After returning to Demon Slayer HQ, Raja strolled into his underground mad scientist lair, where two very unlucky ex-demons were waiting for him.
Inside the Enchanted Containment Cells, Daki was thrashing around like a possessed monkey, slamming her fists against the walls while Gyutaro just sat there calmly, watching his sister waste her energy.
"What kind of prison is this?!" Daki screeched. "I've shredded through walls, decapitated men, and—WHY CAN'T I BREAK THIS STUPID BOX?!"
Gyutaro sighed. "Because you're dumb, Daki."
Before Daki could explode at her brother, Raja strode in, wearing a white lab coat, thick round glasses, and an evil grin so exaggerated that it belonged in a cartoon villain audition.
"Welcome, my dear subjects! Today, I present you with a simple choice: One of you will live a peaceful life, free from Muzan's control… and the other? Well, the other will be my… 'experimental subject' for an undetermined amount of time, possibly forever."
Gyutaro and Daki froze.
"What?" Daki snarled. "You think we're just gonna let you decide our fate?"
Gyutaro, however, did not hesitate. "Do whatever you want with me. Just don't touch Daki."
Daki's mouth fell open.
"WHAT?! BROTHER, HAVE YOU LOST YOUR UGLY-ASS MIND?!"
Gyutaro glared at her. "Daki. Shut up."
"NO, YOU SHUT UP! I WON'T LET THIS—!"
"Daki," Gyutaro interrupted, his voice calm. "I mean it."
The room fell silent.
Gyutaro then turned to Raja. "Swear it. Swear on your trident that you won't touch her."
Raja chuckled, "Damn, you're serious about this, huh? Fine. I swear on my mighty trident that I will leave Daki alone."
"Hah! You hear that, Daki? You're safe," Gyutaro said.
"LIKE HELL I AM!" Daki smashed her fists against the cell wall, but it was pointless.
Raja, grinning like a sadistic teacher before a pop quiz, slid a syringe into Gyutaro's cell.
"Go ahead, champ. This one's for you."
Gyutaro took it without hesitation.
"BROTHER, NOOOO—!"
STAB!
The injection slammed into his neck, and within seconds, Gyutaro's body spasmed as the vaccine burned through his system.
The demon inside him screamed.
"AARGHHHHH!!!" Gyutaro convulsed, veins pulsing with golden light.
Daki was crying, kicking the cell, throwing a tantrum like a kid denied candy at a store.
And then…
Silence.
Gyutaro collapsed, completely human.
Daki, panting, turned to Raja, her face red with rage and tears. "WHAT. DID. YOU. DO?!"
Raja casually injected Daki before she could say another word.
"G'NIGHT!" Raja chirped as Daki crumpled like a deflated balloon.
A week later, the siblings woke up—and immediately started bickering.
Gyutaro, now an absurdly attractive teenage heartthrob, checked himself out in a mirror.
"…What the hell? Is this me?"
Daki, meanwhile, glared at him with tears in her eyes.
"HOW COULD YOU LEAVE ME LIKE THAT?! YOU BETRAYED ME, YOU UGLY—I MEAN HANDSOME TRAITOR!"
"Calm down, Daki—"
"DON'T 'CALM DOWN' ME! LOOK AT YOU! Now some floozy is gonna steal you away, and I'LL BE LEFT ALL ALONE!"
Tamayo entered the room with the grace of a tired mom.
"Enough, children." She grabbed both their ears and dragged them forward.
"OW OW OW OW!" both of them screamed.
"You two are human now," she said, glaring like a disappointed teacher. "Which means you will act like normal humans or so help me, I will personally make you wish you were still demons."
Gyutaro and Daki gulped.
Meanwhile, Raja was busy elsewhere…
Using his shadow clones, Raja scouted Mt. Kumotori—the place where Yoriichi Tsugikuni had buried his wife, Uta.
And there it was.
The Blue Spider Lily.
The holy grail of Muzan's stupidly long-lived existence.
Raja smirked, storing the plants inside his Dimensional Inventory, where they would grow safely away from demonic tampering.
"And now… time to set the trap."
Back at Demon Slayer HQ, Raja gathered all the Hashira.
Rengoku, ever the loud and passionate warrior, slammed his fist on the table.
"IT'S FINALLY TIME TO BURN THAT ABOMINATION TO THE GROUND!"
The others cheered.
Raja explained his master plan:
Lure Muzan using the Blue Spider Lily.Make him believe it's unguarded.Have an army of Demon Slayers (and Raja's 100 Shadow Ninjas) waiting.End him once and for all.
The Hashira were fired up.
And Muzan?
Well… he had no idea what was coming.
Somewhere in Yoshiwara's Entertainment District, a beautiful woman with pale skin sat in a luxurious room.
She had raven-black hair, plum-red eyes, and a soft smile.
And by beautiful woman, I mean…
It was Muzan Kibutsuji.
Dressed like a lady. He is here looking for clues of the missing Daki and Gyutaro.
Sipping tea.
Raja, disguised as a drunk, obnoxious noble, staggered in, loudly laughing.
"Ahhh! What a fine night! Where's the pretty lady? Let me see the—" Raja 'accidentally' dropped a photo diary.
One of Muzan's servants picked it up.
Muzan, rolling his eyes, absentmindedly flipped through the pages.
Roses, daisies, tulips, meh—
And then.
He froze.
A photo of the Blue Spider Lily.
With a location.
Muzan's hands trembled.
It's real.
The drunk, is a flower enthusiast, collects information on flowers and trees, documenting where they grow in his diary to eventually create a book. While searching for flowers in the mountains, he discovered Blue Lilies, took a photo of them, and wrote about them.
However, some men in black uniforms with katanas arrived, declaring the mountain a restricted area and private property. He was forced to leave the mountain, and in his anger, he Came to the entertainment district to let off some steam.
Muzan summoned every single demon under his command to Infinity Castle.
"We attack at Dusk."
Little did he know…
The Demon Slayer Corps was already waiting.
The beginning of the end had arrived.