"I don't want anything, but..."
Riezel slowly shook his head before revealing a cold smile to Muzan.
"...I want your life."
*BANG!*
On the tranquil veranda, a deafening noise erupted without warning.
As soon as Riezel's voice fell, Muzan could no longer restrain himself and erupted into action, smashing the small wooden table between them.
He reached out toward Riezel, his arm transforming into a meat pillar-like whip.
It was adorned with countless spikes and mouth-like openings, generating tremendous suction and creating a vortex. With a tearing force that shredded everything around it, it viciously attacked Riezel, who was just within arm's reach.
*BOOM!*
As the small wooden table was grazed by the whip's assault, it shattered into pieces. At the same time, the wooden floor was torn apart by the massive vortex created by the suction on the whip, turning into fragments on the spot.
Muzan's strike was lethal enough to tear through everything, including the atmosphere, and even break the sound barrier.
Without a doubt, hitting someone less than two meters away, like Riezel, was clearly effortless and almost instantaneous.
Typically, anyone attacked so viciously by Muzan would meet instant death.
However, despite such a deadly and terrifying assault, Riezel managed to avoid being touched.
*Swish!*
As the sound of tearing echoed, a scorching-hot black blade, ablaze with dancing flames like fiery flowers, sliced through the whip and Muzan's arm, turning them both into minced meat.
At some point, unnoticed, Riezel had grabbed Hermit, unsheathed it, and with one swift swing, severed Muzan's arm.
"Ugh!"
Muzan felt an intense burning pain at the severed end of his arm, involuntarily letting out a groan of agony. Yet, he disregarded the searing pain and lunged toward mid-air, toward the small wooden box containing the Blue Spider Lily.
"IT'S MINE!"
Muzan shouted triumphantly.
However, his face, about to break into a wide grin, suddenly froze.
*Shua!* *Shua!* *Shua!* *Shua!*
Suddenly, a series of sky-splitting sounds rang out.
Without warning, several figures streaked through the night sky, the sounds erupting from all directions of the veranda and courtyard.
They approached at an extremely fast pace, surrounding Muzan from all sides and unleashing a formidable aura.
"Flame Breathing - Third Form - Blooming Flame Undulation!"
Kyoujurou came down from above, accompanied by a surging blaze of slash.
"Water Breathing - Seventh Form - Drop Ripple Thrust!"
Coming diagonally, in a straight line like ripples on water, Giyuu made a sudden thrust.
"Wind Breathing - Eighth Form - Primary Gale Slash!"
After a sudden advance, Sanemi swirled around Muzan like a gust of wind, slashing in a spiral that tears through his body.
"Stone Breathing - Fifth Form - Arcs of Justice!"
Gyoumei threw his axe and flail at Muzan like two meteorites, their impacts capable of effortlessly striking and shattering the earth.
"Serpent Breathing - Second Form - Venom Fangs of the Narrow Head!"
Obanai instantly appeared behind Muzan and delivered a vertical slash to his neck, resembling the bite of a poisonous snake.
"Love Breathing - First Form - Shivers of First Love!"
Mitsuri performed swift strikes like whip lashes, intent on cutting Muzan's body to pieces.
"Sound Breathing - First Form - Roar!"
Accompanied by explosive sonic booms, Tengen made a lightning-fast strike.
"Mist Breathing - Fourth Form - Shifting Flow Slash!"
Like a ghost, Muichirou appeared with a sudden slash hidden within the mist.
"Insect Breathing - Dance of the Bee Sting - True Flutter!"
Like a bee, Shinobu launched a fierce stab capable of piercing the skull.
At this moment, all the Hashira suddenly appeared, surrounding Muzan from all sides, unleashing the most powerful, merciless attacks of their lives.
*Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!*
The sound of blades cutting through flesh and bone resounded incessantly as the weapons of the Hashira sliced into Muzan's body, leaving him covered in wounds, with blood gushing out.
As several slashes struck Muzan's neck, they successfully severed his head.
Yes.
The Demon King who survived for millennia, from the Heian period to the present day, had his head severed in this small veranda.
However—
"GET LOST!"
Unexpectedly, Muzan remained completely unaffected. One moment, he was covered in blood and flesh; the next moment, he was miraculously recovered, without a scratch.
""What?!""
Every Hashira who witnessed this scene had their eyes wide in shock.
However, with no time to think about what had happened, they quickly faced a furious onslaught like a storm.
*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*
Suddenly, Muzan extended his tentacle-like flesh whips from his body, wildly thrashing around.
One by one, they lashed out at every Hashira, sending them flying.
*Cough!*
"ARGH!"
Getting hit by the whips, the Hashira felt an unparalleled force slam into their bodies—they coughed up blood and were blasted away. Some crashed through walls, some fell into the courtyard, and others smashed through the ceiling, disappearing.
Even though most of them were using the Demon Slayer Mark and the Transparent World, the nine strongest members of the Demon Slayer Corps were completely overwhelmed by Muzan in an instant.
"Where's the box?"
Muzan was clearly displeased when he noticed the wooden box containing the Blue Spider Lily was missing.
In the next moment, however, his expression contorted into a grotesque display of anger, with countless veins bulging on his face as he glared furiously in one direction.
In the distance, Riezel stood with a sword in one hand and a wooden box in the other, his eyes mocking him.
Soon, with a swift movement, Riezel made the wooden box disappear from his grasp.
"BASTARD—!!!"
Muzan was instantly enraged, launching himself fiercely toward Riezel.
Seeing this, Riezel remained unmoved, merely tightening his grip on Hermit, flames igniting around him.
*BOOOM!*
Under the moonlit night, in a corner of the Swordsmith Village, a small residence with a courtyard exploded with a deafening roar, unleashing an endless shockwave.
Amidst the shockwave, flames intertwined, blossoming like flowers in the dark night, shattering the entire courtyard into fragments.
Riezel and Muzan appeared in the aftermath of the explosion, but their conditions were starkly different.
Riezel was enveloped in flames, radiating intense heat, akin to a fire god descended, completely unscathed.
Muzan, on the other hand, appeared as if he had been scorched by flames all over, slashed by a fire blade, not just charred but bearing multiple wounds that seemed incapable of regeneration.
"Dammit!"
Muzan seethed with anger.
At the same time, Riezel looked somewhat surprised.
"Well, well, you avoided fatal injuries? Looks like you've actually made some progress since the Sengoku era, huh?"
Riezel remarked, letting out a statement that pricked Muzan's self-respect.
He knew Riezel was referring to his encounter with Yoriichi during the Sengoku period.
Back then, due to his negligence and underestimation of Yoriichi, who appeared as unassuming as an ordinary samurai from head to toe, he suffered a devastating and humiliating defeat, couldn't put up a decent resistance, and was left severely injured.
But this time, although he was again grievously wounded, at least he had managed to avoid fatal injuries.
Riezel deemed this progress but to Muzan's ears, it felt nothing short of an insult.
As a result, Muzan no longer harbored any illusions about getting the Blue Spider Lily easily.
"You leave me no choice!"
Muzan yelled in anger, veins bulging on his forehead.
"Nakime!"
With his yell, the world instantly shifted.
The destroyed courtyard vanished.
The moonlit night sky vanished.
The village vanished.
The surrounding mountains and forests also vanished.
Riezel felt a dizzying sensation as everything around him transformed into a bizarre space where buildings were haphazardly arranged, some even upside down.
As if thrown off a cliff, he fell into an endless darkness—a darkness that seemed to devour everything, an abyss.
Seeing this, Riezel acted without hesitation, turning toward the direction of the abyss and swinging his sword.
*BOOOM!*
A burst of flames lifted his body skyward as if riding on a wave of fire, and in no time, he landed atop a building.
Riezel quickly surveyed his surroundings.
"So, this is the Infinity Castle?"
He recognized it as the Twelve Kizuki's headquarters.
"Kibutsuji Muzan!"
Riezel took a deep breath and called out defiantly.
"Are you going to run again?!"
His words were met with a voice filled with anger and resentment.
"Don't rush! If you want a decisive battle, then let's have it right here! I'll host you well in this Infinity Castle, where the spirits of the Ubuyashiki family have lingered to this day!"
"Wish to kill me? Then come to the throne!"
"Let's settle everything there!"
With these words, Muzan's voice faded away.
"Throne..." Riezel squinted his eyes.
It was a strange term to him.
In the original work, there was no mention of any throne within the Infinity Castle.
It was a chaotic castle, vast in its internal spaces, linking to many rooms and even places outside the castle itself.
Finding this so-called throne in a place like this would be difficult.
Fortunately, Riezel was prepared for this.
He knew that as long as the demon named Nakime was around, if Muzan chose to fight seriously, he would surely select this advantageous terrain.
For this reason, Riezel remained patient.
"Alright, if you want to play, I'll play along."
In the next second, flames swirled around Riezel's body, transforming him into what seemed like a blazing sun as he soared into the distance.
===
"Damn him!"
On the other side, Muzan was experiencing intense pain throughout his body, growling softly.
"I need to buy some time to heal my wounds first."
"Nakime, it's up to you next."
"Don't let him find me so quickly and make sure to annihilate the Demon Slayer Corps!"
As his words fell, a voice soon responded in Muzan's heart.
"Yes."