Once Yushiro had confirmed (three times) that there was nothing he needed to worry about in his general vicinity, he'd closed his eyes to concentrate. Looking through the eyes of another, trying to focus solely on that while keeping track of everything happening and what he was making her see was not easy. A distant rumble reached him and he shuddered and tried to focus on the rest of the mansion again, but… much to his frustration, he kept getting drawn back to the fight between Kamado and Muzan. It was humbling and more than a little terrifying. They exchanged blows faster than he could follow. Thankfully, they hadn't come near his current position.

He had to get everyone out before those two destroyed everything. He didn't think even Nakime could completely keep up, despite her twanging away on her biwa, desperately trying.

Another tremor and he gulped, trying to focus and not get distracted… again. He'd wanted to see what would become of Muzan, but it had gone so wrong. He thought back to what he'd seen only minutes before…

It hadn't taken Yushiro long to evacuate most of the demons and slayers from the Infinity Mansion. The woman's blood art really was incredible, and he was glad for it because it meant he could keep an eye on Kamado and Muzan's fight while he searched for more people to get out. He'd been watching them for a bit, but then they'd backed off and Muzan, the coward, had run. Kamado had given chase, and they'd ended up in one particular room. The 'demon king' had stopped in front of a half-closed door, gloating. Yushiro had noted, even as he'd gotten more stragglers out of the mansion, that the door hid the – newly turned by the looks of it – demon that Waxing Three had transported there so recently. The new demon sat eating the dead body of a demon slayer, utterly focused on doing just that. Yushiro could see nothing else in the room. Not that he found that surprising, but something seemed… off.

At the moment, Yushiro could only try to figure out Muzan's angle as he moved the door aside, showing Kamado the new demon. Was it some sort of wildcard? Something the 'demon king' kept up his sleeve? But it wasn't like the 'demon king' to rely on such a new demon. So why would he be so smug, so assured, so…?

Then Yushiro finally, finally put it together. It took him too long really. His stomach sank to his ankles just as Kamado said the name 'Takeo'. Yushiro winced. He hated being right. If Kamado knew the kid… was Muzan trying to make him angry? Probably disheartened more than anything… Or was there some other reason the demon king was gloating over this? Was he just so confident? That did certainly seem like him….

Yushiro focused on them, not bothering to stop Waxing Three from listening in too. He balked when Muzan said the new demon would be able to conquer the sun? Why did he think that? Did he honestly think that was his last and only hurdle to overcome before he became unstoppable (or something else just as entitled and delusional)? And why was Kamado just standing there like that? He should be ripping the 'demon king' apart for what he did to Tamayo-sama. It was the least the monster deserved. But no… Kamado just froze in a sort of numb shock while Muzan gloated.

This wasn't right… Something was very, very off here. He knew Kamado wouldn't take the new turn of events well, but this felt worse than anything he could have predicted. Muzan had meant for this to be a blow to Kamado's morale, but… he didn't know Kamado – didn't understand who he was dealing with. Yushiro swore, thankful the demon he was manipulating couldn't hear him (he wouldn't let her), and tried to come up with a plan to keep himself and anyone else still in the mansion alive. Because the look on the newest progenitor's face as he focused on Muzan… That wasn't a face Yushiro thought Kamado Tanjiro could make.

In that moment, and ever since, he had no doubts that Muzan would die, probably be given the death he deserved – one slow and painful. But they might have another demon king to take down afterwards. That expression… that hadn't been Kamado Tanjiro.

Yushio only had a couple of groups left in the mansion – mainly Hashira, but he needed to get everyone out yesterday.

And then, of course, it got worse, because all of Kamado's demons went nuts. Especially the ones turning into demons. Oh, and their transformation speed increased by leaps and bounds.

Only the demons that had already been Kamado's for a while seemed to be able to keep their minds.

That didn't make Yushiro feel better.

He had some choices to make – choices he'd been putting off.

After some thought earlier, he'd more or less moved the demon-slayers to one place and the demons to another. Putting them in the same place was asking for serious trouble all around after all. He had avoided most of Kamado's demons because he wasn't entirely sure what to do with them but… putting them with Muzan's demons may be beneficial at this point. Of course, what did he do with those Hashira who were with demons at the moment? The fact that Muzan's demons seemed to be drawn to the ground and just dug with little to no awareness of what was going on around them once outside…

This was a mess.

The Hashira also needed to be somewhere in case things went badly with Muzan (not that Yushiro didn't trust Kamado to win, but he knew he needed to be prepared, so he made contingencies).

So, currently he had two groups of Kamado demons, two groups of slayers running from demons (one Kamado's, one Muzan's), one group of Hashira and one lone slayer. He'd better get those latter two out first. He still had to be subtle or the Biwa Demon may fight him, something he really didn't have time for right now.

Yay.

Kamado had better come back to himself soon… and appreciate what he was doing.

He managed to get the Biwa Demon to open portals for the two groups of only slayers, sending them where he'd sent the others, the woods near the Ubuyashiki property. He did so by showing her the slayers there, but fed her the illusion of them examining and/or entering the doors. He was able to nudge her opening the doors to 'empty' hallways (where he'd hidden the Hashira and the boar-kid).

The Hashira ran out. The boar kid didn't. He simply scoffed and turned to keep looking for more demons…

Slayers were insane. Period.

Okay, new plan. He was able to switch the hallway so that the Tsugukos who were running from one of Kamado's transforming demons would meet up. Maybe they could knock some sense into him.

Then he showed her some slayers in the woods where he'd sent the demons and had her open doors to 'empty' hallways where the groups of only Kamado's demons were. Thankfully, they took the opportunity.

Now he just had to figure out what to do with the others…

The mansion around them shuddered. Yushiro wasn't sure he wanted to know.

Okay, he was sending the Tsugukos to the demon area and the Love Hashira to the Slayer area. The Kamado bat...wolf demon chasing the younger slayers may get distracted by Muzan's demons, and there was likely going to be a bloodbath there, but with enough chaos that the Tsugukos might survive. If they wanted the Serpent Pillar to live, though, he'd have to be subdued and having several Hashira around could help with that.

Another shudder through the building around him had him gulping and looking up, before forcing himself to focus on having the Biwa Demon open doors. He could figure out what was going on with Kamado later.

And… it looked like the Tsugukos and the boar kid had met up. Okay, now…

And with that, everyone got out except for Muzan, Takeo, Tanjiro, Waxing Three, and himself.

Now he just had to wait for the right moment.

For now, that was the best he could do.

xXx

Another howl, just about as animalistic as it was human, sounded behind the two Tsugukos, literally running for their lives.

"AAAAAA! What do we do? What do we do? What do we do? WHAT DO WE DO KANAO-CHAAAAAAAN?!"

The girl behind Zenitsu didn't answer, which did nothing to ease his mind. He could feel tears streaming down his cheeks and he was sure he'd survived the fight with the Waxing Moon to just die here to a fellow slayer! But he couldn't hurt the guy! It wasn't Genya's choice he was turning into a demon… he didn't think it was his choice… It was a demon thing. He'd be fine after he had a while to calm down.

Right?

Right?!

But they couldn't just keep running until then!

They saw a T-junction in the distance.

"Left," Kanao said.

"Why?" Zenitsu shrieked.

"We should stay together."

"Why left though?"

A pause… "That's what I saw when I took my coin out of my pocket."

"You're basing our lives off of what you saw on a coin?!"

"Yes?"

Why did she sound so confused?!

Before they even reached the actual turn, though, a familiar form of a boy with a boar's head slid to a stop in the junction, pointing down at them.

"There you are you—" Inosuke started, but they'd reached him by then, and with mutual silent agreement, grabbed one arm each and dragged him with them down the hallway.

"OI! What are you doing?! Let me go!"

"AAAAA! WHY DO YOU HAVE A SNAKE?!" Seriously? WHY?! The white reptile peeked its head out from under the boar mask and… hadn't Zenitsu been through enough already?!

Thankfully, a door appeared in front of them… a door to outside.

Oh, thank the kami. His tears of fear turned into those of relief as he and Kanao dragged Inosuke outside, still yelling and screaming.

That relief was short-lived as he saw dozens and dozens of demons in the clearing in front of them.

"WHAAAAAAAAT?!" Zenitsu shrieked. Behind him, the howl of their friend sounded again.

"What are all these demons doing here?" Inosuke asked. "Who cares? Imma fight 'em!"

The Storm Breather made to answer but the demons had begun to notice them and some stood in front of them, blocking their way forward.

"WHYYYYYYYYYY?!" Zenitsu cried.

But before they reached the demons, a flash of white made him blink. The demons that had stood in front of them were gone… or, knocked to the ground. And… missing arms?

What?!

Zenitsu glanced to the side and saw Shinazugawa stick an arm in his mouth while he carried another and began to attack the other demons. Then the Storm Breather also noticed Akatsugi doing more or less the same and… wait… was that Kocho-san?! She looked… terrifying. With giant wings sprouting from her back that looked simultaneously like bat and butterfly wings… Just… how?!

Some demons he'd never seen before were also eating the other demons and… wait… was that Kaigaku? EATING MORE DEMONS?!

Nope. He was going to forget that had ever happened. Just. No.

"OI! Let me go!" Inosuke said. "We gotta fight!"

"NO!" both Kanao and Zenitsu said at the same time. At least he didn't think Genya was chasing them anymore. (He really hoped not.)

Once a decent distance away from the last demon, Zenitsu looked up.

"Branches!" he yelled.

Kanao nodded and, as one, they jumped, still dragging Inosuke with them.

Once he felt relatively safe (and a little hysterical after being able to survive all of that), he turned to take in the bloodbath below. It really wasn't difficult to pick out Kamado-demons. And that… was terrifying, really.

"Let me go so I can fight 'em!" Inosuke yelled.

"No!" Kanao said sternly. "We might be needed in the fight against Muzan."

Zenitsu froze. So did Inosuke.

But apparently for different reasons.

"Isn't he the biggest, baddest demon?" Inosuke asked.

"Yes," the Flower Tsuguko said succinctly.

Zenitsu couldn't help that he whimpered a little.

"Well why didn't you say so? Where is he?" Inosuke asked.

The Storm Breather dropped his head into his hands. Why was he like this?

"We're waiting for a signal," Kanao said.

"Well, that signal better come soon," Inosuke said and then sat down on the branch, putting his swords away and folding his arms, almost petulant.

No, seriously, why?!

xXx

When the shoji door opened in front of Mitsuri, she almost cried in relief, especially as she could see trees and bushes past the door. Shooting through it, she glanced around and saw several demon slayers milling around and…

Her eyes widened and she gasped. Was… was that the Ubuyashiki estate?

Or what was left of it… Still on fire.

She put a hand to her mouth and hated how she couldn't stop running to take it all in and grieve. Oyakata-sama… But no, she couldn't stop. Not if she didn't want to have to fight Obanai-kun!

As if on cue, she heard a half-hiss, half-roar behind her. Her heart hurt a little more for it.

And then she saw Kyojuro and Himejima rush out of another shoji door and immediately turned towards them.

"KYOJURO-KUN!" she yelled. The other Hashira turned to her, the younger blinking as she ran past. "Capture him!"

She could probably do it herself, but this was faster, easier and probably safer. She heard a scuffle behind her, and several grunts. Stopping, she turned and glanced back. The other Hashira had Obanai pinned to the ground. He squirmed and thrashed and tried to bite, but it was obvious he wouldn't go anywhere.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she hurried up to them.

"Thank you so much! Himejima-san, do you still have Kamado's blood?"

The older Pillar blinked and slowly nodded. The other demon slayers milling around seemed to be cautiously approaching, wondering what was going on, those who weren't treating other's wounds, in any case.

(She hoped everyone was okay. Where were Miyabe-san and Imagawa-san?!)

"Are you sure you want to turn him to Kamado's?" Kyojuro asked loudly.

"Kamado's demons seem to be… having problems right now," Himejima-san said slowly.

But Mitsuri had every faith in both Tanjiro and Obanai, so she nodded. "Yes."

Himejima didn't answer for several seconds, but when he did, he nodded, much to Mitsuri's relief.

"In my satchel, on my hip."

"Thank you," she said gratefully and hurried to his side so he didn't have to risk letting go of their fellow Pillar. It didn't take her long to find the vial full of blood. She didn't make a face at it, but it was a near thing. Helpful or not, ew.

She uncorked the vial and hurried over to Obanai's head. He lay facing the sky, but she had to help hold him still with one hand as she poured the liquid in his mouth, then put her other hand over it. He swallowed before he could bite her, thankfully.

And then he froze, mismatched, slitted eyes going wide. After a moment, he howled, thrashing even harder. It took all three of them to hold him down.

Was… that supposed to happen? Mitsuri didn't know.

"Kanroji-san!" A familiar voice said, and she glanced to the side to see Imagawa-san rushing up to her, Miyabe-san following. Oh, thank the kami. They had scratches and scrapes all over them, but they were alive. "What's going on?"

Mitsuri bit her lip and shook her head as she continued to hold her… fiance? Boyfriend? Obanai down.

"I… don't know," she admitted.

xXx

At the base of Mount Sagiri, Giyuu took a stance as Rengoku suddenly woke, howling even louder than he had before, screaming in pain. And then he'd stopped and fixed his eyes on the Water Pillar. Oh, not good.

"Kamado-san," he said quietly, "don't make a noise. I will lead Rengoku away."

Giyuu stood in the hallway, where he could see both Rengoku and the Kamados now huddled together, but the family couldn't see the demon.

"Giyuu-san," she said softly.

"Keep them safe," he said, referring to the still unconscious Nezuko, as well as Hanako and Shinjuro huddled together in a corner, looking confused and scared.

The mother's eyes went wide.

"Giyuu-san," she started again, but he had no time to listen to her otherwise as Rengoku Senior lunged at him, red tail swinging behind him.

Giyuu ran.

The demon followed.

xXx

Muzan wasn't entirely sure what about the boy in front of him put him on edge. Perhaps it was his willingness to fight so harshly but still smile and say it was 'nice' to meet him. Or perhaps it was how he just grit his teeth and pushed forward, falling right into Muzan's trap, but then burning everything away like it didn't matter.

That fire hurt.

But part of Muzan realized that as much as he hated the idea of losing, he hadn't had a good fight in centuries. Before Yoiichi even (because that hadn't been a fight) and it was surprisingly invigorating.

But then the boy had changed. The look of utter horror when he'd seen his brother had been priceless. Absolutely devastated. But then he'd smiled, and the room around him had burst into fire. It hadn't come towards Muzan, but it was still something to look out for.

Then the kid moved.

Or more accurately, he disappeared. If Muzan wasn't the thousand-year-old demon he was, the kid's fire-covered arm would have taken off his head.

Well, it seemed he'd goaded the boy into attacking at least.

Wait, where was his sword? Muzan couldn't look for it as the boy's attacks came too fast. Not fast enough that Muzan couldn't keep up, but fast enough that he had to concentrate. They danced across the room, lightning fast and out for blood.

Muzan attacked back, shooting his arm out, enlarging its mass and size again. The new progenitor ducked, but Muzan saw the brat's eyes open wide as the attack headed for the new demon instead, just as the Demon King had planned. It didn't take much to nudge the attack just off. If he'd read Kamado right just now…

Just as he'd anticipated, Kamado disappeared again, unfortunately grabbing his brother just in time and far too fast for Muzan to do much about it. The two younger demons appeared across the room as the true Demon King's attack smashed into the wall where the kids had been.

So the Muzan had been right about his character. He grinned and sent another attack at the kid… who had his fingers on his brother's neck? Just what was he…

Eh, who cared?

The attack neared, it would take the blink of an eye and… And Kamado held up his hand. Muzan's appendage ran into it…

And disappeared.

What?!

Muzan felt his own eyes widen. What had just… what kind of attack had that been? Where an appendage almost as large around as it was long just vanished, leaving a stump behind…

Then Kamado looked him in the eye. "Good, but…" that grin was back. "I'm still hungry."

Wait…

He'd absorbed Muzan?

But…

HOW?!

The brat disappeared again, and Muzan realized he may have miscalculated.

xXx

AN: So yeah, that happened. I have my issues with this chapter, but I'm done revamping it. I do still hope that what I wanted to come through did though. Let me know what you thought.

Thanks to Found and Quathis for their help on this!

Also, ffnet has decided to make some (imo, really stupidly implemented) changes to their notification. Apparently every 3 to 6 months, we have to go in and change the default 'off' for notifications to our e-mail to 'on' again. So if you haven't been receiving notifications for your stories, that's probably why. I'm very frustratied with this and would like them to change it to 'have to renew it every 5 years' or so instead. Also, I certainly didn't get any notifications of this change. How exactly did they expect everyone to get this? *shakes head* Anyway, fyi.

Discord: discord. gg/xDDz3gqWfy (no spaces)