That night, two demons were patrolling around a small village, both with a mission in mind: Find intelligence on the whereabouts of the Ubuyashiki residence, which, unbeknownst to them, was a mere 15 miles away. One was a girl about Tanjiro's age with white hair, red sclera, and two horns. The other was a slightly older young man with black and orange hair, pale blue eyes, and green markings on his face. "This whole situation fucking sucks," the girl spoke first. "Rui and his whole Spider Family bullshit were wiped out in a single night, and now there's word of an American demon that's come here to fuck our whole sitiation up. I gotta feeling our master's meeting on the 14th won't be pretty. It'll be a shitstorm."
"Look, Mukago," the male demon replied to her, worried about Muzan's possible reaction to Rui's death. "Maybe he'll understand and just recruit a new Lower Moon 5. He's done it tons of times before. Don't overthink this. It scares the shit outta me."
"I think this time's different," Mukago pointed out. "Our master was very close to Rui, like father to son kind of deal. He probably saw himself in him, based on what little I've heard about their own fucked-up lives before they became demons. Kamanue, we're fucked. We are so, so fucked when the 14th of April comes."
"Don't say that," Kamanue tried to reprimand her. "Stop worrying so much!" He tried to tell her to stop being nervous, but Mukago could tell that if anything, he was trying to convince himself to not worry about Muzan. "We have a mission to do, and we don't have time to worry."
"And what mission would that be?!" Kyojuro and Muichiro then sprung out from an alleyway in the village, both of them drawing their swords. The former declared, "We heard everything!"
"Fuck!" Mukago tried to run, but Kyojuro chased after her, pinning her down to the ground. "Fucking let go of me!"
"Oh no, you don't!" He kept a smile as he informed her of their plans. "Here's the deal. We aren't going to kill you unless you make us do it. Same goes for your friend over there."
Kamanue, who was about to start fighting Muichiro, turned to Kyojuro in confusion. "Wait, what?"
"We were given a spell book," Muichiro explained to him. "And we were tasked with testing it on demons. Now, just stay put. This won't take long."
"This has to be some kind of fucked up trick," Kamanue declared as he readied his fists. "And I won't fall for it!" He then closed and opened his eyes, and when he reopened them, his eyes were lit up with blue flames. "I'm not afraid of some Pillars!"
Meanwhile, Mukago asked Kyojuro, pleading with him, "Are you going to spare me?! Please, fucking spare me!"
"While my partner takes care of that other demon you were with," he explained to her. "I'll explain what's going to happen. We want to test out this thing called the Progenitor Release Spell. If it works, you'll be freed from Muzan's Curse, and freed from your obligations as one of his Twelve Moons. Tell me, wouldn't you want that?" He knew that if she answered yes, Muzan would likely kill her right then and there.
"Absolutely not," Mukago yelled back in his face. "Fuck your idea! I'm with my master all the way! I'm not gonna betray him like that bitch Susamaru did! I won't! I can't!" By her tone, it sounded as if she was trying to not only convince herself, but Muzan as well. "I am loyal to my kind unlike that piece of garbage, and I refuse to betray its creator!"
Back with Muichiro and Kamanue, the latter formed balls of blue flame in his hands and charged at the former. "Now die!" Muichiro, however, was able to dodge his attack, only getting a slight scorch mark on his uniform from one of his hands. "Fucker, you got away!" He then threw several balls of blue fire at the Mist Pillar.
"Breath of Mist," Muichiro rather nonchalantly declared as he took a deep breath in and out. "Third Form: Scattering Mist Splash!" Using his sword, he was able to deflect all five balls of energy and fire away as if they were solid particles, causing them to dissipate. "Now, time to put an end to this. I didn't want to kill you, but you made me do it. First Form: Low Clouds, Distant Haze!" He then charged directly straight at Kamanue in a single thrust. His opponent barely had time to react before Muichiro cut his head off cleanly, putting an end to the fight rather quickly. As he stopped, he remarked to himself, "That was almost too short…"
"Damn you," Kamanue cursed at him as his head and body disappeared into thin air. "Damn you to Hell! I was loyal to my master to the very end!"
"Tokito-san," Kyojuro then called out to him. "I need help with this one!"
As Muichiro ran to assist him, Mukago yelled out, "You fuckheads got another thing coming if you think I'll go along with this willingly! My heart belongs to my master!"
"I know for a fact you don't believe the bullshit coming out of your mouth," Kyojuro corrected her. "Not at all." He then turned to Muichiro. "Perform the spell. I'm gonna hold her down. Cut open my non-sword arm if you have to for blood."
"Got it," Muichiro replied before he took his backpack off and pulled out the spell book from James. Once he found the correct spell, he closed it and put it back before using a personal knife he carried to cut open his non-sword-using arm. He winced from the pain, mumbling to himself, "Shit…" Once his cut was done, he painted the necessary shape on the ground around Mukago and Kyojuro on the ground with his blood before stopping in the same spot where he started and grabbing a set of bandages and quickly wrapping his injured arm up. "Okay, now, let's do this."
"Hurry up before Muzan kills her," Kyojuro informed him. "I think he's getting close! I can feel her body heat begin to rise a bit!" Mukago continued to struggle under Kyojuro's body weight as Muichiro nodded.
"By the Grace of the Spirits," Muichiro began the same chant James had done, only this time in Japanese. "I ask them to free this child of God from the chains imposed on her by her Progenitor! Release this woman from his grasp, and eradicate all traces of the curse placed upon her! I cast the Progenitor Release Spell upon you!" He then drove his personal knife into the ground in his blood.
With a bright flash of red light and screaming from Mukago as she felt the curse being painfully ripped out of her body, the spell took effect, and after 15 seconds, the light dissipated, and a now unconscious Mukago laid on the ground. Kyojuro got off of her and asked his partner, "Well, did it work, Tokito-san?"
After he checked for a pulse, Muichiro nodded. "It did. That James demon guy was right." He then tightened down the bandages on his arm to control the bleeding better before using his free arm to pick her up and carry her on his back. "Alright," he told Kyojuro. "Let's make it back to the Oyakata-sama's Estate before sunrise."
"I'll help you out," Kyojuro immediately offered, also helping him lift her. As they walked home together, he told his partner. "That was surprising. I was not expecting it to work, especially since James said it only had a 50% chance of working. Otherwise, she would have just exploded or something, according to him."
…
Back at the Dimensional Infinity Fortress, Muzan was infuriated that not only was another demon freed from his control, but that it was one of his Twelve Moons. "This is such fucking horse shit," he screamed as he threw a glass across his office as an awkward-looking George watched. "It's fucking horse shit, George-san! First, those damn Demom Slayers Corps' Pillars fucking wiped out yet another one of my Lower Moons way too easily! Second, this is the second demon that that fucking James Colby guy took away from me with his little Negro spell book, and this time, it's a fucking Twelve Moon!" He then smashed a pencil as well with his fist in the room. "I'm sorry that I'm acting like this. It's not you, I swear. I'm just that fucking pissed that we may have a major intelligence leak!"
"I know, sir," George replied to him, himself also deeply annoyed by James' interference in their plans. "What do y'all intend to do now that you're down three of your top twelve demons?"
"I'm gonna purge Lower Moons 2 and 3 since they're about as useful as a white crayon," Muzan informed him. "And then I'll send Lower Moon 1 on a mission with an Upper Moon while I recruit five new Lower Moons. During the gap, you'll have to use you and your brother's Knights of the Moon to do some of my work. Is that a problem at all?"
"Not at all, sir," George nodded with confidence. "Not at all…"
…
April 14, 1913
At the Final Selection site for the First District, James and Susamaru stood at the foot of Mount Fujikasane, surrounded by a sea of wisteria trees. While they had managed to walk through them with ease, James especially, Susamaru was starting to feel somewhat queasy from being around the trees for a long time. After puking on the ground, she wiped her mouth and told James, "God, I fucking hate doing that."
James asked her as he held her hair back, "Are you alright? Do you wanna not do this? I can do it on my own."
"No," she adamantly replied to him. "I'm fine. Once we get to the mountain top, I won't be sick anymore."
Kanata, one of Kagaya's daughters, then asked the pair, "Are you two alright? We're about to begin."
"We're fine," Susamaru replied to her as she staggered up. "Give us the rundown of what we need to do."
Both Kanata and Kiriya then nodded and bowed. "Thank you for coming here tonight," both of them said in perfect unison. "You two are participating in a special version of the Final Selection of the Demon Slayer Corps." Kiriya then spoke alone next. "While normally people who wish to be slayers must survive for only seven days past the wisteria, you two will have to survive for fourteen days armed with no swords and only your guns with no backup."
Kanata followed her brother's words with, "When the sun rises on the fourteenth day, you are to come back to this area if you two survive, and you will choose one of several different ores to create a nichirin sword of your own. We have had a spike in live demon captures as of late, so be prepared for a tough fight." Both of them bowed and spoke in unison once more. "Good luck, and be safe."
"Thank you very much," Susamaru said as she bowed to both of them. "We will be sure to come back out alive."
