bioinnovel Chapter 377 [3 Chapters Combined] Great Revenge Achieved
Chapter 377 [3 Chapters Combined] Great Revenge Achieved
The indescribable pain, coupled with the extreme fear of brushing past death, was like ice water mixed with red-hot steel needles, instantly piercing every nerve of Kaigaku, causing his mentality to completely collapse!
The pure and brute power of the stone pillar not only severely injured his body, but also crushed his arrogance and pride that had just swelled up because of obtaining the demon blood!
After crashing through several thick wooden walls, tumbling and bouncing like a carelessly discarded rag, Kaigaku finally managed to curb his terrifying backward flight. Like a mangy dog with its spine removed, he crashed heavily and without dignity to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust mixed with wood chips and his own blood.
The violent tremors made his vision go black and his ears ring.
The excruciating pain in his collapsed chest, the burning sensation of his left cheek being torn off, and the tearing pain from the deep, bone-revealing wound on his neck that kept gushing out foul-smelling ghost blood, were like waves crashing against his almost fading consciousness.
Despite the demon's superhuman resilience, which was instinctively and frantically urging its regenerative abilities to try to repair the broken body—the shattered sternum was slowly coming back together, and the torn flesh was struggling to heal—the injuries were simply too severe, and the rate of regeneration could not keep up with the extent of the damage.
For a moment, Kaigaku couldn't even muster the strength to stand up. He could only futilely clutch his face, where the skin had been almost completely peeled away, revealing his pale cheekbones, and the horrific wound on his neck that oozed blood and resembled a second, grinning mouth. His throat emitted incoherent, hoarse sounds, like a broken bellows struggling to breathe. Each breath was filled with blood and unspeakable pain.
How is that possible!
This shouldn't be happening!
In her own mind, after becoming a ghost, her life should have been smooth sailing!
Why did it end up like this!
Do not……
Do not!
It's all fake, it's all an illusion!
Just as he was immersed in this boundless pain and fear, and began to doubt himself, with mad shouts constantly surfacing in his mind.
A steady, heavy sound of footsteps approaching from afar, like a death knell, echoed clearly and irresistibly in his buzzing ears.
Each step of those footsteps felt like it was stomping on Kaigaku's heart, causing his heart to stop abruptly and his blood to almost freeze!
It's that monster! It's Gyomei from Himejima!
Having just suffered a devastating blow, as if from a natural disaster, and having deeply felt the despairing gap in strength between them.
Kaigaku, who has always valued his life and regarded survival as the most important thing, had no desire to fight at this moment!
What dignity as one of the Upper Moon One...?
What loyalty to Lord Muzan...?
In the face of absolute power and the threat of death, everything seems so ridiculous and insignificant!
As the massive shadow, as large as a mountain, drew closer, Kaigaku could clearly feel the cold tentacles of death gripping his throat.
Overwhelmed by extreme fear, Kaigaku subconsciously held his breath, attempting to deceive himself and conceal his existence in this way, while constantly praying in his heart that he could escape this calamity again, just as he had done in the past.
Unfortunately, Kaigaku's "good luck" has clearly come to an end.
Following the large hole that had been torn open, Xingming walked steadily to Kaiyue's side without any unexpected incidents.
Kaigaku looked at Gyomei, the man he had once lived under and affectionately called "teacher," and a ridiculous and lucky thought flashed through his mind as if he had grasped at the last straw.
In his memory, Kyōmei Himejima was a compassionate "good-natured person" who was willing to take in and teach even those who had gone astray.
In other words, if you beg for mercy in a humiliating way...
Perhaps he would choose to show leniency out of consideration for the teacher-student relationship they had built up during their time living and eating together?
At the very least, the thought of killing a former student with one's own hands would cause a moment of hesitation, giving one a chance to escape.
It was this absurd glimmer of hope and speculation that prompted Kaigaku to use his last bit of strength to squeeze out tears of utter hypocrisy (although, under the corrosive influence of demon blood, the tears mixed with bloodstains, which only made Kaigaku's face appear even more ferocious and ugly). With a trembling and sobbing tone, he used the same deceptive pleading tone that Gyomei would use after making a mistake in the temple, waving his hands and crying out to the approaching Gyomei.
"Teacher! Teacher! Forgive me! I know I was wrong! I really know I was wrong! For the sake of the fact that I was once your student! For the sake of the fact that we once lived under the same roof! Spare my life! Teacher—!! I will definitely change my ways from now on! I will never dare to do it again! Teacher!"
"Ah! That's right, I know you came to the Infinity Castle to kill Muzan... that evil demon Muzan Kibutsuji, right? I can lead the way! I can atone for my sins! Please, don't kill me!"
At this moment, the intense will to survive made Kaigaku, just as he had done in the past when facing fatal crises, unhesitatingly abandon all dignity, pride, and reason.
He attempted to use this long-lost, theatrical "teacher" to awaken even the slightest trace of old warmth and the compassion a monk should have in Xingming's heart.
However, his clumsy performance and that "teacher" that sounded so jarring at that moment were like throwing a red-hot coal into a barrel of gunpowder that was already overflowing with anger and grief!
"shut up--!!!"
Xingming's roar instantly reached its peak, shaking the entire Infinite City corridor violently, and dust fell in a flurry!
His tightly closed eyes even cracked at the corners due to extreme anger, and two streams of crimson tears flowed down, mixing with his gushing tears and running down his resolute yet distorted face!
To him, the word "teacher" sounded like the most vicious and grating mockery in the world, a mockery that filled his ears with cruel truth and endless grief.
It is the most unforgivable desecration to the souls of those innocent children who died tragically because of Kaigaku's betrayal!
It is the most thorough and filthy trampling on the beliefs and compassion that he upheld throughout his life of wandering in the underworld!
This perfectly reflects Riley's concise yet insightful description of Kaigaku's personality on the way here.
……
"Huh? You're asking me what I think of Kaigaku? Well... let me put it this way."
"Anyone with a conscience will feel grateful and delighted when they receive kindness from others, and will even try their best to repay this kindness..."
"But Kaigaku doesn't have that kind of feeling."
"Even before he became a ghost, he was no longer worthy of being called 'human.' Why show pity and hesitate to kill such a beast?"
……
"You wretched creature! You dare call me teacher?! You're worse than a pig or a dog!"
At this point, Xingming, who was usually good-tempered, finally couldn't hold back and swore at Kaiyue, this scumbag.
As he bombarded Kaigaku with questions, his voice trembled violently with extreme anger, yet it also carried a chilling, chilling killing intent that seemed to come from the depths of hell and could freeze the soul.
"When you repeatedly stole the temple's life-saving supplies, did you ever remember that I was your teacher?!"
"When you kicked over the wisteria incense burner, letting ghosts into the house and causing the deaths of those children who, like me, regarded you as family, did you ever remember that I was your teacher?!"
"Now that you're facing death and have nowhere else to turn, you finally think of groveling and calling me 'teacher'? Too late—too late!!!"
Xingming's killing intent and grief reached an unprecedented peak, and he no longer hesitated or held back!
That violent killing intent almost materialized into a whirlwind, swirling around him!
He was even unconsciously chanting the Buddha's name over and over again, but those repeated "Namo Amitabha Buddha" formed an incredibly strange and chilling contrast with his current violent rage and the heavy chain weapon that was once again wildly waving and poised to strike!
It was as if the monks were performing a ritual to deliver the deceased, but rather the wrath of the Bright King, who was determined to use thunderous means to annihilate and eradicate the extreme evil in the world!
At that moment, under Riley's "leadership," Tanjiro, who arrived at the battlefield at the same time as Gyomei, witnessed the entire process from the "spectator seat" with an excellent view, which Riley had carefully selected.
The strong smell of blood, the foul ghostly aura, and Mr. Gyomei's rage that seemed to want to burn everything made Tanjiro's heart clench tightly.
Tanjiro's gaze then unconsciously shifted, and upon seeing Zenitsu, who was also stunned and frozen in place by the immense power displayed by the Stone Pillar, he immediately realized something.
He recalled the news Mr. Riley had whispered to him on the way: the tragic seppuku death of old man Jigoro Kuwashima. He instantly realized why Zenitsu had acted so strangely when he said goodbye after training.
I also understand that at this moment, the one who is in the most pain, who most wants to end Kaigaku's life with his own hands, and who should end all of this with his own hands, should be Zenitsu in addition to Gyomei!
We can't hesitate any longer!
Zenitsu must get involved before Mr. Himejima's final, furious blow lands!
This is not only for revenge, but also to allow Zenitsu to sever this painful and karmic ties with his own hands and complete his inner reckoning and liberation!
If Zenitsu misses this opportunity, he will regret it for the rest of his life!
"Zenitsu! Stop daydreaming! Now's the time!"
Thinking of this, Tanjiro immediately used all his strength to shout loudly at Zenitsu, his voice sounding particularly clear in the corridor filled with killing intent and Buddhist chants.
"Go! Together with Mr. Himejima! Finish him off!"
Zenitsu was indeed deeply shocked, especially by Kaigaku's hypocritical pleas for mercy and Gyomei's subsequent outburst of boundless rage that seemed to overturn his previous understanding, which greatly trembled his mind.
He had always known that Gyomei Himejima, as a Pillar, was very strong and was undoubtedly one of the Demon Slayer Corps' top combatants.
During his special training, he also witnessed from afar the astonishing scene of Xingming pushing an enormous rock along a mountain path with his bare hands, as if it were a toy.
But he never imagined that there would be a human being in this world—and a blind monk with a compassionate face who often chanted sutras and shed tears—who could hone his physical strength to such an incredible, almost inhuman level!
Even more unexpectedly, that compassionate monk, in his extreme anger, displayed such a terrifying power, as if he wanted to cleanse the world of all evil!
That power was so pure and suffocating.
That was an incredibly ferocious fighting style, filled with a destructive will.
The murderous intent that boiled over amidst the chanting of Buddhist prayers was enough to terrify even the most wicked ghosts.
All of this formed a huge, almost cognitively jarring contrast with the image of the compassionate Mr. Xingming in his mind!
Zenitsu only snapped out of the immense visual and psychological shock when he heard Tanjiro's urgent and clear reminder, which sounded like an alarm bell.
Looking at Kaigaku, who was struggling on the ground like a maggot and had just tried to beg for mercy in the most hypocritical way, Zenitsu's last trace of complex emotions—such as sighs, pity, and sympathy—due to past memories were completely replaced by coldness and resoluteness.
For Grandpa!
For those whose trust has been betrayed!
For the glory of Thunder Breathing!
It's time to put an end to all this!
Zenitsu took a deep breath, channeling all his distracting thoughts, pain, anger, and longing for his deceased grandfather into the next strike.
His eyes, which used to be playful and never serious, were now incredibly focused.
His body began to leap with unprecedented golden lightning, which seemed capable of scorching even space itself.
The light grew brighter and brighter, faintly coalescing into a more intense and sacred form that surpassed the original techniques of Thunder Breathing!
"Thunder Breathing, Seventh Form: Fire and Thunder God!"
Just as the dazzling golden lightning, seemingly containing the energy of the sun's core, completely erupted, Zenitsu's figure transformed into the "Fire and Thunder God" that pierced through space. Kaigaku, who was lying on the ground and whose consciousness was blurred due to fear, suddenly had his scarlet pupils, which had turned crimson due to his demonic transformation, shrink to the size of pinpoints!
What kind of move is that?!
He had never seen it before!
When he was studying under Jigoro Kuwashima, the old man only taught him the six forms of Thunder Breathing!
Despite his best efforts, Kaigaku still cannot master the First Form of Thunder Breathing!
But Zenitsu, who only knows how to cry all day, was already considered a "good-for-nothing" in his eyes...
This "idiot" who only knows the first form!
At this moment, he actually unleashed a brand new secret technique that was beyond his comprehension, and whose power and form were on a higher level than the Thunder Breathing technique he had mastered!
In that instant, a thought, like a poisonous thorn, pierced through Kaigaku's brain, which was filled with fear and pain, making him almost vomit blood!
"Hiding secrets! The old man really did keep secrets from me! Sure enough, without my knowledge, he secretly taught this good-for-nothing the most crucial techniques of Thunder Breathing! He didn't even mention it to me!"
"Why?! Why Zenitsu?! I worked much harder than him! I'm clearly more qualified to inherit the position of Raiju!"
"That old bastard dares to say he's not biased!!!"
"He's so biased towards Zenitsu! He's looked down on me from the very beginning—!!!!!"
"Damn it... they all deserve to die! Stone Pillar, Zenitsu, that old man... everyone who looks down on me deserves to die—!!!!!"
He let out a twisted, resentful, silent roar within himself.
Even now, Kaigaku, who always judges others with a petty mind and whose character has not grown at all from beginning to end, still hasn't discovered... or rather, he had already guessed it, but just refused to believe it.
The technique he was seeing now, "Fire and Thunder God," which contained an incomparably pure belief and burning will, was not taught by Kuwashima Jigoro.
Instead, it was his junior brother, whom he would always look down upon, who, through countless life-and-death trials, in order to protect those he cared about, not to burden his comrades, and even more so to one day fight alongside Kaigaku, created a miracle on his own, relying on his most fundamental understanding of Thunder Breathing and his unwavering belief in "protection"!
He once again twisted Zenitsu's efforts and talent into the "injustice" and "favoritism" of others.
This sudden surge of intense jealousy and resentment, based on a mistaken understanding, even temporarily overwhelmed his fear of death, making his expression incredibly ferocious and venomous for a moment.
At the very moment Zenitsu unleashed the Fire and Thunder God Technique, transforming into a golden lightning bolt that overturned Kaigaku's understanding and contained endless rage and determination, launching his strongest attack of his life, Gyomei Himejima also moved!
Gyomei, who was adept at sensing the emotional fluctuations of those around him, clearly sensed Zenitsu's intense hatred for Kaigaku, a hatred that mirrored his own. He also "saw" more clearly Kaigaku's expression before Zenitsu's attack, an expression twisted with jealousy and resentment due to his stubborn misunderstanding!
This made him instantly realize that between Kaigaku and Zenitsu, there was also a deep-seated grudge that needed to be settled with Kaigaku's blood!
Therefore, even though Gyomei stood like a mountain before Kaigaku, occupying the best position for a fatal attack, he could have easily severed Kaigaku's head before Zenitsu could even strike.
But Xingming did not choose to wield the axe of finality alone.
He wanted Zenitsu, the successor of Thunder Breathing who was also betrayed and hurt by Kaigaku, but who, through the transformation of his own will, shone brightly, to personally participate in this final judgment and sever these painful chains!
Just as the golden "Fire and Thunder God" approached at a speed beyond sight and was about to touch Kaigaku's body in the blink of an eye, Xingming poured all the anger and grief that had been surging and boiling because of Kaigaku's ugly pleas for mercy and his unrepentant death into the arm that was tightly gripping the broad axe, as his muscles bulged!
Instantly, the heavy broadsword emitted a groan of strain. The yellowish-brown light condensing on the axe blade became blindingly bright, as if it contained the power to shatter stars!
In that instant, time seemed to be sliced into infinitely small fragments.
First, there was that golden flash of light, moving at an incredibly fast speed.
Zenitsu's incarnation as "Fire and Thunder God" was like the first ray of dawn piercing through eternal darkness, instantly sweeping across Kaigaku's neck with impeccable precision and lightning speed!
"Whoosh—!"
A smooth, mirror-like cut appeared quietly.
Before Kaigaku could even utter a final cry of pain, his crimson eyes, filled with horror, resentment, and disbelief, could even register the last vestige of his agony, his hideous head had already detached from his body, and, propelled by inertia, was flung slightly upwards!
And in that instant, just as the head detached from the neck and rose less than an inch—
"Namo Amitabha Buddha—!!!"
Accompanied by Xingming's Buddhist chant, which sounded like thunder from hell and contained endless rage, Xingming's attack fell like a storm!
That wasn't a simple chopping motion; it was the transformation of all power and all anger into the most primal and violent will to destroy!
His massive arm, which was gripping the heavy broad axe, seemed to vanish at that moment, transforming into countless dazzling afterimages!
The broad axe, with a frequency and speed that were impossible for the naked eye to perceive, transformed into a fully powered and most violent steel meat grinder, mercilessly blasting at Kaigaku's headless body, which had just lost its head and was still twitching slightly due to the life force of the demon race, as well as his head, which was in mid-air with its expression frozen in extreme fear and resentment!
"BOOM ...
Amidst the continuous, dense, and terrifying sounds of tearing and impact, which seemed to merge into one, the death storm transformed from the broad axe instantly swallowed up Kaigaku's remains and head!
There were no screams, because everything happened too fast and the destruction was too complete.
There was no struggle, because in the face of the crushing storm formed by absolute power and speed, any remaining vitality was futile.
In the area covered by the Shadow of the Netherworld Axe, flesh, bones, clothing... all the matter that had ever existed in Kaiyue was being cut, crushed, and ground at an astonishing speed by the broad axe that was swirling wildly like a high-speed meat grinder!
In an instant, a thick, foul-smelling, crimson blood mist, mixed with all the tissue debris, suddenly exploded and spread!
Within that blood mist, no formed parts could be seen anymore.
Both the head and the torso have been reduced to the finest dust!
Xingming's incredibly violent "finishing blow" lasted only for a short period of one or two breaths.
But when the axe shadows suddenly stopped and his figure, like an angry Vajra, solidified again, there was nothing left on the spot except for the ground that had become even more fragmented after his rampage, and the thick blood mist that filled the air and was rapidly vaporizing and dissipating.
Upper Moon Land, Kaigaku...
This person spent his entire life betraying the kindness of others, and was willing to sell out those around him without hesitation for his own selfish reasons. He resented others for being "biased" until his death, but never reflected on his own despicable scum. Thus, under Zenitsu Agatsuma's "Fire and Thunder God" that severed his past, and the subsequent brutal blows from Gyomei Himejima that were like a meat grinder, he was completely crushed and annihilated, both physically and in his very being, and died beyond any hope of death.
He didn't even have a chance to let out a final scream before he was reduced to a brief but tragic cloud of bloody smoke in this perfectly coordinated attack.
Even so, after Zenitsu and Gyomei exchanged a glance, they both had the same thought...
If we weren't in the Infinity Castle, needing to race against time to join forces and eliminate Muzan, the source of all evil...
Even this method of execution, which involves cutting the victim into a thousand pieces, is still too lenient on Kaigaku for the crimes he has committed.