The District of Demons, Blades, and Rifles

Hello everyone and welcome to the continuation of the Red Light District Arc. As always, I'd like to give a shout out to Noble Eight, LoneTaker and groche9655 for their input in this story and to you, my fellow readers, for all your support. And, since we appear to have no guest reviews this week, let's dive on in!

Yoshiwara: The Red Light District

At first, Subaru had been just as skeptical as Tengen about whether or not their foe was actually an Upper Moon. After all, he'd managed to avoid Daki's initial attacks despite dodging around on a hurt leg. Sure, he still got knocked around a good bit and it would've been tough even with Tanjiro's help, but then Tengen had shown up and sliced off Daki's head without any of them even noticing. Against most any other demon, that would've ended it right there.

It was then, however, that they were presented with the reason an Upper Moon was an Upper Moon, they had ways around getting their heads cut off. In the case of Daki, she sprouted an apparent 'Oni-chan' out of her back who was much faster, stronger and even nastier than his sibling. The sickle-wielding monstrosity known as Gyuutarou, the potential true Upper Moon. But Daki was just as eager to prove herself to be an Upper Moon, and even with backup from the recently arrived Zenitsu and Inosuke, it was not gonna be an easy fight.

And it began with Daki lunging at them, her numerous sashes poised to strike like living, bladed whips. Zenitsu made the first counter as he shot off like a lightning bolt using the Breath of thunder's first form: Thunderclap and Flash! The slayer and demon met in midair, clashing a few times before Daki busted through the roof to avoid a rebound attack. The sleeping demon hunter didn't let that slow him down, however, as he shot up through the same hole that Daki just exited from.

"Me and Sleepyhead can take Maggot Girl!" Declared Inosuke as he made to rush outside, "you guys take out Mantis Boy over there!"

"Be careful out there boar boy," said Subaru as his friend exited out of the front of the building.

"You guys are way too optimistic," said Gyuutarou with a toothy smirk, "my sister won't get put down by the likes of those two."

"I'm not too worried," replied Subaru, "Inosuke may look like an idiot and talk like an idiot, but don't let that fool you. He really is an idiot."

"Was that supposed to be your vote of confidence in them?" Questioned Uzui with a raised eyebrow.

"It doesn't matter either way," said Gyuutarou, "we're going to claw out all your windpipes, man." The amount of blood lust that radiated from him then was enough to make Subaru sweat, but he gripped his rifle even tighter and worked to control his breathing as he watched his foe like a hawk, waiting for even a twitch of movement. That moment arrived far sooner than he anticipated as the Upper Moon almost seemed to vanish before reappearing in front of him, swinging his right sickle downward towards the hunter's face. Subaru reacted on pure instinct and dodged to the right, grimacing as he felt the blade make a cut on the side of his head.

While this was happening, the Matagi's eyes tracked the second weapon as it was swung upwards towards his chin. But while he could just see it, his body couldn't react in time as the blade seemed to move in slow motion before impacting against, Tengen's sword. Subaru was snapped back to reality with the sound of the two blades clashing as he fell and rolled back before coming up to a kneeling position with his rifle aimed at the demon. A new problem had arisen, however, as the Slayer realized the two individuals were moving far too fast for him to safely fire off a shot without potentially endangering Uzui.

'Shit, I've never worked with a guy Tengen's size before,' realized Subaru, 'in a cramped environment like this, twirling my rifle to attack and defend could be problematic and that's not even counting trying to shoot while they're moving so quickly.' It would turn out to be one of his lesser concerns, though, as the sound of the ceiling tearing reached his ears. Countless sashes from Daki, who was currently fighting on the roof, came raining down from above. The Matagi attempted to dodge out of the way but with so many attacks hitting at once it was practically impossible for him and Tengen to not receive more than a few cuts along their bodies as the two moved back and regrouped.

"It looks like your 'successors' have still got a long way to go," said Gyuutarou as he looked towards the ceiling, "let me show you how a real duo works together." He began unleashing several of his blood slashes from his blades while Daki's sashes again came striking from above.

"I knew it, they're both able to see what the other sees," said Azakeru in Subaru's mind.

"Figures," remarked Subaru mentally as he held his rifle over his head to block some of the raining attacks while moving to evade the rubble falling from the now very sliced up ceiling. "Just keep giving me warnings so I don't take one in the back!"

"I think it's the other guy who needs to worry about that," remarked Azakeru as Subaru looked over to see Tengen again trading blows with Gyuutarou at an incredibly fast pace. But their stalemate was also keeping the Sound Pillar rooted to the spot as three blood blades flew straight for his back.

"The fuck you will!" Exclaimed Subaru as he Jumped in front of the blades and blocked them with his rifle. He planted his feet as the force of the three blows threatened to send him toppling over, feeling a good bit of strain in his arms as he did so. 'Damn, what was it Tanjiro once told me about strong blows,' he tried to recall while gritting his teeth against the strain. Obviously, the stronger attack would win if strength was the only element to consider. However, the force of a blow could be redirected, and while he wasn't using a sword he could still. "Parry!"

The Matagi managed to angle his weapon and send the force of the attack upward, allowing Tengen a moment to breath as the Rifleman tossed some of his own explosives in front of the Hashira. "It's all you Uzui!"

'Breath of Sound Fifth Form,' thought the Hashira, catching onto Subaru's plan as he readied his blades, 'Symphony of Shrill Strings!' He spun his blades like Nunchaku again, detonating the explosives Subaru had thrown and forcing the Upper Moon back. But the attack was a symphony, and Tengen continued to play it as he spun his blades continuously, creating even more explosions by adding his own bombs as he pushed Gyuutarou even further back. The Upper Moon didn't look too worried, however, as Daki's sashes came down from the ceiling again. But Subaru was ready for the attack this time and swung his rifle over Uzui's head, cutting through the attack with his bayonet as he did so.

"This is starting to get annoying," said Subaru as he landed on his back and fired his rifle up at where the sashes had come from, one of which rewarded him with the sound of an irritated female grunt.

"Guess that's the patience of a hunter, roll left," said Azakeru as Subaru rolled per instruction to dodge a descending blood blade, "If you're just now considering this dangerous situation annoying."

"I got more than a few choice words for what's happening right now," Subaru thought back as he and Tengen both dove out the window, followed quickly by Gyuutarou who wasted no time in resuming his ferocious melee with the Sound Pillar. It was at this point that the Matagi looked up and noted how much trouble his friends were having. Inosuke and Zenitsu were both sporting a number of cuts on their bodies as a result of the blood blades and sashes that the duo were still dodging. 'Most of our problems are occurring from their team attacks,' surmised Subaru as he took aim with his rifle, 'we need to disable or put distance between them, so.'

The Slayer began firing up at Daki, drawing the female half of the Upper Moon's attention to him as some of her sashes were forced to deflect his bullets. She couldn't keep her eyes on him for long, thankfully, as Zenitsu came speeding in, using the opening the Rifleman had created and would've slashed Daki's head off if she hadn't tilted her head just the slightest bit. The enraged woman then struck back with a less controlled but still dangerous flurry of her sashes to keep back Inosuke's follow up strikes. Subaru continued to fire at Daki's backside while this was happening, noting that the demon's need to keep her foes at a distance with her sashes actually worked to his advantage as it gave him more openings to fire his rifle without fear of hitting his comrades.

Of course, Gyuutarou wouldn't allow such an assault on his sister to continue and redirected some of his blood blades towards the Matagi. The slayer had to switch to run and gun tactics as he went back and forth, firing what shots he could but with less precision due to jumping over and in between the poisoned, bloody slashes. 'Damn, even with her only glancing at me occasionally, Gyuutarou still sees my location well enough through that third eye of hers to direct his blades and I was having a hard enough time shooting as it was, so now what else can I do?'

His thoughts were answered in an unexpected form as he happened to glimpse a figure on the roof behind him, another woman wearing a white dress with an irregular square pattern that left her arms bare and little to the imagination for the rest of her body save for her legs, which had fishnet stockings. But what caught Subaru's attention was the presence of a device that looked like one large square and two smaller squares stuck together, all of which had kunai sticking out of them. It's purpose became clear immediately as the newly arrived woman fired off all the stored kunai, raining them down on Gyuutarou's location. The demon's caution was higher than expected, though, as he used another blood demon technique to create a dome of bloody slashes around himself.

Tengen took the opening and charged in, not caring that some of the kunai also struck him in the process. Gyuutarou attempted to decapitate the shinobi with a slash aimed at his neck but missed as the swordsman ducked under the attack and used a powerful cut to slice the demon's legs off just above his ankles. In most cases, an Upper Moon would've paid little mind to the injuries save for getting a lot more angry, but for whatever odd reason Gyuutarou's legs weren't growing back or healing anywhere near as quickly as they had before. 'So those kunai had wisteria poison of the paralytic kind laced within them,' Subaru surmised as he watched the Sound Pillar about to deliver the finishing blow.

It never made it, however, as one of the demon's feet managed to regenerate enough for him to stand as an evil grin spread across his face. "Man, you nearly got me," said Gyuutarou as he held his arms out to the side, "Blood Demon Technique: Round Slashes of Death!" Blood blades came spiraling out of the demon's arms then like miniature, sideways tornaodes which forced Tengen back before he countered with his own technique, Breath of Sound Forth Form: Breath of Avici! The move involved the hashira spinning his weapons around in front of him as he released a number of bombs that also countered the swirling blood blades assaulting him.

A mass amount of smoke and dust was kicked up during the attack as Subaru dared to divert his attention from his friend's battle with Daki to see what was happening. Much to his surprise and a little dismay, the male half of the Upper Moon demon was nowhere to be found. 'What's going on,' thought Subaru as he scanned the area, 'the sun isn't near coming up yet and with Daki still fighting, I doubt he'd just run away. Unless-.' Tengen realized the possible implications too as he yelled out the name 'Hina' towards the woman who'd just shown up.

It was too little, too late, however as Gyuutarou seemingly appeared behind the woman and seized her by the face with his hand. "You sure did a number on me, man," said the Upper Moon, clearly more than a little irritated that the kunai's poison had nearly lost him his head.

"Shit!" said Subaru as Tengen tried to advance, only to be stopped by an attack from Daki's sashes suddenly lashing out from above.

Some of the sashes also went for Subaru, but it was only a few as the main number of them were being used to hold back Tengen. 'Gonna have one shot at this,' thought the Matagi as he bobbed and weaved while trying to keep his rifle leveled at his target, 'gotta make sure it counts!' His opportunity arrived when he managed to jump off some rubble, evading the sashes as he took aim, controlling his breathing midair, before firing at the demon. The rifle bullet flew straight and true as it sped towards the Upper Moon's head, where it was casually deflected by the demon holding up his left sickle as Subaru landed in a kneeling position.

"What in the world was that even supposed to do man," questioned the demon mockingly, "It's not like it would've stopped me even if it landed."

"Hitting you wasn't the point," said Subaru as a smirk of his own crossed his face. Gyuutarou raised an inquisitive brow before his eyes widened at the arrival of a figure moving at an incredible, flowing speed. The Upper Moon instinctively leaned his head back, thinking the attack was aimed at his neck, but really, it was meant to cut off the hand that was holding the kunoichi who was apparently named Hinatsuri. The new arrival managed to grab said woman and move her away in the same motion as Gyuutarou looked on in surprise at what had just happened.

"Your timing couldn't have been any better, Tanjiro," said Subaru as his best friend stood there on the roof in front of Hinatsuri, who'd managed to wrench the demon's hand from her throat, breathing heavily from the technique he'd just used. And if Subaru was seeing things correctly and not finally feeling the effects of the poisoned cuts on his body, Tanjiro used the Breath of Water with the power of Hinokami Kagura. 'Mixing breath styles,' thought Subaru, 'with all the tools I usually employ, I hadn't even considered such a strategy.'

"Now you're starting to irritate me, man!" Exclaimed Gyuutarou as he charged at Tanjiro. Thankfully, Subaru had already aimed his rifle at the spot where Tanjiro was and fired off another couple of rounds, forcing the Upper Moon to slow down just enough for his friend to move back and avoid the first sickle before parrying the second. And those bullets served another purpose other than slowing the demon down.

"Tanjiro Kamado, Subaru Genjirou!" Exclaimed Tengen as he managed to slip on the roof right behind Gyuutarou, "I am in your debt!" And neither he nor Tanjiro wasted the opportunity as they swung their blades at the trapped demon's neck. Then the moment ended, with the sound of swords clanging against metal.

"No way are you guys cutting my head off, man," said Gyuutarou, who'd crossed his arms and raised his sickles up on either side of his neck, blocking the blades. Now it was his turn to create an opportunity as his sickles morphed slightly, covering the sword blades and keeping them stuck to his weapons. Tengen didn't hesitate long at this turn of events before attempting to use his second blade to impale the Upper Moon in his backside. But the demon twisted his whole head around and caught the attack in his teeth, still managing to keep grinning despite the blade in his mouth.

Tengen realized his intentions then and slammed his foot against the roof, propelling both himself and the demon off of it while Tanjiro fell back onto the roof, his blade freed from the enemy's sickle. At the same time, twin cyclones of bloody slashes shot out from Gyuutarou's arms again, tearing up part of the roof as the two plummeted. "Not good," said Subaru as he attempted to give chase, only to be forced back by more sashes from Daki. Adding on to that were a couple of blood slashes heading straight for him.

The Matagi readied his rifle to deflect the attack, but Tanjiro beat him to it as he dropped down and parried the slashes into the side of another building. "Good to see you're a bit patched up," said Subaru, noting Tanjiro had applied some bandages to the worst of his wounds while the two of them stood back to back, defending against sashes and blood blades while catching the occasional glimpses of Inosuke, Zenitsu and Tengen fighting their respective demons. "But why in the fuck did you bring Nezuko back here with you?!"

"I thought she'd be safest with us given all the panicking civilians running around," replied Tanjiro, realizing he might not have thought that through entirely as he felt the weight of the boxed Nezuko on his back, "and, well, force of habit too."

"You know there's a reason they call a safe house a 'safe' house, right?" Subaru questioned back as he cut through another couple of sashes.

"Well if it'll put you at ease, I also brought something I found waiting at the warehouse. It's stashed on the other side of that building," Tanjiro managed to point out after deflecting another blood blade, "so take Nezuko and get it set up. The note Izayoi left said you'd know what to do with it, more or less. I'll buy time helping the others." Tanjiro didn't give him a chance to argue before he slid the box off his back and passed it to the rifleman.

"Not the greatest plan I've ever heard," said Subaru as he slipped said box onto his back, "but I guess it'll depend on what you brought me."

"Just hurry back," replied Tanjiro before the two friends broke formation and rushed in opposite directions. The rifleman wasted no time in cutting through the building where Tanjiro had come from before spotting something that was definitely out of place beneath some of the rubble. Grabbing onto the piece of cloth that was being used to hide it, the Matagi's eyes widened as he took in the weapon and ammunition laid before him.

"Alright, this'll definitely make the hunt a bit more interesting," remarked Subaru.

"I just hope the fact that the note says 'prototype' isn't going to be a problem," remarked Azakeru. The Rifleman preferred not to think about that as he grabbed the weapon, stowed some of the ammunition on his person and rushed back out into the battle that was taking place. It was still going strong as Tanjiro had wound up fighting with Uzui against Gyuutarou while Inosuke and Zenitsu continued their own struggle against Daki. The roof tops and surrounding area was continuing to get cut up by the demon's attacks, but even with all of that happening, the hunter managed to find a secluded spot on a three story building to place his new armament.

'Alright,' thought the Matagi as he checked to ensure the rounds he was using were wisteria coated, 'let's see what kind of hunting this beast was made for.' He put the round in and closed the bolt before taking aim down the iron sights. He weighed his options carefully as he steadied the weapon on its bipod, something he didn't have a lot of experience using, before choosing his target. Either one was a gamble, so he decided to go for the more obvious threat as he steadied his breathing even further, waiting the for the critical moment in combat where his shot would make a difference.

That moment came when his friends were forced back by a rather fierce technique from the Upper Moon demon. 'Gotcha,' thought Subaru as he pulled the trigger. The resounding blast was expectedly loud and the recoil hurt even worse due to the Matagi's injuries as the word 'FUUUUUUUUCK' sounded out in his mind. But his aim was true, or as true as it could be with a rifle he wasn't used too, as the round blasted a hole where Gyuutarou's heart would normally be, greatly surprising the Upper Moon as he staggered backwards.

'Thirteen milimeter bullets, asshole,' thought Subaru as he cycled the bolt and loaded another round, 'I don't know what in the world a 'tank' is supposed to be, but the Germans seemed to think they were dangerous enough to warrant a specialized rifle for it.' He then proceeded to fire another round at Gyuutarou, embedding it in his right shoulder as Tanjiro and Uzui pressed the attack. 'The Tank Gewehr prototype rifle, certainly not a bad investment, but damn, the Germans are some scary people.' "Speaking of scary," said Azakeru suddenly, "incoming sashes!"

Subaru cursed as he rolled out of the way of several of the demon's attacking appendages, coming up to a half-kneeling position as he instinctively pulled back the bolt and loaded another round before closing the bolt once again. The funny thing about the rifle being a single shot, it almost felt like he was carrying a giant Murata rifle. "I don't know what monstrosity you've got there," said Daki as she pulled herself up to the roof and landed on the edge near Subaru, "but no one hurts my brother like that and lives!" She attacked in earnest then with her sashes as the Matagi did the only thing he could do, run for it via jumping down to the roof top below.

'Dammit, what happened to Inosuke and Zenitsu,' wondered the slayer before glancing down below. To his dismay, he spotted the blond slayer buried under some rubble. He'd likely taken a hard hit and was flung into the collapsing ceiling of the building in the process. Inosuke wasn't in much better condition, having sustained a wound to his chest which must've immobilized him from the pain as he was laid out on another roof.

"Don't expect any help to come for you," said Daki as Subaru jumped and dodged out of the way of more of her attacks, "they got close to taking my head, but pig boy forget that I have arms until I ran my hand right through his stomach. And blondie got too overwhelmed by my brother and I's combined attacks before being caught under that rubble. Once my brother finishes dealing with your other friend and the Hashira, you'll be all alone."

"You make it sound like I'm outmatched against you," said Subaru as he slipped some small explosives between his fingers, "but my friends didn't go down in vain. Breath of the Rifleman Fifth Form: Obsidian Snow!" He tossed the explosives behind himself, causing Daki to react and cut them up instinctively with her sashes. A mistake on her part as the small but surprisingly powerful explosives let off a number of strong blasts that forced the female half of the Upper Moon back.

"Now let's see you handle a load like this," quipped Subaru as he braced himself in a forward leaning stance and fired the tank gewehr once again. Daki was only quick enough to get a few of her sashes up in her confused state before her eyes widened at the sight of the bullet tearing through them and going right into her neck. But instead of blasting her head off, the bullet stretched her neck backwards like it was made of rubber, pulling the demon off the roof in the process. 'Shit, so her neck is like a sash too,' thought Subaru as he took his momentary reprieve to look around and formulate a new plan.

He just managed to spot something that could prove useful when Daki busted through the roof right next to him, striking wildly with her sashes and forcing Subaru back towards the edge of the roof as he managed to deflect the brunt of the attacks with his overly large weapon. The key word, of course, being the brunt of the attacks as a couple managed to cut into his right arm, his side and then his injured leg. The Matagi cried out in pain as he was sent off the roof from the barrage of attacks and went falling through the ceiling of a smaller shop. Daki was quick to follow up her attack with even more as she impaled her sashes through the roof multiple times, nearly collapsing it under her assault as she listened for the sound of more pained cries.

She stopped after a moment when said noise never came, raising an inquisitive eyebrow before slowly descending through the hole that had been created by the Slayer's falling body. It turned out that he'd fallen into a shop which sold lamps, lamp oil and candles, several of which had been smashed or shredded by the Upper Moon's attacks. "Where are you Matagi boy," cooed Daki, "If you come out now, I promise to have some fun with you first and then end your life mercifully quick. If you're good enough, I might even go easy on that bitch of yours that set me on fire."

She didn't expect an answer, but she did hear some shifting of wreckage before looking over to note the presence of a blood trail which was leading to the back of the store. But then another noise drew her attention elsewhere as she looked out the shattered window to see her prey standing right there with one of his explosives in hand. "You don't like being set on fire, then you should've checked around a little harder," said Subaru, "that whole place is a giant fire hazard after all." He threw the explosive into the store as hard as he could where it met a sharpened piece of metal.

Daki's eyes widened in horror upon the realization that the Matagi had managed to spread a number of his explosives throughout the wreckage right before she'd arrived. She then let out a scream of both anger and agony as the friction ignited the thrown black sphere. Explosions followed which also ignited the oil within the shop, turning the whole thing into a bonfire as the Matagi jumped back to keep from getting burnt himself. "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Daki wailed as she was not only assaulted by the flames, but by a sudden, bitter memory, "Not again, why am I being burnt alive again?!"

It was just like that time, back when she was human. She'd been cute then, a little girl who was protected and cared for by her ugly but strong older brother, Gyuutarou, in the slums of the Red Light District known as the Rashomongasi. She never cared that he was ugly, though, and had been proud to call him brother. He had been one of the first to notice how her beautiful face attracted people, and given the district they were born into, that was a chance for them to dig their way up to a better life. And it had worked for a time. Shortly after her teen years hit, she was chosen to work in one of the high-class brothels, making a small fortune even before she'd become more well known. Gyuutarou did his part during that time working as her debt collector, a most ideal situation for the two orphans as they were finally getting food, clothing, and education.

But one day, a bastard of a samurai was way too rough with her and she lashed out angrily, taking his eye with her hairpin in self defense. The brute's revenge was swift and cruel as he bound her and set her on fire for taking his eye, throwing her near dead body in a ditch afterwards. Gyuutarou managed to kill the bastard and their bitch of a manager shortly thereafter, but was injured in the process. The only reason the two of them didn't die that day, was because Gyuutarou ran into an eccentric man with rainbow colored eyes while carrying her dying form, an Upper Moon demon by the name of Doma. Her new life had started after she'd been burnt to death and now, was she about to lose it the very same way?

That possibility was as horrifying as the pain she was experiencing as she whipped her sashes around wildly and swatted at her body in a vain attempt to get the burning oil off of her. It was then that she caught a glimpse of him, the hunter, the slayer and another presence seemingly behind him, or was it within him. 'It can't be,' thought Daki as the figure took aim, 'he can't be, he can't be a demon! He can't be the one who's finally come to drag my soul to the underworld!' Perhaps it was the flames in her eyes or the distortions caused by the heat, but at that moment, she would've easily mistaken the Rifleman as a Shinigami. "NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Daki lashed out with all of her sashes at once, swinging them like a massive whip and catching the slayer off guard as the blow slammed into his left arm. The impact was enough to send him into a nearby cart as he grunted in pain. "Gah, fuck!" exclaimed Subaru as he glanced at his now burned and throbbing left arm, "I think she might've broken a bone with that hit."

"So much for waiting for a clear shot at her neck," commented Azakeru, "Now what?" It was a good question. Daki was now stumbling out of the wreckage, finally managing to put out the flames on her body as her skin worked on regenerating itself. And as mentioned, Subaru now probably had a bum arm and his injured leg wasn't getting any better. Adding onto that were the numerous cuts on his body that had been aching more and more as the battle wore on.

His one current saving grace was the fact that Daki was still distracted by putting out the remaining flames on her body. But it wouldn't serve Subaru quite as well as he'd like as the building behind him suddenly burst open with the figures of Tengen and Gyuutarou trading blows ferociously. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SISTER?!" Exclaimed the enraged demon as he continued to push the Sound pillar back.

"You should worry about yourself," Uzui pointed out as he managed to plant his feet and begin counterattacking against the Upper Moon's blood blades in earnest, "the score is finally complete, we're gonna win this fight!" And he intended to see it through as he fought with all of his might until, taking a large gamble, he swung both his blades at his opponent, ignoring the other blood blades cutting into his tendons as he managed to slice his enemy's left arm off before jamming his other blade into his stomach.

"And what'll that do, man," yelled Gyuutarou, "you can't cut off my head like that."

"I never said I was the only one who could," coughed Uzui as some blood dripped from his mouth. That was the signal for Tanjiro to enter, his eyes having gone completely white at some point and, if Subaru wasn't seeing things, the mark on his head had become more flame-like as he charged at the demon with his blade at the ready. But there was a minor problem, Gyuutarou still had one working arm. 'Think Subaru, think,' he ordered himself as his eyes darted back and forth between the two demons.

If he fired at Daki, he could possibly kill her, but then Tanjiro might die at the hands of Gyuutarou. On the other hand, if he shot at Gyuutarou, the main threat would be more or less ended, but his back would be left open to Daki in the process, which was where Nezuko was currently residing. This entire situation ran through his head in a matter of seconds before he made his decision, by throwing Nezuko's box off his back and swinging the tank gewehr around on top of the cart he'd slammed into. "Sorry about this, but I can't let you lose your brother Nezuko," he said as he pulled the trigger.

He was rewarded with not only the usual blast from the rifle but the sight of the barrel actually blowing outward like a flower as the round rocketed forth and struck its target, the Sickle wielder's arm. The demon looked at his flying limb in horror as it was blown off before his eyes widened even further upon feeling Tanjiro's blade impact against his neck. At the same time this was happening, Daki was preparing to strike Subaru in the back before a yellow bolt of lightning suddenly appeared out of nowhere. "Thunderclap and Flash: God speed," said Zenitsu as he shot towards the demon at his fastest speed yet, the force of his blade striking Daki's neck so powerfully it actually drug her several feet back.

Shortly after that, Insosuke appeared from behind the female Upper Moon. "Don't underestimate the suppleness of my body!" exclaimed Inosuke, "I can even shift my organs out of the way when necessary!" The Boar Fighter then hit her neck in the opposite direction of Zenitsu's attack with both of his swords as the duo put all of their strength into cutting the demon's flexible neck. Subaru wasn't sure which way to look as the trio yelled while putting every last bit of effort into their swings, overpowering the sound of blades tearing into flesh until, at long last, a pair of demon heads went soaring into the sky.

It was a moment of triumph for all of the slayers as today on this day, an Upper Moon had lost their head! Subaru himself was practically overjoyed as he slumped against the cart, patting the tank gewehr lovingly despite its condition. He was certain he'd get an earful about it from someone, but given the circumstances, perhaps they'd be understanding about it. And speaking of earful, Tengen was yelling something all of a sudden, it sounded like. "RUUUUUUUUNNNN!"

And that's when Subaru's moment of joy became one of desperation as Gyuutarou's body suddenly unleashed one final attack of three swirling blood twisters from his dissolving form. The Matagi reacted instinctively as he leapt towards Nezuko's box, protecting it with his body as the dying blow brought destruction towards all of the slayers.

At last, at last, at last an Upper Moon has fallen, with a good bit of the district on top of everything. But what is to happen now with the demon's final, dying attack? It's a question that'll be answered next week, so until then, feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters. Be sure to stop in next time as our heroes tend to their wounds and a few other issues. 'Til then.