"You healed the Master in a truly magnificent way!"
Tengen Uzui looked up at Asuramaru, his voice carrying rare sincerity beneath its usual flamboyance.
The other Hashira were no less shaken.
Kochou Shinobu's eyes, in particular, lingered on Asuramaru with a quiet, almost clinical curiosity.
A power that could heal the Master's body so completely…
If she could understand even a fraction of how it worked, perhaps the Demon Slayer Corps' chances against demons would change beyond recognition.
Below the veranda, Tanjiro remained kneeling on one knee. Relief softened his expression as he looked up at the sword spirit floating beside Kagaya.
"I knew it," he said, unable to hide the happiness in his voice. "I knew you could do it, Asuramaru."
But while the courtyard was still wrapped in gratitude and joy, Asuramaru's expression remained unmoved.
His crimson eyes swept over them, cool and rciless.
"You're celebrating too early."
The words fell lightly.
Yet the entire courtyard went silent.
The excitent vanished as though doused with cold water.
Sanemi Shinazugawa's expression changed first. The fierce joy in his eyes sharpened into alarm.
"What do you an?" he demanded. "Did sothing go wrong with the treatnt?"
Even Kagaya turned his newly restored gaze toward Asuramaru.
He knew his own body better than anyone. At this mont, he felt healthier than he had in years. His breathing was clear, his vision had returned, and the pain that had gnawed at him every day had faded.
So why would Asuramaru say such a thing?
Doubt settled over the Hashira.
Asuramaru rested his chin on one hand, looking faintly impatient, as if explaining himself was already more trouble than the matter deserved.
"I cannot erase the curse itself."
The Hashira stiffened.
"I healed the damage it caused to his body and suppressed the curse with my power," Asuramaru continued. "That is all. It should hold for a few years. After that, the curse will erupt again and continue devouring his body until the mont he dies."
The bad news sank into the courtyard.
Yet Kagaya Ubuyashiki remained calm.
There was no despair on his face. Not even disappointnt.
Instead, he accepted it with the sa serenity with which he had once accepted his own approaching death.
"I see," Kagaya said gently. "Compared to before, being granted several more healthy years is already more than enough. I am deeply grateful."
The Hashira did not share his composure.
Sanemi stepped forward before he could stop himself.
"Is there no way to remove the curse completely?"
That was the question weighing on all their hearts.
Only Tanjiro looked at Asuramaru with unwavering belief.
"Asuramaru," he said, "you must have a way, right?"
Asuramaru lowered his hand and turned to face them all.
"Naturally."
The answer made every Hashira's attention sharpen.
"A curse can be broken if you find its source and eliminate it," Asuramaru said. "The source of the curse on the Ubuyashiki family is Muzan Kibutsuji. Slay him, and the curse will disappear on its own."
Simple words.
A nearly impossible task.
For a thousand years, the Ubuyashiki family and the Demon Slayer Corps had pursued Muzan Kibutsuji. Generations had been buried beneath that wish. Countless swordsn had died without ever seeing his shadow.
Finding Muzan was difficult enough.
Killing him was harder than climbing to heaven.
Even so, Kagaya smiled.
It was a small smile, but it carried a resolve that made the air settle around him.
"Even without the matter of the curse, killing Muzan Kibutsuji has always been my life's greatest wish," he said.
His restored gaze moved across the Hashira below him.
"I believe the Hashira gathered here today are the finest generation since the swordsn of the Sengoku period. And now, with Tanjiro and Asuramaru among us, I believe we can finally bring an end to Muzan."
His voice was calm, but no one doubted the conviction within it.
"When that day cos, I will have no regrets, even if death awaits afterward."
"Master…"
Sorrow and reverence passed through the Hashira at once.
Shinobu, who had been thinking quietly, suddenly raised her eyes.
Her soft smile remained, but her question cut straight to the key point.
"Even if the curse itself cannot be removed, you can treat the damage it causes, correct?"
Her pale-purple eyes fixed on Asuramaru.
"If the curse erupts again in a few years, can you heal the Master again?"
It was the exact question Alex had been waiting for.
Perfect.
At least soone here knew how to ask useful questions.
Asuramaru kept his expression unchanged and answered with calm certainty.
"Of course. But the longer it lasts, the stronger the curse will beco. Suppressing it again will require more power."
At that, the Hashira finally released a breath.
At the very least, they had ti.
Kagaya seed to understand the implication almost imdiately.
He looked at Asuramaru, his expression gentle as ever, and chose not to expose the little transaction hidden beneath the words.
A horse could not be expected to run without being fed.
"Your power has not fully recovered yet, has it?" Kagaya asked. "The letter said you need to slay evil beings in order to restore yourself quickly."
Asuramaru's answer was righteous and imdiate.
"That's right."
Kagaya nodded slightly.
"Then slaying demons must be the best thod for you to recover. From this day onward, the Demon Slayer Corps will provide you with all information we collect regarding demons. You may choose which missions to take and which demons to hunt."
The Hashira exchanged glances.
No one objected.
After what they had just witnessed, no one had any grounds to object.
Kagaya then continued, "However, I also have a few questions I would like to ask. If you are willing to answer them."
It was a trade.
Everyone present understood that.
Asuramaru looked at him.
"What do you want to know?"
Kagaya's smile deepened faintly. "How much of your power has recovered? What abilities can you currently use? And what do you know about Muzan Kibutsuji?"
Even if Alex refused to answer, most of it could be pieced together from Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke.
There was no reason to hide too much.
So Asuramaru spoke plainly.
"Not much of my power has returned."
The Hashira listened in silence.
"The abilities I can use at present include Blood Weeping. Any enemy struck by will suffer wounds that are difficult to heal, and their bleeding will worsen rapidly."
The mont those words landed, several Hashira reacted.
A sword that could prevent demons from regenerating.
For the Demon Slayer Corps, that alone was a treasure beyond asure.
Asuramaru continued, "Then there is the healing ability you just saw. As long as the person is not already dead, even severe damage to the body can be healed."
This ti, the Hashira could no longer remain calm.
Against demons, humans had always suffered from two fatal disadvantages.
Demons healed too quickly.
Humans died too easily.
A demon could lose an arm and grow it back. A swordsman who suffered the sa injury might lose his future, if not his life.
But with Asuramaru's abilities, the greatest advantages demons possessed would be stripped away.
Their wounds would no longer heal.
And humans, under the right circumstances, could recover from injuries that should have killed them.
It was not rely powerful.
It was absurd.
Unbelievable.
A weapon that could reverse the entire nature of the war.
At that sa mont, far away inside the Infinity Castle, Muzan Kibutsuji—who had already organized several hunts against Tanjiro—had personally experienced the absurdity of that power more than once.
If he had to describe it, only one thought remained.
Isn't this against the natural order?
Who is the demon here?
You?
Or ?
Muzan's expression twisted.
Damn it.
Back at the Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters, Asuramaru saw the shock on the Hashira's faces and nodded slightly in satisfaction.
Kagaya, however, seed much more composed.
Clearly, he had learned enough beforehand not to be utterly blindsided.
But Asuramaru's next words still made everyone present—except Tanjiro—wonder whether they had heard wrong.
Because what he said next was even more unbelievable.
.....
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
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