The roar of battle echoed across the mountains.
The Baron of Blight swung his dual, flame-scorched axes at the Slayer, shaking the earth with every strike. Sparks flew as the Slayer blocked each blow with his arm blade, then blasted the Baron backward with his shoulder cannon.
Baron of Blight (snarling):"You have no place here, outsider!"
The Slayer lunged, ramming his shield-saw into the Baron's ribcage, tearing through demonhide and molten armor. The Baron roared, blood and fire gushing from the wound.
Muzan Kibutsuji stood in the heart of a blood-drenched corridor, his pale skin glowing under the crimson moonlight.
Demons—hell-forged and feral—charged toward him, believing him weak, distracted.
They were wrong.
A Hell Knight leapt at him—Muzan caught it mid-air by the skull. With a flick of his wrist, the entire body twisted and exploded, entrails raining down.
Another demon attempted to lunge—
Too slow.
Muzan vanished and reappeared behind it, his tendrils slicing it into sixteen even pieces before it even touched the ground.
Muzan (glaring skyward):"Let them all come. Let Hell burn. I will show them why I was the first."
A Marauder approached—massive, armored, and bearing a blackened blade the size of a cart.
Marauder:"You are false. You are meat. The King will skin you."
Muzan's smile dropped.
He let the Marauder strike. The blade sank into his chest—but didn't cut deep.
Muzan (calm):"You forgot something."
His torso rippled, tendrils exploding from his spine. They pierced through the Marauder's armor, lifting it into the air.
Muzan:"I am not of Hell's hierarchy."
He ripped the Marauder in half, blood spraying the walls.
Muzan:"I am Hell's competition."
Elsewhere – Kagaya, Gyomei
Kagaya was being led through a hidden corridor, far from the frontline. Gyomei, large and silent, walked beside him.
But Kagaya was watching the chaos—particularly Slayer.
Kagaya:"He doesn't speak. But the fire inside him is louder than a hundred Hashira."
As the Slayer ducked under the Baron's swing, the rune on his back glowed briefly through the cracks of his armor.
Kagaya froze.
Kagaya:"That symbol… It appeared once before."
Gyomei:"Where?"
Kagaya:"On an ancient stone… long buried beneath the temple. It predated the Demon King."
Kokushibo Watches
On the far rooftop, Kokushibo, bloodied and breathing hard, paused for a moment.
His many eyes all focused on one thing: the Slayer's rune.
And his eyes widened.
Kokushibo (whispering):"That… that is not a symbol of man… nor demon…"
Kokushibo:"It is older than me… than Muzan… than even the first breath of the sun."
He felt something then. Fear.
Real. Cold. Fear.
Slayer grabbed the Baron of Blight by the horn and slammed his head into the ground three times, breaking the stone.
He pulled his double-barreled shotgun, aimed it at the Baron's mouth—
Slayer (cold silence).
BOOM.
The Baron's head burst like an overripe fruit.
Hell's frontline began to collapse.
Demons hesitated. Some ran.
Others screamed as the Upper Moons, Hashira, and Muzan all advanced in tandem.
For the first time ever—all fighting together.