Chapter 48: The World Through Yeruashi's Eyes |
"An entertaining spectacle, I suppose," Yeruashi said with a smile.
'An entertaining spectacle?'
"Is that all it is to you? Just an entertaining spectacle? But Muzan has caused countless deaths and endless tragedies..." Kanae murmured.
It was difficult for her to grasp Yeruashi's way of thinking, and even harder to accept that the arduous efforts and sacrifices of the Demon Slayers were nothing more than a "spectacle" in his eyes.
"True, that is undeniable," Yeruashi countered calmly. "But it pales in comparison to the misery humans inflict upon one another, and how many they kill themselves. War... war never changes. A single conflict can claim tens of thousands, even millions of lives. A ruler's single decree can snuff out more existence than all demons combined."
"So that is how you see the world," Kanae whispered after a long silence.
It was impossible to argue that in the grand tapestry of humanity, Muzan was but a tiny stitch in history. Still, she could not bring herself to accept Yeruashi's perspective.
"Not quite. I see things differently." He shook his head, his bottomless eyes reflecting the entire cosmos as he looked at her. "Witness it for yourself."
With those words, he stepped closer and touched the tip of his finger to the Flower Hashira's vulnerable soul.
This was no mere view of the planet from space; it was a divine vantage point where every corner of the world was visible simultaneously.
At that moment, everything stood perfectly still.
Kanae saw a weeping Shinobu in the midst of her escape.
She saw a worried Kagaya at the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters.
She saw the Stone Hashira training even in the dead of night.
She saw demons devouring human flesh.
She saw Kokushibo and the rest of the Upper Ranks.
She even saw Muzan hiding behind the mask of an ordinary man.
...
"This is what the world looks like," Yeruashi's voice echoed serenely.
Kanae bit her lip, unable to look upon the atrocities of the demons and other tragedies with indifference. The Progenitor of Demons' current inaction brought no comfort; not in the slightest.
And yet.
A moment later, she recoiled involuntarily.
Because the world underwent a sudden, radical change.
Muzan, Kokushibo, Doma...
The Upper Ranks, the Lower Ranks, and every other demon...
They had all vanished.
The world as a whole shifted drastically.
Many buildings and people were different now.
Even the Demon Slayer Corps had ceased to exist.
As Kanae reeled in confusion, her eyes fell upon Kagaya.
But the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps looked nothing like the man she remembered. He wore opulent robes, lived in a sprawling mansion, and was attended by a host of young maidservants.
By all appearances, he had become the Daimyo of one of Japan's regions.
Then Kanae saw Shinobu, dressed in a nurse's uniform, tending to patients in a hospital. Then she saw the Stone Hashira, the Wind Hashira, and other familiar faces... or at least, faces that should have been familiar.
Their appearances, personalities, and livelihoods had changed completely.
It was as if she were looking at an entirely different world.
"I don't understand..." Kanae muttered, her voice distant.
"I simply removed Muzan from this world's history," Yeruashi explained nonchalantly, as if he were discussing a trivial errand. "That, in turn, reshaped the present."
Kanae was struck dumb.
He had "simply" changed history?
A display of raw power—even something as inconceivable as destroying the moon or the earth itself—was within the Flower Hashira's grasp of logic. But altering the past...
Whoosh!
At Yeruashi's whim.
The world shifted once more.
This time, Kagaya was a beggar, while Shinobu was a noblewoman in fine silks, residing in a vast estate.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The world continued its frantic metamorphosis.
Although the general geography remained the same, the lives of the people within it were undergoing fundamental shifts.
This continued until everything snapped back to the original timeline, as if all she had seen was a mere hallucination.
After that.
Kanae's normal vision returned.
"Do you understand now?" Yeruashi asked rhetorically. He continued in a level tone, "It costs me nothing to change the past, the present, or even the future. With a single thought, I can erase entire nations from history as easily as crossing out words on a page. I could go back to the dawn of this world and prevent life from ever emerging with a snap of my fingers. In that case, life, death, and everything you hold dear would lose all meaning."
His calm voice echoed through the frozen world.
It took a long time for Kanae's soul to recover from the shock.
Her gaze was filled with increasingly conflicting emotions.
Until, finally, she reached a realization.
Could one truly find fault with a lack of compassion in the one who pens one grim saga after another, much like the authors of ancient epics?
To him, the world was like a canvas that could be effortlessly repainted or scorched to ash if the whim took him. The past could be rewritten, and the future might never manifest, all based on a fleeting thought.
To Yeruashi, it was indeed nothing more than an entertaining spectacle.
Just like reading a book was to her...
A mere pastime, and a fickle one at that.
But at least the efforts and sacrifices of the Demon Slayers would be forever etched into his memory, no matter what happened. Even if one day he were to personally turn this world to dust.
"I want to serve you!" Kanae declared, her choice finalized.
Previously, she might have chosen a different path, but now she understood that she wanted to follow Yeruashi. She wanted to safeguard that minuscule sliver of history that belonged to her and her loved ones.
And even if this world were destined to one day turn to nothing and history were to sink into oblivion, she would continue to hold onto those memories.
"Very well," Yeruashi said with a gentle nod.