Demon Slayer: The Journey That Began When I Became Yoriichi's Sister

Chapter 420: An exception like Fate 11?

Swordsmen who awaken their markings will not live past the age of twenty-five; this is an ironclad rule.

Aside from Yoriichi, only Tanjiro's father could possibly break this limitation.

But that was only Tanjiro's opinion, and given his strength at the time, it's not impossible that he made a mistake in his judgment.

At least, Yuuko has never seen anyone other than Yoriichi who has awakened their Demon Slayer Mark and lived past twenty-five.

Of course, it's also possible that too few people have activated the markings, making it insufficient as a basis for judgment.

Aside from the Pillars of this generation, only the Pillars from the Sengoku period successfully awakened their Marks with Yoriichi's help.

Yuko had never seen a Pillar over twenty-five years old with his markings activated, but she figured he wouldn't live much longer.

Heimyo Gyomei activated his Demon Slayer Mark during his direct confrontation with Muzan in the latter half of the night, and now... the sun is already high in the sky.

Is it possible for age spots to last this long even if someone starts developing them after age 25?

Because of the incident at Beiming Island, everyone fell silent.

After a long silence, it was Himejima Gyomei who spoke first: "Speaking of which, is Muzan's body just left like this?"

Yu Zi looked away, shrugged, and said, "We can still eat it after taking it back and rinsing it in the hot pot."

"Eek! Terrifying!!" Zenitsu was so frightened that his hair stood on end.

"Is it really edible?" Inosuke squatted down in front of Muzan, picked up a piece of flesh and blood and shook it off in disgust. "It's a bit disgusting."

Yuko: "...No, you're the one who's disgusting."

"Huh? You were eating it raw before..."

boom!

A sound.

Inosuke's handsome face made intimate contact with the ground, and a red bump rose from the back of his head, emitting white smoke.

Kanae rubbed her temples: "We really can't leave it here unattended. Just in case, let's burn it."

Shinobu Kocho turned to the group and said, "Then we'll have to do our part to clean up the mess."

The battle was not as pleasant as expected. Even with Yuko's healing potion for everyone, the casualties were quite heavy, especially among the swordsmen who chose to stand up and stop Muzan when he was escaping.

Muzan's flesh whip was like the blades in a meat grinder, effortlessly slicing their bodies into pieces without even giving them medicine.

Even the Pillars had to be extremely vigilant when facing Muzan's attacks, let alone the others.

The battle was won, but many lives were lost.

The surviving swordsmen gathered up the bodies of their fallen comrades, their faces etched with unspoken silence.

Are you happy? Of course we're happy. The culprit, Muzan, is dead, and everyone in the united Demon Slayer Corps is happy.

But it's hard for him to feel happy when he sees the corpses of his comrades.

Compared to the swordsmen who wore their hearts on their sleeves, the Pillars appeared much more mature, working together to bind Muzan's distorted corpse and prepare to take it back to the Demon Slayer Corps' base.

As for why it wasn't burned on the spot... we searched the surrounding area but couldn't find much fuel for combustion.

"Why do I have to carry it?!" Zenitsu cried, feeling the blood on his cheek.

Kanae praised him without reservation: "There's no way around it, Zenitsu is just too amazing. He defeated Upper Moon Six on his own, and he also contributed greatly to defeating Muzan. Even at the very end, he still had energy left to spare."

"Is...is that so?" Zenitsu was surprised. Had he been praised? And by such a beautiful woman?

Zenitsu was in tears, feeling that he had been truly recognized.

"Yes! Leave it to me with confidence!"

Zenitsu, who had been sighing and groaning just moments before, now looked aggressive, as if he were about to drag the others away.

The Infinity Castle didn't leave them too far behind. The city wasn't far from the Demon Slayer Corps' base, and soon everyone carried Muzan's corpse back to the Demon Slayer Corps.

"Lady Tamayo..." Surrounded by people, Yushiro, who was being shielded from the sun and treated like an emperor, burst into tears the moment he saw Tamayo.

Tamayo smiled slightly, tears glistening in her eyes: "Yushiro, you did very well."

These words of praise floated into Yushiro's ears, making him feel as if he were about to ascend to heaven.

However, just as Yushiro was flying into the clouds and ascending to heaven, Tamayo's next words brought him back down to earth.

"Yuko too, and everyone else..."

Yushiro held Chachamaru in his arms, with a little cat-faced boy on his arm, but quickly became gratified.

As expected of Lady Tamayo, her magnanimity is like that of an angel.

"Ms. Tamayo, you've said everything I wanted to say." Kagaya Ubuyashiki said with a smile as he walked out of the house, supported by his wife.

"My lord!" All the pillars knelt down in unison.

Kagaya Ubuyashiki nodded with a smile: "Thank you all for your hard work."

At that moment, no amount of words could express his gratitude.

Yes, thank you.

If we're talking about who hates Muzan the most, it has to be the Ubuyashiki clan.

Because of Muzan, his clansmen were cursed and subjected to a lifetime of suffering.

The Ubuyashiki clan's initial purpose in establishing the Demon Slayer Corps was simply to lift the curse on their own clan.

Therefore, Kagaya Ubuyashiki felt more gratitude than anything else towards everyone.

After exchanging pleasantries, Kagaya Ubuyashiki turned his gaze to Gyomei Himejima behind the crowd.

Just as if knowing he was going to die, he didn't want to show himself in front of others and only wanted to die quietly, Himejima Gyomei simply stood silently behind the crowd.

“Gyomei…” Kagaya Ubuyashiki took a deep breath.

Seeing that he had attracted attention, Beimingyu Xingming nodded respectfully: "My lord."

The scene was once again plunged into sorrow.

The Rock Pillar, Gyomei Himejima, has always been loved by everyone as an elder brother figure.

Even the troublesome Sanemi Shinazugawa and Obanai Iguro held him in high regard.

Even though they had already defeated Muzan, the result was still...

No, without the markings, they couldn't have defeated Muzan so easily.

The fact that so many people are still alive is already a very good outcome.

Even though everyone knew it, they still couldn't escape the sadness in their hearts.

In the silence, Tamayo suddenly burst out laughing, drawing everyone's attention and displeasure.

Ignoring the slightly resentful glances from everyone, Tamayo smiled and said, "Let me explain this."

Yuko looked at her in surprise: "Could it be..."

Tamayo smiled and nodded: "That's right, Mr. Himejima..."

"Is Mr. Himejima an exception, like Yoriichi?"

"..." Tamayo was silent for a moment, then rubbed her forehead. "Sorry, I overestimated your thought process, Yuuko."

“Ding…” Yuko didn’t get angry, but stared straight at Tamayo.

"What Ms. Tamayo means is... Mr. Himejima..." The others didn't understand anything else, but judging from their expressions, Mr. Himejima seemed to still be salvageable.

But since Tamayo did not confirm it, we can only ask with hope.