Happy Halloween everyone! I hope you all are spending it with your loved ones, because I know I will… while sick. Seriously, I'm beginning to believe I'm cursed. A fun fact about me, but for whatever reason, whenever Halloween draws near, I get sick. For the past 5 years, I've gotten sick with some kind of viral cough, horrible headache, horrible chest pains, and stuffed-up nose without fail. It doesn't matter what precautions I take to avoid it, it happens. Now that I'm 18, it doesn't bother me as much as it used to, but still! 5 years of trick-or-treating robbed from me! What the hell did I do to deserve this?!

Well, whatever. Enjoy it while it lasts! Now, let's get into the chapter!

xxXXxxXXxx

The sun was beginning to set on the Butterfly Mansion as Aoi Kanzaki was busy closing the gates. It wasn't rare that she found herself doing this, seeing as Shinobu would usually turn in for the night around this time, just so she could get a few hours of sleep before going out on any missions if any mission at all were to arise.

Not to say that she didn't mind, but having to do so every day wasted her time. She should've been in the mansion creating medicine for those who needed it! She had a few patients to deal with, anyway. That troublesome Genya had gone and got himself stabbed in the lower stomach region after encountering a handful of Demons three nights ago. She needed to be cleaning his stitches, not locking a damn gate!

Grumbling to herself, Aoi had just finished securing the gate, when a whooshing sound caught her attention. Her attention was drawn to the direction in which the sound had come from, and what she saw made her eyes widen.

Standing on the flat surface of the wall, wearing a white spiderweb-themed kimono, was a Demon, carrying both the Love Hashira and another Demon Slayer on either of its shoulders. Its skin was sickly pale, and its hair was styled like that of a spider's maw. its eyes were blue with a dark-red sclera, and its posture was full of confidence. When the two's eyes met, Aoi got into a defensive position and reached for the small Nichiren blade that she always had on her person, in case of something like this.

It was the weapon she had made for her, seeing as she was still a trained Slayer when she finished The Final Selection two years ago. While it wasn't efficient, she mostly learned what she did for her doctoring career, with Demon Slaying being a thing that she'd only intend to do if any of them came to the mansion.

And, that was what she had planned to do. After all, this Demon had waltzed up here thinking it could probably snack on her patients, and that was something that she just could not allow. And so, she prepared herself for a fight.

That was until she saw its left eye.

Lower Moon Five.

Fear washed over her like a raging tide, as her posture faltered ever-so-slightly. One of Muzan's minions had found its way to a Hashira's estate! And not only that, but it had hostages! Panic settled in, as Aoi's grip on the small blade doubled. She had killed plenty of low-ranking Demons in the past, but never in her life had she ever encountered any of the Moons. So, for one to be here… she wasn't going to lie when she said she was scared out of her wits. "A Lower Moon?! Here?! But how! How did this Demon—"

"Are you a doctor here?" The Demon interrupted her train of thought, as Aoi blinked. The Demon frowned, shaking its head. "No matter. Even if you are nothing but an assistant, you'll still prove useful," The Demon continued as it dropped the Hashira and the Demon Slayer to the ground, before turning around and heading off to leave.

"Make sure those two are properly treated. I would hate to see them meet an untimely demise. Farewell, young lady." And then, The Demon left. Aoi blinked, again. She was confused, as all the fear, anger, and readiness to fight left her body. It was confusing because the Demon didn't even attempt to attack her, it simply… left. What was even more confusing was… the concern on its face.

"A Demon… showing compassion…? No. No, that's not important! I don't know why the hell that Demon did what it did, I need to get these guys to a room, stat!" Aoi thought as a pair of footsteps echoed behind her. Turning around, she was met with Shinobu, who was no longer in her sleepwear, but rather kitted out in her uniform and Haori with her blade in its sheath on her hip.

"Kanzaki-chan? Is everything alright?" Shinobu asked, her head tilted to the side ever-so-slightly. Her eyes shifted over to the ground, and when they saw the injured and unconscious forms of Kanroji and the other Demon Slayer, her eyes widened.

Their wounds were grave, their clothes drenched in blood and what appeared to be burns marred their skin. What made things worse was that the other Demon Slayer had his arms twisted and bent in ways that looked nearly unfixable. But, on top of that, there was a strange stitching that was all over them. Most of their wounds were closed by some sort of… "Is that… spider webbing holding their wounds shut?" Shinobu asked, lowering to the ground to pick up Kanroji, while Aoi picked up the unnamed Slayer.

"Y-Yes… Uh… how do I explain this without sounding insane," Aoi began as she lifted the Demon Slayer up.

"Hmm?" Shinobu hummed.

"Look, I know this sounds crazy…." Aoi continued as the pair walked toward the manner, trying to get her thoughts all lined up so that what she said would sound believable. "Lower Moon Five was here… and it delivered these two like this, stitched up and all…. It told me to take them somewhere they could be safe, and that it would "hate to see them meet their untimely demise" or some bull crap like that," Aoi stated, making Shinobu's eyes narrow for a split second, before returning to normal.

"Lower Moon… Five? A Lower Moon brought them here? Does that mean our whereabouts are compromised?" Shinobu asked.

"I don't know, you tell me that?" Another voice chimed in as both Aoi and Shinobu snapped their attention to… whoever that voice belonged to. What they saw was… well, they didn't know what to make of it. Standing about six or so feet away from them was a Demon with half-black and half-white skin. On the black half of the Demon's face, their eye was green and on the white side, their other eye was red. The Demon wore a fabric mask of some kind with one half being white and the other black, much like its skin. The Demon wore a black tuxedo with a similar coloured pair of pants. It had a black and purple striped tie and a white shirt underneath, and atop its head was a crown. The Demon was rather tall, too, standing maybe around 7 feet to 8 feet tall.

To the Demons left and right was two other…. Humans? No, they didn't look human, but they didn't give off the same energy as the one in the center did. They both wore white cloaks of sorts, and both had tannish pale skin. The one on the right had lime-green hair with a black undertone. One of their eyes was purple, while the other was yellow. The person in question was nearly 6 feet tall, and most of their features were hidden underneath the white cloak.

The other person was a small child, no older than perhaps 12. They had long dark hair, one yellow eye and one purple eye much like the other person in the white cloak. They too had a tannish pale skin, and they were about as tall as maybe Kanao, give or take a few inches.

Without any hesitation, Shinobu put down Kanroji and reached for her newly made Nicherin katana. Her speed was unmatched, as the moment she grabbed her katana, she was gone. The Demon rolled his eyes, groaned, then reached his arm backwards, grabbing onto the edge of Shinobu's blade without even moving an inch.

Shinobu smiled as the blade cut the flesh of the Demon, who blinked. "Oh? Poison? Well, that'd be bad, if I wasn't immune to all forms of that kind of stuff. Nice try, Shinobu; better luck next time," The Demon said, catching both of them off guard. Then, without much effort, the Demon contorted its arm with its body, turned around fully to meet Shinobu and disarmed her of her weapon by grabbing her right wrist, sprouting another limb from his back to hold the hilt of the sword, and yanking the blade out of the Hashira's hand, before then letting go, retracting the spare limb.

Then, surprising the two, even more, the little girl swept the Hashira off of her feet, grabbed Shinobu by the left arm and with speed possibly even faster than Shinobu, elbowed her in the gut, sending her to the ground. "Behave yourself, human. You're in the presence of a God, do not do something as underhanded as that again, got it?" The little girl snarked as The Demon rolled its eyes.

"Oh, please Ume, there's no need for that. Although I do advise you not to try that again, Shinobu. That would be bad for your reputation," The Demon said as it made a tsking noise, like that of someone who disapproved of what she had done.

"A God…? Don't make me laugh, you're just a Demon—a powerful Demon, mind you, but a Demon nonetheless, and one that will slowly succumb to that poison in your body. You can't ignore it for too long, or else your body will begin to tear itself apart," Shinobu said, her tone of voice vindictive, yet masked with an air of sweetness. The Demon's expression turned from neutral, to serious as it spoke.

"Name: Shinobu Kocho. Date of Death, October 22nd, 1918. Cause of death: devouring at the hands of Upper Moon Two, Douma. Time of Death, Midnight," The Demon rattled off as if it was basic knowledge, before putting its hands behind its back, and turning to face Aoi. "Name: Aoi Kanzaki. Date of Death, September 9th, 1982. Cause of death: old age surrounded by family and loved ones."

Both were wide-eyed in shock and confusion as The Demon shook its head. "If I were a normal Demon, how would I know your exact dates of death? Better yet, how would I know your names when not even Muzan Kibutsuji is aware of them? Still, though, your arrogance is quite amusing, I'll admit. Though I've never been one to take things seriously as I am now. Even the goofy people have to take some things seriously every now and again," The "Demon" continued, as if everything that it was saying was unremarkable.

It looked down at the two unconscious Demon Slayers, and then, its eyes widened. A green light enveloped them as their wounds completely healed, the blood flaking off of them as a Demon's skin did in the sunlight, though they did not seem to regain consciousness. Its attention returned to Shinobu, smirking. "And I believe I already told you, your wisteria poison has no effect on me. Most things don't, so I'd suggest recanting your words, for they are meaningless," the "Demon" stated as he snapped his fingers.

"Gyutaro, Ume, take the two unconscious people into the house. Ume, let go of Shinobu and help your brother. I wish to have a private discussion with Shinobu. I'm sure Aoi will help you around the place, correct, Kanzaki?"

A chill went down Aoi's spine, but seeing no other option, she did as was told. "Y-Yes… you two, please follow me," Aoi said, an edge of fear in her voice as the two cloaked figures, Gyutaro and Ume, picked up the two unconscious Slayers, and carried them inside the building, leaving the "Demon" with Shinobu.

Back in the courtyard, The "Demon" picked Shinobu up off the ground and stood her up. "Now, I believe we have some business to attend to. I—"

"You lied," Shinobu hissed, glaring at the "Demon" as said Demon raised an eyebrow.

"How so?"

"You said I'd get devoured by Upper Moon Two. While I'm not opposed to that, seeing as it was a backup plan I had, you cannot be serious when you say that you know the exact date of my death. I don't know what you did to brainwash those two people, Demon, but know this, I—"

"Name: Kanae Kocho. Date of death: May 16th, 1914, Cause of death: Devouring at the hands of, at the time, Upper Moon Four, Douma, who is now Upper Moon Two." When the "Demon" said that, Shinobu saw nothing but red. At that moment, she rushed the Demon in front of her, the Demon sighed, and then… there was nothing.

Literally, nothing. Pitch blackness. She couldn't breathe, couldn't move, nor could she talk. All she had were her thoughts.

And then, pain. Excruciating pain.

And then, there was light. Her mansion came into view again, as Shinobu fell to her knees, her breathing ragged. Footsteps echoed behind her, as the voice of that "Demon" spoke up again. "How was it? Experiencing death, I mean?"

Shinobu blinked, calming herself as she looked over her shoulder. "What…?"

"You heard me," The "Demon," said as it crossed its arms. "You died. I destroyed your mortal body with nothing but the snap of my fingers, turning it into a thousand different butterflies. Of course, your time was not now, so I brought you back to life. Granted, it came at the cost of lowering your lifespan, so your fate has been altered. A fate that I cannot tell you. That is beside the point. I hope now you believe me when I say I am a God."

Shinobu grew pale, her mind racing with emotions that she could not even begin to comprehend. She was about to speak when the De—No, the God, spoke again. "I know what you're going to ask, and the answer is no. I cannot bring back your dead sister, though I would've loved to. If a human is devoured by a Demon, their soul is also devoured. Therefore, it is beyond my reach. Otherwise, I would've done so. I'm sorry."

The God sat down next to her, its legs crossed as it gained a melancholic expression. Shinobu shakily kneeled as one would at a dinner table, hands on her thighs as she looked at the God beside her. That was a strange thought, no, more than that. An unreal thought. To think that she would be graced by the presence of a God was no joking matter.

And to think she mistook him for a Demon…

"I… I hope I did not offend you by… comparing you to those monsters, uh…"

"Ranboo. My name is Ranboo," the dual-skin-toned God answered as the corners of the mask tugged up in what she had to assume was a smile. "And no, it's quite alright. Believe me, I've been called worse," Ranboo said. "Unfortunatly, Shinobu, I bring bad news. In the coming months, a war will begin. A war that will decide the fate of humanity as you see it now."

Shinobu blinked, looking at Ranboo with a confused expression. "What…?"

Ranboo sighed, shaking his head as he stood up. "Find and locate the one named Technoblade. I've already given him a letter that I hope to be getting a response back to soon. If he is half as smart as I remember him being, then he will not harm you when you meet him. In fact, try and bring him to your Corps headquarters. There is no time to delay. If you want anyone you love and care about to survive the upcoming war, then you need to make haste with this. The time for fun and games is over. Warn Ubuyashiki. I shall visit him soon, as well."

Ranboo then turned to the manor, as both Ume and Gyutaro exited the building. "Let's go, you two. I've said my peace," Ranboo stated as the two nodded. Ume looked over at Shinobu, then frowned.

"You know, your place is nice. Could use some light dusting, though," Ume commented. "Word of advice, if you want to kill that bastard Douma, the best way to do so is to use cyanide. I know it sounds stupid, but for whatever reason, Douma's body can't handle it as well as he can wisteria. Or hell, use both at the same time. That'll make him die a whole lot faster. Take it from me, the Former Upper Moon Six. He was the guy who got me turned in the first place."

Gyutaro huffed. "She's right," the man said, cracking his neck side to side. "Enough chit-chat. We got work to do. C'mon, let's leave." And before Shinobu could ask, say, or do much of anything, when she blinked, they were gone, leaving a confused Shinobu all to herself.

xxXXxxXXxx

"Rest in piss, you won't be missed," Tommy grunted as another Demon fell to his blade, its expression marred with fear and confusion as it turned to ash.

"That was just rude," Nezuko muttered, sheathing her blade as she wiped the blood from her cheek. Tommy shrugged.

"The bastard jumped us, so what?" Tommy quipped as he sheathed his blade. The Flame breath user leaned against a tree as Nezuko straightened the black stalking on her leg. He watched her intently, crossing his arms as he did so. The two had woken up to the sound of snickering, and lo-and-behold it was all thanks to some stupid three-eyed Demon with a beak for a mouth. Seriously, the guy looked hideous! He was gangly, had purple skin for some reason or another, and had teeth protruding from his back. Whatever kind of human he had been was no longer there, clearly.

When he began this journey of his nearly over a month ago, he thought it was going to be a waste of time in all honesty. But then he met Kyojuro, learnt Flame Breathing, and survived the exam. It was then that he learned one thing above all else.

Demons were nothing like the mobs he dealt with back at the SMP. They were worse. Not worse in the sense that they were more powerful—hell, Creepers were worse than these bastards in terms of pure destructive capability. No. They were worse because the mobs in the SMP had no sentience. The only thing that Tommy could compare these Demons to were Zombies. But the Zombies didn't have thoughts, feelings, or anything that made them resemble what corpses they used to be. They acted on instinct and bloodlust alone, and the only comparison that Tommy could link between them was that they burned up in the sun, much like skeletons did.

Demons, on the other hand, had a conscious. They did everything knowing that what they were doing was wrong, and as such, they were immediately far more dangerous and cruel than anything the SMP threw at him. If anything, they were more comparable to Dream.

"Actually, no. That's an insult to Dream, as much as I would love to compare the two, Dream is worse beyond measure. At least Demons don't level whole cities over a stupid disc…." Which brought Tommy to where he was now, and with a whole lot more free time on his hands, he had done some thinking, and came to one conclusion: A lot of the crap that had occurred was his fault. Not Dream's, but his own. Sure, Dream took it to length's that were unreasonable. But if he hadn't started any of it, then maybe, maybe things would've turned out differently.

Of course, Dream didn't have to do everything else. But… there was that small bit of white noise in the back of Tommy's subconscious, telling him that if he didn't do what he did when he first arrived at the SMP, then maybe things would've been a lot more… peaceful. He had to admit, that when he was a kid, he was a dipshit. Stealing stuff, breaking stuff, blowing up stuff to piss people off. He was the town shithead.

If it hadn't been for Wilbur standing up for him, then things would've been worse.

Or maybe… maybe they'd be the same.

He felt bad for George, for Sapnap, because Dream had dragged them through the dirt, metaphorically speaking. Tarnished their reputations, and for it, they self-exiled out of disgust for what they had done. They were the only ones who regretted what they had done. They never showed up anymore, mostly staying in Kineko Kingdom, or wherever else they wanted to be.

And to make things worse, he— "Oi, Tommy! You there?" Nezuko's voice snapped him out of his trance as he looked over at the purple-clad teen.

"Ah, sorry about that, Nezuko… I was just, thinking…." Tommy said, rubbing the back of his neck as Nezuko smirked.

"Yeah, I get it. I get drawn into my thoughts too. Now, come on, lets—"

"KAW, KAW! Nezuko Kamado, Thomas Rengoku! KAW! Head north! Head north! Demon spotted north of Hokkido Town!" The voice of Phil, Tommy's crow, rang out to the pair as the two looked at one another.

"Well, let's not waste any time. We got a mission from the geezer, so let's get moving!" Tommy said, a bashful smile on his face as Nezuko nodded. And with that, they began running north. The crow continued to circle in the same spot, before blinking, its eyes shifting from red to green, before switching back again.

The crow flew toward them, keeping up with the two. The sun was beginning to rise. The journey would take a handful of days if they kept at a normal pace, but seeing as they were running and using Total Concentration Breathing to increase their movement speed, it would take them only a day, maybe two with minimal breaks for them to reach their destination.

Tommy focused his attention on the path ahead of him, glancing over at Nezuko from time to time. He overheard her conversation with this Kokushibo fellow, due to him being a light sleeper. He was her supposed master who she had said to the two hosts of that stupid exam had supposedly died. In other words, she lied to them. And while the conversation had been pretty tame, something had caught his ear when she mentioned a particular name.

Technoblade.

Nezuko knew who Technoblade was. Meaning Technoblade was here. And if Technoblade was here…. "There's a chance that Dream is also here, and maybe, just maybe even Wilbur…" Tommy thought to himself. He didn't say a damned word to her about it. Oh, don't get him wrong, he was curious to all hell as to what the implications of that were. But, he didn't want to jump to conclusions.

After all, jumping to conclusions always seemed to make things worse for him in the long run. And if there was one thing that Tommy had learned, repeatedly, it was that jumping to conclusions was a bad thing. Once he found the time, he was going to question her on it, but right now was not the time.

Sooner or later, though, the time would come, and he'd get the answers he wanted. Namely where they were located. He had a few choice words to say to Techno, and a few choice actions he wanted to do upon that green bastard. But for now, he needed to focus on the mission he was assigned. There would come a time when he could get his revenge, and when he did, he could rest easy knowing that the menace that had plagued his life for as long as he could remember would be dead by his hands, and no one else's.

"Just you wait, Dream… your comeuppance is coming, and when I get my hands on you…. You're dead to rights!" Tommy thought, clearing his mind from anything else as he sped ahead to where he was needed.

xxXXxxXXxx

When Mitsuri woke up, she felt something soft underneath her, like that of a futon. Of course, that made no sense. Last she checked, she was in the forest, bleeding out from her brutal defeat at the hands of Lower Moon Five and Lower Moon Six. She should've been dead, not resting on a futon.

Her eyes slowly opened to find herself in a very familiar room. It was almost like she was in…. "Good morning, I'm glad that you're awake." Shinobu Kocho's voice spoke out toward Mitsuri, who slowly sat up while clutching her head in pain. The purple and black-haired Hashira knelt to her, passing her a cup of liquid. Mitsuri eyed it for a moment, then drank it.

It tasted like piss, making her gag. "Come now, it's medicine. You need it if you're going to heal properly," Shinobu said as Mitsuri stared vacantly at the cup, her reflection rippling across the liquid inside. Her expression had no joy to it, no hope, nothing. The usual happy-go-lucky Mitsuri was not there anymore, rather it was replaced by a depressed, scared, and fearful Mitsuri. One that experienced nothing but the shattering realization that everything that she had worked up to was useless.

The Demons were unkillable. At least, the Lower Moons were. She had no idea if that applied to Muzan or the Upper Moons. But even so, one question lingered in the back of her mind. One that she spoke out loud.

"How…. How am I alive…?" Mitsuri asked, making Shinobu recoil. There was silence, and then, Shinobu responded.

"According to Aoi… Lower Moon Five brought you here. You and Amajiro…." Shinobu said a distant gleam in her eyes as Mitsuri's eyes widened. Shinobu stifled a laugh, looking away. "I know. It's hard for me to believe too. But… I believe Aoi-chan. She's never had a reason to lie to me. While I don't know why the Demon did what it did, it said that it didn't want you meeting an untimely demise. At least, according to Aoi-chan. It even stitched up your wounds, too, with what I have to assume was some sort of spider-based Blood Demon Art. Sloppily done, mind you, but the effort was made."

Mitsuri couldn't believe what she was hearing. So much so that she verbally spoke out against it. "That's… that's insane! I-I refuse to believe that… that… that…. That Rui Demon saved my life! Why?!" Mitsuri shouted, anger, confusion, and disbelief coursing through her mind and body as she clasped her hands against her face. "Everything doesn't make any sense anymore! First I find out that cutting the Lower Moons' heads off doesn't work anymore to kill them! And now I learn that the Demon I was sent to kill and actively tried to kill saved mine and Amijiro's lives?!"

Shinobu's eyes widened. "What…?"

Mitsuri blinked, then covered her mouth, before looking away. "Yes… The Lower Moons… well, Lower Moon Five and Lower Moon Six anyway, cannot be killed by cutting off their heads. I cut off Lower Moon Six's head last night, and both of them confirmed that they cannot die that way. The Demon was able to put her head back on without dying, and after that… they beat me into submission."

Shinobu looked at Mitsuri with the utmost seriousness, then, she looked away. A forced smile made its way onto the purple and black-haired woman's face, followed by a small chuckle. "Things… things are really changing, aren't they?" With that, Shinobu stood up and walked to the sliding door behind the Love Hashira. Opening the door, Shinobu's Kasugai Crow landed on her arm as she spoke. "Deliver this message to Oyakata-sama. Request a Hashira meeting, Kanroji-san has some vital information that everyone must know… as do I."

With a squawk of approval, the crow flew off in the direction of the Demon Slayer Headquarters. Shinobu turned around and looked at Mitsuri, gaining a neutral expression. "Tell me everything you know. What happened at that fight, what were their Blood Demon Arts? All of it. I need to know.

And so, Mitsuri explained everything to Shinobu. The house that was found, the two Demons, their Blood Demon Arts, all of it. Needless to say, Shinobu was shocked. "The same Demon who Upper Moon Six was with that night… she's the new Lower Moon Six and is immune to Nicherin blades? How…? A lot can happen in a year, so…." "Hmm…. Thank you. When I find them, I shall see if Wisteria Poison affects them still. If so, then that means we still have a method of killing The Demons. Well, at least the Lower Moons, anyway. The Other Demons should still be weak to our blades, along with The Upper Moons." As Shinobu finished the response, a knock came on the door.

"Uh… Kocho-sama, can I speak with Kanroji-sama?" The voice was masculine, but one that Shinobu did not recognize. However, Mitsuri did.

"Ah! Come in, Amajiri-kun!" With that, a tall muscular man entered the room, wearing a blue and white striped shirt and pants. The man immediately bowed, before speaking up.

"I am sorry for my failure to help you against Lower Moon Five and my failure to kill and defeat Lower Moon Six. If I had been able to do that, neither of us would be in this situation right now!" Amajiri said, making Mitsuri shake her head.

"No, Amajiri-kun… it wouldn't have mattered either way," Mitsuri said as Amajiri stood up straight, an eyebrow raised.

"I do not understand. What do you mean?"

Mitsuri lowered her head, a disappointed look on her face. "When I cut the head off of Lower Moon Six… she did not die. Rather, she put her head back on and continued the fight. There was nothing I could've done, and neither could you. Those two at the very least are immune to our Nicherin Blades. I cannot say the same for the rest, but we were fighting a losing battle."

Amajiri looked down at the ground as silence filled the room. After a few minutes, the taller man left, not saying a word. Mitsuri felt a hand on her shoulder, courtesy of Shinobu. The woman gave her a smile, to which she smiled back. And then, following in Amajiri's footsteps, she left, leaving Mitsuri by herself.

Shinobu had work to do, while also preparing for the next Hashira meeting. Why? Because she had to deal with the rest of her colleagues… again.

-To Be Continued-