Demon Slayer: I Am a Demon Chapter 223 223: The Progenitor of Demons Combined Chapters)

Attacks by demons were breaking out everywhere.

Although the swordsn of the Demon Slayer Corps fought with everything they had, the truth was cruel. In terms of overall strength, the Corps simply could not compare to the demons.

Perhaps the demons had been silent for too long, or perhaps they had been suppressed under Kibutsuji Muzan's control for far too many years. Now that they had finally erupted all at once, the destruction they caused far exceeded anyone's expectations.

One after another, Demon Slayer Corps hideouts were discovered. The swordsn stationed inside were slaughtered beneath the demons' assaults.

"Namu Amida Butsu…"

Gyoi Hijima finally ca to a stop.

After rushing from place to place to provide support, he had at last arrived at the Swordsmith Village. What greeted him was a ruined wasteland swallowed by flas. Demons rampaged freely through the village, slaughtering the swordsmiths without restraint. Although swordsn had co to defend them, they were still no match for the demons.

His spiked flail swung through the darkness, tracing a silver arc beneath the night sky. Before the howl of the wind even arrived, the weapon had already crashed into the head of a demon that was chasing a fleeing swordsmith.

The demon's head shattered like a ripe lon. Death was only fitting for such a creature.

Gyoi lowered his Nichirin Sword and slowly clenched his fist. The feeling of killing demons was engraved deep into his body, almost carved into his muscles themselves. As long as that sensation remained, as long as strength still flowed through his body, then even if he had only enough power left to move, he would continue slaying demons.

BOOM!

His massive fra rushed forward again.

With a single punch, he shattered another demon's head as it preyed upon the weak.

"Namu Amida Butsu…"

Gyoi wiped away the demon blood staining his hand and quietly recited a Buddhist prayer once more.

"Please... do not bully the weak!"

A trembling voice suddenly ca from behind him.

Gyoi turned around. Though blind, he could see everything clearly through his heightened perception.

Under the dim moonlight stood a frail old man with snow-white hair. His back was bent nearly in half, and even walking seed difficult for him. He looked so weak that a single gust of wind might knock him over, yet he was glaring at Gyoi with trembling anger.

"Namu Amida Butsu."

Gyoi pressed his palms together.

At that mont, the old man slowly raised his head, revealing cloudy, murky eyes.

It was Upper Rank Four of the Twelve Kizuki — Hantengu.

"How can you bully the weak so ruthlessly?" Hantengu asked in a trembling voice.

"Is this really sothing a strong person like you should do?"

His shaking voice carried grief and accusation.

"How can you do sothing so cruel?"

A faint breeze passed through the air, causing Hantengu's frail body to sway unsteadily, as if he might collapse at any mont.

For a brief instant, Gyoi almost felt as though he truly had committed so terrible sin.

But then he clenched his fist tighter.

The feeling of striking a demon's body was still vivid in his mind.

He was hunting demons.

He was not bullying the weak.

In fact, at this very mont, the demon standing before him radiated overwhelming evil.

"Namu Amida Butsu."

After softly chanting his prayer again, Gyoi launched his attack without hesitation.

"I am just a poor, weak old man!" Hantengu cried as he curled up and trembled in fear.

"Please… don't bully …"

"You're the ones forcing to do this!"

Boom!

Gyoi's flail crashed down violently, instantly smashing Hantengu's head to pieces.

But Hantengu did not die.

Instead, his body split apart into four separate clones — Sekido, Karaku, Urogi, and Aizetsu.

Each clone radiated terrifying power.

Every single one of them possessed strength nearly equal to that of a mber of the Twelve Kizuki.

Whoosh!

A violent current of air tore through the battlefield. Everything in its path was shredded apart. Rocks, trees, even the ground itself split open like fragile paper before the overwhelming force.

Karaku laughed loudly as he waved the giant fan in his hand, unleashing the attack directly at Gyoi.

The raging wind struck Gyoi's body like countless blades slicing into flesh.

Yet even so, it could not tear apart his body.

Gyoi Hijima had already tempered his body to its absolute limit. Although the violent currents of air could injure him, they were nowhere near enough to kill him.

BOOM!

Sekido, Urogi, and Aizetsu attacked at the sa mont.

"Namu Amida Butsu…"

Gyoi quietly chanted his prayer once more. This was the first ti he had ever faced one of the Upper Rank demons of the Twelve Kizuki. Compared to the Lower Rank demons he had slain before, these monsters were incomparably stronger.

…

A demon's claws easily tore through a swordsman's body before ripping out his still-warm heart.

Then the demon greedily looked ahead.

More demons surged toward the house belonging to a family protected by wisteria crests.

For generations, these families had offered shelter and rest to mbers of the Demon Slayer Corps, but now they had beco targets of a brutal massacre. The swordsn defending the house were almost all dead, and the delicious prey they had protected now stood exposed before the demons' eyes.

"There are… no swordsn left to protect you anymore."

A demon licked its lips as it stared at the trembling won and children before preparing to pounce on them.

"Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash!"

A blade flashed through the darkness like lightning itself, instantly slicing through the demon's neck.

Leaning on a cane, with a prosthetic right leg supporting his aged body, the forr Thunder Hashira, Jigoro Kuwajima, slowly stepped forward.

Looking at the demon he had just slain, he let out a bitter smile.

"I really have grown old. I'm nowhere near as strong as I was in my younger days."

Not only that, without real legs to support him, it was impossible for him to unleash the full strength he once possessed.

But no matter what—

He had once been a Hashira.

Even if his body had weakened, his experience remained.

Gripping the hilt of his Nichirin Sword tightly, Jigoro looked at the demons attacking the house and gently brushed his fingers across the blade.

"It seems all of you have forgotten about this old man."

BOOM!

His figure flashed forward.

Like a bolt of lightning tearing through the battlefield, the old man dashed among the demons as heads fell one after another.

To ordinary demons, the elderly swordsman before them was terrifyingly strong.

One demon beca so frightened that it turned to flee, but after only taking two steps, a crimson blood blade suddenly sliced off its head.

Unlike a death caused by a Nichirin Sword, this strike devoured everything. The demon's blood, flesh, and life force were all absorbed into the blade lodged in its neck.

Tap… tap…

Footsteps echoed through the night as a figure slowly appeared.

The night wind stirred the hem of his clothing, and beneath the darkness, the six eyes on his face looked horrifyingly unnatural.

Just standing there, his overwhelming presence crushed everyone on the battlefield beneath unbearable pressure.

The strongest of the Twelve Kizuki.

Upper Rank One.

The Sword Demon — Kokushibo.

Long ago, he too had once been a powerful swordsman of the Demon Slayer Corps before betraying humanity and becoming a demon.

"Truly impressive. Even after losing your legs, you can still move this fast."

Kokushibo stopped walking and looked at Jigoro with a faint smile.

"How about becoming a demon?"

His voice carried calm temptation.

"If you beco a demon, your lost legs will regenerate. Your aged body will return to its youthful state, and you'll gain an endless lifespan…"

"Huu..."

Jigoro finally stopped moving, breathing heavily. His old body no longer possessed the strength it once had, and no prosthetic could ever compare to healthy legs.

"I really do miss my younger body," he admitted with a sigh. "I miss the days before my legs were lost."

As he spoke, his hand gently stroked the blade in his grip.

"But becoming a disgusting creature like a demon… that's sothing I could never do."

The mont those words fell, Jigoro launched his attack at Kokushibo.

His blade moved as fast as lightning, tearing through the night sky—

Yet it was instantly blocked by an even faster sword.

Effortlessly.

The faster blade shattered the Nichirin Sword in a single strike, tore through the old man's defense, and pierced straight into his body.

Kokushibo retracted his sword and stepped back, his six crimson eyes quietly watching the elderly swordsman.

"Beco a demon. Only by becoming a demon can you continue to live."

His voice remained calm and emotionless.

When humans faced death, fear would always rise within their hearts.

Back then, when he himself first sensed that death was approaching, he too had been filled with terror.

To humans, their short lifespans almost ant they had no future at all.

Kokushibo firmly believed that more and more mbers of the Demon Slayer Corps would eventually realize this truth. As long as they truly accepted becoming demons from the bottom of their hearts, they could free themselves from every limit placed upon them.

Jigoro Kuwajima could feel his life slowly slipping away. His grip on his sword remained tight, but his weakening body no longer had the strength to stand. Even so, he stubbornly used his Nichirin Blade to support himself against the ground, refusing to fall.

"What a pitiful demon you are."

There was no fear of death in the old man's eyes.

Only pity for demons.

Those words instantly dragged Kokushibo's thoughts back to that crimson moonlit night long ago. In front of the seven-story pagoda, he had seen his younger brother again after sixty years apart following his transformation into a demon.

At that ti, Yoriichi Tsugikuni had looked at him with the very sa expression and sighed softly: "You truly are pitiful, older brother."

"You're the ridiculous one!"

Kokushibo suddenly roared in fury, nearly losing control of his composure. He pointed toward the fallen swordsn scattered across the battlefield.

"Do you see this? Human bodies are weak and fragile. The swordsn who claim to fight against demons are dying one after another!"

"Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash!"

Jigoro's final desperate strike answered him.

A flash of lightning burst through the darkness—

But only for a mont.

The glow of the Nichirin Sword quickly vanished, and the old man's head fell heavily to the ground.

Soon after, more demons surged out from the darkness, and the wisteria family house protected by the swordsn was completely destroyed beneath the night.

…

Panting heavily, Kaigaku ran for his life.

Unlike the other swordsn, who were willing to risk everything to protect others, Kaigaku cared about nothing more than his own survival.

After witnessing one swordsman after another die horribly, he had long since lost any will to fight. Right now, all he wanted was to escape this dangerous place as quickly as possible. As for the people he was supposed to protect, he had already thrown them out of his mind.

His desperate footsteps echoed clearly through the silent night.

Yet the danger chasing him only grew closer.

Suddenly sensing sothing, Kaigaku abruptly turned around and raised his blade defensively in front of him.

Even though he could not see anything, a violent impact slamd into his sword. A terrifying force burst through his arms, nearly knocking him flat onto the ground.

Struggling back to his feet, Kaigaku finally saw what had attacked him.

Spider threads.

Threads so thin they were almost invisible.

As if sensing sothing, Kaigaku slowly lifted his head.

Under the moonlight stood a barefoot boy floating in midair as though suspended by nothing at all. From above, the boy looked down at Kaigaku calmly.

Etched into his eyes was the mark:

Lower Five.

One of the Twelve Kizuki — the Spider Demon, Rui.

"How annoying," Rui said quietly while manipulating the threads between his fingers. "If it weren't for swordsn like you, I could have continued peacefully living together with my family."

The mont he finished speaking, the spider threads shot toward Kaigaku.

Kaigaku's expression changed drastically. He narrowly dodged the incoming threads while gripping his sword tightly. His feet slamd against the ground as he lunged upward.

"Thunder Breathing, Third Form: Thunder Swarm!"

A sharp flash of lightning-like sword energy descended violently—

Only to be blocked by the incredibly thin threads.

"How is that possible…?"

Fear filled Kaigaku's eyes.

Those fragile-looking spider threads were unbelievably tough. Even a Nichirin Sword could not cut through them.

As more and more threads closed in from every direction, Kaigaku threw himself desperately to the side, barely avoiding the attack. Then he scrambled back to his feet and continued fleeing in panic.

"Are you playing a ga with ?"

An excited smile spread across Rui's face.

"Run faster. Run a little faster. Don't let catch you!"

…

Human stamina was limited, after all.

No matter how desperately Kaigaku ran, he could not escape the attacks. Instead, the distance between them grew shorter and shorter.

Finally—

His exhausted body gave out completely, and he crashed heavily onto the ground.

"It's over…"

At that mont, Kaigaku's face turned deathly pale.

Rui caught up, standing high in the air supported by his threads. He looked down at Kaigaku with a look of disappointnt. He had thought he could play a little longer.

"The ga… is over."

Rui slowly raised his hand, his five fingers spreading apart as he prepared to end everything.

"Wait…!"

Kaigaku shouted, gasping for breath.

Rui tilted his head, looking at Kaigaku with confusion.

Kaigaku suddenly dropped to his knees and began kowtowing frantically toward the demon.

"Please spare ! As long as you let live, I'll do anything…"

Rui stared silently at the swordsman kneeling before him.

A human.

A Demon Slayer kneeling before a demon and begging for rcy.

Even within Rui's mories, he had never seen a human swordsman surrender and grovel like this.

"Why did you abandon the people you were supposed to protect?" Rui asked softly.

"The mont you threw them away, they all died soon after."

"Please… just spare my life. Even if I have to beco a demon, I'll accept it!"

Kaigaku continued begging desperately. As long as he could survive, he did not care about anything else. Even if he had to turn around and slaughter his forr comrades with his own hands, he would still do it without hesitation.

As long as he could live—

He truly did not want to die.

But what awaited him were razor-sharp spider threads.

In an instant, the threads sliced cleanly through Kaigaku's neck.

The man who, in the original story, would have encountered Kokushibo, accepted the offer to beco a demon under overwhelming power, and eventually risen to beco one of the Twelve Kizuki…

Now died here instead, at the hands of the Spider Demon, Rui.

"I really hate people who abandon their responsibilities."

Rui murmured quietly before turning his gaze into the distance.

"I need to deal with the next group of swordsn quickly. That way, I can go back sooner and live peacefully with my family."

…

Tap… tap…

Clear footsteps echoed through the night not far from the Ubuyashiki estate.

Under the faint moonlight, a shadow stained with endless sin stretched long across the ground.

The man wore white trousers that emphasized his tall figure, along with a black suit jacket and a white fedora. Slowly, he raised his head and looked toward the mansion surrounded by wisteria trees.

"The destiny that has continued for hundreds of years… will end tonight."

As he lifted his face fully into the moonlight, eyes as crimson as blooming plum blossoms were revealed.

And with them, his identity.

The demon who had not shown himself openly for centuries.

The ultimate target of the Demon Slayer Corps.

The Progenitor of Demons.

Muzan Kibutsuji.

...

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