But just as Sukuna asked the question, he immediately realized what Doma was doing. The demon was trying to devour his flesh.
Understanding Doma's true intent, Sukuna actually laughed. He hadn't expected Doma to try this approach. Maybe, knowing he couldn't win through sheer strength, Doma thought this would be an alternative path?
In truth, Doma had already sensed the gap in their power when Sukuna cut off his arm.
Using his full-power Blood Demon Art was his final test. If that all-out attack could finish Sukuna, great. If not, the Bodhisattva was meant to distract Sukuna.
Then, while Sukuna was supposedly fully occupied resisting the ice Bodhisattva, Doma would quietly approach and devour his flesh.
But in a way, Doma had made the worst possible choice.
If a Special Grade Cursed Object was lethal poison to an ordinary person, then Tanjiro Kamado's body—containing twenty fingers' worth of Sukuna—carried twenty times that terrifying toxicity.
Even Doma was a bit surprised. He hadn't expected Sukuna to simply stand there and let himself be consumed.
After witnessing Sukuna effortlessly dismantle the ice Bodhisattva, Doma had completely abandoned any hope of winning through conventional means.
He poured his all into devouring, clinging to Sukuna as though he couldn't wait another moment, trying to absorb Sukuna entirely into himself.
The closer Doma pressed, the more he could smell that unique fragrance emanating from Sukuna. A scent he had never encountered in centuries. Not the ostentatious aroma of Rare Blood, but something more mysterious and potent, drawing him in deeper, making him crave more.
At this point, even though Doma couldn't truly perceive cursed energy, he could already sense that something was there.
He greedily continued absorbing Sukuna into himself, wanting to claim that mysterious power as his own. But suddenly, he realized a problem. No matter how much of Sukuna's body he absorbed, Sukuna's presence never diminished. Like a bowl of water that never ran dry no matter how much he drank.
In that moment of stunned realization, Doma noticed his vision beginning to blur, stained with crimson. One of his eyes captured a world spinning out of control.
Because Doma's attempt to absorb Sukuna's flesh had unleashed the terrifying curse within Sukuna's body, instantly flooding him. Even the power of Muzan's blood flowing through him couldn't resist.
And that wasn't all. Under the influence of Sukuna's Reverse Cursed Technique, Doma's restored human flesh simultaneously rejected Muzan's demonic blood.
It wasn't that Doma let go of Sukuna. His entire body was rapidly disintegrating. The curse's erosion far outpaced his regeneration. His hands had already fallen away like melting snow and ice, joining his dissolving body as a pile of flesh and blood.
Doma could no longer move his eyes freely. The last image of Sukuna he saw was through the damaged Demon Slayer Corps uniform—the back with its chiseled muscle lines, completely unharmed.
"How... how is this possible!?"
Doma muttered with a mouth that had drifted far from its original position.
Sukuna turned calmly, casually tearing away the ruined uniform top with his left hand. He looked down at Doma and sneered.
"Looks like your digestion isn't very good."
With that, Sukuna crushed Doma's only remaining relatively intact head under his foot.
Then Sukuna turned to Kokushibo, who had watched coldly from start to finish, and mocked him.
"You're still here. How cold of you, just watching your comrade die like that?"
Kokushibo silently drew his sword, the Kyokokukamusari—forged from his own blood and bone—its blade, hilt, and tsuba covered in eyes.
Sukuna recognized at once that the Kyokokukamusari was different. Though it looked like a sword, it was fundamentally unlike the Nichirin Blade in his hand. That was a living sword.
"Upper Moon One is a demon who uses a sword? How unusual..."
Sukuna murmured as he studied Kokushibo. Then, noticing the Mark on his face, Sukuna suddenly pointed at him and laughed.
"Don't tell me you awakened that Mark, then became a demon because you were afraid of dying? Hahahaha!"
This was completely different from Sukuna's decision to cooperate with Kenjaku. Becoming a demon meant becoming Muzan's dog. If Sukuna had to choose, he would never stay forever under someone else's heel. Living as another's dog forever—he might as well just die.
Sukuna's words hit their mark. After a brief silence, Kokushibo simply replied.
"It was a choice made to become stronger."
"Oh, is that so?" Sukuna curled his fingers at Kokushibo. "Then let me see just how strong a swordsman who became a demon for power really is."
Kokushibo took a deep breath, activated Moon Breathing at full force, and immediately launched his assault.
Sukuna remained standing in place. Just from Kokushibo's speed, he could tell that the demon bearing the title Upper Moon One was indeed different from those below.
Kokushibo didn't try to move behind Sukuna. Doma had already proven that pointless. Even if he was stronger than Doma, Kokushibo couldn't move several times faster.
So Kokushibo chose a frontal attack. He closed in on Sukuna and struck quickly, unleashing a slash wrapped in countless tiny crescent-shaped blades.
First Form: Dark Moon - Evening Palace
Sukuna responded with his own sword technique, the flame-wreathed blade rising instantly.
Second Form: Rising Scorching Sun
The result of the clashing blades was obvious. The blood spraying into the air had already declared the victor—Sukuna.
Sukuna's slash hadn't just severed Kokushibo's sword. The searing blade aura had left a long gash across his chest.
But since the attack wasn't completed with the blade itself, its suppression of Kokushibo's regeneration was weaker.
"..."
Within the first exchange, Kokushibo had already recognized reality. He was at a disadvantage.
In strength and speed, he—Upper Moon One—had no advantage at all. This had never happened against any opponent other than Muzan himself.
Yet Kokushibo did not give up. Even if he was outmatched in these areas, he refused to believe that the swordsmanship he had honed for over a century would lose to Sukuna.
Because Sukuna's very existence seemed to negate the choice he had made, to deny his century of effort, to mock everything he had done as meaningless.
The severed blade of the Kyokokukamusari instantly regenerated, extending and evolving into its complete form.
Sixth Form: Perpetual Night, Lonely Moon - Incessant
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