Ume and Muichiro stood together against Upper Rank 5. "Hyo! Hyo! Hyo! To think, a Demon and a Demon Slayer would be fighting together! This is treason against our Master you know?" he asked. Ume said nothing, just glared harder. "But hey, just because I have to kill you, doesn't mean we can't be polite. We should introduce ourselves. My name is Gyokko, Upper Rank 5. And you are?" the Upper Rank Demon asked. "About to smash your ugly face in" Ume replied furiously, and even Muichiro couldn't help but let out a snort in amusement. "Oh really? Well, I could always use more pieces for my artwork!" Gyokko replied. "Artwork?" Muichiro asked in confusion. "Oh! You want to see it? Wonderful!" the Demon cheered, clapping his hands together as a pot appeared in front of them.
It was a plain brown pot, utterly normal looking. Suddenly a huge mass emerged out of the black sludge inside. Hotaru and Kotetsu, who had looked out of the hut, to see what was going on, clung onto each other in fright at the scene in front of them and Ume felt a deep growl rumbling furiously in her throat. Multiple Swordsmiths were grotesquely stitched together, clearly still alive despite the damage. Their masks were half broken off showing their agonised gazes. And what's worse, there were multiple swords sticking through their bodies. "I took great pains to ensure the personality of this piece, as you can see, I made sure the hands- the most prominent feature of a Swordsmith was featured intact, and the broken masks show the contrast between the blank images printed on them and the emotions playing across the Smiths faces.
The swords, which they have forged themselves, were stabbed through their bodies to highlight the brilliant craftsmanship. I truly think this is my best piece yet!" Gyokko said excitedly. He reached one of his tiny hands out to grab a sword handle, "and with just a small twist here-" the Demon twisted the blade, making the man it was stabbed through shriek in agony, "I've recreated their deaththroes!" Gyokko cried in delight, while the young boy being held by the Swordsmith cried out in horror.
Ume felt her restraint snap, and she rushed at the disgusting Demon. "Look out!" the young Hashira cried, as the Upper 5 summoned fish from one of his pot's. However, Ume formed her Shield as a disk in front of her and threw it at the fish. The disk passed over them just as they started spitting needles, cancelling the attack and dispelling the fish. "Huh?" Gyokko asked in confusion, "how did you do that?" he asked. Ume said nothing, and ran towards the enemy Demon, attempting a slash with her claws. A huge burst of water shot out of a pot that Upper 5 materialised from his hand.
The Kamado barely dodged out of the way in time, and the highly pressurised stream of water bore a hole right through the trunk of the tree that had been behind her, making the two Swordsmiths shriek in terror. 'That's not good. I can't let that attack hit me. Even if I can regenerate, it might take too long, and who knows what'll happen then!' Ume thought to herself. 'I also can't let that attack hit the humans, otherwise there'll be nothing left!' Muichiro then ran forwards, "Mist-Breathing, Second Form: Eight-layered Mist!" he tried to slice the Demon's head off, but it just retreated back into it's pot to dodge. "So fast," Ume muttered, growling, "well, the bastard isn't called an Upper Rank Demon for no reason".
"Hyo! Hyo! Hyo! Why don't you both try attacking me at once? Might make it easier for you!" Gyokko mocked. He then created more Needle Fish, who spat needles at them. Ume jumped in front of the two Swordsmiths and used her Blood Demon Art to protect them. She couldn't allow a single needle to hit them, since she could smell the poison coating them. The Mist Hashira managed to deflect the needles with his sword. 'We aren't getting anywhere! Muichiro needs to get close enough to that damn Bastard to cut his head off, but even if he could, Gyokko can just dodge the attack by going back into his pot, and transfer to another one anywhere around the battlefield! How are we supposed to kill this Bastard! And can we do it in time to get back to my Siblings and help them with the other Demon?' Ume thought.
The fish then purposefully focused on Kanamori and Kotetsu. "Shit!" the Demon woman cried, too far away to reach the two of them. But Muichiro moved in front of the Smiths and deflected a bunch of needles with his sword. Unfortunately, he got stabbed with a bunch of them too. "Ah! Mr Tokito!" Kanamori cried in horror. "Heh! Those needles are poisoned! It'll kill you soon!" Gyokko said happily with both of his mouths grinning.
"Why not try this as well! Blood Demon Art: Water Prison Pot!" he materialized a Vase in one of his head hands, which spewed out a massive amount of water and engulfed Muichiro in a water prison shaped like a vase. "Oh shit!" Ume cried, trying to release the Blood Demon Art with her own, but suddenly she was sliced into 6 pieces by water whips. "Hyo! Hyo! Hyo! That should keep you down for a while you traitor scum!" Kanamori and Kotetsu hurried into the shed at seeing their protectors taken out so easily, either for shelter or to try and warn Haganezuka, she didn't know, but Ume hoped that they could all get away safely. "Damn it! What the hell do I do now?" she wondered, looking around her from her head's position on the ground.
She hoped her Brother's and Sister were having a better time than her.
Ư*Ğ.Ķ
Meanwhile, with Gyutaro, Tanjiro, Nezuko and Genya, the four watched as the four Demons held their heads and writhed from the burning pain of their wounds. "Damn it, what the hell kind of cut was that?! The wound feels like it's on fire!" Karaku cried, shuddering in pain. "Calm down! We'll be able to reattach our heads in a while, but we have to focus on the Demon Slayers!" Sekido called from where he was holding his own head in his arms. "Damn it! So that didn't work either?!" Gyutaro asked, gripping his chained Sickle tighter. "But how?! I'm sure I got all of them- unless-" Tanjiro began, before he gasped, "another Demon! There must be another Demon around somewhere! I didn't get all of them, that's why it didn't work!" he lamented.
"Alright, so where is it?!" Gyutaro asked. "I don't know! I still can't smell anything other than the Hot Springs!" Tanjiro replied, frustrated. He grit his teeth as Sekido recovered and barely dodged a blast of wind that was sent his way. Suddenly he gasped, sniffing, "That wind blast cleared the sulfer smell! I know where the fifth Demon is!" Tanjiro cried. But before he could do anything he was blocked by the flying Demon. Gyutaro swung his chained Sickle and weight, "Stone-Breathing, Second Form: Upper Smash!" he cried, smashing Urogi's head, as Tanjiro sliced off his wings. Then Sekido slammed his Shakujo on the ground, electrocuting them both. "Fuck! We can't get to the fifth Demon!" Gyutaro cried, trying to regulate his breathing after the electric shocks stopped.
He noticed both Genya and Nezuko still standing after the attack, but with slightly slower reaction times, "look out you guys!" the green-haired 27-year-old called out in warning. The spear Demon aimed an attack at Genya, but Nezuko stepped in the way and got pierced through the stomach. "Nezuko!" Tanjiro cried, horrified. Nezuko growled in anger and slid forwards on the spear handle. She grabbed Azetsu's hair and then wrapped herself around the Demon, igniting him in hot pink flames. The blue-wearing Demon screamed in agony as he burned. 'Damn it! How are we supposed to find the fifth Demon like this? We don't even have time to look!' Gyutaro thought.
Nezuko eventually managed to kick Aizetsu away from herself and pulled the spear out of her body. Gyutaro sighed as her wounds healed instantly. He was glad for this new form she had gained. But still- Gyutaro felt his fury boiling at all the injuries his little Sister was accumulating. He didn't care that she had healed them all so far, she was a 12-year-old girl, how dare these bastards hurt her so much! 'Ume, please be safe. We can't come to where you are yet. Just take care of yourself and Yuichiro, alright?' Gyutaro prayed.
Ư*Ğ.Ķ
Ume slowly pulled herself back together, wishing that this could be easier. As she did, the 22-yeear-old Demon woman glanced around. Gyokko was taunting Muichiro, who was stuck in the water pot, and he hadn't gone after the civilians yet. She had to try and get them away from here. She wasn't about to let this sick Demon harm them. Suddenly, Ume's eyes widened as she saw both the boys sneak out of the building and around the Upper Rank. What were they doing?! Just then, Gyokko turned away from the young Hashira and towards the shed. As he left the water construct, Yuichiro and Kotetsu ran over to the water pot.
"Mui!" Yuichiro cried, pounding on the water, desperately trying to free his twin Brother. "Mr Tokito!" Kotetsu called, trying to cut open the water prison with a knife. Suddenly Ume noticed a fish-like creature behind the two boys. It walked on two feet and had crazy-looking eyes. It also had two metal claws for hands. "No! Look out!" Ume cried, as the boys turned to see the monster right before it began attacking them. Yuichiro and Kotetsu got several cuts all over their bodies. Upon seeing the blood, the Tokito twin seemed to shut down and crumpled to the ground. Muichiro let out a soundless scream from the water prison, and Ume forced her body to heal quicker.
The monster headed towards the easier target first- the seemingly catatonic Yuichiro. Ume stood to her feet and threw herself over the child, getting stabbed in the back for her troubles. Suddenly Kotetsu moved towards the prison and gasped in as deep a breath as he could. He put his lips against the water and blew oxygen into it. Muichiro breathed in the air bubbles, before grabbing hold of his sword tightly with both hands. Then he sliced apart the water prison with multiple strikes. Before he could even take another breath, Muichiro had sliced apart the fish monster that had hurt his Brother with his Sword.
Ume glanced up at the boy, only to gape in shock at the sight of the young Hashira. He had dark blue seaweed-like shapes on each cheek- a bit like her Brother's Birthmarks. And he looked absolutely furious. "How dare you harm my Brother!" he snarled. Ume moved to get the two boys out of the way of the coming round two of the battle. Yuichiro stared up at his Brother, before he suddenly gasped, making Ume glance down at him. His eyes, which were usually dull and empty, were bright with remembrance, "I remember, Brother. the 'Mu' in Muichiro, is the 'in' in infinity. So, you can become as strong as you need to, in order to protect others" he breathed.
If she hadn't been a Demon, Ume might not have heard the words. But she did. She shook her head of thoughts about the boy's words, and grabbed him and Kotetsu, quickly moving back to the building to keep the two boys safe. She had a feeling that Muichiro would be able to kill the Upper Rank with ease now. And she had humans to protect. It was up to him now.