The time froze.
All the Hashiras felt like their blood stopped running through their veins. Gleaming eyes and wide mouths were plastered on their faces.
Just before their eyes, the tenth pillar just had a metamorphosis.
His raven colored hair had rapidly grown waist-length. A bluish-gray, bandage-like carapace wrapped around his torso descending through his right arm, up his neck, and over the nose and mouth forming a mask. Black, flame-like tattoos spread across his chest and wrap around his left arm, and the remains of a tattered black cloak cover his lower body.
"Tensa Zangetsu, second night: Final Moon." The boy spoke. "While I'm in this form, I can perform the final Getsuga Tenshou."
Muzan could only watch the spectacle in front of him.
He was a demon lord, the king of the night, the one who has beaten death itself. But now, he's a witness. Right in front of him, the moon itself was baring his fangs again him.
Smokey black Reiatsu slowly danced around the shinigami, it was mostly focused around his right arm.
"The final Getsuga Tenshou, it's me becoming Getsuga itself." Hiiro spoke with his usual calm tone.
His golden eyes were totally focused on the demon.
The battlefield was under a sepulchral silence. Not the demons slayers nor Muzan moved an inch.
All the eyes were on him.
Shinobu felt her heart racing, deep inside she had a hunch. The amethyst eyed girl knew that this ability was a trump card, no, more than that it was like a desperate measure.
Her sixth sense was telling her that the boy doubted whether revealing it or not, like there's a huge price to pay.
Her mouth opened, but words did not came. They were stuck inside her, she wanted to stop him, that nad feeling was telling her that she should stop all this, but, other side of her wanted to end it all and that skill of him could be the last push they need.
She bit her trembling lips.
"Sensei!" An injured Inosuke stood up, covered in bruises and cuts, with his boar mask shattered and his dual blades at the verge of breaking. Even when he was in that state he cheered his master. "Kill that demon bastard!"
"Sensei, please end this!" The young Kamado begged as he summoned every ounce of strength to stand up.
Kanao Tsuyuri lend him her shoulder so he can stand again.
"Sensei! Kill him! If this end I can marry Nezuko-chan!" The lightning breathing user cried.
Soon, the others joined to the three idiots. Most of them were barely standing, severely injured and just two steps away from the gates of the lady of the underworld.
"Kojima-san, please avenge Sabito!"
"I'm praying for your success, Kojima-san."
"Onii-chan! Kill him, avenge Kanae-nee!"
"Kill him, Kojima-san. For Mitsuri and for me!"
"Hiiro, you bastard! Kill him! For Kyojuro and for Kanae!"
"Hiiro-kun, end this!"
The insect pillar smiled.
This was the smile she regained when she met him, when she accepted her feelings, when she kissed him the first time, the smile she had when the memories from five years ago came back, the smile she had when he came back to fight against Douma and Kokushibo, the smile she had when his body gave up and fell to her arms after Upper Moon one was defeated.
Her genuine smile.
And now, all her comrades, all her friends, her sister and the three pupils were cheering for her.
She took a deep breath before screaming at top of her lungs.
"HIIRO-KUN, PLEASE, KILL HIM!"
The demon lord felt enraged, all those pitiful humans were looking down on him. Putting all her hopes on the man in front of him, like the next attack could kill him.
"You think you can kill me?" He mocked. "I have surpassed a normal human, I'm closer to a God! I am the ultimate living being!"
He continued to trash around while the pillar looked at the ground.
When the voices of his friends reached him, he cleared away all the doubts. Even though he knew about the price to pay, about the consequences of using this ability, he decided to do it.
He felt the prayers of his friends, even those who were far away.
The night pillar suddenly felt the flamboyant power of Uzui, the wishes and hopes of the Butterfly estate girls, even the young Ubuyashaki masters were counting on him.
The weight of his arm was impressive. He couldn't lift it even when he ordered his body to do so.
"You can do it." Rengoku whispered to him from his back.
Even now, the flame pillar was amazing. Looking after him from the other side.
"You can do it." A soft and sweet voice whispered.
A tear fell from his eyes, hearing the voice of the flower pillar once again was enough to give him the strength to end it all.
For the two of them, for all of them.
That was the moment when the night pillar felt his arm rising.
A deep black blade forged itself from the shadows, in his right hand. It was all ready.
"Breath of the night. Seventh style..."
Muzan's eyes grew wide when he foresaw the next action of the boy.
Zangetsu and Hiiro crossed swords, again and again. Creating a twister of slashes, the two of the pushed forward, trying to get the dominant tide of the battle.
"Give it up." The man wrapped in a black cloak ordered. "I won't hand over the final Getsuga Tenshou."
A new confrontation began, the black katana met each other, sparks flying around and Reiatsu gathering around the shinigami and his Zanpakuto.
Hiiro broke the balance, stepping back and preparing his next move.
"Getsuga Tenshou!" Concentrating his Reiatsu around his blade, he rocketed himself against the man in black cloak.
"Don't get cocky, kid." He repelled the night pillar with ease. "I was the one who teach you how to do that!"
A barrage of Moon fangs was thrown against the demon slayer.
He couldn't defend against the brutal attack of the spirit that dwells inside his Zanpakuto.
A dust cloud arises from the place where Hiiro stood. Even in his inner world, the Butterfly estate was no more, they destroyed it long ago, when the fight was at its dawn.
"You're not prepared to learn it. Even of you were, the price to pay is to high."
Bleeding and patting, the night pillar stood tall and proud. Gripping the black blade on his hands.
"I don't care about the price. I will accept it, I will slay all the demons. Whatever it takes!" Hiiro launched himself into a desperate assault.
Swinging his sword around, not even caring about his technique, he just wanted to keep fighting. He just wanted to not give up.
Old man Zangetsu sighed. This user was more than an idiot, a hard headed man, but also a brave and one who preservers.
He had witnessed the pain he went through, the training he endured to reach this heights.
With a swift move, his blade pierced through the boys chest, but no blood came out nor the boy felt any pain.
"With these, you will learn the secret of the final Getsuga Tenshou." The old man said.
He passed by the boy, not even looking back, before telling him the last words he hear from him since then.
"If you use this, you will lose all your shinigami powers."
He left without hearing the grateful words of the night pillar and without seeing his big smile on his face.
"Mugetsu."
When Hiiro said these words and his shadow sword swing towards Muzan, everything around trembled, the sky darkened and the space around them took a blank and white tone.
A massive veil of black Reiatsu erupted and made his way to Muzan, splitting the demon in half as the ultimate moon fang raged.
Muzan, the self proclaimed immortal man, the one who is closer to be a God, was now dumbfounded by the attack.
At least that was the reaction he had when his body finally reached his thoughts.
It was too late when that happened. He was already dead when that happened.
Soon the energy began to rise more and more before dissipating into the sky, returning to the moon.
There it will wait until another moon fang user unleashes the ultimate power of the moon and it can pierce the sky once again.
The battle ended. Muzan disintegrated after the attack and the sun began to rise up on the horizon. Even if the father of all demons were to survive, he couldn't stand a chance against his sworn enemy.
Cheers and happiness could be heard from the battlefield.
The demon slayers were celebrating the victory, it all ended at last. After decades and decades of fighting. They were victorious after all.
Shinobu Kocho did not wait another second, she ran and ran until she reached her beloved Hiiro.
Her eyes wet, she even ditched her blade, her mind could not be able to focus on other thing than the man in her heart.
She didn't heard the other swordsmen calling her name, not even when Mitsuri and her sister ran after her, hoping to reach the boy who was in deep pain.
"You did it, you did it." She whispered over and over to herself.
Her mind drifted as she closed the distance between them, she could see all the comrades she lost, they were smiling and giving her the strength to reach for the hero.
She felt her sister pushing her, with her usual smile. The insect pillar didn't care about the tears falling to the ground. Shinobu only wanted to have him in her arms.
Hiiro's was trembling and pain ran through his body.
The transformation dissipated, leaving him with his tattered uniform, he fell to the ground.
Groans came out as the intense pain of losing his power was invading him.
Before the insect pillar could reach for him Hiiro Kojima was already fading out, hitting the ground and losing consciousness.
He could not hear the cheers nor the voices calling for him.
The battle was over.
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Author-San here!
The battle has come to an end. I was literally crying when my story reached the climax. I've fun writing these and the support and love my dear readers have shown was one of the best things I ever seen.
This was my very first story and you all have made it the best.
I'M GRATEFUL TO ALL OF YOU FOR THE SUPPORTING.
Next chapter will be the last one of the story. We will see what the future will bring to our beloved characters.
Also don't forget that I will write some epilogues.
If you wan to see a particular story or shipping, you can request it and I will do my best to write it.