Who are you calling a stable boy?!

"I'm so sorry, my lord..."

Kagaya Ubuyashiki sighed, chuckled, and shook his head.

"...You scum, you really do look like you've got the victory in the bag."

Surrounded by enemies, Muzan Kibutsuji laughed even louder than Zheng Jing had just been.

He glanced around at everyone, then at Kagaya Ubuyashiki, who was under layers of protection, before finally fixing his gaze on Jung Kyung.

"You don't actually think that for the past thousand years, I've let you keep pestering me out of fear, do you?"

"Isn't that so?"

Seeing Kibutsuji Muzan, the source of so many tragedies, Shinazugawa Sanemi, seeing this evil's true form for the first time, was so enraged that his voice trembled.

"You cowardly coward who hides and runs, I'll make you—"

Suddenly, a figure rushed into the killing formation formed by the five intersecting pillars.

It's Zheng Jing!

"Hakimi, why are you wasting your breath talking to him!"

Leaping into the air, Zheng Jing wielded his mighty staff, exerted his strength, and the staff stirred up gusts of wind and thunder, whistling as it crashed down towards Wu Can's crown!

Seeing the stick coming, Muzan raised his head, his smile growing even wider.

"Zheng—"

Suddenly, within this deadly trap, the sound of zither strings seemed to rise.

—Then, a door suddenly opened beneath the feet of everyone present, including Muzan!

In a flash, Gyomei Himejima, who was protecting the Ubuyashiki couple from behind, turned around and raised his arm, gently pushing the Ubuyashiki couple outwards.

Seeing this, Muzan Kibutsuji was taken aback.

He discovered that the nine pillars present seemed to have anticipated this sudden change.

But he had no time to think about why—

"Bah!"

His smile resembled that of Maitreya Buddha, and his eyes were like those of Vajra.

Zheng Jing wields a stick, which falls from the sky!

"—Take this from Old Zheng!!"

Chapter 49: Accept your fate!

This blow struck him squarely, and Muzan no longer dodged.

He didn't know what tricks the Demon Slayer Corps was up to, but now that they had entered his Infinity Castle, they were like turtles in a jar or fish on a chopping block, just waiting for him, Muzan Kibutsuji, to wield his butcher's knife and deal with them one by one.

First and foremost, it has to be that damned Optimus Prime Zheng Jing!

With a swift movement of his right arm, flesh and blood erupted, and Muzan Kibutsuji's once-strong arm instantly swelled into a gigantic arm over a meter in diameter. From bottom to top, the massive hand, large enough to grasp Zheng Jing completely, opened, poised to crush Zheng Jing, along with his staff, into dust.

"Oh!"

—The stick in Zheng Jing's hand collided with the surging flesh and blood of Muzan Kibutsuji, producing a muffled sound like thunder.

Then, the long stick, like a red-hot iron, pressed down on the solidified lard. After a brief stalemate, it melted away Muzan's pile of flesh and blood, which were stacked like footballs, and continued to grind down on the shocked Muzan Kibutsuji!

Seeing the crimson-gold staff approaching, Muzan Kibutsuji hurriedly stretched out his other arm to the left. His suddenly extended left hand transformed into a long whip of flesh and blood, grabbing a protrusion of a building and pulling his body to the left with a taut grip.

At the same time, he severed his right arm without hesitation, like a gecko severing its tail.

By sacrificing this arm, Muzan Kibutsuji was able to dodge Zheng Jing's blow that came from the sky.

Clamped against the straight wall, using the tiny barbs extending from the ends of his limbs to steady himself, he stared wide-eyed, unconsciously twisting his head to chase after Zheng Jing's figure as he fell downwards after brushing past him.

The moment he took Zheng Jing's blow with his bare body, the intense burning pain caused his body to react before his mind could process it.

This feeling...

This feeling was like being exposed to the scorching sun without any protection!

This...this is just like—

Ghost Dance Tsuji looked back miserably.

The figure, using some unknown means, managed to stand firmly on the wall with his own two feet, in the trap he had specially asked Nakime to create, where there was nowhere to stand!

Facing Muzan's gritted-teeth gaze, the man, carrying his weapon, slowly turned around.

"—Tsuigo! Yoriichi!"

Before him was clearly Zheng Jing, but Muzan Kibutsuji roared out another man's name with a chillingly hateful voice.

"Ha! Muzan, you old bastard! Open your dog eyes and see who your grandfather is!"

Zheng Jing laughed loudly, circulating his masculine inner force in a ripple-like motion, traversing the straight wall as if it were flat ground. He took three steps at a time, rushing to Wu Can's side and delivering another blow to his head.

This time, Muzan dared not take the attack head-on. He leaned back and took several steps back, creating distance between himself and Zheng Jing.

Where are you going?

Zheng Jing picked up his stick and chased after them.

(Calm down! Calm down! That monster is dead—there are no gods or Buddhas in this world, and there's no such thing as reincarnation! That kind of monster... it's a miracle if it appears even once among humans!)

With these thoughts in mind, Muzan Kibutsuji hastily retreated.

It must be said that as the progenitor of demons, thousands of years of accumulation have given him a body with extremely strong basic qualities.

By chasing and fleeing, and by retreating while facing Zheng Jing, he managed to prevent Zheng Jing from closing the distance between them in a short period of time.

This situation also calmed Muzan's chaotic thoughts, which had been disrupted by the recurrence of his past nightmares.

The person before me could not possibly be that monster.

If it really is that monster...

How could we possibly fall behind him?!

Kibutsuji Muzan suddenly stopped in his tracks.

This will definitely shorten the distance between him and Zheng Jing!

With a low stance and a twisted body, Zheng Jing thrust his arm forward, wielding his long staff like a sharp spear, aiming for Wu Can's face.

Using his exceptional dynamic vision and reflexes, Muzan twisted his head, causing the blow to land on his now fully regenerated right shoulder—

"laugh!"

"Snapped!"

Several chilling sounds rang out almost simultaneously.

Muzan was sent flying backwards in response!

After tumbling twice in the air, Muzan used his left arm, which transformed into a long whip of flesh and blood, to regain his footing after flying only a few meters.

"Ha, admirable, Optimus Prime Zheng Jing."

The flesh and blood writhed, regenerating the right arm that had suffered yet again. Muzan Kibutsuji clenched his right fist, as if he had already grasped victory, and stood up straight with a light laugh.

On his back, nine tubes of flesh and bone swayed silently.

Just now, while being stabbed by Zheng Jing, he quietly unleashed the nine bone and flesh whips on his back, striking Zheng Jing in multiple places with lightning speed.

To prevent a warrior like Zheng Jing, who appears extremely wild, from triggering his instinctive reactions, these points of attack were not considered fatal.

However, the moment the attack successfully hit, Muzan was already certain that it was his victory.

Each of his nine bone and flesh whips carries a specially made poisonous blood, a potent poison capable of destroying an opponent's cells!

In other words, no matter where it hits, it will be a fatal wound for humanity, leaving them with no way out!

Seeing Zheng Jing standing there with his head down, Kibutsuji Muzan laughed out loud.

"For even a fleeting moment, I can recall unpleasant memories, Optimus Prime Zheng Jing, I'm afraid—"

"Afraid of you my foot!"

—With a leap, Zheng Jing, whose body suddenly burst forth with dazzling golden light, somersaulted in front of Muzan and delivered a devastating blow to that astonished face!

In his panic, Muzan was unable to dodge in time, and half of his body was smashed into a bloody pulp.

Zheng Jing grabbed his staff, about to strike again, when Muzan, seemingly snapped back to his senses, quickly flicked out his flesh-and-blood whip, pulling himself away from Zheng Jing.

Seeing Zheng Jing, who was glowing and chasing after him with an excited smile, Muzan's pupils trembled, filled with doubt.

what happened?

Did the attack miss?

Impossible! Muzan was convinced that all his attacks had landed solidly! All of them—

and many more?

—Solid and solid?

"you--"

Realizing where the problem lay, Muzan Kibutsuji's eyes widened.

Unwilling to believe the absurd conclusion he had hastily come up with, and convinced himself that he was a wicked ghost who had plagued the world for thousands of years without ever being punished by heaven, he unleashed the trump card he had hidden in his legs.

Those are eight bone and flesh tubes.

Although both are weapons made of flesh and blood, they are longer and more ruthless than the nine on his back, and they are also the fastest killing move he can unleash!

As these eight bone and flesh whips were swung, a series of deafening sonic booms were immediately generated.

However, these booming sounds could not drown out Muzan Kibutsuji's increasingly hysterical questioning!

"—What exactly are you?!"

Braving the carnage created by two long whips of flesh and blood and seventeen tube whips of bone and flesh, a total of nineteen weapons of flesh and blood, Zheng Jing grinned, held the stick upside down, and stepped forward with his head held high.

"Idiot! You're doomed!"

Chapter 50: Like Sunlight Piercing Through the Night

"Mr. Beimingyu!"

"Purgatory, and the River of Immortality?"

After clearing out some minor enemies along the way, Gyomei Himejima, Kyojuro Rengoku, and Sanemi Shinazugawa successfully reunited.

"Have you found anything?"

He wandered through the darkness and asked the Dao on the island of Beiming.

"I'm sorry, there were only some troublemakers blocking the way. To be honest, if it weren't for Old Zheng and Lord Zheng's prior preparations, it would have been very difficult to even find the two of you to meet up."

He stroked the crow perched on his shoulder and shook his head with a smile.

"Tsk... Did that guy intend to go and fight Muzan Kibutsuji all by himself from the very beginning?"

Frustrated, Shinazugawa Sanemi scratched his head and muttered something under his breath.

Although they disagreed on who should act as bait, Zheng Jing and Kagaya Ubuyashiki agreed on the subsequent operation to enter the Infinite Castle.

Muzan Kibutsuji's goal this time was to wipe out the Demon Slayer Corps, so he had Nakime bring all the Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen he could find into the Infinity Castle.

Knowing he would do this, Kagaya Ubuyashiki took the opportunity to send all the crows in the team into the Infinity Castle and affixed the talismans that Yushiro had prepared in advance to these crows.

Through Yushiro's Blood Demon Art, these crows can share what they see and hear with the outside world of the Infinity Castle. The Command Tower outside the Infinity Castle then draws a map of the castle's terrain and issues various commands.

It can be said that these crows carrying talismans are now the eyes, ears, and mouths of the Demon Slayer Corps, essentially living radios.

"There must be a deeper reason why His Excellency Zheng Jing did this."

Himejima Gyomei said in a low voice, "According to the plan, the three of us will need to work together to face Upper Moon One, Kokushibo. You should all remember—"

"A traitor from the Warring States period, right?"

Shinazugawa Sanemi gave a soft snort.

"Does that spineless guy really need the three of us to work together? I alone am enough, right? Purgatory and Mr. Scream Island can go—"

Sanemi Shinazugawa suddenly choked on his words.

At the same time, all three of them gripped their weapons tightly.