The Legendary Drunk Demon
Hello everyone and welcome to the now resuming, or at least attempted resuming, of Breath of the Rifleman! We're closing in on the end of the Kume Island Arc and things are gonna get just a little more interesting. As always, I'd like to give a shout out to Noble Eight, LoneTaker, groche9655 and my other fellow readers for helping to make this story better. Now, since we've got no guest reviews this week, let's jump on in!
On the Edge of the Island of Kume
Kumejima Island, or Kume Island for short, was nothing too spectacular as far as most islands went. With a number of small hills and forested areas dotting the landscape it was at best a place to visit for a bit of vacation time. At least that's what Subaru had been told about the place as he peered through the scope of Ignatius's so-called SMLE bolt action rifle. Obviously he was a bit curious why they didn't simply refer to it as an Enfield, given how similar it was to the one he'd used a couple of times, but right now focus was demanded as the ship slowly circled around the island.
As had been reported by the remains of the scouting team, the entire island was covered in an eerie indigo mist that smelled vaguely of alcohol fumes. And the ones identified as demons were also there, in a large number. "Your scouts weren't kidding about this place," said Subaru as he handed the rifle back to Ignatius, "it's got demon figuratively and almost literally written all over it."
"We did come here anticipating large numbers," replied Ignatius as he and Sister Mariela worked at adjusting the angle on one of a few tube-like weapons they'd brought above deck. "I just hope these new mixed loads do everything you promise they can."
"Just make sure the crew doesn't hit us on accident," replied Subaru as he grabbed his own rifle and gave his gear one last check.
"I'm fairly certain they'll hit wherever you're closest too," said Ozaki off-handedly as she climbed into one of the two longboats, joining the Catholics who were already there.
"I thought I was just a mildly cursed demon magnet," said Subaru as he climbed into the other boat, already certain Ozaki wouldn't want him in the same boat as her, "I doubt I'm also a shrapnel magnet."
"I'm still wondering what you did to make her so wary of you," said Brother Rapheal as he started the process of lowering their boat into the water.
"'I' didn't do anything," said Subaru, "a demon's acidic juices that she got caught in gave her a wardrobe malfunction and we just so happened to run into a demon that my Father had previously fought and nearly killed. I mean yeah there were eleven of us to start off with and it turned out there were five powerful spider demons including one of those Kizuki I mentioned yesterday and me and Ozaki were the only survivors until backup arrived, but that's been our one and only mission together until this one."
"But she said something about you crashing a 'demon train'," Sister Leonia pointed out.
"That's a whole different can of worms," said Subaru, "the demons were after me, my friend Tanjiro and the Hashira on board the train. Since Hashira are the best of the best it's only natural the demons would send their most powerful after him and in turn, us."
"Well worry not," said Brother Leandro, "God will watch over all of us tonight, and he's already provided us with more brothers and sisters to aid in our fight." Subaru had indeed noticed that not too far from their currently anchored position was another ship of a similar make to theirs. Apparently, Brother Claudius had thought it prudent to 'radio' for backup and managed to get a force sent from another one of Okinawa's islands right before they set sail earlier that morning. They were a less experienced unit but they were more numerous, and if all went well even that one problem wouldn't be any huge issue.
That didn't stop certain other people from worrying about the outcome. "So you're saying he's on the head honcho demon's hitlist," said Sister Colizzi as she sat on the other boat listening to a rant from Ozaki about Subaru.
"All five of the remaining Lower Moon demons and an Upper moon demon showed up at that train," said Ozaki, "I know it was assigned to a Hashira and that means things are gonna be crazier than normal, but those demons were purposely hunting him and his friend down. So I say we just use whatever those tube things are you were just talking about, tear this place apart and go home without even getting on the island."
"It's not that simple," said Sister Corbucci as she pulled out a light red tube, "that's just the initial strike to soften them up. We need to make sure they're all dead and that requires going ashore."
"You say that now," said Ozaki as she leaned over the side of the boat and tried not to puke again, "but I guarantee you this isn't gonna be a normal mission with that guy along with us."
"It looks pretty standard to me so far," said Brother Leone as he peered through his binoculars at the staggering demons wandering to the shore. Apparently, they still had enough sense to notice when the island was being approached. But that seemed to be all they had until one approached a large rock formation, and summarily smashed it. "Oh God have mercy."
"Shit," said the two sisters upon witnessing the sight from their spots on the boat. Leone was quick to give them a stern look about their choice of language.
"Told ya," groaned Ozaki. Leone decided now was a good time to get serious at that point as he signaled Colizzi to light the flare. She complied, waving the sparkling torch over her head as the other boat did the same. A quick response came from the ships with a spotlight that was opened and closed to acknowledge their request. And thus, the fireworks began.
The sound of a projectile rocketing out of a tube sounded from the two ships before a blast of sand and shrapnel was seen on the shore. The gathered demons shrieked in surprise as wisteria laced smoke and metal met their skin. More rounds were hurled from the mortars, blasting even more of the demons and throwing the apparent drunks into confusion as they started to scatter. "Time to row," said Leone as he and everyone else aboard secured their gas masks, grabbed an oar and began the short journey to the beach.
The night continued to be lit up by more than just the moon and starlight as mortar after mortar rained down on the aggravated creatures who started to move away from the landing site as the slayers made ground and leapt out of the boats, doing a final check on their masks and holding their weapons at the ready. It was at this point that Brother Rapheal pulled out, lit and waved a green flare to signal the mortars, who ceased firing as they all advanced in a staggered line. As the smoke and mist cleared slightly, the sound of staggering steps and slurring, nonsensical voices and snarls could be heard.
Subaru sighted the first of the demons to emerge from the mist and immediately shot it in the head, the force of the rifle round knocking over the already imbalanced demon. Another came out swinging and yelling about fish people before being downed by a shot from Sister Mariela who was using a Japanese Arisaka rifle she'd gotten from a retired military officer living in the islands.
A few more emerged, likely drawn by the sound of gunfire before being blasted back by a pair of shotgun blasts and a shot from Leandro's Colt Single Action Army. "It seems this poison of yours really can kill them," he remarked as they noted one of the downed demons turning purple as its movement ceased entirely.
"The batch we mixed is meant to be partially paralytic along with being toxic," said Subaru, "it looks like whatever kind of demons these are, it thankfully still works."
"Hiyaaaah!" Exclaimed Ozaki as she decapitated one of the demons that leapt at them from the side, managing to intercept it before it reached Raphael. "It looks like decapitation can still kill them too, so at least we have that going for us."
"Then let's mop this beach with their corpses!" Exclaimed Leonia as she surged on a bit farther ahead, blasting two demons that tried to jump her in quick succession with her double barrel. Her haste almost proved to be her undoing when another one burst from the sand behind her, its slurring speech almost unrecognizable as any form of language while it lunged at the Catholic, until it's head exploded sideways.
"I'm all set up over here!" Announced Ignatius from an upraised outcropping as he cycled the bolt on his rifle and took aim before firing again.
"Remember to stick close and stay out of each other's firing lines!" Ordered Claudius as he unloaded a few rounds from both 1911s into a group of four approaching demons. They all collapsed under the barrage before he moved back to reload while Corbucci moved in front of him and sprayed another three demons with her MP18.
"Alright I'll admit it," she said, "this wisteria-whatever stuff actually seems to work."
"I wouldn't be alive right now if it didn't," remarked Subaru as he took a knee and fired at two more of the approaching demons, nailing them both in the head with two quick, successive shots. More noise sounded in the distance as a couple of other boats landed with the promised reinforcements of more Catholic demon slayers. They too, were wearing gas masks and carrying assorted firearms which they unloaded on the approaching drunk demons who came staggering out of the forest or emerged from the sand. But there was a mild issue with their side of the assault, they had never received any wisteria.
Due to such circumstances, their advance was quickly halted as the number of demons on the shore increased and converged on them, swinging wildly in a manner some might consider to be reminiscent of drunken boxing, with blows strong enough to take one's head off. Even though their regeneration was slowed by the platinum coating on the bullets, it did not manage to kill the demons, all of whom would get up slowly but surely and continue their advance. "Provide support to them!" exclaimed Claudius as their firing line moved sideways, twisting inward slightly as they began laying down fire on the other approaching demons.
All the while, the chaos was being watched from above by Ibaraki as she sat on a rock, camoflauged by a tree and the shadows of the night. "Hmm," she said as she continued to view the battle, "it seems to be those Catholics again. But one group is putting up a way better fight than last time, why is that?" Her musings were answered as she quickly caught the scent of wisteria on the wind. "Ah, so they've coated their weapons and even their bombs with wisteria, about time."
In truth, she knew of wisteria's rarity outside of Japan, so it was little surprise that it took so long for the Catholics to adapt it to their arsenal. Given that the types of demons they usually faced in Europe were stowaways or powerful swimmers from this land, they could rely on the platinum to weaken the demon before trapping it and waiting for sunrise. But to face a large number of demons like this would be almost suicidal with those same tactics, which was what likely prompted the change. And the ones responsible for helping along with that change were the ones she knew her dear husband would be most interested in.
'There you are,' she thought as she managed to spot the two native Japanese, no, a Japanese girl and a Matagi boy. 'Given that the girl is using a nichirin blade, it was likely the boy who was responsible for introducing the wisteria rounds and coatings. And that presence around him, yes, Shuten will most definitely want to see at least him.' With that in mind, Ibaraki stood up and readied her blood demon art as her hands and feet suddenly separated themselves from the rest of her body.
Back down on the beach, the fighting was still relatively fierce as the mass group of Catholic Slayers and Corps Slayers managed to find shelter behind some larger rocks as they advanced further into the island. "This is starting to remind me of the trenches back home," remarked the leader of the reinforcements, a brown-haired man by the name of Micheal as he unloaded round after round from his 1903 Springfield rifle, "I'm glad you guys brought these new ammo loads. What did you say they were called again?"
"Wisteria," replied Raphael as he slammed the spiked edges of his weapon-covered fists into another demon who got too close, "you can thank our new friends, the Demon Slayer Corps, for providing them."
"I'm just glad this plan wasn't as crazy as it sounded over the radio," said Micheal as he shot another demon who came running in yelling something about Northerners, "for an operation like this, we'd usually bomb the shore for close to an hour before even attempting a landing."
"Well that means we'll have plenty of mortars left over for later," said Rapheal as he looked on at his team of fellow slayers, "this might go down as a turning point for demon slayers all over the world." It was a hopeful thought, one that was suddenly dashed as a foreign object came flying out of nowhere and decapitated one of the younger Catholic slayers. "What, what in the world just happened?!" Another object came from the opposite direction and punched through the chest of another slayer as the advance suddenly stalled, taking stock of the fact that a new threat had arrived.
"You slayers are roughing up our little experiments pretty well," said an unfamiliar voice as the head of a woman with blond hair and red horns came floating into view, "It's kind of a pain given the work we put in, but on the upside, at least there'll be some nice food to cook tonight."
"And who might you be?" Asked Claudius as the slayers trained or readied their weapons for the new threat.
"I'm not the one truly responsible for the drunken demons you're currently fighting now, if that's what you're wondering," replied the female demon, "that's my husband's work. I am Ibaraki Doji, tigress of Mt. Oose and one of the demons who will be devouring you this evening."
"Dare I ask, but where are the other demons?" Questioned Ozaki. The answer to her question came in the form of two large demons leaping out of the forest, one wielding a kanabo-club and the other wielding a kanabo-quarterstaff. The gathered slayers scattered as the apparent demon guards landed with two powerful thuds before charging into the fray. The slayers were quick to return fire, but several of the rounds bounced off of the demon's armor and rock-hard skin.
"And now the fun begins!" exclaimed Ibaraki as her hands and feet came flying into view and charged into the fray along with the armored demons. It became almost like a warzone then as a few more of the Catholic slayers were either smashed or decapitated by the demon guards or the flying limbs. Subaru's group managed to spread out and avoid much of the initial onslaught, firing their weapons as they attempted to regroup.
"Heads up!" exclaimed Subaru as he pulled out and tossed one of his grenades. The explosion was enough to distract the Quarterstaff demon, causing it to stop midswing as it attempted to kill another one of their fellow slayers. Some of the other slayers joined in with their own grenades, peppering the demons with shrapnel and explosive force.
It worked for a moment, but Ibaraki's hands and feet came flying at the gathered group again, forcing them to split up or risk getting a hole punched in them. "And I was having such a good day too," remarked Leonia as she fired a couple of shotgun blasts at the club-wielding demon before leaping out of the way of one of its strikes.
"Well we knew this wasn't going to be easy," added Leandro as he fired off a few rounds at Ibaraki's floating head, hitting only air as it swayed from side to side and spun around in more amusement than actual fear, "but I doubt any of use anticipated something so annoying."
"Annoying?" Parroted Ibaraki, "you haven't seen me even try that hard yet!" Her floating head actually began to grow then until her wickedly grinning visage was the size of a boulder. "Now let's have some real fun!" The demon angled her head backwards and began to spin around before hitting the ground, kicking up mass amounts of sand as it moved across the field like a giant top.
"Scatter!" Ordered Micheal as some of the less fortunate of his slayers as well as several of the remaining drunk demons were torn up by the Ibaraki's horns. On another part of the battlefield, Subaru and Ozaki were dodging and rolling out of the way, having become the latest targets of the flying hands.
"And just when I was starting to think things were gonna go smoothly," remarked Ozaki as she leapt and flipped out of the way of the hand chasing her before resuming her run. The hand curved back towards her but was knocked off course by a bullet from Subaru's rifle.
"No point in complaining about it now," said the Rifleman as he altered his course towards Ozaki with the other hand chasing after him, "we just have to deal with it, so help me out here!"
"This better work," said Ozaki as they got within striking distance of each other.
'Breath of the Rifleman First Form: Soaring Thrusts!' Thought Subaru as he charged forward much faster with his bayonetted rifle extended in front of him. Ozaki took that moment to leap up and jump off his shoulder, aiming her own strike at the hand behind the Matagi. 'Breath of the Serpent First Form: Winding Serpent Slash!' The two attacks hit their marks as the hands were cut apart by their respective bladed weapons.
"Now let's move, that will only be temporary," said Subaru, noting that the damaged hands were already regenerating. 'Her skin is pretty tough, we'll need to hit a softer part if we're gonna have any hope of killing her,' surmised the Rifleman as he and his fellow slayer made their way towards the spinning demon head. As they did so, chaos continued to reign around them.
Mariela and Leonia were busy unloading their weapons at some of the remaining drunk demons, and ignoring their comments about Nun food, while also having to tuck and roll around one of Ibaraki's flying feet. Raphael and Helena where busy engaging the armored demon wielding a kanabo club while Ignatius and Cynthia evaded and attempted to fight off the other, staff-wielding demon. Leandro and Claudius were busy evading Ibaraki's enlarged spinning head and other foot. All the remaining slayers were busy either holding off the drunk demons or evading the body parts of Ibaraki and the weapons of the apparent guard demons, not all of whom were successful.
"Claudius, I might have a plan!" Called Subaru as he came running into view with Ozaki right behind him. He pulled out his other grenade and tossed it to the Catholic leader as soon as he got within throwing distance. "Prep some more and throw one on my signal."
"Anything to get that harlot head off of us," replied Claudius as he rolled out of the way of another drunk demon and shot it in the face before having to move again to dodge said spinning body part. 'We'll have to time this right,' thought Subaru as he fired a few shots at the head. He heard the telltale sound of his bullets either ricocheting or not embedding very deeply, but he still achieved the desired result as the demon woman altered her direction and began moving towards him.
"Now!" Ordered Subaru when the demon was just a few yards away from him. Claudius did as instructed, pulling the pin and tossing it in between the demon and the slayer. Subaru managed to draw his revolver and fire right as Ibaraki was about to make contact with the explosive, causing it to detonate in midair and stagger the spinning head slightly. "More of them, now!"
His request was met with several more grenades tossed at the wobbling head, a couple of which he managed to shoot in midair once again, causing a domino effect of numerous explosions as the demon finally stopped spinning. "Ah, shit bags," cursed Ibaraki as her head stood back up, swaying slightly as she tried to shake some apparent stars from her eyes, "now I've got a headache, thanks a lot."
"Then you're gonna hate what comes next," Subaru couldn't help but quip as he launched himself at the demon head, "Breath of the Rifleman First Form: Soaring Thrust!" He jammed his rifle past the length of the bayonet into the female monster's enlarged eye, getting a pained screech in response as he made to pull his weapon back out.
"Alright, I was trying to be nice about this, but you asked for it!" Exclaimed Ibaraki as her head suddenly took flight once again, taking Subaru with her as he found that he couldn't free his weapon as easily as he'd hoped. "Time to go meet the real head of this operation." She began spinning her cranium once again, threatening to throw the Matagi off as he held onto his rifle for dear life. It turned out to be almost a vain effort as his weapon finally slid out of the demon's bloody eye, causing Subaru to go flying with the built-up momentum.
'Shit, how did Tanjiro say he got out of a situation like this,' thought Subaru quickly as he recalled his friend's explanation of his bout with the eye demon several months back while he flew over the foliage and small hills. It finally clicked as he recalled that it was through the use of his breath forms that Tanjiro had managed to avoid fatal injury, and thus, Subaru readied to do the same as he repositioned himself in the air. 'Breath of the Rifleman Modified Fourth Form: Mountain Stride!' The Slayer slammed his foot on the ground, cratering it as he used the force that would normally catapult him forward to break his fall.
He still fell onto his back, but he managed not to break anything as he quickly got back to his feet. "Ouch, that could've been bad," he remarked as he stretched his leg out a bit, shaking some of the dirt off of it, "but I'm still moving, so I'd best get back in the fight." At least that would've been the plan if not for Azakeru's voice suddenly sounding in his head.
"Subaru," she said, "something's wrong. I can feel a nasty presence nearby."
"Another one," questioned Subaru as he turned around and scanned the forest with his eyes, rifle at the ready, "can you tell me where he is specifically?"
"Close, very close," said Azakeru, "it's like Muzan's presence, but also not." 'This must be the one Ibaraki said was responsible for the fog,' surmised Subaru as he continued to slowly look over the moonlit forest. For whatever reason, the fog was less thick in this area, allowing him slightly better visibility, just enough to spot a threat. He whirled around to his left then and fired a shot at some movement, his efforts rewarded with the sound of an impact that wasn't a rock or a tree.
"Bravo, Slayer, bravo," said an unfamiliar but high-class sounding voice as a clapping figure wearing a blue-flower kimono with pale skin and a pair of distinctive, blue horns stepped into the moonlight. He had an open umbrella nestled in his right arm that had a nick in it, likely the result of Subaru's rifle bullet. But what stood out to the demon slayer most was the jagged scar on his neck. "I was starting to wonder how Ibaraki would get you here and as usual she chose the slightly more unorthodox approach. But, it was a good way to get an idea on your current level as a slayer."
"And I take it you're the one responsible for this indigo mist hanging around the island," said Subaru as he leveled his rifle at the demon, "feel like sharing what that's all about?"
"An experiment," replied the horned man as he held up a gourd which Subaru could tell stunk of alcohol even with his gas mask on. The demon proceeded to pop the cork off and down some of its contents before breathing out some more of the indigo mist. "These fumes, as you've no doubt guessed, are capable of triggering demonification in much the same way that Muzan Kibutsuji's blood does. It's not as potent, hence the drunken state of those who are turned by it, and the odd comments, but it can still do the job with time and with a bit less pain."
"How can you say Muzan's name?" Questioned Subaru, "all the other demons are supposed to be under a curse that prevents that. Did you manage to rid yourself of it by altering your body?"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk," chirped the demon in answer, "that demon, Muzan, isn't the only one with a strong bloodline. But 'tis mine own fault that you don't understand, I haven't introduced myself. I am Shuten Doji, formerly known as one of the three great calamities." Subaru's response to that was to tilt his head a little.
"Shuten Doji?" He repeated, "That old legend about a drunk demon that got cut up by a guy named Raiko? If I recall, that Shuten Doji died, so what are you supposed to be?"
"One who wishes the ending of that story was true," replied Shuten as he rubbed the scar on his neck, "but I suppose after so many centuries, 'tis understandable that a youth such as yourself would be unfamiliar with my infamy, so," the demon readjusted the umbrella in his hands and held it in an Iaido stance, "rejoice and be in awe at the true power of the drunk demon lord!"
"Subaru move!" Warned Akaza just moments before the demon put his hand on the umbrella. The hunter dodged to the right as a massive gash was suddenly torn into the ground at least two feet wide and over fifty feet long with. The resulting air pressure from the strike sent the Matagi even further back as he quickly rolled up and took aim, only to find his foe already within arm's reach of him.
"Now, show me what kind of human you really are!" Exclaimed Shuten Doji as his clawed hand sped towards Subaru's face.
And thus, our slayer has come face to face with the master mind behind the mist. Unfortunately, it seems he's also stumbled upon a not so dead legend in the process. On a more positive note, I shall be resuming Team WA: Stories from Around Remnant starting next week, so as before if you have any chapter requests, let me know. And let me know what you thought of this chapter in your comments and reviews. Be sure to stop in next time as our slayer must survive against an old legend among the demons. 'Til then.
