Ello Hello! Chapter 4 of Hellish Multiverse is finally here. Sorry, I'm late I was focused on my other story. I don't usually lose motivation for stuff like this so I apologize. But with that out of the way enjoy the chapter!
(Prologue)Chapter 4: Those Who Protect And Those Who Destroy
"Fight them?" Tanjiro looked at Cyrus like he was crazy
"It's not as crazy as it sounds. Together the two of us can protect 4 cars at most and let's not forget that Dante and Nezuko are still awake so they can protect the other cars. Even if that sleeper shit manages to overwhelm us we just have to last long enough for Samael and the others to wake up" Cyrus explained
Tanjiro was genuinely surprised at this. He normally thought that he and Dante were battle-crazed brutes who lived for the thrill but Cyrus was actually capable of thinking of plans on the spot. "Alright then we need to move"
Tanjiro and Cyrus then began to run towards the front of the car. "Nezuko! Dante! We need you to protect the passengers!"
As the two of them were running Cyrus then cupped his chin. "Although there's something else that worries me" Cyrus spoke up
Tanjiro looked towards Cyrus with concern. "What do you mean?"
"That demon mentioned devils but...the devils from my world are superpowered foot soldiers destroying anything and everything in their path except for its own kind. If Enmu brought the devils on the train he'd have to bring mid-rank and high-rank devils along and that would basically be suicide" Cyrus explained before his expression darkened. "I'm more worried that Enmu brought something just as worse..."
Back in the passenger's cars, Nezuko had completely lit Inosuke up with her pink flames though it didn't burn him. It seemed to have some kind of curing effect because soon Inosuke's hand twitched and he shot awake. "Don't worry minions! Lord Inosuke is awake and ready to help!" He boasted until he looked around "Where'd everyone go?"
Nezuko and Inosuke's attention was then brought towards the sound of Dante crashing through the door in a heap. "Owie..." He rubbed his head
"I gotta admit kid..." A sly serpent-like voice spoke from down the car as he stepped into view. His appearance kind of resembled that of a certain Snake hashira only there was a long snake-like tongue in his mouth, his eyes were a soulless purple, and he was covered in scales. That and his arm had been reformed into a snake! "You are really fucking annoying"
Nezuko and Inosuke were immediately put on guard from the sheer killer intent this man was emitting. "Oh, the boar head is awake. Looks like Enmu's spell is wearing off..." The scaly man turned towards him with curiosity
"Eh Danke!" Inosuke called towards the hyper bolt boy, with his own nickname, who was standing up now. "Who the heck is this guy?"
"He's a dark disciple!" Dante smiled excitedly as he picked up his sledgehammer
"Correct. I'm one of the many disciples serving under Lady Dracul. I am formally known as Orochi. Commit it to memory before you all die" Orochi said before his arms split into snakeheads. "Tornado Fangs!"
The snakes then launched towards the three teenagers in a branching cyclone formation. Nezuko used her claws to rip them off, Dante whacked them away with his sledgehammer and jumped back. Though Inosuke didn't have much luck as two snakes bit into his arms before he could swing his swords
"Oh, crap..." Inosuke was held in place by snakes and before he could try and resist, a third snake crashed into his stomach and sent him flying through the roof, right in front of Tanjiro and Cyrus
"Inosuke?!" Tanjiro said with a mixture of surprise and concern while Cyrus was just startled
"Oh no, you don't!" With impressive strength, Inosuke moved his arms forward, despite the snake's impressive grip, before forcing them outward and cutting off the snake's heads letting him back down. "No measly snakes can stop me!" Inosuke puffed his chest in pride
Tanjiro and Cyrus ran towards the hole and looked down to see what happened. It wasn't good. Dante and Nezuko were slowly getting overwhelmed by Orochi's ability
"Damn it they won't last! We've got to help them!" Tanjiro said with Cyrus nodding in agreement. Before they could jump down in the hole though
"Eyes up minions!" Inosuke ordered making them stop. "Have faith in your allies' strength. They will prevail against that monster. For now, we need to focus on our true enemy!"
'He's right...can't get distracted. Nezuko seems pretty strong and my brother is practically a wrecking ball...they can handle it...it's just one disciple after all' Cyrus thought
"Ok...Inosuke listen! The train has been turned into a demon! And it's allowing those devils Mr. Samael mentioned earlier to invade the train! So there's nowhere on it that's safe! We have to protect the passengers!" Tanjiro brought Inosuke up to speed which made him chuckle with confidence
"Well, what do you know. I was right about it all along. Call it my leader's intuition!" Inosuke praised himself
Cyrus just sweatdropped at this. "He's even more of an idiot than Dante..." He muttered until snakeheads made various holes in the roofs of the cars
"Alright, minions it's time for action! So follow me! Keep those eyes open and keep them forward!" Inosuke pointed one of his swords forward before he lead the charge, Tanjiro and Cyrus following behind them
Back with Nezuko and Dante, their fight was getting more and more intense as the more snakes they destroyed more took their places. "Now do you see how futile it is?" Orochi chuckled darkly. "You only managed to hurt me because you got the jump on me. Now that I know your tricks you're as good as dead"
Nezuko growled from under her bamboo gag until an idea came to her mind. 'I can try and use my blood demon art but there are too many people here...I could risk injuring one of them...' She mentally said as she cut off another snake
"I'll end this now and grant you the grace of death. Since you put up a decent fight I'll make it quick and painless" He taunted before half of Orochi's snake limbs formed into a fanged lance
"Orochi Pierce!"
Orochi launched the lance right at Nezuko
'I can't use my Blood Demon art to its fullest since the people are still here...but' Nezuko then mentally smirked as Orochi has yet to realize. Due to his successful attacks, Orochi's snake limbs were coated with her blood. And now she has the perfect opening for
'Blood Demon Art: Exploding Blood!' Nezuko's blood was then lit ablaze as the snake limbs were quickly burnt and collapsed. The serpent spear broke apart and fell in front of Nezuko.
"What?!" Orochi said in shock at this unbelievable turn of events. It turned even more unbelievable when Orochi found himself face to face with Dante's sledgehammer
'Thanks to Nezuko's attack I got the perfect opening I needed!' Dante inwardly cheered before he swung the sledgehammer right into Orochi, caving his face in and knocking him back into the car he came from
"Phew, that was fun" Dante wiped some sweat off his brow his sledgehammer now lifted on his shoulder. He turned towards Nezuko and gave her a happy smile. "Thanks for the help Nezuko! Your powers are really cool!"
Nezuko nodded and let out a few happy muffles. Though the celebration didn't last long. Soon flesh began to cover the entire room as meaty tendrils emerged from the sides of the car
Dante and Nezuko were soon back to back now as they stared this new threat down. "This must be what Tanjiro was talking about! Oh man, this is such a cool boss fight!" Dante cheered while Nezuko was all serious though they both perked up when they heard a voice. "About time he let us out. Did we really have to hide in that disgusting demon's body..."
Shockingly a man stepped out of the flesh walls. He had gold eyes and his hair was red-orange with white tips, it was also weirdly flowing around like a fire.
"Ke ke ke...Poor poor Orochi...once a failure always a failure" A second voice said as another man stepped out of the flesh. He was a short man with a lanky build and black dots in the corners of his mouth. He had pale white hair, 8 red eyes, and black-like veins on his body(Since he was shirtless unlike the other disciples).
"Shut up you little brat..." Orochi snapped as he slowly stood up his nose and mouth dripping blood. "These little kids are annoying..."
"Now now Kumo you can belittle Orochi for his failures later. We have a job to do" The flame-haired man said before he focused his attention on Dante and Nezuko
"Yes yes Iblis...more rats to feast on" Kumo twitched creepily as his fangs drooled like a monster's
Back up on the roof, Inosuke stopped at one of the holes Orochi previously made looking down inside it
"Something up Inosuke?" Cyrus asked as he and Tanjiro stopped as well
"That's LORD Inosuke to you Lycus!" Inosuke snapped at Cyrus who grew a comical tick mark at having his name pronounced wrong. "You guys go on ahead and find the demon. I'll give your siblings a helping hand in protecting the passengers"
"Ok Lord Inosuke but be safe" Tanjiro said before he and Cyrus ran ahead. Inosuke jumped down into the hole swords at the ready. "Beast Breathing Fifth Fang:..."
"Crazy Cutting!" Inosuke then spun in all directions slicing up all the flesh tendrils. "I'm going to save all of you! As thanks, it's only fair that you all worship me as your savior!" He said as he cut up more and more tendrils. "So look out cause Lord Inosuke Hashibira is coming through!"
Tanjiro and Cyrus, meanwhile, were still on the roof planning their next move
"We should help the others..." Tanjiro said
"Normally I'd disagree with you but We don't know how many dark disciples have invaded this train and just one is bad enough" Cyrus cupped his chin
They didn't get any more time to thin though because flesh began to sprout from all of the train cars with the train itself nearly flying off the tracks from how big it's gotten now. Speaking of big, two huge flesh tendrils emerged from the car Tanjiro and Cyrus were standing on and moved towards them
"This way!" Tanjiro broke through a window and threw himself inside the car, Cyrus following shortly behind him. "The flesh spread so fast..." Cyrus couldn't help but admit
It didn't take long for flesh tendrils to rise from the ground and make their way towards Tanjiro and Cyrus
"Water Breathing First Form: Water Surface Slash!" Tanjiro swung his sword in a horizontal line slashing apart the tendrils that came towards them. Cyrus engulfed his body in electricity again before he grabbed the tendrils coming towards him. He left them charred in a quick 5 seconds with electric energy
"No good...it'll never end until we find the demon bastard..." Cyrus cursed under his breath as he saw more flesh tendrils emerge from the floor, walls, and roof
Back with Dante and Nezuko, things were bad with just Orochi around, but now things have gone from bad to worse.
Orochi's serpent tendrils were keeping Dante at bay as Iblis slashed at the boy his hand covered in flames. That was his ability: Ignite. Iblis is capable of incinerating whatever he touches so long as it's with all five fingers. Living things take longer to burn through
As for Nezuko she has to deal with the spider human Kumo which is kinda ironic since She and Tanjiro have faced a spider-related enemy before in the form of Lower Moon 5, Rui. From the looks of Kumo shared the same powers although, his webs could also be incredibly sticky so if Nezuko was caught in those webs it was practically placing her on the chopping board
And on top of all that, they both have to deal with flesh tendrils coming from all over the train. It was an absolute madhouse in this car. Both of them had slight burn marks on their bodies due to Iblis' claw like attacks
Nezuko let out a frustrated muffle as Kumo crawled over the walls releasing web blast after web blast at her. "Ke ke ke...so nimble...so fragile...must eat..."
Dante swung his sledgehammer at Iblis over and over again only for them all to fail as the flame-haired man was dodging them all like it was just a normal day. Iblis merely gave him a cocky grin at Dante's numerous failed attacks. "Impressive moves kid. I'm starting to see how you and that demon girl managed to give Orochi a bit of trouble"
"Don't bring that up!" Orochi snapped in annoyance
Dante didn't falter as that energetic and psychotic smile stayed on his face. He swung his sledgehammer upwards and finally made contact. The attack repelled Orochi's incoming snakes. Thinking he was open now, Iblis lunged towards Dante intending to grab his face but the boy quickly swung his hammer around and connected it with Iblis' stomach sending him flying a few feet
Nezuko was rapidly dodging web blasts and slashing apart tendrils. Kumo must've realized that Nezuko was quite formidable with close combat because he refused to come down from the roof
'Ke ke ke...The demon seems to care much about the human's safety' Kumo mentally noted, thinking that he may have just found a possible weakness. The next thing that happened was like if Enmu read Kumo's thoughts and directly responded to them because a flesh tendril rose from the ground and inched towards a nearby passenger
Taking her attention off of Kumo, Nezuko rushed towards the tendril and slashed it apart but that left her unguarded. Taking his chance Kumo launched another web blast and this time it hit its mark. Nezuko's feet were stuck to the floor and to add more salt to the wound two flesh tendrils rose from the ground and wrapped around her arms rendering her immobile
"Ke ke ke, she's wide open Iblis" Kumo announced giddily
Iblis realized this and stood up with a psychotic grin. "Unlucky for you. The tables have turned" Iblis rushed towards Nezuko ready to incinerate her
"Oh no Nezuko!" Dante tried to reach her, letting his guard down in the process.
"Not this time! Orochi Pierce!" Orochi formed his lance and pierced the side of Dante's body knocking him back. Not giving him a chance to retaliate Orochi wrapped a snake limb around Dante's neck and lifted him up. "This for what you did to my face punk..."
Nezuko desperately tried to free herself but the webbing and tendrils were too strong. Seeing that Dante couldn't help her now Nezuko's eyes widened in fear, at the looming death that was Iblis' destructive hands.
Though before that death could arrive something glowing began to move from car to car until arrived in the one Nezuko and Dante were in. Before Iblis even knew what was coming his forearm had been completely sliced off, along with the tendrils and webbing. His, Kumo's, and Orochi's eyes all widened in surprise at this before they looked towards the culprit
It was Zenitsu. The blonde was still asleep however but he was still capable of moving and doing much much more. Refusing to waste any more time, Iblis lunged at Zenitsu with his other arm
'Thunder Breathing First Form: Thunderclap and Flash!' Before Iblis could touch him Zenitsu sped off at the speed of lightning. In that timespan, he managed to cut off all of the flesh tendrils, he cut off some snake limbs additionally freeing Dante and cutting Orochi across the stomach, slashes Iblis across his back, and cuts Kumo across his chest making him fall from the roof in surprise
"Sixfold" Zenitsu finished as he sheathed his sword. Iblis fell to a knee from the attack but Orochi remained standing. "DAMN ANNOYING BRATS" Orochi shouted in rage as multiple serpents lunged towards Zenitsu. However, unexpectedly, Leyla comes out of nowhere and holds her arms out in front of her. "Aura Web!" A web made entirely of light aura was launched forward cutting apart the snake limbs. Orochi was shocked at how much power this girl had. Though Leyla didn't let his moment of surprise go to waste. "Aura Whip!" Constructing made of light aura Leyla quickly snapped it towards Orochi, practically punching him in the face due to how much force it had and knocking him over
"Leyla!" Dante ran over and excitedly hugged Leyla once he was free.
The green-clothed girl simply chuckled and patted his head. "Glad to see that you're alive too Dante" Leyla smiled
"But how did you get here? Didn't the enemy notice you?" Dante asked curiously
"They didn't notice my presence but I noticed theirs. I woke up at the same time Zenitsu left our car and when I did I felt these guys' presence. Not wanting to be caught I shadowed my aura to make it seem like I didn't have one and followed Zenitsu until I ended up here" Leyla explained
"That sounded like thunder" Tanjiro noted. "Is Zenitsu awake?"
"Has to be if you heard thunder. No one else uses thunderstorm-based techniques other than me and him. Though I sense a massive aura presence from that end as well and it's not from Samael. So Leyla must be awake as well" Cyrus deducted
"But Mr. Rengoku and Mr. Samael. Why haven't they waken up yet?" Tanjiro said
"No idea but let's hope they wake up soon," Cyrus said as he launched an electrified kick at a tendril tearing it in half. "Can't keep this up much longer..."
'This isn't good...there's barely any room to move...and all of this must be rapidly draining Cyrus' aura' Tanjiro thought to himself. "What do we do?"
Things were getting worse for Nezuko, Zenitsu, Dante, and Leyla as well because from the looks of it Zenitsu's attacks barely did anything to Iblis, Kumo, and Orochi
However, some huge help has finally arrived! The last 2 members of the group have finally awoken, as Samael and Kyojuro were walking through the flesh covered floors, They stared up at the tendrils with amusement, Kyojuro, and intrigue, Samael
"It seems a lot has happened while we were asleep..." Kyojuro said
"Indeed, it's an ugly mess, feels like we're in someone's stomach right now" Samael shuddered in disgust. "I'm sensing three malicious auras and I can only assume that they are dark disciples. So I'm going to take care of them. Can you handle the rest here?"
"Indeed! After all, if the other Hashira were here to see what I allowed to happen" Kyojuro got into a stance as imaginary flames began to surround him. "I'd be ashamed!" Kyojuro then dashed forward slashing at all of the flesh with so much force that not only did it feel like it was engulfed in a blast of fire, the train had actually hopped off the train tracks for a bit
Everyone was shaking and trying to regain their balance after what had happened.
"What in the hell was that?!" Iblis yelled
"Dunno..." Orochi trailed off from sensing a huge amount of aura before his eyes widened in realization, "Kumo behind you!"
Kumo turned around but it was too late. When he turned around he was greeted with a light gauntlet to the face that knocked up into the roof
"Samael sir!" Leyla and Dante said in surprise
Without saying a word to them, two light tendrils emerged from Samael's fingers and whipped both Iblis and Orochi through the car before they could blink. The force was so great that it actually caused the train to shake again
"What the heck is happening?!" Cyrus exclaimed in annoyance
"I don't know...did a demon attack?!" Tanjiro suggested as his eyes widened. Then the two of them were greeted by the sight of Kyojuro who had appeared in their faces before they could blink. "Young Kamado. Young Cyrus"
"Mr. Rengoku/Rengoku?" Tanjiro and Cyrus said in surprise
"I was quite thorough with my strikes on the way here so it should take some time for the demon to regenerate. But now according to Samael, three dark disciples have invaded the train. So there's no time to waste"
Tanjiro nodded but he also sported a worried expression and inwardly he could not help but think 'If the dark disciples really are as powerful as Mr. Rengoku and Mr. Samael implies then I hope the others will be ok'
Cyrus seemed to notice Tanjiro's worried state and places his hand on his shoulder. "It's going to be ok. Have faith in our friends. They'll make it out alive"
Kyojuro nodded in agreement. "Indeed he's right but now we all must work together. This train has 8 cars with the front 3 inhabiting said Dark Disciples. I will protect the rear 5. The other 3 will be protected by your younger siblings, the boy in yellow, ad the girl in green. Samael will also make their job easier by fighting the disciples in their stead. During all of this, you two along with the boar-headed lad will search for the demon's head" Kyojuro strategized
"It's head...but sir how can we" Tanjiro was cut off by Kyojuro who got in his face
"Kill something without a head? It's a demon it still has one. I will help you both look for it. Now I hope you're fired up!" Kyojuro smiled at them before dashing off in a trail of flame
"Heh with how he acts he reminds me of Vice-captain Daichi. The guy always smiles like Dante but unlike him, it's more reassuring and confident. He's almost like a superhero. Makes me wonder if the others are faring better than us" Cyrus said as he cracked his body
"Your captains sound like great people" Tanjiro smiled
"Well Daichi and Samael are. Vice-captain Daigo on the other hand is a straight-up asshole" Cyrus said bluntly. "Alright enough reminiscing I'll tell you more about my team when this is all over. For now, we need to get moving" Cyrus said
"Your right" Tanjiro nodded and ran off Cyrus quickly following behind him. "The demon's scent is getting stronger by the second..."
"We must be getting close then," Cyrus said. He hoped this would be over REAL soon. His aura may be draining fast but he actually lied about what worried him to Tanjiro. 'The Disciples can be trouble when too many of them appear I won't deny that. But if this mess grabs one of the Forbidden 5's attention we're as good as dead...' He thought grimly
"Inosuke! Where are you?" Tanjiro called out only to be responded with "Shut up or I'll end you!"
Inosuke was running across the roof of the train, heading towards the front car. "I already got my orders from Mr. Bug-eyes!" He insulted. "Even if he was bossing me around...he was really cool...AND FOR SOME REASON THAT PISSES ME OFF!"
"Inosuke keep an eye on the first 3 cars!" Tanjiro said
"You don't have to tell me that. Plus with my awesome Seventh Form, I've already found what it is we're looking for. The master's weak spot" Inosuke said
"Weak spot? You mean the very front of the train? Honestly, why didn't we think of that before?" Cyrus facepalmed
"Yeah it's at the front, and that creeps me out even more!" Inosuke said with a nervous tone
'I can't make out the scent because of the strong winds. But I trust Inosuke's senses' Tanjiro thought before speaking up "Is it where the coal is loaded?"
"That's right!" Inosuke quickly replied
"Got it," Tanjiro said before Cyrus stepped out of the car and hopped up onto the roof. He then reached his hand down and pulled Tanjiro up until they both were now on the roof. "Let's end this" Cyrus smiled to which Tanjiro returned
Inosuke was soon standing over the rough of the front car. "This is it huh?". Inosuke then jumped up and slashed apart the roof of the train revealing the engineer under it. "Alright!"
The loose pieces of the roof flew towards Tanjiro and Cyrus, who quickly got on their knees to avoid it. But when Tanjiro looked back up he noticed flesh growing where the roof once was. "Inosuke!" Tanjiro tried to warn him but Inosuke didn't hear
"What the hell is going on over here huh? This looks pretty suspicious!" Inosuke accused
"Just who the hell are you? Leave this area" The engineer ordered
"It's there, isn't it? The weak spot!" Inosuke branched his swords making the engineer back up with fear. But before he could strike, flesh tendrils in the shape of arms emerged from the train and went straight for Inosuke
"Oh crap!" Inosuke then quickly slashed apart limb after flesh limb "Keep away from me you foul beasts!". He continued to slash more apart until one managed to grab his ankle and then four more latched onto his arms and legs. "How many arms do ya got?" Inosuke couldn't help but question but that question was quickly answered when several more limbs latched on to his face
Tanjiro then jumped down into the front car, an imaginary swirl of water around him. "Water Breathing Sixth Form: Whirlpool!" Tanjiro used that technique to slice apart all the limbs surrounding them, freeing Inosuke in the process.
Cyrus then came down and pressed his hands down on some flesh sending large amounts of electricity through it. The bolts were so powerful that it caused the structures, covered in flesh, to be launched off the train, and Enmu actually shrieked in pain from this
"Yo boar-head you alright?" Cyrus looked over his shoulder towards Inosuke
"It's not like you guys came to my rescue ok!" Inosuke said indignantly
"We're sorry," Tanjiro said before he knelt down and smelled the floor, specifically the place Cyrus electrocuted. 'With this scent and that pained scream earlier when Cyrus launched his attack. There's no doubt in my mind'
"Cyrus! Inosuke! The demon's head is under here!" Tanjiro said
"Well no shit I thought the pained scream for earlier made it obvious" Cyrus replied bluntly
"Don't order me around! I'm the leader here remember!" Inosuke snapped
"Then what's next?" Tanjiro asked
"Just watch," Inosuke said with confidence before he leaped high in the air, his swords hefted behind him. "Feast your eyes on Beast Breathing Second Fang:..."
Inosuke then came back down slicing the spot on the floor in an x-shape "Slice!" the force was enough to break apart the floor and reveal its weak spot:
'That's...the demon's neckbone!' Tanjiro thought in realization before he quickly raised his sword up. 'Water Breathing Eighth Form: Waterfall Basin!'
Tanjiro swung his sword downwards but only found himself cutting flesh. The flesh then grew outward and pushed Tanjiro, Inosuke, and Cyrus back up onto the roof, with Tanjiro carrying the engineer out of harm's way. Once they were gone the flesh grew outward and covered the neckbone
'Uncovering the neckbone already took a lot out of me...we need to sever it!' Tanjiro thought before looking towards Inosuke and Cyrus. "Inosuke! Cyrus! Let's synchronize our attacks! Cyrus will use his electricity to fend off the flesh and create openings for us. Then Inosuke will slash at the flesh. That will allow me to slice at the bone! Ok?"
"You wanna know something? That's not half bad! Good thinking!" Inosuke acknowledged
"Yeah actually like that plan! Nice one Tanjiro!" Cyrus said sporting a similar grin to that of his younger brother's
"Thank you, both of you!" Tanjiro replied. "Let's do it" He then got into a swordman's stance, same with Inosuke, while Cyrus got in a sprinter's stance. The three of them then charged forward but before they could even attack a large mass of flesh rose from the opening and sprouted eyes with the kanji for dream as irises.
"Eyes Of Forced Unconscious Sleep. Dream" Enmu chanted
'Damn it...A blood demon art...' Tanjiro thought. "Inosuke! Cyrus! In your dreams slice your necks! It'll wake you up!"
Tanjiro stumbled back a bit asleep but after cutting himself in his dream he quickly woke up. 'I can still fight!'
However, there was one thing that kept screwing up any plan he had. Once he woke up he opened his eyes and the Blood Demon Art took hold of him again. 'Idiot! Don't open your eyes or you'll just fall asleep again!'
Tanjiro woke up again and jumped down the flesh hole but he looked into many dream eyes on his way down, so by the time he landed he was already asleep. 'Damn! The moment I wake up I can't help but look directly into one of those demon eyes. I got to make sure that when I wake up I keep my eyes shut!'
It was rinse and repeat, as Tanjiro kept making the same mistake of opening his eyes over and over. It got so bad that Tanjiro was starting to believe that this entire scenario was a dream. He slowly brought his sword up to his neck. 'There's no time! Wake yourself up!'
However, before he could slice his neck, Inosuke grabbed his arm and forced it down, while Cyrus released bright electricity that blinded the demon eyes
"This isn't a dream. You almost fell for this demon's trickery. Do you wanna look like a damn fool?!" Inosuke said. "I'm wearing the heart of the mountain god on my head! I bet he's too scared to look at me!" Inosuke then slashed apart a bunch of flesh in a spiral. "I'm right aren't I?"
"Or your just plain stupid and it can't think of a good dream for ya" Cyrus muttered as he electrocuted another mass of eyeball flesh
'Or...the demon doesn't know where Inosuke's looking thanks to his mask. And with Cyrus' electrical body the demon can't even look at him if he doesn't want to blind himself'
Cyrus then looked at the mass of flesh behind them. "Alright then so we just have to hack that thing to pieces?"
Unbeknownst to the three of them the engineer from before was standing on the edge of the flesh. He then came running down towards Inosuke with a needle in hand. Cyrus noticed rather quickly and tries to reach him. "Inosuke look out!"
"I won't let you take away my chance to dream!" The engineer wailed but instead of hitting Inosuke Tanjiro stepped in front of the boar-head and took the blow instead, right in his stomach. Tanjiro quickly chopped the engineer in the back of his neck to knock him out
"Did he just stab you?' Inosuke said in surprise
"Don't worry I'm fine" Tanjiro tensed. Then he grabbed the engineer by the back of his coat and began to drag him out of the flesh hole
"Forget about that bastard!" Inosuke snapped
"I can't just leave him to die," Tanjiro said
Cyrus, unlike Inosuke, was calm wondering why Tanjiro would even bother to save him. "You do realize he just tried to kill Inosuke and he could have killed you with that. So why save him?"
"Because he can make up for his sins. The demon has taken advantage of his weakness and it's not entirely his fault. He's suffering but he can find a way to make things better for himself. But if he dies now then he can't do that. And if I die he becomes a murderer. I won't allow that to happen!" Tanjiro said with determination
Cyrus couldn't help but be amazed. 'I dunno whether to be amazed by how kind this kid is or berate him for being naive...he's pretty extraordinary' He thought
"Enough chatter minions. We need to cut off this demon's head or the others won't make it" Inosuke ordered
"I know. Let's hurry!" Tanjiro said while Cyrus nodded
In response to that declaration, several large flesh tendrils rose from the outside and tried to crush Tanjiro, Inosuke, and Cyrus. The three of them maneuvered around the flesh while cutting off some pieces but they weren't making any headway
"Inosuke. Cyrus. let's combine our strengths. Once we synchronize our skills we'll attack as one!" Tanjiro said
Inosuke gave a snort in response while Cyrus nodded. Due to the mass amount of tendrils coming towards them the three boys were forced out of the flesh hole. The flesh then turned into a giant mass that forced them up in the air. While they were in the air several tendrils launched right at them. Cyrus landed on one and electrocuted it as he simultaneously slid down it. Inosuke jumped from tendril to tendril as he left huge cuts in them, while Tanjiro cut apart a huge tendril while sliding down another. But once they were free-falling flesh tendrils surrounded them with dream eyes
'This is bad...if we fall asleep now...' Tanjiro thought in a panic
"Myrus!" Inosuke quickly called out
"Way ahead of ya!" Cyrus said, choosing to ignore the name mispronunciation, as his body started to emit huge amounts of electricity. "Lightning Burst!" The electricity was then shot out in all directions blinding the eyes and destroying the tendrils in their way. With this attack, Cyrus created a clear path for the two demon slayers at the cost of his aura finally running out, evident as his body stopped emitting electricity and he turned back to normal. "Guys go!"
Inosuke then stabbed his swords into a tendril and slid down while cutting it to increase his speed.
"Beast Breathing Fourth Fang: Slice n' Dice!" Inosuke unleashed multiple diagonal slashes from both swords, easily cutting through the flesh. This left the neckbone wide open for Tanjiro
'Father please guide my blade...my chance to sever the bone...with one swing!' Tanjiro thought as the blade lit ablaze with an imaginary flame. "Now Hinokami Kagura: Clear Blue Sky!" Tanjiro brought his sword down on the bone with a 360-degree slash cutting right through it and finally beheading Enmu
Enmu let out a pained shriek as he tried to kill the passengers in a last-ditch attack but Kyojuro cut the flesh limbs apart before he got the chance
Samael looked up from the Disciples he had mercilessly beaten while Zenitsu, Nezuko, Dante, and Leyla did their best to keep the passengers safe.
"Careful! The train looks like it's about to tip over! Are you guys alright?" Tanjiro asked but then he quickly winced from his stomach wound
"Are we alright? Your the one that's bleeding" Cyrus and Inosuke said simultaneously
"I'll be fine...Inosuke, Cyrus protect the-"Before Tanjiro couldn't finish the train jerked upwards knocking all three of them + the engineer up in the air
'No, I can't die...I can't let his hands be stained with blood. I won't let anyone die!' Tanjiro thought before he tumbled to the ground just as the train finally tipped over
With a yell, Inosuke bounced off the flesh on the train before landing safely. He then caught Cyrus in his arms who was bout to fall right on his head. "Yeah, I saved ya Myrus! Your welcome to praise me" Inosuke boasted.
"I ain't praising you for shit! And my name is Cyrus!" Cyrus snapped at him before he noticed someone out of the corner of his eye. "Oh shit Tanjiro!"
Inosuke matched where he was looking and quickly hefted Cyrus on his back before running towards Tanjiro. "Sentaro! Are you alright?!"
"Pull yourself together you see how I bounced ff that demon's flesh just now?" Inosuke said
"How's your stomach?" Cyrus asked
"I...I'm alright...what about...you two?" Tanjiro strained
"I'm all out of aura and energy but I'm fine," Cyrus said
"I've never felt better! Not a scratch on me" Inosuke said
"I…don't think I can move now…you go and help the others…see if anyone's hurt. That engineer…is he alright?" Tanjiro said
"Let him die for all I care!" Inosuke exclaimed
"We can't…" Tanjiro replied
'He's injured yet he still cares about others…even that engineer? I take back calling him naive this kid's kindness is something else' Cyrus said
"Did you somehow forget that he's the one that stabbed you? If you really want to know his leg is shattered so he can't walk anymore! Just let him rot!" Inosuke said
"Then he's already suffered enough, don't you think? Help him Inosuke…please…for me?" Tanjiro pleaded
Inosuke growled in frustration before he eventually gave in. "Fine. But only cause you asked since you're my underling. I ain't planning on carrying you around all day Myrus so I'm gonna leave you here with Sentaro alright?" Inosuke said
"Yeah it's fine. Go help that guy boar-head" Cyrus mocked as Inosuke laid him down next to Tanjiro
"Will do! And once I do save him I'm gonna rip off all of his hair!" Inosuke said as he walked off
'He's gonna what?' Cyrus questioned mentally and sweatdropped
"You really don't need to do that last part…" Tanjiro sighed
'It's almost dawn…take control of your breathing…focus your thoughts…to save the injured on this train Tanjiro thought. 'Think of Nezuko, Zenitsu, Inosuke and Mr. Rengoku. Cyrus, Dante, Leyla, and Mr. Samael…I'm sure they're all safe…I just have to believe'
As Tanjiro tried to control his breathing, Kyojuro suddenly looked down on him. "I see you've mastered Total Concentration Constant. That's quite impressive"
"Mr. Rengoku…" Tanjiro said
"You are one step closer to becoming a Hashira. That's one step out of ten thousand, mind you" Kyojuro said
"I'll do my best," Tanjiro said with determination
Seeing that he was wounded, Kyojuro brought back the original subject of their conversation. "You're bleeding from the gut. Regulate your breathing. Take full control of it. Picture your nerves reaching all throughout your body" Kyojuro advised. "Can you see it? The torn blood vessel?"
Tanjiro concentrated and attempted to control his breathing taking more shallow breaths than his labored ones back on the train
"Concentrate harder" Kyojuro encouraged
Tanjiro kept taking shallow breaths before he closed his eyes. With enough concentration, he finally saw the torn blood vessel.
"That's it. Now stop the bleeding" Kyojuro said
Tanjiro strained a bit and concentrated on his stomach wound. Kyojuro then put his finger and his forehead and said "Focus". Tanjiro concentrated even harder until the wound finally stopped bleeding
"Good. Mastering your breathing. It will open many doors for you. It won't solve everything but it will help. You will continue to grow stronger" Kyojuro sagely encouraged leaving Tanjiro amazed
"Thank you…" Tanjiro said to which Kyojuro responded with a warm smile
"That was pretty impressive" Leyla spoke up from the side gaining the boys' attention as she walked towards them
"Leyla, you saw all of that?" Tanjiro could not help but ask as Leyla kneeled next to him.
"Well yeah. I noticed you were wounded so I was going to come over and heal you but that Total Concentration stuff is pretty amazing. So I stood by and watched Rengoku to see what he could do" Leyla said, flashing him a smile. "Your pretty amazing Rengoku"
"Why thank you Leyla. But I suggest you save your aura. If you can run out of it like Cyrus has then save it for the passengers that need medical attention" Kyojuro advised
"No it's ok. I barely fought those dark disciples guys since I woke up pretty late. So I still have a lot of aura left" Leyla waved it off and placed her hands over Tanjiro's wound. "Aura Cure" Her hands then glowed in an ethereal light as Tanjiro's wound began to close up
Kyojuro was intrigued by her healing powers. 'This aura that Samael and his allies use. I wonder what else it can do…' But then he began to sense a dark presence that immediately put him on guard
Elsewhere a small mush of flesh started crawling away. This is what remained of Lower Moon 1 Enmu. Before he could get any farther and start lamenting he was grabbed and eaten by a hungry Kumo who was still healing along with Iblis and Orochi who crawled out from the train
"Yay! You guys are still alive!" Dante smiled apparently not seeing the bad side to that fact. Though he did bring everyone's attention towards the dark disciples. Everyone except Kyojuro and Samael who began to get the same feeling he did
"How the heck are you guys still alive?" Inosuke couldn't help but ask
"Devils can be pretty handy in life-threatening situations. That's all I can tell you" Iblis said, winded
"Ke ke ke…9 against 3…not so great odds…" Kumo grumbled
"Yeah…especially with that crafty Flame Hashira and Vice-captain Samael on their side now…" Orochi sighed in annoyance.
Kyojuro was deeply focused on something else other than the Disciples. 'Just what is this presence I'm feeling…it's so dark…and sickly. A cold unwelcoming feeling. Nothing in comparison to the demons' Kyojuro thought in a surprising slight panic.
'Such a massive amount of aura…where is it coming from?' Samael thought as he frantically looked around for the source. 'Is it…no it can't be…' Samael's and Kyojuro's then flared up frighteningly fast
"How disappointing…"
"Tanjiro Leyla Cyrus, look out!" Samael called out towards the two kids as unbeknownst to them a medium-sized scimitar made out of blood was whipped straight towards them. Kyojuro however was quick to act
"Flame Breathing Second Form: Rising Scorching Sun!" Kyojuro swung his blade upward in the blink of an eye decapitating the scimitar from the blood whip and sending it crashing into the forest. But when said whip crashed into the forest several rows of trees were sliced off their trunks causing massive timbers. Heck if you were look at that forest now from the sky
Tanjiro, Cyrus, and Leyla watched this with immense horror. If that attack had hit them they would've been obliterated for sure
"I expected more from that Enmu kid…but the beings of this world are naturally weaker than us so I shouldn't have held my expectations high"
The three dark disciples turned to see their leader walking towards them
"But poor Damu…I should've known this would happen…his nightmare ability was inexcusably simple and useless"
Zenitsu cradled Nezuko, now back in her box, in fear of this woman's new arrival, Inosuke was visibly trembling, and Dante had stopped smiling. The sheer killing intent of this woman had even Inosuke of all people scared
"I will admit the fact that you managed to counter my attack was impressive…Flame hashira…but impressive will only get you so far"
Due to being healed Tanjiro sat up along with Cyrus as the two of them and Leyla looked towards this new arrival. Kyojuro was now standing up with his sword in his hands. Samael was scowling at this arrival but on the inside, he was immensely panicking. 'Damn it damn it damn it all. This is the worst possible time for them to be here!'
"Now then…" Forbidden 5 Dracul stared at the group with a sadistic, malicious grin showcasing her true persona around her enemies
"Let's begin the bloodbath shall we?"
Ho ho ho this is what I've been waiting for! I've been dedicated to getting this chapter out because A: Christmas and B: I finally get to showcase one of the members of the Forbidden 5 and just how different they are from the disciples in terms of strength
Well then if you enjoyed this chapter be sure to leave a Follow, Favorite, or review. And tune in for the next chapter because when we come back it's a desperate fight for survival now as Forbidden 5 Dracul finally makes her battle debut. Will Tanjiro and the others make it out alive? You'll just have to wait and see.
Until then Blueheartz out