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Time went by and the fires to the north never stopped. The mountains burned for weeks and months even, until they ceased for good one day. The demon slayers were too busy dealing with the Upper Moons and sudden hordes of demons that were terrorizing the cities and nearby villages to notice, but Akaza did.
The fires stopped the same night Muzan called upon the Upper Moons to let them know that Hantengu, Gyokko, Gyutaro and Daki had fallen to the hands of the Hashiras. The last time Akaza had been here in the Infinity Fortress, Muzan had shown his disgust and disappointment in the Lower Moons and his distaste for the kid with the hanafuda earrings.
The same kid Akaza had failed to kill because of the Flame Pillar. Now that he thought about it, it couldn’t be a coincidence that the fires died that night.
The smell of scorched wood made its way into the fortress, making Akaza’s nerves stand on end. He couldn’t help thinking that all of it was nothing but a clear sign of the fact that Kyojurou Rengoku was still out there...alive. After all, he was his maker, and if the fires meant that Kyojurou was dead he would’ve known.
They always did.
Yet Akaza didn’t know what to think about it.
For the past few months he’d been busy getting rid of demon slayers in nearby villages and feasting upon them, but no matter how hard he tried to busy himself he couldn’t ignore that voice in his mind.
Kyojurou Rengoku is alive and growing as a demon. With every day that passes he’s gaining strength and becoming a problem, but for whom?
For him or for the demon slayers?
With the way things were going, he couldn’t help thinking he’d be nothing but another stone in the demon slayer’s path, but maybe he was wrong.
Not that it mattered though.
Kyojurou needed years of control and Muzan’s blood to be on his level. He had nothing to worry about besides getting rid of Kamado Tanjiro.
Even if he’d managed to heal in no time, his body ached for days and that bothered him. Plus, if he managed to get rid of him while the rest of the Upper Moons took care of the remaining Hashiras they’d finally be free from the demon slayers.
And once they conquered the sun it would be over for the human race.
They’d have no mercy after that and no one would stop them.
“You seem rather thoughtful tonight, Akaza”, Douma said, interrupting his train of thought as he threw an arm over Akaza’s shoulders. “Is everything alright, my dear friend?”
Akaza scoffed and tried to get away from him. “I’m not your friend.”
Yet that didn’t stop Douma from pestering him.
Nothing ever did.
Not even a hole straight through his face, something that Akaza was almost tempted to try again for at least a second of peace. He knew he’d get here sooner or later, but this was too soon for him.
“Oh, come on, Akaza,” he whined. “We’ve been working together for centuries now. At this point you’re more like a brother!”
Akaza chocked.
He and him brothers? Out of all the Upper Moons present there tonight, Douma and him were the least to act or feel like “brothers”. First, the only thing they had in common was the fact that they were both powerful demons, but besides that. There was literally nothing that tied them; nothing that united them.
Akaza couldn’t feel more disgusted at the moment.
Just the thought of it sent shivers down his spine.
“Brothers my ass, you dumb shit,” he hissed, trying to control himself.
Koku was already watching them. Akaza knew that if things ended up like last time—with his punch going through Douma’s face—, Koku wouldn’t bother giving them a warning.
“Well, maybe you can’t see it that way, but we’re all like a big dysfunctional family! And at the moment we be busy mourning our recent losses instead of fighting, don’t you think?”
Douma popped open one of his golden fans and began to fan himself while pretending to look what? Sad? Hurt?
Akaza glared in silence and rolled his eyes the moment the first fake sob ran across the room.
Akaza really couldn’t stand him. The only reason he put up with him—even if he didn’t like to admit it—was because of how powerful he was. Akaza knew he couldn’t challenge him for the position of Upper Moon Two—not yet anyways—and that only made him loathe Douma even more.
“Cut it out,” Kokushibou said before Akaza had the chance to react to Douma’s acting. “He’s coming.”
Douma sobbed one last time and nodded. “Right, right,” he muttered as he dried his fake tears away. “He has more than enough problems nowadays with that kid Akaza failed to kill. Must be hard for him.”
At this Akaza couldn’t help the low and menacing chuckle that escaped his throat.
That was as far as Douma would go today.
But with Koku’s glare burning a hole on the side of his face and Muzan on his way and clearly upset about the current turn of events, he knew it would be better to control himself. Because if there was something Akaza knew very well was not to get on the nerves of those two.
And he had already upset Muzan once, he didn’t have to do it again.
Not so soon anyways.
“Shut up,” was the only thing to come out of his mouth in the end.
He was itching to blow another hole through Douma’s face—this time for good—but again, he had to behave. With every second that passed Muzan’s presence and power became stronger.
Akaza could feel Muzan was in a terrible mood.
“Oh, come on, dear Akaza, it’s not like we don’t know of your little mess from that night when you almost died to...who was it again? The flame pillar?”
Akaza had no time to react or ask about how Douma knew anything of what he just insinuated.
Muzan’s presence became too strong and it compelled them to kneel on the floor of the Infinity Fortress as Muzan opened the door from the room that just found its way in front of them thanks to Nakime, who stopped playing with her wooden biwa as soon as he walked into the room. She’d recently been promoted to Upper Moon four, so she couldn’t stay hidden in the back anymore.
Whatever plans Muzan shared with them tonight, they’d involve everyone in that room.
Including that dark haired ex-demon slayer standing behind Koku.
They were all in this together, new to the group or not.
Muzan entered the room and found his strongest subordinates kneeling in respect and fear as usual.
Everyone was here tonight. Well, everyone except for the newcomer who was still in the progress of surviving Muzan’s newest dose of blood somewhere on the other side of the Infinity Fortress. After having four, five and six die at the hands of the demon slayers he had to be quick about filling up his ranks again.
He needed them now more than ever.
“Tomorrow when the sun goes down, it’ll be known as the end of the demon slaying corps,” he announced without greeting anyone or anything of the sorts.
They were summoned here for a reason. Plus, if they wanted this to work out for good, there was no time to waste.
Bringing this foolish war to an end was inevitable.
And now it was only a matter of time before it happened.
“Nezuko Kamado is the answer to our long time quest to conquer the sun. Getting my hands on her will only be the beginning of the end because, once I conquer the sun, no one will be able to stop us.”
Everyone listened in pure silence as Muzan shared with them his plans for their first attack tomorrow night. First, he would take care of the head of the demon slayers, Kagaya Ubuyashiki. Without their head commander and his family, the rest of the Demon Slayer corps would go out in no time as hordes of some of the strongest demons outside the Upper Moons attacked their outposts. And after he finished with Ubuyashiki, he’d go straight for Nezuko Kamado.
He was itching to devour that sun-walking demon. After all, he still couldn’t believe that after all those centuries searching for the Blue Spider Lily, the real answer to his curse would be a little girl he’s accidentally turned after massacring her whole family.
Muzan couldn’t help imagining how easy things would’ve been if the sun-walking demon had been some other random demon that was actually under his power and influence instead of...that girl.
None of this would be happening.
And Tanjiro Kamado wouldn’t be a problem. He’d either be busy being a nobody back in his village or dead like the rest of his family.
“Now, if things were to go awry,” he continued. “That’s when the Upper Moons will come into the picture, especially you, Nakime. After all, you never know what could happen when it comes to dealing with those pesky demon slayers.”
Akaza watched Muzan as he paced from one side of the room to the other. It was very clear that Muzan was either restless or excited about bringing all of this to an end.
Akaza was sure that everyone in the room—including himself—felt the same way about it, yet he couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that took over his body as soon as Muzan walked into the room.
It wasn’t because he was scared of the repercussions that fucking up for a second time would bring as he explained what the Upper Moons were supposed to do if things went bad.
It was because the smell of scorched wood became stronger the moment he arrived.
Maybe he was overreacting, but he felt like that smell was haunting him...taunting him even.
It followed him everywhere he went.
It was as if Kyojurou Rengoku didn’t want him to forget about what he did...and it was working.
“This time, if any of you were to fail me, just know that I won’t bother trying to stop the hashiras when they come for your necks,” Muzan concluded, staring down at them.
After everything that had been discussed tonight, it was more than clear that this would be their strongest attempt to take down the demon slayers—and hopefully their last one. They’d have to put themselves on the line or even sacrifice themselves if they had to if things were to go wrong with Muzan’s plans. The point of it all was to give each other time to eliminate as many demon slayers as they could and then regroup inside the infinity fortress. Dying for Muzan was no problem to them after all of these years and centuries of service and loyalty. Muzan was like their god, and if they had to die in order to help him survive and achieve their goals, they gladly would.
But if things were to fail...this could be the downfall of them all.
***
The next day, as Giyuu and Tanjiro made their way back to the Water Estate after a long day of training, Giyuu noticed something weird in the forest that surrounded them. At first, he could’ve sworn he’d seen a pair of glowing orange eyes between the trees. Then, when he blinked and came back to his senses, he realized he had closed his hand over the pommel of his sword for nothing. The glowing things he’d seen weren’t eyes.
It was ash.
Something was burning nearby, but it was hard to tell. The smell of scorched wood and ash from the mountains was still affecting them. Even Tanjiro had complained about it earlier, his keen sense of smell could only handle so much.
“Giyuu?” Tanjiro asked, bringing Giyuu’s attention back to him. He was covering his nose and staring at him with worry. “Is there something wrong?”
Giyuu hadn’t realized he’d frozen mid-walk, so he just shook his head and caught up with Tanjiro who was ahead.
“It’s nothing,” he said as soon as he reached Tanjiro’s side. “There just too much ash.”
Tanjiro nodded at the sound of that. There was too much ash indeed. He could barely breathe through his nose without feeling like it was going to burn off from the terrible smell.
“Yeah, we should hurry back and stay inside. It’s only gotten worse the last few days.”
"Yeah,” was the only thing to come out of Giyuu’s mouth before they continued walking.
But they didn’t get any closer to the Water Estate.
Suddenly, an explosion erupted from the nearby hills and, in an instant, they were running the other way, towards the direction of the explosion.
They knew where that sound came from.
It was the Ubuyashiki’s mansion.