𝙏𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙛𝙖𝙩𝙚... ᴷᴺʸ ˣ ᴳᴱᴺˢᴴᴵᴺ

죽음⬩The Precipice of Death

The final hour had reached its peak.

The battle which was thought to be impossible to win had been brought onto the surface, freeing everyone from the depths of the spiraling Infinite Fortress.

All stakes were set, but dawn had yet to rise from the horizon.

"Chaaaarge! Get in front of them!"

A young Demon Slayer bellowed as she pressed forward into the battlefield, mustering up every courage and valor into her muscles even though fear and dread kept clawing at her back. Beads of sweat trailed down her forehead as her feet carried her ever-so forward.

To the monster that slaughtered her comrades one by one.

"Become a shield for the Pillars! Use your bodies and protect the swordsmen who can stand against him!"

"Don't lose courage! We were saved by the Pillars so many times in the past and if it wasn't for them, we wouldn't be here now!

"Fiiiight!!"

Their screams were instantly silenced as each of them was carved up and sliced into chunks of flesh, their limbs severed and their organs ripped apart easily like paper - the latter only littering the battlefield and marking their tombstones. They couldn't see it; the attacks were merely but a blur to them as it only took a few seconds for a multitude of brave warriors to be thinned down quickly.

"Stop! Everyone, please stop it!" Kanroji Mitsuri screamed into the air from the wayside, tears pricking the edges of her eyes as she pleaded for her comrades to stop advancing.

But it was completely futile when she could only cry in frustration but not act.

'Don't lag behind! Keep the pressure on him!'

Grasping her sword tightly, Sumiko pressed forward, not letting the injuries in her body shackle her from contributing to the fight. Ignoring the searing pain in her body as well as the slit on the right eye, she purposefully kept moving, fueled by the thought of all other members of the Demon Slayer Corps who selflessly sacrificed their lives to protect the Pillars.

Including hers.

How could she let that happen?

'If we throw everything at him, then we can—'

Steps became few as Sumiko's vision spun, her world beginning to invert and warp, thus causing her to fall to the ground - and start coughing out uncontrollably.

"Water Breathing: Eighth Form – Waterfall Basin"

"Serpent Breathing: Third Form – Coil Choke"

"Love Breathing: Second Form – Anguish Inducing Love"

Giyu, Iguro, and Kanroji unleashed their techniques together, but like before, it had no effect. It did not graze or faze him whatsoever and the more they weaved through the flurry of blinding attacks, the more wounds they were subjected to.

'These things are too fast!' Iguro stated in a panicked tone in his head, steering away from the sharp whips by a slim margin. 'Even with the three of us here, there's no room to breathe at all!'

Giyu was faring no better than Iguro as he was being overwhelmed to an extreme degree every second with each jump and dodge. 'This is bad. I need a sword from a Water Breath User that's not broken, but there's no opening!'

"Persistent..." Muzan muttered simply, flinging his blade-like arms around with little to no effort. "Those who have been killed right away are fortunate, but those who didn't will still meet their inevitable end."

"Just take a look over there."

The King of Demons glanced briefly in a certain direction, prompting the three Pillars to take a glimpse of someone amongst the rubble – their eyes suddenly widening in horror on the person writhing in great agony.