Chapter Seventy-Nine:
This chapter is shorter than usual because I deleted half of it during revision... sorry.
Enjoy~~~
In that moment of absolute fearlessness, Zenitshiro burst forward in a chaotic, zigzagging golden flash. His speed had become so absurdly fast that he looked like a pure white bolt of lightning surpassing the limits of human vision.
He appeared directly behind Kokushibo. His eyes were wide and bloodshot, his pupils sharp and focused like needles locked onto the Upper Moon's neck.
He swung his damaged blade with overwhelming force enhanced by explosive speed. Blood sprayed from the torn muscles in his legs, unable to endure such horrifying strain, droplets scattering through the air as he lunged.
To the slowed perception of the Upper Moons, Kokushibo turned around very slowly, all six eyes staring coldly and sharply at Zenitshiro.
Zenitshiro whispered in a voice that no longer sounded like his own:
"Light Breathing — Third Form: Light Dragon!"
Zenitshiro's zigzagging trajectory transformed into golden energy, taking the shape of a radiant dragon of light, its head concentrated at the tip of the blade rushing toward Kokushibo's neck.
Kokushibo fully turned within a fraction of a second and swung his flesh blade to block the direct attack. But…
Kokushibo's sword could not withstand the power and amplified speed of the Light Dragon. It was cut apart as easily as a hot knife slicing through butter!
Zenitshiro's blade reached Kokushibo's neck and pierced into it. Demonic blood scattered through the air.
However… because Kokushibo's sword had weakened the force of the attack, and due to the prior damage to Zenitshiro's blade, the sword could not finish its path and fully sever the thick neck of the First Upper Moon. The blade stopped halfway through his neck.
That caused Kokushibo to smile coldly. He raised his broken sword, its flesh blade regenerating instantly, and swung it toward Zenitshiro's head suspended in midair.
Kokushibo spoke calmly, his voice filled with death:
"You are trapped. You cannot escape now… the muscles in your legs are completely destroyed from that attack. Did you use all your strength in one desperate strike? Unfortunately… you failed. Before your consciousness fades… die."
Zenitshiro's awareness was beginning to fade from the overwhelming pain and pressure. Darkness slowly crept into his vision while blood poured heavily from his ruined body.
His muscles had torn apart, and his eyes lost their golden glow. His haori, violently fluttering from his speed moments ago, slowly calmed. Facing Kokushibo's fatal blade descending toward his head, he could do nothing but stare helplessly.
And in that critical moment… a cold, calm voice echoed through the room.
"Mist Breathing — Fourth Form!"
An overwhelmingly fast and powerful attack surged toward Kokushibo. Every demonic cell in the First Upper Moon's body screamed danger at him, warning him to evade the sudden strike.
Thus, Kokushibo canceled his attack on Zenitshiro, kicked backward, spun through the air to retreat, and landed silently on the ground.
Kokushibo looked toward the source of the attack. Tokito Muichiro was charging after him at terrifying speed in a zigzag pattern, thick white mist spreading around him and covering the area.
Kokushibo narrowed all six eyes with interest.
"Amazing speed… brat. Can you leave mist-like afterimages due to such velocity? Unfortunately for you, my six eyes are far too sharp to be deceived easily."
Without even turning around, Kokushibo swung his blade to block Tokito's attack after the misty image in front of him suddenly vanished and struck from behind.
In the world of Demon Slayers, there was no real "magic" or actual elemental power within Breathing Styles. In the anime and manga, the author added them to help readers visualize and express the style. Fire was not real fire, water was not real water… however!
Under the effects of the Demon Slayer Mark and pushing his body beyond all limits, Tokito had achieved terrifying movement speed. Speed enough to deceive human and even demonic vision itself, making his body appear like scattered mist… an illusion impossible to grasp.
Thus, Kokushibo blocked Tokito's strike and counterattacked, yet all his blade cut through was a blurry afterimage — a motion mirage.
Kokushibo's six eyes operated at full capacity; each eye possessed independent awareness. He continuously blocked and slashed at Tokito's images appearing from multiple directions simultaneously. Yet every strike only cut lingering illusions burned into the retina due to overwhelming speed.
During that rapid exchange, Kokushibo's flesh blade had become badly damaged, covered in precise cuts, unable to regenerate fast enough against Tokito's relentless attacks from every angle.
"You are fast… brat, but…" Kokushibo smiled coldly.
In a single instant, he shattered the laws of speed and disappeared from his position, reappearing directly before Tokito's true body!
Within Tokito's accelerated perception, all he could see was a massive figure suddenly blocking his vision. He could not react quickly enough to stop Kokushibo's sword as it shot toward his neck at terrifying speed.
But then… they heard a sharp buzzing sound tear through the air.
A golden flash lunged forward like a serpent attacking prey, appearing behind Kokushibo.
Kokushibo reacted instantly. Clicking his tongue in irritation, he redirected his sword mid-swing away from Tokito and toward Zenitshiro, who had appeared behind him threateningly.
At that moment, Kokushibo noticed something strange — Zenitshiro still had not fully regained consciousness! His eyes were empty.
The First Upper Moon frowned internally.
"He is moving purely on instinct while unconscious? Where did he learn such a combat style? Could it be…?"
Before he could fully turn and cut down the charging boy behind him, Kokushibo was suddenly shocked to feel his sword halt mid-motion!
All six eyes widened slightly as he cursed inwardly, watching Tokito stab his white blade directly into Kokushibo's sword arm, pinning it in place!
Tokito had cleverly guessed he might not be able to sever the First Upper Moon's arm quickly enough, so instead he simply impaled it and used all his weight and strength to hold it still like a nail.
Seeing this suicidal teamwork, and feeling Zenitshiro's glowing blade beginning to pierce through his neck from behind while hearing the screams of the two boys pushing their bodies beyond every limit to ignore pain… Kokushibo smiled with murderous mockery.
BOOOOOOM!
A massive explosion of energy erupted. From within the scattering dust, Tokito's body — still clinging to Kokushibo's arm — was launched violently into Zenitshiro, who had been attacking from behind. Both boys were hurled away, smashing repeatedly across the wooden floor like broken dolls.
Barely managing to recover, they rolled and stood with extreme difficulty, their bodies trembling from pain and shock. Zenitshiro finally regained consciousness from the impact, and the excruciating agony returned to tear through his body.
From within the dust, Kokushibo swung his sword once. A massive crescent blade flew toward the two.
Tokito and Zenitshiro widened their eyes and barely leapt away using their damaged legs at the final moment to avoid being split apart.
The attack cleared the dust, revealing Kokushibo standing proudly. His arm — the one Tokito had impaled — had been grotesquely torn apart. He had ripped it free with overwhelming force in the critical instant, throwing Tokito into Zenitshiro!
Within a second… Kokushibo's mangled arm regenerated completely. Flesh regrew, forming a new limb. The slight wound on his neck from Zenitshiro's blade vanished without a trace.
Their chance to kill him vanished like smoke.
Despite all the hellish training and techniques Ren had taught them, defeating or even seriously weakening the First Upper Moon alone remained nearly impossible.
Even their original plan — exhausting and weakening the Upper Moons to buy time for Ren's arrival — seemed to have failed. If they stalled too long, Kokushibo might kill them out of boredom.
"How are we even supposed to defeat him?" Tokito whispered weakly, his body trembling from pain. He ripped off his torn shirt completely, revealing his thin upper body covered in bruises and deep wounds. "Can Ren really do it?"
Hope for survival was beginning to disappear completely for Tokito.
But…
Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.
A deep inhale… and a longer exhale.
Tokito — and Kokushibo as well — heard the sound of Zenitshiro breathing. It was rhythmic, calm, yet deep like a sleeping predator.
When Tokito looked beside him, he froze in surprise.
Zenitshiro was no longer trembling. His deep wounds had strangely stopped bleeding. His eyes, which had been shaking from pain moments ago, returned to a terrifying focus. His pupils became razor-thin and sharp while the whites of his eyes filled with blood.
And on his right shoulder — where his sleeve had been completely torn away — the Demon Slayer Mark began pulsing intensely.
The human body was an incredible machine… so long as one could control it completely.
Stop the bleeding. Accelerate blood circulation to the absolute limit by flooding the body with oxygen. Compress muscles violently to increase explosive power. Let the body move entirely on instinct as though it possessed its own consciousness, drastically increasing reaction speed. Shut down pain. Shut down fear. Stop thinking!
Act instantly within a fraction of a second without considering consequences.
Tokito's eyes widened as he stared at his companion.
"Isn't this… the secret technique Ren taught us as a last resort? But…"
Tokito tightened his grip on his sword and spoke firmly:
"It seems this is our only option left. I haven't mastered it at your level, Zenitshiro. I'm counting on you. We must cut off his head…"
"And run away with it…" Zenitshiro muttered absentmindedly in a rough voice unlike his own.
The moment he finished speaking, his foot exploded against the floor, splintering wood apart, and in the next instant he appeared behind Kokushibo, whose eyes widened at this new speed!
A demon could not regenerate its head if it was destroyed, because the brain — the core of regeneration — resided within the head.
Thus, Ren's insane backup plan was simple: if you could not kill the demon — because of rapid regeneration or defensive measures — then sever the head, grab it, and flee far away from the body until sunrise!
This was the same strategy Tanjiro and the others had used against Gyutaro and Daki in the original story. Since Daki could not simply regenerate another head after Inosuke stole it and escaped, this had become their contingency plan in case something unexpected happened… like now.
Although such a plan sounded utterly insane and suicidal against the First Upper Moon, with the Demon Slayer Mark massively multiplying speed and strength, combined with the "suicidal technique" Ren taught them, their power would surge to absurd levels for a few minutes before their bodies completely collapsed.
"Die fulfilling your duty… burn your life away… kill them all!"
Ren's cruel voice echoed within their memories. Using it as fuel, the two pushed the technique beyond all limits.
"Tokugi: Kengi no Kaiho! (Special Skill: Forbidden Release)"
Break every natural limiter within your body through ultimate breathing control. Destroy the biological safeguard system preventing full output. Force your brain to operate at 100%. Push the body beyond every possible limit even if muscles tear apart and bones shatter!
Tokito and Zenitshiro transformed into nothing more than flashes of mist and light. They vanished and reappeared all around the room at speeds surpassing sound itself, leaving overlapping golden and misty afterimages that made the First Upper Moon frown deeply.
Even with six eyes, tracking both simultaneously had become extremely difficult due to their terrifying speed. Therefore, Kokushibo abandoned reliance on sight alone and began using his monstrous perception and sensing their auras.
At that moment, the real battle began.
Kokushibo smiled savagely — an expression unseen on his face for centuries — while blocking Zenitshiro's overhead attack and Tokito's strike from below.
Every collision against his blade exploded with thunderous force. Golden and white sparks erupted violently against Kokushibo's purple crescent aura as the First Upper Moon finally began enjoying the fight.
"Finally… opponents worthy of… hahaha!"
Kokushibo laughed hysterically as he kicked Zenitshiro away and swung his blade to force Tokito back. His demonic laughter echoed throughout the Infinite Castle so loudly that someone else, far away in the intersecting corridors, heard it.
.
.
Elsewhere within the Infinite Castle…
Hakouji (human Akaza) was running alone. He leapt between inverted buildings and sprinted along walls at incredible speed.
He moved according to a fixed route in his mind, enhancing his perception to the limit to avoid Nakime's attempts to manipulate and redirect him. Every time a lower-ranked demon appeared before him, Hakouji killed it with a single punch that exploded its head and neck without slowing down.
The former Upper Moon Three had become even more terrifying and powerful as a superhuman mastering absolute martial arts.
"Ren, that insane bastard!" Hakouji muttered angrily as he smashed through a wall. "He kept repeating that we should never split up no matter what happens… but the moment we met, he points me in some direction, goes completely insane, and disappears!... Damn him!"
(Ren had sent Hakouji to support the others after locating them.)
Then… Hakouji heard the echo of that terrifying hysterical laughter as he approached the place Ren had directed him toward.
Hakouji smiled.
But it was not an ordinary smile. It was savage, excited, trembling with battle lust. The smile of a predator that had found its prey.
He accelerated even further, blasting apart the floor beneath him as he roared loudly enough to shake the corridors:
"Wait for me, Kokushibo! I'll crush your ugly head and those six eyes… with my own hands!"
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