"I... I..." Lady Tamayo's pretty face was a storm of conflicting emotions before she finally, painfully, made up her mind. "I am willing to cooperate."
The simple sentence seemed to drain all the strength from her body. With a soft thud, she collapsed onto the high platform.
"Remember your words, Tamayo," Muzan said, turning away with his hands clasped behind his back. "After all, this is your only chance to survive."
The sharp, eerie sound of a biwa rang out, and in an instant, the world of the Infinity Castle shifted once more.
Urokodaki, Giyu, and Obanai found themselves in a strange, windowless room. Nezuko Kamado was gone, clearly taken by Muzan. Beside them, on the cold floor, lay the body of the Wind Hashira, Sanemi Shinazugawa, his face a grimace of pain, his eyes wide open in death.
"The most pressing matter," Obanai said, his voice a low hiss, "is how we are going to get out of here."
Their gazes met, and an unprecedented sense of dread and hopelessness enveloped them. They were prisoners in the heart of their enemy's lair.
At the same time, Lady Tamayo found herself back in her own courtyard, with Yushiro lying injured nearby. But when she looked past the familiar garden, she saw that it was now surrounded by an impenetrable, swirling mist. Undoubtedly, this was the work of Nakime, the demon who controlled the Infinity Castle. They had not been returned home; their home had been brought into the castle with them.
A soft mumble drew her attention. Nezuko, dressed in her pink kimono with a bamboo muzzle in her mouth, was beginning to stir. A flicker of something—resolve, perhaps—cut through Tamayo's despair. She went to the young demon and gently helped her up.
"Yushiro," she said, her voice quiet but firm. "It seems... we're going to be busy."
The sun rose on a new day. But for Japan, from the highest levels of government to the smallest village, the night that had just passed was an unforgettable nightmare. Vicious demons had plunged the country into chaos. Under the command of Kokushibo and Doma, demon-infiltrated army corps had launched their attacks, and a wave of assassinations had left the cabinet on edge and filled with a burning hatred for the Demon Slayer Corps, whom they blamed for the attacks.
For the Ubuyashiki family and the Demon Slayer Corps, the night was a brutal lesson. Muzan's proactive, multi-pronged assault had shown them the true, terrifying extent of his power and cunning. The cowardly demon who hid in the shadows was gone. In his place was a conqueror, one who was determined to create a new era with his own hands.
At the Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters, the air was heavy with a suffocating silence. On the ground, stretchers held the bodies of the members who had fallen in the night. The training ground at Mount Fujikasane was annihilated, and branches of the Corps all across the country had been attacked and wiped out. Against the endless tide of demons, their swordsmen had been like grass trampled underfoot.
But the real reason for the crushing silence was the news that three of the nine Hashira had mysteriously disappeared: Giyu Tomioka, Sanemi Shinazugawa, and Obanai Iguro. They had gone to Mount Sagiri on a rescue mission and had never returned. Rescue teams had searched the entire mountain and found no trace of them. They were presumed to be in grave danger, or worse.
In the Council Hall, the remaining six Hashira knelt in silence.
"You are all here," a deep, powerful voice resonated in the air. It was their leader, Kagaya Ubuyashiki. He was critically ill, the ancestral curse of his family having taken a heavy toll on his body, but his spirit remained unbroken.
"Master!" the six Hashira said in unison. Their expressions were grim. They were the pillars of the entire organization, the strongest generation of Hashira in a thousand years, and yet they felt utterly powerless. Deep in their hearts, they had always craved a chance to fight Muzan Kibutsuji. But they had never imagined it would be like this. In a single night, their enemy had crippled them, destroying their training grounds, slaughtering their members, and capturing three of their strongest warriors.
If Muzan were to attack again, would they truly have the strength to stop him?
"You all have a basic understanding of what happened last night," Kagaya's calm voice followed. "The Muzan Kibutsuji we are facing now is completely different from the one our intelligence described. His power, his calculations, his methods... they are far more terrifying than we ever imagined. And he still possesses a near-immortal body."
Kagaya let out a long, slow breath. "That is why I have called this emergency Hashira meeting. We must formulate a brand new strategy."
He looked at each of his remaining children, his voice low but filled with an iron will that seemed to possess a magical quality, plunging the entire hall into a silence where a pin drop could be heard.
"Otherwise, the next time Muzan Kibutsuji attacks, it will be the day the Demon Slayer Corps is wiped out for good."