The world is crumbling.
This is an undeniable fact.
Just look up at the sky, and you will see that the world seems to be changing in a strange direction.
As the origin point, Neon summoned the army to the Infinity Castle to kill the "demons" as soon as possible.
But how much damage could those World War I-era weapons inflict on the Multi-Armed Ones and Muzan Kibutsuji?
It's like a mosquito bite, nothing more, it can't even break their defenses!
Of course, nuclear weapons would have the same result.
It would just destroy some insignificant rot.
It can't solve the root problem!
"What kind of monsters are these?!"
Cannons are useless, rifles are useless!
Cannonballs barely manage to take down a few rotting corpses, but the next second, they completely recover!
How do we fight?
We can't fight!
This is not an enemy that humanity can deal with!
"Run! Run away!"
"We can't win!"
"They're all monsters!"
"This is Heaven's punishment upon us!"
"The day of reckoning is upon us!"
..............................
When the first deserter appeared in the army, this operation was doomed to fail!
The towering trees planted by Kocho Kanae could not stop the Multi-Armed Ones and Muzan Kibutsuji for long.
Their power has gradually seeped out.
Pollution has eroded the land, breeding evil creatures!
The once fertile land turned pitch black, emanating a sinister aura.
Soldiers who lagged behind were overtaken by the ominous aura, and immediately completed the assimilation process.
Turning into rotting corpses, they attacked the other soldiers, spreading the pollution recklessly!
In just half an hour, the 30,000-strong vanguard army assembled by the Neon government was completely wiped out!
These 30,000 people all turned into rotting corpses and rampaged through the surrounding cities, spreading pollution!
The only silver lining was that the rotting corpses seemed unwilling to leave the dark lands, giving the Neon government a small window of respite.
But.....................
What difference does it make?
This is a war that is destined to fail!
In the face of these unknown monsters, humanity is completely powerless!
Major newspapers scramble to report, the theory of Heaven's punishment sweeps across major cities!
After public opinion spread completely, Neon Kyoto became the first major disaster area!
In just one day, countless people committed suicide, countless people fled overseas.
The Neon government is teetering on the brink of collapse, and it seems that the country is not far from extinction!
The news quickly reached the ancestral home of the Ubuyashiki clan.
Perhaps due to Muzan Kibutsuji being polluted, the curse on Ubuyashiki Yorichika had diminished significantly, and his health had recovered.
Even his nearly blind eyes had returned to normal.
He put down the newspaper in his hand, sighed and said, "It's a time of great upheaval!"
"Even though Muzan Kibutsuji has been polluted, the problems he left behind are still very serious... No! They are even more serious than before!"
After a pause, Ubuyashiki Yorichika looked at Kocho Kanae and asked, "Mistress Shrine Maiden, what are the Divine's instructions? What can we do to solve this disaster?"
"Yorichika-sama, forgive my bluntness."
After all, he was the previous Lord, and Kocho Kanae had a great respect for Ubuyashiki Yorichika's character.
Therefore, even after becoming a Shrine Maiden, she still held a certain degree of respect for this Lord, who treated the members of the Demon Slayer Corps as his own children: "Disasters are caused by human desires, so how can we ask the Divine to clean up the mess? We should find a way to save ourselves, not pray for the Divine's grace!"
"I apologize."
Upon hearing this, Ubuyashiki Yorichika immediately realized his mistake and bowed his head to apologize to Kocho Kanae.
The Divine are not human babysitters!
They are not tools to be summoned at will!
Is it still the way of a believer to think of asking for help from the Divine every time they encounter difficulties, and to rely on the Divine's power for their own benefit?
To put it bluntly, if this happens every time, this world will eventually lose the Divine's attention!
It will become a truly dark place!
At that time, it will be a true apocalypse!
As the Lord of the Demon Slayer Corps, Ubuyashiki Yorichika naturally understood what Kocho Kanae meant. He adjusted his attitude and humbly asked for advice.
"Then, what do you think we should do, according to the Mistress Shrine Maiden's opinion?"
"Sacrifice!"
Kocho Kanae said without hesitation, "Offer a sacrifice to the Divine, let Kocho Shinobu and Kanroji-san become Shrine Maidens! In this way, I will have three Shrine Maidens, enough to suppress the Multi-Armed Ones and Muzan Kibutsuji!"
"I understand, I will take care of the altar construction as soon as possible!"
At this time of life or death, Ubuyashiki Yorichika didn't care about money anymore!
Whatever you have, just bring it out!
Do everything possible to complete the construction of the altar as soon as possible!
In fact, the Ubuyashiki clan's money was basically used to maintain the Demon Slayer Corps' daily operations.
Ubuyashiki Yorichika himself was very frugal, and he didn't care about personal enjoyment at all.
The money he saved on a daily basis finally came in handy!
He gave an order, summoning all Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen back to the Ubuyashiki clan's ancestral home.
Then, he summoned a large number of construction workers.
He combined the two groups and began the construction of the altar.
"Sister, you could have built the altar by yourself, right? Why do you need the Lord to help?"
During the altar construction, Kocho Shinobu asked curiously.
"That won't do."
Kocho Kanae shook her head, a look of piety on her face, and said, "Shinobu, do you think the Divine really need Shrine Maidens, do they need humans to offer sacrifices?"
Kocho Shinobu thought for a moment and replied, "They should............... not need it, right?"
"Yes, the Divine doesn't need anything, because They already have everything. Human sacrifices are like an ant offering a grain of rice to the Divine."
"Shinobu, would you gain anything from an ant offering a grain of rice?"
Before Kocho Shinobu could speak, Kocho Kanae continued, "The Divine is great and merciful. Even though the ant only offered a grain of rice, They graciously granted the ant's wish."
"But we cannot forget the fact that we are ants because of the Divine's mercy and tolerance! We must be reverent and maintain a devout faith in the Divine!"
"The act of building an altar itself is an opportunity for us to demonstrate our faith to the Divine! If I use the Divine's power to build the Divine's altar, what's the difference between that and the Divine building the altar themselves? Can such an altar be considered a testament to faith?"
Simply put, Kocho Kanae believed that she couldn't use the power bestowed upon her by the Divine to take advantage of that power and then ask for favors from the Divine.
This is not only a matter of faith but also a matter of morals.
It is also a form of self-restraint!
If we open this door today, the Divine's grace will be too easily obtained.
Perhaps, humanity's attitude towards the Divine will undergo a subtle change!
You must know that human desires are an unfillable abyss.
The more you get, the more you will want!
The Divine cannot bestow grace unconditionally. In that case, who knows what those greedy people might do!
They might even blaspheme the Divine!
To prevent this possibility, Kocho Kanae will never interfere!
"I understand."
Kocho Shinobu nodded knowingly, acknowledging her sister's reasoning.
As they say, your position determines your perspective.
As someone who was already a designated sacrifice for the second time, Kocho Shinobu would naturally subconsciously maintain the Divine's dignity.
Not stand on the side of humanity.
This is a normal thing.
............................................
On this side, Kocho Kanae and others are building the altar.
On the other side, at the Infinity Castle, Muzan Kibutsuji, who was waiting for the Divine's aura to dissipate, was trying to persuade the other two members.
His thinking could no longer be viewed through the lens of normal humans, but his instincts to seek advantage and avoid harm still existed.
Muzan Kibutsuji, who had become a rotting corpse giant, had lost the qualification to offer sacrifices to the Divine, but his path to ascension was not cut off because of this!
Devouring the Shrine Maidens, devouring the world, became Muzan Kibutsuji's last hope!
As long as he devoured enough, he would eventually become a more glorious being!
In Muzan Kibutsuji's view, the Demon Slayer world is already his for the taking.
The members' worlds are the food of the future!
When the chat group opens the time travel function, won't he be able to go over and eat to his heart's content?
Shrine Maidens, worlds..................
Muzan Kibutsuji said he wants it all!
As for whether the Divine will get angry because of this?
Haha!
The Divine is merciful, but also cruel and arrogant!
The Divine won't care about these things!
To put it plainly, it's all about ability!
As long as the Divine don't intervene to favor one side, Muzan Kibutsuji said he has nothing to fear!
【I want to sunbathe: By the way, how many Shrine Maidens are there in your world? @Darkness of the Ninja World, @Insect Magician】
【Darkness of the Ninja World: Why are you asking this?】
【I want to sunbathe: I'm just curious, after all, the chat group will open the time travel function after having five members. We'll have to interact with each other later.
It's better to clarify things now, so we don't offend the Mistress Shrine Maidens later, right?】
【Darkness of the Ninja World: Hmph, I think you want to go to other worlds to find qualified sacrifices, right? Don't even think about it! I don't even have enough sacrifices in my own world, you won't have any!】
【I want to sunbathe: Danzo, you misunderstood, I really don't mean that, I just want to go to other worlds and take a look. Right! That's what I'm thinking!
I want to meet the Mistress Shrine Maidens, I want to..............
Forget it, I don't want anything.】
【Insect Magician: I think it's unnecessary! Every world belongs to its own member! How can you allow someone to snore on your bed?】
【Insect Magician: Besides, I have a feeling something's wrong with you................... What exactly happened to you?!】
【I want to sunbathe: You're overthinking it, Zouken Matou. Nothing happened to me, I'm fine!】
【Insect Magician: Then start a live stream and let us see.】
【Darkness of the Ninja World: Yes, Muzan Kibutsuji, you start a live stream and let us see!】
【I want to sunbathe: It's not a sacrifice, why start a live stream?】
【Darkness of the Ninja World: This guy............... He's definitely not right!】
【Insect Magician: I have another way! Let's ask the chat group, we'll know what happened to Muzan Kibutsuji, right?
@Chat Group Assistant, check Muzan Kibutsuji's current status!】
This is an initial function built into the chat group.
It can detect the general status of the members, such as whether they are alive or dead, and their race.
Although it's very brief, it's enough for an initial understanding of the other party.
In the beginning, Danzo and the others used this method to establish initial trust and then began trading with each other.
Now, this long-forgotten function is useful again!
【Ding——】
【Detecting, please wait................】
【Detection complete, please check.】
【Member Darkness of the Ninja World, Member Insect Magician receives file.】
A few minutes later.
【Darkness of the Ninja World: Pollution? Race changed to Rotting Corpse Giant?!
Muzan Kibutsuji, what did you do?!】
【Insect Magician: This guy definitely has bad intentions! I guess he wants to spread pollution to our world! This guy has lost his sacrifice qualification!
He has lost the Divine's attention!】
【Darkness of the Ninja World: Damn it! He's actually targeting us! Muzan Kibutsuji, even if the chat group opens the time travel function, I will never let you come to my world!】
As soon as Danzo sent this message, the chat group's notification sound suddenly rang.
And it rang three times!
【Welcome Heaven's Mandate Archbishop to the group chat!】
【Welcome Ordinary People Are All Monkeys to the group chat!】
【Detecting that the chat group has five members, time travel function has been opened!】
【Darkness of the Ninja World:....................】
【Insect Magician: No, your mouth?】
【I want to sunbathe: Hahahaha! I have some unfortunate news for you! I found that I'm not bound by the chat group's rules! Even if you disagree, I can force my way through!
Wait for me, I will savor the taste of your world!】
【Darkness of the Ninja World: ???】
【Insect Magician: ???】
【Ordinary People Are All Monkeys: Can someone explain what you're talking about? Can I join in too?】
【Heaven's Mandate Archbishop: I'm also very interested!】
..................................................................................................................