Woooo apoc event
Parks98: I sure hope its BS! I want her back! Anyways, I did think about a number of ideas of dreams for Musashi, but then decided on the Shinmen and Yagyu one because I felt it was more realistic. Musashi was already asleep when her ticket was punched anyways, and her Magic Resistance is pretty high. Anyways, ye. Thank you! I'm glad you liked the last chapter!
Irish. lee: he really is just like a dog, isn't he?
Achen5041, bismarckenterprise: Hahahahahahaha. You'll see in this chapter.
Amerdism: I am going to try and slow down the speed at which we're all rocketing towards every arc. It's just a bit difficult because a lot of the manga is just... Tanjirou and co. at the Butterfly Estate or with Uzui. I don't want Musashi to be involved in every arc since I'm not trying to "hand hold" for the trio, but I also don't want to be repetitive when it comes to creating filler between arcs. Thank you though, I'm glad you like it so far!
HuangBaiLian: I update around every week to every ten days depending on how I feel.
Darth Erebus, M2R: Thank you!
Musashi drew her blades as soon as she saw the numbers printed in the demon's eyes, Kyojuro following suit as the two of them gazed at the demon before them. She had already started running scenarios through her mind upon seeing him. She had no idea what powers this demon had, but she knew he was powerful, it would be difficult. On the other hand, they were two very strong, very resilient Pillars.
One fact remained, though— Kyojuro, while not majorly injured, had been fighting to protect the people on the train the entire night. Musashi was sure that fatigue was starting to set in for him.
One wrong move and he could die here.
Of course, she would be wishing too much for him to sit the battle out— his fiery passion would never allow it. The two of them would have to be careful.
"Well, well," the demon spoke, "Not one, but two opponents… I can see it from here, you're both strong." His lips curled back, showing his fangs as he spoke to them.
Adjusting her grip on her sword, Musashi chose not to respond as she bit the inside of her lip. The karma that this demon had was equivalent to Tomoe Gozen's. He was strong, but there was definitely more that she was missing. All of her scenarios would only end badly if she didn't know what his Blood Arts were like— or even if the Upper Moons had Blood Arts like the Lower did. They could be entirely different.
"I have a wonderful proposal to make," the demon said. So he was still talking? Demons sure did like to talk a lot. "How about the two of you become demons?"
"No chance," Kyojuro said almost instantly, his smile falling and his eyes adapting a more serious look.
"I'd rather not," Musashi agreed, lips drawn into a frown. The demon just let out a disappointed sigh, eyes narrowing a bit.
"I know your strength just by looking at the two of you," he said, "You're both Pillars, right? Your battle spirit is quite polished, so close to supreme territory."
Kyojuro pursed his lips together before he spoke again. "I am the Flame Pillar, Rengoku, Kyojuro."
"Miyamoto, Musashi," she said, not giving her Pillar title to the demon and Kyojuro gave her a sideways glance. If they didn't manage to kill him and he took off when dawn broke, then she didn't want Muzan to any more than her name.
The demon curled his lips into a sneer again. "And I am Akaza," he said, "And you both will never be able to cross into supreme territory—"
Musashi had enough of listening to him, lunging forwards with her blades crossed and bringing them down on the demon. He just barely managed to avoid getting cleaved in two, though his arm suffered deep gashes as he leaped back.
"How dare you attack me while I'm still talking!" he snarled as Musashi landed. "You coward!"
"Hey, now, don't talk to me about cowardice when you demons flee from the sun like a child running from the dark," she said gaze hard. "I know full well that you're powerful, better believe I'm going to try and get some hits in before you get serious!"
She rushed forwards again, Kyojuro right behind her, and Akaza's fists met with one of her blades and Kyojuro's own. She swung her second one up, managing to make a shallow gash to his chest when the demon leaped back.
She and Kyojuro moved seamlessly as the battle began— guarding each other and attacking in rapid succession. Kyojuro would attack with his Second Style and then, directly after him, Musashi would follow with her Uke Nagashi Migi. Akaza would retaliate with his own attacks, before being forced onto the defensive by Musashi. Kyojuro would always be in her blindspot if he needed to be, deflecting blows that Akaza aimed at her. It wasn't necessary, Musashi always knew that people targeted her right side because of it, but it was just how they had always fought. A team of three eyes.
Kyojuro's strikes were practiced, disciplined, and spoke of years of being trained under a professional before perfecting his own style. Musashi's were harder to read as she switched between all five of her blades in quick but perfected movements, her strikes always swung with the intent to kill.
Akaza was quick, though, attacking from a distance and always finding a way to just narrowly dodge fatal strikes. When he attacked from the air, Musashi and Kyojuro had no choice but to deflect or block with their own skills from the ground.
A dangerous game of back and forth that would only end once the sun rose or if one side had been killed.
Musashi shifted, leaping forwards and swinging her blades up as Kyojuro attacked from the side. Akaza ducked away from one of Musashi's blades before spinning and nailing Kyojuro in the side with a kick. The Flame Pillar was sent back as Musashi's second sword met empty air— Akaza having leaped up in preparation for another attack.
From the air, he rained down a flurry of blows that Musashi barely had time to block with her sword. A familiar feeling was attached to them, she realized as she canceled the attack when she swung her blades downwards. The swordswoman's eye narrowed as she glared at the demon, who seemed startled at the sudden loss of lightheartedness in her gaze. He landed and as soon as his foot touched the ground, Musashi had suddenly entered into a close-combat, striking zone.
"You think you're superior, then? Don't make me laugh," She said as she struck, the demon just barely able to meet her blows with his own. "You claim that you've reached Supreme Territory, yet you don't seem to realize that you will never reach the Void."
With a final strike, she sent the Upper Moon flying back with two, deep gashes across his chest. Blood spattered the ground as she leaped back, sheathing her 'Earth' and 'Water' blades and replacing them with her 'Flame' and 'Wind' ones. She easily blocked a strike from the demon as she met him head-on. Kyojuro leaped over Musashi as she lowered to strike from below, the two bringing their strikes together at the same time, though they were both blocked before the demon leaped away from them again.
"Injuries?" she asked him quickly and he grunted.
"Not bad, but we can't keep this up," he admitted, wiping blood from his chin.
She had to agree with him. The longer the fight dragged on the more injuries the two had sustained, but no matter how many they inflicted on Akuza he would just heal or regenerate. The two of them, on the other hand, had suffered various injuries. While none fatal, they sure as hell were slowing them down. Kyojuro's left eye had been forced shut and a gash was oozing blood from his arm. His ribs had been cracked, that was for sure. Musashi had blood dripping down from cuts above her right eye and under her eyepatch, along with numerous gashes and bruises on her arms from blocking blows. Her 'Earth' blade was cracked and her haori had been tossed aside long ago.
They wouldn't last if this went on for too much longer.
Musashi leaped forwards again after giving Kyojuro a glance that meant 'stand and wait, look for an opening' before she clashed with Akaza again. Her blades were silver flashes within blurs of green, yellow, blue, and red as she fought, matching Akaza's attacks the best she could before Kyojuro joined her again.
Unknowing Fire.
Uke Nagashi Hidari.
Rising Scorching Sun.
Tora Buri.
Blooming Flame Undulation.
Aisen Uchidome.
Flame Tiger.
Sassen.
Purgatory.
Amashi Uchi.
No matter what they used, it seemed to be a losing battle. No matter how many scenarios Musashi ran through as she fought, she couldn't find one that would have both of them alive and the demon dead.
She'd injure Kyojuro and everyone in the area if she used that against Akaza, she knew that she couldn't tell Kyojuro to retreat or the demon might choose to focus on attacking him solely. She would have to wait until it got a bit closer to sunrise in order to use that attack.
Her brows furrowed as she watched the demon's movements again, carefully dodging, countering, and striking back as Kyojuro fought alongside of her.
But then suddenly Kyojuro's arm was forced upwards upon deflecting a blow from the demon. The action left his entire midsection exposed and Akaza's hand shot forwards, a feral glint in his eyes.
Musashi dropped to the ground, pushing off into a sprint.
Hasso Hidari.
She had never been more grateful that her training had paid off more than at that moment.
She was able to get to them in time, ducking under Akaza's arm. She twisted her body, bringing her swords up and cleaving through it. The speed in which it all happened threw off both the Pillar and Upper Moon as blood splattered the ground and Kyojuro quickly brought his arm back down to guard his side. Musashi was there as well, silently warning the demon that in order to kill the Flame Pillar, she would have to be killed first.
In the same moment, a flash of pink and suddenly Akaza had been kicked away by Nezuko. With a muffled snarl, the pink-clad demon landed in front of Kyojuro as Musashi stood up from her crouched position.
"Thank you Nezuko," Musashi said softly as she sheathed her current blades. She reached back and drew Myoujingiri and her 'Flame' blade, brandishing them as Akaza stood, shaking his head from the kick. Nezuko crouched with a growl, but startled when Musashi held a blade in front of her, stopping her from lunging forwards.
"It's almost morning," she told them and the demon girl let out a muffled huff. Musashi smiled slightly at that before she turned back to Akaza, gaze hard. "Let me deal with the rest."
Kyojuro gazed at Musashi silently for a moment before he lowered his sword. "You're going to use that then?"
"Yeah, sorry for putting it off for so long. It was arrogant of me to think that we could pull it off with me being half-assed about it," she told him and he chuckled a bit, sheathing his sword.
"I'll leave it to you, then," he said before he turned, grabbing Nezuko by the waist and leaping back towards the train. Musashi only grinned. Akaza was glaring at her as he crouched in preparation to rush at her.
His pride was shattered to bits, and although he knew that dawn was quickly approaching, the fact that he couldn't kill at least one of the Pillars left a bad taste in his mouth. He needed to kill one of them. He had been so close with the Flame Pillar, but this woman…
He snarled as he rushed forwards, but she didn't move, instead she gazed at him with that mockingly confidant grin.
"I'll show you the true essence of the Five Rings!"
The ground rumbled underfoot as the air seemed to distort around them as soon as the words left her lips. Demon and Demon Slayer alike looked up at the sudden spike in power. Brandishing her swords, Musashi grinned as a rainbow light burst forth from her and the wind picked up.
In a flash, a giant figure had appeared behind her, making all those conscious to witness it startle.
Kyojuro's lips curled upwards at the sight of the monstrous, yet protective being. The strongest, most flashy, and most terrifying illusion created was something that all of the Pillars had witnessed at least once— he had to admit he was a bit smug at being able to see it again.
With four arms and with a sword in each hand, with red eyes glowing in the quickly fading night and lips seemingly drawn into a permanent snarl, the Nio that seemed to have answered Musashi's call was a terrifying sight to behold.
"Amen. I place my trust in Tenjin of the Tenman Shrine, deity of absolute freedom. Hadoukannon, use my rage to server evil!" the woman chanted as she swung her blades down onto Akaza. The illusion mirrored her movements, each strike seeming to carry the same amount of power and weight of its swords as if the Nio was the one that was striking the demon instead.
Musashi shifted her footing, putting her second blade away as the figure vanished and a violet aura burst from her. She brought Myoujingiri up, grasping it with both hands as her aura condensed around the blade, seeming to grow larger and larger, and reach the sky.
"This one blade is my path of emptiness, the culmination of my life!"
She swung the Demon Slaying blade downwards, the energy leaving deep gouges in the ground and destroying part of the forest as a loud explosion rocked the area.
"Ishana Daitenshou!"
Wasn't planning on killing Kyojuro. So he didn't die. Hahahahahaha.
Also, I don't think I put it in the last chapter bur Musashi's 12 "breaths" are going to be based on the actual 12 Niten Ichi-Ryuu Tachi Seiho techniques. Musashi will be using the Kodachi and Nito Seiho forms as well, but Tachi Seiho will be used by name and described— if I continue doing it at all. It all depends. The main issue is that fiding written descriptions of the other forms and techniques of Miyamoto's teachings is pretty hard.
Also one of Akaza's attacks is called "Void Style" in the translation I'm reading it in— I literally do not know what it is in other translations as it is not listed on the wiki for some reason? Anyways, in my line of thought, Musashi would be able to tell if an attack was attempting to reach or had reached Zero or the Void. Did Akaza reach the point of Zero? I have no idea. Was Musashi taunting him? yes.
Anyways, I hope this rendition of the Akaza fight was to your liking, I know a lot of people do like Akaza and unfortunately his character and backstory will go unknown in this alternative universe.