The Boys: Ultimate Multiversal Lifeform

"Torataro, are you sure what you saw wasn’t an illusion? Could some demon have created a hallucination or something?"

Kyojuro Rengoku asked in a grave voice.

"Gah! I guarantee that whole area is completely gone." Torataro shook its head, folded its wings, and landed on Mitsuri’s shoulder. Its words landed like a dark cloud over every Hashira’s heart.

For a moment the Hashira’s faces showed different emotions. Kyojuro Rengoku clenched his teeth, a raging fire burning deep in his eyes, while the wounded Sanemi Shinazugawa clutched his mangled shoulder, his fierce glare looking ready to tear Muzan apart and swallow him whole.

"Tsk tsk tsk... what wonderful eyes. The killing intent in them is simply intoxicating."

Muzan, clearly delighted, flicked the blood off his arm and said lightly, "You can refuse both choices. The only thing refusal gets you is the deaths of hundreds of thousands. Honestly, I’m really looking forward to the moment hell descends on the human world."

"The one who should go to hell is you." The usually silent Giyu Tomioka now glared at him with icy eyes.

"Don’t be like that. The angrier you all get, the happier I become. If the day ever comes when every last member of the Demon Slayer Corps is dead, I think I might not be able to stop myself from laughing out loud."

Just as Muzan was about to turn and leave—

Mitsuri pressed her lips together and spoke. "If I give you the blue spider lily, will you stop?"

Muzan instantly turned to her. His burning gaze was filled with undisguised greed and excitement. "You’ve already found the blue spider lily?!"

"You answer me first." Mitsuri’s eyes had grown resolute. She held his stare without flinching.

"Very well. I can see the answer in your eyes." Muzan forced down his excitement, voice turning hoarse. "I only want the blue spider lily. The lives of those ants mean nothing to me."

"Giving you the flower is fine."

"Mitsuri!" Kyojuro Rengoku looked like he wanted to stop her from going any further.

"Shut your mouth."

Muzan’s plum-red eyes suddenly locked onto Kyojuro. "Watch your tongue, or today becomes your death anniversary!"

He turned back to Mitsuri. "Speak. What’s your condition?"

Under crushing pressure, Mitsuri forced the words out. "Stop all your actions... and kill every single demon under your command."

The moment her words landed, the atmosphere turned extremely strange. Muzan narrowed his eyes. A few seconds later he snorted coldly.

"I can agree to your condition, but I need to verify the goods first. If I remember correctly, every generation of the Demon Slayer Corps has a family head. Tomorrow between 7:00 PM and 9:00 PM, have him bring the item here to meet me. If the time comes and I still haven’t seen him, the consequences will be on you."

Muzan’s gaze swept across their faces before he continued. "There’s no need for any of you to be here. If I discover that any of you, including this Mr. Ivan, are within three kilometers of this place, then I’m sorry, our cooperation ends immediately. At that point you’ll get to witness the demons’ feast."

With that, he turned and walked away, his back slowly disappearing from their sight.

Silence hung for nearly three minutes.

In the end it was Kyojuro who broke the deathly quiet.

"Let’s head back. We need to report this to the Master right away."

Even though they had just killed two Upper Ranks and dealt a heavy blow to the demons’ forces, there was no joy on anyone’s faces. They only looked more and more grim.

...

Just before dawn, the Hashira returned to the Master’s estate.

At the same time, by a stone table in the courtyard, Kagaya Ubuyashiki sat quietly on a stone bench in a snow-white fur robe, holding a cup of hot tea. He used the warmth seeping through the cup’s outer wall to fight off the chill inside him.

"Don’t wait any longer. Please go back to your room and rest. If you keep this up, your body will only get worse." Behind him, his daughter Hibari spoke with worry.

"It’s fine... Besides, they’re out there fighting. How could I sleep soundly? Cough, cough!" Kagaya Ubuyashiki’s body wasn’t yet as frail as it would be two years later, but the curse eating away at him was growing worse.

Even swinging a sword ten times a day was becoming difficult for him.

Hibari knew her father’s personality too well, so she stopped trying to persuade him. She could only pray inwardly that Kyojuro and the others would return soon.

Whether it was because of her silent hope or not, steady yet urgent footsteps sounded outside the courtyard. Moments later Kyojuro Rengoku led the group inside. The instant he saw Kagaya Ubuyashiki seated at the stone table, his eyes reddened.

He understood immediately—the Master had sat there all night, waiting out of worry for their safety.

"Master..." Kyojuro’s voice cracked. He dropped to one knee.

The other Hashira reacted the same way. Even Sanemi Shinazugawa, badly wounded, forced down the pain and spoke with guilt. "It’s my fault the Master worried until dawn. Your body matters far more than our lives. The Demon Slayer Corps can do without me, but it cannot do without you."

"Too serious." Kagaya pressed his hands on the table and tried to stand and greet them, but after sitting so long his exhausted body swayed dangerously. Hibari and Hinaki quickly steadied him from behind.

"Sorry. Allow me to stay seated while I listen. Seeing every one of you return safely is already more than enough for me."

"Master, the situation is urgent. I have important news to report."

Kyojuro then recounted everything that had happened that night without leaving out a single detail—from their encounter with Gyokko slaughtering fishermen, to the killing of Upper Rank Six Gyutaro and Daki, all the way to Muzan’s sudden appearance through Akaza’s body and the condition Mitsuri had proposed.

Kagaya coughed lightly into his fist. "To have slain two Upper Ranks... your achievements surprise me. You’ve accomplished what many of your predecessors spent their entire lives trying and failing to do. I’m proud of you all."

"Master, this isn’t our achievement alone."

Kagaya waved a hand. "Regardless, you did it. Now it’s my turn. Even dry, cracked firewood still has its use someday. Tomorrow at noon I will go to Tokyo Prefecture on time and meet the Demon Slayer Corps’ thousand-year-old enemy."

"Master, there must be another way. You can’t meet Muzan alone."

"I’ll go with him."

Ivan spoke calmly from the side.

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P.S. This arc concludes in three Chapters.

[]~(￣▽￣)~*

Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69