I Became Spider-Man's Cousin in Anime Crossover

Chapter 374 [Two Chapters Combined] A Belated Regret

He abandoned the honor of a samurai, bearing the burden of sin. He was willing to stoop to the level of demons in exchange for a longer lifespan, dedicating himself to the study of swordsmanship for centuries…

Over hundreds of years, Kokushibo severed all ties, abandoned all tenderness, and dedicated his entire soul to the pursuit of power.

Day after day, year after year...

Kokushibo's efforts were not in vain.

Derived from the Breath of the Sun, the Breath of the Moon, which originally only had six forms, was brought to its ultimate form in his hands, creating sixteen forms that even Muzan Kibutsuji was impressed by.

He stands at the pinnacle of demons, becoming the terrifying Upper Moon One.

This strength, this achievement, should have been the entire meaning of his existence.

However at this moment...

Everything that Kokushibo had gained in his entire life was, in the eyes of this black monster he had never met, a plaything that could be copied at will and even further optimized.

Such a cruel reality, like a poisoned dagger, precisely pierced the fortress of beliefs that Kokushibo had built over hundreds of years.

Riley's close-up taunts and the fact that he defeated Kokushibo head-on using his most prized Moon Breathing technique was undoubtedly a crueler torture than being torn to pieces for Kokushibo!

It truly embodies the phrase "killing someone by destroying their spirit" to its fullest extent!

And so, a surge of bloodlust, mixed with extreme anger, humiliation and a sense of absurdity, suddenly rushed into Kokushibo's mind.

"Damn it... Damn it—!"

Kokushibo's damaged vocal cords trembled violently, emitting a hoarse roar. Blood kept gushing from the corner of his mouth, which had been torn apart by the sword energy, but he was completely unaware of it.

"The power I gained by giving up everything! My hundreds of years of arduous cultivation! How could it end like this! You...!"

Unfortunately, this roar exhausted Kokushibo's last bit of strength.

Even if Kokushibo wanted to question the injustice of the world and curse the terrible demon before him with the most vicious language...

Before Kokushibo could finish speaking, he felt a sudden dizziness.

The belief that had sustained him for centuries was crumbling. Like a castle whose foundation had been hollowed out, it was collapsing with a deafening roar.

The light that had been shining in his three eyes, which were wide with anger, was visibly dimming.

The passing of life has never been so clearly felt.

He could feel his strength dissipating, like the fine sand in an hourglass, which he could not stop slipping away no matter how tightly he gripped it.

Darkness began to spread from the edge of his vision, slowly eroding his remaining consciousness.

Is this the end?

Is this the outcome he got in exchange for everything?

As this thought arose, fragments of memory began to emerge uncontrollably.

He recalled his younger self when he was still Jiguo Yansheng, the one who always lived in his younger brother's shadow.

Yoriichi Tsugikuni...

His younger brother, who was born with a powerful talent that he could never achieve even if he spent his entire life trying...

Why?

Why are some people born with everything, while others, no matter how hard they try, can never compare?

Is the gap between ordinary people and geniuses really that big?

The moment he became a demon, Kokushibo thought he had finally found a way to break free.

With the aid of eternal life, he will eventually surpass his genius brother by continuously perfecting his martial arts.

But now, facing this mysterious man in black, he once again felt that despairing gap.

No, this time the gap is even bigger, even more despairing.

At least Yoriichi defeated him through swordsmanship.

The person in front of him didn't even bother to show off his unique swordsmanship.

Instead, they treated Kokushibo's lifelong learning as data that could be copied at will, and deliberately used it to humiliate him.

"I'm not reconciled..."

Kokushibo muttered to himself, his voice so faint it was almost inaudible.

But even that resentment quickly dissipated.

His life force was draining away from his body at an alarming rate, and his regenerative abilities had long since ceased to function.

Is this what death is really like?

Just as his consciousness was about to completely dissipate, his gradually blurring gaze inadvertently swept over a familiar little gadget revealed among the tattered clothes that remained in the world after his body had vaporized.

It was an old flute broken in two, its wood yellowed and its workmanship rough, yet it had been kept close to Kokushibo for hundreds of years.

At this moment, the torrent of time seemed to flow backward, taking him back to that distant afternoon.

He saw his younger self—Kichikuni Iwakatsu—awkwardly stuffing the rough bamboo flute he had made himself into his younger brother's hand.

He remembers that although he pretended to be indifferent and said "If you don't want it, just throw it away," his eyes couldn't help but wander, secretly observing his younger brother's reaction.

When Yoriichi Tsugikuni's face broke into a bright smile and he solemnly promised to treat the flute as if it were his own brother, young Iwakatsu finally couldn't help but reveal a satisfied and proud smile.

At that moment, the bond between brothers was so genuine, it seemed as if it could last forever.

At that time, he had no idea what cruel fate would bring to the two brothers in the near future.

He simply had a sudden urge to care for his younger brother, who always sat alone, and to see a smile on that face that resembled his own.

What changed all of this?

Is it the increasingly obvious talent gap that grows with age?

Was it an unintentional comparison by those around them?

Is it still that inferiority complex and resentment that can never be filled under the dazzling light of her younger brother?

In a daze, Kokushibo saw another scene.

Now a ghost, he stood before the corpse of his younger brother, whom he had cleaved in two in a fit of rage after his brother had died peacefully in his sleep.

The person he had chased, envied, and resented his entire life, still cherished this flute, which had no collectible value whatsoever, until the very last moment of his life. Just as he had promised in his childhood, he carefully kept it close to his body.

In that instant, a crack quietly appeared in Kokushibo's heart, which had been frozen for hundreds of years.

Ironically, Kokushibo had long forgotten what Yoriichi, with tears streaming down his face, had said to him during their last meeting...

But now, as life comes to an end, those words he had deliberately forgotten echo clearly in his ears.

"Thank you for your hard work, elder brother..."

The translated Chinese version is "How pathetic," but the direct translation from the original Japanese is "Thank you for your hard work," which feels more in line with Yoriichi's character of never hating his brother, so this version was used.

Centuries ago, Kokushibo stubbornly believed that Yoriichi's words were a mockery of him, implying that even as a demon, Yoriichi's strength could not surpass that of a "weak human." He even believed that Yoriichi could easily defeat him as Yoriichi aged and his physical strength declined.

It was this misunderstanding that led Kokushibo to kill his brother, who could have been killed by Genichiro, but instead died of old age, allowing Kokushibo to escape with his life. Enraged, Kokushibo then cleaved his already dead brother in two.

But now...

Once all obsessions and pretenses were stripped away, Kokushibo finally understood the true meaning behind those words.

That was probably Yoriichi Tsugikuni lamenting...

It's heartbreaking to see the two brothers end up like this.

Perhaps he had already seen through his brother's competitive exterior, which concealed a lonely and bewildered heart.

That "You've worked hard" wasn't meant to be sarcastic at all.

Rather, it was the deepest pity for his brother, who, after his passing, would be left to live like a walking corpse in the long years to come, consumed by jealousy, loneliness, and pain.

This made Kokushibo suddenly realize that from beginning to end, he had been deluding himself, treating his younger brother as a rival...

In contrast, his younger brother always yielded to him and never competed with him for anything.

Even when he himself fell from the human "Tsugikuni Iwakatsu" to the demon Kokushibo, he never spoke ill of him.

Clearly, from beginning to end, the younger brother, who possessed extraordinary talent from birth, didn't care about honors, achievements, or the opinions of outsiders...

All he ever wanted was an older brother who could walk alongside him.

A family that can support each other.

That's it.

But now that I understand these things, it's too late.

Kokushibo's consciousness was rapidly fading, and even the last bit of strength for regret was slipping away.

Even the broken flute, having lost the protection of the Blood Demon Art's energy, slowly turned to ashes under Kokushibo's watchful gaze.

"In the end, I didn't get anything that truly belonged to me... did I...?"

Fragmented thoughts lingered in the fading consciousness, carrying unspeakable bitterness and self-mockery.

With a complex mix of emotions, Kokushibo used his last ounce of strength to call out that name from the depths of his consciousness.

This time, his voice no longer contained any jealousy or resentment, only a childlike confusion and helplessness.

"What was the purpose of my being born into this world...?"

"Tell me... Yoriichi..."

For hundreds of years, he pursued the goal of becoming, or even surpassing, the "moon"—the "sun"—in his belief.

That obsession that sustained him through countless bloodthirsty nights...

From the very beginning, it was all just a reflection in the water, a mirage. A colossal lie built on self-deception.

All his struggles, all his abandonments, all his sins...

For true powerhouses, it was nothing more than a self-directed, utterly ridiculous and pathetic farce.

Even in the pursuit of the limits of martial arts, looking back now, my performance on this path is far inferior to that of my younger brother...

Even Akaza, who remained steadfast in his principles after becoming a demon and losing most of his memories, is probably far inferior to her...

Thinking about it that way...

What do you mean by the invincible Upper Moon One...?

He's nothing more than a foolish clown who knows it's impossible, yet still deceives himself and chooses to go his own way...

Ultimately, carrying this belated realization, hundreds of years overdue, and the unanswerable question of the soul regarding the meaning of existence…

Kokushibo's last shred of consciousness, along with his mangled body, vanished completely into the world.

Along with his sword "Xu Ku Shen Qu," a symbol of twisted obsession and filled with ugly eyes, it turned into nothingness and dust, as if it had never existed in this world.

As Riley witnessed Kokushibo's complete annihilation and turned back to face the two little ones, the suffocatingly cold aura emanating from him receded rapidly like a tide, vanishing without a trace.

He gently brushed away the non-existent dust from the Nichirin Blade in his hand, his movements as delicate as if he were handling a precious work of art.

Then, with steady steps, he walked towards the two teenagers who, from beginning to end, were in a state of extreme shock, their minds blank and unable to think.

He stopped in front of the Mist Hashira, Tokito Muichiro. He held out his hands and returned the Nichirin Blade, which gleamed with the glow of the setting sun, to the boy.

"I apologize for borrowing your knife without permission."

When facing the two children, Riley's voice returned to its previous gentleness and sincerity. He was completely different from the cold-blooded, powerful, and scathing executioner he had just been.

Muichiro subconsciously reached out his slightly trembling hand, and when his fingertips touched the cold hilt of the sword, he seemed to feel a strange, reassuring warmth.

He gripped his recovered knife tightly, as if he had regained some kind of support.

He looked up at Riley's warm, spring-like smile, his violet eyes filled with extremely complex emotions—a dazed feeling of surviving a disaster, awe of powerful strength, gratitude for his companion's timely appearance, and a deep shock at the earth-shattering scene just now.

A thousand words stuck in his chest, but in the end, he simply nodded hard and deeply, condensing all his emotions into this simple gesture.

"That's...that's amazing! Mr. Spider-Man!"

Tanjiro Kamado, who was standing to the side, finally came to his senses from the extreme shock. His cheeks were flushed with excitement, and he gestured incoherently, trying to describe everything he had just seen.

"You actually...you actually used his techniques...and...you're even stronger than him! This is...it's a miracle! I've never seen...no, I can't even imagine a battle like this!"

Looking at Tanjiro's pure and passionate reaction, Riley couldn't help but smile, a smile that dispelled the last trace of the cold aftertaste left by the battle.

"I was just taking shortcuts. When it comes to talent in swordsmanship, you two are far superior to me, really."

He reached out and gently patted Tanjiro and Muichiro on the shoulder, his sincere praise conveying a reassuring sense of strength.

After a brief pause and a quick glance around, before the emotionally charged Tanjiro could say anything more, Riley, having already given Justice instructions and planned a new route, took the lead and started moving forward.

"Alright, now that the problem here has been resolved, it's time for us to continue our journey."

His tone was so natural, as if the crushing battle that had utterly destroyed an Upper Moon demon, both physically and mentally, was just a trivial, overdue episode.

Without hesitation, he turned around and, with two teenagers in different moods—one still processing the reshaping and shock of his beliefs, and the other filled with admiration and fighting spirit—embarked on a journey to find the next battlefield and support his comrades.

From that moment on, Riley's figure darted swiftly through the dimly lit Infinity Castle. Like a moving lighthouse, he brought hope of survival to the Demon Slayer Corps members who were trapped in crisis and should have perished there.

However, Riley, preoccupied with rescuing the Demon Slayer Corps members and intensely focused on planning new routes, was clearly unaware of this...

A pair of cold eyes, having pierced through the barriers of time and space, quietly settled on Riley…