I don't want to be an elf!

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"Upper Moon Six is ​​dead."

Meanwhile, in Tokyo, at the Demon Slayer Corps' base.

Kagaya Ubuyashiki, behind the screen, coughed twice and announced the news to his subordinates.

The nine Pillar-level members gathered here once again to begin a new Pillar Council meeting.

Although they had already seen the message on the scroll when the ravens were carrying it.

However, when their lord confirmed the information by repeating it himself, many people were deeply moved.

That's a top-curved cockpit.

Over the years, the Demon Slayer Corps has only ever defeated one Upper Moon demon.

That was over a hundred years ago, and it took the lives of several Pillar-level members and other demon slayers to barely kill it.

And today, another Upper Moon has finally been defeated, how could they not be excited?

Everyone looked at Yuzui Tengen, who was dressed in a hospital gown and looked like he had just recovered from a serious illness, their eyes filled with different emotions.

"I wasn't the one who contributed the most in this battle to defeat the Upper Moon."

Uzui Tengen did not lie to save face, and said truthfully: "In fact, I did not do much. The people who really defeated the Upper Moon siblings were the members of Ratatosk."

Due to the limited carrying capacity of the Ravens, the Pillar-level members only knew roughly what had happened.

As for the details, I know nothing at all.

Uzui Tengen quickly recounted the events of the battle to them in detail, letting them understand what had happened.

"It seems that our assessment of that Flame Demon's strength was quite inaccurate."

After hearing about the battle, Kyojuro Rengoku said seriously, "To be able to suppress an Upper Moon so easily, and even kill him in a short burst of power, such strength would definitely rank among the top three among all the Upper Moons."

"As expected, this organization is also a major concern for us."

Upon learning that another powerful demon had emerged in the world, Shinazugawa Sanemi clenched his fist: "We can't let them continue to grow stronger, otherwise, a hundred years from now, the Demon Slayer Corps might have another enemy as powerful as Muzan."

"But their goals are the same as ours, aren't they?"

Kanroji Mitsuri raised her hand and asked in confusion, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend. They also want to defeat Muzan, and we also want to defeat Muzan. Can't we all get along peacefully?"

"No ghosts are trustworthy."

Gyomei Himejima fiddled with the prayer beads in his hand, saying without joy or sorrow, "Perhaps their leader only wants to replace Muzan and become the new Demon King. The Demon Slayer Corps never cooperates with demons. Our mission is simply to slay demons, to slay all the demons in the world, including them."

Just like what happened at the last Pillars meeting.

Nine Pillars began a new round of discussions surrounding Ratatosk.

Kagaya Ubuyashiki, behind the screen, listened quietly to their conversation.

After a long while, he coughed lightly.

Then all the pillars fell silent and looked at their lord.

"I know that everyone has doubts and disbelief about this organization, but I have a feeling that they will become an ally of the Demon Slayer Corps. This battle to kill the Upper Moon demons has also cleared up the possibility that they were a trap set by Muzan Kibutsuji against the Demon Slayer Corps."

Kagaya Ubuyashiki spoke slowly.

"I want to meet their leader."

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Method of Luring the Enemy

The battle to subdue the Upper Moon demons was a great success.

Although she couldn't witness firsthand the changes in how the human and demon factions viewed her, Kotori Itsuka was certain that her prestige among both factions had increased considerably after this battle.

As a result, both side quest one and side quest two made progress.

During the battle, Tanjiro Kamado used a container specially made by Yushiro to extract Daki's blood for experiments.

Not only did Kotori Itsuka's mission make progress, but Tamayo's experiment also had the potential for a breakthrough due to obtaining high-quality demon blood.

Next, she only had one thing to think about.

How can we lure Muzan Kibutsuji out?

Since we failed to find Muzan Kibutsuji in the entertainment district and lost our only chance to speedrun through this world, luring him out is the only way to complete the main quest.

Although this was obviously an extremely difficult task, Kotori Itsuka was not completely clueless.

After three days of reflection, she had a rough outline of a plan in her mind.

"Tanjiro, what do you think Muzan wants most?"

Having just finished dinner with Tanjiro Kamado, Kotori Itsuka, who was walking down the streets of Asakusa with a lollipop in her mouth, suddenly asked a question.

"Eh?"

Faced with this sudden question, Tanjiro Kamado was clearly stunned.

Although he didn't know why the commander would ask such a question, his serious nature led him to think about it immediately.

Not long after, he tentatively gave his answer.

"Want to overcome the sun?"

"No, it's not done."

Kotori Itsuka nodded, then shook her head: "What that guy wants most is immortality."

"What's the difference?"

"The difference is that overcoming sunlight is just one obstacle on his path to immortality, but to achieve immortality, he needs to eliminate more than just this one obstacle."

As a transmigrator, Kotori Itsuka naturally has a very good understanding of Muzan Kibutsuji.

This man was almost abandoned as a stillborn baby because he was too weak at birth.

As he grew older, he was plagued by various ailments, and all the doctors who treated him said he was destined to die young.

The fear of death was ingrained in his instincts from birth.

Even after becoming a ghost and possessing unimaginable power, he still acted with extreme caution, fearing that one wrong step would lead to another.

In fact, in the original work, after meeting Yoriichi Tsugikuni, the pinnacle of combat power in this world, he was directly defeated by a single blow, causing his Dao heart to collapse. He hid for decades until he outlived Yoriichi Tsugikuni before daring to show his face.

This guy's obsession with immortality has reached an unimaginable level.

It was precisely because he wanted to achieve immortality that he sought to overcome sunlight, his only weakness, and become a perfect being.

It was precisely because he wanted to achieve immortality that he sent the Twelve Demon Moons to deal with the Demon Slayer Corps and kill anyone who might threaten him.

Now, for Muzan Kibutsuji, the people who pose the greatest threat to his life are no longer the Demon Slayer Corps.

It is Ratatosk.

“In Muzan Kibutsuji’s eyes, the Demon Slayer Corps, being a group of mortals, is not much of a threat,” Kotori Itsuka continued. “But we are different. Nezuko and I are both demons, beings just like him. Given his personality, he cannot ignore us.”

No matter how powerful a mortal is, they can never escape the erosion of time.

It was precisely because of this that Muzan Kibutsuji outlived Yoriichi Tsugikuni.

However, Kotori Itsuka is different from Nezuko.

In Muzan Kibutsuji's eyes, they were all demons, beings with infinite lifespans just like him.

He couldn't outlive them.

If he doesn't take the initiative and eliminate them before they reach their peak, even if he overcomes the sunlight, Muzan Kibutsuji will still feel uneasy because he has two powerful enemies who can threaten his life.

"So, Muzan will definitely target you and Nezuko?"

Although Tanjiro Kamado was a bit slow-witted, he wasn't stupid. He immediately understood what Kotori Itsuka meant and asked with a hint of worry, "Should we lay low for a while?"

Nezuko is indeed growing very fast.

After mastering full demon transformation, she is now comparable to half of Daki in her complete form.

Kotori Itsuka is also very strong.

He fought Gyutaro alone and was able to overpower him, making him arguably the strongest demon Kamado Tanjiro had ever seen.

However, if Muzan Kibutsuji really had his eye on them, Tanjiro Kamado still felt that their strength was insufficient.

After all, in the entire Ratatoskree, only Kotori Itsuka is capable of directly facing the Upper Moon.

Tanjiro Kamado and Nezuko combined could barely put up a fight against Daki, the weakest of the Upper Moons, while Tamayo and Yushiro were completely powerless.

If Muzan Kibutsuji were to bring the remaining Upper Moons to cause them trouble, their chances of survival would be slim.

"Avoid the limelight? Why?" Kotori Itsuka glanced at him strangely. "I can't wait for him to show up."

"But......"

"Don't mistake my level of fighting Gyutaro for my full strength," Kotori Itsuka said calmly. "That guy isn't worth my full strength."

It wasn't worth it; it was just one of the reasons I didn't use my full strength.

Putting aside the fact that excessive use of spiritual power will lead to a berserk state, if Kotori Itsuka really showed Muzan Kibutsuji her full power, that coward would probably flee Japan overnight and hide in another country.

If this were to actually happen, she might be trapped in this world for hundreds of years because she couldn't complete the main quest.

She didn't want to see that happen.

Therefore, it was necessary to conceal a portion of his strength so that Muzan Kibutsuji would feel that he could control him.

However, this alone is not enough to lure him out of the rat hole as quickly as possible.

He needs a strong push.

"Do you think Muzan would be unable to restrain himself if he knew that Nezuko and I weren't afraid of sunlight?" Kotori Itsuka asked with a smile.

"Probably...?" Tanjiro Kamado swallowed hard. "Commander, you wouldn't be thinking of using yourself and Nezuko as bait, would you?"

“Why not?” Kotori Itsuka countered. “If he remains unmoved, perhaps I can reveal that Tamayo is also a member of Ratatoskr, possessing not only a drug to remove curses but also a drug to turn demons into humans.”

"..."

Upon hearing this, Tanjiro Kamado wore a subtle expression.