^ Chapter 37 - A Younger Brother's Regret ^
"The other two are in the Onsen with Genya and Nezuko, it's only a short distance away! Don't misread the direction. Use your opponent's ability to fly...I've got it!"
Tanjirō gripped his sword tighter and widened his stance, his eyes darting left and right as he kept them glued on the harpy demon as it tried to confuse him with its speed. It had the ability to soar high above Tanjirō's reach, even with his empowered strength, but that's as far as its advantages went.
His claws had proven to be ineffective against Tanjirō's Blood Demon Art, and with each passing second the young slayer was continuously feeding tiny traces of blood into it to further strengthen it. All of this was happening because of his demon transformation sparked by Hantengu's initial presence and his diffusion into three different demons. The threat an Upper Rank posed, coupled with his past experience as one and continued growth as a warrior, he didn't feel afraid. It was quite the opposite now.
Finally the moment came as the demon swooped down for another go at Tanjirō, believing him to be open. With a deafening boom created by the air getting pushed out of the way of his body, he instead felt pain in his right leg and turned back only to see the slayer had impaled his sword through his knee and thigh, locking the joints in place. He opened his mouth to scream at him, but Tanjirō negated his sonic attack by snarling and pushing his blade even further through his opponent.
The tip pierced the demon's tattooed tongue and with a final push from Tanjirō, his blade entered the back of his throat and struck bone, hitting his spine full force. High up they flew, Tanjirō's eyes widened when another one of his guesses was proven true just by how high they had gone up.
"I knew it! He's light! I couldn't imagine him being able to fly with those wings if he wasn't!" Tanjirō thought with a confident smile as he exerted even more force on his blade, pushing the demon backward enough to make him start flying right at the Onsen at high speed. "I've got this! I'm coming, Nezuko, Genya!"
With a deafening boom and explosion of debris, Tanjirō slammed the body of the harpy demon right into the side of the building where their room had once been. Wood and stone were thrown away in all directions, as were a pair of sliding doors, with Tanjirō falling on top of the fallen harpy demon for a brief moment before he wrenched his sword free and whipped his head up.
"Nezuko! Genya! Are you-" he began to shout when the torturous cries of his sister filled his ears, the glow of the lightning continuously electrocuting her body dominating his vision. Sekido was right next to Nezuko, eyes devoid of nothing but anger, which only intensified at seeing Tanjirō and his defeated clone. "NEZUKO!"
A powerful burst of killer intent exploded outward from the slayer, causing his horns to grow and curl upward more to make him appear even more demon-like when coupled with his dark red blood armor. Sekido felt the blood lust hit him dead center and made him hesitate briefly, before snarling as he lifted a hand to start regenerating a new staff from his flesh.
"Dammit. First Karaku, and now Urogi. The hell are they even doing? Every single thing is starting to piss me off!"
Tanjirō held his blade back and took several hard steps towards Sekido, bright orange flames sparking to life around the black metal as a result of his turbulent emotions of rage and concern for Nezuko.
At the last second, before the staff tip could hit him, Tanjirō skillfully ducked to the left and brought his hand up, claws forming over his fingers as he tore apart the demon's entire face and his tongue, surprising him at his surge of speed.
"Dammit! The brat's more skilled than I thought! And those eyes...this was the guy that replaced Upper Moon Six. He even figured out the weakness with our tongues! Fucker!" Sekido thought as he staggered from the slash, the wounds beginning to heal with several loud hisses.
"Now that his recovery is slowed by a bit, I can save Nezuko!"
Tanjirō then reached for the staff pierced through his sister's throat, his armor-covered hand taking the brunt of the lightning and stinging him a little. With a loud roar he wrenched out the staff and tossed it to the side, cutting off the electrical current entering Nezuko and freeing her.
Without wasting a beat Nezuko took a single step and entered a half-kneeling position, eyes full of revenge, as she thrust her arm outward at Sekido and cast her Blood Demon Art on him. Tanjirō turned around and stood protectively in front of his sister while Sekido reeled from her flames, which only enraged him even more.
The siblings were about to commence their assault on the Sekido before a blur appeared above the treetops, the moon's light obscuring their appearance momentarily before a familiar-looking fan outline was seen in their hand.
"Hot damn, that looks fun! Lemme join you guys, hahah!" laughed Karaku with wide eyes before he wrenched his arm downward, the larger fan creating a monumental gust of wind that shot towards their home faster than either Nezuko or Tanjirō could properly react.
Slamming into them and the floor the siblings were forced to their stomachs by the overwhelming pressure of the wind, the strength of the blast enough to create dozens upon dozens of cracks and chips in Tanjirō's armor and internally damage some of his organs and bones. Nezuko suffered the same ordeal, with practically every bone in her body breaking on impact, making her squeal in pain from behind her mouthpiece.
"Too much...pressure! We're gonna get crushed!" Tanjirō though as he attempted to push himself up, only for the floor beneath them to cave in from the wind and leave behind a leaf-shaped hole. "Gyaaagh!"
Carried down by the extreme might of Karaku's wind, their bodies were once again slammed into the ground of the floor below them and created a crater of tattered tatami mats and wood fragments around them. Nezuko had been rendered unconscious from the blow, her body broken and disjointed in some areas, while her brother was barely conscious with entire portions of his armor broken off to reveal heavily bruised and bloody skin beneath.
"S...So this...is the power of...the Upper Moon Four…" uttered Tanjirō with raspy breath, before he too caved in and passed out, allowing Sekido to recover from Nezuko's flames and summon his two clones, Karaku and Urogi, to his side.
"Enough playing around, I'm pissed off enough as is." uttered Sekido with a snarl, a third staff in his grasp. "Time to end this."
Muichirō killed another monstrous fish demon and landed swiftly on his feet a couple meters away to watch it disintegrate as the young Kotetsu ran past him to the the greatly agitated Kanamori nearby.
"Thank the stars! You saved me, Tokitō-dono! I couldn't even see you killing that beast!" exclaimed Kanamori as he lowered his measly butcher's knife.
"Kanamori-saaaan!" cried Kotetsu before throwing himself into the older smith's body, grateful for him being safe.
"Young Kotetsu! I'm so glad you're safe! I honestly thought I was going to die from that demon…"
"You're this Kanamori person, right? You have my blade ready?" questioned Muichirō while holding the sword he was using out for Kanamori to see.
"Oh dear! This blade is heavily chipped, I'll give you your blade right away!"
"That went pretty quick...thank you." Muichirō stated blankly at the swordsmith, who instead of returning the gesture, he waved his hand at him and chuckled.
"You should actually be thanking Tanjirō-kun, not I. He was the one who asked us to fix your blade." Kanamori replied with a hidden smile behind his mask.
"Tanjirō? He actually…"
"That's why I had to look for your first swordsmi-wait! That's right! Haganezuka-san!"
Taking off at top speed the swordsmith ran into the trees behind him, an expressionless Muichirō following behind with Kotetsu over his shoulder. After running for a couple of minutes they arrived at a small shack nestled in a tiny clearing in the forest.
"Oh, thank the gods! There's no fish monsters here! He's working in that shed." said Kanamori while pointing at the building, the Hashira behind him. "Your new sword is in there, so take it and go to the village chief! He has to be protected at all costs!"
"I can't, sorry."
Before Kanamori could question Muichirō on his harsh rejection the man was yanked backward by the collar of his robe alongside Kotetsu, getting them behind him as quickly as possible. Muichirō then gripped his chipped blade with both hands as from the bushes shuffled out a small floral pot, a distorted chortle coming out from its opening once in view.
"So you noticed me, huh? Guess that means you're a Hashira, hyo!" uttered Gyokko with a sneer as his body emerged from the pop, one of his eye mouths licking its lips. Kanamori and Kotetsu felt complete dread upon laying eyes on the horrendous demon, the multiple arms dotting his snake-like body sending shivers up and down their spines. "Is something important in that abandoned shed? I wonder what all the rustling in there's about. Hyo hyo!"
Muichirō remained silent as he stared down the demon, Gyokko's left eye mouth sticking its tongue out while the right opened to laugh at them again. He always enjoyed conversing with meals or kills, and it especially excited him to know that one was a Hashira. However, another moetion superseded his hunger and took control, the emotions that came with being an artist.
Knowing they were in a village that prided themselves on their craftsmanship with swords, he had felt inspired to produce some of his own art on his way towards the shack. As an artist, he of course wanted to showcase his handiwork.
"Hyo hyo! Pleasure to make your acquaintance, my name is Gyokko. May I have a minute before I kill you? My dear guests, would you like to look at my artwork tonight?" asked Gyokko while one of his small hands stroked his chin just below the eye coming from his original mouth.
"Art? What are you talking about?" responded Muichirō without so much as a hint of change in his expression.
"Why, allow me to show you! Presenting 'L'Agonie des Forgerons'!"
Gyokko manifested a second pot next to his own, one with a dripping honey-like texture on it, and smiled happily as a strange black liquid began bubbling up out from the pot's inner depths. Right then, before their very eyes, and to both Kanamori and Kotetsu's utter horror, a misshapen and disfigured conglomeration of swordsmiths. Their bodies were twisted and fused together in a horrific, savage display by the demon, where for added misery he had inserted several blades through their limbs and bodies, leading blood to flow freely from their wounds.
It was such a horrendous image of human pain and suffering, it was no surprise at all that Kotetsu and Kanamori were the first to cry out in terror. Even the stoic Muichirō who normally kept himself composed in all situations, to the point that some even thought he was incapable of expression emotion, was slightly disturbed.
"Behold these hands! They're littered with blisters, unique only to the fabled swordsmiths of the Demon Slayer Corps! Intentional, mind you! That's why I put them up front!" proclaimed Gyokko, taking on the role of a presenter in order to showcase his grotesque work of so-called art. His eccentric personality did nothing to make Kanamori and Kotetsu any less scared, instead serving to make them tremble even more, especially when they recognized the men involved.
"Kongōji-dono...Tetsuo-san...Kanaike-san...K-Koutarou…" Kanamori uttered, his hands trembled so bad that he couldn't even keep a grip on his knife.
"T-Tetsuhiro oji-san…!" cried Kotetsu with tears stinging his eyes.
"Yes, yes you are right! I used five luxurious swordsmiths for this piece! Quite the lavish number, I might add. I didn't think you'd be so moved by this!"
Gyokko sadistically continued to showcase the terrible display by pointing out various features that he proclaimed to be intentional and part of his work. All of this led up to him twisting one of the blades embedded in the top most body, which caused the man to scream in pain, his broken malformed arms twitching and convulsing.
The swordsmiths Gyokko had fused together were still alive, somehow still managing to continue living even when they had already gone through untold amounts of pain. Kotetsu tried to run to them, to try and do anything to help, which forced Kanamori to hold him back and keep him at bay.
Gyokko's mouths were grinning, as was the one that held his bottom eye, before his reveling in their suffering was cut short by an immense pressure that seemed to be coming from the diminutive Muichirō.
"Hey. Cut it out, fuckface." he stated darkly, his eyebrows leveling out ever-so-slightly as a light scowl developed on his face.
Gyokko scoffed at him for a brief moment before the Hashira flickered in and out of existence, his speed so incredible that his blade came within a few mere inches of his neck. He quickly retreated into his pot to avoid the decapitating blow, however, and reemerged from another pot resting comfortably on the top of the shed roof overlooking Muichirō.
"Hey now, I'm not done explaining yet, hyo! Make sure to listen until the end." Gyokko said from one mouth, the other mouth chortling.
"So he can move from pot to pot...noted." thought Muichirō while altering his stance somewhat, his grip changing on his blade.
"So, as I was saying, my pride is in the pot's-"
With a whoosh of air and the sharp cracking noises that accompanied the shattering of the pot, Muichirō looked at the piece of porcelain after he had flung himself up in the air and flipped once to deliver a swift slash aimed at the demon. Noticing there was no blood or demon inside, he looked down towards the ground and noticed yet another pot that emerged from the bushes nearby.
He took account of how quickly the Upper Moon could maneuver from pot to pot, and wondered to himself how he could relocate so quickly without him being able to see it. Gyokko snaked up from the pot without a scratch on him, with his cheery, showman's personality now totally gone.
"How dare you cut through my pot, my art! You uncultured swine! You pigs have nothing but muscle in those brains." growled Gyokko as veins bulged out from his head, the dozen small arms coming out of his body clenching their fingers into fists. His mouths were baring their teeth in anger as well, while his lips surrounding his bottom eye curled downward to make it seem like the eye was frowning. "You lack the intelligence to appreciate my art, but that's fine too! Now, that means I can do what I came here to do!"
"Since he is dodging me quite a lot, he should die if I cut his head off, unlike the spitting demon from before. It's just a matter of finding the right opening."
A pot manifested in one of Gyokko's tiny hands and out from its depths appeared a pair of goldfish-like creatures that floated in the air just above his shoulders. Their large, bulbous eyes gave them a cartoonish appearance as they swam through the air aimlessly. Gyokko's mouths then sneered evilly as the fish turned their dimwitted gaze on Muichirō, their cheeks puffing up to a tremendous size.
"Senbonbari Giyosatsu!" exclaimed Gyokko, the fish's mouths then popping open to release a huge barrage of razor-sharp needles that were flung towards Muichirō at high speeds.
Eyes wide, he quickly ducked to the other side of the roof in order to avoid the needles, hearing them clatter against the tiles when they bounced off or pierced through to be embedded in the stone. He heard the fish suck in air yet again, refilling their ammo, and he dropped down to the side of the house to see them set their sights on the vulnerable Kanamori and Kotetsu nearby.
He had little time to think and mere seconds to act. With the cry of Kotetsu filling the air, the sound of the needle followed soon after. Rather then end their lives, Kanamori and Kotetsu found themselves to be unharmed, before slowly turning their heads and gasping at their savior. Standing motionless in front of them, the stoic Muichirō held his blade high while around them were a vast majority of the needles he had managed to deflect.
Unfortunately for the Hashira, even with his skill and reflexes, the sheer volume of projectiles left him incapable of deflecting them all, and grunted slightly from the two dozen or so that were sticking out of his face and limbs like the spines of a hedgehog. Blood dripped out from the wounds, most noticeably from the four that were stuck in his cheeks and chin, but he kept a steady gaze and showed no signs of faltering.
"You're getting in my way, so go and hide. Now." Muichirō told them firmly, the two swordsmen shaking and shivering while fumbling with their words in response. When the goldfish restocked their cheeks full of the needles for a third attack, Muichirō furrowed his brow and widened his stance some more into a more defensive one. "Go!"
"S-S-Sorry, Tokitō-donoo!" cried out Kanamori when he turned tail and ran with Kotetsu in his arms just as the fish fired their deadly payload.
Being more prepared this time allowed Muichirō to more effectively deflect the needles with his sword, the sparks they created when struck by his blade creating a fireworks-like display around him until the attack had ended.
"Hyo hyo hyo! You look really funny with all those needles stuck in your body. But, I digress! Have your limbs gone numb from all the poison? Hyo!" laughed Gyokko as the pot that manifested the goldfish morphed back into his body, with the fish themselves popping into droplets of water. "Truly comical, truly! You're going to lose your life in a worthless place like this, all because you saved some worthless lives. Hyo hyo! Utterly comical!"
Muichirō's body stiffened up and his eyes widened when the mist in his mind cleared a little again, allowing him to see the bare outline of a figure he did not know nor recognize. From the shadows all he could see was the lower half of their face and the top of the clothes they were wearing, which was some kind of polka-dotted shirt. Their lips were curled back in a sneer, and located on their cheek below their unseen left eye was the tattoo of a triangle pointing down.
"Whether they're there or not, nothing changes. Truly worthless lives." spoke the finger with a hiss in his tone, those words shaking the Hashira to his very core.
"Who was that? I can't remember. I think someone said the same thing before, but who said that?" Muichirō asked himself in his thoughts while completely tuning out Gyokko and his ramblings. "Summer. Hot. The door was open. Maybe it's because it was hot, but the cicadas got annoyingly loud even at night."
"Hyo hyo! But you're a Hashira, so I should prepare something extra special! What kind of piece should I make, hm? I'm tingling with excitement!"
Pushing aside his throats to focus on the here and now, a burst of mist exploded outward from his arms and blade as he appeared once again in front of the musing Gyokko with his incredible speed.
"Shut it. Your words are what's worthless." he uttered as the cold steel of his neck punctured Gyokko's white pasty skin, entering his neck by a couple of inches.
The Upper Moon reacted in the blink of an eye by manifesting a different pot from one of his hands, this one a dark blue with waves inscribed on the porcelain, and unleashed a torrent of water from within that swept away Muichirō and took him away from his body. With a menacing chortle from his eye mouths, the demon then twisted his arm and guided the swirling flow to take Muichirō on a rollercoaster ride along the ground, hitting him several times against the trees and dirt, before enacting the finale of his technique.
"Kekkijutsu - Suigokubachi…" said Gyokko to bring the technique to a close, where the water then solidified around Muichirō, trapping him inside a vase made entirely of water. He looked shocked within the water construct, with the world outside of it appearing blurred and aqua-marine in color. "Suffocation is quite chic. Quite beautiful. Then again, having the cold sensation of a sword through your neck is quite nice too."
Unable to respond, Muichirō attempted to break free from the water pot by stabbing the liquid exterior with his sword, only for the wall to contort around it and negate his attempt entirely. To make matters worse he couldn't waste his breath, because he only had what remained in his lungs left to use.
"I've obstructed the greatest weapon for you Demon Slayers, your breath. Imagining your face warping from pain brings me joyous ecstasy. Hyo hyo!" Gyokko said while continuing to laugh, all three of his mouths grinning wide to express the pleasure he was experiencing at that moment. A Hashira trapped without any hope of breaking free was something he always had enjoyed seeing, an experience that made his extended life even more worthwhile. "And this is the best part! If we destroy this village, the Demon Slayers will suffer a huge blow. And if we weaken the Demon Slayers, then that man Ubuyashiki's neck will be right out in the open! Hyo hyo hyo!"
As the Upper Moon demons were preoccupied with their own individual opponents, the village itself was under siege by the grotesque fish demons Gyokko had beset onto the village to attack and feed on as much of the populace as possible. The alert had been sent and the swordsmiths were doing everything they could to protect the most important among them, losing several men in the process to the monsters, and it seemed as though there was nothing capable of saving them.
Right in the nick of time, however, a savior appeared from the trees and cut apart the demons and the pots they spawned from with her weapon faster than the demons could react.
"I'm so sorry I'm late everyone! I'll make double sure to beat them all up!" announced Mitsuri in the middle of a flip, before launching herself off the ground when she landed to decimate several more demons clustering the road ahead.
"Whoaa, a Hashira's here! Hell yeah!" said one of the swordsmiths while holding on to a fellow smith as another man tended to claw wounds on their back.
"I forgot that one was strong since she was so cute…" remarked another, which produced a laugh from his colleague.
Mitsuri kept her eyes facing forward as she raced to the center of the village where she new the Chief's home was, which from afar she could see had succumbed to the demons attacking the city. She gripped her sword hilt tighter and hoped she had made it in time to save him, as well as wondered where Tanjirō and any other slayers could be at a time like this.
With agility equal to that of a gymnast she propelled herself to the top of the chief's home and met the worst case scenario imaginable. A huge fish demon, the largest she had seen, was standing amongst debris and the bodies of the Demon Slayer guards that were meant to protect the village elder from harm. They had been killed easily by the colossal beast, and she could see that the man himself was being slowly crushed in one of the huge hands of the demon.
She had to act quickly, and she started by landing feet first with blade drawn in front of a fallen man who was painfully reaching for a staff to try and make a move on the demon. Whipping her sword around her body, the blade bending and contorting as if it were made out of rubber, she focused her sights on the pots the demon had on its back and took a single breath.
"You're better off not moving from there, mister! Your internal organs are probably wounded." she said firmly, her words freezing the man before he could do anything further.
"K...Kanroji-dono…!" exclaimed the man with a gasp. His gaze became fixated on the snake-like blade as Mitsuri held it behind her back, eyeing the huge fish demon when it noticed her presence. "What's with her sword...did Tecchin-sama forge it? I've heard rumors about it, but…"
His thoughts were cut short when the fish demon made a bellowing roar and charged towards them at a speed that didn't seem possible, given its sheer size and mess of legs that supported it up off the ground.
Dipping her body lower into her legs, she then whipped her sword back around and exhaled a single, concentrated breath while picking out every single weak spot she could identify on the creature. Trusting herself and who she was, the Love Hashira then dashed forward, creating a whirlwind of dust that nearly knocked the man behind her off the edge of the building.
"Koi no kokyū, Ichi no kata: Hatsukoi no Wananaki!" Mitsuri's pink whipblade cut and slashed through the body and pots of the creature, the sheer power of each creating miniature shockwaves in the air, as well as tiny little sparks of fire that looked like firecrackers. "My heart will never throb for those who hurt people with sick jokes."
After landing softly on her toes behind the creature's tail and rearmost leg, she withdrew her whipblade and sheathed it, while glancing over her shoulder at the confused demon. A few moments later a torrential downpour of blood burst forth from the demon's body as it collapsed to the floor in a mess of disintegrating flesh and ash.
Tecchin was let go from the hand of the demon as it disappeared, and the injured man in the corner of the room called out in fear for his safety, but Mitsuri was right there in a heartbeat to catch the elder man in her arms and fell with him right on her butt.
"Tecchin-sama! Are you okay?! Please, can you hear me!?" she crowd out with tears in her eyes, her emotions taking over while she held the beaten, frail body of the village elder.
"Ugh...I...might be in heaven...I'm being hugged by a cute, young girl…" Tecchin remarked with a pained cough, his body shivering a little.
"O-Oh! Tecchin-sama, you little perv!"
Mitsuri laughed out of relief as she let out a heavy breath, the other man who she had rescued laying himself back down on the ground and keeping his one exposed eye on the Hashira for the last few moments of consciousness he had left before thanking the gods and fainting.
Once Tecchin had been received by several swordsmiths that Mitsuri had called up to them, she took hold of her blade hilt and looked out over the village, seeing more fish demons terrorizing the populace. Her work had yet to be completed, which meant she couldn't rest. With a smile on her face and a fire burning in her heart, she knelt down and made a powerful jump into the air to descend upon the evil forces in the city and liberate those who were in harm's way.
"Just like my parent's love saved me...my love will save the Swordsmith Village!"
Tanjirō awoke with a start when his nostrils were filled with some sort of stench, his senses immediately taking stock of the situation around him. Nezuko woke up at the exact same time he did, and once confirming they were in one piece, immediately leapt to their feet just in the nick of time to avoid another devastating wind blast from Karaku.
Needing to find a more advantageous position, the siblings began running side by side into the building, dodging lightning from Sekido left and right before one managed to strike them just in front of a pair of doors and immobilize them.
"Gyaaaagh! It stings!" bellowed Tanjirō, with Nezuko crying as well when parts of their skin were rendered charred and burnt by the powerful current surging through them.
Urogi was quick to act on their dropped guards, the flying demon swooping down from where the other two clones were and laughing as he lunged at them with his claws. Tanjirō acted on pure instinct as he shoved Nezuko to the side in order to protect her and swung his blade at the speeding demon, bifurcating him and sending his tumbling body through the doors and out into the open air beyond.
Their path forward now clear, Tanjirō apologized to Nezuko and grabbed her hand as they ran out of the room and to the left, completely out of view of Sekido and Karaku. He had to find his way outside and fast, his sister and him couldn't hope to fight as effectively as they could in such a confined space against such strong enemies.
"Dammit! You're too slow, Karaku! Just blow the damn building away and be done with it!" snarled Sekido with a death grip on his staff.
"Kaka, that was the plan! No need to tell me twice!" Karaku replied with a jovial laugh, before he gripped his fan with both hands and swung it around himself in a full circle.
The monumental gust of wind produced by the fan swing was enough to create a miniature tornado of air and debris that tore the entire building down in one fell swoop, catching Nezuko and Tanjirō in its collapse just as they were leaving.
Tanjirō was launched forward by the plume of dust and debris from the collapsing building, hearing a muffled grunt behind him that was like a knife through his heart. He then felt a rough tug on his primary arm and turned his head, seeing Nezuko trapped beneath the building's debris gripping the blade of his sword near the hand guard.
"Nezuko?! What're you doing, that's my sword! Let go of it, you're hurting yourself!" exclaimed Tanjirō while kneeling down in front of her, his eyes scanning the rubble for any way to clear it in the most efficient way possible. "Dammit, I don't have time for this, not when those three are just on the other side…!"
Nezuko's expression hardened as she held onto his blade tighter, causing more of her blood to get smeared over the black metal. She cringed while dragging her hands towards the tip of Tanjirō's sword, before her eyes widened and with a grunt cast her Blood Demon Art to ignite the blood she had shed.
Tanjirō gasped at the brilliant scarlet flames that now covered his sword, and with those flames he was instantly reminded of his duel with Rui. A spark emerged in the back of his head and he remembered that scene even more clearly than before, discovering a minute detail that he hadn't even thought of before. In the brief seconds that occurred during Rui's decapitation, because of Nezuko's blood, his blade had changed colors.
And now, once again, thanks to his beloved sister's blood, his pitch-black sword was beginning to change colors once again from its normal color to a bright, shining crimson. The very same color that Kyōjurō's sword had now become.
"My sword is burning from her blood, just like before...the color is crimson, just like Rengoku-san's too. Is this...a sign?" he thought once his sword had turned fully crimson, the flames continuing to swirl around it. "I understand, Nezuko. I have to burn, just like when you burned to save me...it's time I return the favor!"
One step up off the ground was all it took for Tanjirō to be struck with images and memories he had never once had before. The people within them, however, especially one of them, felt familiar and almost like family to him.
"It sure is getting red...are you positive it's meant to be like that?"
"That samurai's sword only turns red when he fights. Why is that? It's so weird. Usually it's just obsidian black. Regardless, it's pretty!"
Tanjirō gripped the side of his head with eyes wide in both shock and befuddlement from the unknown memories and voices swirling in his mind. After a second or two of confusion, he realized that they must be inherited memories from the first man he saw, a person who appeared to be his ancestor.
"So that Samurai guy must be the earring swordsman I saw before. Was his sword charred black, like mine? And my sword turned red just now, thanks to Nezuko. I'm sure that swordsman did it a different way, like Rengoku-san...but we ended up with the same blade." Tanjirō thought as both he and his sister gazed at his flaming, crimson sword. The flames gave off heat, just like normal fire, but it didn't burn or harm him in the slightest. "I became strong on my own, making my body scarred and rough. I turned into a demon, and accepting who I was made me stronger still. I even became an Upper Moon...but even still, I've always had someone help me along the way, leading to our lives becoming intertwined."
Nezuko's gaze softened on her brother as she observed his stance widening, the look in his eyes morphing from an adrenaline-induced state of hyper-awareness to level-headed focus and determination. The horns on his head were easily half a foot long and curved upward, and his hair had grown out even further to reach his lower back. To her, it looked like her brother was maturing right before her very eyes.
For him, though, it was much more than that. Not only did he feel himself growing, he could feel as though the hopes and wishes of those he had met were pouring into him like tea into a cup. Warm emotions of hope and purpose filled his heart, feeding his own fire, in such a way that he felt as though the hands of those he shared bonds with were being placed on him. Urokodaki, Giyū, Shinobu, Kanao, Kyōjurō, the list of names went on and on in the back of his mind. Every single one of them, like several times before, were counting on him to fight the Upper Moon Four with every ounce of his strength.
"Everyone is lending me their swords. Our hopes and our feelings are one. We must defeat the demons and protect the people. I have to live up to that!"
"Kakaka, planning something, huh? Still think you can beat us?" asked Urogi as he emerged over the pile of rubble with Sekido and Karaku by his side, the flying demon grinning ear to ear. "Once we cut you up, we'll take you back to that person so you can come back into the fold!"
Tanjirō paid no attention to the demon's petty threats, instead keeping his gaze leveled solely on Sekido, letting them see just how intent he was on fighting them. His former rank of Upper Moon Six was clearly seen by all three demons, but their focus was instantly drawn towards his flaming crimson sword and the stance he had taken.
They froze on the spot. Sekido's eyes widened, as did Karaku's, the latter's smile wavering a bit when he and his other clones received their own surge of memories after seeing the slayer. The flaming red sword, the long dark maroon and black hair, and the flame-like marking on the upper left side of his forehead. It all triggered the recollection from their connection with Muzan of a swordsman who had pursued him and very nearly beheaded him.
Urogi wasn't phased by these memories and soared at top speed towards the waiting swordsman, who kept his composure despite the sight of the demon's talons coming right for his head.
Closer and closer to his head did Urogi get, the harpy demon cackling the whole way there, until Tanjirō's eyes widened and he reared back with his crimson red blade. Urogi gasped and a jolt of fear rushed through his system when the visages of both Tanjirō and the samurai overlapped with one another, turning into a single person.
"Hinokami Kagura…Nichiun no Ryū Kaburimai." Tanjirō uttered when, with but a single step, he surged forward at a speed that completely overwhelmed Urogi, Sekido, and Karaku, his blade creating a magnificent dragon composed of his own flames as well as Nezuko's.
"Gyaghkh!" sputtered Urogi, a gasp escaping his mouth when he found himself losing his head and his limbs, followed by the same happening to Sekido and Karaku behind him.
"Even though I'm unharmed, my body feels like it's on fire. I look calm, but my heart's beating so fast that I swear it's going to burst. I can do this though...all I have to do is cut down all four at once!"
He followed his nose to look in the direction of the fourth body's scent, but instead of finding an enemy he'd have to behead along with the other three, he found its body pinned to a tree by its own weapon and Genya standing before it with the demon's head in his hand. He was breathing heavily, with the barrels of his shotgun still smoking from its most recently fired shots.
Overjoyed from seeing Genya unharmed and the fourth demon beheaded at the exact time, he went to call out his friend's name, only to be shut down by the glare he gave him. Genya's eyes looked like those of a demon, with the razor sharp fanged teeth to boot, which made him question who he even was.
"Aaaaghh! What the fuck was that slash!? I can't regenerate! It's like I'm burning alive!" shouted Karaku painfully as he grappled at his bleeding neck, his entire body twitching.
"Calm down. You're so damn annoying. We are regenerating, but it's slow as hell." Sekido barked back at him from where his head lay in his body's lap.
Taking this rare opportunity of respite to return to his sister, Tanjirō lowered his sword and came back to Nezuko so that he could free her from the rubble she was trapped under. The entire time he did this, leading up to embracing her, he was deep in thought about the rapidly developing situation against Sekido and the others.
Cutting off all of their heads at once certainly worked at immobilizing them, but they weren't dying. Even with his hazy memory of the time he was an Upper Moon, killing them in this manner didn't feel right. That led him to wondering about their weak points as the four primal emotions. Their tongues were one, but like decapitation, it only slowed them down. His deep thinking didn't prevent his nose from taking in new scents, and for a brief moment, the same stench he had smelled earlier upon waking up happened upon him yet again.
"This smell...it's the smell of a fifth body! There's five of them! We have to find it and-gyagh!" Tanjirō was ripped quite literally from his thoughts by Genya, who was grasping him tightly by his uniform and looking him dead in the eyes, still breathing heavily.
"Don't push...your luck...I will beat the Upper Moon! Those eyes of yours...don't mean shit!" Genya snarled, his drool falling from his lips as if he were a ravenous dog.
"Genya, you're drooling! Also you're gonna tear my clothes!"
"I'm the one who's gonna kill this Upper Moon! You hear me!? I'm the one who's gonna be the Hashira!"
Tanjirō smelled a different kind of scent practically rolling off Genya's tongue, different then the actual stench of his breath, and in a split second he switched tactics and smiled widely at Genya while nodding.
"Oh, I see! Alright, sounds good! Nezuko and I will help you as much as we can!" he said with a thumbs up for added effect. "There should be a fifth demon around here somewhere. I'll look for it, so just buy me some time!"
"Cut the chatter! You're just putting me off my…geh..."
The eyes of an Upper Moon were meant to inspire fear and dread in the hearts and minds of any human who saw them, but even with his aggressive personality, which was only heightened by the special state he was in, Genya was unable to continue with his sentence. Tanjirō's eyes were looking right into his, and despite clearly reading "Upper Moon Six" between both pupils, they held a certain kind of innocence in them.
It was almost like a symbol of destruction and dominance had been morphed by the young slayer into one that could be seen as a ray of hope and defiance against those who had been superior to humans for years.
Unfortunately for the both of them, that moment of silence between them was interrupted by a devastated lightning strike by the now recovered Sekido, the two slayers and Nezuko barely managing to avoid it.
"I'll let you know right away when I find the fifth body! Just make sure not to cut Nezuko's head off, she's my precious little sister!" shouted Tanjirō as he avoided another lightning bolt, Genya hesitating when Nezuko stood next to him and waved a little. With that said, Tanjirō fully devoted himself to using his senses to seek out the fifth body in the surrounding area. "Find him, find him! Focus! The fan demon's wind spread the hot spring's sulfur smell all over the place, so I really have to focus! I can't waste time!"
Hearing the crackle of lightning as more bolts came down to threaten them, he used sheer intuition and reflexes to keep himself safe while searching for the fifth body. Left and right, up and down, his eyes and nose examined every nook and cranny that he could see and smell from where he stood.
his ability to sniff out the scents of the vile had become so fine-tuned he found the fifth body's location just a few seconds later. Death, the scent of hundreds innocent souls. He had found it!
"Genyaaaa! Head straight northeast! The fifth body is hiding somewhere close to the ground!" bellowed Tanjirō over his shoulder, spurring Genya to immediately start running in that direction. "I'll cover you! Nezuko, help Genya! Don't let the demons get in his way!"
Right after finishing his sentence Karaku attacked with a devastating gust of wind that knocked Tanjirō clear off his feet and back into a fractured tree. He stabbed his sword into the dirt and held onto the trunk in order to avoid being blown away, only to growl when he noticed Sekido was about to attack.
In a blur Nezuko was on his left, preferring to disregard her brother's order to help Genya so that she could protect Tanjirō instead. Sekido didn't even have to move when the spear that belonged to Aizetsu skewered her abdomen and stopped her right in her tracks. The blow's momentum carried him forward until his Yari's blood-soaked blades penetrated a tree close by, pinning Nezuko to it.
Just as fast as Aizetsu had protected him, Tanjirō had recovered from Karaku's assault and took the fight to Sekido, severing both his staff, his left hand, and his torso with his crimson blade. The flames seared the demon's skin and with a grunt the two halves of his body dropped to the ground, a snarl escaping through his teeth.
"This kid, he's even faster than before. No wonder he was made an Upper Moon...at this rate, he could have even surpassed Gyokko in a short amount of time." thought Sekido as he watched Tanjirō make short work of Urogi, cutting him up into a mess of flesh and limbs that couldn't regenerate as fast as usual due to his blade. "Exceptional reflexes, the ability to adapt in battle...explosive growth during critical moments, and the fact that he's a demon too. If left unchecked, he may even have the ability to…"
A growl came from his left and he turned his head just in time to see and enraged Nezuko plung her fingernails into Aizetsu's face, confusing him for a second before she forcibly pulled himself forward so she could hug him tightly. The two of them were then engulfed by a massive fireball she created from her blood, which made him screech in pain.
"Shit, Karaku! Karaku!" Sekido bellowed mentally, his gaze finding the last emotion clone still standing right as Tanjirō was charging at him.
"Tough luck brat, you're not getting past me!" laughed Karaku when he brought his fan to deliver another powerful gust.
"Hinokami Kagura: Hirin Kagerō." said Tanjirō with his blade coated in a radiant haze of heat and fire.
Sidestepping the blast of wind just as it was created by Karaku's fan, he slashed at the demon and seemingly missed him, the haze passing harmlessly over him and leaving him unharmed. Tanjirō continued forward, coming to a halt a meter or so behind Karaku, and glanced back at him as they met each other in the eyes.
Laughing, Karaku was about to berate him for missing him at such a close range, before a gurgle came from past his lips and he coughed up blood when his body suddenly came from the shoulder diagonally down to his waist. The emotions taken care for a few brief moments, Tanjirō sniffed the air once more and sucked in a breath in order to yell at the top of his lungs.
"Genyaaa! Right side, right side! He moved south, go get hiiim!" Tanjirō bellowed, his voice carrying past the line of trees into the forest where the growling Genya was searching.
"I'm looking! I've been looking this whole damn time! Is it some technique!? Can I not see him because of some shitty technique?!" Genya thought angrilly as he looked left and right while running in between the tree trunks, ducking and hopping over every branch and shrub that got in his way. "Fuck, fuck, fuck! Where is he?! The longer this drags on, the more energy I waste."
"West! Ride side! He's close, but below! Genya!"
"Where is he!? Where is-"
Genya whipped his head around and noticed the slightest hint of something different than the surrounding green around him out of the corner of his eye. Freezing he immediately locked his eyes onto what he saw and saw the miniaturized Hantengu looking right back up at him, the demon's body the size of a rodent.
Cursing internally at the demon and his diminutive size, he took aim with his shotgun and fired, the buckshot missing the squealing Hantengu when he broke off into a sprint. Even with his size, Genya still had a hard time keeping up with him because of the remarkable agility he had.
"This is seriously the main body!? This guy!? God dammit. Can I even follow this guy? Those four guys are way too strong, and this run is controlling all of them!? What a pain in the ass!" Genya thought as he followed Hantengu through the brush, utterly intent on not letting the Upper Moon out of his sight. "I can see how every slayer who fought him to this point got killed. Goddamn sly little punk! That's a dirty way to play!"
Genya finally caught up with Hantengu and swung at him with his blade, the leading edge hitting him right at the base of his tiny neck and making him yelp in fright. For a moment, Genya thought he had won, but the feeling left as quickly as it had come when his blade split into two, failing to even dent the Upper Moon's skin.
"Shit! I can't cut him! Whatever, I've still got my shotgun!" Genya brought up his firearm and discharged the other barrel, hitting the paralized Hantengu dead on with the buckshot, only for the dust to settle and reveal it had no effect yet again. "It's not working!"
Genya's body froze when Sekido appeared from the air itself behind him, the angriest expression he had made yet plastered on his face, with the tip of his staff poised to pierce the base of Genya's neck. The demon's bloodlust was so strong that it rendered the slayer incapable of dodging. He was trapped.
"I was too slow! I'm gonna die...my head won't be able to regenerate. Aniki...I wanted to be a Hashira so you would accept me. And I wanted to apologize for what happened...what happened back then…"
In the few short seconds that went by in real time, with his death at hand, his mind unconsciously started to replay his life in his eyes. He was his younger self, and he was back at his family home, a place he had not seen since those times.
Genya recalled how his mother had a small frame despite her age, to the point that he was bigger than her at an early age. That didn't she was any less capable of being a mother, and she proved it day after day. She worked from morning till night, and never seemed to even give herself time to sleep.
His dad on the other hand was larger than all of them, and he was as pathetic as they could come. Genya's father was hated by everyone and the fact he got stabbed to death, a fate they'd learn later on, was not even surprising. When he was alive, however, he would often hit not only his mother, but Genya and his older brother too. Even still, his mother protected them over her own safety from their monster of a father without any hesitation whatsoever. That only further cemented her place in Genya's heart. She was utterly amazing.
That all changed one dreadful night, where he and his other siblings were unexpectedly attacked by who he had thought at first was a wolf. It was how he had gotten his first scar across the bridge of his nose and right cheek. What turned just a normal night into a nightmare was what happened next.
His older brother Sanemi arrived to save him, while their other siblings had already been gravely injured. Upon going outside and finding him again, that wolf who had attacked them was not a wolf at all, but their mother. She had been turned into a demon, but because of everything that had occurred, he was in such a panic that he wasn't thinking clearly. Sanemi had been forced to kill their mother to save himself and his one remaining sibling, and how did Genya thank him. By accusing him as a murderer.
"I wonder how you felt, Nii-chan. How did you feel when you killed our beloved mother, and despite being in extreme anguish, when you were verbally berated by the brother you fought so hard to protect." Genya thought to himself when the memories ended, the cold metal of the flesh scepter poised to pierce his neck just a few inches away. "I'm sorry Nii-chan. I'm gonna die without ever apologizing to you...I have no talent. I can't use breaths. I can't be a Hashira."
All of a sudden a surge of heat came at Sekido from his left, followed by his spear-wielding hand to be severed off with a burst of flames once again. Genya gasped when the staff only scraped the left side of his throat and struck the dirt in front of him, a rush of air alerting him to a presence that had just landed on the tree above him.
"Don't give up Genya! This isn't the time to do that, not now, not ever!" exclaimed Tanjirō, the traces of moonlight coming through the leaves reflecting off his crimson blade. It was an awe-inspiring sight, seeing the slayer exhibit such fire and intensity. "Just go for it one more time! Go for his neck one more time! Aren't you gonna become a Hashira!? Shinazugawa Genya!"
As soon as Tanjirō dropped down to his feet, the ominous shadow of Aizetsu emerged from the dark forest behind him, spear lowered and ready to skewer him. Sensing him, Tanjirō whirled around and coated his right arm with his blood in order to deflect the weapon and shove the demon off to the side.
Recovering from the rough push, he swung his spear around to rush Tanjirō again, only for the buckshot of Genya's shotgun to stop him dead in his tracks when his head exploded in a fountain of flesh and blood.
"I can't cut his head. My sword and Sun Stone ammunition have no effect. You have to be the one to do it." Genya growled as he reloaded a shell into his gun, the slayer taking a step in front of Tanjirō. "I'll give you the honors just this once."
"Be safe then, Genya. I promise, the next one will be yours!" Tanjirō replied before turning and running, avoiding the lightning from Sekido as he picked up Hantengu's scent and gave chase, catching up to him in a short amount of time.
"There! He's tiny…!" thought Tanjirō as he ignited his crimson blade and lunged at the tiny demon, striking the side of his neck with all of his strength.
"GYYAAAAAGH!" shrieked Hantengu at the top of his lungs, the sheer power of his voice making Tanjirō's eardrums rattle so loud he swore he went deaf.
"My ears…! Whatever, I have to keep going! I can cut his-!"
The air draft behind him changed when a new presence made itself known right behind him the aura and stench it gave off an entirely new one he hadn't even encountered yet that night. It was ominous and heavy, while the stench almost made his eyes water.
Tanjirō smelled that it wasn't a primal emotion, and every ounce of his body was telling him to meet the new threat, but his mind overruled this notion and told him to finish what he had started. With the worst timing possible, however, his sister's blood finally ran out and his blade reverted back to its original black sheen, leaving the very tip of the edge embedded in Hantengu's neck.
"Tanjirō! Move iit!"
"Shit, I miscalculated! This is bad, really really bad!"
The bang of a drum came from the new figure and in the blink of an eye, the ground beneath Tanjirō erupted as a multi-headed dragon made from the wood and roots of the surrounding forest trees came up to swallow him. Nezuko was faster than the dragons, Tanjirō's sibling appearing just in the nick of time to grab him and retreat from the ensuing destruction with the only casualty being the loss of her right left leg, which grew back almost instantly.
They landed feet first on the ground, with Nezuko stumbling and letting go of Tanjirō, who quickly caught her before she could collapse entirely and laid her down on her stomach. She was breathing heavily and panting, the energy she exerted that night by far the largest yet. Tanjirō could only worry about her for a brief second however, for their newest opponent emerged from the cloud of dirt the wood dragons had created with their entrance, his eyes staring right through him and piercing his soul. With a young, muscular figure, two horns sprouting from his forehead, and a levitating wooden construct possessing several drums floating behind him, this demon was nothing like the previous four clones or Hantengu.
"Savages who torment the meek. Spite, enmity, nothing but hatred for those who bathe in pure evil."
"A sixth body…!?"
A/N Whaaaaat? A chapter this soon after the other one? Yes, you're not seeing things! I had a lot more free time this past week because of, actually, a pretty bad winter storm that rolled through where I love that shut down my campus and online learning for the entire week. So of course, I was able to get to work on this one right away! Gotta love that haha :}
Before any of you say it, I know there's so many bloody cliffhangers, but I cant help it! I always end up reaching one when I get to a comfortable word count for these chapters! Plus there's just so much action going on right now, it's virtually impossible NOT to avoid a cliffhanger XD
Nothing else from me, except after this chapter they may be another hiatus, but that's just par for the course with the spring semester. School + Baseball, you know. Outside of that, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Leave a fav and follow, and be sure to leave a review as well! See you guys in the next chapter as we near the climax of the Swordsmith Village Arc!
Translation(s):
Senbonbari Giyosatsu
- Thousand Needle Fish Kill
Kekkijutsu - Suigokubachi
- Blood Demon Art - Water Prison Pot
Koi no kokyū, Ichi no kata: Hatsukoi no Wananaki
- Love Breathing, First Form: Shivers of First Love
Hinokami Kagura: Nichiun no Ryū Kaburimai
- Dance of the Fire God: Solar Halo Dragon Dance
Hinokami Kagura: Hirin Kagerō
- Dance of the Fire God: Soaring Flame Haze