Zenitsu had come to some time ago, but by the time his mobility began returning to him, he did not like what he heard and saw… not at all, Sanemi's unsettling cackle filled the air, he was laughing in pain, laughing in anger, laughing with rage and lust to kill.
The silence from Solovonov… was making an even worse sound… he saw what happened to the others, he looked over to Inosuke's lifeless body, he felt himself on the verge of panic, when he felt Giyuu's hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see the water pillar… "Tomioka-San..." was all he could say.
Giyuu said nothing, only looked ahead, but his presence alone brought Zenitsu from going over the edge.
Sanemi's cackle came to a gradual stop, as he noticed the sword in Solovonov's hand, his grin dropped and his eyes widened with even more anger if that were even possible.
"Oi you! what are you doing with that sword? That sword doesn't fucking belong to you! Where is Muichiro!?"
"I see you have lived through the visions of the fog..." said Solovonov, "that little pretty boy is experiencing it too now, he will have his nightmares to keep him company on his long journey, to the bottom of the sea!"
"What?... seriously!? Does he mean that he threw Muichiro overboard? How long ago was this!?" were the first three of about 300 thoughts that raced through Sanemi's head in that instant! Rage, Panic, Fear, Terror! The crushing Horror that Muichiro might be long gone! That he had again failed to protect the person he cared about the most… but Shinaguzawa Sanemi had lived his entire life never letting his sorrow or fear stop him, it propelled him forward!
The wood broke under his feet as he sprang forward with a strength he never knew he had before Zenitsu and Giyuu barely even saw him move!
Stuhac's stony expression did not change as the upper half of his body fell from the lower half, it landed on the deck, his severed arms scattering across the ground, cut by Sanemi's red nichirin blade!
Sanemi glared down at him with a murderous "i'll-deal-with-you later" expression, before urgently turning to the edge of the ship!
"MUICHIRO! MUICHIROOOO!" he called down, "Muichiro!" his voice trembled for a moment, "ANSWER ME DAMNIT!"
Giyuu was stunned, in all the years he had known Shinazugawa Sanemi, he had never seen him like this.
Sanemi's hands trembled as they gripped the railing, "MUICHIROOOO!" he called again desperately… "please… please be okay… Aww God, please don't tell me I've gone and let another one die!" he said shakily.
"SHINAZUGAWA!"
Sanemi snapped to attention immediately, that was Yushiro's voice!
"Shinazugawa!" he called again, "I have Tokito here! I've got him with me! He's alive!"
Sanemi let out a shaky sigh of relief when he heard Giyuu cry out: "BEHIND YOU!?"
Sanemi barely had time to turn around before an enraged and fully regenerated Solovonov hit him with a lightning attack!
Sanemi fell back but did not fall, and while he was stunned, Giyuu saw his opening! He charged at Stuhac but the demon parried his attack with Muichiro's sword, he slashed downwards, Giyuu blocked and jumped back just as Sanemi charging through the pain and shock along with Zenitsu double-teamed Solovonov!
Stuhac's back was to the rails, he didn't have much room to dodge. Hundreds of years of experience had molded Stuhac into a formidable swordsman, but next to the combined wind and thunder breathing attacks from these two above-average Demon Slayers he was now at a disadvantage, "breath of wind! Ninth Form: Idaten Typhoon!" Sanemi's furious blade cut into Stuhac's shoulder!
"STORM OF THE BAIKAL!" Zenitsu grabbed the airborn Sanemi and got out of the way, managing to only be grazed by the demon's lightning attack, the two even managing to land on their feet.
Stuhac glared at them angrily as his wounds closed.
"I think I finally figured out his weakness," Giyuu whispered to his comrades.
"Yeah? Lay it on me." Sanemi said.
"I noticed after he's released his lightning attack, he needs a moment to charge before using it again, its a very short window, maybe only a second or two, but when I attacked him right after he used it on you, even though around a second had passed in between, the lightning he attacked me with was significantly weaker, thats why he used Tokito's sword to fend off the two of you back there before he could unleash his blood demon art."
Zenitsu and Sanemi's eyes widened as they realized this, it was good that Tomioka had noticed!
"We've had the advantage of numbers this whole time" The Water Pillar continued, setting his eyes on the target, "We just haven't been using it right, Agatsuma and I used the conventional method of attacking him at once."
"So we need to attack him in waves then." Sanemi said.
"Exactly"
"Can we do this?" asked Zenitsu a little unsure.
An evil grin spread across Sanemi's face. "Your Gottdamn fucking right we can!"
"Tokito, stay with me!" Yushiro said to him in desperation, the situation really was desperate, he had saved the young mist pillar from drowning, but now it looked as though he had just doomed them both. The Ship was drifting away, and all of the lights were off, he only barely heard Sanemi's voice, and could now only see the blue and white streams of lightning whenever Stuhac unleashed an attack, he would have cursed himself for that out-of-character lapse of heroism, but now was not the time, it was easy enough to tread while holding onto an unconscious Muichiro, treading water when Muichiro's eyes shot open, and he began screaming and flailing his arms in some kind of mania; that was a lot harder.
"Oi! Tokito! Pull yourself together!" but Yushiro knew it was futile, he saw the same thing happen to the ship's passengers when Stuhac released his fog, Muichiro was under the same nightmarish spell that they were.
"Shit!" Yushiro cursed as Muichiro broke from his grip, still screaming, thrashed about in the water, before sinking into the depths below.
Shu Yong watched the battle unfolding before him, he had no love for the Japanese, and he didn't really have any special concern for the Mongolian girl, but Stuhac… Stuhac always got on his nerves, and these demon slayers who were so bravely fighting against him, they were beginning to grow on him. Half of him was beginning to wish he could do to help them, but the other half reminded him that it was A. not his fight, and B. one he would be completely useless at. There was no way he could step to Stuhac.
"Oi, Shu Yong was it?" spoke the demon slayer with the mismatched Haori, he seemed to be the oldest of the group.
"What is it?" he answered.
"The passengers who are affected by this demon's fog below deck, is there a way to stop it?"
"The fog becomes less concentrated when used on a lot of people at once" he replied, "It will send them into some kind of Mania, by now its probably dissipated, but whatever damage it has done is done already, most of them will be collapsed from exhaustion or other wounds they sustained while in that frenzy"
"Then do you think you can go down there and help them?"
Shu Yong's eyes widened, there was something about the way he was being asked… like his help was desperately needed.
He paused for a moment... Why was he feeling like doing something completely selfless for once? He did not know, but after all that had happened, after decades of serving all kinds of people, not caring who they were or what they did so long as he got paid... These demon slayers were fighting for something else entirely... maybe that was what made them so strong.
"Tell me your names!" Yong called to them.
"Tomioka Giyuu!"
"Agatsuma Zenitsu"
"Shinazugawa Sanemi! And the two who are gonna be swimmin back to this ship any minute are Muichiro and Yushiro, now hurry the fuck up ya'damn Chinaman!"
Shu Yong took one last look at Zaya, and then back at the group.
"Good luck to you *Xiao Riben!" he called out, and then rushed down below deck.
"Maybe I will kill Shu Yong later" Stuhac mused, "or maybe I just won't pay him what I promised, I'm sure that will piss off that greedy capitalist even more, but first, why don't the three of you make your moves? So I can kill you ."
There was a pause as the tension rose in the air… "That brat who I threw in the ocean, and the fool who jumped in to die after him… They are not coming back Sanemi, I hope you've come to peace with that, I'll be sure to throw your corpse in there too so that you can be a piece of bloated flesh floating together with them!"
"Shinazugawa..." Sanemi looked back at Giyuu to show him that he understood, he kept his boiling anger under the lid, he wasn't going to let Stuhac get to him until after they had killed him.
The three slayers exchanged knowing glances, without even having to speak they knew what to do.
Zenitsu charged first! Attacking Stuhac with rapid strikes! Stuhac managed to break his first attack, but Zenitsu was now practically in a trance, he danced like lightning across the clouds and pressed on with his attack.
"It's useless!" Stuhac shouted, and sent a bolt of lightning through Zenitsu, then Giyuu came charging at him! Swinging his sword like a waterwheel! The slayer mark burning across his face.
Stuhac blocked it with Muichiro's sword, but before buckling under Giyuu's weight, extended his other hand and hit him with another powerful lightning attack, but weaker than the one he hot Zenitsu with…
"Shinazugawa! Do it now!" Cried Giyuu!
Sanemi charged at the demon with a livid battle cry! Everything hinged on this instant! Stuhac would be defenseless! All Sanemi had to do was outmaneuver him and they would be able to cut him down!
"Breath of the wind…"
"Great storm… THUNDER ON THE FROZEN LAKE!"
In an instant, a powerful flash of lightning illuminated the night! A screeching howled through the air! All three slayers fighting on deck felt As though everything around them had turned to freezing ice, and then shattered around them in an instant with the force of a thousand thunderbolts!...
Sanemi felt as though he had blacked out for a moment, everything around him was black, but he knew he was awake… his ears were ringing, his skin felt as though it were covered in a layer of ice, at the same time his organs felt fried from the electricity, his breath hung in the air, his head was dizzy and his joints felt like led, Giyuu was no better, and Zenitsu was barely conscious…
Tomioka was wrong! Stuhac was only holding back this entire time!
Sanemi looked at the demon standing powerful before him, "calm down damnit!" He needed to stay focused, he needed to stay awake! Shakily he brought his left hand to his mouth and bit into it, but the effects of the attack while leaving him in pain, had also taken away much of his sensation, be bit down harder then he meant to, and blood trickled from his hand down his arm.
"Hohhh, that's some rare blood you have there," Stuhac said holding his bleeding arm and examining it.
Sanemi hadn't even seen Stuhac move! And now he was kneeling right in front of him!
But that was it! Mareechi blood was intoxicating to demons! Stuhac must be getting drunk just from the fumes!
"Your fucking mine now!"
With his right hand, Sanemi raised his sword to bring down on Stuhac, but instead, the demon, ever so casually… broke the wind pillar's left forearm.
-SNAP!-
"ARRRRGGGHHHHHHHH!"
Sanemi's attack broke, he was now fully floored writhing in pain at Stuhac's feet, but that only lasted a moment, he got up again!
"Don't you fucking underesti-"
-THWAK!-
Sanemi was sent flying upwards by a kick to the face!
"Shinazugawa!" Giyuu called out, and in the nick of time managed to catch him before he fell to the hard deck, minimizing the damage as much as he could, but still weakened from the same attack that floor to the three of them, fell and skidded across the deck with his colleague instead.
Stuhac examined the Mareechi blood still on his hand, and then began to lick it, but very deliberately.
"Do you have any idea who you are fighting?" He said turning to his opponents, "your organization had more members when you fought your Demon King, Kibutsuji Muzan, you barely beat him then, but Muzan… was only the Demon King in the east, there are five Demon Kings in total, and one Emperor of them all, once upon a time, **Baba Yaga was the demon King of the north and I was her upper Moon…"
Sanemi and Giyuu looked at him not knowing what to think, unable to really do anything but listen.
"And I, Stuhac, killed her and ate her, along with all of my other fellow moons, that is how I conquered the Sun, and this is exactly who you are dealing with…"
Thats all Solovonov said, it began to sink in... he was a different class of demon altogether, Inosuke was defeated, that Mongolian slayer was defeated, Muichiro and Yushiro had been thrown overboard, and there was no way that the three of them stood a chance... A moment passed which seemed like an eternity before Giyui finally asked him.
"Why then?... Why did you want the serum so badly?... Is it perhaps because you wanted to turn against the other kings?"
Stuhac smiled, "you are quite astute there Mr. Tomioka, and now you must also realize why I am so pissed… I came all the way to Japan for that, and now the only guy who knows how to make it is dead… Which means" he now began advancing towards them, "that I will have to start by crippling the silver-headed one, so that I can kill everyone on this ship at my leisure, and save his blood for last…"
"You can fucking try!" Sanemi was awake again! He charged at Stuhac, his sword in his one good hand aimed for the demon's neck!
"A last-ditch desperate effort poorly disguised as thuggish rage" the demon mused.
He caught Sanemi's blade in his hand and then plunged Muichiro's sword into his belly...
"Damnit… Why the hell did I jump off that ship?" Yushiro was asking himself this question over and over, as he struggled to stay afloat, He had dove into the black water and found Muichiro, if it were anyone else they would not have even been able to see him in the dark waters, now the demon slayer was unconscious again, at least that was an improvement, but he had nearly drowned, and Yushiro could tell that he had swallowed a lot of water, it was probably in his lungs too. The saltiness of the sea and the cold water were probably affecting him a lot more too.
He had no idea how far out in the middle of the ocean they were, he couldn't see Stuhac's attacks anymore, he didn't know how much longer he could hold out… Not much longer, he now saw the first rays of sunlight rising on the horizon, and when it came up he would be burnt to nothingness.
"Why did I jump in after you?" he said sadly to Muichiro, "If I hadn't been so stupid only you would have died..." Yushiro took one last look at the night sky, the stars were becoming less and less, and the moon becoming ever fainter?
"Soon the sun will be up, I will be dead, and you will drown without me… Not that it would matter, we would both die eventually anyway, I can't keep this up forever..."
He looked down at the boy he was holding, for the first time in what seemed like an eternity he felt sorrow for another being, he had almost forgotten how that felt... "Im sorry Tokito..."
The sun was now rising, and casting its light over the blue Ocean, Yushiro closed his eyes ready to accept the inevitable, he felt the heat of the sun begin to singe the ends of his hair, and then… he felt a shadow cast over him… Had a cloud passed over? Yushiro shut his eyes even tighter, why the hell was he being taunted like this! Just get it over with already!?
"How long are you going to keep your eyes shut like that? Yamamoto Yushiro?"
Yushiro's eyes shot wide open, he looked towards the direction of the voice, a man… not human, but a demon, he looked just like a human, an old hooded man in a black cloke, with a brown beard, two red lines almost looking like fangs highlighted in it, as though blood had dripped from this demon's mouth and flowed down his beard, his eyes… it was unsettling how human they looked, they looked like the regular brown eyes of a very old man… he was standing, no! Floating! Impervious to the sunlight, and casting a shadow over him, shielding him from the sun's rays...
Yushiro was stunned, he felt that he oughta say something but his mouth would not open, this demon's presence… it was intense.
"Do you know who I am Yushiro?" he asked?
No response.
"If I told you my name, then would you perhaps recognize me?"...
Notes: * Xiao Riben is a derogatory term for Japanese people by the Chinese. It means "Little Japanese" or "Dwarf Japanese" in this case Shu Yong is using it in a less-hostile manner than he usually would, because he's warming up to em. ** Baba Yaga is a reoccurring Villain in Russian Folklore. She is usually a female, but in this case, she is still a "demon king" instead of "queen" because these are titles of power, not royalty.