Grimm Slaying Blade
Chapter 2
[Brace Up And Run]
His katana cut diagonally through the wolven creature's outstretched arms like paper, severing them up to its elbows.
All animals had instincts that focused on their preservation in some way and maximized their chances of survival; severing the beast's arms should've sent it reeling back in fear of losing its life and halted its momentum, even if just for a moment. Unexpectedly though, the creature kept up the offensive and viciously lunged at Tanjiro's throat with its maw, uncaring of its missing arms.
Pushing past his surprise, Tanjiro sidestepped the attack and swung upwards as it passed by, cleaving the creature's head clean off. He watched as its body hit the ground and began dissipating into plumes of black smoke.
'A demon?'
He caught the sounds of growling and rapid thuds coming from his right and evaded a swipe from another wolf demon. He held off from swinging, the distance between them making him unsure of a clean cut. No time to continue estimating, though; he jumped away from another demon beast's tackle. It kicked up bits of dirt as it skidded on the earth but started coming back around the moment it recovered, along with the other one.
Tanjiro ducked under the leaping pounce the first one made, leaving a slice to its belly as it went over him. He glanced up, only to see the second one towering over him as it balled its claws together over its head. He quickly rolled away as the beast slammed into his original position, fracturing the ground below with a loud bang.
His heart leapt up into his throat. He couldn't afford to get hit by that kind of attack. Getting any injury right now would worsen an already terrible situation.
The first one aggressively charged back in. Tanjiro saw it coming; precisely timing his swing, he lopped off the head of the beast the moment it got close, letting its body pass by and crash into another set of beasts before disintegrating. With his next breath, he sliced off the claw of the second wolf demon that swung at him. Before he could land the finishing blow, a third one came at him. Tanjiro snapped his blade up, blocking a heavy strike, sending him back several feet to the river's edge.
Tanjiro assumed a defensive stance, watching as the demon wolves paused their attack and regrouped around a much larger and leaner one, standing at nearly twice his height. The bone-like spike armor that surrounded it seemed tougher and more numerous than the smaller demon wolves, most likely a stronger or evolved variant, Tanjiro assumed; its strong smell confirmed it.
He looked behind it, seeing more demon beasts arriving and placing themselves behind the big one, all preparing to besiege him together. One beast he noticed was the one he cut the claw off of. Its claw was still missing.
'They can't regenerate. At least not immediately,' he noted clinically.
Things weren't looking good. More and more demon beasts kept showing up. For each one he kills, three more will take their place—and it'll only get worse. These beasts seemed to have some sort of coordination but no sense of self-preservation. At this rate, he'll be overwhelmed by their ferocity and numbers!
It wasn't a thought he enjoyed, but the chances of him already dying here were extremely high. Even if he tried to take out all of the ones here right now, how many more were there? He just couldn't handle this many. He'll die...
Tanjiro gritted his teeth.
Die?
He can't die! His second chance would be wasted if he died here! He swore he'd make use of this second chance. And Nezuko would end up alone in an unknown land with no one to help! He can't let that happen!
Hopelessness led to fear. Fear bred anger. And anger birthed determination. In a situation like this, he only had one option left. In order to save his and Nezuko's livelihood, he'd have to brace up.
Tanjiro tightly held a strap from Nezuko's box, pulling it close to his chest as he turned around while taking a deep breath. He crouched down, focusing all his strength onto his legs, and immediately leaped into the air, finding himself high above the river, soon descending into a wide arc; the wind whipped his face and caused his haori to flutter like a cape. A second later, he landed safely on the other side, where another forest greeted him.
AND RUN!
He quickly ran off into its depths.
A resounding howl came from behind, past the trees and bushes of the forest. Loud thuds followed after, but the crunching of leaves, the beating of his own heart, and his audible breathing long flushed out the sounds behind him. The distance he made probably helped too. There was no time to stop; he had to keep going.
One foot in front of the other, he kept his breathing steady. If he stopped, then they would begin closing the distance. They would close the distance, and he'd have to fight to his last breath if they caught up.
The shade of the forest crept over him and covered his path and surroundings in shadows as he ran through the shrubbery. Numerous trees ahead quickly came at him, only to be left behind mere moments later, the darkness still surrounding him. He had to swerve a couple of times to avoid getting struck by a low branch and hop over any obstacles that would trip him up.
Howls echoed throughout the forest. Were they catching up to him? Was there any point in running away? Was he really about to waste this second chance?
'Don't lose hope! Don't give up!' he repeated in his mind like a mantra.
Pushing past the dark thoughts, his pace quickened, making sure to watch his step as stumbling now at the speed he was going at would truly spell his doom.
Tanjiro's nose scrunched up as the scent of more demon beasts came from ahead. Soon enough, he was proven right as three demon beasts stood in his way. They spotted him and readied themselves to intercept. He couldn't afford to stop or slow down now, so he'd have to break through!
'Total Concentration!'
The air hissed as he breathed in, utilizing an esoteric breathing art that allowed him to stand against enemies that went well beyond human capabilities. It empowered him with each rhythmic puff, making his blood rush and his body heat up. And along with an increase in ability, certain techniques were made available.
'Water Breathing, Fourth Form!'
The sound of rushing water came, his sword aimed for curved slashes.
He visualized it; he could see and feel it in his mind, water trailing behind his blade.
Flowing, ever-continuous and deft, his body twisted and maneuvered between all the demon beasts as his blade slid into each of their necks like water rushing through the faults of a stone.
Tanjiro promptly separated their heads from their bodies the moment he passed all of them in the span of a mere second.
'Striking Tide!'
He kept moving, his momentum unhindered even after unleashing a technique. Again, the sounds of his own breathing and the crunching of fallen leaves and sticks accompanied him on his desperate sprint.
He sniffed the air again. The scent of demon beasts still permeated his surroundings. He couldn't tell how far the horde was as the whole area became too saturated with the smell of demon beasts across the forest.
Why were there so many? Even in the Final Selection there weren't this many demons.
He risked a glance over his shoulder.
Nothing.
Even if he couldn't see them, he knew they were there, following, chasing, hunting; he couldn't lose them that easily. Demon beasts were all over the place; they couldn't be too far behind.
Ahead of him, he spotted a prominent black figure move into his view and in his path. The glowing red eyes behind an ivory mask told him all he needed to know. He pulled his blade back, closed in on it, and swung.
The blade ripped into its dark flesh but didn't gain the outcome he expected and was forced to stop in place. He had aimed for its neck, but it was taller than he'd initially thought compared to the previous demon beasts, leaving a large incision on its stocky chest instead. The beast looked down at him, snarling. It bellowed as it brought a bulky arm up and swung at Tanjiro.
Tanjiro dropped to the ground, feeling the air pull his hair to the side as the beast's arm went right over him. The attack was slow but contained a lot more strength than the ones before it. He immediately threw himself forward and slashed its legs, forcing it down. He flipped backward over the demon beast and finished it off with a swift decapitation at the top of his arc and landed smoothly back onto the ground.
Taking a moment to catch his breath, he regarded the beast's body, this time looking more like a bear than a wolf.
"GRR—OOWRGH!"
A bear's roar came from up ahead. Looking up, he saw a pack of bear demons standing in his way. And from behind, he heard rustling in the bushes a distance away, along with a set of growls of the wolf kind.
Tanjiro immediately changed his course and ran in another direction. Heavy and rapid thuds trailed behind him with snarling and the snapping of tree bark and uprooting of roots, all causing his heart rate to escalate and encouraging him to run even faster.
He let the adrenaline push his legs further, ignoring the low branches and leaves obstructing him and leaving tiny scratches on his face. The demon beasts were right on his tail; he could feel it. The scent of hatred was intense—they ripped apart trees and land to get to him!
A light appeared from afar, past the trees and bushes ahead of him. It must be an exit!
Tanjiro briefly picked up his pace.
He emerged from the forest foliage into the light of the shattered Moon. An open, flat area bereft of trees or vegetation revealed itself as he kept running, soon noticing a distinct lack of ground ahead of him.
'A cliff!?'
His heels immediately dug into the stone to break off his momentum; he barely managed to stop at the cliff's edge, watching as a few pebbles rolled off the precipice. He glimpsed down the overlook, and the fall looked pretty steep; everything seemed so small. Below was a sparse amount of greenery and vegetation on mostly flat land with forests far apart. Looking further ahead, he saw a small village. Smoke hovered over it in the expanse of a deep, dark, teal sky.
Before he could look for any more details, a snarl from behind caught his attention. He spun around and held his katana up; the blade got caught in the jaws of a wolf demon that sprang at him, driving him off the cliff with it.
The sudden loss of solid footing made his heart spike, but the momentary feeling of weightlessness followed by gravity taking its course caused it to skyrocket.
Seven more demon beasts haphazardly jumped off the ledge and dived after him, clawing and flailing their way down. He planted a foot into the beast's midsection in front of him, pushing it away and off his sword, followed by a wide swing beheading it. He then reoriented himself feet first and held his sword over his head.
He steadied his breathing, fine-tuning his senses as he did so. His eyes stayed wide open despite the gales that lashed at them, watching as the ground rapidly approached.
He'll have to time this correctly.
'Water Breathing, Second Form!'
Water seemingly followed the tip of his blade, trailing his descent.
He waited for a second...
Then another...
It wasn't until he was only several feet away that he spun forward, his blade following his rotation and forming a serrated wheel of rushing water.
'Water Wheel!'
He cut a demon beast that got too close in half, its halves soon evaporating into a black mist as the wheel came into contact with the ground with him. The floor still hit him hard, but he bounced and rolled along it, dispersing most of the force that had struck him upon impact. The six other demon beasts crashed into the ground and splattered into dark plumes of vapor like the one before them as Tanjiro rolled away unharmed.
Having made enough distance and dispersed enough of his momentum, he stopped rolling and let the wheel dissipate, landing roughly on his back and into a bush. Shaking off any twigs and grass, he sat up and looked high above at the top of the cliff. The big wolf demon stood there, glaring at him for a second, before apparently turning its head away and leaving.
Relief flooded him when the overwhelming stench of demon beasts finally seemed to subside, letting him catch his breath and rest for a moment. He leaned back into the bush and gathered his thoughts.
Not even ten minutes had passed since he arrived, and he nearly died again. Was he placed there on purpose? The thought bothered him, but he quickly brushed it aside, not wanting to think badly of the God who gave him a second chance.
But more importantly, what were those things? Animal Demons were probably the best way to describe them, but were animals able to be turned into demons like that? He's never encountered one before. Demons can take on animalistic traits, so perhaps those things could have just been regular mutated demons.
But demons don't usually group up like that; they're typically repulsed by each other. The only times he's seen them working together was at Asakusa, Mount Natagumo, and Yoshiwara, but even then, the demons there were only pairs and a small group at most. A horde like that was unprecedented.
He looked up at the night sky, staring at the distant shattered Moon partially covered by clouds. He couldn't see any stars; whether it was too early or the clouds blocked them from view, he didn't put too much thinking into it. His mind stewed in his thoughts for just a little longer.
. . .
Maybe he shouldn't be reading into things so much right now. First things first, he should find a safe area to rest before searching for more information or theorizing about the land he was in.
Rising to his feet, he dusted himself off and sheathed his katana. He double-checked Nezuko's box for any damages. After seeing no apparent faults or marks, he began walking off to a nearby dirt path clear of trees and shrubbery.
His nose twitched; an acrid smell.
'Smoke?'
He looked over the trees and noticed the slight grey haze that barely stuck out from above, nearly unnoticeable as it blended in with the clouds.
The village! He'd pushed it out of his mind for a moment!
Smoke in large amounts was never a good sign. If he did go there, he might be putting himself and Nezuko in potential danger. But if he didn't, lives may be put at risk if there was danger. He'd escaped a life-threatening situation just to possibly run head-first into another one.
. . .
A hand grasped tightly onto his sheath.
Was there any other choice he'd pick?
He broke into a sprint towards the village.
His worries unfortunately turned out to be true.
Widespread panic had spread throughout the settlement; people fled from the demon beasts that invaded, their screams cut short as monsters of darkness mauled them to death. Fear and distress were evident, but the beasts weren't the only things causing it. Homes cascaded in orange blazes eating away at their wooden foundations were numerous, adding to the chaotic scrambling of people either running away or trying to defend and save what was left of their homes.
Demon beasts, from wolves to boars to bears, raided the village, targeting the people who ran and further breaking down buildings. The people who attempted to defend what was left were being overwhelmed, while the ones who didn't fight tried to make themselves as small and unnoticeable as possible.
Threats were everywhere, and Tanjiro didn't need anyone to tell him the risks he was taking in attempting to help these people. He could potentially lose his life in this skirmish.
But what made this any different from any other mission he's done? He was used to having his life at risk.
They needed help, and he couldn't just move on and ignore this.
If he shied away from danger, how could he have ever qualified as a Demon Slayer?
He came down from the hill quickly, his sword sliding out of his sheath, its ebony blade giving a soft shimmer in the luminous gaze of the broken moon. He firmly held the hilt with both hands and rushed towards the village entrance.
Two demon beasts stood near it; a wolf and a bear immediately noticed his approach and came at him.
The wolf reached him first, raising its claw for an overhead swing. Tanjiro spun around the attack and decapitated the beast at the end of his whirl.
'Water Breathing, First Form!'
Air filled his lungs as he spun around again and hopped, folding his forearms inwards, water emerging from the edge of his blade as he held it one-handed.
The bear's large frame soon loomed over him, threatening to crush him under its weight.
Tanjiro swung his blade from left to right in the blink of an eye, forming a single, powerful, concentrated slash that quickly cut through the bear's neck like paper, leaving a water path crossing through it.
'Water Surface Slash!'
The bear demon's head flew off its neck and dissipated soon after.
Running past the village gate, he took out any demon beast that got in his way as he made his way toward the center, following where the smell of demon beasts and fear was at its strongest.
The beasts he encountered on the way fell before his blade, each one being decapitated smoothly, like a knife to butter. None of them had bothered to protect their necks nor avoid his attacks.
The demon beasts were easier to fight when they didn't have staggering numbers, even easier than fighting a usual demon. They didn't seem to have much intelligence to their movements, just following their instincts like animals, making them more savage than actual demons who could at least plan things out and adapt to the situation.
Then what if he met a demon beast of higher intelligence—or even worse, one with an ability like Blood Demon Arts? The idea didn't seem too far-fetched.
He didn't know what to expect from this land, but he pressed onward despite the unknown factors.
Flames enveloped the surrounding buildings, the orange glow covering him in their light as he ran by. He passed over numerous bodies scattered along the footpath, each with some sort of animalistic wound—claw marks, bite wounds, and even missing parts of their bodies showed signs of it being torn off them. Some were cut up, some were pummeled, and some were crushed. Nevertheless, they were all dead.
Such senseless and brutal killing made him grip the hilt of his sword ever harder and urged him to reach that central scent of fear and despair sooner.
He soon arrived at an open area where the scent was at its strongest, the center of the village. Debris and bits of burning chunks from surrounding homes were scattered around the vicinity. A tall stone statue was placed at its center, depicting a serpentine dragon with antlers. Age-old cracks stretched across its frame, showing the wearied fatigue of stone weathered by time, and a fountain filled with pristine and clear water laid at its base.
A large gathering of people stood their ground around the statue attempting a desperate defense against the swarming demon beasts. An outer circle supported the inner one, placing themselves as shields to protect those behind them.
They were practically helpless to the beasts that surrounded them. Some would manage to kill a beast or two, but another person would eventually get picked off and dragged into the midst of the swarm.
Tanjiro couldn't stand to watch it. The moment he saw someone else get caught by the ankles from a wolf demon's jaws, he sprung into action. His heart stirred with each step he took; he let his fury fuel his next move—not enough anger to overtake his thoughts, but enough to let him hone it and direct it.
'Water Breathing!'
His mind and senses sharpened with a breath.
Water engulfed his blade, rushing out like a broken dam.
In a heartbeat, he drifted forward with sudden speed and impeccable footwork, his footsteps causing no bobbing or swaying of his figure but moving smoothly like a graceful river.
'Third Form!'
He swung his blade in winding motions, streams of water flowing throughout the surrounding demon beasts as he moved and looped around the encircled group.
Each slash left an afterimage, traveling in an unconfined and nearly serpentine manner, covering lots of ground and leaving behind patterns of coiling water in the air.
'Flowing Dance!'
The people watched in awe as most of the demon beasts that were overwhelming them were cut down in mere moments.
Numerous beasts erupted into dark smoke, letting the defending people finally push back and finish off the remaining ones. Sounds of momentary relief and cheering came, a reprieve from the imminent doom that had come for them.
Tanjiro took a moment to steady his breathing again. He had managed to catch all those demon beasts by surprise and take out a large number of them, around twelve. He turned back to the survivors, seeing a man with a spear and short dirty blonde hair in his thirties approaching him.
"That was one hell of a move." Even in a dire situation, the man smiled to show his appreciation. "Thanks for the help. I was afraid most of us wouldn't make it out of there." His eyes ran up and down over Tanjiro, taking in his unique appearance. "You a Huntsman in training?"
'Huntsman?' The title flew straight over Tanjiro's head.
Like an animal hunter?
"SQUAAAWW—!"
The Man dropped his grin and looked up into the sky. "Damn, it's coming back!" he snarled, raising his spear.
Frightened civilians began to scatter and scramble for any cover they could find.
Tanjiro turned in the direction of the shriek and saw a black dot on the horizon rapidly expanding. Moments later, he could make out its details; a giant bird of darkness heading straight for them, a bone-white headpiece with red markings covering the top half of its face and a jutting-out fin, four hateful red eyes glaring through it.
A flying demon beast.
The closer it got, the more Tanjiro realized how large the avian was. It was way more than double his size—maybe around the size of one of the buildings!
The Man took a few wary steps back.
"Incoming!"
With a flap of its long wings, it released a volley of sharpened feathers that rained over them. Tanjiro hopped away from a set of large feathers that stabbed into his previous position as the bird demon circled over them.
Another bombardment of feathers hailed down on them, further tearing buildings and land asunder. Most people were fortunate that nearly all of the feathers were obstructed, but at the cost of their makeshift defenses.
They weren't left entirely unscathed by the blade-like feathers; some received large gashes or were pinned to the dirt by their clothing, and with their cover ripped apart it left them vulnerable to another salvo of incoming feathers.
Tanjiro stepped in front of the closest group of villagers with his blade raised high in defense. A feather grazed his cheek as he redirected as many as possible; any that got past was left to whatever defenders remained. He could only hope that not too many were hurt in those showers of raining death.
The giant bird demon retreated back into the horizon, leaving them to catch their bearings and lick their wounds.
Tanjiro glimpsed around, noticing the general distress the survivors were in.
People did their best to provide any sort of first aid to those who were injured, with most of the seemingly capable fighters attending to those who needed help.
The smell of unease and apprehension the people exhibited and the collapsed and ruined buildings were unfortunately familiar, all too similar to his previous battle in Yoshiwara. It only spurred him to try harder, to think of the best way to end this grim situation before it was too late.
If he didn't cut this problem off at the root, more people would get hurt.
His first course of action; he moved to speak with the spearman from earlier. "What's going on? Do you know what's causing these demon beasts to gather like this?"
The Man took a moment to consider his question.
"You mean the Grimm?" The Man spoke as he looked around the surroundings and pointed out its hopeless atmosphere. "What else? Misery just loves company." He ran a hand through his hair as he sighed in frustration. "Everyone's in too much of a bad mood."
"Bad moods?"
"Yeah, look around and you'll see plenty of it. Grimm are attracted to negativity like a moth to a flame; they can't get enough of it," he explained before raising an eyebrow at the boy. "Aren't you a Huntsman? Or even a Huntsman in training? Shouldn't you know this kind of stuff already?"
Tanjiro visibly flinched at the unknown terms. From what he could gather, a Huntsman must be someone who takes care of demon beasts or is at least related to them, maybe something akin to a Demon Slayer. But even with the similarities, he didn't want to pretend to be something he wasn't.
"No. I'm no Huntsman or in training."
"You kidding me? The hell were those moves from earlier, then? Are you self-trained? Because those sure didn't look like any moves an amateur could pull off. That stuff's only possible with training and Aura." His eyes locked onto Tanjiro's cut cheek, noticing the lack of shimmering. "Speaking of Aura, how come you haven't started healing yourself already?"
Another unknown term caused Tanjiro to shrink a bit under the man's gaze. He made it sound like common knowledge.
Common knowledge he didn't have.
Was Aura supposed to let him regenerate like a demon? He could at least use Total Concentration Breathing to improve his healing capabilities, but not to the effect that's noticeable to the untrained eye.
"I don't have Aura either," he answered honestly.
The answer seemed to have surprised the Man, making his eyes scrutinize him even further. "...You are kidding, right?"
Tanjiro wished he was.
Suddenly, his nose twitched.
Tanjiro's head snapped in the direction he came from as he caught the scent of more demon beasts approaching. He raised his sword again, prompting the Man beside him to do the same with his spear as they watched the path toward the village gate.
A gathering of boar, wolf, and bear demons appeared and quickly charged at them.
A boar demon curled itself up and rolled at Tanjiro, its momentum and speed abruptly increasing. His blade swung downwards and met with the boar's charge head-on, expecting to cut the boar in half.
"Ghk!"
But instead of eliminating the demon beast, sparks flew from contact, the boar grinding against his blade as he was forced to exert more strength to keep it at bay.
Pounding footfalls to his right revealed a wolf demon rushing at him, its teeth bared and ready to chomp on him. It leaped, opening its mouth wide, and reached at him with its sharp claws.
Before it could reach him, a spear caught it right on its side; the Spearman pressed hard against the wolf demon and sent it several meters back, placing it ahead of Tanjiro, soon recovering and charging straight at him again.
Tanjiro breathed in through gritted teeth and pushed hard against the boar, this time causing it to stumble in the air and recoil back out of its curled form and exposing its belly.
'Water Breathing, Seventh Form!'
His left arm stretched forward and framed the demon beast with his hand, taking aim. His katana drew back past his shoulder, its edge facing skyward and its tip pointed not only toward the demon boar's stomach, but also the wolf behind it.
A beat passed; his sword thrust forward with immense swiftness and precisely pierced the beast's stomach.
As if droplets fell into puddles, multiple ripples in the air manifested with the sound of bubbling water.
'Drop Ripple Thrust, Curve!'
His sword traveled further through the demon boar and skewered the nearing wolf behind it, the blade managing to impale its head and canceling all its momentum.
Both demon beasts faded away into black mists like the ones before them.
He quickly readied himself for another attack and momentarily surveyed the area.
Various demon beasts contended with other village defenders, the people doing surprisingly well, faring better than Tanjiro thought they would. They weren't being pushed back; some even managed to take down a demon beast, but they weren't able to stop several more from charging past them.
Tanjiro spotted a wolf demon stalking a family of five. He immediately bolted forward and approached the beast from behind.
A quick slash through its back put it down, collapsing in front of a child no older than eight before vanishing.
"Are you okay?" Tanjiro fretted over the family.
The boy looked up at him and silently nodded, his mouth open in awe at the swordsman.
The father shielding their youngest from the carnage spoke up in gratitude. "We're all fine; thank you for protecting us." He looked around worriedly and asked Tanjiro, "Please. Can you drive off the rest? I know I'm asking for a lot, but I'm afraid they won't stop coming until either that Nevermore is gone or you get rid of all the Grimm in the area yourself."
"I'll do what I can," Tanjiro assured them.
"SQUAAAWW—!"
The shriek of the flying demon beast signaled its arrival again. Tanjiro looked up to see the avian shooting out several feathers at them.
The family was at risk of being hit by them!
He planted himself firmly onto the ground and held his blade low behind him. A breath of air entered his mouth as he shifted his grip on his sword.
'Water Breathing! Sixth Form!'
A torrent of surging water followed his blade the moment he moved his arms.
He twisted his body and swung his katana upwards and diagonally, the flood twisting and spiraling up and around him into the air.
'Whirlpool!'
The rising loops of water deflected all the feathers launched at them in their defense, leaving no opening for any to get past. The feathers not aimed directly at the family sparsely planted themselves around them, leaving them unharmed.
After the deluge of water faded, Tanjiro noticed a pair of wolf demons bounding toward him. He slashed at the first one and kicked it away before deflecting the swipe the second one threw at him.
He primed his sword back, held in preparation to stab at the demon wolf before—
"—GYAAAHHH!!!"
The cry of a woman from behind alerted him. Turning his head back, he saw a bear demon towering over the family, raising a lumbering arm as the mother screamed in horror.
Tanjiro made to spin around and hurry over to take care of the bear demon but halted immediately when something pulled at his katana. Looking at the cause, the wolf demon had bitten onto his blade and tugged at it, either attempting to disarm or keep him there. He pulled back but looked over his shoulder again and choked at the sight; of the bear ready to swing down at them.
"Move! Don't just stand there!" he called out to them.
But they didn't heed his words, too rooted in their fear, and stared at incoming attack. As if the world slowed down, he could only watch as the bear slowly followed through with its attack, his rising heartbeat echoing in his head.
'No! Don't!' he screamed inside, that feeling of helplessness assailing him once more.
But as if listening to his plea, a blur suddenly shot out from behind him, zooming forth at the demon beast, blowing it away and kicking up dust before it could finish swinging down.
The clouds soon settled, and in place was a girl with a bamboo gag and flowing locks of black wavy hair with burnt-orange tips. He watched as her ruffled dark-brown haori and light pink kimono slowly settled down to her tensed calves. She stood before the family; her fists clenched tighter as she glared at the bear demon with her slitted pale-pink eyes, veins bulging out in her fury.
"MMMPH!"
Tanjiro gasped at the girl's sudden appearance but then beamed at her before he called out her name in joy.
"Nezuko! You're awake!"
The bear demon soon recovered, snarling at the demon girl as it rushed forth. Nezuko looked to Tanjiro, giving him a brief nod before crouching down.
Leave this to me; she was practically saying.
A moment later, Nezuko shot forward, driving her knee into the bear demon's chest with a boom and forcing it to stagger in the air. She brought her other leg around and delivered a blow that turned the demon beast's head into bits, its body disintegrating soon after.
Leaving no time to be wasted, she blasted off toward other demon beasts in the vicinity, taking each down in mere moments with her immense demonic strength.
Whenever a demon beast attempted to mount a counterattack, Nezuko simply overwhelmed it with pure power and speed, going beyond what the beasts could usually put up with on their own.
Wild agitation coursed through her, the urge to protect growing ever stronger with each person she saved, driving her to tear apart and destroy all the demon beasts that had attempted to attack them with equal wrath.
Her ferocious strikes and potent feelings attracted the attention of the surrounding demon beasts, allowing some of the village people to find safety away from the fighting.
Meanwhile, Tanjiro finished off the remaining beasts near the family.
"Try to stay out of the fighting! Go somewhere safer!" Tanjiro ordered before running off to where Nezuko was.
He needed to support her! He won't let her fight alone; they'll do it together!
But before he could reach her, a set of feathers stabbed into the ground before him. He saw the bird demon still circling the village from above, then witnessed a few demon beasts split off from the group attacking Nezuko. The creatures locked their sights onto Tanjiro and began their wild charge.
'Why would they do that?'
Tanjiro noticed something strange had occurred. From what he's seen so far, demon beasts were instinctual and savage, prioritizing targets that caught their attention first and joining other demon beasts to overwhelm them with numbers rather than actually strategizing and adapting.
But these ones had given up on Nezuko and separated themselves from the main group to focus on him instead. Had it just been their instincts that had detected him and chosen him over Nezuko? Or was it something else?
He breathed in.
'Striking Tide!'
He leaped forward with an upward slash through a wolf demon, followed by a twist into a severing blow to another wolf demon's head, then somersaulted into a downward swipe at a bear demon's head and finally twisted once more to cut a boar demon in half.
Each attack had been delivered without losing even a bit of his momentum and was smoothly carried out in a single breath, with water embellishing the movements of his blade.
The moment his breath was released, the beasts faded into black smoke.
Tanjiro observed the surrounding demon beasts once more, focusing on the moment the bird demon had released more feathers at two village defenders. They managed to evade them while fending off a bear demon. Then it happened again. More demon beasts in the vicinity had suddenly dropped their targets and went toward the two village defenders.
'Flowing Dance!' Tanjiro immediately came in to intercept and eliminated the approaching demon beasts before they could cause any harm.
"SKREE-AAH—!"
Tanjiro saw the bird demon send another salvo of feathers, this time directed at Nezuko, who had been beating and clawing away at other demon beasts.
A feather cut through the air and caught Nezuko directly in the leg, nearly severing it entirely and pinning her.
"MMMPH?!"
"Nezuko!"
She fell to the ground as her blood began to pool around her, allowing the surrounding demon beasts to go in for the kill in her moment of vulnerability.
The demon beasts quickly swarmed her, their snarls and claws ripping through the air to annihilate the girl who had caught their attention. Biting and ripping into her, blood splattered all over them, the demon beasts relishing in accomplishing their innate goal of destruction.
"GET THE HELL OFF MY SISTER, YOU MONSTERS!!!" Tanjiro roared, running up to the demon beasts and raising his sword high.
But with a sizzling sound, Tanjiro abruptly stopped as he noticed the smell of fire.
'Blood Demon Art...!'
The surrounding blood crackled and flared up, producing a bright, pinkish light. The blood all over the demon beasts followed this transition, and the sizzling turned into an explosion of hot, vermillion-pink flames enshrouding the demon beasts that swarmed Nezuko.
'Exploding Blood!'
Pink flames swept up and consumed the demon beasts, instantly burning away at their dark bodies and rendering them into nothing, not even leaving behind the black smoke that would accompany them in their final moments.
Tanjiro ran through the flames, passing through without a singe, and kneeled down to Nezuko. "Nezuko, are you okay? I'm sorry I couldn't protect you!"
He delicately held up one of her arms, watching as the profuse bleeding slowed down. The large gashes and wounds were closing up and mending themselves, healing rapidly without a single scar. Soon enough, Nezuko fully recovered, as if she hadn't just been battered and torn up by a multitude of demon beasts.
But even if she was fine in the end, Tanjiro's heart ached awfully at the thought of Nezuko getting hurt in the first place. He should've been faster! Nezuko wouldn't have had to get hurt if he had simply pushed through and gotten to her sooner!
Nezuko pulled her arm away and made Tanjiro look at her sternly gaze. The look on Tanjiro's face had given away his thoughts, leaving her upset and scoldingly "Mmph!" ed at him.
'We're in the middle of a fight! Of course I'd get hurt!' But Nezuko quickly dropped the look and reassuringly patted Tanjiro on the head. 'Thank you for caring, but please don't blame yourself for things you can't control.'
At least, that's what Tanjiro took from the gestures.
But in truth, Nezuko had just disliked the pained expression on Tanjiro's face and wanted him to feel better. 'Nothing a good head pat can't fix' was more in tune with her thoughts, and she was a firm believer in it.
Tanjiro smiled warmly and got to his feet before setting his sights on the giant bird demon hovering in the air and pointing at it. "Nezuko, we need to get rid of that demon beast up there. Do you think you can help me?"
"Mm." Nezuko gave a quick nod.
The bird demon was causing too much havoc. If they didn't get rid of it soon, there'd be no hope of saving most of the villagers here since they would continue getting bombarded.
Not only that but...
The demon bird launched more feathers toward the two Kamados. Before Tanjiro could move to intercept, Nezuko dug her nails into her palms, crimson beginning to trickle out. Her hands lashed out at the looming projectiles, her blood splattering into the air and glowing. Pink flames consumed all the feathers and erased them before they could even touch the ground.
Tanjiro looked around again, noticing that the demon beasts, this time, hadn't made any sudden movements toward their position.
It was then that he was sure of it.
'The demon beasts are attracted to the feathers!'
Whenever there were feathers around, demon beasts would move toward them. That's why there had been a sudden wave of demon beasts attacking them right now; it was after the bird demon came back and sent feathers everywhere and causing fear that attracted all the demon beasts in the village to come to the center.
He didn't know if the bird demon's actions were intentional or just a coincidence, but it was causing too much trouble. He had to take it out now before more demon beasts outside the village were brought in.
An idea struck him.
"Nezuko!" Tanjiro ran forward in the direction of the bird demon. "Lend me a hand, please!"
Noticing Tanjiro's approach below, the avian shot several feathers at him.
"I've got this!" Tanjiro wound his sword back and took a deep breath.
'Just like at Asakusa! Combine the Third Form's footwork with the Sixth Form to catch the projectiles!'
He twisted around, and his sword followed, reaching toward the nearing feathers. Suddenly, torrents of water appeared over his blade. Strong and billowing, it swept up the feathers and made them follow the rushing water's path around him.
'Whirlpool, Flow!'
Along with the feathers, their momentum came with them as Tanjiro spun around to keep the technique going and manage the force of the flood. He then screamed out, "I'm right here! Come get me!" taunting all the demon beasts in the entire area.
The demon beasts fighting other villagers all soon detected him and snarled, soon rushing over to attack. All stomped their way over despite the imposing form of Tanjiro holding what looked like a running waterfall bending and twisting around him.
If Water Breathing had to be described, it was said to be flexible and adaptable.
The force from the demon bird's feathers had been added to Tanjiro's whirlpool, enhancing the technique's destructive power. Although it felt a bit cumbersome, it was nothing compared to when he had used it against that Arrow demon.
His foot stamped forth, cracking the ground. "Nezuko, now!"
The demon girl following him flicked her hands at the whirlpool, flinging blood all over the torrents of water. The blood glowed and transformed into large pink flames, and instead of being extinguished, it followed along the whirlpool's flowing path, adding onto the technique, blue bursting into pink.
Underneath the weight, Tanjiro jumped up, with Nezuko quickly rolling underneath to place her hands on the ground with her legs folded in and facing upwards, like an upside-down squat. And with Tanjiro coming back down, Nezuko kicked out with both her legs, Tanjiro placing his own feet to hers and springboarding off of Nezuko, launching him high into the sky.
"KEE-EEEEE-ARR!!!" The bird demon shrieked and immediately came at him, attempting to swallow him whole.
Approaching the peak of his ascension, the air wailed as he breathed in harshly. His heart thumped; his body braced itself. The shattered Moon loomed behind him, his destructive technique surrounding him like an undulating serpent.
'I'll take them all out in one fell swoop!'
'Water Breathing... Eighth Form!'
The demon bird flew before him.
At the end of his soaring arc, he spun around, cutting the demon bird in half and erasing it within the torrents of flaming pink water.
And like a crushing meteor, he quickly began coming down with gales splitting apart and screaming at his descent. The demon beasts and villagers gaped skyward as Tanjiro drew near.
With only a few meters away from ground, his high-held blade with a gigantic blazing waterfall struck down.
'Waterfall Basin... Destruction!'
*BOOM!!!*
The earth rumbled and cried out in shock. From Tanjiro's blade erupted pillars of vermillion-pink waterfall-like flames rising into the sky before coming back down like tidal waves. The flames splashed and fanned out, expanding into enormous tsunamis in all directions and engulfing the surrounding demon beasts.
Helpless and unable to resist the purifying flames, all the demon beasts gathered in the village center were instantly burnt away into nothing; not even cinders remained.
All demon beasts in the village were wiped out. The flames soon sputtered and flickered out with the demon beasts gone.
The people who were bathed in the warm yet strangely comfortable flames gawked at their surroundings. No harm had actually come to them or the buildings—not even a single scorch mark on the ground!
They watched as Tanjiro panted, still standing tall with the dragon statue behind him.
A moment passed, the villagers still processing what had happened.
And with another moment, they exploded into cheer.
"WOOOAAAAAHHHHH!!!"
A mighty roar of joy resounded throughout the village.
"WE SURVIVED!!!"
"What the hell was that?! It had to be a Semblance!"
"'Not a Huntsman,' my ass!"
"Mom! Dad! He really did it!"
Their happiness lit a warm feeling in Tanjiro's chest. His lips slightly curled up as his legs began to give out from under him, and he stumbled. Nezuko was immediately by his side and supported him.
"Thank you, Nezuko." His smile grew wider at her. "Look at them. This is all thanks to your help, Nezuko," he said softly, patting the demon girl on the head. "Not as many would have been able to live through tonight without you."
"Mph!" Nezuko seemed delighted at the gesture and pushed her head further into his callused hand.
Tanjiro craned his head over his shoulder, looking up at the dragon statue. Cracks engulfed its entire figure, but it still held together despite all it's been through. Age-old and fatigued stone held firm throughout all the years and even through this invasion. In the end, just like the people within the village; resilient and steadfast...
...It was still standing.
Author's Note
Heya. It's time for another tangent.
This is Chapter 2. Pretty action-packed. More action-packed than I had initially planned. I was going to include the aftermath and Tanjiro resting at the village a bit before going elsewhere, but I decided that it might get a bit too long if I included all of it in the same chapter, so I saved it for the next. Hell, the fight scene was way longer than I had planned too.
I guess this was just me practicing on writing fight scenes and experimenting a little with Tanjiro and Nezuko since I think this entire village fight was a bit dragged out or maybe unnecessary. What do you think? I don't think I'm all too good at writing fight scenes, but this is what it looks like when I try to come up with something original, albeit longer than I thought it would be.
The battle against the Grimm was originally supposed to be more hard-fought, but then I remembered Nezuko. With how I thought of writing her abilities, she was basically the counter to all the Grimm, so it ended soon after she appeared. This chapter was meant to highlight how much of a threat the Grimm posed and how Tanjiro can still struggle against them at times, but with Nezuko's flames being an effective neutralizer against the Grimm, it may seem that they kinda just got curb-stomped.
And you may ask, "Why a random village? Couldn't Tanjiro start off near or at one of the four kingdoms?" (If you didn't ask, feel free to skip this if you want) I didn't want Tanjiro entering any of the kingdoms without having at least basic knowledge of Remnant, and I didn't want him learning from the RWBY cast either since he'd seem like a total weirdo and mess with first impressions. So this village was the solution. It provides some disposable characters far away from the kingdoms that'll inform Tanjiro about Remnant before he interacts with anyone important. I won't have Tanjiro getting lore dumped in front of us; it'll probably happen off-screen, though he may review some information.
Next Chapter will most likely include Tanjiro resting at the village and setting off to one of the kingdoms. And with where I've placed the village (which will be revealed in the next chapter as well), I've already decided where Tanjiro is going. It's probably obvious, but if the chapter isn't too much of a hassle, Tanjiro may finally meet a certain someone from the RWBY cast.
Here's two hints for who it is: "Sustain Alto!" and "Magnetic."
I think the second hint really gives it away, and the first one will give you a clear answer, though I may have twisted it a bit. Do with it what you will. But if you manage to guess it right, I'll try adding an Omake/Bonus at the end of the chapter when it comes out. Of course, I won't be saying if it's right until the chapter is out(whenever that happens).
Welp, that's all I wanted to say for now. Feel free to leave a review and give me your thoughts and maybe some advice.
Thanks for reading, hope you've enjoyed.
See you in the next chapter.