Akaza's fist suddenly froze mid-swing.
He vaguely saw a gentle woman wearing a snowflake-patterned ornament on her head, similar to his Blood Demon Art, and then he saw a man in white martial arts attire...
The purpose of my strength was always to protect, Koyuki, Master Keizo...
The next instant, seven Red Blades pierced various parts of his body.
This time, Akaza didn't resist.
His head, which had largely regenerated, didn't continue to recover.
He simply aimed his palm at his chest, under the wary gaze of all the Hashira.
"*Destructive Kill: Annihilation Style.*"
A powerful force erupted from Akaza's palm, instantly annihilating his body, until he dissipated into dust.
"Sugoi! Tanjiro!"
Kanroji Mitsuri jumped up excitedly.
Shinazugawa Sanemi stared at Tanjiro in shock. Beside him, Tomioka Giyuu, usually so expressionless, also widened his eyes.
"This is the first time I've seen a Demon killed just by talking, Tanjiro."
Tokito Muichiro exclaimed in admiration.
"Tanjiro, can you talk Muzan and that other Demon to death too?"
Rengoku Kyojuro pointed to another battlefield.
On the other side, after Uzui Tengen sustained severe injuries, Himejima Gyomei finally found an opportunity and lopped off Kokushibo's head with an axe.
However, Kokushibo's head quickly regrew, and his body further mutated, sprouting sharp tentacles and bone spurs, a long tusk protruding from his mouth, and a single horn growing from his forehead.
He had now become a complete monster.
"I... I don't know, but I can try."
Tanjiro rubbed his head.
"Why bother with so much? There are only two Demons left now. Muzan is being su... is being suppressed by Master. Are we, so many Hashira, afraid we can't suppress Upper Rank One? At worst, we'll hold out until dawn and let the sun kill these two guys."
Shinazugawa Sanemi, with the demeanor of a berserker, charged forward.
Even with Uzui Tengen severely wounded and out of the fight, there were still eight powerful Hashira. Kokushibo's absolute strength was still somewhat distant from Muzan's level, and he was destined to be suppressed.
Soon, the hundreds of surviving swordsmen had also evacuated all the civilians from the entertainment district and regrouped.
With the Fluorescent Lamp Flashlight and the Red Blade as powerful weapons, most of the Demon Slayer Corps members survived.
The Twelve Kizuki had some resistance to these items, but ordinary Demons did not.
Weaker Demons would turn to dust and dissipate within seconds of being exposed to the Fluorescent Lamp, and even stronger Alien Demons couldn't last much longer, minimizing casualties among the ordinary swordsmen.
Soon, Kasugai Crows cried out in the sky, relaying Amane's command.
Kanroji Mitsuri, Shinazugawa Sanemi, and Tomioka Giyuu temporarily withdrew from the encirclement of Kokushibo and rejoined the ordinary swordsmen.
This was because they hadn't yet mastered the Transparent World.
The reason for keeping swordsmen who could use the Transparent World was that the method they were about to employ would significantly affect vision.
The five swordsmen closed their eyes, fighting Kokushibo solely with the Transparent World.
Fluorescent Lamp Flashlights were switched on, shining in unison towards Kokushibo's position, illuminating the area brighter than daylight, to the point where it could blind those within it.
The formation of hundreds of Fluorescent Lamp Flashlights was incredibly lethal, both to humans and Demons.
Layer after layer of flesh continuously peeled off Kokushibo's body, dissipating as black smoke.
The intense light from the Fluorescent Lamps made Kokushibo's regeneration slower than the rate at which his flesh melted under the light, severely weakening his strength.
At this moment, the five swordsmen only needed to keep Kokushibo in place, and no matter how strong he was, he was destined to die.
Kokushibo, of course, wanted to break through.
But with five Hashira-level swordsmen inside, and an outer encirclement of three Hashira leading hundreds of elite Demon Slayer Corps members, Kokushibo, even fighting with all his might, completely vanished into thin air several minutes later.
All members of the Demon Slayer Corps silently turned their gazes to the final battlefield.
Muzan was still taking a beating.
After a long period of outburst, Muzan's desperate struggle finally ceased.
However, he still hadn't given up hope of escaping, and was desperately entangled with Qingshui.
"No... I won't die! How could I die! I am the closest living thing to perfection, you can't kill me, you can't kill me!"
Facing the fear of death, Muzan appeared somewhat deranged, his countless bone spurs flailing ceaselessly.
Especially after Akaza and Kokushibo, the two strongest Upper Ranks, had successively died, Muzan, knowing he had no further reinforcements, became even more crazed.
Yet Qingshui remained as steady as an old dog, fighting methodically, constantly wearing down Muzan with his high mobility and high attack power, showing no signs of fatigue.
Muzan's health bar was long, and his regeneration speed was fast. While Qingshui couldn't kill him immediately, he could keep him pinned in place, unable to escape.
After his perfect Demon transformation, his stamina was also incredibly exaggerated.
The entire battlefield was under his control.
Soon, hundreds of swordsmen once again assumed their stances.
Five Hashira who had mastered the Transparent World grouped together, leaping across the ruins towards the center of the battlefield.
Undoubtedly, they intended to replicate their method of dealing with Kokushibo on Muzan.
Qingshui didn't say much.
These Hashira, in the original timeline, had all played more or less a role in fighting Muzan, but only two or three of them survived in the end.
Now, with someone like himself who could suppress Muzan, they only needed to slightly hold him back, preventing that kind of outcome.
When the five arrived, Qingshui, as if anticipating, closed his eyes along with them.
One by one, Fluorescent Lamp Flashlights turned on again, and the intense white light, like flames, caused Muzan's body to rapidly disintegrate.
"No!"
Muzan couldn't help but clutch his head, letting out a wail.
Now, facing the attacks from Qingshui and the Hashira, he didn't even attempt to fight back. He merely mechanically swung his arms around him in defense, while furiously proliferating his flesh until he transformed into a giant infant over ten meters tall, continuously digging into the ground, attempting to hide where the light couldn't reach.
Moreover, the larger the volume, although the surface area also increased, the ratio of surface area to volume actually increased. This form also indirectly allowed Muzan to reduce the effects of light exposure.
Seeing this, Himejima Gyomei quickly threw his Nichirin Blade, intending to use the chain connecting his battle-ax and flail to ensnare the giant infant's massive head.
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