwhelm the will of this boy who sought immortality.
So even if he lost, and Tsugikuni Ren took control of the new Demon King's body, it wouldn't matter—because he would most likely become a "version" of Muzan, forever tainted by his evil.
"I only want to ask… what do you gain from this?" Muzan asked as he stood up and grasped Ren's outstretched hand.
"As you know, if you desire immortality, I'll give it to you. I can even remove my complete control over you in exchange for you not trying to kill me—and I'll fulfill any other conditions you want."
"I was born to become king, demon," Ren said with an arrogant smile, his emerald eyes shining with defiance.
"I won't let someone like you control me!"
Muzan laughed madly, and massive fleshy tendrils burst from his body, wrapping around the two of them, forming a cocoon of darkness and flesh.
This was his personal method of merging himself with Ren, though it would take time.
"I love this… I'll make you regret it, Hashira!"
Muzan's terrifying laughter echoed through the area as darkness swallowed them both.
….
In different places across Japan, demons felt the severing of the connection linking them to Muzan—or rather, its extreme weakening.
This caused some demons to consider rebellion and breaking free from his control.
But then, all demons remembered one person.
A person who had carved endless terror into their depths over the years.
The person who singlehandedly killed 11 of the Twelve Kizuki… and left one for his subordinate to finish.
How could they dare fight or reveal themselves while this monster existed?
Not to mention the presence of two other monsters (Yoriichi and Michikatsu) of nearly equal strength, bearing the same features.
The Tsugikuni clan, alongside the Demon Slayer Corps, were in their golden age—and they were a true nightmare for every demon.
….
Meanwhile, in Ren's mental void.
Ren, contrary to his usual self, wasn't reading manga or fooling around.
He was silent and focused, eyes closed in meditation, while Rina sat nearby, appearing distracted yet watchful.
They were observing what was happening to Ron, moment by moment.
….
In an endless dark void, Kibutsuji Muzan opened his eyes.
Looking around, he smiled. It seemed controlling Ron would be easy—there were no visible defenses in his subconscious protecting the core of his consciousness.
Muzan approached a crystal-like core the size of a palm, floating at the center of the void, colored a terrifying emerald red.
The flames emanating from it made Muzan tremble and frown involuntarily.
"You really think it's that easy?"
Muzan heard a mocking voice from behind him. He sighed and turned to see Ren standing there, looking at him with ridicule.
"Of course not… I was just imagining succeeding easily!" Muzan replied, rolling his eyes.
In an instant, he transformed from a handsome, elegant man into his horrifying combat form as the Demon King.
"Hmmm… do you really think I can't use my full power in my own mental void?" Ren said, narrowing his eyes.
A crimson light appeared around and behind him, and within moments, the shape of a crimson sun manifested—covered in darkness that seemed to melt from the sheer intensity of its heat.
"Not really, but… I can make this part of my mental void too," Muzan said with a malicious smile.
Part of the mental space shattered, and a massive dark storm erupted, devouring everything.
After that, Ren and Muzan appeared standing in a new, different mental void.
A mental realm born from the fusion of their subconscious minds.
Now, only their wills would determine the victor.
Ren closed his eyes upon seeing this.
Muzan sighed in relief—Ren had implicitly agreed that their battle would be one of will alone.
If Ren continued using his "external" power in this mental world, Muzan would have had to surrender immediately.
….
In the real world.
Tamayo, who had been fleeing earlier, suddenly noticed her connection to Muzan cut off—or rather, weakened to an extreme degree.
Her eyes shone as she thought: could it be… will he die tonight?
She stopped and quickly turned back toward the place she had fled from.
If Muzan was going to die, she had to see it with her own eyes.
And if what was happening was Muzan taking over Tsugikuni Ren's body, then she had to witness who would become the new Demon King… and whether he would be even more evil than the previous one.
She ran swiftly, and when she arrived, she froze.
Before her was a massive pulsating mass of flesh that radiated an ominous presence.
She could sense an overwhelming power emanating from it.
Tamayo frowned, concluding that Muzan was attempting to take over the Hashira's body—but would he succeed?
She waited. Time passed.
The darkness deepened, the cold intensified, yet she didn't move, staring intently at the possession process.
More time passed, and Tamayo felt both fear and hope simultaneously.
She prayed for one of the good outcomes.
The good outcomes were as follows:
Tsugikuni Ren defeating Muzan and freeing himself from his chains, rejecting demonic power.
And if he couldn't—then at least not becoming a vile monster like Muzan.
She would be satisfied with Muzan's death regardless.
The other outcome was the sun rising before the process finished, causing the Demon King—whoever it was, Muzan or even Tsugikuni Ren—to perish.
Then, after even more time passed, Tamayo felt her connection to the Demon King return strongly.
But she didn't know—was this bond with Muzan himself, or with the new Demon King? Who had succeeded?
The fleshy mass began to shrink, returning into the single remaining body.
It now possessed long white hair that gleamed beneath the night sky, and crimson red eyes with predatory slits—those were the eyes of the Demon King.
He looked at his hands with curiosity and no expression, then raised his head to gaze at the crescent moon in the sky… and smiled.
"Hehe… hahaha… HAHAHAHAHA!"
At first, he laughed elegantly—but then suddenly burst into madness.
A madness that made Tamayo stumble back in fear.
Suddenly, the new Demon King lowered his gaze toward Tamayo and smiled with terrifying joy.
"Tamayo… it's time for your death."
He said this while slowly approaching her—
but suddenly froze in place and frowned.
The Demon King's mind was currently flooded with Muzan's memories—far too many, overwhelming.
By controlling his five brains, he completely prevented his mind from reading or seeing Tsugikuni Ren's memories, attempting to erase the host's identity.
But then, his body began rejecting him and his control.
It started analyzing all memories at an extreme speed.
Muzan's will—formed from his memories—was completely crushed under the weight of a stronger will, and Ren's will resurfaced.
The frown vanished, replaced by an annoyed expression as he rubbed his head and complained:
"Damn it, Ron… you switched with me just for a mental fight? Why didn't you give me control during the actual battle?"
"Ren" complained and sighed, then closed his eyes.
His white hair regained its natural black color with crimson edges.
When he opened his eyes, he carried Ron's calm gaze—the look of someone who had done nothing remarkable at all.
Those captivating emerald eyes returned.
"Hmmm… why are you still here? Didn't I kill all the living demons?"
Ren said this with narrowed eyes, recalling from his memories that once he switched with Ren, completely crushed Muzan's will, and placed mental barriers on him (as he did with Sukuna), he used the authority that once belonged to Muzan to manipulate the blood in all living demons—and detonated it, killing them entirely.
So why was Tamayo still alive?
"Are… are you Tsugikuni-sama?" Tamayo asked, tears welling in her eyes.
This made Ren frown as old memories began surfacing.
Memories of Haruto, who read Demon Slayer manga with sadness, feeling pity for Tamayo and admiring her—thinking about how she might survive, return to being human, and escape death and her painful past.
Memories of Yukihara Ren, who visited Tamayo and Yushiro some time ago with Hakuji and Sakurai, and how he agreed with her to develop a drug to cure Nezuko and restore her humanity.
Thinking about this, Ren looked at his hands.
He could buy the same drug he tried to use during his confrontation as Yukihara Ren against Upper Moon Two, Doma—the drug that turns demons back into humans—from the system shop.
But that drug had a high chance of failing.
And Ren didn't want to act strangely by suddenly producing a demon-curing medicine out of nowhere.
He looked at Tamayo, feeling conflicted.
Should he kill her? From Ren's memories, it seemed he had given him freedom to decide her fate.
"Sigh… how annoying," Ren muttered, then looked at her sharply.
"Listen… I am Tsugikuni Ren, and today I will judge you for all your actions!"
Ren said this with absolute seriousness.
This made Tamayo smile peacefully and say:
"I'm happy… as long as Muzan is erased from existence, I don't mind dying a hundred times."
(Ahem… I still haven't finished my exams. Sorry, I'll be back soon—wait for me.)
---
End of Chapter 61.
If anyone complains about this chapter's content, I'll punch them…
Do you want me to write five chapters just for Kibutsuji Muzan?
Well, if this were Ren and not Ron, I could have dragged out the new Demon King arc for another ten chapters… unfortunately.
Anyway, tell me your thoughts about the novel.
Very important note:
I'm confused about how to return to the Jujutsu Kaisen world in a smooth and natural way, and how to handle the reactions to Ren Zenin's transformation again—since the first time it was Ron, then Ren took over, and now Ren is fully in control of that body.
Also, what are your ideas for starting the events there?
Should I follow the original storyline, or create a different event—even if it's chaotic?