CHAPTER 10 - Battle of the Demons

"Hands up."

Law was surrounded. Moria was out of his chains and demanded redemption.

"You've wasted a lot of my time, Trafalgar Law. I hope you are ready." he bellowed.

Law couldn't realise how they could've opened Moria's chains. The sniper who had rescued the Shadow Warlord was aiming his Springfield M1903 Sniper Rifle against Law's head.

"The deal's off, Trafalgar!" Dr. Hogback showed up.

"You!" Law was shocked. The doctor was swinging around an extra set of keys as he walked ahead.

"I knew we might lose one of these by accident. Better safe than sorry. Fosfosfos…" Dr. Hogback mocked.

"Tsk… I can't believe we let that Pirate Hunter and his friends take away Kocho and Kuwajima." Moria regretted.

"That can wait, Master. First, we need to deal with this guy." Hogback reminded.

"Right." Moria glared upon his fellow former Warlord.

"Drown him. Fry him. Impale him." Words chanted among the zombies.

But little did they know that Law had prepared a 'Room', very since Zoro and the others had departed.

"Takt." Law lifted his finger. The ship began to rise above the sea, against everyone's confusion, later turning into panic.

"I guess there's no other choice. I'll take you all down at once." Law mentioned moving his right arm. The ship began to turn sideways.

"You wouldn't dare!" Moria shouted, "Brick Bats, get him!"

The shadow bats rushed towards the Surgeon of Death.

"Shambles!" Law switched positions with Moria, leading the Brick Bats to hit its Master instead.

"You bastard!" Moria cried.

"Oh no!" Hogback's plan turned upside down.

There was no way Law would've negotiated any further. But the man had other worries. His powers were running out from his extended use of his 'Room'. The others had no clue about that. Law decided to keep the deception that way, directing the ship towards the coast. Fog shrouded the surroundings making navigation harder. Law remembered the direction towards the land, believing that he'll see it eventually.

The ship crashed hard onto a huge cliff. Many of the zombies were thrown overboard, losing their shadows after being engulfed by seawater.

"Damn!" Law made upon land but lost control of his powers. The ship began falling down.

"I'm gonna kill you!" Moria glared at him. And he wasn't kidding. Dead corpses wouldn't be hard to find upon the mainland, and Law decided not to let that happen. The sea prism chains fell and returned back to the sea along with the tumbling ship. Law realised only one option to prevent further troubles.

"Room!" he bestowed his last ounces of power to bring things into his favour.

He switched himself near Moria with a pebble and thrust his right arm upon him, "Scalpel!"

Moria was shocked to find his heart in the Surgeon's hands. To make things worse, Law dismembered Moria's head, as added collateral. Rain poured from the sky and he used the droplets to swap himself atop the cliff. The ship fell to the water. The only one with any immunity to the situation was Dr. Hogback who had neither a Devil Fruit Power nor was a zombie. But Law hadn't the time to peruse their aftermath.

A shockwave travelled in all directions. Zoro and the Upper Demon Moon No. 1 clashed blades at last.

"I believe you were on that island with your lackeys?" Zoro asked with a grin. His Haki imbued swords surprised the formidable enemy, the latter who hadn't expected any Demon Slayer to stop him let alone a usual human swordsman.

But the Upper Moon was wrong on the 'usual' part. The human swordsman was extraordinary, and he began to feel the vibes swelling out of Zoro's blades. Both the contenders retreated back their stances.

"Amazing!" Shinobu was surprised.

"I guess I've underestimated you. I don't believe you are a Demon Slayer." the Upper Moon said.

"That's right." Zoro replied.

"Yes, I had received the news from the Master regarding the folly on that island." the Upper Moon looked upon his lesser kind, the Lower Demon Moon No. 3, the very same who had failed his objective of conquering the island. The latter was terrified with the gaze of his six eyes.

"I was situated there for a while. I guess I should have stayed longer to see things through." the Upper Moon mentioned, "My name is Kokushibo. I'm ranked the Upper Demon Moon No. 1 working under Master Kibutsuji, executing any orders of the highest significance. And unfortunately, you are in the way."

"The feeling's mutual. Since we are in the mood to exchange greetings, I'm Roronoa Zoro." the Pirate Hunter replied.

On the other side, Shinobu and Tomioka, aided by Kanae and Master Kuwajima held their grounds against the incoming demons, relentless to retrieve the Lower Demon Moon No. 3.

"I guess my hunch was right. This Lower Moon holds information. The Upper Demon Moon seeks it." Tomioka said, "We can't let the demons get close."

Swords clashed again. Zoro was forced to hold against Kokushibo with all three of his blades. Sparks swelled as the Upper Moon forced ahead with his own single blade. Zoro acknowledged his strength. He gave his best effort to end the blade rally.

"Three Sword Style - Ultra Tiger Trap!" Zoro slammed his three blades with brutal strength against a defending Kokushibo. A crater was forced onto the sandy ground from the attack's impulse. A series of deadly clashes followed with Kokushibo retaliating on his end.

"Streaming Wolf Swords!"* Zoro performed his technique, providing effective defence along with a penetrating attack.

Kokushibo was getting impatient with the enemy. He found an opening and performed a Flying-blade attack on his end.

Zoro was surprised with both Kokushibo's ability to perform an Air-Slash, as well as, the strength behind the single attack.

"720 Pound Phoenix!" Zoro's attack came in short notice with a lesser swing of strength than he was usually capable of. Kokushibo's attack broke his Pound Phoenix. But the enemy's Flying-blade attack diverted from the clash, towards the Demon Slayers.

"Watch out!" Zoro shouted as the slash went for Shinobu and Tomioka. Kanae grabbed Shinobu evading the area of impact. Master Kuwajima and Tomioka got themselves to safety. To their surprise, the air-slash had killed the Demon Moon No. 3, being in the line of impact.

"Well, that's a big foul-up." Kokushibo mentioned, "I guess I'll have to answer to the Master."

To his surprise, Shinobu and the others had managed to wipe out most of the demons, who were supposed to do otherwise.

"Hashira, Demon Slayer Pillars." Kokushibo observed.

"We are getting started." Zoro mentioned, eager to resume the conflict.

Kokushibo realised he was at a disadvantage against Four Demon Slayer Pillars, along with the unexpected swordsman. The latter especially gave him a surprising and yet one of the biggest challenges within his centuries of existence.

Without ado, the Demon Moon disappeared without a word.

"What happened?" Shinobu was surprised.

"Coward!" Zoro retorted, "He should've fought to the death."

"Well, at least he's gone. He's a true threat." Tomioka mentioned, "We need to report back to base. Kibutsuji must be planning something."

Shinobu agreed.

"I guess, I'll stick with you for a while. I hope that's not a problem?" Zoro asked.

The others welcomed his aid.

"There's no sign of the ship and it seems pointless to wait for Tora-o whilst at it." Zoro added.

"We'll help you search for the ship once we report back upon our base." Shinobu mentioned.

"Are you sure you want to get involved in this demon matter?" Tomioka asked.

Zoro removed the Haki from his blades, sheathing them.

"That Demon piqued my interest. Wouldn't mind to clash swords again. I have a hunch he'll show up again." Zoro had a determined look.

"I don't know." Tomioka was concerned, "Who's the real Demon here? You or that the Demon Moon."

Shinobu made a nervous laugh.

"Anyway, we should move on ahead. We don't need any more trouble if it could be helped." she mentioned.

"What? Are you sure about that?"

Sound Pillar Tengen Uzui was shocked.

"It breaks my heart to mention it." Love Pillar Mitsuri Kanroji revealed the news. She began to weep.

"Damn, an Upper Demon Moon showed up, eh? How are those kids?" Uzui asked.

"Tanjiro and the others are under treatment at the Butterfly Mansion. Shinobu hasn't returned from her journey to the Ryukyu Islands." Mitsuri said, "I'm worried. I'll need to make a visit to those boys."

"I heard Shinobu had encountered a Lower Demon Moon. And Giyu Tomioka was with her. What's taking them so long?"

"I don't know. The Kakushis have mentioned their absence after the attack on a second village. Giyu had reported of carnage that wasn't the doings of the Lower Demon Moon that they had found."

"Tomioka doesn't seem like the kind of guy to mess around when things are dire. He and Shinobu should've arrived by now. I hope nothing bad has happened out there." Uzui said, "I'll join you to the Butterfly Mansion. We need to tighten our grip on this. The Demons have taken step steps ahead."

"I was thinking of heading for the Rengoku household later." Mitsuri mentioned.

"Yes, I believe they would've received the bad news. Kyojuro's father Shinjuro was the former Flame Pillar preceding his son. He must've taken the news with shock. A sad day, indeed." Uzui said.

"Law, you damn bastard! What have you done?" Moria shouted. He hung from Law's left hand.

But the Surgeon of Death was preoccupied with an unknown presence in front of him.

"I have a feeling we might've crossed paths, but I can't seem to remember." Law said looking ahead.

"I don't recall." the stranger replied.

"You seem like a human, and yet it's clear as day that you are one of those Demons." Law observed, "Your demeanour suits an incident that I seem to recall, and you have a sword to back up my claim. Your aura tells me you may have something to do with the carnage back on that island. The one in the forest."

The Demon gave a surprised look.

Law drew out his blade.

"I believe you are in cohorts with that Lower Moon-Demon?" he asked, imbuing Haki onto his cursed blade, Kikoku.

"And you are in association with that swordsman with the three-swords? Don't know what you have with those Demon Slayers along with him, but it is unwise to get involved in matters you cannot handle." Kokushibo warned.

Law was surprised to hear the enemy mention of Zoro.

"I believe you had a run-in with them?" he asked.

"That hardening technique of yours is a formidable common ability. I doubt any Demon Slayers have demonstrated such a technique out here."

"Where are they?" Law asked.

"Who knows? I don't have time to deal with you people now." Kokushibo said. Law realised he never drew out his blade.

"He's alive, if that's what you want to know."

And with that, Kokushibo disappeared again.

"Damn, that guy seemed bad news." Moria mentioned.

Law withdrew his Haki and his blade, wondering of their situation on the Mainland. The rain downpoured as the day went darker and mysterious. The Demon didn't seem to lie about Zoro and the others, thus Law was expecting to meet up with them.

The sooner the better, he thought.

He walked ahead without another word.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Footnotes:

*The move is pronounced Toro Nagashi in the Japanese Dub of the anime, literally meaning, Blade Wolf Stream. Streaming Wolf Swords is the dub adaptation by Funimation Entertainment and other English media.