Chapter 172: Muzan Self-Destructs x The Bizarre Dream Technique
[Notification: "Life Energy" +41...]
[Notification: "Life Energy" +37...]
[Blood Demon Art of Enmu extracted... Nen Property Change +10...]
[Nen Property Change: [Yin Release] activated]
[Talent 1: "Dream Parasitism". Note: Host can convert "Nen" into "drowsiness" and forcibly hypnotize others through "gaze" or "whispers," dragging them into a dream created by the Host...]
[Talent 2: "Dream Domain"... Detected correlation with "Gate of Cognition," upgrading...]
[Notification: Upgrade complete...]
[Talent 2: "Generalized Dream Gate". Note: Host can open a gate randomly through "dreams," pulling people in. The target is somewhat random and not controlled by the Host...]
[Notification: Blood Demon Art of Rui extracted... Nen Shape Transformation +20...]
[Talent: [Steel Thread]. Note: Overlaps with Ken... Ken +20...]
The notifications chimed like rain on banana leaves...
Rui's head flew through the air, his eyes wide with disbelief as he stared at Roy...
The blade in the boy's hand turned red, ignited, and two long dragons of fire surged forth as he rose to his full height... Akaza's pupils constricted. He retracted his punch, instantly raising his vigilance to the maximum!
"So hot..." In the corner of the carriage, the Eye Demon blinked, trembling, and tried to turn away... but the moment the thought arose, it was ruthlessly suppressed by Muzan. It shrank back into the corner, pitifully continuing to watch the battle!
Crimson Blade... Flame... Is it 'Flame' or 'Sun'?
Muzan Kibutsuji stared grimly at Roy on the screen. Enmu was dead, Rui was dead... none of that mattered. The key was Akaza!
"Michikatsu, does Akaza have a chance?"
Kokushibo, hand on [Kyokokukamusari], narrowed his eyes at the boy with the fiery red hair flowing in the wind. His memory was instantly pulled back to the past, to the day he first discovered his brother Yoriichi's god-given talent, his extraordinary swordsmanship.
Just as young, same hair color, same earrings, same arrogance and high spirits. The difference was one knew it, and one didn't. But both were equally unreachable, making one despair even with all their effort. This... is the world of geniuses!
"Why ask me, Master?" Kokushibo's gaze was distant. "When you asked the question, you already knew the answer, didn't you?"
Kokushibo said gravely, "Hakuji... is no match for him."
"Run!" Muzan commanded succinctly, transmitting the order to Akaza.
Lower Moons could die; he had plenty of demon blood to make more. But... every Upper Moon was a rare talent in life, a "treasure" he had personally cultivated with centuries of effort. He cherished them. The fact that none had died until now was proof enough.
But... the Master didn't understand Akaza well enough...
Kokushibo watched the red-browed, golden-eyed young man on the screen, dressed in simple martial arts attire, fighting bare-handed. He bowed his head in excitement, his body trembling faintly. He narrowed his eyes. "He won't run. He will choose to die fighting."
Among the Upper Moons, Michikatsu Tsugikuni admired Akaza the most, for he too pursued the pinnacle of martial arts!
They were comrades, fellow travelers on the same path... Unlike Douma or Hantengu, who sought strength only to eat humans and toy with hearts, they were undoubtedly purer!
Facts proved Kokushibo right...
Pressing his body low, stomping the floor hard, Akaza made the speeding train seem to pause for an instant under the downward force...
Akaza looked up, staring at Roy excitedly. He dropped into a horse stance, left hand open in front, right hand clenched in a fist behind. He took a deep breath. "You're strong. I'm happy... The disgusting trash is gone. Now... come! Let's fight to the death!"
[Technique Deployment: Destructive Death: Compass Needle!]
The snowflake-shaped battle aura suddenly erupted from Akaza, sweeping outwards and instantly enveloping Roy.
The Compass Needle... once activated, Akaza would be like a needle drawn to an invisible magnetic force, tracking the opponent's position, movements, breathing, and rhythm, ultimately finding their weak point for a fatal strike.
In a way, it was similar to En. But... seeing that snowflake-shaped "compass"...
Roy sensed a sorrow. A grief hidden deep in someone's heart, treated as a "memory" to be forgotten, yet instinctively refusing to be completely erased...
"What's with that look? Do you pity me?"
The boy was silent.
Akaza could clearly see a trace of pity in those deep black eyes, like a strong man looking at a weak one...
A deep sense of humiliation welled up inside him, and he was furious!
"Don't you dare compare me to that disgusting trash!"
"Destructive Death: Air Type!"
Punches struck the air, creating shockwaves that slammed into Roy.
The boy moved unhurriedly, weaving through the fist winds like a ghost, always dodging Akaza's battle aura punches at the perfect moment. Tilting his head, turning his body, bending backward... he walked slowly towards Akaza...
In the corner, Muzan Kibutsuji, watching all this through the Eye Demon, looked hideous. He spread his hand, nails suddenly extending, murderous intent rising!
"He dares disobey my order!"
"Akaza, don't force me to kill you!"
Twang... Nakime plucked her biwa...
Kokushibo kept his hand on his sword, silent.
Was it "disobedience" or "excitement"? Or perhaps... seeking death, loyalty... "Master, let him be."
Muzan glared coldly...
Kokushibo said calmly, "It's useless... You've noticed it too. That boy, Eiichiro Kamado, avoids Hakuji's attacks with ease. It means..."
"His perception of attacks is even greater than Hakuji's!"
Pausing, Kokushibo looked at Muzan gravely. "Forgive my bluntness, but I suspect the opponent possesses the ability to read minds, just like you. That's why... he is so composed..."
"Enough!"
A sharp shout cut Kokushibo off!
Veins popped on Muzan's forehead. After a long moment, he took a deep breath. "I know."
He looked at Akaza again. The former Upper Moon Two, current Upper Moon Three, was attacking like rain, already in a frenzy!
"Destructive Death: Leg Type: Crown Splitter... Explosive Flurry... Flying Planetary Thousand Wheels... Annihilation Type... Crush Type... Final Form: Blue Silver Chaotic Afterglow..."
CRASH!
The carriage roof was blown off by the flurry of punches...
The coupling was shattered by a flying fist from Akaza, severing the connection with the car ahead...
Passenger screams and the roar of the train exploded in the pitch-black night...
Akaza used every technique he had. His eyes saw only Roy, only Roy. The more he fought, the more excited he became, and the more despair he felt... He gradually understood... why there was pity in Roy's eyes... It was all true. He was just like the trash he despised—weak, pitiful, disgustingly weak. "Hahaha... why don't you fight back?!"
"Come on!"
"Kill me!"
Tap... tap...
Footsteps, unhurried, tread on Akaza's heart. Closer...
Roy casually parried a punch from Akaza with his blade, brushing past his shoulder...
A faint gleam flashed, then vanished...
Akaza felt a chill on his neck. He whipped his head around. Splurt~ A jet of blood sprayed. His body was still punching forward, but his head had turned 180 degrees, looking straight at Roy's back.
"You misunderstand." The boy sheathed his sword, turning his back to Akaza, looking up at the sky. The moon was bright and stars sparse, eternal. He said softly, "I feel pain for the woman you loved, Koyuki; for the master you respected, Keizo; and for... your father, who committed suicide so as not to burden you, hoping you would live a good life and stop stealing."
The boy turned his head, pity reappearing in his eyes. "If they were still alive and saw you like this, a monster... how heartbroken would they be..."
Demons deserve no pity. They should all be killed!
But among the Twelve Kizuki, if anyone could make Roy spare a second glance, it was Hakuji, the man before he became a demon, not the current Akaza.
"You..."
Buried memories were pierced by Roy's words!
Akaza's head fell, rolling to Roy's feet with a thump.
As his body lost control from the brain, it collapsed weakly to the ground.
He stared at Roy with his golden pupils, confused. As his consciousness faded, a life review appeared...
Dimly, he seemed to see the girl who haunted his dreams, always smiling and calling him Hakuji. And his master, always patting his shoulder, telling him to take care of Koyuki. And...
His father, gravely ill, patting his head for the last time, telling him to buy medicine, only to hang himself the moment he left...
Unknowingly, Akaza, who had never known tears, shed two lines of hot tears...
He reached out, wanting to hold Koyuki's hand, to say a few words to his master, to hug his father like he did when he was small and feeding him medicine...
But unexpectedly, Koyuki's face changed, dodging him in disgust... Master glared at him with disappointment and rage... Father was even more direct, not even looking at him, saying flatly, "I have no such son."
Slitting his throat, he committed suicide again.
Akaza's outstretched hand froze...
He opened his mouth to speak... but an abyss opened beneath his feet. In an instant, hundreds of hands shot out from the endless darkness, grabbing him, tearing at him, dragging him down to hell...
Only then did he suddenly realize... he was no longer the loyal and righteous Hakuji, but a demon laden with sin, trampling the weak like dirt!
"It's him... It's Muzan Kibutsuji... You turned me into this monster!"
The life review vanished. Akaza's closed eyes snapped open in a final burst of lucidity. He screamed furiously at the Eye Demon, "You did this to me!"
BANG!
With that, the "Muzan's blood" inside Akaza instantly detonated!
Amidst a rain of blood...
The Eye Demon flinched...
Its pupil reflected a man draped in a suit jacket, flying into a rage from humiliation, utterly wretched!
Pathetic... ridiculous... lamentable... sigh-worthy... Roy looked calmly, pointing two fingers at the Eye Demon, mouthing silently: "You're next."
His ink-black pupils were suddenly coated with a gray "Nen film"... Entering Muzan's eyes, the demon king who had ravaged the world for a thousand years froze. His blood-red pupils glazed over, and he involuntarily yawned, feeling... so sleepy...
[Nen "Yin" Property · Dream Parasitism...]
Through eye contact, projecting "drowsiness" onto the target.
Roy gently blew a breath at the Eye Demon. "Sleep."
Hazily, Muzan had a dream... In the dream, he was back in that bamboo forest, the wind rustling the leaves. With Tamayo, he saw a swordsman with fiery red hair, wearing wooden sandals, slowly walking towards him...
His first reaction was... Self-destruct!
"Yoriichi Tsugikuni, you again!"
"After all these years, you're still as ugly as ever..."
A faint blade light, wreathed in flames, lit up...
BANG! This time, Muzan was faster and fiercer than before... Before the blade could even touch him, he split apart, dividing into three thousand six hundred pieces!
Right there in the Infinity Castle, right in front of Kokushibo... he exploded!
"Master?"
Twang?
Nakime's biwa string snapped...
Blood mist filled the directionless Infinity Castle...
Kokushibo and Nakime fell silent simultaneously.
Pop~ The dream was interrupted by Muzan's "Jade Shatter." Consciousness returned. A moment later, Muzan woke up, squirming, wretchedly reforming a new body!
"You ate Enmu?!"
A false alarm. Muzan finally realized what had happened. He looked darkly at Roy on the screen, the boy's words waking the dreamer.
Kokushibo frowned.
Muzan glared at Roy through the Eye Demon. "That's Enmu's Blood Demon Art. You're a human, how could you learn it?"
Unless he ate demons, just like a demon!
But... a human eating a demon?
Unheard of!
Kokushibo quietly placed his hand on [Kyokokukamusari]. For some reason, the back of his neck felt cold...
In Car 7, the boy glided through the night along with the derailed train. His fiery red hair danced like a lion's mane in the wind...
He put away his training blade and shook his head with a sigh. "I hid it for so long, I didn't expect you to find out. That's right..."
Roy licked his lips, staring burning holes into Muzan Kibutsuji. "Wash your neck and wait for me. I... will be visiting soon!"
BANG!
The Eye Demon suddenly exploded!
At the end, Roy seemed to see someone panic-stricken, heard someone shouting in disarray...
"Meeting!"
"Everyone! Return to the Infinity Castle immediately!"
Voom... As the Eye Demon exploded, the image vanished...
In the wreckage of the carriage, only the boy stood against the wind, a faint smile on his lips.
[Notification: "Life Energy" +112]
[Demon "Akaza" Blood Demon Art extracted...]
[Destructive Death: Compass Needle. Note: A "directional" formation based on "perception." Detected high overlap with En, upgrading...]
[Notification: Upgrade complete... En +30...]
[Note: Host's current En coverage radius: 140 → 170 (meters)]
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