The shadow of death was always clinging tightly onto me. My heart stopped several times inside my mother's belly. When I was born, I was pronounced dead. I had no pulse, and I was not even breathing.
When I was about to be cremated, I struggled, struggled, and cried. I can say beyond a doubt that the wish I strongly yearned for came true. I made it reality. But my limit was that I could only do it with one body.
Ubuyashiki.
It pains me to say this, but what you said was right.
All living creatures will meet death, without exception. Feelings are internal and indestructible.
That is indeed correct.
I do not remember a single person I killed. Once the flesh dies, it all ends. But then what? Feelings are inherited and never destroyed. Even I lost to this. The truth was right before my eyes. And it made me shake with emotion. My flesh is most likely going to be destroyed in an instant because of the sunlight.
However, my feelings are indestructible. They are eternal. So I have decided to entrust all my emotions to this child. His heart and breath have stopped, but his cells are not destroyed.
They are alive.
I can still make it.
I will pump all my blood and power into you now. If you manage to escape swift death and stay alive, Kamado Tanjirou, you will conquer the light of the sun. You will become the strongest King among the Demons.
After all, you are the brother of Kamada Nezuko. You share the same blood. And you're the only one who can use the same breaths as that monster.
You will not die.
I believe that you won't.
Make my dream come true, Kamado Tanjirou.
You will…
You will destroy the Demon Hunters-
- in my stead…
They finally managed to pull the bleeding and crying Nezuko away from the frozen body of Tanjirou. A moment before, Tanjirou was ferociously fighting against the Corps, like a wild beast hunting prey. He wanted them dead; there was nothing else on his mind. He needed them dead, for they were his worst enemies. His most dear comrades. His most dear friends. His most dear brothers. And his little sister, which he risked his life to get back hers. He fought as if his life depended on it, which admittedly, it did. And then he was frozen. As if he just shut down. His whips went back into his back. He went limp. He stopped attacking. Maybe it was Kanao's injection.
Without hesitation, Giyuu rushed forward and pulled Nezuko away, heart pounding since he realized that in doing so, he was unable to unleash his blade if Tanjirou tried to attack again. Kanao used the last of her energy to crawl away, and finally fell into the beautiful world of darkness after being grabbed by a few Kakushi.
Silence filled the square. Not total silence exactly; Nezuko's crying and screams and the other Corps members' haggard breathing still remained, but there was relative silence. The Kakushi slowly edged away from the battlefield, dragging away some of the more injured Slayers, careful not to add any more wounds to them. At the same time, the able bodied Slayers came rushing from all corners of the town. There weren't many and were all hesitant to fight, for they all heard of the exploits that made up the sort-of-legend Demon Slayer Tanjirou.
The silence continued. Giyuu's hope began to grow. It seemed that Tanjirou was resisting. "Resisting. He's resisting. That damned Tanjirou, haha, he's fighting back."
Another Slayer, a Hinoto, next to Giyuu swallowed and took a step closer to the Pillar. He swallowed and asked with a shaking breath, "Wh- what do we do now? D- do we kill him?"
"No…" Giyuu replied. "No, we will watch for now." His voice shook less with each sentence. "We wait. Tanjirou's fighting. He's resisting Muzan," A pause. "Knowing Tanjirou, he'll win. That's why he's not attacking. That's why he didn't kill and eat Nezuko. Tanjirou is still there. We will wait," he declared.
I can't lose another, Giyuu thought.
The Hinoto swallowed again and stepped back. But another Slayer, this time a Kanoto, spoke up. "What do we do if he doesn't win?"
Giyuu's own fears were echoed in that question. He glared at the Slayer for even asking such a question, but then looked down, blade dipping. There was a chance that would happen. He can't deny that possibility. Giyuu did not reply for a short while. "He has to. Because… We'll die if he doesn't."
With grim faces, the Corps stood on guard.
"Don't you get it?" Tanjirou stared at Muzan in front of him.
He felt tired, and it was hard to keep holding the hands above. Muzan was grabbing on to Tanjirou hard, his face and voice full of emotion. "Don't you realize that only you can do so?! That you have to carry on my will, that you were chosen by God to do so?" Muzan pulled. "To be the Superior being of this land! The Strongest Demon King!" Muzan was breathing heavily. He was desperate. And Tanjirou felt so very tired. "If it's you, it's possible for you to become the perfect creature!"
Tanjirou slipped a little from the hands above. He looked up at the Wisteria, at the hands and voices of his loved ones, and felt such longing and sadness. He wanted to go back. But why? That was some other voice. It sounded like him but it wasn't him. Don't you want power? Don't you want to be the best? And Tanjirou felt that he did. He wanted to feel powerful. To be powerful. Then, he would be able to save his friends. His family, other families would never have to suffer. Come down. "Come down, Tanjirou. Don't leave me."
Tanjirou fell.
Muzan hugged him tight.
The Wisteria retreated.
"That's right, Tanjirou. Stay with me."
They became one.
Tanjirou's mouth twitched. It opened and closed and then started to make shapes. It seemed as if he was speaking. Silent words. "Tanjirou?" Giyuu asked, moving closer. "Is that you?"
"...Yes…"
Giyuu breathed out a breath he didn't know he was holding and lowered his sword, as did many other Slayers. Nezuko cried out in relief and tried to rush over, but was held down by members of the Kakushi. Inosuke and Zenetisu both celebrated with each other. Giyuu walked over. "We… were very worried. Nezuko's-"
"Nezuko." Giyuu jerked backwards. He felt something off. Tanjirou's voice was too cold. It lacked the warmth Giyuu had come to expect from him, that he had come to adore in him. There was none of that in Tanjirou's voice. "Nezuko, huh?"
Giyuu paused. "Tanjirou?"
Tanjirou lifted his face. It was a sight. His eyes lost their familiar Dark Red, and didn't have Muzan's Plum Red as they did moments earlier. Instead, they were a shiny Ruby Red. Brighter. His teeth, visible inside his open mouth, were sharper than normal. Giyuu jumped backwards, almost stumbling out of balance due to his lost arm. He skidded to a halt next to the ring of Slayers. Silence as the others realized what had just happened. A few cried out in horror and others fell to their knees.
"Why did Nezuko give up this gift?" Tanjirou asked, voice full of wonder. It was a bit deeper. Sharper. "She conquered the sun already. If she stayed, she could've kept her power and become something greater… Too bad she's become resistant. Otherwise, I would have given her a second chance…"
Giyuu raised his sword. "Tanjirou-"
"I do not wish to fight you, Tomioka-san," Tanjirou interrupted. "I am not yet used to being… me. And I do not wish to kill you just yet. In fact, I offer you the chance to accept my gift… Become my first Demon Pillar." Tanjirou held out his hand. "I offer the chance to become a Demon to all of you."
No one moved. No one spoke. "So be it. I will retreat today. But know this- I will revive the Demons. The next generation of the Demon Clan is upon you."
The battered Slayers and powerless Kakushi could only watch as Tanjirou walked away into the sun. Slowly, slowly further away. A few feet. A few dozen feet. A hundred feet. Nezuko had long been shocked into silence. Inosuke and Zenitsu had stopped celebrating. Giyuu lowered his sword, his other arm raising in order to grab Tanjirou, before remembering that his arm was already lost. He lowered that arm as well. "Slayers!" Giyuu called out, sounding stronger than he felt. Stronger than he was. "Retreat… Kakushi, clean up the place… I'll have to report this to Oyakata-sama."
The disheartened members of the Corps slowly made their way through their orders. Giyuu turned around, glazing back at the sun that once gave them hope. . Tanjirou…
"You're the only two Pillars left now… Most of the other children have left us… And we haven't managed to exterminate the demons…" There was a long pause. "This was supposed to be our final meeting…" Kiriya's voice was grim and somber.
The room was silent. Giyuu and Sanemi did not have anything to say. Outside of the building, all the Slayers gathered, swords unsheathed, sweating. They were on edge, eyes roaming the trees. The wounded were being treated nearby in a small makeshift facility. The able-bodied ones stood guard all around. There was the thought that maybe it wasn't the best idea to have all of the only people that had the ability and knowledge to kill demons in one place. Tanjirou knew of their locations. If he decided to attack, even with all of them together, they would most likely fail.
No. They would fail. There was no doubt that they would.
Still, they could try, and they would try. They were already crippled, and if their leader died, the organization would collapse there and then.
Kiriya continued. "The one where the Corps would be disbanded… And we'd all celebrate because we won… Now… now our strongest slayer has become the new Demon King... and our pillars," Kiriya looked at Giyuu's arm, "are in no condition to fight."
Giyuu looked down at his own arm, eyes downcast. Kiriya breathed in. He held that breath for a while before finally releasing it. His two sisters looked down. Kiriya licked his lips and swallowed, before speaking again. "We… have a contingency plan. We… my father. He came up with it when Nezuko and Tanjirou first arrived… Just in case Muzan did conquer the sun."
This shocked Giyuu and Sanemi. But they didn't show it. They simply waited for him to continue. "We'll have to enact mass recruitment. It's the only way." Both Pillars narrowed their eyes. They knew what this meant. More Slayers, but a far lower skill bar. Like rapidly throwing balls into a small hole. One of them is bound to go in. The rest, well…
"On the volcano of Sakurajima," Kiriya continued. "There's a deposit of Scarlet Crimson Ore and Scarlet Crimson Sand…" Kiriya glanced at the Pillar Duo. They still said nothing. "We'll have to recall the retired British Slayers… Mandatory pilar training… for everyone~~"
Kirya's voice wavered. "I'm sorry, I failed everyone…" Tears welled at his eyes. His two sisters were about to cry too. He bowed his head. "I failed you all!"
Sanemi and Giyuu jumped up. "Please raise your head!" Giyuu called out.
"We don't need your apology!" Sanemi added. "The biggest reason why the Demon Hunters stayed together is because of the efforts of the Ubuyakashi family!"
"Kiriya-sama, you did a magnificent job as well. It wasn't your fault. So I believe that all of your ancestors in the Ubuyakashi family, including your father, would be very proud of you."
Kiriya looked up at them and broke down, as did his sisters. "Thank you so much~"
The Demons knelt before their new king. When he left the village of the previous battle, he was the only Demon left. Well, that was not true. There were two others, the kid and his cat. In front of Tanjirou were his new demons, created recently. They were orphans and hunters, killers and even two former slayers. One of the new demons thought his power was rival to that of Tanjirou. He boldly declared himself better and attacked. Now, his corpse lay withering into dust. The King is Dead, Long live the King. "I inherited the Will of Muzan. So that makes me king. But he is right. I am weak. I do not yet know all that I can do with this body… But there is one thing that I do know I can do."
Tanjirou stood outside in the setting sun, bathing in its light. It felt… unusual. Not as comfortable as it used to feel, colder even. But soothing. Alien, yet nostalgic.
"And soon, you will too." Tanjirou turned around to face the other crowd. Humans who have get to receive his gift, who's faces show fear yet excitement. "I will give you my blood. Whether you successfully evolve or not, it's not my problem." He turned to face the sun again, hand outstretched, enclosing around the golden orb. "I plan to turn every human into what I am now."
The other demons glanced at each other. "When I was a Demon Slayer, I tried to be merciful and tried to make others too. I felt anger at Muzan for turning you into such… vile creatures, and I felt sad for you all… I thought that you were once human and that an evil virus was the cause of your evil actions." A pause. "But I was wrong. We are still human."
The other demons looked up in confusion. "You see, I have come to the conclusion that we are at the peak of human evolution. We're still human. Just at the next level. And so, it is the right of every human to be given the chance to become something greater. Something better. I will turn the whole world into Demons. Imagine how much further we can go as a society? Everyone, ageless. Powerful. A single unit."
A demon spoke up nervously. "Th-then, what do we eat?"
Tanjirou sighed, head lowering as he regarded the demons. There seemed to be genuine regret in his voice. And in fact, the regret was genuine. "Unfortunately, some will have to be sacrificed for the greater good. Not all may be fortunate enough to receive this gift."
"Now drink." Tanjirou cut his hand and blood spilled freely from the wound. "And welcome to the new Dawn of Demons."
07JULY2021
Reupload while I work on Chapter 2, minor word changes, grammar fixing, editing dialogue during the end that matters more.
