Untapped Potential

Hello everyone and welcome to another issue of Breath of the Rifleman! As always I'd like to give a quick shout out to fellow readers LoneTaker, Noble Eight, and groche9655 for their contributions and to the rest of you for your support! And to answer a quick guest review: I actually showed the Fourth Form: Mountain Stride, in Subaru's battle against Kurenai during the Mt. Natagumo arc. But worry not, as I happen to be showcasing both the fourth and the new fifth form of Breath of the Rifleman this very chapter! Obviously I don't want to spoil what it is and where, so why not read on and find out!

Kume Island: Right After Subaru's 'Departure'

"Subaru!" Called Sister Colizzi as she watched the Corps Slayer go flying off into the more forested area beyond the beach.

"So that's his name," said Ibaraki as her enlarged, floating head turned in the air back towards the other slayers, "I can see why my dear husband might be interested in him. This amount of wisteria won't kill me, but my eye fucking hurts right now thanks to him!"

"And we're gonna keep it that way!" Exclaimed Claudius as he, Leandro and any remaining slayers that weren't fighting the guard demons or the drunk demons opened fire.

"Yeah," said Ibaraki as she turned her head around to avoid the brunt of the onslaught while calling her floating torso out of the bushes, "see what happens when you piss me off!" The torso emitted even more of the indigo mist, likely due to having some stored within beforehand, which not only made the air more dangerous to breathe, but also lowered visibility, forcing the other slayers to back up and stick closer together. "Now, let's play my favorite type of cat and mouse game!"

Subaru's Location: At about the Same time

The Matagi managed to lean his head back just in time to avoid the brunt of the claw strike, feeling the wind from the blow due to how close it was, before rolling backwards. He quickly came to a knee and fired several shots from his rifle at the legendary demon who deflected them with a few quick swings of his umbrella. "You should know this umbrella was made using another demon's blood art, so it's not so easily penetrated!" Subaru managed to sidestep his jab at just the last second before attempting a counterswing with the bayonet on his rifle.

The Drunk Demon merely leaned his head back to avoid the strike before swinging his umbrella low in an attempt to batter the Rifleman's legs. But Subaru managed to do a slight side flip and land on his other foot before jabbing his bayonet towards Shuten's face. The demon brushed it aside with a swat of his free hand before readying another downward strike. 'Breath of the Rifleman Third Form: Bayonet Dance!' Thought Subaru as he twirled his weapon to deflect and counter the move.

But once again, the demon's incredible speed won out as he blocked the blade each time with the handle of his umbrella before finally blocking a straight stab at his face. "Good, you have some skill after all," he said, "but it's quite clear you've yet to tap into your gift just yet." Subaru didn't bother answering as he reached for his revolver, which wasn't there. "Oh ho, looking for this," he said as he held up the Matagi's Webley, "I thought I'd save you some trouble and get it out for you."

Subaru hastily backed away as he pulled out the necessary bullets and loaded his rifle. "A valiant effort, Sir Slayer, but ultimately futile. Observe." The horned demon actually put the Webley against his temple and fired, resulting in a small wound in the side of his head. Stranger still, the blood that trickled out of the wound was blue, or at least what Subaru could see of it before the wound regenerated. "Four hundred years ago, that amount might've worked but now," he tossed Subaru his revolver, "all it'll succeed in doing is giving me a headache."

"That's your own fault," Subaru pointed out as he snatched the weapon out of midair and holstered it, "if you wanted to die so badly, you should've emptied the whole cylinder down your throat."

"I'm not the one who should be concerned about his head or throat," replied Shuten as he held up, Subaru's shredded gas mask! "That would be something you should be worrying about." Alarmed, the Matagi reached up and confirmed that his mask had indeed been ripped off, exposing him to the indigo mist hanging around the island as well as noting the presence of some claw marks on his face. He didn't know how long it would take to start turning him, but he needed to end this fight quickly. With that in mind, Subaru circled around, firing at his foe once again.

"Interesting," said Shuten as he deflected the bullets with his still sheathed weapon, almost casually this time, "you just learned you could become a demon any moment and managed to avoid completely panicking. It's always good to see responsible youth with nerves of steel, they tend to die at least slightly less pathetically than cowards."

"Guess we'll find out," Subaru couldn't help but respond as he took a low stance, rifle at the ready. 'Breath of the Rifleman Fourth Form: Mountain Stride!' The ground was torn up from the force of Subaru's charge as he rocketed forward, his technique's strength even greater now than when he used it against the spider demon, Kurenai. He shoved his weapon forward with all of his might as Shuten Doji brought his umbrella across his body to intercept the bayonet-tipped weapon. The pressure of the impact sent out a small shockwave as the Matagi noted a couple of veins appearing on his opponent's arms.

It was the only reaction he got out of his enemy, unfortunately, as his momentum died down while Shuten Doji remained rooted in place. "A move inspired from the Breath of Thunder style of swordsmanship," observed the Legendary demon, "I always hated that style, it brings up some rather, unpleasant memories about another irritating swordsman."

"You don't say," said Subaru as he withdrew some round-shaped bombs from one of the pouches on his belt and threw them while also jumping back, "then you're gonna love this, Breath of the Rifleman Fifth Form: Obsidian Snow!" He fired his rifle then, hitting one of the spheres and causing a chain reaction that detonated the others in quick succession, leaving a mass of smoke and the scent of burning in its wake. 'Those bombs are favored by the Sound Hashira, Tengen Uzui, and they're said to be able to stagger even Upper Moon demons when enough are set off. With wisteria mixed in alongside the shrapnel, it has the potential to be one of my most damaging moves next to Mountain Stride.'

"Ah, hahaha," laughed the legendary demon as he stepped forward out of the smoke, his injuries healing rather quickly and his kimono not being much worse for wear, "a tactic used by the wielders of the Breath of Sound, an off-shoot of the Breath of Thunder! Oh, I am really starting to like you dear boy! Just seeing the potential for a being like you is," he sloppily licked his chops, "exciting." 'And seeing you still standing is mind-boggling,' thought Subaru before Azakeru spoke up.

"Subaru," she said, "we might have an option that'll at least keep us alive for a bit longer."

"I'm all ears," responded Subaru mentally, "those were my two best techniques back to back right there, so I'm almost out of ideas."

"Well get this, I'm actually feeling stronger thanks to the mist in the area," said Azakeru, "strong enough that I could cast my blood demon art: Willow's Wind Path. It's a really passive art, but I think you'll like what it can do."

"Anything's worth a shot at this point," thought Subaru to Azakeru as he watched Shuten Doji slowly pull his sword out of the umbrella, its blade gleaming in the moonlight.

"Then here goes," said Azakeru as Subaru removed his eye patch and saw a mental picture of her closing her eyes and holding her hands up, "Blood Demon Art: Willow's Wind Path!" At first, nothing seemed to happen as their foe approached. But then, he saw it, a small bluish trail of wind circulating around his opponent. The wind grew stronger around his sword hand as he twisted his wrist slightly. Subaru reacted instinctively and leapt to the side, avoiding another powerful cut that tore into the landscape.

"Yes, that's it," cheered Shuten, "bring out your gifts, those only one possessing your unique circumstances can wield!" Subaru didn't answer, keeping his concentration on his enemy's limbs as the circulating wind intensified again. The Matagi dodged the next attack, and the one after that and even the one after that before finally returning fire against his foe. "Oh, how long has it been since someone besides my wife made me feel this tingly?"

"You, can keep that shit to yourself," said Subaru as he reloaded his rifle and resumed a fighting stance, "I don't got all night to play around with you."

"We'll most certainly see about that," said Shuten with an evil grin as he took his own fighting stance.

Back with the Other Slayers: About the Same Time

"Oh, this is such bullshit!" Exclaimed Ozaki as her sword clanged off the leg armor of one of the demon guards before she had to roll out of the way to avoid its club, "what's it gonna take to kill these things!" As she ran, another one of the drunk demons popped up yelling something like 'battousai' before getting its head quickly removed by the Serpent Breath user.

"We've had to use several of our explosives already," said Leonia as she slid up next to the demon guard and unloaded a blast in-between the folds of its leg armor. The beast buckled slightly, allowing Colizzi a chance to leap up and blast her shotgun at its neck. The attack was effective in forcing it back, but only a few of the pellets managed to get through its armor to its neck.

"Can't we just bomb the everliving out of the area with the mortars and be done with it?!" Asked Ozaki as she ducked under one of Ibaraki's flying feet.

"We'd need to ensure everyone was out of the blast zone before doing that," Leonia informed her, "and we still need to find Subaru."

"Believe me, that guy can take care of himself," said Ozaki as she dispatched another drunken demon, "we're probably having a way harder time than he is right now, so I say we beat it and circle back for him when this problem is dealt with."

"Now I can't just let you all leave so soon," said Ibaraki's head, "I have a whole night's worth of cooking planned and more than a couple of you," one of her flying hands suddenly flew up the back of Ozaki's shirt, "have an especially tender-looking feel to you."

"AAAAAAAHHHH, no no no no no," Exclaimed Ozaki as she shed her outer layer quickly. But by that point, the hand was already making its way down to her waist band.

"Hold still," said Brother Leandro as he pulled out one of his sais and managed to impale the hand. Unfortunately, it had already made its way down Ozaki's pants and the result, was Leandro accidentally tearing off those in the process.

"Oh, not this again!" Cried Ozaki as she instinctively covered her body, which now only had underwear left, with her arms. "The uniform people are gonna kill me and that's if I don't die naked at this rate!"

"No need to be so dramatic," said Ibaraki, "I always give special treatment to the extra tasty looking morsels."

"Bite me you old hag!" Exclaimed Ozaki as she charged towards the floating head, her anger now overpowering her embarrassment.

"I guess I'll have to get the tenderizing done early," sighed Ibaraki as one of her floating feet dropped in from the side, aiming for the Slayer's stomach. Ozaki managed to turn and block the attack in time with her sword, but the force of the disembodied kick was enough to send her sliding back on her feet. 'Thank Kami I managed to at least keep my sandals on,' she thought as she felt the back of her feet hit an edge, 'oh crap.' With a surprised yelp, the female slayer went rolling down one of the hills into the forest foliage below.

"Whoops, got a little carried away," said Ibaraki as her floating head moved to the side to avoid a shotgun blast, "I'll have to hunt her down later. Best to work on the food that's still here for the moment."

About the Same Time: Subaru's location

The sound of clashing steel filled the air as bayonet met sword blade in a furious exchange. Or at least it would've been an exchange if Shuten Doji attacked a little more often. Currently, the powerful demon was on the defensive as he moved his blade in quick, precise movements to parry Subaru's bayonet before tilting his head to the side to avoid the bullet fired from the gun. The Matagi then engaged the demon in a weapon lock where he pulled out and fired his Webley. The result was disappointing as the bullets could hardly dig into his skin and the ones aimed at his eyes were stopped by the demon's upraised hand.

Smiling, the drunk demon retaliated with a flick of his blade, which Subaru narrowly avoided as he leapt back and used 'Obsidian Snow' once again. Shuten was ready for the attack this time, however, and managed to move back and shield his face enough that the blast didn't do too severe an amount of damage. "I'm not quite sure how you improved your dodging so quickly," said Shuten, "but I imagine it has to do with that demonic presence within your body. Don't bother denying it, I can feel the power of the blood art quite well at the moment, even if I don't know what it's actually doing."

"You make it sound like you know what's going on with me," said Subaru between breaths as he examined his condition. Indeed, he had gotten better at dodging the Drunk Demon's attacks, but he'd still taken several small cuts from close calls that might've torn him to shreds not so long ago. That, coupled with rapid fire use of his breath forms, was starting to wear on him slightly. Oddly, though, his small cuts felt practically nonexistant at the moment.

"I have a good theory as to what's happened to you," replied Shuten, "somehow, your body must've absorbed a small to almost minute amount of demon blood at one point or another, the type with the power to transform one into a demon. But, due to it being such a small amount, your body had time to adjust to it and if you spent a lot of time around wisteria then even more reason the demonic transformation was incomplete. Tell me, have you come into contact with any demons close to having Muzan's amount of blood in them?"

"The Lower Moons and One Upper Moon, what of it," confirmed Subaru as he processed this possible information while also trying to come up with a strategy against his foe. Azakeru had been a big help up to this point, but she was still using a recently awakened blood art that she had little practice in and there was no telling when it would give out.

"More than likely, coming into close contact with the progenitor's blood allowed your dormant demonic side to awaken," continued Shuten, "rejoice, mortal, for if all is as I suspect then your existence is one of a kind. The very first, documented half demon!" A crooked smile crossed the demon's face at the last part.

"What's the big deal if I am," questioned Subaru, sounding more dismissive of the implications than he actually was, "I don't see how a half demon helps you."

"That's quite simple," said Shuten as he suddenly sped forward, "your incredible potential!" The Matagi just managed to dodge the initial thrust of his enemy's blade but couldn't fully dodge his follow up punch which managed to graze his side, causing some rather painful bruising as he evaded the next couple of attacks before countering a kick with one of his own. This would turn out to be a mistake as the Legendary Demon easily outdid him in strength and managed to sweep his leg out from under him before stabbing his blade into the Matagi's left leg. The Rifleman gave off a yell of both pain and anger as he felt the point of the blade go just past his bone and out the other side of his leg, pinning him to the ground.

He tried to raise his rifle, only to have it swatted out of his hands by Shuten's umbrella which came back as Subaru was drawing his sidearm and jammed itself against his revolver, keeping him from picking it up off the ground. "I suppose you won't understand without a little explanation," said Shuten Doji, "You see, that man Raikou came so close to killing me that it took actual months if not more for my body to fully reassemble after he'd chopped me into pieces and scattered them across the landscape. By that time, he'd passed away and left me, an extraordinarily powerful demon, here all by myself. I curse him for being so exceptional, the kind of potential that only occurs once every few centuries! And I curse myself more for being such an extraordinarily powerful calamity now that enough time has passed!"

He twisted his sword in Subaru's leg as he continued, getting a pained grunt out of the Matagi. "I've looked for so long and have only found a handful of people with his kind of potential, so I decided to make a few of my own. But who'd have thought that Muzan Kibutsuji had already succeeded in granting me what I so desired, a person with the potential to walk both the path of slayer and demon! Just the thought of it brings me the kind of excitement I haven't felt since my first night with Ibaraki, oh where to even begin with you?! Should I start the strengthening right away or work on breaking you to improve your regenerative abilities. Or perhaps maybe even-."

"Breath of the Serpent First Form: Winding Serpent Slash!" Exclaimed Ozaki as she came practically out of nowhere, with next to no clothes, and slammed her blade into the Drunk Demon's neck. "Or perhaps you could do us all a favor and die already!" The Slayer pressed her blade into the cut with all of her might, feeling satisfaction as it began to dig into his skin a little, only for it to turn to shock as the blade suddenly snapped.

"Ah, of course," said Shuten Doji as he reached out with lightning speed and grabbed Ibaraki by the throat with his left hand, bringing her around in front of him as he continued to rant as if someone hadn't just tried to decapitate him. "I'll need some proper motivation to help you along the way. This girl should work for now, consider her as my hostage and your occasional reward should you meet my expectations throughout the trials I shall present you. Refuse to follow my instructions and Ibaraki shall have one of her hands destroy her from the anus upward."

"C-Counter proposal," grunted Subaru as he reached up with his left hand and grasped the handle of Shuten's sword before pulling himself up, the blade going further into his leg as he grit his teeth against the pain, "you can eat shit and die."

"Ah yes, good," said Shuten, "that hate-filled drive of yours will be perfect for-huh." BAM! BAM! Two shots rang out from Subaru's sleeve pistol as he put a bullet in both of the Drunk Demon's eyes. Whether it was from the pain or simply the surprise of it all, the demon dropped Ozaki and stepped back a bit, changing the angle of his blade as he did so. "By Kami that actually stings, what a horrendously wonderful concoction you've brought before me!"

"Then you're gonna love this next part," said Subaru as he put his right leg up against his opponent's stomach, "Breath of the Rifleman Fourth Form: Mountain Stride!" He kicked against the demon's midsection with enough force to send him flying back, pulling the blade painfully out of his leg at the same time before falling to the ground with a grunt.

"I think it's time for us to get out of here," said Ozaki as she helped Subaru up to his feet, "but what do we do about him?"

"The other flare they had some of us carry," said Subaru as he produced one that had been hanging on his back.

"Way ahead of you," said Ozaki as she grabbed the tube, pointed it towards the sky and pulled the string at the end. A red flare shot forth from the tube with a high-pitched whistling noise before the slayer girl ditched the launcher and began leading Subaru away.

"I don't know where you think you can run to," said Shuten Doji as he came walking out of the foliage where he'd been sent flying into, "I already know this island like the back of my hand, and the landing spot where your ships are anchored still has my wife and Nioh guards present. As you both are now, it's a pointless endeavor to try and escape."

"It is without backup anyway," said Ozaki, throwing a glance back at the legendary demon. Shuten was about to ask what she meant by that until he heard another whistling in the air and looked up. His eyes healed just in time for him to see a mortar heading right for him.

"You miserable-BOOOOMMM!" The explosion from the impact was much larger than expected, likely due to all the excess alcohol around the drunk demon. Ozaki and Subaru were even knocked down temporarily by the force of the first one and just managed to get up as the next one came flying in and impacting at about the same location. The two comrades only spared a glance behind them every now and then as they slowly but surely made their way to shore.

As they fled, another red flare shot up from where the Catholic slayers were currently fighting, likely in response to their own flare. Shortly after, that section of the beach also came under fire as mortar shell after mortar shell fell on it. The Matagi and Sword girl were forced to navigate around that section of the beach as it too became an explosive hot bed due to an excess of the indigo mist somehow being produced there. "Subaru, Ozaki!" Called Rapheal as he suddenly burst through the foliage, "are you two alright?"

"I'll be fine once we put about fifty to a hundred miles between us and this place," said Ozaki as Rapheal grabbed Subaru's other arm and helped him back towards the beach. The remaining Catholic slayers were all piling in the long boat at about that time as the sound of the mortar shells impacting against the beach continued to sound.

"God be praised you're both alive," said Claudius as he helped the two onboard before signaling to the other slayers, "that's everyone! Start rowing back and give the signal to keep firing the mortars!" An affirmative was given in answer as every Slayer that could grabbed an oar and began rowing back to their respective ships. The only ones who weren't currently rowing were Subaru, Brother Ignatius, Sister Cynthia and Sister Mariella, three of them due to their injuries while the last was tending to said injuries.

"What in the world happened over there," asked Mariela as she pulled up Subaru's pant leg and began cleaning it while also applying ointment. The Matagi was quick to give her some of the Corps healing ointment which she also applied before beginning to wrap his leg with bandages.

"Long story short," said Subaru, "we met a demon that was at least as powerful as an Upper Moon, possibly even more. Bastard stabbed my leg and carved me up pretty good, but hopefully that mortar bombardment will have enough fire and wisteria to kill him."

"We pray to God the same is true for those demons on the beach," said Mariela, "none of us have ever encountered anything like that. But I'm also astounded you didn't lose more blood from your wound."

"It's a breathing technique, believe it or not," said Subaru, not entirely lying, "an irate prick named Kumon taught us how to focus and use our Total Concentration Breathing to slow or even stop the bleeding of a wound. Of course, one can only keep that going for so long."

"Well it's good you at least managed to escape with all of your limbs," said Mariela, "now we just have to hope that the amount of firepower we're pouring over the island right now proves effective."

"I vote we just keep shooting until there's nothing left," coughed Sister Cynthia, apparently having sustained a broken rib via Nioh guard. As for Ignatius, he was nursing a head wound he received after being nearly blindsided by one of Ibaraki's feet. The other remaining Catholics that Subaru and Ozaki had met were all in varying degrees of pain as well, but were surprisingly still alright given the circumstances. That and the bombardment was the only good news at that time as they found out that most of Micheal's slayers were killed in the fighting.

No doubt he was feeling especially gratified as they climbed back aboard the ships and watched the continuing bombardment of the island. Every last mortar tube was setup and used with no thought given to the remaining ammunition until they got down to their last few rounds, which was an hour's worth of shelling by then. And in that time, the once plain looking beach was turned into a smoking wreck with a number of fires still dotting the trees, the mortar rounds extra effective due to the presence of alcohol in some of the fumes. The area where Shuten Doji himself had been also caught fire, which was spreading back further into the forest.

There was always at least one person on watch for an hour after that, looking for any signs of movement while also waiting to signal that it was okay to return to the shore. But when that moment came, Subaru was stopped from going due to the injury of his leg and Ozaki, who managed to get a fresh pair of clothes resembling the Catholic's uniforms, refused to go back until she could find a suitable replacement for her currently broken sword. So, it wound up falling to Rapheal, Colizzi and Leonia to go back and scout out the area once again. Their absence during that time would be when the waiting was at its most tense as another hour passed, this time with many half-expecting none of the Slayers to return.

But at long last, the sound of Ignatius cheering as he spotted his fellow Catholics told them that the island, to one degree or another, had been cleared.

On the Way Back to Okinawa

"I still can't say I like how things turned out," Subaru said as they sat on the deck of the ship, not really needing to fear another demon attack given that the shark brothers were both dead.

"I don't like the fact that we bumped into a couple of demons with power like the Upper Moons," said Ozaki, "are you sure it wasn't some Upper Moons we ran into?"

"Both the Upper and Lower Moon demons have numbers in their eyes denoting their ranks," replied Subaru as he readjusted the patch over his eye, "moreover, that bastard could say Muzan's name without dying, meaning he somehow expelled the curse and that's assuming he was even cursed with it in the first place."

"Wait," said Leonia, "you mean those demons can die if they just happen to utter this Muzan guy's name out loud?"

"I've seen it happen on one occasion," said Subaru, "my first demon hunting mission with Tanjiro and Nezuko. We managed to pretty much disable this demon that could pop out of a swamp of sorts wherever he pleased. I gave him the lie about having an antidote for the wisteria poison, and I still don't have one, in exchange for information. He got swallowed up and eviscerated by his own swamp right after that."

"Geez, no wonder you've had such a hard time finding that bastard," said Cynthia, wincing slightly as she rubbed her injured rib, "he has the ability to kill his own just by thinking it."

"Tanjiro and I learned that it was possible to get rid of the curse," said Subaru, "but how it's done I couldn't say. The one downside to those demons being dead is they might've known a way to find him."

"You should be glad any of us even made it out of that mess alive," commented Ozaki, "there's no way we were gonna contain those demons with what we had, so I say let's just be happy that they're both dead and the island is clear of that mist and those drunken demons." It was true, there had been no traces of any demon bodies left, including Shuten, Ibaraki and the Nioh guards. Optimistically speaking, they'd turned to ash with the rest of the demons that had been caught up in the extra-large wisteria explosions and finally died from excess damage and poison. The clearing of the indigo mist lent further weight to this argument, but Subaru wasn't sure killing demons that strong would come so easily.

Whatever the case, Claudius and the other slayers had agreed to periodically check on the island over the next few days to ensure no further activity was occurring. This meant all that was left for Subaru and Ozaki to do was head back to the mainland and give their report. Due to the injury to his leg, Subaru had to take at least another day to recuperate at the Church while also working out a few logistics with the Catholics about further cooperation between the two factions of demon slayers. As for Ozaki, being the kind soul she was, she got a spare uniform from their contacts in Okinawa and jumped on the first ship back, likely still blaming Subaru for the fact that she'd gotten another uniform torn up.

But Subaru couldn't necessarily say he blamed her for wanting to get back as soon as possible, after all, there was a little demon girl and her hard-headed brother waiting for his return. Which was why he insisted on heading out as soon as his leg was able to properly support his weight. Mariela tried persuading him to stay another day to give his wounds more time to heal, but the Matagi informed her of the Corp's well-trained medical staff at the Butterfly Mansion and the fact that he was going to travel during the day to avoid any other possible demon encounters. The sister eventually agreed and, after a prayer that his travels be safe, allowed Subaru to be on his way. This would not, however, be the last time he fought alongside the Catholic demon slayers.

A Couple Days Later: Near the Butterfly Mansion

"Whew, almost there at long last," Subaru thought aloud as he walked down the road, still favoring his right leg slightly. Whatever residual effects that had been causing his enhanced healing while in the mist of Kume Island were pretty much gone now. So, while most of his minor wounds and bruises were all healed, the literal hole in his leg still hadn't closed up entirely and it still gave him the occasional bout of pain. Nothing Aoi Kanzaki and the other helpers at the Butterfly mansion couldn't handle, though he was probably gonna have to omit a detail or two in order to avoid explaining his apparent status as a 'half demon', as Shuten had dubbed him.

"I'm not even sure that's the most accurate term," Azakeru chimed in from his mind, "in my opinion, you'd have a few more demon characteristics if you were a true half demon. If anything, you're more like one step above that Genya guy that eats demon flesh."

"Either way, let's not go blabbing about it to just anyone," Subaru thought back, "it was already hard enough to keep them from killing Nezuko, who knows what the other slayers will do if they think I'm starting to turn into a demon."

"Well at least you know you can trust her and Tanjiro," Azakeru pointed out, "that's better than having no one to tell at all." Subaru was about to respond to that when Shika came flying down and landed on his shoulder.

"I really hope you're here to tell me that my return is greatly anticipated at the Butterfly Mansion," said Subaru with a mild groan. Shika shook her head, indicating 'no', before giving a few quiet screcches in his ear. "You have got to be kidding me, where at?" Shika held out her leg with the information on it, which Subaru accepted before opening it to read the contents within. "THE RED LIGHT DISTRICT!"

He'd heard his father mention this place only a couple of times, and it was always with a sense of mild disgust. And if he was reading everything correctly, Tanjiro was there along with Zenitsu, Inosuke and one of the damn Hashira! And yet they were still sending out an emergency summons to slayers of his rank and higher! "I've said it once and I'll say it again," seethed Subaru, "the Corps is full of slave drivers!" This would turn out to be quite the understatement yet again.

And so our fellow slayers managed to escape with their lives and a possible, but still up in the air, victory. But there appears to be no rest for the weary as Subaru must now find his friends in one of the more unsavory locations of Japan. In the meantime, I hope you all enjoyed this latest chapter and as always feel free to leave a comment or review about what you like/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters. Be sure to stop in next time as the Matagi's luck goes sour again with an encounter against an Upper Moon! 'Til then.