A bolt of lightning splits the sky, striking a nearby tree with a deafening crack. The forest trembles, the ground quaking beneath its roots. A sudden gust of wind howls through the trees, chilling the air with an unnatural frost.
Suiryu shudders. For the first time in decades, fear slithers down his spine.
The sky roars again, as if the heavens themselves are warning him.
Chikafusa's grip tightens on his sword, his nerves visible.
"I'm sorry, Yoriichi Tsugikuni… for not coming up to your expectations… I'm sorry, Koji-kun… for not saving you… Tsugikuni-san… I couldn't help you in the Sengoku Era… I failed to be your successor in the Taisho Era. Even in this reincarnation, I've never helped you… Not even for once. And here, I couldn't help my friends. Thousands of people died because of me… I feel sorry for everyone who died or suffered because of me. Only if I were strong, it wouldn't happen.
But it won't repeat again… I'll fight till my last breath. I'll do anything to save my friends… to save everyone."
Chikafusa steps forward, his steps slow and deliberate.
Suiryu takes a step back, wants to forfeit and flee away. But he stops, remembering what Jigen once said to him.
"Remember! If you fail in any of my missions, I'll throw you to the depth of oblivion. An endless torment. Infinite nothingness. And it's even trillions of times worse than death. I hope you won't disappoint me…"
Suiryu's eyes blaze with determination as his monstrous form bulges further-muscles swelling, veins pulsing like molten steel beneath his skin. His power surges.
">———BLOOD DEMON TECHNIQUE: BLUEFIRE FIST———<"
With a furious roar, he swings his flaming fist, the force distorting the air around it.
"HINOKAMI KAGURA: RAGING SUN"
Chikafusa swings his blade swiftly, clashing with his punch.
The clash sends both of them away. They both lunged forward simultaneously.
"HINOKAMI KAGURA: FLAME DANCE"
"Hinokami Kagura..? Isn't it Sun breathing?" Suiryu thinks.
Chikafusa dodges his attack, cutting through his waist.
Suiryu snarls, twisting mid-air his fist swings like a wrecking ball, crashing into Chikafusa's face with brutal force. His head explodes into blood and fragments.
But Suiryu's smirk fades instantly. "An afterimage?!"
"HINOKAMI KAGURA: FAKE RAINBOW!"
Chikafusa appears behind him in the mid-air, striking at his neck.
The strike lands. Blood sprays. But his neck is too thick, too powerful, and resists the fatal blow. Snarling, Suiryu backhands him, sending him crashing through the trees.
Chikafusa lands safely, but his eyes start bleeding from the force of the sun breathing, his muscles torn from some parts.
"Even with a demon slayer mark, it's so hard to defeat him…" thinks Chikafusa, gritting his teeth.
">———BLOOD DEMON TECHNIQUE: FROSTFIRE STORM———<"
The icy flames swirl around them, coating the battlefield in a blizzard of frozen fire. The very air feels suffocating, a cruel mix of searing frost and thick humidity.
A sudden surge of energy erupts from Suiryu, sending razor-sharp shards of burning ice in every direction.
Chikafusa dashes through the storm, narrowly avoiding the deadly projectiles.
But the cold is unbearable. His breath comes in short, painful gasps, his lungs screaming for air.
"If I breathe too much... I'll die before I can even cut him down...!"
Suiryu vanishes.
-Behind me!
Chikafusa reacts instantly, flickering behind Suiryu in a blur of speed, his blade carving through his arm.
Suiryu uses his other arm and strikes at his face, sending him crawling away. His face bleeds, but he stands up, wiping his blood away spilling from his lips.
With a sudden burst of speed, Chikafusa materializes in front of Suiryu, his blade gleaming—
SLASH!
His sword slices through Suiryu's throat before he can react.
Suiryu stumbles, clutching his neck as dark blood spills between his fingers.
His breath comes out in ragged gasps, his monstrous regeneration kicking in.
"Tsk… he's getting on my nerves…"
Fueled by rage, Suiryu lunges with a brutal punch—
Chikafusa leaps back.
But then—
His vision distorts. His body trembles violently.
Suddenly, blood dribbles from his lips in thick streams. His eyes blur, the world spinning around him.
"What's happening to him?" Suiryu thinks.
Chikafusa clutches his chest, coughing blood and his eyes widened in shock. "No… My lungs… it feels like they're torn..!"
At some distance,
Ai slowly stands up, her legs trembling and her head bleeds. Her eyes are blurred with her own blood dripping from her forehead, but she can see Suiryu standing before Chikafusa.
Chikafusa falls to the ground, his muscles stop moving and his breathing fades.
Without wasting any time, Suiryu lunges at him.
">———BLOOD DEMON TECHNIQUE: BLUEFI—"
SHINK!
A blade pierces through his chest.
His body stiffens. His eyes widened in shock.
Ai stands behind him, her sword buried deep in his heart.
She leans in, her voice dripping with cold fury.
"You can't kill anyone when I'm around…"
Suiryu gasps, his strength faltering. The icy flames around them flicker.
Finally, she collapses to the ground, her visions slowly blurs. Her body becomes fragile due to blood loss.
"I can't… fight… anymore…"
Before fainting, her gaze is still focused on Chikafusa and her friends.
Her memories flood back, remembering Ren Hajime before falling unconscious.
Now he is not here, she accepts her defeat. "Is someone… still here to save us..?
Hajime-kun…
I know you're not dead… you're still alive… and you're still here…"
Her eyes closed as unconsciousness embraced her.
Please… save… us…
Suiryu steadies himself, releasing her still-buried katana from his chest. His fist clenched as he attacks her. His punch is a few centimetres away from crushing her.
Suddenly…
"Hey, elephant!"
A voice echoed from behind, he stopped his punch and turned behind immediately.
A short, young boy standing without any weapon. His long black hair that fades to cyan colour, reaches down his waist. His cyan eyes are locked with his own. He has worn long, loose dark clothes.
"Don't stare at me with those shitty eyes. Are you the one who caused those earthquakes?" the boy asked again, his voice calm and mockery.
Suiryu's eyes filled with anger, he approaches the boy, his feet stomping the ground.
"You kiddo! Who the hell are you? Are you challenging me while you don't have a weapon? Do you even know who I am?"
The boy yawns, showing no interest in him. "You talk so much, don't you? My name is Kasumi Matsunaga. I know that you're the Upper Moon 5. It's obvious to guess by looking into your eyes."
Suiryu shakes his head, "H-How do you know? Are you also a Hashira?"
Kasumi says in a threatening tone, "Don't you dare lump me in with those Hashiras, or I'll kill you!"
Suiryu's eyes widened at his declaration. "Wait, so who are you? You look like only 12 years old, much younger to be a demon slayer."
"Even though I'm just 12, it doesn't mean you can beat me. I'm always ahead of you."
"YOU LITTLE—"
His fist rockets toward Kasumi's face with monstrous speed—
SHLINK!
A flash of light. A scorching heat. A searing pain.
Suiryu stares at his own severed hand. Blood spurts from the clean cut, his wrist still trembling.
"W-WHAT?! WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!"
A presence looms before them.
A tall figure, standing deathly still.
The wind howls, bending the trees around him.
His maroon eyes glow under the moonlight. His long ponytail flows in the air like a specter. The orange hue of his garments flickers against the night. His mere presence seems to distort the very atmosphere, an eerie silence swallowing the battlefield.
Suiryu's soul trembles. His heart lurches. A cold grip wraps around his chest, suffocating him.
No... it can't be...
His legs weaken. His breath catches in his throat.
"He is..."
A name forces itself into his mind, sending a jolt of terror through his bones.
REN HAJIME
Amidst the fallen bodies, he stands-not like a warrior, but like a divine specter.
His pale skin glows faintly beneath the moonlight. He has changed. Taller. Stronger. His beauty, once human, now feels almost otherworldly.
But beneath his refined features... lies a void.
His lifeless expression.
The Selfless State.
Suiryu's mind shatters. His instincts scream at him to RUN.
His body flinches, ready to flee. But then…
Jigen's voice booms inside his head.
"If you fail me... I will throw you into the Sea of Oblivion. An endless torment. Infinite nothingness. A fate trillions of times worse than death."
Suiryu freezes.
Trapped between a demon in front of him... and a god behind him.
The battlefield is drenched in blood, bodies lying motionless under the moonlight. But in the midst of this horror, Ren stands still.
His maroon eyes soften slightly as he gazes at his fallen friends. His hand reaches toward Chikafusa, fingers trembling—but not from fear.
Suiryu watches, his heart hammering violently inside his chest.
This pressure—this killing intent—it's suffocating. His instincts scream at him. Attack now. Before it's too late.
He lunges.
His fist rockets toward Ren's head, carrying all of his monstrous strength.
A sudden flash. A sharp sting.
Then—his entire arm is gone.
Suiryu's breath hitches. He stares at his shoulder, where his arm used to be—before his gaze drops to the ground.
His severed limb hasn't even landed yet.
Before it can touch the earth…
It disintegrates into thousands of tiny pieces.
The sonic boom erupts a moment later, tearing through the battlefield like an aftershock.
Suiryu staggers backward, trembling.
He didn't even see it.
Ren didn't even move.
The sound of Kasumi's footsteps breaks the suffocating silence. His sharp gaze flickers toward Chikafusa's unconscious body-and realization dawns on him.
His lips part. A whisper escapes.
"Tanjiro..?"
Kasumi steps forward, unshaken. His expression sharpens with determination.
"Hajime-sensei, you can count on me. Your friends are on the verge of death. I'll handle this."
Ren's gaze shifts to him, piercing.
"Matsunaga-san, but this is no ordinary demon."
Kasumi lets out a low chuckle, rolling his shoulders.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine. Help your friends, and I'll kill this boar."
Suiryu lets out a deep, guttural laugh. His sharp fangs glint under the moonlight, his eyes narrowing with amusement.
"Oh? You think I'm just a boar?" He steps forward, towering over Kasumi. "You're messing with the wrong opponent, kid.
You don't even have a weapon."
He lunges, extending his massive hand toward Kasumi's collar, aiming to grab him like a ragdoll.
But in an instant—
Kasumi grabs Suiryu's wrist mid-motion, twists it downward with brutal precision, and drives a swift uppercut of his palm straight into Suiryu's elbow.
CRACK!
Suiryu's arm snaps backward.
A searing shockwave of pain shoots through his body. His howl of agony shatters the silence.
He staggers back. Eyes wide. Breath heavy.
Kasumi wipes the blood off his palm, his lips curling into a smirk.
"You're a boar, alright. Just look at yourself! Those long, ugly teeth-are you a demon or a damn hippopotamus?"
His mockery cuts deeper than any sword.
Kasumi bends down, picking up a fallen katana from the blood-soaked ground. With an effortless flick of his wrist, the blade spins rapidly in his hand.
"Sensei, let me finish this. I swore to destroy every single demon, that traitor, and Muzan Kibutsuji himself. And I wasn't joking."
Ren watches him for a moment, then gives a slow, approving nod.
"Thank you, Matsunaga-san. I'm counting on you."
Without another word, he lifts Chikafusa and his wounded friends onto his arms and shoulders.
Then—
He vanishes.
Not a single sound. Not even a trace of movement.
Kasumi turns back to him, rolling his neck, voice low and brimming with confidence.
"Now then..." He grips his blade tightly, the steel gleaming under the night sky.
"Let's end this battle."
He exhales, centering himself. His aura shifts.
The air grows heavy.
The final battle begins.