✦ EPIPHANY - BY -C3NTURIES ✦

― MITSURI SUDDENLY REALIZED THAT THE BATTLE WAS NOW ON THE SURFACE. the night sky darkened the surroundings, making it infinitely more difficult to pinpoint muzan's attacks.

"one and a half hours until dawn! repeat, one and a half hours until dawn!" a kasugai crow calls.

the demon slayer corps slowly emerged from the rubble, only to be knocked down by muzan's shockwave.

"are you really going to keep me in company until the sun rises? i'd like to see you try!" the demon lord mocks the corps.

obanai and mitsuri stood side-by-side, fending off muzan's attacks and attempting to land blows on him with their breathing styles. at a point, obanai was able to reach muzan's neck, but the demon lord regenerated instantly and couldn't be decapitated.

'is he even being cut down?!' mitsuri asks inwardly. she shook her head, realizing she couldn't just stand still and question everything when there were people dying. she leapt forward with her fellow pillars, landing hits on muzan even though no damage was truly done.
suddenly, a large group of lower-ranked demon slayers run into the battle, protecting the pillars from what would have been a fatal blast.

"protect the pillars with your lives, just as they have done for us!" one yells.

mitsuri sobs at the sight of the demon slayers dying to muzan.
"please! don't! there are too many casualties already!" she cries.

"those wounded by me are already bound for death." muzan suddenly comments, pointing to tanjiro who had fallen and was choking on what seemed to be a deadly poison.

"tanjiro!" mitsuri screams, helplessly watching tanjiro suffer. she turned back to muzan, anger rushing through her.

'so this is what people mean when they say true evil. he's not even doing anything, he's just explaining what tanjiro is going through! this can't happen! i won't let him die!'

suddenly, a large barrage of whip appendages directed towards mitsuri, clearly attempting to impale her. she drew her sword in front of her, prepared to try and fend them off. but, she didn't need to attempt to save herself.
gyomei suddenly appeared in front of her, destroying the appendages with his flail. 

"himejima!" mitsuri cried in relief, having believed he had died in his battle against upper one.

"you're one of the pillars who killed upper one, aren't you?" muzan comments. "i thought you died alongside the two younger ones."

mitsuri didn't see how, but suddenly muzan was lit on fire and began to burn.

✦ EPIPHANY - BY -C3NTURIES ✦

― MITSURI WAS BARELY ABLE TO ESCAPE MUZAN'S ATTACKS, her exhaustion leading her to only be able to dodge by instinct and luck.

'am i just not strong enough? is it because i'm exhausted, or do i just lack skill? i'm trying my best, but i can't keep up with the attacks!'

'i need to get behind him and twist his arms behind his back to stall time. that way the others can get hits on him! it doesn't matter if i risk my life, everyone else is doing the same!'

but, in the midst of her thinking, she begins to get pulled by one of the demon lord's cyclone-like attacks. she tries to escape, but she isn't quick enough and she gets slashed at multiple points of her body. as she tries to ignore the injuries and keep fighting muzan, obanai manages to pull her out of the battlefield and carry her to another demon slayer.

"you! take mitsuri with you, find a slant-eyed member who carries paper talismans! go!" he yells to a nearby slayer who was attempting to keep people safe who weren't within the battlefield.

"wait!" mitsuri cries, attempting to get back up. "please, i won't hold anything back this time! i won't be a burden to anyone, but i can't stay here and watch you all fight while i've done nothing to help!"

"no, mitsuri. you have done more than enough to help the demon slayer corps against the demons. you're injured the worst out of everyone, you have to be safe." obanai rejects, running back into the battlefield.

"please, obanai! don't die! i can't live past this knowing i lost you!" mitsuri screams, sobbing.

'i must die defeating muzan, and i pray it will purify my filthy blood. then, if i am reborn as a human being in a peaceful world without demons, i will tell you of my feelings for you, mitsuri kanroji.'

as he sprints back to the battlefield, the now-tattered bandages he used to cover his face fell away, revealing serpent-like slits across both sides of his face. if this had happened in different circumstances, he would have hidden away and never spoken to another person again.
but this was the least of his problems right now.

'i am a man from a distasteful clan, who murdered and took advantage of innocent people for their own sake. i became a demon slayer in hopes to take revenge on the demon who drove them to do such awful things, and finally be able to be happy with who i am.'

'but i now realize i can never rid myself of the bloodline i carry unless i die defeating muzan. in that case, it is what i will do as my very last tribute to this godforsaken earth.'

panicked shouts overlapped each other as obanai continued to attack muzan alongside sanemi, gyomei and giyu. he realizes that giyu's strength was faltering because of muzan's poison, as his sword was thrown from his hands when he tried to cut through the demon lord. but he had no time to try and help him, since he was being hammered with appendages from every side.

suddenly, tamayo and yushiro's demon cat chachamaru flies onto the battlefield. although muzan slices it into pieces immediately, lavender-colored liquids fall onto the remaining hashira and begin to reverse the effects of the demon king's poison.

✦ EPIPHANY - BY -C3NTURIES ✦

― 'MY CONTRIBUTION AS A PILLAR IS THE LOWEST OF EVERYONE. i've landed no crucial blows on kibutsuji.'

'if someone is on the verge of death, they can release explosive strength. just like my time imprisoned by my family, i was able to escape while being weaker than an insect.'

'tokito was able to turn his sword red before he died. he was able to violate the myth that it only turns red once, and that he couldn't turn its color through grip strength.'

'one must grow past their own limits to defend everyone.'

obanai decides to fulfill and complete what the mist hashira started. without even realizing, the strength of his grip on his sword immediately turned its blade a deep red. he watched it change color, but didn't notice at first. his vision was completely whitewashed.

'what was that? did it change color?'

his own demon slayer mark formed across his arm, and although it wasn't visible it heightened his stamina. he felt capable to keep up now, and knew he had the strength to.

but, as he almost lost himself in his lack of oxygen, he hears someone call out to him. he watches his fellow pillar giyu attempt to protect him from one of muzan's whips, but there wasn't any need. he was already in the air, and dodged multiple more of the demon lord's attacks before slicing off his arm without even being visible. 

three more demon slayers appear out of nowhere, much to the remaining pillars' surprise. they all join in attacking muzan, who demands they stop their pathetic schemes. however, obanai was quick to interrupt him and slashed him with a technique.

for a split second, obanai's vision changes. he saw into muzan's anatomy, realizing why he survived decapitation so easily. but, before he could even think about using it to his advantage, the demon lord made his attacks more powerful, and he was thrown into the side of a building.

✦ EPIPHANY - BY -C3NTURIES ✦

➥TAISHO ERA SECRET
☆ im trash at writing battle scenes from a one-person perspective im sorryy- as a wiki editor im used to writing them with everyone and all the specific techniques but i know that gets annoying LMAOO