Chapter 223: Corpse-Modified Humans, Target: The Pleasure District

The surrounding soldiers witnessed this bizarre scene and retreated several steps in succession.

Someone's rifle fell to the ground with a "clang."

"All of you, halt!" The general's voice became hoarse and grating. "This is the sacred power bestowed by His Majesty! As long as you pledge loyalty to His Majesty, you too can obtain this power that transcends mortals!"

Suddenly, a burst of orderly footsteps came from the distance. Hundreds of soldiers walked out of the darkness holding torches, their eyes all glowing with an eerie red light.

Tanjiro's pupils contracted sharply; those soldiers emitted the exact same rotten aura as the general.

The soldiers who originally wanted to flee stopped in their tracks, their eyes revealing greed and longing. "The general is right!" a soldier shouted. "For His Majesty!"

"For His Majesty!"

The other soldiers followed suit with loud cries, raising their guns and re-aiming at the Demon Slayer Corps members.

Dense gunfire rang out; bullets attacked like raindrops. At the same time, on the distant hillside, artillery thundered once more.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Shells tore through the night sky, trailing long tails of fire as they plunged down.

"Kill them all!" The general roared, turning toward Uzui Tengen behind him. "As for you, just go die first!"

He raised his hand, drew the pistol at his waist, and pulled the trigger at Uzui Tengen — right at that moment, Uzui Tengen's fingers twitched.

"Bang!"

An explosive bead slid from his sleeve and detonated on the ground. Thick smoke instantly obscured vision.

In the smoke, gunfire erupted. Bullets whistled through the thick smoke, but the general didn't hit a single shot.

"Damn it!" The general fired several shots in succession; empty casings fell to the ground with a clatter.

In the smoke, Uzui Tengen swayed as he stood up. He slowly reached out and pulled the blades from his chest one by one; the sound of metal grinding against flesh made one's teeth ache.

"Cough cough cough." He coughed up a mouthful of blood, voice hoarse: "Don't think you can look down on a Hashira!"

Uzui Tengen abruptly activated Sound Breathing, instantly bursting out of the smoke. His speed was so fast it was hard to track; the general didn't even have time to pull the trigger.

"What?!" The general's pupils contracted sharply; a cold light had already flashed past.

The instant the sharp blade sliced across his throat, the general's face still held an expression of disbelief. He reached for his neck, but his skull had already slowly slid off.

The surrounding soldiers froze for an instant, then immediately pointed their muzzles at Uzui Tengen.

"Wait! Mr. Uzui!" Tanjiro shouted hoarsely.

"Shut up!" Uzui Tengen cut him off. "You lot just remember my magnificent back is enough!"

He gripped a sword in each hand; the blades gleamed with cold light under the moonlight. Countless explosive beads slid from his sleeves, tracing arcs through the air.

"Sound Breathing, Fifth Form: Resonating Strings Performance!"

Uzui Tengen's figure suddenly accelerated, drawing afterimages in the air. Amidst the crossing of his twin blades, countless explosive beads were struck with precision.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Continuous explosions rang out in the enemy formation; shockwaves surged and rubble flew. Soldiers were blown tumbling.

A path was forcibly blasted open through the mass of soldiers.

"Go!" Giyu Tomioka gave the order, and the squad swiftly rushed toward the path.

The soldiers soon recovered from the chaos and began to regroup.

Uzui Tengen maneuvered at the rear of the squad, twin blades flying, slicing down incoming bullets one by one. His movements remained fierce, but his breathing had become disordered; every sword swing flung a string of blood droplets.

Just as the squad was about to leave, he suddenly shouted loudly, his voice carrying a hint of pride: "Hey, Tanjiro! Remember this — a Hashira should fight this magnificently!"

His voice carried laughter, as if this were not a life-and-death battle but a grand curtain call performance.

Tanjiro turned his head; tears had already blurred his vision. He wanted to say something, but Giyu Tomioka pulled him along to continue forward.

The squad gradually receded into the distance. Uzui Tengen's movements began to slow; excessive blood loss made his vision blur.

The explosive beads at his waist were used up, yet the enemy's encirclement drew ever closer.

Suddenly, a shell whistled over. Uzui Tengen barely blocked it, but the shockwave still sent him flying. Both Nichirin Blades left his hands, clattering to the ground.

"Hinatsuru, Suma, Makio..." he murmured the three names softly, a trace of gentleness flashing in his eyes. "Sorry. Looks like I can't go back."

Distant soldiers began to swarm forward.

Uzui Tengen showed a final smile, pulling out the last explosive bead from his sleeve.

He knew full well Dio would definitely turn him into that kind of monster. When that happened, not only would he become a weapon against his comrades, even his corpse would be desecrated.

As the Sound Hashira, this kind of thing absolutely cannot be tolerated.

"The final curtain call must be sufficiently magnificent."

He fiercely crushed the explosive bead; brilliant flames instantly devoured everything.

In the distance, Tanjiro heard the explosion sound; his footsteps paused, and tears instantly gushed out unceasingly.

……………………

Two nights later, outside the imperial capital's plaza, crowds of people surged, clamor rising and falling.

"Heard about it? His Majesty, to show compassion for the people's feelings, specially held a grand banquet in the palace and will also bestow rewards upon the populace!"

"Yeah yeah, I heard every household can receive grain!"

In the crowd, an old farmer in coarse cloth said excitedly: "To enter the palace once, this life is worth it."

Officials in official attire moved through the crowd one after another, holding registers recording the number of ninja.

"Everyone, please follow me." An official shouted loudly. "To avoid crowding, we will lead everyone in in batches."

The crowd followed the officials through the palace gate, through corridor after corridor.

"Huh? Why are we going underground?" someone asked doubtfully.

"This was specially arranged by His Majesty." The official explained. "The palace's main hall is undergoing renovation, so His Majesty specially arranged for the banquet to be held in the underground hall."

Finally, the procession arrived at a huge underground hall. Torches lit the hall brightly.

"It's so big here." Someone exclaimed in amazement.

"Where is the banquet?"

Just as people looked around in all directions, the heavy iron gate crashed down with a boom, sealing the exit completely.

"The gate! Why did the gate close?"

Panic began to spread among the crowd. Someone rushed to the iron gate and pounded on it desperately, but that heavy iron gate did not budge an inch.

At this moment, a low laugh rang out from the depths of the hall.

"Welcome, everyone." A tall, slender figure walked out slowly, blond hair gleaming with an eerie light in the firelight, "Come to attend this feast."

"Except, you are tonight's main course."

The moment Dio's words fell, the surrounding walls suddenly cracked open, and a large number of corpse puppets surged out like a tide; miserable screams instantly resounded through the entire hall.

"Help! Help!"

The crowd fled frantically in all directions, but in the enclosed space there was simply nowhere to escape.

"Ah! Let go of me!"

A young woman screamed, she struggled desperately, but before the corpse puppets, an ordinary person's strength appeared so insignificant.

The corpse puppets' withered bodies were recovering at a speed visible to the naked eye. Pale skin turned ruddy, skeletal limbs once again filled with power. Dio stood on high, revealing a satisfied smile: "This method is indeed much faster."

Emperor Meiji bowed his head respectfully, his voice filled with fanatical reverence: "Many thanks for Master's praise. This subordinate is willing to offer up all the citizens of this country for Master."

Finally, the last miserable scream also faded away, leaving only the sucking sounds made by the corpse puppets as they fed in the hall.

Dio watched this scene, nodding his head in satisfaction. He leaped up and landed steadily in the center of the plaza.

Dio's gaze swept over the several dozen people before him; these corpse puppets' auras were completely different from ordinary corpse puppets — they were all deceased Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen, among them no few powerful Hashira.

Even a few whose strength had already surpassed his own.

His gaze finally settled on Rengoku Kyojuro.

As the strongest existence among these Hashira, at this moment Rengoku appeared somewhat bedraggled. His right arm was slowly healing; at the break one could still see stark white bone.

"What happened?" Dio frowned.

Rengoku Kyojuro knelt on one knee: "In the final battle, I encountered the current Flame Hashira; he seems to have awakened some kind of power. His strength surged instantly, even... he lowered his head to look at his severed arm... 'making it hard for even me to cope.'"

"Do you know what that power is?"

"In my family's inheritance," Rengoku Kyojuro said in a deep voice, "there is a book recording the successive Flame Hashira inheritances. Perhaps the answer is recorded in there."

"We'll talk later; looks like the current you still needs some strengthening." Dio stroked his chin, a playful glint flashing in his eyes.

"But it just so happens" he raised his hand, fingertips slicing through the air, "I have a pretty good idea."

He turned toward the other several Hashira-turned-corpse-puppets, his figure flashing, instantly appearing before them.

"Clang!"

Dio's hand rose, blade fell, cold light flashed.

Several arms fell neatly to the ground, the cuts clean, not a single drop of blood flowing out. These corpse puppets didn't even furrow their brows, as if the arms severed were not their own.

"We'll use these then." Dio picked up an arm and walked before Rengoku Kyojuro.

Rengoku Kyojuro looked at those severed arms, a trace of doubt flashing in his eyes: "Master's meaning is..."

He pressed the arm against Rengoku Kyojuro's torso, and a bizarre scene occurred — the severed arm's blood vessels writhed like living things, rapidly connecting with Rengoku Kyojuro's blood vessels.

One, two, three. Soon, six arms were arranged in a fan shape on Rengoku Kyojuro's body, each arm able to move nimbly, as if innate.

"How does it feel?" Dio asked.

Rengoku Kyojuro moved the six arms, his originally fierce aura even more terrifying: "Unprecedentedly... powerful."

Dio turned to Emperor Meiji at his side: "How did the investigation you were tasked with go?"

Emperor Meiji lowered his head, a hint of trepidation in his voice: "Reporting to Master, this subordinate has searched with all effort, but..." he paused, "demon traces are inherently hard to find; most exist only in legend. This subordinate only found one piece of information."

"Speak."

"At the Yoshiwara Entertainment District, people have been disappearing frequently recently. Supposedly..." Emperor Meiji's voice grew even lower, "an extremely powerful demon is haunting there."

Dio's golden pupils narrowed slightly: "Oh?"

"Yes." Emperor Meiji continued, "That place is originally a pleasure quarter with complex personnel. Even if people disappear, the authorities wouldn't investigate too deeply. But recently the number of missing is too great, and it has already drawn some attention."

Dio pondered for a moment, then turned to Rengoku Kyojuro: "Just right, let's go there first and take a look."

"As you command." Emperor Meiji bowed respectfully, then turned and left to make arrangements.

"Woo!"

A low horn blast sounded in the military camp.

"Assemble!"

"Assemble!"

In the pitch-black night, several thousand soldiers quickly formed ranks. Hoofbeats, footsteps, and the sound of weapons colliding echoed in the night.

"Whole army march out! Target: Yoshiwara Entertainment District!" The general waved his hand, and the great army began to move.

The column wound forward under the moonlight, torches linking into a long dragon; every soldier had a sharp great sword at his waist and a rifle on his back.

Two hours later, the outline of the Yoshiwara Entertainment District appeared in view.

This den of dissipation was brightly lit with song and dance in peaceful prosperity. Red lanterns cast the entire street in a sheet of red.

"Surround the entire area!"

Squad after squad of fully armed soldiers appeared at the street entrances; they held rifles and advanced expressionlessly.

Pedestrians on the street dodged in panic at the sight, the atmosphere instantly turning tense.

"No one move! A general rode up on horseback, his voice carrying undeniable authority, "By His Majesty's verbal decree, dangerous elements are hiding within the Yoshiwara Entertainment District; seal off the entire district immediately!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

The soldiers quickly dispersed, surrounding the entire area in a tight ring. They held torches and searched house by house.

The entire street quickly fell into chaos. Screams and cries rose and fell in succession. Some tried to flee, but were knocked hard to the ground by soldiers with rifle butts.

At this moment, the top floor of a magnificent Oiran House.

Daki was leaning lazily by the window, toying with an exquisite kiseru. Suddenly, her brows furrowed slightly.

"What's going on?"

She rose and walked to the window, seeing chaos on the boulevard below, soldiers searching house by house, and disheveled guests being driven out from time to time.

"These maggots, what frenzy are they up to now?" She narrowed her eyes, watching the chaotic scene downstairs.

Squads of soldiers were methodically searching every store. Disheveled johns were driven onto the street, trembling in the cold wind.

Someone tried to protest, but was knocked to the ground by a soldier's rifle butt.

"Click, click"

Neat footsteps came from the end of the street, soldiers parted a path, and a tall figure walked over slowly.

Behind him followed dozens of straight-backed samurai,

Beside him was also a cloaked person, face indiscernible.

"Dio-sama!" The soldiers immediately bowed in salute. "The third store on the north side has an abnormal situation."

"The ten men we sent in to search, not one came out, and. strange sounds came from inside."

"Oh?" Dio raised an eyebrow with interest. "Looks like that's the place."

At this moment, Daki on the top floor of the Oiran House gently exhaled a smoke ring, her gaze landing on Dio.

"Tsk tsk, quite a handsome blond man." She stood up, the kiseru in her hand turning lightly. "Let me see what you're capable of. Once you come in, I'll have a good taste of your blood."

Dio suddenly turned his head, looking at the general beside him: "Looks like some special measures are needed."

"Understood." The general suddenly turned and shouted an order, "Bring up the Cannon Corps! Since they're hiding inside and won't come out, then blast this building flat!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Heavy cannon carriage rumbling approached from far to near.

Daki was still thinking how to "entertain" these guests, when suddenly Pupil Shrink — several cannons had already trained on the building she was in.

(Chapter End)