At this moment, if one were to ask what Kagaya wanted most, it would undoubtedly be to keep Riezel in the Demon Slayer Corps.
Witnessing Riezel's strength and seeing the potential in his body, Kagaya had come to view Riezel as hope—a hope for humanity to triumph over demons, to end the conflict between humans and demons once and for all.
If it were this youth, he could surely defeat Muzan and make those demons that had persisted in the darkness for millennia disappear forever.
It was the future Kagaya longed to see, the long-standing wish of the Ubuyashiki family and the Demon Slayer Corps.
If this future could come to pass before his eyes, even if it meant drawing his last breath right now, he would be willing to do so a hundred times over.
Therefore, after a three-month break, Kagaya once again extended an invitation to Riezel in front of the Hashira.
As long as Riezel was willing to join the Demon Slayer Corps, then the next course of action for the Corps would be to spare no effort in finding Muzan's whereabouts.
Later on, it would be the ultimate showdown between humans and demons, bringing an end to the tragedy in this generation.
If they were victorious, demons would vanish entirely, and no one would ever again become demon food, putting an end to the fear of the night.
If they were to fail, for the next few hundred years, there might be no one capable of stopping Muzan and stopping the atrocities of demons.
Undoubtedly, this ultimate showdown would directly determine the future of this world.
For this reason, Kagaya wanted to do everything in his power to make it happen, to tip the scales of war in favor of humankind.
Of course, achieving this future wouldn't be easy. Even if he managed to invite Riezel, whether the Demon Slayer Corps could find Muzan remained uncertain.
Muzan's whereabouts were always a mystery.
For centuries, the Demon Slayer Corps had never given up on searching for him, yet they had never once succeeded in pinpointing his location.
As the progenitor of demons, Muzan possessed the ability to completely mimic others, able to change his appearance at will. Whether it be appearance, gender, or even scent and aura, he could freely change them, making it impossible for anyone to recognize him, even as he roamed among humans.
He was adept at disguise, skilled at blending into crowds, sometimes appearing male, sometimes female, sometimes an adult, sometimes a child, his true form entirely unknown.
With the ability to change anything visible to the naked eye, trying to track down Muzan's trail was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
Clearly, the intelligence network of the Demon Slayer Corps had become quite mature and powerful. With Kasugai Crows freely flying around the world to gather intelligence and the Kakushi assisting behind the scenes, coupled with the longstanding influence of the Ubuyashiki family, even national secrets could easily be obtained by the Corps.
Yet, even so, whenever the Demon Slayer Corps pinpointed Muzan's position, he had already changed his appearance and calmly left.
In such circumstances, the Demon Slayer Corps rarely had the opportunity to directly formulate approaches and strategies against Muzan. At most, they could only hunt ordinary demons and treat the Twelve Kizuki as threats to deal with.
Riezel may have the strength to defeat Muzan, but if his position couldn't be found, it would all be in vain.
Unfortunately, Kagaya couldn't do anything about it.
He understood that this was the closest he had come to fulfilling the long-standing wish of the Demon Slayer Corps and the Ubuyashiki family.
If it couldn't be achieved, then it would be fate.
Kagaya only wanted to facilitate everything as much as possible. At least before he fell, he hoped to see the Demon Slayer Corps have a chance of defeating Muzan.
However, Kagaya, who was thinking like this, didn't know that the future he imagined might come sooner than he thought.
"Actually, I'm not particularly opposed to joining the Demon Slayer Corps..." Riezel finally answered.
Since the evolution of Sun Breathing was complete and he had obtained his own Nichirin Sword, even awakening abilities like the Transparent World, joining the Demon Slayer Corps to hunt demons wouldn't be a bad choice.
However, there was something he wanted to make clear first.
"However, if I stay in the Demon Slayer Corps, all of you may always encounter unimaginable dangers."
Riezel's words left everyone present stunned.
"Unimaginable dangers?" Mitsuri asked, surprised and nervous. "What do you mean? Demons?"
"That's right..." Riezel nodded lightly. "Shortly after I arrived here, this place was exposed, and three Upper Ranks were immediately sent over. Do you think that's just a coincidence?"
Everyone immediately furrowed their brows.
"It's not a coincidence." Riezel continued. "My appearance caught Kibutsuji Muzan's attention, so he sent his people to investigate me, track my movements, and ultimately expose this place."
Tamayo had said that upon hearing the name 'Tsugikuni Yoriichi', Muzan would surely take action. As a result of this action, Riezel's presence in this place was tracked, and the location of the headquarters of the Demon Slayer Corps was exposed.
"Do you mean that as long as you stay within the Corps, Kibutsuji Muzan won't give up? He'll send demons again to find you, attack you, and then the location of the Corps' headquarters will be exposed again. Is that what you mean?" Kyoujurou asked tentatively.
"Well, isn't that just perfect?" Sanemi immediately chimed in, gripping his Nichirin Sword at his waist with a fierce look on his face. "I've been itching to find demons, to find those Upper Rank bastards! If they dare to attack again this time, I'll make sure to kill them all."
"Yes..." Obanai's eyes gleamed with a cold light. "I was just thinking, I want to see if those Upper Ranks are really that powerful."
"Well said!" Tengen crossed his arms, highly approving. "If we could have a magnificent showdown, I'd raise both hands and feet in favor!"
"Amitabha." Gyoumei folded his hands together, chanting the Buddhist mantra, not opposing the others' opinions.
Giyuu and Muichirou remained silent, but by their expressions, it seemed they were also prepared to engage in battle with demons at any moment.
Shinobu, however, looked silently at Riezel, feeling that things weren't as simple as they seemed.
At this moment, the opinions of the Hashira were surprisingly unanimous, with none showing a hint of fear.
Evidently, the attack on their headquarters, the destruction of their town by demons, and even their revered Master being in danger—all of this made the Hashira feel both enraged and frustrated.
Coupled with the miserable defeats of Kyoujurou and Shinobu at the hands of the Upper Ranks, it further fueled their sense of unwillingness.
If the Hashira always lost to the Upper Ranks, didn't that mean they were completely powerless against the Upper Ranks?
With this thought in mind, even Gyomei, Giyuu, and Muichiro, who were always calm, wanted to fight the Upper Ranks to witness and experience their power, not to mention the hot-tempered Sanemi and Obanai.
Given this, they truly couldn't wait for the Upper Ranks to appear before them.
Even though the Twelve Kizuki were always searching for the whereabouts of the headquarters of the Demon Slayer Corps and the Ubuyashiki family, the Corps was also constantly seeking the Twelve Kizuki's location.
Both sides were sworn enemies, so there wasn't much to say. As long as no worries were holding them back, they would have gone to battle right then and there—no question about it.
Fear of battle, except for the coward Zenitsu, probably did not exist within the entire Demon Slayer Corps.
However—
"What if the one who's coming for me is Kibutsuji Muzan himself?"
When Riezel said this with a calm voice, everyone's expression suddenly changed.
"What?"
Kagaya was also stunned upon hearing this.
===
Time rewound to yesterday.
Before dawn, after Riezel successfully slew two Upper Ranks, the members of the Demon Slayer Corps and the town's residents rushed back and forth, assisting the wounded and tidying up in the aftermath.
At that moment, Riezel returned to the deep mountains and once again met Tamayo and Yushirou.
Tamayo had witnessed Riezel's entire battle, seeing with her own eyes the scene where he beheaded seven Upper Ranks with a single strike. Because of this, she was now convinced and had no more doubts about his strength.
"You're a swordsman who's not weaker than Tsugikuni Yoriichi, I'm convinced of that..." Tamayo said with a nod but then added with an anxious tone. "But I'm worried that Kibutsuji Muzan, who has also confirmed this, will make the same decision as hundreds of years ago after seeing your performance tonight."
What decision?
"He will hide and won't show up again until you've passed away..." Tamayo continued with a worried tone. "If things turn out like that, it will be troublesome."
It was entirely possible.
As Tamayo had mentioned before, Muzan was a coward and very afraid of death. He was so fearful to the point that he rarely allowed the members of the Twelve Kizuki to gather together, worried that they would pose a threat by uniting to rebel against him.
He was afraid of Yoriichi's strength, so he hid, hiding for decades until Yoriichi passed away, and only then did he come out.
Now, with Riezel overpowering three Upper Ranks with just one strike, such strength, such performance, were likely to once again arouse Muzan's cowardice, causing this Demon King to hide for decades again.
Tamayo was worried that if things turned out that way, the hope they had finally seen of defeating Muzan would be directly shattered.
"Muzan possessed an ability to disguise perfectly, capable of transforming into anyone in this world and concealing his aura. If he truly wanted to hide, there was simply no one in this world who could find him." Tamayo added.
If even Muzan couldn't be found, then Riezel's extraordinary power would be of no use.
Yoriichi was an example of this.
Because Muzan had escaped, Yoriichi, who was undoubtedly an overpowered and cheat-like existence in this world, never again had the opportunity to face Muzan, carrying this regret to his grave.
Tamayo was very afraid, afraid that Riezel would meet the same fate as Yoriichi.
However, after Tamayo expressed her concerns, Riezel denied it with confidence.
"No, this time he won't hide."
Gazing at the sky, Riezel stated firmly, his expression serene.
"He won't... hide?" Tamayo blinked slightly in confusion.
"Yeah..."
Riezel nodded calmly, a sudden smile appearing on his face as he turned his gaze toward Tamayo.
"Because... I have what he wants the most..."