I, the Lord of the Fifth Throne, am the source of all things!

Even those guys with Nichirin Blades and Breathing Techniques aren't as awesome as you!

Where can a normal person punch a path through a mountain? Where can a normal person run at such a speed, comparable to a ground storm?

"Thump—!"

Suddenly, as Duanmu Lian was chasing after Kibutsuji Muzan, a strange pipa sound rang out.

Then Muzan disappeared from Duanmu Lian's sight.

"The Infinite City, huh... Heh."

Looking at Muzan, who had vanished without a trace, Duanmu Lian felt no disappointment.

He glanced at the mountain of Ghost King flesh piled up in his spatial ring and figured it wouldn't be too late to go back for more after he'd used up the materials.

Thinking this, Duanmu Lian took out something resembling a Dragon Ball radar from her spatial ring.

He carefully took out a piece of Muzan Kibutsuji's flesh, about the size of a fingernail, and placed it into the radar's designated storage space.

This is a life exploration radar, and its detection range is as large as an entire galaxy.

With Kibutsuji Muzan's immense life force, he stood out like a beacon within this area.

As long as the other party doesn't leave Earth, they won't be able to escape Duanmu Lian's pursuit.

...........

"Over in Yoshiwara's entertainment district... cough cough... there really is something fishy going on. But what's causing such a commotion?"

At the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters, Demon Slayer Corps Master Kagaya Ubuyashiki sat quietly on his sickbed in his room.

He received information about what was happening in Yoshiwara's entertainment district immediately.

However, upon seeing the information transmitted by the raven, he was momentarily puzzled.

The Demon Slayer Corps had long suspected the presence of demons in Yoshiwara's entertainment district, as many Pillars had previously disappeared there.

The demon that caused the disappearance of several "pillars" is definitely not an ordinary demon; there is a high probability that it is an Upper Moon demon.

After all, demons are also ranked. Those with Muzan's rich demon blood are among the top demons and are known as the Twelve Demon Moons.

These twelve demon moons are second only to the source of all demons, Muzan Kibutsuji.

These twelve demons were divided into Upper Moon demons and Lower Moon demons.

There are six Upper Moon demons and six Lower Moon demons.

Among the powerful Upper Moon demons, there must be one lurking in the Yoshiwara entertainment district.

However, Kagaya Ubuyashiki did not expect that Yoshiwara's entertainment district would be turned into a battlefield ruin overnight, and that within a radius of nearly a hundred kilometers, there would be devastating traces resembling those left by a storm or typhoon.

The Demon Slayer Corps members who went to investigate also found a strong aura of demon blood in these traces.

"There must have been a battle between someone and a demon. The children who went to investigate in Yoshiwara discovered a large number of gnawed bones. And the scope of the outbreak is so wide. It seems that something beyond Muzan's control has happened. Cough cough cough... Perhaps this is an opportunity. Even if we can't catch him by the tail, we can definitely find clues about the Upper Rank demons."

After thinking it over for a moment, Kagaya Ubuyashiki immediately made up his mind and issued orders to the Pillars of the Demon Slayer Corps through Kasugai Crow.

We will do our utmost to investigate everything in Yoshiwara's geisha district and the surrounding area.

If you can't find the ghost, find the person who had a fierce battle with it.

............

Inside the Infinite City.

"Dang~"

Accompanied by the clear, melodious sound of a pipa, echoing in this strange space composed of geometrically divided Japanese-style houses, figures appeared here as if they had teleported.

Five ghosts, exuding a strong ghostly aura and a bloody stench, appeared in this chaotic space.

Inside this chaotic space, even gravity seemed to be malfunctioning.

So these five ghosts that suddenly appeared, some were standing normally on the ground, while others were upside down on the ceiling or walls.

Upon closer inspection, all five distinctive-looking ghosts have similar numbers in their eyes.

"Oh my god? We haven't reached Upper Moon Six yet."

With white oak hair, a spot on the top of his head that looked like it had been drenched in blood, and rainbow-colored irises in his eyes, the man with the characters "Shangxian" and "Ninth" engraved on the irises of his left and right eyes respectively, looked around at his colleagues and then said with a grin.

None of the ghosts around him responded; instead, they all looked in one direction.

"Gyutaro can't make it, that good-for-nothing has been captured alive!!"

As a deep, suppressed male voice rang out, all the Upper Moon demons smelled an incredibly strong stench of blood.

Above them, Muzan Kibutsuji stood amidst a pile of mutilated human corpses, 'binge-eating'.

Because Duanmu Lian forcibly took away tons of flesh, Muzan's consumption was considerable.

So the first thing he did upon returning was to order Nakime to find him food.

Now that he had eaten and drunk his fill, Muzan immediately convened an Upper Moon meeting.

"Captured alive!?"

Akaza, the Upper Moon Three, frowned upon hearing Muzan's words. He wouldn't have reacted much if Muzan had been killed.

However, Gyutaro was captured alive!

Lower Moon demons and other grunt demons are one thing, but who can capture an Upper Moon demon alive?

Although Gyutaro is only Upper Moon Six, his strength is unanimously recognized by the people here.

"Ew, that's terrifying..."

He had a tumor on his forehead, two horns on his head, and unlike other cockroaches, his eyes were not marked with "cockroach" and corresponding numbers. He trembled and squatted on the ground like a timid old man's half-heavenly dog.

"Lord Muzan, what exactly happened?"

Upper Moon One, the Sword Demon Kokushibo, didn't show much emotion upon hearing the news that Upper Moon Six had been captured alive. Instead, he calmly asked Muzan for details.

Although he treated Muzan with the respect due to a subordinate, in reality, the two demons coexisted as collaborators.

For Muzan, Kokushibo was a business partner, and Kokushibo addressed Muzan as "Master".

Muzan and Kokushibo get along very well. Demons are generally afraid of Muzan, and Muzan knows all of Kokushibo's thoughts, but he doesn't care even if Muzan sees through his thoughts.

After all, Kokushibo had never considered betraying Muzan, so he didn't have to hide his emotions or try to conceal them, which made him feel very relaxed.

Muzan can get angry at any demon, but he will never do that to Kokushibo.

"Kuroshibo, can you defeat this human?"

Muzan Kibutsuji stopped eating and looked at Kokushibo, transmitting his memories to him through the connection of demon blood as he spoke.

The memory transfer only applies to Kokushibo; it doesn't apply to the other Upper Moon demons.

After all, Muzan also had to save face; it was too embarrassing for him to be chased and hacked for hundreds of miles.

Muzan wouldn't mind Kokushibo, since they understood each other as collaborators.

"........"

After receiving Muzan's memories, Kokushibo's six eyes narrowed slightly at the same time.

He remained silent, offering no direct answer to Muzan.

He was very confident in his strength, but his confidence wavered after seeing the man in Muzan's memories who deliberately disguised himself as his younger brother Yoriichi and killed Muzan.

The opponent's swordsmanship was so strong that Kokushibo really wanted to fight him.

However, the other party's inhuman and terrifying physical strength made him wonder if the other party was really human.

Furthermore, judging from Muzan's memories, the opponent did not know breathing techniques and did not wield a Nichirin Blade.

If the other party possessed all of these qualities, then Muzan would definitely not be alive and present in the Infinity Castle right now.

"...Very strong, extremely strong. I haven't fought them head-on, so I don't know if I can defeat them."

Kokushibo gave this assessment: when asked by Muzan whether he could defeat Muzan, he did not give a definite answer, but said that since he had never fought him, he did not know.

Upon hearing Kokushibo's words, Muzan Kibutsuji was utterly devastated.

"Damn it! Damn it! Why did such a monster appear? That guy collected my flesh and blood. What if he turns into a ghost...?"

Kibutsuji Muzan became hysterical inside. If Duanmu Lian was merely strong, he wouldn't be so afraid.

At worst, he can hide for another hundred years and outlive that monster in terms of lifespan.

However, the fact that the other party deliberately took his flesh and blood made Muzan suspicious.

If a human is this strong, how strong would he be if he took his demon blood and became a demon?

Moreover, once the opponent actually becomes a demon, Muzan's hide-and-seek game completely loses its time limit.

He didn't believe that once someone became a demon, they would definitely be under his control. After all, there was a Tamayo who had broken free from his control, and it wasn't impossible for her to do the same.

"You! I need you all! Speed ​​up the search for the Blue Spider Lily! Forget about the Demon Slayer Corps and all that, gather all your strength and find the Blue Spider Lily first!!!"

Muzan's eyes were bloodshot and eerie, and veins were bulging on his forehead, making him look ferocious and terrifying.

The mere thought of the terror that Duanmu Lian's transformation into a ghost would inflict on him completely broke him down and drove him insane.

Therefore, he must find the blue spider lily as soon as possible to resolve his defect!

Once he's no longer afraid of the sun, he...he...he'll leave Japan immediately!!!

The world is so big, he can go anywhere once he stops being afraid of the sun!

"Yes! Obey!"

Seeing Muzan Kibutsuji so emotionally charged and on the verge of going berserk, none of the demons present, including the emotionless Doma, dared to provoke him at this critical moment.

Seeing Muzan in such a hysterical state, Upper Moon One, Kokushibo, felt a sense of familiarity.

He remembered that the last time he saw Muzan like this was several hundred years ago.

"Nakime, did your 'eyeball clone' find that guy?"

After the other Upper Moons left, Muzan Kibutsuji immediately looked towards a room in the Infinity Castle.

There stood a woman with long black hair, dressed in a tattered kimono, playing a biwa in her hand, her head bowed, listening to Muzan's orders.