Shame, regret, and guilt overwhelmed their senses.
Hands outstretched toward their friends grabbed uselessly at the buzzing air prickling their skin with unpleasant feelings of pins and needles. Terrible memories of the death of Mr. Rengoku and his final breath, Mr. Uzui laying unmoving on his side with his severed hand beside him, Inosuke's heart getting pierced with a poison-tipped sickle, and Zenitsu disappearing in a storm of fire and neon pink, the splintering and singed wooden planks of buildings collapsing all around them, pierced their minds. Burning tears welled up in the eyes of Kagami and Tanjiro watching what they had deemed a successful mission... immediately sour and turn cold by their own hands.
Their will to fight, their will to live, had been crushed into nothingness.
As their bodies tumbled out of the air and rolled harshly against the ground, they both made no move to stand on their feet. They allowed themselves to lay forgotten among the dirt stained with blood and littered with splinters, smoke, and ash. The rapid beating of their heart, the pounding in their ears, slowly ceased to nothing. Their eyes, that been drenched with tears and widened with horror, were empty and stayed half-open staring into the dark ground. The hilt of their swords that were once held tightly laid limp in their grasp. Their breathing slowed to a beat of solemness.
Kagami and Tanjiro's eyes couldn't even meet each other's.
Their bodies were inches from each other, fingertips so close they could almost graze, but they both were filled with so much agony and guilt the thought of looking into one another's eyes was too much to bear. But it was not like they had the strength to anyway.
The exhaustion that had nearly took them earlier in the battle reintroduced itself without warning. With their faces planted into the dirt, vision coming in and out of focus, they knew they were about to lose consciousness... and didn't seem to care the demons were still alive, and prowling around the area in search for their blood.
All Tanjiro wanted was to be with his family again. It was all he ever wanted. It was his drive to search for the blood of demons closely related to Kibutsuji and turn Nezuko back into a human. He never meant for any of what happened to happen. And Kagami, all she ever thought about was being with her father again. The morals and values he drilled into her made her the person she is. The day Mr. Rengoku died was the day they vowed to never be weak again. To never let anyone else die in their place. But, in the end, it still wasn't enough for the both of them, for all of them, to defeat the upper rank demons.
All they could think was... I failed. I'm sorry, everyone.
"There's nothing for you to be sorry for."
"Do not cry over your mistakes, little dragon."
Kagami and Tanjiro's eyes popped open to the sound of familiar voices echoing through the air. Their eyes immediately met two figures and widened tremendously at their appearance. They were lost in thought for the moment they didn't notice the world around them had shifted. Standing back to back, green met white. Heat met cold. Sun met cloudy skies.
The world was divided into two. One took the appearance of great mountains looming in the distance, a bright greenery of valleys stretching for miles on end, property surrounded by wisteria trees blooming all year 'round, with the sun shining down in greetings on Kagami. Her feet were planted on soft green grasses and the wind gently breezed through her hair. The other was a forest of dormant trees hibernating in the harsh winter, snow coating every piece of land with hills of white, and low freezing temperatures accompanied with the dark cloudy skies shielding a bright yellow sun. A storm of snow and ice ravaged through Tanjiro's blackened-red hair. Standing in front of them were Nezuko Kamado and Kagami's father.
Nezuko took the appearance of the human she used to be. No fangs graced her teeth, no slits formed in her pupils, and no sharp claws protruded from her nails. Her large pink eyes stared hard at Tanjiro and her fists balled at her sides. "Big Brother, why do you always apologize? If we're poor and can't afford to wear nice kimonos, is that something you have to be sorry for? Don't blame yourself for something like that. It would be like blaming Father for succumbing to his illness," She said to him through a pleading voice.
"Little dragon, why are you always so hard on yourself? Why must you always try to be perfect? It is an impossible and unforgiving goal for yourself," Her father asked sadly with troubled eyes. His black hair ruffled in the wind and he leaned on his crutch, but paid no attention to it. He kept his gaze straight on hers.
"He tried as hard as he could, but it wasn't enough. We have to accept that. We're human, after all, and part of that means there are things that are outside of our control. Whether I'm happy or not is up to me, even if it feels like the world is against me," Nezuko continued to speak through the harsh wind pulling at tugging at her hair, freeing it from its large bun and revealing the long orange-tipped strands. Tanjiro could only watch and listen in shocked silence.
Her father slowly dropped to his knees and gently placed his crutch beside him. A tired smile graced his lips and his eyes started to become wet with tears. His hand softly trailed the ground, making swirls into the dirt, and let out a small sigh. Kagami watched with a twinging heart and stifled the whimpers threatening to fall from her mouth. "My little dragon, it is okay to make mistakes. It is okay to feel weak and vulnerable. It is what makes us human. Failure is what helps us learn. We don't learn from success but rather from the dirt we fall on when things don't go our way."
Clenching her claw-like nails in her fists, her fangs poking out from beneath her lips, Nezuko's eyes beggingly searched deep into Tanjiro's with large droplets of tears running down her cheeks. "What's most important is that we keep moving forward together and fight if we must. So stop apologizing! You, of all people, should understand."
"Kagami, trust in yourself. Trust in your friends. Trust in your ability," Her father smiled widely at her from his spot on the ground.
Kagami and Tanjiro breathlessly grasped each other's hands from behind. Once again, green met white. Heat met cold. Sun met cloudy skies. The Sun and its Dragon.
"I want you to understand how I feel!"
"Live and learn, my little dragon."
Kagami gasped awake with the air leaving her in large panted breaths. Her eyes shot open, droplets of blood spilled from her head, an agonizing pain in her side pierced through her body, and blinked against the bright light in her vision. Her eyes met Tanjiro's and both fell on their conjoined hands. Their grip immediately tightened.
An anchor. She had become his and he became hers. They are each other's pull back to earth in the moments they wanted grief to swallow them alive. They are still living and breathing, his touch and hers helped bring them to the reality of the world they're living in at that moment. The moment they let themselves believe there was nothing else they could do. That the demons had won against their battle in the large war that had been rampaging for the last thousand years. How foolish of them.
Sitting up, hand still grasping each other's, their eyes ran over the scene before them. The Yoshiwara Entertainment District was completely destroyed and caught ablaze.
No building in sight was left standing. They had all collapsed on and around each other. Large wooden planks broken and chipped off scattered all over what used to be streets and roads. Fire crackled and slithered along almost every inch of the land that crumbled under the power of the demons setting nearly everything burning. The unpleasant smell of smoke wafted viciously through her nose. The sight of its blackness billowed into the air and high into the sky. Power lines were tipped over and cut wires emitted small electric sparks. Discarded and broken rikishas were left to become nothing but ash. All she could hear was the crackling and snap of a hundred fires that won't go out anytime soon.
Though, what unnerved her the most, was the lack of screaming, crying, and pleas for help. The Entertainment District was packed with hundreds of people. Even before the initial devastation caused by the sister demon, not everyone would've noticed the battle that had been ensuing. She didn't see any bodies, corpses nor live ones, or hear of any cries. She hoped most of them were able to escape.
"Ah! Nezuko!" Tanjiro wheezed out immediately turning to her box on the ground.
Her door was opened and her body was halfway falling out but she was still fast asleep. Both Kagami and Tanjiro let out sighs of relief and smiled in reassurance. Their grip on each other's hands never slackened. Instead, she felt his determination to find the demons and end them seeping through its warmth, despite their previous failure. Kagami nodded her head in resoluteness and lifted her chin.
My fault or not, perfect or imperfect, I've gotta do what I can do to fix this-!
"Well, I'm impressed! I'm shocked you're still alive after that."
Standing right before them, appearing in a split second with a displeased look on his face, was Gyutaro. He stared scornfully down at the two of them, a hand scratching harshly at the side of his throat, his quick and ghastly sight forcing a choked gasp to spill from their throats. His sister was perched on the building behind him, with her head already reattached to her body, watching with glee.
"You're a couple of lucky kids, aren't you? Well, not that you have anything going for you except being lucky, that is," Gyutaro mocked them not noticing or caring about the fear thrumming through their veins.
Then, he leaned in really close to their faces. The blazing fire that overwhelmed a tall building near them illuminated his sickly disfigured body and skin. It perfectly casted a light on how merciless the demon can be. His lips were widened in a large maniacal smile, his razor-sharp teeth glistening in the light, and sinister shadows spreading across the other half. "It really is a shame, you know. Every one of your friends is dead or burning under the rubble right now," He relentlessly taunted them. "It only took a single thrust to that boar's heart. Meanwhile, that yellow-hair boy is trapped under the rubble, so I think I'll leave him there 'til he dies. Squirming around like an insect, how disgraceful is that? And that Hashira, he really was all bark and no bite. It seems the poison got to him after all, and now he's dead like the others."
Kagami's eyes flitted from Inosuke's bloody body on the ground with a pool of blood underneath him, to Zenitsu desperately trying to claw his way out, then finally to Mr. Uzui laying still without moving an inch. It was a miracle none of the buildings collapsed on him, but... is he... truly dead?
"You're all disgraceful, utterly disgraceful. You all might be pathetic and shameless in your own ways, but you're by far the worst!" Gyutaro cackled with that same wide smile. Then, his eyes shifted to something behind them and flicked to Tanjiro. "The one sticking out of that box, that's a relative of yours, isn't it? I can tell she's related to you, you know, even if she is a demon. Tell me, who is she? Your younger sister?"
Kagami and Tanjiro's conjoined hands shook tremendously from the power, fear, intimidation, and, worst of all, unsatiated bloodlust radiating off of him. Overwhelmed, their panted breaths heavied. They were at his mercy, and he knew it too. They were significantly underpowered, understaffed, and exhausted. But why won't he kill them yet? He towered over them and had the perfect opportunity right then to slice their heads off. Kagami's arm is numb to the touch. She wouldn't be able to lift her sword even if she wanted to. Going for his head would be a terrible mistake.
Tanjiro, with no other choice, gazed up to Gyutaro and croaked, "That girl in the box... is my younger sister."
At his answer, Gyutaro's lips quirked upward in amusement and he placed a sickled hand against his mouth, not bothering to suppress his manic giggles. "It's just as I thought, then. You really are a disgrace, huh? Imagine being so useless, you can't protect your own sister," He giggled.
Even in the midst of immense terror, Tanjiro glared and growled at his mockery.
Stabbing his sickles into the ground, Gyutaro crouched down and put himself at their eye level. "Well, I guess it can't be helped. After all, you're just human. It makes sense you're weaker than your sister. Considering she's a demon, it only makes sense she's stronger than you. Even so, I just can't help but see you as a disgrace. If you're really her big brother, then you should be protecting her instead of leaving her to fight all of your battles for you, you coward," Gyutaro ridiculed Tanjiro as if he were a small, careless baby, cooing and reaching out to pat his head much to their dismay.
"Devotedly... with this hand, you see?" Gyutaro snickered ripping Kagami and Tanjiro's hands apart and snapping two of their fingers back.
At the sound of bones snapping, the unnatural curve of their fingers reaching to touch the back of their hands, Kagami and Tanjiro suppressed their screams of agony as the lightning bolt of pain struck throughout their hand, up their arm, and to their shoulder. Winces they couldn't suppress were forced out of their chests. They hunched forward to breathe, to fight, against the unrelenting pain, all to the sound of Gyutaro's delighted laughter.
The demon continued to laugh and started to hit Tanjiro's head with his fist unkindly. Then, he finally glanced over in Kagami's direction. At her glare, his fist wrapped tightly around Tanjiro's hair and harshly waved his head in the air. "But I've got to know. How do you feel after all this? Being the only few to survive so disgracefully. Not to mention he let his kid sister use up her strength protecting a disgrace like him," He smirked tauntingly showing no remorse for Tanjiro. Kagami made no move to speak.
"Answer me, worm. You imbeciles. Sad sacks. Cowards! Good-for-nothings! Why was trash like you even born to begin with?" Gyutaro growled with a sinister smile spreading across his lips. "I don't know about you, but I'd love to see you try and cut off my head with that useless, battered, disgraceful human body of yours. Come on. Come on! Come on!" He screamed pounding his chest with the flat of his hand.
No matter how much he goaded them, trying to anger and frustrate them with his words, to make them unpredictable, emotional, and full of recklessness, Kagami and Tanjiro made no move to slice off his head.
Instead, with his hold on Tanjiro's head released, Tanjiro instantly picked up Nezuko's box and started to run down the street with Kagami close on his heels.
They kept running, running, and running. The sound of Gyutaro's maniacal laughter and his sister's giggling at their sudden movement echoed menacingly behind them. Words of cowardice, pathetic, and disgraceful were among the taunts he threw at them but they didn't listen. They ran through the sea of flames swallowing the entire district, running and destroying all of the buildings in its insane heat. It lit up like daybreak. No wind, air, nor moisture could be felt among the wildfire. Her head and heart pounded with the surging temperature of the flames threatening to swallow them too.
Faster than they could react, with Kagami only able to barely bring up her sword, Gyutaro appeared and violently whipped out his leg.
Their bodies whizzed through the air from the impact and skyrocketed into a building already engulfed in flames. The landing knocked the breath out of her chest but she forced herself to bring up her head nonetheless. Surrounded by flames, the heat... was more intense than before! Hearing the creaking of the wood losing durability and stability, she hurriedly pulled Tanjiro on his feet, his arms wrapped securely around Nezuko's box, and pushed them both out of the way of falling debris toward the outside!
Coughing out the smoke from their lungs, legs wobbling and hands shaking with hurt, they leaned on each other for support stumbling as they ran.
Emerging from the blaze unscathed was Gyutaro wielding both flesh sickles in his hands.
"I gotta hand it to you. You really are the most disgraceful scumbag. In all my life, I've never seen anyone as shameless or cowardly as you. Hiding behind two little girls is pathetic," He softly but lowly chuckled.
He was getting closer and closer with every deliberately slow and methodical step he took.
Kagami and Tanjiro lost their footing, lost what left of energy they had, and tripped over their feet. They fell to the ground with painful gasps but immediately turned at the sound of Gyutaro's incoming footsteps.
Almost absentmindedly, but deliberately, Kagami and Tanjiro tossed many sachets, pebbles, and debris at the demon who wouldn't falter in his step. It seemed like a desperate attempt to hit him, to keep him from getting closer, to the demon. She had no idea where she was, everything in the district looked foreign now that it was in flames, but she knew Tanjiro didn't do anything without purpose. Trusting him was all she could do, and she knew better than to question his instincts.
But, in that moment, she couldn't help but wonder why she followed him.
As Gyutaro drove his foot into Tanjiro's abdomen, his body was kicked into the air and bloody vomit spewed from his mouth. Kagami gagged against the pain that drove into her side and into the wound where the sister demon created with her obi belt. She fell over in pain, her body desperately gasping for air, and writhed and shook in her spot. Her eyes trailed Gyutaro's hand full of her blood and watched him take a sloppy lick. His eyes widened in pleasure and, one by one, began to suck his fingers dry not leaving behind a single drop.
Kagami's hand shakily grabbed at the ground beneath as Tanjiro grasped his neck still choking on his vomit.
Gyutaro laughed at their torment and once again knelt down to their level. "Oddly enough, as disgraceful as you are, I don't dislike you. Because I can't help but like anything that's pathetic, disgraceful, and filthy, you understand? What is it about you?" He sniggered and placed a finger against Tanjiro's fore-head tracing the flame mark embedded. "Maybe it's this filthy scar on your forehead I'm getting attached to."
Suddenly gasping, as if being hit with brilliance, Gyutaro exclaimed, "I have an idea! How about you just become a demon too? Why not do it for your little sister's sake!" running a clawed hand over his face in excitement. "Oh, why couldn't I have thought of that sooner! If you become a demon, I'll spare your life, since you and I will be comrades then! Otherwise, I'll slaughter you, your girlfriend, and your pathetic sister, since I don't give a crap about other people's little sisters, to be honest."
His voice, that was full of excitement and glee, had suddenly shifted to a tone of malice. It sent chills down Kagami's spine.
But it quickly changed back to one of delight when he added, "If you become a demon, you can instantly become stronger! You can kiss that defective body of yours goodbye! Not to mention the delicacy of marechi you'll savor. We'll keep her as a blood slave if that'll make you happy. So what do you say?! What's it gonna be?!"
Kagami's eyes glossed over and she released a shaky sigh as Tanjiro raised his head to the sky seemingly in desperation.
Defective body, huh? That's what Akaza had told Mr. Rengoku to convince him to become a demon. Something along the lines of that. Why is their argument always the same?
Gyutaro chuckled mockingly at their reaction. "It makes you bitter, huh, realizing how weak you are? Humans are so cute, looking to the sky when you grieve. All so you don't let your tears fall down your face."
Tanjiro kept breathing heavily. In, out, in, out.
Then, he heaved, "This whole time... This whole time..."
He tilted his head down and revealed a cold glare burning in his deep red irises. "I've been waiting for this!" He exclaimed and pushed his head forward! At the same time, Kagami instantly reached for something behind her and flicked it!
A sickening sound of boulders smashing together, an unpleasant vibration buzzing through the air, boomed from the two heads of Tanjiro and Gyutaro colliding together! Kagami watched, eyebrows furrowing and mouth frowning, at the sight of Gyutaro smirk at Tanjiro's seemingly last-ditch head-butt fall into one of perplexity. He suddenly recoiled and fell backwards on his rear bracing himself on the ground with one hand. Noises of incoherent confusion choked from his throat, eyes widening and shaking, at his inability to stand up. That's when he finally noticed the kunai sticking out of his leg.
Kagami and Tanjiro stood on their feet and grasped their swords. They didn't hesitate to bring their blades up and slash downwards!
Tanjiro had thought of the plan since the very beginning and it took for the single flick of her eyes to understand. He had used his strong sense of smell to reach the kunai under the pretense of a retreat. As soon as her eyes landed on the discarded knife, she knew what to do. They scattered the courtesans' sachets to mask the scent of the poison. When Tanjiro head-butted him, Kagami used that distraction to throw the kunai and let it pierce into his leg! With the concussion and poison now in his body, he is incapacitated for the moment! They can do it!
Never again will Kagami allow herself to fall in a pit of despair and lose her will to fight.
Even on the verge of death and defeat, even while taking his last breaths, Mr. Rengoku never regretted protecting others around him. He never... regretted being a human being and fighting for the free will and rights of others. He never held shame about being human and their limitations, never once wavered even in the face of death. In fact so, he liked he had limitations. He liked having the ability to grow old and die, to become stronger by training and fighting. It was what made us human. Being human... is what's precious most of all.
Kagami will finish this once and for all!
"Big Brother!" Nezuko giggled holding Rokuta in her arms. "Big Brother!" She suddenly cried staring at him with grief, sadness, and fear.
"Brother!"
The cry of a girl screaming for her big brother tore Tanjiro out from the depths of anger and madness he had found himself in. He gasped awake and found his sword stopping mere inches from the neck of the sedated Gyutaro, who stared up at him with pure hatred and malice. He didn't move for fear the blade would run deep into his neck and decapitate him. Kagami's blade, which had stopped to keep it from driving into his steel, hovered above his.
She looked at him as if he were crazy and gasped, "Tanjiro, what are you doing?"
He didn't reply. Instead, he stared down at Gyutaro and found himself staring right back. A demonized version of himself with fangs and slits for eyes pierced into his eyes and vision. Solemn entered his core staring at the two siblings who were once human and once part of a family just as he and Nezuko had been.
At every turn, one false step, and I could have found myself in the very same situation he's in right now. I was lucky enough to remain a human... but there could have been a future in which both Nezuko and I were demons. If I do end up turning into a demon, I know I can rely on one thing... that someone in the Demon Slayer Corps will behead me for the greater good.
Even if Tanjiro, down the line in the not-so-distant future, became a demon, and relate to the troubles of Gyutaro and his sister, it still didn't give them the right to take the lives of human beings so viciously and mercilessly. They need to be put down for the greater good.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Tanjiro belted out from the depths of his chest, at the top of his lungs, with no regard for his vocal cords! He started to push every single ounce of strength, energy, and power he had left into his sword to drive deep into Gyutaro's neck! It was as hard as a rock, it felt as if he was pressing his sword against the boulder back at Mt. Sagiri! But if he could cut it in half, he can cut this demon's neck!
At his scream, at his proclamation of war, Kagami immediately joined and pushed her blade alongside his! Gyutaro's hand pressed hard into the ground, so hard it cracked underneath the pressure, and tried to fight against the weight pressing against his neck!
Cut through! Cut through! Win! Win, no matter what! We're going to win!
Tanjiro and Kagami's blades managed to make an incision and cut an inch into his neck!
"Hey! What the hell are you doing?! Don't get beheaded by someone like them!" He heard the sister shriek in fright watching the scene unfold from the sidelines. In an attempt to save Gyutaro, she sent half a dozen obi belts spiraling towards them... but the loud clap of thunder and strike of bright blue and white lightning echoed loudly across the skies.
The obi sashes in the instant the victorious boom of thunder rumbled through the dark smokey skies were all slashed to bits. A beam of lightning moved and bounced from each sash and ended up in the darkened sky. Taking an offensive stance high in the air, sheath in hand and hilt of their sword in the other, was Zenitsu! He managed to pull himself out of the rubble and came to their rescue! He was still deep asleep, blood and cuts running alongside his face and body, but the expression of determination was still strongly etched across his face.
"Die, you ugly freak!" The sister screamed in frustration and anger as a swirl of obi belts were now directed towards him.
Zenitsu dodged them all. His body was nothing more than a bolt of white lightning shooting through the air. Even though the obi missed, they reared back and moved to strike him again.
He inhaled a deep breath, fog and mist spewing from the corners of his mouth, and clasped a tight hand on his hilt. "Thunder Breathing. First Form..." He started to huff.
"Luckily I know exactly how fast your move is because I've seen it so many times now!" The sister squealed with a smirk, giggling madly at what she thought was a fruitless and pathetic attempt on his part to gain the upper-hand on her.
He twisted in body in the air and landed on an obi sash.
"...Thunderclap and Flash. Godlike Speed!"
Gritting his teeth hard, setting his jaw tight, the moment his sword clicked to unsheathe from its hold, light brighter than the fire tearing through the once bustling Entertainment District flashed before their eyes faster than the earth could rotate in a single hour. The sound barrier broke with an unpleasant yet satisfying boom. All that could be seen was the mere afterimages of what looked like a flare of lightning shooting across the entire area. With his body entirely engulfed in a mixture of bright blue, yellow, and white light, the air buzzing with pins and needles, energy prickling at his skin harshly, he slammed into the demon with his blade already whipped out from his side!
Even though she reacted fast enough to transform her neck into a piece of fabric, it was already beginning to tear from the edge of Zenitsu's blade! The look on her horrified face showed he has the ability to decapitate her, and he was going to succeed no matter what!
Cut through! Cut through her! My body can only handle using Thunderclap and Flash, Godlike Speed twice, and I've already used it once to escape the rubble. I won't get another chance to go for her neck if I don't do it now! Tanjiro and Kagami created this one-in-a-million chance! I'm going to slash her for sure, no matter what!
Kagami and Tanjiro watched frustrated at Gyutaro's struggling, because it was beginning to work! He already lifted his body inches from the ground, screaming and grunting as he went, completely fighting off the combined strength of the two of them! Even though the poison weakened him, they're still not strong enough! Are they too exhausted to keep fighting, to keep pushing their blades downwards to finally decapitate his head?! They can't be too weak! They need to be strong!
With a vicious roar, Gyutaro yanked the kunai from his leg and immediately unleashed blood blades from the depths of his body! They swirled around them like a bloody, fiery tornado! Even worse, the blades were actively pushing against their swords and lifting them free from the wound they've inflicted! No matter how hard they kept pressing, it still wasn't enough!
This is bad! He's recovered from the poison! His blades are engulfing us! Not to mention, our swords are being repelled!
A terrified gasp sprang from her chest and vibration slithered from her fingers to her arms at the sudden clang of steel violently meeting. Both of their bodies recoiled from the harsh impact, their arms being shoved high into the sky, and watched infuriated at Gyutaro recovering and standing from the ground to face them. Just like before, he was healing from the poison inflicted, as well as from the concussion Tanjiro gave him. A disgusting sneer stretched against his face with his eyes, full of promises to skin them alive, trained entirely on them.
Without hesitating, Gyutaro sent a flurry of blood scythes in their direction putting himself back on the offensive and pushing them on the defensive. Kagami and Tanjiro parried and deflected the incoming attacks. They breathed heavily against the ferocious attacks, fighting against the pain inflicted everywhere on their bodies, but didn't let themselves fall into despair again!
We were so close! Just a few more seconds and we could've... AH! Don't think about the what ifs, could've's, should've's, and would've's! Just don't give up! Another chance will come! I have to believe another chance will come! I just need to hang on a little longer! Hang on till the very end!
"DIE, YOU LITTLE PUNKS!" Gyutaro screamed at the top of his lungs and met them head-on!
With the few slashes of his sickles, throwing the two of them multiple feet away, he flourished his weapons in the air and jetted them out towards them! A barrage of what appeared to be hundreds of blood sickles twisted through space and skyrocketed in their direction! They slithered, writhed, and moved like worms all around them but they were faster than before! Their attacks were harder than before! Kagami and Tanjiro were forced to matched its agonizing speed, but she didn't know how long they could keep it up! Though, it didn't matter in the moment.
Gyutaro took one step forward and shot straight towards them at a blinding speed. No longer was he stumbling or tripping over his own feet. That means he's broken down and fully recovered from the poison! They'll never get another shot at decapitating him! The demon knew it, too, and he wasn't going to give them a chance to regroup and think of a new plan.
Blades met sickles. The sound of steel clashed through the air. They were fully prepared to fight against his attacks but so much force was behind it, it took everything she had to keep her sword in her grip!
Don't give up, Kagami! The kunai poison was effective but he won't give us another chance to do it again! You have to think of something else! Whatever you do, just don't give up! Don't give-!
"Tanjiro!" Kagami suddenly screamed in terror clutching at her heart writhing agonizingly in her chest and hearing the insistent whispers of his name fill her head. Gyutaro's blood sickle was only centimeters from striking Tanjiro's eyes with every intention of piercing his skull.
CLANG!
The awful ringing of steel pierced her ear. The flash of bright amber color entered her vision. The clinking of jewel beads could be heard in the background. Something tall towered over them, blood sprinkling across the ashy ground beneath them, and a ferocious roar echoed from in front of them. Tanjiro fell into Kagami's arms, a gasp choked from his throat, as their eyes fell on the large, amber Nichirin Cleaver striking against the sickle meant to impale him!
Tears blurred Kagami's vision and she cried out, full of relief and despair, "Mr. Uzui! You're alive!"
Mr. Uzui had pushed Tanjiro out of the way and deflected the attack in his stead! With the Nichirin Cleaver pressed tightly into the flesh sickle, Mr. Uzui's mouth was clamped strongly down on the second cleaver, not even fazed by the lack of a hand on his left arm! He even reattached the chain linking his cleavers, already prepared to fight another deadly match against the demon!
He swung his blade out and struck an explosive bead she didn't even notice him toss! At the slight graze of the tip of his cleaver, the explosive bead, mixed with the hot, unforgiving fires, created a large mushroom-shaped explosion reaching all the way to the sky! Gyutaro was forced to retreat in order to avoid the attack and, when he landed, he gave Mr. Uzui a scornful glare. A look that was a mixture of both surprise, shock, infuriation, and vengefulness.
"Mr. Uzui! How are you-?" Tanjiro started to gasp out in surprise.
"How am I still alive? Did you think I would go out so unflashily?" He scoffed down at them whipping his cleavers all around his body with ease even with a missing hand, "I used my muscles to stop my heart, thus stopping the poison's circulation. But that's not all, kiddos!" Kagami and Tanjiro gasped at the wide victorious smile reaching from ear to ear on his face as he belted loudly into the air, "My Musical Score Technique... will take us to VICTORYYYYY!"
"Don't make me LAUUUGH!" Gyutaro snapped sending a giant wave of hundreds of blood blades towards him!
Uzui listened to the sound of the blades circling, thrumming, bouncing through the air and against the ground, and found the beat he had been listening to since the very beginning of the battle! He learned it! Memorized it! Let it become one with the beat of his heart and electric impulses of his brain. He adapted to the rhythm of its strikes, the rests of its movements, and the orchestra of blood bending attacks with Gyutaro as its monstrous conductor! A song of death and destruction, a score he can finally read and have mastered!
"Ichi!" He exclaimed striking a blood blade with his sword and easily destroying it.
With his blades twirling all around him, effortlessly swinging and gliding through the air even with one hand, the blood blades kept spiraling for him singing along to the beat pounding in his head. "San! Shichi! Go! I! Kin!" He chanted with each strike his blades made against the blood blades that couldn't even land a single slice on his skin.
Smile stretching further, a feeling of lightness, confidence, and determination filling up every ounce of his core, he victoriously roared, "I can read it now, that filthy musical score of yours!"
The fires and destruction of the district raced by him. The unbearable heat of the flames that ravaged the land that nearly suffocated him no longer bothered the Hashira. His feet pounded heavily against the ground and Uzui soared through the waves blood blades without falter or hesitation in his step. His blades swung all around him, the flexion of his arm commanding the movement of his swinging weapons, and directing them to towards the persistent attacks of Gyutaro's blood. They effortlessly glided through the air, parrying and deflecting the blades, destroying them with a loud explosion behind and beside him upon impact of the ground and buildings all around him. The musical score in his head played loudly, pounding and thrumming in his veins, his arms and legs dancing to its rhythm, with the tempo increasing more and more with every closer step he took toward the demon.
Smoke and fog clouded his vision and created a barrier between he and Gyutaro. He jumped high in the air and did a perfect circular spin of his body. The black curtain engulfing him instantly swept away revealing the shocked and terrified demon standing just a few feet from him. Without hesitating, Uzui slammed his cleavers against the ground so hard the dirt immediately cracked and exploded upon impact!
He missed! Gyutaro jumped back and landed on a nearby building. But, the idea of Uzui turning his Blood Demon Art into a song and deflecting it, not to mention only using one arm, pissed him off! So much so he voluntarily charged for the Hashira, screaming at the top of his lungs, full of wrath, "I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR CRAP!"
Their head-on clash exploded upon impact.
This battle was so much more vicious and dangerous than their previous. Their blades and sickles clashed endlessly against one another, hurling each other across the burning city with explosive attacks generating powerful energy. Gyutaro mercilessly sent wave after wave of blood blades that Uzui continued to effortlessly deflect with the swinging and twirling of his cleavers. The song of the blood blades replayed in the Hashira's head so much it was beginning to become part of his body. The trade of violent blows never ceased nor faltered, they kicked and screamed at the other to gain some sort of advantage, and they ruthlessly tore apart the city of the ashes in attempt to overpower the other. Both men were full of anger, fury, and determination, with each full of desperation and overwhelming yearning for the other's death!
Burning building after burning building, they exploded and launched each other across the district wrecking havoc and destruction in their wake. Dozens of buildings collapsed into nothing during their battle of dominance. What little part of the city that was left untouched by flames was immediately tainted with blood and ignited within vicinity of the powerful battle of the two trading blows that were powerful enough to create a hole in the earth's core. Colorful explosions, flying pieces of ember, and the crackling of fire couldn't dampen or hide the sounds of fierce and brutal screams erupting from the throats, chests, and core of the Hashira and the Upper Rank demon.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
"RAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
The powerful colors of ember and red clashed and crackled with each powerful hit. More, more, and more energy coursed through Uzui's veins, sweat dripped down his head in large droplets like a waterfall, his arms and legs tensed and tightened with each vibration tingling his skin and muscles, but he wasn't stopping! He was moving reflexively, instinctively, his arms and hands already memorizing the flailing attempts of attacks from sheer desperation of the demon. Even so, the demon was just as savage as Uzui. They were both determined, no, commanding themselves to win! To chop the other's head off! But Uzui wasn't going to lose! He wasn't going to be defeated!
Their screams never lessened. Their attacks never ceased. They both persistently traded blows. Faster, faster, and faster their battle became! They moved so quick, so swiftly, with such grace, agility, and strength, their attacks became nothing more than flourishes and flashes of light.
Kagami and Tanjiro managed to catch up with their connected powers watching the war Mr. Uzui managed to reignite. It was a magnificent but heinous display to watch.
Mr. Uzui is holding his own right now, but sooner or later he will reach his limit. It won't be enough to defeat the demon! Tanjiro and I need to make a move before that happens! This is the opening we've been waiting for! This is a in-a-millionth chance and it's being given to us! Mr. Uzui is pushing his limit to give us this chance! We can't squander it! We won't make another mistake! LIVE AND LEARN FROM THE PAST FAILURES WE HAVE MADE! WE WILL DECAPITATE HIM AND BE VICTORIOUS!
They turned on their heel and immediately surged for the pair! Their turquoise-colored flame immediately wrapped around their swords, slithered up to their hands, and coiled around their arms! Their breathing synchronized, their hearts and breathing matching into a steady rhythm, with their jaws tightly clenched. They can do this!
The chain linking Mr. Uzui's Nichirin Cleavers was once again ripped apart accompanied with the unpleasant sound of steel ringing. The point of a sickle was embedded deep into his gut. Not a moment later did he slice off the arm responsible for the weapon in his body, but he wasn't fast enough to deflect the upward slash of the weapon cutting his cheek and left eye completely in half!
"MR. UZUI!" Kagami and Tanjiro screamed but he didn't acknowledge the pain nor injuries inflicted.
He rammed the tip of his Nichirin Cleaver against and through Gyutaro's body, sending the two of them flying across the district, screaming, demanding, at the top of his lungs, "DON'T STOOOP! JUUUUUUUUMP!"
They didn't hesitate to do as they're told. They jumped high in the air with their blades arched right behind their bodies. Readjusting the grip on the hilt, blocking out the pain and damage done to two of their fingers, the turquoise flame rose higher and higher at their command. They rotated around each other, building their power greater and hearing it roar with courage, and lunged towards the pair!
"Unfortunately, you're too slow!" Gyutaro suddenly choked out with a smug, malicious smirk.
With the arm he had left, Gyutaro swiped upwards with his sickle and stabbed Tanjiro in the jaw! The red, fleshy tip pierced the bottom of his mouth and revealed itself from in between his teeth!
"He paved the way for you, and you still blew your chance! It's over! The poison will kill you!" Gyutaro mocked him with a loud sadistic laugh, coughing and choking back against the blood hurtling from his throat.
The flame around them never died. Their determination didn't even falter a single flick. In fact, it just infuriated them even more! The flame roared to life. The face and body of a dragon coming into existence from the fiery madness that now encased their entire bodies held itself high above them in the air. The entire earth was coated in a bright blue light, completely drowning out the red-yellow rampaging flames. It menacingly flapped its wings, tremendous heated wind that could melt steel waved and beated against their bodies, and released a high-piercing scream that rattled their brains.
"Even if it costs my life, I will behead you! I won't give up! I'm cutting your head off, no matter what!" Tanjiro howled against the sickle still embedded inside his mouth.
"I won't let our training amount to nothing! I will fulfill my duty no matter what!" Kagami screamed in succession.
Kagami and Tanjiro swung out their blades and slammed the edge into the demon's neck!
Gyutaro snarled insanely in their faces, "Damn you! What's it gonna take for you to give up?! You couldn't behead me before. What makes you think you can now?!"
Strength from our arms is useless! We have to use every last bit of energy, power, and strength we have in our bodies, from the top of our heads to the tips of our toes! Every single bit of it, even if it means surpassing our limits again! We have to ignore all the pain in our body! Endure! I can feel our heartbeat pounding heavily against our chest with every passing second. I can feel the heat radiating from our connected powers rising the temperature of our cores. It's the energy we need! Striking with all our might won't be enough! We need 100 times the force! SUMMON EVERY OUNCE OF STRENGTH LEFT!
Newfound, unbelievable strength unleashed from the center of their bodies and they immediately embraced it with their entire whole beings. Two fiery patterns appeared from the top of Tanjiro's fore-head overtaking his previous scar and reaching past his left eye. His hair rose high and stood on end coming alive in the shape of flames. The mark of a monstrous creature with its wings wide open appeared on the right side of Kagami's face. The length of its body slithered from the beneath her jaw all the way to the top of her eyebrow where its head rested with a growl. But, in the moment, they didn't realize what had appeared on their faces.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" They howled at the top of their lungs ignoring the burning and scratching sensation at the back of their throats from the powerful force they're unleashing from the depths of their chest. Their eyes turned pure white filled with burning rage that won't be quenched until the demon's head is completely severed!
Their blades slit halfway through his neck! And it continued, slowly but surely, to pass through the hard-rock layer of skin!
"Dammit, not by a brat like you! If I don't do something, I'm gonna get beheaded!" Gyutaro struggled to choke out but his eye narrowed in realization. "No, it's fine. Even if I get beheaded, as long as my sister's head is still intact... then I can finish off this stubborn punk!"
In the skies above them, darkened with hundreds of mushroom clouds of black smoke lit alive by the fires, Zenitsu kept shooting across the sky in a bright beam of lightning, still struggling to tear off the sister's obi neck! He doesn't know how long he had been trying to but Godlike Speed is already running out of power. He's running out of time! He could feel his body already beginning to grow weaker and weaker with every fleeting second passing by!
Damn it. I'm running out of strength!
Even the demon noticed. "It's too bad you'll never get the chance to decapitate me, because before you do, I'm gonna tear you to shreds!" She cackled with a wide sadistic smirk.
Shit! She's going to attack me, but I can't let go! If I do, I'll lose the only chance I have to decapitate her!
As a dozen obi sashes appeared from within her belt, curling around and swirling through the air to pierce his body, they were suddenly shredded away with a ferocious, "YAAH!"
Appearing in the air from the fiery rubble and debris beneath, lifting their jagged-edge dual-wielding blades high above their head, was Inosuke Hashibira! That freak is still alive! Even with a river of blood spewing from the snout of his mask and from the deep wound in his chest, he still twisted in the air as if he had just finished taking a nap!
"Don't underestimate the sheer flexibility of my body! Shifting the position of my internal organs is nothing but child's play for me! And since I grew up on the harsh mountainside, poison doesn't work on me, either!" He bellowed into the air with a loud growl.
Without waiting another moment, he swung his blades outwards and joined Zenitsu's side, slamming the edge of his blade into the fabric of the demon's neck! They watched the cloth tear even faster! Only a slither of it was left! It was only a hair's breadth away from being severed!
"Help me, Brother! Do something before I get decapitated!" The sister shrieked desperately into the air but no one came to her rescue.
What ensued next was the harmony of five Demon Slayers screaming, howling, and roaring at the very top of their lungs, pushing with everything they have left to sever the demon's heads once and for all. They pushed, pushed, and pushed down on their blades forgetting about the world on fire around them. Their souls clicked only for an instance, all five's power conjoined together, and unleashed the monstrous dragon waiting for their command. Turning a bright amber color, the eyes flashing a bright indigo gray, electricity, flame, and water coiled simultaneously all around its body, and it finally dove towards the ground hearing their war cry echoing sharply through the air. With a loud roar of its own, it exploded into dozens of embers that skyrocketed straight towards each Demon Slayer and gave them that one final push they all needed.
Their screams started and released at the same time... along with the sudden lightness of their swords.
Joining their chorus of throat-shredding roars was the sound of skin snapping and fabric tearing.
Gyutaro and Daki's heads... were finally severed free from their bodies. Their heads rolled and bumped across the bumpy ground before finally coming to a stop just inches from each other's, their eyes gazing into one another's with looks of terror and disbelief.
The battle was over. Gyutaro's headless body laid a few feet from them, but Kagami didn't feel a sense of victory. Instead, she cried out in both pain and fear as she knelt in front of Tanjiro. She didn't have the strength to grasp at her heart and head feeling the vicious constriction of what little breath she had left and hearing the insistent bellowing of his name ringing through her mind. Her entire body was numb to the touch. She was surprised she even had enough strength to keep the beating of her heart going.
All she could do was lift her eyes and watch him desperately try to catch his breath. His eyes were wide with terror and full of blood, his skin already becoming a sickly purple, and he couldn't breathe properly! He gagged and gasped for air, his body writhing and hyperventilating! The poison was affecting him so much already he'll die within the next few minutes! The contract tying them together demands her life should he somehow die in her care.
Kagami is not afraid to die, but she'll be damned if her best friend will die alongside her!
Tanjiro... s-slow down the poison... Y-You need to do... T-Total-
"Yamato! Kamado! Get up! It's not over yet! He's still not done!" Mr. Uzui suddenly screamed at them from behind.
She forced herself to turn around and saw a terrified Mr. Uzui struggling to rise to his feet, reaching a desperate hand out to the two of them. But why?
Why did he look like that? She didn't know what he was talking about. They did it. They killed the demons. They're dead forever. Why was Mr. Uzui screaming the battle isn't over yet? Gyutaro isn't done yet? He can't fight anymore. His head is severed. But neither can she, nor Tanjiro. With the poison affecting him greatly, he couldn't move and it seemed like he couldn't even hear or see Mr. Uzui anymore. He was entirely focused on breathing. That's where his priority lied. So why would... Mr. Uzui tell them to-?!
"YOU HAVE TO RUUUUUUUUN!"
R-Run?!
That's when she saw it... but it was too late.
Gyutaro's body suddenly erupted into a giant, devastating ferocious storm of blood blades, destroying every single building, block, and street within sight. For miles to go. The entire district was leveled to the ground. Nothing, not even the burning fires were left. They had been extinguished along with the slowly dying embers of what was left. The sky that had been lit with red and yellow was nothing but pitch blackness now, and no soul was left to witness the mayhem that was caused by demons. The Demon Slayers had been caught in its epicenter with no way of escaping.
It was Gyutaro's final attack. If he is going to be sent to hell...
...He will be taking them all with him.