The battlefield was a frozen cathedral of death—ice lotuses blooming, blizzards spiraling like blades, and Dōma's laughter echoing through it all.
"Ah… delightful!" he mocked, voice carrying a poisonous cheer. "So many little insects buzzing together. How amusing it is to see you struggle, clawing at survival!"
Shinobu's breath fogged in the killing cold, yet her eyes remained sharp. The poison-laced thrusts of her slender blade sang in quicksilver arcs, each strike seeking the smallest gap. Inosuke, by contrast, tore through the frost storm with raw fury, his twin blades spinning, crossing, hammering like wild fangs against Dōma's crystalline defense.
But it was Zenitsu who kept the rhythm. Every time Dōma moved to counter, thunder cracked. A golden blur struck from behind, from the side, from above—the storm's tempo never faltered. His feet burned tracks into the frozen ground as his speed shredded Dōma's composure.
For the first time, the Upper Moon's smile faltered.
His palms pressed together, summoning a hail of ice shards sharp enough to cleave bone. "You're buzzing too loudly," Dōma sneered. "Perhaps it's time to—"
Crack! Lightning split the storm. Zenitsu's blade flashed past his wrist, severing the gesture mid-formation. Dōma's eyes widened. "Tch—!"
"Now!" Shinobu roared, a rare ferocity in her voice. She leapt, her small frame a blur, Nichirin blade driving straight into his chest. The poison sang down the steel, biting deep. Dōma gasped as frost misted from his mouth, his body beginning to seize.
And then came the beast's howl.
"DIEEEEEEEE!" Inosuke's voice cracked with rage as his serrated twin swords crossed in a brutal X, tearing into Dōma's exposed neck. His muscles burned, his roar splitting the storm itself as steel bit through flesh and bone.
Crack. Snap. Slice.
The Upper Moon's head tumbled into the ice, his ever-present smile frozen one final time in mocking disbelief.
"…Impossible…" the lips mouthed weakly before crumbling into frost.
Silence fell—an oppressive quiet after endless thunder, poison, and fury. The blizzard faded, the false temple of ice collapsing into shards that scattered like broken glass.
Shinobu staggered, blood at her lips, but her blade did not tremble. Inosuke panted, his body shaking from exhaustion, his mask cracked but his spirit burning. Zenitsu stood with sword still humming, lightning fading from his aura, chest heaving as he tried to calm the storm within.
The three of them stood victorious.
Dōma, Upper Moon Two, lay erased—his final smile shattered forever.
But in the distance, the war still raged. Screams, clashes, and the roar of demons flooded the night. And above them all, a deeper, more monstrous malice pulsed—the heart of Muzan beating within the chaos.
This victory was not the end.It was only the beginning of the reckoning.