Demon Slayer: Starting with the Kingdom

"If Upper Moon demons were really that easy to hold off, we wouldn't have been unable to defeat even a single Upper Moon demon in the past two hundred years."

Makijuro, right now, in this entire camp, only I am qualified to hold off those two demons and buy you time to escape. Do you understand?

Now, take the young master away immediately. He is the future lord of the Demon Slayer Corps, and the future of the Demon Slayer Corps will be entrusted to him.

If we let him die here, it would be a failure on both of our part!

"But……"

"Miss Mitsuha, I..."

"Stop dawdling!"

"Hurry up! They're almost here! Caw! They're almost here!"

The room fell silent for a moment. In the distance, the shouts of swordsmen from the encampment grew closer and closer. Crows flapped their wings and circled outside the room, urging the others on.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Mitsuha slowly squatted down.

She looked at Kagaya Ubuyashiki, who was already in tears, and simply smiled as she raised her hand and gently touched his head.

"Now, I'm going to teach you one last lesson."

"Miss Mitsuha..."

"Remember, as a leader, you must never act on emotion under any circumstances."

You should always remain rational and remember the value of every piece in your hand.

Even the closest subordinates must be sacrificed without hesitation when the time comes.

Never make wrong judgments based on your personal feelings, understand?

"Miss Mitsuha, I...I..."

Seeing Kagaya Ubuyashiki already sobbing uncontrollably, Mitsuha simply raised her hand and gently hugged him, whispering in his ear:

"Live well, and then lead this Demon Slayer Corps that we've reformed together to move forward."

The future is in your hands. Your teacher is waiting for you... to avenge me.

Chapter 145 After Mitsuha's passing...

Mitsuha Tsugikuni of the Demon Slayer Corps has passed away.

She appeared suddenly, like a shooting star streaking across the night sky, and vanished just as quickly after a brief moment of brilliance.

For the Demon Slayer Corps, the death of Mitsuha Tsugikuni was undoubtedly a major loss.

This descendant of the original breathing technique swordsman not only possesses exceptional swordsmanship talent but also demonstrates considerable talent in management.

Everyone in the Demon Slayer Corps once believed that if she were still alive, she could lead the Demon Slayer Corps back to the peak of that distant Warring States period.

Unfortunately, fate is cruel; those exceptionally talented people always seem to die young...

“Is that so…”

At the Ubuyashiki residence, the Ubuyashiki lord, who was terminally ill and bedridden and almost unable to move, could only sigh softly after listening to the story told by Ubuyashiki Kagaya beside him.

His blurry eyes stared at the ceiling above him, and a few tears seemed to fall from the corners of his eyes, which were already covered with cursed scars.

"Did this Miss Tsugikuni leave any last words?"

"My teacher told me to live a good life."

The way Mitsuha was addressed had changed from "Mitsuha-san" to "Teacher." Kagaya Ubuyashiki knelt beside her with his head down, his eyes wide open and his fists clenched tightly.

"She also said that I should lead the Demon Slayer Corps well in the future, and that she would wait for me and avenge her in the future..."

Her fingertips pierced her palms, and trickles of blood seeped from between her fingers. Her shoulders trembled slightly, and tears streamed from her eyes onto her thighs.

Kagaya Ubuyashiki had never before felt such resentment towards his own powerlessness, or such loathing for the existence of demons.

My teacher is only nine years older than me, she's so young, she's the one among us who should have survived...

But why...

Why was it that in the end, it was the teacher who had to sacrifice himself...?

Why is it that someone like me, who can't do anything, survived...?

He hated it so much, he really hated it...

Before him, his father's voice rang out again, interrupting Kagaya Ubuyashiki's suppressed sobs.

He turned his head with difficulty, looking at his young son beside him with blurred vision, a slight smile appearing on his lips.

"From now on, the Demon Slayer Corps... is in your hands."

"Father?"

"Give Miss Tsugikuni a proper funeral... Make sure all the other swordsmen know how she left us, understand?"

"……Yes."

At noon, in the ancestral home of the Rengoku clan, Makijuro staggered in, looking utterly dejected.

"Husband, what's wrong?"

In the courtyard, his childhood sweetheart, Rengoku Ruka, was basking in the sun while holding their young son.

"What happened... Ugh!"

Seeing her husband's distraught appearance, Rengoku Ruka was about to ask him something when Makijuro interrupted her.

Mitsuha is dead!

The distraught man suddenly rushed forward, embraced his wife tightly, and burst into tears.

"Just last night, Mitsuha went to hold off those two evil spirits by herself to protect me and the young master... She didn't come back!"

I waited for her all night, hoping to see her come back! But... but she still hasn't come back this morning!!

As her husband held her, the pupils of Purgatory Ruka gradually widened.

Of course she knew Mitsuha Tsugikuni.

This legendary figure from the Demon Slayer Corps met her husband during the Final Selection more than a year ago.

Under the arrangement of that lord, the two became a swordsman team and carried out missions together many times over the past year.

Even at her wedding to Makijuro and at the birth of their child, this legendary figure personally came to congratulate them, and even gifted their child a haori she had knitted herself…

Ruka Rengoku had heard rumors about Mitsuha Tsugikuni more than once in the past.

She is a descendant of the legendary swordsman who first mastered the Breathing Technique, the rising star of the Demon Slayer Corps, the strongest Demon Slayer of her generation, and the most promising Demon Slayer to slay the Demon King...

She has never been injured since she took up the sword, and she always completes any mission she participates in perfectly. Even the lower-ranking demons of the Twelve Demon Moons are no match for her...

But this incredibly powerful demon hunter... she actually died?

"Why, why..."

Even as Ruka Rengoku stood there stunned, Makijuro continued to break down in tears, freely venting his pent-up frustration and sorrow.

"How could Mitsuha die before me! How could she die before me! I should be the one who should have sacrificed!"

Ruka! I'm so useless! I abandoned Mitsuha! I couldn't even help her in the slightest! I'm a deserter! A coward! I'm so utterly useless!

If I can't even protect my own comrades, what right do I have to call myself the Flame Pillar? What right do I have…?

Rengoku Ruka couldn't answer a single word to her husband's tearful complaints and self-blame.

She silently put down the child in her arms, raised her hand, and tried to hug the distraught and self-blaming man in front of her.

Her husband's once passionate heart seems to have broken...

Outside the couple's residence, four-year-old Obanai Iguro, who was holding a bamboo sword and had come to ask Makijuro to teach her swordsmanship, also overheard the conversation between the couple inside.

In her mind, recalling the beautiful older sister who would smile at her, Obanai gripped the bamboo sword in her arms tightly.

As if he had made up his mind, he raised his hand and wiped his wet eyes hard, then turned and ran away quickly.

"Is that so, Miss Tsugikuni? She's already been murdered..."

Several days later, in that mountain cabin, Tanjuro Kamado received the latest information brought by Kasugai Crow from the Demon Slayer Corps.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, the man put down the bowl of medicine in his hand, lowered his head, and remained silent for a moment.

He recalled meeting this lively and cheerful girl a year ago, who was much healthier than him.

The man seemed never to have imagined that this girl, who was several years younger than him, would walk ahead of him.

And before him, the kasugata crow that Mitsuha had specially left for him a year ago, continued to speak in that mournful yet shrill voice:

"I heard that they were attacked by two Upper Moon demons of the Twelve Demon Moons. Miss Mitsuha was killed by them while trying to buy time for the young master to escape..."

"That's it..."

He remained silent upon hearing the sound.

Tanjuro Kamado closed his eyes slightly, his hand on the table clenching and unclenching, then clenching again, then unclenching again...

Time passed slowly, and after an unknown amount of silence, the man finally opened his eyes again.

He slowly turned his head and looked at his wife, who was already in tears beside him. A smile appeared on her thin face.

"Pack your things, let's... go to the Demon Slayer Corps together."

Chapter 146 This Upper Moon One is clearly very strong, yet excessively cautious...

"I do not want!!"

In an ordinary small town, inside a well-known local butterfly clinic, an elderly butterfly doctor is having a heated argument with his daughter.

"What clan precepts? What evil spirits? What blue spider lilies? I don't believe in any of that!"

"Mom, you've gone completely mad! Grandma's gone mad! You've gone mad too! You've all gone mad!"

Everyone in town knows that the Butterfly family is a matriarchal society, and that men have been married into the family for generations.

The contemporary Dr. Butterfly has only one daughter, named Shizuka Butterfly.

Several years ago, this young doctor also got married, and the couple now have a three-year-old daughter named Kanae Kocho.

"Mom, stop telling me this! I don't believe any of this nonsense! You're crazy! Everyone in my family is crazy!"

Kanae, come on, Mommy will take you away from here right now... Don't stop me! I'm taking Kanae away right now!

Wherever she goes, I will not let my daughter stay in this kind of family!

Inside the clinic, the sound of packing things up could be heard.

Before long, a young woman came out dragging a pile of luggage and carrying her young daughter, leaving the small town where she grew up without hesitation.

This was the last time the townspeople saw the mother and daughter...

"Congratulations, Holy Maiden, on successfully wrapping up filming!"

Inside the Infinite Castle, Mitsuha, Doma, and Ubume, who has returned to her original appearance, are celebrating together.

"Honestly, Your Majesty, that unwilling expression you made at the end was absolutely fantastic!"

I rarely see an actor as talented as you, capable of portraying emotions to such a high degree! Are you really not planning to come to my film set and collaborate on a few movies?

"Stop joking, Knight Doma. You know I'm not interested in making movies. I've always preferred to act directly in real life..."

"Well... speaking of which, why did the Holy Maiden suddenly decide to change the script?"

The Western-style stemmed glass was filled with blood. Doma looked at Mitsuha and asked curiously.

According to the script the two had previously arranged, Mitsuha was supposed to lead the Demon Slayer Corps to develop for a while longer.

Then, at a suitable time, they "accidentally" discovered the whereabouts of Upper Moon One, and after careful planning, they led almost all of the Demon Slayer Corps' elite forces to defeat him.

After a fierce battle, the Demon Slayer Corps managed to kill Upper Moon One, played by Ubume.

Just when everyone thought they had won a great victory, Miss Mitsuha, whom they trusted deeply, suddenly picked up the datura flower that had fallen to the ground.

[Mitsuha, why are you holding that flower?]

"Oh, that... That's because I am the real Upper Moon One."

The final twist unfolds, and the real carnage begins!