Chapitre 47: Infinity Castle Arc (Part 1)
(Muzan POV)
I finally found them. After all these centuries of looking, I finally managed to locate the Ubuyashiki residence. Dressing myself up nicely for such an occasion, I have Nakime transport me to said residence, showing me the riddled figure of the Ubuyashiki head, completely bedridden. Feeling the urge to laugh, I manage to quell it hearing the deformed man's next words.
"…Hey, so you're here. …Nice to meet you. Kibutsuji… Muzan"
"…Well, you sure look horrible, Ubuyashiki." I scoff.
"You finally… came… to my home… right… in front of me… Kibutsuji… Muzan… The Demon… my family… the Demon Slayers… have been chasing… for a thousand years… Amane… what form… what shape… does this man… have…?"
Bothered by how slow this man's speech was, the girl apparently called Amane answers. "He looks like a man in his late twenties. But his eyes are plum red. And his pupils are vertical like a cat."
"Oh… Okay… I… thought… you'd come… for sure… I'm sure you're extremely mad at me… at the Ubuyashiki family… but that's also why… I… was the only one… who thought… you'd come to kill me yourself…"
"I'm truly disappointed, Ubuyashiki" I shake my head. "I've lived a thousand years without showing signs of aging. And the old family who's gotten in my way all this time is now reduced to this. Repulsive. Utterly repulsive. You already smell like a corpse, Ubuyashiki."
I then watch as he uses his meager amount of energy that he had left to do such a simple task as lifting his body.
"I… figured… as much… I… was told by the doctors… half a year ago… that I was going to die in a few days… Yet here I am… still alive… and the doctors… were at a loss for words… And I solely… dedicated my soul to defeating you… Muzan…"
"And your fleeting dream will go to waste tonight. I will kill you right now." I entertain him.
"You… Might not know this, but… You and I… are of the same blood… you were born… a thousand years ago… so maybe your blood… is different from mine…"
Confused, I ask, "I fell no emotion here. What are you trying to say?"
"A monster like you… came out of this family… And that led my family… to be cursed… Every child born in our family was weak and they died right away… but when our family was about to get wiped from existence, the priest gave us some advice… A demon came from your bloodline… so you must dedicate your soul to defeating him… and if you do that. Your family will not die out… We have received wives from priests for generations… and our children are more resilient to death now… but nobody in our family… has lived beyond thirty…"
"And now you're reduced to ramblings. It's utterly disgusting." I say boredly, "Did that sickness get into your brain? That is of no consequence to me after all. The heavens are not punishing me. Despite the hundreds, thousands, of humans I've killed, I've been let off the hook. And I have never seen a god or buddha over these thousand years."
"So… that's what you think…" Ubuyashiki coughs, "But… I have my own ideas about that… Muzan… What is your dream? It's been thousands of years… what kind… of dreams do you have exactly…?"
I feel strange. The head of the Demon Slayers, an absolute eyesore to me, is right in front of me, yet I feel no hatred.
In fact, "Number one. One-night passes oh so busy, busy. Put the decorations up on the pine. On the pine. Number two, the two-leafed pine. Colors, colors. The three-fold pine is Mount Kazusa, Mount Kazusa"
Looking at what I presume to be Ubuyashiki's children, a weird sense of nostalgia flows over me. This strange nostalgia and the sense of relief is repulsive. I can only sense four humans here in this mansion. So, it's only Ubuyashiki, his wife, and two children here. But no guards…
"How about I make a guess. Muzan." Ubuyashiki suddenly speaks. "I understand your heart and soul. You dream of eternity… You dream of being indestructible."
Unable to stop myself from scoffing, I answer with, "Exactly. And it will come true very soon. Once I get my hands on either the blue spider lily or that one boy."
"Your dream won't come true, Muzan."
"You seem confident that I won't just end the Demon Slayers all today. I have all the time I could possibly want on my hands."
"And yet, even with all that time… you still rushed things. Plus, you… are misunderstanding something."
"About what?" I ask.
"I know something… about eternity. It is nothing but human thoughts. Thoughts last for eternity. They are indestructible."
"This is foolish… you're talking utter nonsense."
"The demon slayers have never died out for a thousand years. Ture, a lot of unfortunate children have died, but they haven't disappeared at all. You just said… the truth is foolish. Let me prove to you that human thoughts are indestructible." Ubuyashiki smiles. "The thought of 'Never forgiving those who have taken the lives of people's loved ones away' senselessly' is eternal… And you have never been forgiven. Not even once over the last one thousand years. And you, Muzan, have stepped on the Tiger's tail countless times. So, you are incurring the wrath of the dragon."
Ubuyashiki breaths, "In essence, you have basically awoken a sleeping creature that's been slumbering for a long time. And they absolutely despise you. They will never let you get away. If you kill me, the Demon Slayers won't feel pain or even an inch. They honestly don't really need me that much. This… connection to human thought is something you probably can't understand, Muzan. Because you… and your kind will cease to exist once you die, right? Minus Shiro of course."
Instantly, a vein pops on my forehead, "Zip it."
Yet, Ubuyashiki continued, "Yeah. I'm done. I've said what I wanted to say to you. But can I say one last thing? I said they honestly don't need me that much… but that doesn't mean my death won't be inconsequential. I am fortunately, yet undeservedly, loved by my Demon Slayers… My Pillars especially. So, if I die, the morale of the Demon Slayers will be higher than ever…"
Reaching out my hand to crush this bug's head, I ask, "You done talking?"
"Yes… Though I didn't expect you to actually listen to me… Thank you. Muzan."
Still unnerved by his smile, I turn my head to the two freaks out in the courtyard. My feet hurt and the crickets are far too loud. I wish that I were back in my dimensional fortress mixing more chemicals, it'd be much more enjoyable than this. Reluctantly turning back to Ubuyashiki, there's something sinister about his smile, but I can't quite…
And there I am, watching seemingly in slow motion as Ubuyashiki explodes.
Taking the entirety of this explosion, my flesh, hair, and muscles, are ripped clean from my body. It wasn't just Ubuyashiki that had blown up, but it included his wife and his two kids as well. I made a mistake. I judged Ubuyashiki to be a normal human. But he was actually a complete nutjob.
I figured that he was planning something, but not something of this scale. He made the explosion even more deadly by adding spike traps into it. Just to delay my regeneration. Which means that there's still something that I'm missing. Ubuyashiki still has something under his sleeve.
There are human presences coming closer, most likely the Hashiras. But that's not all. There's something else different. That bug used himself as a decoy. His hatred and anger towards me were like a viper. It was coiling in that dead, black stomach of his. I'm in awe at how stunningly he had hidden his murderous intent. Were his wives and kids aware of his plans? Whatever, it's not worth thinking about now. Don't panic. Your body will regenerate very soon.
Yet, almost like an omen, flesh seeds were thrown into the air all around me.
Being skewered by these flesh seeds, I find myself immobilized. Someone was using their blood demon technique, plus the spies were branching out into my flesh, so I couldn't pull them out. However, it's not an issue, I can just absorb them, and I'll be fine.
In extreme surprise though, Tamayo can from seemingly nowhere and plunged her hand into my stomach.
"Tamayo!! Why are you here…"
"These blood demon spikes belonged to the man who got turned into a demon in Asakusa." Instead of answering me, she instead yells this.
She managed to also get close to me by using the smokescreen demon technique. Though, I couldn't really understand her goal. What was it that she was aiming to do in this surprise attack?
"You absorbed my fist, Muzan. Do you have any idea what's inside it?" Tamayo begins, looking extremely proud, "A drug that turns demons back into humans. So? Is it working?"
"You shouldn't be able to…" I say in disbelief.
"Oh, but I've done it!" Tamayo refutes, "The situations completely changed. Though it would have been impossible for me alone."
Raising my hand, I grip Tamayo's head, "You are one stubborn woman, Tamayo. And your hatred toward me is unjust. Who killed your husband and kids? Was it me? Not at all. Nobody but you. You ate them all up."
"If I knew that would happen, I wouldn't have become a demon!!" Tamayo cries, "All I wanted was to not die from my disease!! I just wanted to see my kids grow up…!!"
Looking down on her, I can't help but smile, "Then you killed a whole bunch of humans after that, was that all an illusion too? I noticed you had a lot of fun eating those humans."
Stabbing my thumb into her right eye, she continues, "That's right, I killed many people after falling into the depths of despair. So, to pay for my sins, you and I are dying right here!! Shiro-san! Do it, please!!"
From out of the smoke of the building, the man who almost managed to kill me appeared, wielding an axe and flail. Swinging the flail at me, he removed my head, completely obliterating it.
Annoyed at having my head removed, I regrow it instantly, growling at Shiro. I was certainly weakened by all of the blasts and the medicine that Tamayo had given to me, but I still had enough power to kill this brat. Shooting a chain of thorns out from my hands, they're easily destroyed.
I then watch as Shiro yells out, "It's Muzan!! Kibutsuji Muzan! This guy won't die even if you cut his head off!!"
After saying that, at least ten more Demon Slayers appear, all with full killing intents. Yet the moment that they're all on top of me, I can't help but smile. From all around me, doors shoot open, leading straight to my Infinity Castle which I control.
"You seriously thought you could corner me? You're all going to hell now!! You pathetic Demon Slayer pests. I'm slaughtering you all tonight!"
Yet as Shiro disappears into my castle, he screams, "You're the one going to hell, Muzan! You're not getting away! I will defeat you for sure! You're such a wimp for running away! Come and get me if you can!"
"Shiro Urokodaki!!"
Landing inside of my Infinity Castle alone, I can't stop myself from twitching, wishing to rip the flesh from Shiro, but I know that if I'd fought with him, he wouldn't hesitate to try and remove all my organs again. So, unfortunately my revenge would have to wait, I needed to be full power before I could ever possibly hope to face him.
Though, maybe he got weaker over the years. If that were true, then Kokushibo could easily deal with. Though, from the memories of the useless Upper Moons who had died, Upper Moon Four, Five, and Six didn't manage to make him transform into a demon, so that was a rather concerning fact. I could only wish Kokushibo the best.
Now, since I had been pressured by so many demon slayers at once, I was forced to consume Tamayo, yet that seemed to force even more toxins into my body.
Letting my body naturally fight against this problem, I began to wrap myself in my own flesh, forming a ball around my body. Yet, I couldn't make progression to my final form until I made progress against Tamayo's poison, how annoying.
So, I sat there waiting and waited and waited till I was finally reborn into my true form. At this time, Demon Slayers surrounded me, but not even one of them was a Hashira.
Bursting from my shell, I stare down upon the weaklings, and think, 'Shiro, I'm coming for you.'
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone