Gyutaro, Tanjiro, Nezuko and Genya stared at the new Demon, one that also bore: 'Upper four' in his eyes. 'What the hell is this?! The anger Demon just absorbed the other three into his body, then transformed. I've never felt so much deadly power radiating from a Demon before. Is this, a true Upper Rank Demon?' Gyutaro thought, trembling. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Tanjiro getting his sword ready to fight, while Nezuko trembled next to him on the ground. He grit his teeth 'right, we have to kill this one too, don't we? But how? All my instincts are screaming at me to get away. But I-I-' Gyutaro thought, his grip on his chained Sickle trembling as well.
Gyutaro thought of Takeo, Hanako, Shigeru and Rokuta, all waiting for them back home, and steeled himself, 'I will survive. We'll kill this Demon and then we'll all go home together!' he swore to himself. The new Demon glanced over at the whimpering main body and banged his drum. Tree roots began to surround the tiny Demon. 'Damn it, he's being shielded!' "Hey, hold on!" Gyutaro cried. The Demon turned to look at him. Gyutaro suddenly had a very real vision of himself being impaled on a tree root, then devoured by a wooden dragon. The green-haired 27-year-old gasped desperately for air, as he gripped his head and chest tightly, struggling to keep on his feet.
"Big Brother!" Tanjiro cried in concern. 'What the fuck was that?! Was that an actual vision? But it didn't feel the same as last time. Was it the aura this Demon is giving off combined with my Vision's? Did he just show me my death?' Gyutaro thought, sweating and gasping raggedly for air. He stumbled and almost fell to the ground, but managed to keep himself on his feet, 'breathe! Breathe! Damn it, you've got to breathe!' the oldest Kamado thought, desperately trying to make his body take in oxygen, as he gripped his shirt over where his heart was, 'it's not just that. My heart hurts. It feels like it's not beating properly. Damn it, pull yourself together!'
Finally, Gyutaro managed to get his breathing back under control, and his senses came back as he did, "what… what makes… what makes us… what makes us- evil wretches?" he heard Tanjiro ask. "It's because you torment the weak. Just now, you tried to kill a small, weak being who could fit in the palm of your hand. Utterly atrocious! Only a pure fiend would do that" the Hatred Demon replied firmly. "Small, weak being?" Tanjiro asked, "who's small and weak? Don't give me that crap!" Tanjiro yelled furiously. Gyutaro and Nezuko watched their kind-hearted Brother in shock as he yelled in a fury. "The scent you're giving off. It's not just 100, or even 200 humans that you've devoured! What did those people ever do to you?! Did they all do something that they had to pay for with their lives? The parents? The children?!" he cried.
"Don't you dare play the victim card after killing so many innocent people! So many small, weak children! You're Demons! You're a hundred times stronger than any human, and you try to make us feel pity towards you after all of the lives you've taken and the family's you've destroyed?! You're twisted through and through! You won't get away with all that you've done! You evil Demon- we'll be the ones to behead you!" Tanjiro cried, holding his sword out in the ready position. Gyutaro took a breath, and took his own fighting stance. Nezuko managed push herself up, and everyone got ready for the fight of their lives up till now.
Ư*Ğ.Ķ
The Hatred Demon stared at them, "is that all you have to say?" he asked. All of them prepared to keep fighting, "were any of the humans I devoured members of your family?" the Upper Rank Four asked. Gyutaro glared at him, as he remembered their Mother's corpse. Maybe not directly, but Muzan sure had tried to take their family from them. If they had been home that night- "No" Tanjiro hissed. "Then, it has nothing to do with you" the Demon continued. "We're Demon Slayers. It has everything to do with us" Gyutaro growled. "Why? Why make it your problem? Just go home to your Siblings and forget about us" the Hatred Demon replied.
"This is what we've chosen to do. Become Demon Slayers, so we can protect our family and others from Demons like you! Our Father didn't need a reason to save my little Sister and take us in off the streets. No one needs a reason to protect and save people who need it! If you can't understand something like that, then you're the fiend!" Gyutaro cried. The Demon snarled at them furiously. Then banged on one of his drums. All of the wood dragons that had been frozen in place behind him, lunged at the Kamado's and Genya.
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Gyokko's head fell to the ground, shocked and confused at the fact that he had been decapitated. Muichiro walked towards him, while the Demon's head started freaking out, "It's over for you. I hope you go to Hell for hurting my Brother" the young Hashira said. "Curses! How could this happen?! You, a lowly human! How dare you slice off my head!" Gyokko ranted, as he seemed to be trying to regrow his body. "You abominable, lower life-form! My life is worth 100 of you and your ilk! I am one of the chosen exalted life forms!" he cried. By now, he'd grown a small mass under his head, squirming with multiple tiny arms.
"You vulgar little maggot! After you're born, all you do is grow old and die! And I took your insignificant, unimportant life in my hands, and used my divine hands to elevate you to a nobler work of art!" Gyokko cried, as Yuichiro, Kanamori and Kotetsu were shown to be standing nearby, as the Tokito twin hid behind the older Swordsmith, clutching onto the man with his one hand. He looked scared. Muichiro, as if sensing his Brother's fear, scowled, and cut the Demon's head in half. Then he quickly cut it into tiny pieces. The Mist Hashira brushed the rest of the dissolving Demon away with his sword, before he sighed.
The mark that had been on his face faded away as the rest of the Demon's body disappeared into ashes. "Mui!" Yuichiro's voice caused the 13-year-old to turn to find Kanamori, Kotetsu, his Brother and Ume walking over to him. "Brother!" Yuichiro cried, wrapping his arm around his twin's neck. He sobbed, "I was so scared! I thought we were gonna die!". Muichiro smiled softly, before hugging his twin close, "I'm alright Yui. I'm not going to die" he replied. Ume frowned at the boy, "are you sure? Weren't those needles poisoned?" she asked in concern. "Yeah, and your breathing is really shaky, plus you look really pale" Kanamori added.
"I'm fine, I'm fine *pant, pant* I've never felt better-" Muichiro huffed, before he began foaming at the mouth, and his legs gave out. "Muichiro!" Yuichiro cried in fear, trying to catch his Brother, but he only had one arm, and his twin had gone limp against him. Ume caught the boy before he could fall and hurt himself anymore. "We should lay him on his side so that he doesn't choke on the foam" Kotetsu said. "Should we move him inside, where it's a bit safer you think?" Kanamori asked. As Ume went to lay Muichiro down, Yuichiro knelt down on the ground, "you can lay him here! Put his head in my lap!" he said. The Demon woman looked down at him in surprise.
And found his eyes to be a bit clearer, and filled with determination, "it'll help him, won't it?" Yuichiro asked. Ume smiled, seeing an image of herself and Gyutaro overlapping the two boys, "yes it will. Here" she said, gently placing Muichiro's head on his twin Brother's lap. Muichiro continued to cough out foam, but he seemed to be expelling it all fine. Yuichiro looked down at his Brother, "Mui. You saved us. Thank you" he said, as he hugged his Brother from his position. Ume frowned, and looked away from the humans, and into the forest, 'if Gyokko was the one spawning those fish Demon creatures, does that mean they're all gone now? Would it be alright if I returned to the others?' she wondered in thought.
She clenched her fist, and turned back towards the two Sowrdsmiths, "excuse me" she said. Only Kanmori turned to look at her, but that was fine. "Yes? I'm sorry, I'm afraid I didn't catch your name Miss. And I am rather confused as to why a Demon helped us" he replied. "I am Ume Kamado, and I was sent here to bring Yuichiro somewhere safe. Now that this danger has passed, and no more fish monsters will be attacking, I have to get back to my Siblings, to help them against the other Demon that showed up. Please take care of the Tokito twins for me" Ume explained with a bow. Then she turned and raced into the trees, 'I have to get back to my Brother's and Sister. Before anything horrible happens!' Ume thought.
Ư*Ğ.Ķ
One of the wooden dragons tossed Tanjiro into the air. Gyutaro snarled in anger as he smashed a head partly off with the weight attached to his Sickle. Unfortunately the head grew back, forcing him to jump out of the way as it attacked him again. Glancing up at his younger Brother, Gyutaro saw Tanjiro getting into position for an attack, but the head he was aiming for blasted him with the flying Demon's sonic attack. 'Damn it! This is such a pain in the ass! As if having five different Demons to deal with wasn't bad enough! Now we have that one, who has all of the other Demon's powers! And even that isn't as bad as these damn wood dragons! What the hell do we do!' he thought furiously.
'Our back-up better get here like their asses are on fire, or we'll all be dead!' Gyutaro thought.
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Villagers were running away from the fish creatures, terrified for their lives. Mitsuri sliced through them, but more had already turned up, "oh man, how many of these fish are there?! I need back-up! If only Tokito were here!" she bemoaned. Suddenly, the large fish that had just turned up had it's vases smashed apart, and another lot was blasted apart with a flurry of blows that almost seemed to be on fire. "I apologise for our late arrival Kanroji," Gyomei Himejima said gravely, crying at all the people who had already died, "and I apologise to all those we were too late to save" he added.
"Thank god! There are two Demons according to my Crow Urara! But I have to deal with all of these-" suddenly all of the fish monsters collapsed to the ground and began to disintegrate. "Oh" she said in shock. There was a moment of silence among the three Hashira, before another Crow showed up, "Junior Slayers fighting Upper Rank Four! Assistance required immediately! Caw!" "Kaname! Where are they?!" Kyojuro demanded. "Follow! Follow!" Kaname called. "Let's hurry! They could be dying!" Mitsuri cried. The three Hashira followed their Crows to where the other Demon Slayers were.
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Tanjiro hit a tree branch and toppled to the ground. Nezuko tried to go to her Older Brother, but a dragon stopped her. Genya shot at the dragon, which damaged it, but it began to regenerate. The psuedo-Demon growled in anger and ripped it apart. "Damn it! Tanjiro!" Gyutaro called, as his younger Brother forced himself to his hands and knees, before vomiting on the ground. He looked woozy and unsteady. "Look out!" he cried, as one of the dragons headed for him. Tanjiro pushed himself out of them way, but the Demon banged two of his drums and the Fan Demon's attack burst out of the dragons mouth, crushing the 15-year-old's foot.
"Tanjiro!" the green-haired Kamado cried furiously. The younger boy dodged the next two attacks, before lightning shot out of one of the other heads. Gyutaro tried to knock it away from his Brother with his weight, but the thing was so strong and large, that it didn't even budge. Tanjiro frantically dodged attack after attack, as Nezuko was grabbed by the arm, and Genya started being crushed by one of the dragon's coils. Gyutaro tried to run to Tanjiro's aid, but was knocked out of the way by another one. The younger boy stopped and turned to attack, but suddenly, multiple smaller dragon heads emerged from the main one, and bit into Tanjiro's arm.
The dragons pulled the teen off his feet and right into the main dragon's mouth. "TANJIRO!" Gyutaro screamed. He suddenly got snapped up by another head, and he was barely able to keep himself from being crushed. 'Fuck, no! Is this it?! Are we gonna die?!' Gyutaro thought in terror as he was slowly crushed into a pulp- Mitsuri Kanroji sliced apart the dragons, while Gyomei Himejima caught Gyutaro and Genya. Mitsuri flew out of the dragon with Tanjiro on her back. "Great job Mitsuri! Thank you for saving my Tsuguko!" Kyojuro Rengoku called, as he caught Nezuko. "Master!" Gyutaro cried in shock, his eyes starting to water, 'they made it! Thank God!' he thought in utter relief.
All of the Hashira landed with the junior Slayers as Nezuko dropped to the ground, her crushed arm healing instantly. "Well! This is something I didn't expect! Who is this then?" Kyojuro asked. "It's Upper Four! It's stronger than before, so please be careful!" Gyutaro called, barely able to stand. Gyomei turned to look down at his panting Tsuguko, "Gyutaro, you are all injured and exhausted. Take some time to recover. We will handle this now" he said. He twitched his head towards Nezuko, before turning his attention back to the Demon in front of him. "That's not the main body! You can't kill it even if you behead that one!" Tanjiro cried.
"Then you go find the real one Tanjiro. It should be easy for you with your sense of smell! We'll cover you. Now go!" Kyojuro called, as the three Hashira began to fight against the Demon. Gyutaro forced himself up, "let's go guys! We have our orders!" he cried. He lifted Tanjiro onto his back, as he, Nezuko and Genya ran off after Tanjiro smelled where the ball of branches had gone.