12 No Need to Fear, Muzan

Tamayo... Tamayo.

Muzan loathed this name—the name of that woman who knew nothing of her place. She had betrayed him, colluded with weak humans to scheme against him, and pushed him into the abyss of death. An unforgivable traitor.

And he—Ieiri Yuki—had also betrayed him, casting his lot with that despicable woman. The deception, the lies, the betrayal before his eyes; it all made him look so ridiculous.

The cursed spirit, an ink-black snake—or perhaps a python was a more fitting description—that ordinary people could not see, had grown several times thicker than what a grown man could encompass with both arms. He dragged his summoner deep into the mountains, thrashing about in a frenzy. Even in his manifested form as a special-grade cursed spirit, his body remained massive and formidable. In a mere instant, the surrounding trees were snapped in two, and gravel flew in every direction.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The earth cracked and the heavens trembled, the roar deafening. If any jujutsu sorcerer were present, they would surely have been paralyzed with horror at the sight of that ink-black python twisting and rolling in such madness. Yet, at this moment, there was no one to halt this tide of violence.

"Who gave you permission to toy with me?" his voice was low, cold, and dark. It was a timbre of exquisite beauty, yet it was enough to make anyone who heard it shiver to their very bones. "How dare you—"

Before the words had faded, boom! The ink-black python body moved faster than a blurred shadow, and a figure was sent flying. With a thud, the body slammed mercilessly against a jagged mountain rock. In an instant, all signs of life vanished. Death.

But with a single breath, the scattered blood seemed guided by some unseen force, flowing back into the body. Flesh, bone, and skin all regenerated in an instant.

The livestream was positioned at a tricky angle, avoiding the most brutal impact. Then, the camera shifted, capturing the lower half of the blonde youth’s face. It was only then that the viewers saw it clearly—Ieiri Yuki was smiling. The curve of his lips was so distinct and unmistakable that those watching the stream could not convince themselves they had seen it wrong.

[...]
[A lunatic!]
[My skin is crawling. Yuki did this on purpose.]
[From the moment he opened that text message interface, he definitely let Muzan see it intentionally.]
[But that pathetic boss is definitely insane too.]
[I don't understand what benefit there is for him to drive Muzan into such a rampage.]
[Even if he’s immortal, there’s no need to go out and seek death like this, right?!]

A lunatic. Kibutsuji Muzan was a lunatic as well. But he was slightly different from Ieiri Yuki. His exterior was polished, but his core had long since rotted away. Endless malice and desire had become his flesh and blood, constantly eroding his mind and reason. Greed, arrogance, unrepentant wickedness, stubbornness...

This was the soul of Kibutsuji Muzan. Even if he fell into hell, even if he were to live a thousand lives, he would never change, and he would never turn back. In his fury, his every action was utterly brutal, accompanied by a monstrous, overflowing malice that had nowhere to go.

In the next instant, Yuki's vision blurred as a flurry of static filled his sight. A cold chill washed over him, a grip tightened around his neck, and his breath was stolen away. Every minor movement was suppressed with ease as the hand on his throat tightened, crushing his windpipe and making every breath a struggle.

It was unknown how much time had passed when the static finally faded and his vision cleared. As Ieiri Yuki opened his eyes, he was met with a pair of scarlet, cold, and ruthless eyes.

Muzan had returned to his true form. He wore the guise of a human, still beautiful of face, though prominent, menacing veins pulsed on his forehead. Sharp, bone-white fangs filled his mouth, and the whip-like protrusions behind him were bared in ferocity. He was an inhuman monster. A beautiful monster.

This was the first time Ieiri had seen Muzan like this. Amidst the tightening sensation of suffocation, the blonde youth whispered in a strange, intimate tone:

"...Muzan."

It was the same familiar call that Kibutsuji Muzan had always known. Aside from a slight rasp in the shikigami master’s voice, it was no different from any other time.

*Don't call me that.*

The words remained unspoken, but the whip-like protrusions growing from the back of the sinister, dangerous cursed spirit surged forward violently. An uninvited guest forced its way into the blonde youth's throat—a place that had never been visited before. The whip-like thorns scraped harshly against the roof of his mouth, tearing the inner walls and spreading the scent of blood.

He was forced to open his mouth. Every inch was stained with the other's scent. The intruder's aura occupied this territory irresistibly, pinning his tongue and lips, blocking any possibility of sound.

There was a fleeting illusion—that the beautiful cursed spirit before him had shed his lovely skin, revealing a beast acting on pure instinct.

A moment later, the dense clouds were swept aside, and the sun hanging high in the sky was no longer obscured. The sunlight grew scorching as it fell upon him. Though he could no longer be burned by the sun, his instincts still recoiled from the warm, bright light.

His eyes darkened. Suddenly, his left arm expanded into a monstrous, fleshy limb and lashed out. The razor-sharp fangs at its end bit mercilessly into the youth's neck, dragging his prey into a dark mountain cave to be devoured at will.

Muzan's diet should have been the same as Sukuna's—cannibalism. But because Muzan had been reincarnated as a cursed spirit, his kind had become other cursed spirits. He shouldn't have felt hunger for a human. But the shikigami master... was always an exception.

The special-grade cursed spirit, consumed by extreme rage, lost control, his fangs capturing and piercing his prey. The cave was silent, yet not silent at all. Every subtle sound was amplified infinitely here, enough to make one’s heart race.

"...Muzan, do you remember? You, back then."

The blonde youth was reborn. He smiled lightly and reached out with his fingertips. His pale skin brushed against the tips of the other's black, slightly curled hair.

"Remembering the way you used to be—so wretched, frantic, and embarrassed."
"You know you weren't weak, yet you died once at the hands of those people."
"How truly pathetic."

"Bang!"

Instantly, the cursed spirit’s vicious whip-like protrusion shot out, piercing the blonde youth's restless palm and nailing his hand to the stone wall.

Kibutsuji Muzan lifted his head, his lips stained crimson with blood. His pale face, scarlet lips, and the thick, heavy scent lingering between them—fire burned in those rose-red eyes. He was furious. He was angry that someone else had seen that wretched side of him. He loathed even more that the shikigami master would mock the fact that he had been defeated by those Demon Slayers.

How dare he?!

Admittedly, the shikigami master was immortal, but Kibutsuji Muzan never accepted fate. He would use every possible method to make the other regret this!

Ieiri Yuki exerted a bit of force, pulling his palm free from the confinement of the "weapon." A mocking glint appeared in Muzan’s eyes; he waited for the shikigami master's futile counterattack.

But that was not what happened.

The blonde youth reached out his arms and, following his movement, hooked them around Muzan’s neck. The golden wolf-tail hair at the ends of his locks swayed in the air.

"..."

Muzan froze. The human body that had suddenly crashed into his arms was warm. Even as a cursed spirit, he could perceive this with absolute clarity.

A soft chuckle drifted into his ear. The voice was incredibly pleasing, the tone gentle, as if infused with life. Like the tip of a feather, it slowly tickled Muzan’s ear canal.

"But, what of it?"

He said, "The past is already the past."

"Muzan—" he called out affectionately. "I am 'immortality,' and you, my shikigami. This time, unless I wish it, Muzan will also be an eternal, undying existence."

"So there is no need to fear, Muzan."
"Because death is no longer our destination."

The youth let go of the other and stepped back slightly, his eyes locking with the cursed spirit he had summoned. He then cradled the face of this pale, beautiful, violent, and cowardly man, his gaze deepening.

Ieiri Yuki smiled, the curve of his lips widening as he said: "This is the future, for you and me."

In the narrow, dark cave, the distance between them was close, and in this position, it was as if their very breaths were intertwined. Muzan felt as if he had returned to hell, but this time, he had someone to accompany him on the journey.