Chapter: Devouring the Fifth Moon
Darkness prevailed.
But it wasn't the darkness of night… it was something else.
From Akaza's body, black threads began to seep out… thick shadows, dark as ink, writhing and twisting, like living beings emerging from another realm.
At first, they came from his feet… then from his palms, his chest, his neck, until they covered his entire body like a hellish cloak.
Those shadows rose slowly, like heavy smoke defying gravity, then suddenly rushed toward Gyokko's corpse.
The shadows began to wrap around the body of the Fifth Moon.
Faint whispers rose from all directions — familiar voices, but distorted.
Then…
"Ghhhh…"
A harsh grinding sound emerged from within the shadows, as if flesh and bones were being slowly consumed.
Creaking, tearing, and withering… everything around Gyokko's body began to decay, melt, then be devoured.
Nothing remained.
No flesh, no bones, no blood… only those shadows.
Then a terrifying silence covered the entire forest.
And a cold metallic voice was heard, as if from the void:
🩸 [System: Fifth Moon has been devoured.]
🩸 [Side Quest Completed: "Blood Purity – Stage One."]
[Note: System rewards cannot be granted to anyone other than the intended recipient. Otherwise, appropriate punishment will be applied.]
"So that's why I couldn't give it to Muzan," Akaza said in astonishment.
Suddenly…
Light split through the darkness.
From the center of the spot where Gyokko's body had been consumed, small cracks of light appeared on the ground.
Then…
"Boom…"
A silent explosion, like an invisible shockwave, pushed the air away.
And from the heart of the explosion, a vial appeared.
But it was no ordinary vial.
It was a masterpiece from an unknown era.
Cylindrical in shape, slightly tall, surrounded by a spiral frame of ancient black glass, as if forged from meteor shards.
At its center — a bright green liquid, within which a circular form resembling a miniature nuclear explosion burned, pulsing every few seconds, forming glowing rings that radiated beyond the glass.
Inside the elixir, the green energy spiral moved slowly… spinning, exploding, shrinking, then spinning again, like a miniature simulation of a star's life and death.
The top of the vial was sealed with a tight metallic cap, engraved with intertwined runes in an unknown language, glowing occasionally with phosphorescent green whenever the elixir pulsed from within.
As soon as the vial appeared, the air around it froze…
Akaza felt it. He hadn't touched it yet, but his whole body shivered.
As if it didn't belong to this world.
Then — as if responding to him alone — the vial began to float in the air, slowly moving toward him.
🩸 [System: You have been rewarded — Elixir of Life.]
🩸 [Description: A sealed vial of spiritual glass, containing a pulsating green liquid made from a triple-core energy source: blood, shadow, and trapped sunlight.]
🩸 [Effects:]
– Absolute immunity to sunlight.
– +33% permanent increase in all stats.
– Instant regeneration upon a fatal wound (one-time use).
.......Akaza's Point of View.......
I gently held the vial in my hand, afraid it might break.
It was warm…
I raised it to my eyes.
I stared at the recurring green explosion inside.
A point of light, then expansion… then stillness… then another pulse.
I smiled lightly before whispering:
"This… is what I needed."
And I swallowed it.
...I swallowed the elixir.
For a moment, I felt nothing.
Then…
The flames began.
But they weren't flames from the outside…
They were born inside.
I felt them carving their path through my veins… no, burning them.
My veins… as if narrow pipes trying to contain a blazing meteor.
Everything suddenly felt tight — my skin, my muscles, even the air.
"Ah…"
A groan escaped me.
I clenched my jaw so hard I nearly shattered my teeth.
It felt like something was exploding under my ribs…
Like a bomb going off inside me slowly… deliberately.
Heat… then cold… then a flood of pain.
I felt it rise from my stomach to my chest, to my brain.
Each heartbeat ignited another explosion inside.
[This... is too much…]
My entire vision turned red.
My body trembled…
My knees buckled.
My bones cracked.
My veins burst.
This wasn't ordinary pain.
Even death was nothing compared to this.
I felt my veins expand… then explode… then regenerate…
I heard something tearing inside me…
But no blood.
I felt new blood flow through me — not mine.
Stronger. Purer.
Even the power I felt when fighting Gyokko was nothing in comparison.
I laughed.
A broken laugh, but an honest one.
"Is this what Muzan spent his whole life searching for?" I couldn't help but laugh.
I looked at the dark, gloomy forest before heading toward the exit.
I took a path toward the exit…
Light began to pierce through the branches.
On the horizon, a golden yellow line began to appear.
Dawn.
I paused for a moment.
I looked at the sky… a faint ray began to crawl on the edge of the world.
The sun… was coming.
I felt my heart pounding.
But it wasn't fear.
It was challenge.
"Now let's see… was it real?"
I approached the last row of trees,
The shadow behind me engulfing me, and the light ahead slowly spreading.
I took a step.
The wind… was warm.
The first ray of sunlight touched the edge of the shadow.
One distance remained between me and the answer.
I lifted my foot.
Then…
The chapter ends.
Elixir image in the comments