Gazing at the plasma sphere he'd created, Ren smiled with satisfaction.
"Muzan, I hear you fear sunlight. Then how about temperatures beyond the sun—over ten thousand degrees Celsius? Think that'll burn you to ashes? I'm looking forward to it."
"Aaaargh!"
The blazing heat consumed Muzan's body, melting it. His shrieks of agony reverberated across the battlefield, striking terror in the remaining demons. They had to flee—if even Lord Muzan couldn't handle it, they certainly couldn't.
"Eh? They're running away—should we chase them?"
Exusiai raised her guns again, but Ren shook his head.
"No need. Once Muzan dies, they die too."
He glanced back at Muzan, still trapped in that sphere of searing plasma, entirely immobile.
"Gaaah…aaah…!"
All Muzan could do was scream, glaring wide-eyed at his own liquefying body. He tried to regenerate, only to be melted again in a never-ending loop of torment.
Far from pitying him, the Demon Slayers felt only elation. 'Serves him right!' Even the bedridden Kagaya Ubuyashiki, propped up by attendants, closed his eyes to better relish the demon king's death throes, a gentle smile on his face. Muzan's screaming was, to them, music. Some even brought out rice bowls, devouring them heartily while listening to his wails—that was the level of hatred they bore.
The entire spectacle lasted a full ten minutes before finally subsiding.
"Noo, my body—! Stop…!"
When Muzan's last cry faded, all the fleeing demons disintegrated.
[Detected: All demons have died! Demon King Kibutsuji Muzan has been slain by Ren!]
[Apocalypse Journey Complete!]
[Ren gains 300,000 Points; Esdeath 80,000; Exusiai 50,000; Aqua 50,000; Shinobu Kocho 30,000.]
"Three… hundred thousand!"
Ren's eyes lit with joy. Clearly that included the end-of-apocalypse bonus. Then a thought occurred to him—he quickly turned to look for Kie and Nezuko.
"?"
They simultaneously tilted their heads.
'What's he looking at us for…?'
"He must worry they'll vanish with Muzan," Tamayo said, covering her mouth with a knowing smile.
"Eh?"
'Ren was concerned about us!' The two women's hearts leapt at the realization, warmth flooding them.
But no—the two demons remained. It seemed that what Ren "dominated" had effectively been separated from Muzan's influence.
With a wave of his hand, Ren dismissed the blue plasma orb. Everyone stared, marveling at the now-empty space—Muzan was gone.
"We won! The demons are finished! We've won!"
In that instant, thousands of warriors erupted into joyful cheers. Some sobbed with relief.
Esdeath was the first to approach Ren. Her fierce eyes showed exactly what she wanted: a fight. She exuded that intention from every pore.
"Sigh…"
Ren realized there was no dodging this. His own display of power only spurred her on. She came from a world in which she was practically invincible, so of course she wouldn't back down easily.
Rather than wait, he spoke up first.
"Stop wasting time. Mahapadma, am I right?"
Esdeath raised an eyebrow, partly surprised but also piqued. "You seem to know quite a bit about me."
Ren waved away her remark, impatience evident. "Don't bother with the chatter. Let's get this over with."
"Hmph. Then as you wish—Mahapadma!"
A ruthless gleam entered Esdeath's eyes, and an overwhelmingly frigid aura burst free. The world around them seemed to freeze in an instant, as though an indescribable chill broke its seal, swamping everything with a biting cold.
In the blink of an eye, it felt like all motion ceased. Time and space alike fell silent, a pin-drop hush. Even Ren seemed to freeze.
"Is this… time freeze?"
A voice resounded in the strange stillness. Esdeath spun around in disbelief—Aqua was freely wandering about, eyeing everything curiously.
"Looks more like an instant of space freezing to me."
"You… you're a god?"
It startled Esdeath to see Aqua unaffected. Still, her main target was Ren. She turned back to him, anticipating an easy kill. Indeed, Ren appeared to have stopped moving… so presumably he'd lost.
"You lose."
"!"
A mild voice spoke in her ear. Warm breath tickled her earlobe. She had yet to even turn—her body locked in place as a strong hand seized her neck from behind, lifting her clean off the ground. The chokehold was suffocatingly powerful.
Esdeath struggled to break free, but invisible pressure weighed her down. She was helpless, pinned. She could feel the heat radiating from the one at her back.
"How… how did you do that?" came her raspy whisper. She faced the impossible realization that this man had somehow evaded her time freeze.
Behind her, naturally, stood Ren, unaffected by her technique. Meanwhile, bystanders returned to motion. Nezuko, Kie, Exusiai, and others saw Esdeath and Ren in a sudden embrace—or more like a hostage grip. They blinked, baffled.
Ren yawned. Esdeath's power did nothing to him. In Akame ga Kill, Tatsumi evolved to resist "Mahapadma" after enduring extreme environments—how could a momentary freeze hamper Ren's multi-layered defenses? And even if the cold alone couldn't break him, Vector Reflection was more than enough to neutralize any intangible effect.
"Will you surrender now? Don't bother me again. Next time I won't be so polite."
Ren's voice was calm, but his grip tightened, forcing Esdeath close to unconsciousness.
"…"
After a moment of suffocating silence, Esdeath forced out three words, "I… give… up…"
Satisfied, Ren let go. Gasping for air, Esdeath simply stood there, eyes hidden by the brim of her cap—lost in her own thoughts, perhaps feeling an unfamiliar sense of defeat. Or…maybe she had no idea how to proceed. Ren didn't care. The fighting was over. He closed the broadcast, leaving a final snippet for their watchers.
The broadcast ended.
Aqua hopped over. "All done now?"
Ren rolled his eyes. "What is it?"
Her face lit with a naive grin. "Heh heh, I noticed loads of wandering souls in this world. I'd like to purify them."
"Oh?"
Ren raised an eyebrow. He hardly expected such a serious statement from an airheaded goddess.
Aqua felt offended by his dubious look, pouting childishly. She lightly kicked his calf in protest. "Hey, I am a goddess. Helping people is my job!"
In that instant, her act was unexpectedly…cute. Ren found himself pinching her soft, pliable cheeks. Strangely, Aqua didn't even hurl an insult back.
He chuckled. "Go right ahead then. No need to ask me."
"Alright!"
Aqua perked up, preparing to unleash divine might—until Ren stopped her.
"Hang on a moment."
"Huh?" She cast him a questioning look.
Turning toward Kie, Nezuko, and Tamayo, Ren gestured them away. "You three, wait inside the house for now."
"Yes, Master."
Kie and Nezuko obeyed at once. Tamayo, though puzzled, also followed, presumably to avoid being caught in any potential purification wave—since, after all, they were demons.
Once the three demon women were safely out of range, Ren nodded to Aqua. "Now you can start."