Chapter 34

In the blink of an eye, the next day arrived.

Zero arrived early at the courtyard of the Ubuyashiki mansion alone; he must have arrived too early, as the courtyard was empty, and the other Pillars were still on their way back.

With nothing to do, he sat cross-legged on the tatami in the inner room of the courtyard, took out some paper and a pen, turned on his 【Analysis Glasses】, and recorded all the information he would report later, as well as Muzan's characteristics and attack traits, to make it convenient for everyone to view later.

Worried that they wouldn't understand the characters he wrote, he used the 【Analysis Glasses】 to convert them into the language of the Neon Country, re-translating and recording them so they would be able to understand.

During this time, Ubuyashiki Yoya and Ubuyashiki Tianyin walked in with their two daughters; Zero, immersed in recording the information, didn't notice the couple standing behind him at all.

Seeing this, Ubuyashiki Yoya said nothing, just smiled slightly and whispered to his wife and two daughters, "Do not disturb him."

"Yes." x3

Just like that, the Ubuyashiki couple and their two daughters sat a short distance away from Zero, waiting for the other Pillar-level swordsmen to return and start the Pillar Meeting without disturbing him.

The first to arrive were the Butterfly sisters; seeing Ubuyashiki Yoya, they knelt on one knee and shouted in unison, "Master!"

Ubuyashiki Yoya extended his left hand and placed his index finger in front of his mouth, turning his head to look at Zero, who was buried in writing on his notebook behind him.

The Butterfly sisters understood and stood silently to the side.

Afterward, a Pillar-level swordsman arrived every so often, and the retired former Flame Pillar, Rengoku Shinjuro, also came to participate in the Pillar Meeting.

They stood in a row without speaking, because before the Pillar Meeting, Ubuyashiki Kagaya had sent them a message via their Kasugai Crows that shocked them to the core: Zero had encountered Muzan.

Of course, except for Giyu Tomioka, because he had known about this for a long time, but Zero had told him not to tell anyone else for the time being.

For this reason, Ubuyashiki Yoya had them wait in the inner room, where they sat in two rows.

The Ubuyashiki clan founded the Demon Slayer Society with the sole purpose of eliminating Muzan.

Every member of the Demon Slayer Society had had their family or close friends cruelly murdered by evil demons created by Muzan, and thus they all held an irreconcilable hatred for evil demons.

For thousands of years, apart from the Origin swordsman of the Warring States Period—Yoriichi Tsugikuni—who had encountered Muzan and even nearly destroyed him, the Demon Slayer Society had never seen him.

But unexpectedly, at the final moment, Muzan ran away and hid, disappearing without a trace, never to appear again.

Over these thousands of years, the Demon Slayer Society had sacrificed countless swordsmen without ever encountering Muzan or an Upper Moon demon of the Twelve Kizuki.

Even if they had encountered them, they had already died in battle, so the information they could gather was extremely scarce!

And now, Zero had encountered Muzan!

Muzan, who had been hiding for hundreds of years, had shown his little tail and appeared in the human world again; he had even fought him and forced Muzan back, remaining safe and sound.

Muzan—the news of this matter was too massive; receiving the notification from Ubuyashiki Yoya had drawn the attention of every Pillar-level swordsman in the Demon Slayer Society, so they all waited patiently for Zero.

Even the most hot-tempered Sanemi Shinazugawa was waiting quietly at this moment.

Two hours later, Zero finally finished recording all the information, dividing it into eleven copies so that everyone could understand Muzan.

Zero had originally intended to draw the appearance of Muzan he had seen, but considering the information mentioned that Muzan possessed mimicry abilities, he didn't know if what he saw was his original appearance or a mimicked one, so he abandoned the idea.

He simply wrote down some easily identifiable characteristics of Muzan in detail in the notebook.

When he looked up and stretched, he found that everyone had gathered together at some point and was sitting beside him, nearly scaring him.

Zero: "Oh? When did everyone get here?"

"My, everyone has been here for a long time~ We've been waiting for you for over two hours! Hehe~" Kanae Kocho teased, seemingly very fond of Zero's occasionally embarrassed and cute appearance.

"Uh... sorry, everyone, I was too focused on this and didn't notice, I am very sorry."

"It's alright, Zero, you have already done enough!" Ubuyashiki Yoya immediately spoke up to help Zero out.

Whoosh~

He took a deep breath, picked up the papers he had recorded, and said, "This contains the abilities and characteristics of 【Muzan】, take a look at them!"

He then handed these papers to Hinaki Ubuyashiki to distribute to everyone present.

Since Gyomei Himejima could not see, Ubuyashiki Kagaya had his daughter, Nichika Ubuyashiki, help him by reading the information recorded on the papers aloud to him.

About half an hour later, after repeated confirmation, everyone had understood the information about Muzan, but their hearts remained unsettled for a long time.

Not only because Zero had recorded Muzan's characteristics in detail, but he had also carefully written out his abilities.

At the same time, another question arose: Muzan had so many means, could the Demon Slayer Society really defeat him?

"Zero, is what is written here true?" Rengoku Shinjuro asked.

"It is true. If you still don't believe me, I can show you the process of my battle with Muzan."

"The battle process?"

Everyone present, except for Rengoku Shinjuro who didn't understand what was going on, already knew what Zero was about to do.

Zero placed his 【Analysis Glasses】 on the tatami again, just like last time, and activated 【Projection Mode】.

Rengoku Shinjuro was also startled by this method; although he had heard that Zero possessed all kinds of strange weapons, seeing it in person still inevitably caused some surprise.

The projection showed Zero firing a shot at Muzan in mid-air, forcing him back and saving the family living in the mountains.

When they saw Muzan's face on the projection, for some reason, they always felt a sense of oppression in their hearts.

Even just a glimpse on the projection made them feel somewhat suffocated...

Afterward, they saw 8 cross-shaped floating cannons inexplicably appear around Zero to protect him, fighting Muzan while protecting the people behind him...

Not long after, in the projection, Zero put away his weapons; just as everyone thought Zero was about to give up, they saw another scene.

"Dark Alloy Battle Armor, arm!"

They saw the space around Zero fluctuate again, and pieces of black and red metal appeared, arming Zero until he looked like a fully armed warrior.

They could all feel the aura of slaughter emanating from that black and red armor, which made them shudder...

Not long after, the projection ended.

Everyone was still in a state of shock; the images on the projection just now made them unable to forget for a long time, as if they had been immersed in the battle with Muzan themselves, feeling as if they were at death's door.

Gyomei Himejima, who could not see, had the same feeling while listening to Nichika Ubuyashiki's explanation and the sounds coming from Zero's 【Analysis Glasses】.

"Now, you can understand just how strong Muzan is, right? Leaving Muzan aside, even the Upper Moon demons among his Twelve Kizuki are formidable, not to mention their creator, Muzan."

"Moreover, the true face of Muzan you see now may not be how you can find him! As for why? You saw the information I wrote just now; he has mimicry abilities. Men, women, old, or young, he can transform into their appearance and then blend into the lives of today's human society!"

Ubuyashiki Yoya: "Then, Zero, do you have any suggestions?"

Zero: "My suggestion is very simple: if you encounter Muzan, and he hasn't noticed you yet, run!"

Upon hearing this, Sanemi Shinazugawa immediately retorted, "What do you mean?! Why must we run!?"

Zero: "Then how much confidence do you think all of you Pillar-level swordsmen have in being able to destroy Muzan if you all attack together?"

This question left Sanemi Shinazugawa unable to refute, and he fell into silence.

He also knew very well that if he encountered Muzan, he would probably be dead in a single exchange, and through the projection just now, he had also witnessed how powerful Muzan's attacks were, even moving too fast to see clearly.

If it weren't for the protection of that battle armor, those attacks would have likely left Zero severely injured or near death, even if he didn't die!

If Zero knew what Sanemi Shinazugawa was thinking right now, he would probably give him a heavy blow to the head.

Was it that he couldn't beat Muzan? He was just trying to protect the Zao family while collecting data and information.

Otherwise, he would have long since used his mecha to beat Muzan to a pulp and then dragged him out until dawn to let the sun bake him to death!

Wouldn't that be more satisfying and end it once and for all?

Moreover, a creature like Muzan, placed in the starry sky, is just a slightly special low-level creature.

Any random exotic beast from the starry sky could crush Muzan, beating him until he cried for his father and mother, and even calling on the gods wouldn't help.

He's just a little kid over a thousand years old; which of those exotic beasts hasn't lived for thousands of years?

"Actually, you don't have to be so depressed. If you can master the 【Bright Red Sword】, you might not be able to deal with Muzan, but you can at least fight the Twelve Kizuki!"

"Bright Red Sword? What is that?" Shinobu Kocho asked her question.

"The so-called Bright Red Sword is one that can suppress the regenerative power of evil demons. I have tried it before; even the regenerative power of Upper Moon demons can be suppressed!"

"What?!" Sanemi Shinazugawa exclaimed, "Even the regenerative power of Upper Rank demons can be suppressed!?"

"Yes, I will now tell you the method for the Bright Red Sword."

Zero took his scythe out of the 【Nano Space】, adjusted the power of his mechanical left hand, and gripped it tightly; the blade of the scythe began to turn incredibly red.

Everyone felt that scorching heat, like the sun itself.

"The method to activate the Bright Red Sword is to use your own powerful grip to hold the hilt of the Nichirin Sword, causing it to turn into a Bright Red Sword! According to the information I speculated earlier, the Nichirin Sword is forged from ore that has absorbed sunlight, and by using grip strength, you can stimulate the energy within it, causing the temperature of the Nichirin Sword to rise sharply and turn into a Bright Red Sword!"

"The sun is the nemesis of evil demons; likewise, the Nichirin Sword forged from ore that absorbs sunlight, when turned into a Bright Red Sword through grip strength, is the same!"

Only then did they remember that the spot where Muzan was cut by Zero's weapon in the projection was indeed suppressed and unable to regenerate!

Just now, they had only thought that Zero's weapon was special, which was why that happened; they hadn't expected it to be the effect of the Bright Red Sword!

If it were really as Zero said, and even the regenerative power of Upper Moon demons could be suppressed, then they would have an extra layer of security when fighting Upper Moon demons in the future!

Even if one person couldn't kill them, they could at least stall for time, wait for support from comrades, or hold out until dawn!

Since Muzan was not to be considered for now, they would first eliminate his Twelve Kizuki, weaken his wings, and then find a way to deal with him!

Afterward, everyone began to experiment with the method Zero mentioned, leaving the inner room to stand in the courtyard, drawing their weapons, and strengthening their grip to see if they could activate the Bright Red Sword.

The results were somewhat unexpected; only a few people succeeded in activating the Bright Red Sword, while the others either lacked the grip strength or, even if they had enough, caused their wrists to become exhausted.

"This is truly flamboyant!" Tengen Uzui looked at the dual blades in his hands that had turned red, his eyes filled with flamboyant thoughts.

"Wow! I can do it too!" Mitsuri Kanroji said, looking at the Nichirin Sword in her hand that looked like a soft whip.

"Although the effect of the Bright Red Sword is good, I feel that it consumes a lot of my own strength!"

Obanai Iguro looked at the red, snake-shaped double-edged blade in his hand; although he had activated the Bright Red Sword, his physical strength was being consumed geometrically, and even his wrists were beginning to lose strength.

"Umu, I am the same!" Kyojuro Rengoku looked at the incredibly red flame sword in his hand; the Bright Red Sword had been activated, and likewise, like Obanai Iguro, it was rapidly consuming his strength and stamina.

"If this is the case, then we will likely fall into a passive position during battle, and then we will be at the mercy of the enemy!" Rengoku Shinjuro also expressed his thoughts.

"But why do I, the flamboyant one, not feel such an unflamboyant situation?" Tengen Uzui looked at the Bright Red dual blades in his hands, his expression still relaxed, seemingly not feeling any fatigue at all!

Everyone had different situations, but Gyomei Himejima was an exception, because his weapon was a broad axe and a meteor hammer connected by iron chains.

"Amitabha, I wonder how my broad axe and meteor hammer can activate the Bright Red Sword?"

Zero looked at Gyomei Himejima's weapon and fell into deep thought; he already knew how to activate the Bright Red Sword for a Nichirin Sword, but the broad axe and meteor hammer...

Uh... well, he really didn't know how to activate it.

"Sigh... I really don't know how to activate the Bright Red Sword for Gyomei Himejima's weapon... the broad axe and meteor hammer... I really don't know how that swordsmith in the Swordsmith Village hammered this weapon... wait! Hammered... hammered..." Zero seemed to have thought of something.

"Himejima, perhaps I know how to make your weapon activate the Bright Red Sword, but this is only my speculation; perhaps you can try!" Zero said.

Everyone was aroused by Zero's words.

"Amitabha, in that case, I will trouble you, Zero!"

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