The air burned with smoke and ash. Tanjiro's vision blurred from exhaustion, pain, and the poison laced through his veins. Blood trickled from his mouth, mixing with sweat as he forced himself upright, his trembling hands gripping the hilt of his broken blade.
Gyutaro's sickle pressed deep into Tanjiro's jaw, lifting him like a rag doll, eyes gleaming with mockery.
"You're still breathing?" Gyutaro hissed. "You don't know when to die."
But just as everything dimmed—it happened.
Tanjiro's left eye snapped bloodshot, veins bulging with desperation and fury. A vision flashed in his mind—Muzan Kibutsuji's suppressed memories, uninvited and raw.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni stood in a blinding field of light. His voice cut through the memory like a blade:
"What is the weight of a human life, Kibutsuji?"
"Can you calculate it? Do your countless slaughters ever feel heavy upon your shoulders?"
Gyutaro stumbled, his grip weakening. Something inside him twitched—an ancestral fear that even his demon blood couldn't suppress.
Tanjiro's flame exploded.
Hinokami Kagura: Sun Halo Dragon Dance—his blade carved arcs of fire through the air, slashing Gyutaro's abdomen, knocking him back just long enough—
For Tengen Uzui to reappear.
"Yo. Sorry I kept you waiting."
He was bleeding. One arm gone. Poison flowing through him. But his grin burned like lightning.
"You forgot about me, huh? That's flashy of you."
The battle ignited.
Tengen and Gyutaro clashed under the burning sky, blades and scythes singing their final verses. The Hashira's movements were pure artistry—each strike timed with the beat of his heartbeat, each step part of a deadly performance. Gyutaro matched him, sickles slicing through rooftops, his venom-laced blood spinning like death incarnate.
The sheer scale of the battle cracked the district. Rubble crumbled. Windows shattered.
—
Elsewhere.
From the ruins of a collapsed building, a bolt of lightning flared.
Zenitsu, unconscious but moving with divine instinct, burst from the wreckage, his yellow haori torn but his eyes closed—calm and focused.
Inosuke, impaled earlier, emerged too, despite his injuries. His breathing slowed his heartbeat—delaying the poison's effect.
Together, they charged at Daki, who hovered in panic.
Zenitsu, swifter than ever, unleashed Thunderclap and Flash: God Speed, slicing through Daki's belts like silk.
Inosuke struck in tandem.
As Daki screamed in disbelief, both blades rose—
And sliced her head clean off.
—
Back to Tanjiro.
Gyutaro pinned him again, venom dripping from his twisted smile.
"Any last words?"
But Tanjiro didn't speak. He moved—faster than Gyutaro expected.
He plunged his broken blade into Gyutaro's neck—
Just as Tengen, with a final roar, locked Gyutaro in place.
Their blades shone.
A heartbeat later—both heads flew into the air, severed simultaneously.
—
The silence afterward was deafening.
The flames devoured the Entertainment District. Buildings collapsed.
Tanjiro collapsed too.
The night was over.
The demons were dead.
And yet, the cost…
The cost was heavy.