Tsukihiko's words were not a shout, but they crashed through the clearing with the force of a thunderclap. In the wake of his terrible claim, an absolute silence fell, heavy and suffocating. For Kagaya Ubuyashiki, the last descendant of his family, the statement was a blow more devastating than any physical attack. It was an assault on a thousand years of history, sacrifice, and belief.
In this moment, Tsukihiko held every advantage. He controlled the time, the place, and the people within it. Crushing the remnants of the Demon Slayer Corps would be as easy for him as snapping a dead branch. There was no need for him to lie or play mind games. This simple fact made his words all the more believable, and all the more horrifying.
If what he said was true, it meant that the Ubuyashiki family had been living a lie for a millennium. It meant they had been deceived and manipulated by the very people who claimed to be their allies—the Shrine Maiden clan.
How could this be?
That thought echoed in Kagaya's mind, a frantic, desperate denial. Beside him, his wife, Amane Ubuyashiki, felt a tremor shake her to the core. She was a daughter of the Shrine Maiden clan. Her marriage into the Ubuyashiki family had been arranged by her family's elders, a decision she had willingly agreed to. Their children had died fighting demons, a tragedy that had bound their families even closer.
She had always seen her life as a series of fateful, tragic coincidences. But if Tsukihiko was telling the truth, then none of it was a coincidence. It was all part of a plan. Her marriage, the births of her children, and perhaps even their deaths—all of it might have been arranged by her own family. The thought was terrifying. Utterly and completely terrifying.
No, it's impossible!
"How can that be possible?" Shinobu Kocho suddenly spoke, her voice cutting through the silence. "The power Master Ubuyashiki received was a blessing from the Shrine Maiden's god, wasn't it?"
"She's right!" Mitsuri Kanroji added, her expression a mixture of confusion and defiance. "If what Muzan says is true, then why did they help us? We would have all died back in the Yoshiwara district without Master Ubuyashiki's power!"
Gyomei Himejima, his hands still clasped in prayer, nodded slowly. "Hmph. This is surely just another one of his wicked schemes. We can't believe a word he says."
As outsiders to the family drama, the three remaining Hashira could see the flaw in Muzan's story more clearly. Kagaya and Amane were too close to it, too emotionally entangled to think straight. But the Hashira saw the logical contradiction. If the Shrine Maiden clan wanted the Demon Slayers destroyed, they could have simply done nothing. Letting them all die in Yoshiwara would have been the simplest path. Why would they intervene only to give Kagaya a temporary boost in strength, creating more risk and uncertainty? It made no sense.
"Tanjiro… what is going on?" Zenitsu Agatsuma whispered, his eyes wide with fear.
"I don't understand it either," Tanjiro Kamado replied, his knuckles white as he gripped the hilt of his sword. "But it doesn't matter. He is Muzan Kibutsuji, the King of Demons. No matter what secrets he knows, he has to die today."
For Tanjiro, Genya Shinazugawa, and Zenitsu, the situation was much simpler. They didn't care about ancient conspiracies or family betrayals. Their families, their masters, and their friends had been murdered by demons. The one responsible for all of their suffering stood right in front of them. Now that their ultimate enemy had appeared before them, there was only one option: fight until their last breath. To do anything less would be to betray the memory of everyone they had lost.
The air grew cold again. Kagaya looked up, his gaze meeting Tsukihiko's with a new, complex expression. He knew he still had one final surge of life force left in him, enough for a single, desperate attack. But he also knew it would be useless. A so-called killing blow from him now wouldn't even be enough to take down one of the Upper Rank demons, let alone Muzan himself. He understood that Muzan wasn't trying to provoke a fight. He was trying to reveal an unbearable truth.
"It seems my words have given you something to think about, Kagaya Ubuyashiki," Tsukihiko said from his throne of ice, his face a mask of calm indifference. "You aren't a complete fool after all. If you had denied it immediately, then in my eyes, you would have lost your final chance at redemption."
Kagaya and Amane both flinched at his words. "What do you mean by that?" Kagaya asked, his voice hoarse.
Muzan's army surrounded them, and a demonic barrier had sealed off the entire Ubuyashiki estate. All of Kagaya's contingency plans, the hidden explosives and traps, were now completely useless. Relying on the three remaining Hashira and Tanjiro's small group to defeat the Demon King was nothing but a childish fantasy. Stalling for time was equally meaningless. But strangely, Tsukihiko seemed in no hurry to finish them. He seemed intent on revealing a secret first.
"The meaning is simple," Tsukihiko said, his voice as calm as a frozen lake. "The god of the Shrine Maiden clan was able to grant you a temporary, three-day boost of extraordinary power. As the true Lord of Demons, the undisputed King, I can of course do the same."
His simple sentence stunned the entire group into silence once again. Kagaya's face became impossibly grim. It was true. The Shrine Maiden, Chinami, had used a secret art to condense his life force, spirit, and vitality, merging it with the combat experience of generations of his ancestors. It was how she had created a master swordsman capable of fighting for three days. But how could Muzan, a mere demon, possess such a power?
"You may doubt my words," Tsukihiko continued smoothly, "but don't forget… the members of my Twelve Kizuki were all once ordinary mortals. My blood, in a sense, comes from the very same source as the Shrine Maidens' secret technique."
As he spoke, the last bit of color drained from Kagaya's face, leaving it ashen and lifeless.
Tsukihiko's voice pressed on, relentless. "And you should also know the story of my own creation. I was a human on the brink of death, saved only by a mysterious doctor's medicine that transformed me into the first demon."
His words were already astonishing, but his final statement shattered their world.
"That so-called mysterious doctor… was a member of the Shrine Maiden clan."
What!?
Hearing this, even a man like Kagaya Ubuyashiki, who had led his clan through countless tragedies, felt his composure crack. His face changed drastically, mirroring the expressions of utter shock on Amane, Shinobu, and the other slayers. They all stood frozen, thunderstruck, their minds reeling in disbelief.
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