Beside Akaza, Joseph Joestar reappeared from stealth, carrying Kazuma Satou on his back.
At this point, Akaza had been pinned through the chest by Kairo Retsu's Insect Glaive in a one-for-one trade. He was utterly unable to flee.
This time, there was no chance for him to tear off a limb and escape.
"Ripple——————!"
Joseph roared as he unleashed Ripple energy gathered in his palms straight at Akaza. His Ripple-charged hand grazed Akaza's fist mid-air, throwing his punch off course—and Joseph's strike landed squarely on Akaza's body.
This time, the power of Ripple penetrated every cell in Akaza's body.
And Akaza understood… his defeat was now certain.
"You waited until now to use a move like this…"
Realizing death was upon him, Akaza looked down at his disintegrating hands. "All that Fighting Spirit from those demon slayers… it was to make me overlook your presence, wasn't it? That was your plan?"
"No. That was Kairo Retsu's plan." Joseph remained vigilant, prepared to strike again with an Overdrive Ripple if Akaza moved.
"Him… no, that guy… It really was Kairo Retsu's plan, huh." Akaza stared at Kairo's fallen body—his head obliterated by a single punch. "He deliberately exposed his head at the last second… to bait me into leaving an opening."
As Akaza spoke, both his arms were completely dissolved by Ripple, and he could feel the solar-like life energy of the Ripple rapidly melting away his internal structure.
"In the end…"
Giyu Tomioka fell silent.
The members of the Demon Slayer Corps had somber expressions. They had hoped to resolve the battle without Kairo needing to sacrifice himself. But now…
"Guildmaster…" Tanjiro murmured sorrowfully, staring at Kairo's limp body.
"Hey! What's with the long faces, huh?!" Kazuma suddenly broke the gloomy atmosphere with perfect timing. "Dammit! That guy totally came up with this plan just to squeeze some tears out of us!!"
"Wait, wait! Don't look at me like I'm human garbage!!" Kazuma shouted as he noticed everyone turning to stare at him with strange expressions. "I'm not some heartless jerk who feels nothing when a comrade dies!! The point is—Kairo Retsu isn't even dead!!!"
"..."
Even Akaza—now reduced to half a body—looked genuinely confused.
At that moment, a glittering, rainbow-colored Felyne burst out of thin air in full view of everyone, dragging behind it a wheeled wooden stretcher. It scooped Kairo Retsu's body up onto the stretcher in one smooth motion.
And the instant Kairo's corpse hit the bed, his head—which had been completely destroyed—regenerated almost instantly.
Kairo Retsu flamboyantly came back to life, reclining sideways on the stretcher and waving to the others. "Yo! Babies! Your Guildmaster is back—uh, hey hey hey! Where are you taking me, kitty?!"
Before he could greet the others properly, the rainbow Felyne tied him down with a rope and started dragging the cart away.
"My duty is to return failed Hunters to the nearest temporary camp, nya!" The rainbow-colored Felyne declared as it ran off responsibly. "Guildmaster can use a wyvern to return to the hunt, nya!"
"Wait, I haven't even dropped any cool one-liners yet—ah well, too late!"
Kairo looked a little regretful as he lay on the stretcher, waving to the stunned Demon Slayer Corps members and to the half-destroyed Akaza. "You guys hang in there! I'm leaving the rest of the Infinity Castle to you until I get back!!"
"Oh, and Akaza!!"
Kairo called out cheerfully, voice light and carefree: "After you die, when your memories come back and you meet your wife again—make sure you thank me properly in Hell!!! Repent properly down there!!!"
"…Hell, huh…"
Now only a severed head, Akaza looked slightly surprised that Kairo even spoke to him again. But he also seemed somewhat dejected.
"There's no such thing… as that kind of place… In the end…"
And at last, Akaza's remaining cells were completely dissolved by Joseph's Ripple.
———
On the other side, Shinobu Kocho and Tamayo—who had been waiting anxiously—witnessed something that made them question reality itself.
They'd been bracing for the final battle's outcome, when suddenly a shimmering, rainbow-colored, bipedal cat sprinted past them dragging a stretcher—on which Kairo Retsu reclined sideways, flashing them a radiant grin and even blowing a whistle.
And then… the cat disappeared into thin air with the Guildmaster in tow.
"…What… the hell… was that thing!?"
———
Akaza had thought his consciousness would vanish from existence upon death.
But as he fell into darkness, he unexpectedly saw light—and a blaze.
Yet he could not approach the light. He was only allowed to walk toward the fire.
Still, he caught a glimpse—within the light stood three silhouettes.
A frail man who looked sickly and weak… a strong man wearing a radiant smile…
And a girl—with snowflake hair ornaments—who ran toward him without hesitation.
The moment the girl threw herself into Akaza's arms crying, the haze clouding his memories was torn away.
Watching him with bittersweet expressions were two men—his father and his master.
His name… was Hakuji.
And that crying girl… was his fiancée, Koyuki.
"If you remembered your human memories, you'd take your own life on the spot."
"After you die, when you meet your wife again—thank me properly in Hell!!! Repent down there!!!"
Hakuji finally understood what Kairo Retsu had been doing all this time.
And in that moment, Koyuki clung to Hakuji, buried her face in his chest, and cried softly.
"Welcome back… my beloved."