Chapter 82
3100 word's
Enjoy~~~
Yukihara Ren stood in the middle of the destroyed room with a form that froze blood in the veins. He had fully activated the [Kibutsuji Muzan Template], taking on the appearance of the "Demon King."
Six black, sticky tentacles pulsing with terrifying cursed energy extended from his back, writhing like serpents from hell. One of them wrapped around his little sister, "Eri," with extreme gentleness that sharply contrasted the horrifying scene, while she remained clinging to his back.
Another tentacle tightly wrapped around "Daki's" head with crushing force, preventing her from even letting out a groan of pain. A third pierced through "Nakime's" body and pinned her to the floor like an insect, while the fourth coiled firmly around her biwa, completely disabling her ability to control the castle. The remaining two swayed through the air, ready to attack.
Feeling her brother suddenly stop moving, Eri became curious. She peeked her little head out from behind his back and rested it on his shoulder to look around. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw familiar faces amidst the destruction.
"Shinobu-sensei! Kanao-chan?!" the girl called innocently.
Seeing Eri on Ren's back, looking completely unharmed and showing no fear toward her brother's demonic appearance, Rengoku Kyojuro let out a sigh of relief while thinking:
"This is definitely a demonic form… and an overwhelming aura… but he hasn't lost control of his mind? What exactly is happening with this boy…?"
"Hmmm…"
A deep and calm voice echoed through the room. Upon seeing the beautiful little girl's face peeking from behind Ren, "Ryoga" (Upper Moon Two) drifted into thought for a moment, as though ancient memories from a distant past had struck his mind. He stared at the girl's features for several seconds before a strangely warm smile appeared on the demon's face.
Then Ryoga shifted his gaze toward Ren. He looked into those dark eyes with crimson slit pupils like a predator beast's. Seeing that appearance, Ryoga frowned and spoke with a strangely reproachful tone:
"What is this form, Ren-chan? I liked your emerald eyes more… keep them. They're something we should be proud of… because I have the same eye color."
As he said that, he placed a hand over his face as if wiping away a mask. In the next moment, enormous quantities of dense fog burst from Ryoga's body and rapidly swallowed the room.
Unfortunately for Ryoga… Ren had no time to think about his mysterious words or analyze the situation. After all, using the full power of the "Demon King" came at a terrible price.
Suddenly, Ren coughed up a large amount of black blood and grabbed his chest while struggling to breathe. Eri panicked and screamed as tears gathered in her eyes:
"Ni-chan!!"
Ren wiped the blood from his mouth and smiled weakly despite the agony tearing through his cells.
"Don't worry… just close your eyes, sweetheart… your big brother will always be here."
Ren focused again, but then noticed the disaster:
"I lost track of Ryoga's location… what?! Damn it, he was within my perception range and disappeared instantly!"
He looked around anxiously. The fog gathered around him in suffocating density, and then he felt something strange creeping into his body. In the next moment, he felt movement from Eri on his back. Turning toward her, he saw her trembling slightly, her face turning pale.
Focusing his eyes and activating the [Transparent World], Ren managed to see inside both her body and his own. Looking at the microscopic fog beginning to infiltrate their lungs and bloodstream, Ren clenched his teeth in anger.
His body was a hybrid filled with cursed energy, so he wasn't immediately affected, but Eri was just an ordinary human child and was being rapidly affected by the toxins. Without the Transparent World, noticing this hidden deadly trap so quickly would have been extremely difficult.
"Ren-senpai, be careful! The fog… it's poisonous!"
Ren heard Tanjiro's warning shout from afar. By analyzing the strained tone of Tanjiro's voice, he realized the boy was already struggling heavily to breathe.
"So… he's using the poisonous fog with far greater power and concentration than before!"
"This is bad for you, bastard…" Ren exhaled sharply and gripped his sword.
"Storm Breathing — Third Form!"
Ren exhaled forcefully, and in the next moment, shot toward a specific direction at terrifying speed. The explosive burst of movement and the circular slash of his sword created a small tornado that scattered a large portion of the fog before him. With the help of the system's [Mini Map], he pinpointed Ryoga's exact location and appeared before him in a fraction of a second, raising his blade to sever his neck.
But then… Ren froze and frowned for a brief moment.
The one standing before him wasn't Ryoga… it was his mother, "Yomi"! She looked at him with tears in her eyes and stretched her arms toward him.
"An illusion… damn you and your tricks!" Ren cursed inwardly, instantly realizing the trap.
But because he had lost momentum due to hesitation, he was forced to alter his attack trajectory immediately.
"Sun Breathing — First Form!"
Ren swung his blazing sword to decapitate Ryoga, who still wore his mother's appearance. Ryoga/Yomi smiled gently and leapt backward with demonic agility, narrowly avoiding the fatal strike by mere millimeters.
"This damned fog!" Ren roared angrily.
Ren charged again in pursuit of Ryoga while simultaneously having to constantly focus on expelling the poisonous fog around him and coating Eri in cursed energy to protect her.
And he had to admit it… Ryoga's speed was truly monstrous, perfectly synchronized with the dense fog that made him ghost-like.
A deadly clash began between the two.
Ren rampaged like a berserk monster, swinging his blazing sword and unleashing black tentacles, shattering floors and walls in an attempt to catch Upper Moon Two.
Meanwhile, Ryoga moved like a dancer through the fog, blocking strikes with the skill of a veteran Hashira swordsman, dodging the tentacles with almost zero margin for error, vanishing behind illusions, and leaving shallow wounds on Ren's body that regenerated instantly.
The battle continued for moments that felt like hours. The sound of clashing swords deafened the ears, and shockwaves tore through the room.
Finally, Ren found an opening!
Using Thunder Breathing, he appeared directly behind Ryoga and swung for his neck. Ryoga turned with unbelievable speed and blocked the sword with his own blade, but…
It was Ren's trap.
While Ryoga was occupied blocking the sword and attempting to retreat, Ren's remaining two tentacles burst from the ground and violently pierced through Ryoga's stomach and chest! Ryoga was slammed into the floor with enough force to shatter bones, and the tentacles forced him to kneel before Ren.
Ren stood before him with his sword raised to finish everything.
But despite the deadly situation, Ryoga merely smiled calmly and confidently.
Then suddenly…
Ren froze.
The boy's body trembled violently, and his eyes widened. He had stopped breathing! Or rather, no air was entering his body at all. He stood motionless like a statue as his thoughts slowed and blurred.
"It's a terrible mistake to use powerful Breathing Techniques, inhaling and exhaling repeatedly inside an environment filled with dense poisonous fog…" Ryoga mocked as he looked at the frozen Ren.
"Even if the poison itself doesn't affect you like normal humans… the dense fog accumulating inside your lungs and vital organs allows me to manipulate them from within. I stopped your breathing and paralyzed you internally… it was incredibly easy, wasn't it?"
The fog gradually dispersed, revealing Ren standing stiffly like a statue. Thick black veins bulged across his face and body as he trembled violently. Blood began leaking from his eyes, nose, and mouth due to the immense pressure inside his body.
Because of the severe lack of oxygen, his concentration collapsed, and he could no longer use the "Reverse Cursed Technique" to reduce the burden caused by using the restricted [Muzan Template] in this world!
[I told you this was reckless and foolish…] Reina said expressionlessly while floating nearby, curiously observing her host's miserable state.
Then Reina looked at Eri, who was silently crying behind Ren's back, trembling violently in fear. Pure terror at the possibility of losing her older brother.
Despite the pain and death crawling toward him, Ren drew a cold, terrifying smile across his bloodstained lips and whispered in a broken voice:
"Even… if I can't move… I can still… tear you apart from the inside!"
Ryoga's eyes widened in shock!
He realized that the tentacles piercing his body hadn't weakened at all. On the contrary, they began moving savagely, crushing his demonic organs and wrapping around his heart and spine to rip him apart from within, exactly as Ryoga himself had done.
"Let's see… who dies first…" Ren said coldly.
Seeing Ren's unwavering expression, Ryoga trembled violently.
"No… this wasn't my plan! I didn't want us to kill each other like this! I wanted to tell him what I needed before I died… please stop… let me speak… I…"
Both of their thoughts gradually slowed, blurred, and began fading. Who would lose consciousness or die first?
"There's no need to see who loses consciousness first… because he isn't fighting alone!"
The two heard a cold and sharp female voice.
Kocho Shinobu slowly emerged from the fading fog. She leapt lightly like a butterfly, raised her slender blade, and thrust directly toward Ryoga's neck, stabbing deeply into it!
Ryoga's eyes widened as a massive amount of poison flooded his body.
"This poison was made with Lady Tamayo's help," Shinobu said coldly as she stepped back. "But since you seem resistant to ordinary poisons… its purpose isn't to kill you… it's to weaken your regeneration and resistance… so he can crush you!"
Nearby, Tanjiro collapsed to the floor, gasping as though suffocating, while Rengoku supported him and helped him regulate his breathing. Using "Hinokami Kagura" with his ordinary human body while under the effects of Ryoga's poisonous fog field had nearly torn apart his lungs.
After a short while, as Ren slowly regained consciousness and rapidly expelled the poisonous fog from his body using bursts of cursed energy, he intensified the destruction of Ryoga's body with the tentacles.
Under the overwhelming poison and the agony from the tentacles, Ryoga gradually released his technique and stopped controlling the fog, making it easier for Ren and Tanjiro to recover and slowly expel the remaining poison from their bodies.
Then Ryoga weakly raised his head. His demonic appearance began trembling like a reflection on disturbed water. His face rippled and changed…
Revealing a completely different face.
A human face…
But it was extremely familiar to Ren.
Seeing that face, Ren froze in place, his pupils widening in genuine shock.
"You've become very strong… Ren-chan."
Yukihara Ryu…
Ren's father, who had mysteriously disappeared when Ren was only three years old! Ren barely remembered anything real about him, and his mother, Yomi, had never spoken about him, especially after Ren regained memories of his previous life. All Ren had were vague fragments of his late father's appearance.
"My name before becoming a demon… was Yukihara Ryu," the man said with a sad smile. "I was just a weak Demon Slayer who wanted revenge for my little sister and her family after demons devoured them…"
"But during one mission, I ended up transformed into a demon. Worse still… my first victim, after losing my mind to hunger, was the mentor who taught me Mist Breathing…"
Ryu coughed blood and continued in a shaky voice:
"I lived every day with regret tearing apart my soul. I couldn't even forget my human memories like other demons! I couldn't die or commit suicide because of Muzan's absolute control over my cells… but deep inside, there was one thing I wanted… to speak with my child before I died. To see you one last time."
Ryu looked toward Ren's raised sword.
"I never wanted to see my son burning away his life and power just to kill me… fate is truly cruel and twisted. But… I'll die proud of the son who reached such strength and who will surely kill Muzan… so do it, my son."
Ryoga/Ryu spoke calmly, continuously, with the proud smile of a father toward his son.
Meanwhile, as Ren slowly regained control of his body and mind, he stared in complete silence.
He looked at Ryoga…
Not at his lost father.
In truth, Ryoga couldn't truly kill him while he was in "Demon King" mode. But he could exhaust him slowly! Because Ren had just realized a terrifying truth:
Using templates and their full power drained him at a monstrous rate.
The original owners of those templates possessed their own energy sources. Muzan, for example, had consumed tens and hundreds of thousands of humans and Marechi bloodlines throughout history to build that physical power. For Ren to attempt using absolute power without consuming any human flesh or blood was essentially slow suicide.
Thus, Ren was using cursed energy and Reverse Technique to constantly heal the body tearing itself apart, just to maintain the Demon King form longer.
This placed tremendous pressure on him due to the world's will and the restrictions on his power. If he stopped healing, he would die. If he continued, he might eventually go insane and lose himself, slaughtering any human nearby to satisfy the template's hunger!
Thus, in this state, Ryoga was the perfect enemy to face Ren. If they had fought normally without exhaustion and poison, Ren would've needed an extremely long time to kill him… enough time for the Upper Moons to slaughter the remaining Hashira or for Muzan to escape.
At that critical moment, Rengoku stepped forward. Looking at Ryoga, who had closed his eyes with a smile while waiting to be beheaded after completely ceasing resistance against the poison and Ren's tentacles, Rengoku felt deep hesitation and pain in his noble heart.
"Should… I do it instead of you, Ren-shonen?" Rengoku asked quietly.
He understood how cruel and difficult it was to kill your own father with your own hands, even if he was a guilty demon. Such a thing would leave an eternal scar on the soul.
But Ren showed no expression.
He didn't even blink.
He raised his sword coldly, and with one motion, fast as lightning and sharp as truth itself, severed Ryu's head from his body!
"Ryoga is not my father…" Ren said emotionlessly, his voice echoing through the silent room. "My father died ten years ago… the moment he became a demon and lost his humanity."
The eyes of Ryoga's severed head widened. A sad yet understanding expression appeared as his body began crumbling into ash. He looked into Ren's cold eyes and heard his son continue:
"So… I'll eradicate every demon tonight and avenge the father they killed."
This was Ren's way of justifying it to himself. A cruel method to protect his mind from collapsing.
After saying that, Ren turned around and began walking away, preparing for the next battle. Looking at his son's sturdy back and the little sister clinging to him, Ryoga smiled with final peace.
Then he saw Eri turn toward him. Tears filled her tiny eyes and streamed down her cheeks, but she forced herself to smile at him in farewell.
"Ren…" Ryoga's fading head whispered. "Is Yomi… is she doing well?"
Ren didn't turn around. He paused briefly.
"She's well."
"Good… take care of your little sister… and your mother."
"I already do… and I always will."
"Thank you… my son."
"Mhm…" Ren responded faintly, almost inaudibly.
Then Ryoga's eyes finally darkened, and he completely vanished into ash carried away by the castle's winds.
Nearby, everyone remained silent, holding their breath in respect for the tragic moment. Tanjiro cried quietly, tears falling endlessly in sorrow for the Yukihara family.
Ren let out a long, heavy sigh. He raised his bloodstained hand and gently patted Eri's head, silently apologizing for making her witness such a nightmare.
Then he turned toward Tanjiro and gestured for him to come closer.
When Tanjiro approached while wiping his tears, one of the black tentacles from Ren's back wrapped around Tanjiro's waist and lifted him.
"Tanjiro…" Ren said, his voice returning to its usual coldness and strength. "You've already mastered the thirteenth and final form of Hinokami Kagura, haven't you?"
Tanjiro quickly wiped away his tears and nodded firmly.
"Yes! I'm ready."
"Good…" Ren said, his crimson eyes glowing with promised destruction. "Then it's time to kill Kibutsuji Muzan."
He spoke with a voice colder than hell's ice, then shot forward at terrifying speed, smashing through one of the room's gigantic doors with his remaining tentacle while dragging Tanjiro into the darkness.
Behind him, he left final words for the stunned Hashira:
"Go immediately and support Mitsuri and Obanai against Hantengu (Upper Moon Four)! They're fighting in that direction… just keep moving and you'll find the battlefield!"
Rengoku, Shinobu, and Kanao looked at one another in heavy silence. They nodded in understanding before rushing toward the designated destination at full speed.
Upper Moon Two had died by his son's hand. They didn't truly know whether this was a fortunate victory because they had overcome a terrifying obstacle in record time thanks to him… or something tragic and devastating, because a brave son had been forced to execute his own father with his own hands at such a young age, carrying yet another sin upon his already burdened shoulders.
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You can ignore this part. It's just an explanation for some people who may not like Ryoga's story and character.
In short, I had planned this from the very beginning of the novel. But as you probably noticed, after around chapter 30 my writing style started changing and the plot improved, and I stopped trying to write drama because I realized I'm terrible at it.
So this ended up being an idea I couldn't get rid of, which is why I compressed it into a single chapter, even though the original draft contained around 10,000 words focused on Ren and Ryoga's confrontation.
Ryoga's technique was designed to literally counter Ren's powers. If Ryoga had truly wanted to kill Ren, the battle would've taken much longer… potentially causing other deaths against the Upper Moons, or even Eri dying from the poisonous fog herself.
The reason Ren fell into the trap was because he repeatedly used Sun Breathing at full power. Even though the poison itself wouldn't affect him immediately, the fog Ryoga controlled as part of his own body infiltrated Ren's body and cut off his oxygen supply…
And even demons would at least lose consciousness without oxygen… they aren't aliens.
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If you enjoyed the chapter, please tell me your thoughts in the comments. That's my only motivation to keep going 😇❤️