It was a cloudy day.
As evening approached, the courtyard was bathed in dim light. The shadows of the trees made it hard to see far, everything cloaked in a gloomy haze.
Muzan had deliberately chosen this time to arrive. Even as the Demon King, he hadn't overcome his weakness to sunlight. Dusk was his domain, giving him the freedom to retreat if anything went wrong.
[DemonPrincess: Muzan's here? Where, where?]
[Brand: Probably that guy in the northeast corner. Black hair, red eyes, young male… appeared out of nowhere, with a creepy vibe. Matches the description you and Tanjiro gave, Hikari. He's heading toward the pond, close to Yamato's spot.]
[DemonPrincess: Oh, I see him!]
[DemonPrincess: Not what I expected. So, demons in this world don't have horns on their heads?]
Meanwhile, Bulma, tinkering with the spaceship in the Dragon Ball world, couldn't hold back her curiosity as the group chat buzzed.
[Bulma: Hold up, what does this Muzan guy even look like? You're all making me super curious! Someone start a live stream, quick, quick, quick!]
[IronHead: Hang on, Bulma-san, I'll do it…]
[IronHead has started a group live stream]
As the stream went live, not only Bulma but also Hikari, quietly playing her role inside the house brewing tea, "saw" what Brand and the others were witnessing.
It was definitely Muzan.
In his youthful form, dressed in a black suit and a top hat, he strolled through the mansion's pathways as if on a leisurely walk. The lanterns lining the path dispelled some of the darkness, but his figure seemed untouched by their glow.
If you only looked at his appearance, you might even call him somewhat dashing.
But knowing his history and the atrocities he'd committed, all that came to mind was visceral disgust.
At that moment, Muzan was "sneaking" into the headquarters' courtyard, believing himself undetected. Little did he know, he was under the scrutiny of seven or eight—no, over a dozen pairs of eyes. Beyond Hikari and her group, several Demon Slayer Corps Hashira hidden around the courtyard could see him too, while Brand and Yamato were giving real-time updates in the chat.
Truth be told, Muzan sensed something was off.
As a thousand-year-old Demon King known for his caution, he might not see Yamato and the others' hidden figures, but he was keenly aware of being watched. Over the hundred-meter walk from the courtyard to the main house, he'd stopped to look around several times, ready to bolt at any moment.
Rustle—
The sound of wind brushing through the treetops filled the air.
Then came the sharp clap of a ball being bounced, coming from two "little girls" near the main house's entrance.
Speaking of which…
Hikari only realized a flaw in her plan after it began—she'd tasked Esdeath and Eri with posing as the Ubuyashiki daughters in the courtyard. But Eri couldn't speak freely due to her Speech Spirit, and Esdeath's icy demeanor made her reluctant to talk. Two "sisters" in their early teens silently bouncing a ball in the yard? It looked a bit eerie, to say the least.
Muzan seemed to notice this oddity.
Unaware of transformation jutsu, he merely frowned, showing no overt reaction.
At that moment, Ubuyashiki Kagaya spoke up from inside the house:
Cough, cough…
His frailty wasn't an act. After a few labored coughs, he looked outside calmly:
"You're here."
"I'm here."
At that moment, Muzan tucked away his suspicions, eyeing Kagaya's frail, near-death state with a mocking smile.
A thousand years.
Since escaping his family as a demon in the Heian era, the Ubuyashiki clan had been cursed by the gods. To break that curse, they'd poured everything into opposing him, forming the Demon Slayer Corps that persisted for centuries. Even when Muzan, with Kokushibo's help, killed the Corps' leader during the Sengoku period, he couldn't eradicate the organization.
But today…
It would all end.
Without the Demon Slayer Corps, he could send his forces to search for the Blue Spider Lily, the key to becoming a perfect being. Then, even if Yorichii Tsugikuni were reborn, he'd have nothing to fear.
"That woman… she's not here?" Muzan asked, casually scanning the surroundings, not spotting the red-haired, red-eyed figure from his memory.
Kagaya spoke again: "Won't you come in and sit, Muzan? My… ancestor."
"…Heh."
Muzan smirked coldly and stepped into the living room. "So, you've accepted your fate? Not bad for a human to hold out this long. If you surrender to me, I might consider sparing you and granting you eternal life."
"…As a demon?"
"What else?"
As they spoke, Muzan glanced at Hikari, disguised as Amane Ubuyashiki and serving tea, but his gaze lingered only briefly before moving on.
Hikari kept her expression neutral, not even looking up, while secretly typing in the group chat with her thoughts:
[NoName: Kikyo-san, any signs of anyone besides Muzan?]
[Kikyo: …Two presences have slipped into the northwest side of the barrier. They're demons, likely with spatial teleportation abilities. They're near the main house now, very close to your position. Be careful.]
[NoName: Spatial teleportation… Hantengu and Gyokko?]
[Brand: Gyokko? That's the one I called dibs on, right?]
[Yamato: And me? Where's the 'Akaza' I'm supposed to fight?]
[Kikyo: Not sure… There's another presence approaching from the east, but they seem to have sensed something and stopped at the barrier's edge, not entering yet.]
As the barrier's creator and controller, Kikyo could sense every disturbance within it. She reported positions one by one, while Hikari made quick judgments, assigning targets to everyone.
The only hiccup was Esdeath.
Since she wasn't in the group chat, Hikari couldn't communicate with her directly or use techniques like "Transmission Jutsu." She had to rely on Eri to subtly signal her to stay calm.
[LittleMonster @NoName: Hikari, Esdeath-neesan seems like she's about to snap. Her aura's getting really cold…]
[LittleMonster: The ball you gave us is about to freeze and crack. If it breaks, can we get another one later?]
[NoName: …]
Okay, in Eri's eyes, that little ball was apparently more important than Muzan and the Upper Moons.
[NoName: Any other presences near the barrier besides those three?]
[Kikyo: …There's one more in the southwest, but that's where Mitsuri-san and her team are stationed. They'll likely encounter them first.]
"Hm…"
Hikari figured one or two of the three might be Kokushibo or Akaza, but Douma and the replacement Upper Moon Six were still unaccounted for.
[NoName: …Get ready to move, Kikyo-san. Muzan's guard is down.]
[Kikyo: Got it.]
With the decision to act, Kikyo, hidden in a "folded space," clasped her hands and formed several hand seals:
"Release!"
In that instant, fluctuations of energy rippled from a dozen points across the headquarters' courtyard. Water-like patterns shimmered in the air, spreading like ripples on a lake, revealing figures as they emerged.
In the blink of an eye, the once-empty courtyard was bustling.
Yamato, Brand, Tanjiro… and the Demon Slayer Corps' Himejima Gyomei and others all appeared.
Only Eri and Esdeath, still bouncing the ball, remained unchanged—they couldn't undo their transformation jutsu freely, as Hikari had used chakra to disguise them as little girls.
But…
Esdeath's aura erupted at that moment.
"?!"
Muzan froze, his face flashing with shock.
Before he could react, a pop echoed as the ball in the courtyard exploded.
A chilling, overwhelming pressure radiated from that direction, hitting Muzan and making even the thousand-year-old Demon King shiver.
Snowflakes danced.
It was early autumn, but white snowflakes suddenly swirled through the courtyard, carried by a cold wind. Esdeath, still in her child form, fixed Muzan with an icy glare, sharp icicles forming in her hands.
"…What's going on?"
Muzan seemed to realize something, his gaze lingering on Esdeath before snapping back to "Amane Ubuyashiki," who was setting down her tea set and standing up. "Wait, you're…"
"Finally caught on, huh?" Hikari said, lifting her head with a slight smile.
Her eyes gleamed with a dark red glow.
Chakra surged.
In the courtyard, Esdeath and Eri reverted to their true forms.
As the caster, Hikari transformed even faster. As she stood, her height shrank from about 1.7 meters by ten centimeters, her adult female appearance reverting to her original thirteen-year-old self.
Her high, white bun unraveled, cascading into fiery red hair, matching the hue of her eyes.
—This wasn't transformation jutsu but a subtle use of "Fire Thunder God."
Uchiha · Yorichii · Hikari.
The "limited skin" Hikari had used twice before—on Spider Mountain and in Yoshiwara, taking down two demons—was back for a limited-time encore.
With that done, Hikari's eyes curved into a bright smile as she looked at Muzan, a few meters away. "We meet again… Surprised, Muzan?"
"…"
Muzan was stunned.
His five brains nearly short-circuited from shock.
He'd considered the possibility of encountering Hikari here—after all, if the "reincarnated Yorichii Tsugikuni" was still alive and with the Corps, the headquarters was the most likely place. But…
He never imagined she'd appear before him like this!
The great Yorichii Tsugikuni, resorting to tricks and disguises? And what was with this ability to change appearances at will?!
After a moment of shock came overwhelming terror.
"…It's you! It's really you!"
Muzan leapt up, staring at Hikari in disbelief before letting out a piercing scream:
"Gyokko!! Hantengu!!"
His shout was so loud it created a tangible shockwave, bursting Kagaya's eardrums nearby, blood trickling down. Hikari frowned slightly, her senses catching two presences closing in from behind.
Almost simultaneously with Muzan's scream, two blurry shadows shot out from the room's corners like phantoms, rushing toward Hikari's back with deadly intent.
"?!"
Tanjiro, charging in from the courtyard, opened his mouth to warn her.
But before he could, Hikari stepped lightly to the side as if anticipating the attack, tilting her head and spreading her arms. Her hands, cloaked in transparent "Chakira," grabbed the assailants, activated a sealing jutsu, and flung them forward.
Thud!
With a muffled crash, the shadows hit the ground, revealing their true forms: two grotesque demons, one with "Four" and the other with "Five" etched on eyeballs in their foreheads and mouths.
"Upper Moon Four, Hantengu, and Upper Moon Five, Gyokko?"
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