The Dancing Star
Chapter 20
12Thirtypain03
WARNING: This story is rated M for mature-rated content. If some acts of violence, blood, or anything easily triggering make you uncomfortable, please leave and do not read. Any change to a character, when introduced, killed, changed into a demon/human, or more will be labeled in the chapter of occurrence. If a character has died in a chapter, that chapter will give a cause of death to that character.
With Genya and Tanjirou
As Genya bit deeply into the right shoulder blade of the SED, the demon howled in pain as she felt the sharp pain of teeth protruding inside of her.
All this time Tanjirou was grasping the strength of her, as he felt himself losing the battle of endurance.
Once again, Tanjirou cursed himself for being weak.
This was further accentuated once the SED managed to push and throw Tanjirou away, stomping on his feet and kicking his abdomen as he struck the tree hard.
The SED then managed to get Genya off of her but had to sacrifice her arm in the process.
Genya growled as he felt his demonic instincts kick in, clearly surprising the SED who could only curse at what she had gotten herself into.
"You've made a huge mistake demon," Genya smirked as he got up and held his blade.
He now had the strength of a demon, and even his appearance showed it.
His fangs were now bared, and his hair become more sporadic with yellow tips spreading out. Not to mention the black sclera with yellow dot pupils staring back at the SED.
Genya was also drooling in the process, giving him the appearance of a newly turned demon.
But Genya did not drool for human blood.
He drooled for a good fight, which he was now going to get because of his abilities and capabilities right now.
"I will finally show my purpose. I will slay this demon and become a demon slayer! Then after that, I'll take my elder brother's spot as the Hashira! Then he will see how strong and capable I am!" Genya yelled out in his mind, as he charged at the demon with his blade, which he could now use more effectively.
The SED of course tried to box Genya away with her one good arm, but it was no use, and she eventually was getting swarmed by Genya's ruthless assaults.
Genya once again tried to bite into the SED, but it was to no avail, and he was kicked a bit away. Genya grumbled and quickly got up, only to realize the SED was going for another shockwave-like attack, and so he had to dodge.
Tanjirou who had just gotten up, was once again hit by the stray shockwave, causing him to fall back down.
"Damnit, at least make yourself useful!" Genya mentally thought to the now unconscious and bleeding kid.
Genya continued to pursue the demon, as he was not the type to give in to a single blow, he would keep fighting for his benefit.
He had to defeat every demon he saw to fulfill and show his potential.
He would not lose to some basic and normal demon slayer.
Just when the SED thought she got the upper hand, she kicked Genya off, into a tree.
But little did she know that was what Genya wanted.
Genya gripped his blade, seeing an opening.
Mist Breathing, Second Form Modified: Low Lying Fog
Genya's blade became shrouded by mist, as he was sent on the perimeter of the battlefield. Before the SED knew it, the ground became shrouded with mist, as Genya ran across the field, obscuring the vision of the SED in the process.
The SED could feel some small slashes across her extremities as she relied on her honed fighting instincts to dodge whatever dangers there were.
Genya once lying low, and spotting the demon through the mist, pounced.
The SED seemed to have jumped high as she was not risking any strikes. She then jumped down, the sudden force causing the mist to strike and blow back out from her immediate vicinity.
But Genya was close enough and swung his blade down on the demon.
Her eyes widened, as she saw the blade dangerously close to her neck.
However, she had another plan. Quick as lightning, the SED absorbed her arms and sprouted them from her neck, catching Genya's blade.
Genya's eyes widened before he growled and tried to push his blade further closer to the demon's neck.
But it was to no avail.
The demon just had too many limbs absorbing the strength of Genya, and so he had to back off before the demon got the upper hand.
The SED hissed, clearly showing some animalistic characteristics of a snake before it slithered up a tree.
Genya growled as he punched a hole right in the tree toppling it down. This was also taking into account that there was a fire still happening.
Genya growled as he pushed himself, using his stature to grab the SED by its leg and pull her down.
The SED yelled in shock that Genya was able to grab her, before biting into her leg.
Mist Breathing, Third Form: Scattering Mist Splash
Using a breathing style, Genya circled his slash to strike across the branches to hit the SED, which it seemed to have done.
The SED fell to the ground, and Genya was forced to jump down, landing on the SED.
But once again, the SED pushed her arms to protrude out of her neck, causing Genya to dodge, lifting the blade to block it.
He then felt a shockwave on his back as the SED twisted her free leg to strike Genya on his back.
Genya groaned in pain as he did not expect that.
As he continued to strike the SED and get struck back, he couldn't get close to the demon's neck.
"Come on… We're almost there!" Genya exclaimed as he forced himself to continue.
Even though he was slashing through the arm of the demon, inching closer to the neck, he, unfortunately, was getting his back handled hard by the demon, which was continuously trying to kick him off.
He had to thank the fact he was still a demon.
But it would run out of time.
Eventually, the SED managed to break free, ripping Genya's fingers off.
That caused Genya to grunt a bit, and the SED slid past Genya with slippery movements.
Genya panted as he eyed the demon once again.
But before he could continue, the SED was already on the offensive. He dodged his head to the right sensing a punch to the left, used his hands to block a kick, but didn't expect the SED to jump and kick Genya right in the face, causing him to fall back.
But the SED wasn't done yet, as he flipped in the air and axe kicked Genya on the head, causing him to fall on one knee.
His head was hurting, and he had to get up.
"Damn… You…" He breathed as he began to mutter something inaudible.
The SED slithered towards Genya, but the demon slayer still gripped his blade.
"That's it, get closer," Genya told her. "Let's see if I can do this now that I'm consumed by a demon."
Mist Breathing, -
Genya grunted in pain as the SED punched his chest, causing the air to be knocked out of him, some blood falling out as he coughed hoarsely.
"Damnit, she blocked me from using it…" Genya mumbled.
The SED demon didn't seem to want to talk, but the fact she was able to beat both Tanjirou and Genya was no feat on its own.
"This has to be a demon that was let in from the fire…" Genya thought as all he could do was wait for his stamina to heal and regenerate.
But seeing the demon in front of him, as he was at her mercy, he doubt he could do this.
"I have to! I must prove myself…" Genya told himself, as he clenched his entire body.
Even if it looked like he submitted, he would still fight. He was a Shinazugawa, and he didn't get his scars for anything.
Whilst Genya was having a battle with the SED, Tanjirou was having a battle with his mind.
Tanjirou was in his mind, once again seeing the calm blue skies with clouds.
"Why am I back here?" Tanjirou asked himself.
Unfortunately for Tanjirou, as soon as he asked that, a strange voice played in Tanjirou's head.
"Hehehehe, welcome back, Tanjirou Kamado." The voice sounded familiar, and Tanjirou quickly turned around, to see the figure behind him.
Said figure looked mostly like Tanjirou. Tanjirou himself quickly realized he was no longer wearing his usual uniform, but seeing as he was in his mind, it was not a valid representation of what he was wearing in the conscious world.
The figure that was watching Tanjirou, was Tanjirou himself.
But Tanjirou could see that the Tanjirou on the other side was different.
This Tanjirou had flaming tornadoes and fire all around him, which contrasted with the calm air and tranquil environment Tanjirou had.
However, Tanjirou knew that every part of a person's mind was not pure. It was never properly as pure as what everyone wanted to believe.
And as Tanjirou stared at the other being on his mind, he had an idea what this individual was, but he had to make sure.
"Aw, come on, speak to me Tanjirou. You don't remember who I am?" The individual asked, clearly looking like Tanjirou himself.
"I have a feeling I know," Tanjirou confirmed, as he stared at the other end with a determined glare.
"Is that so, but you haven't answered me!"
Tanjirou sighed, "You are me but from a different view and side."
"Wow! We should all give a round of applause for you, how smart you are!" The Tanjirou-replica smirked as he clapped slowly towards Tanjirou.
"I would have rather you not say anything," Tanjirou confirmed, as he gripped his fists. Even with the fiery storms getting closer to him, he felt firm, knowing he couldn't show weakness to his mind.
Especially with what his mind could even bring out trying to make Tanjirou falter.
This happened to him before, and that was just after he became a demon.
"Well to make it easier for you, I am the spirit of the demon you consumed." The individual that looked like Tanjirou told Tanjirou.
"Which one? The demonic version of me?" Tanjirou asked.
"Yes. You called me demon Tanjirou." Demon Tanjirou explained to Tanjirou, or at least his human counterpart.
"Well, what are you here for, wanting to fight me again?" Tanjirou accused, clearly holding his fist tightly, not wanting to get into another fight with his demonic counterpart.
"What? No, I have no interest to fight you." Demon Tanjirou explained.
"And tell me why I should believe you?" Tanjirou asked, clearly not letting his ground down.
"Idiot, you already consumed me! I'm a part of you now!" Demon Tanjirou explained.
"Huh? But how? Doesn't that mean you have a part of what I do?" Tanjirou asked.
The demon version of him sighed, "No…I don't. You beat me…" Demon Tanjirou continued.
"Why are you here then?" Tanjirou asked.
"It's simple, I represent the true demonic instincts of you." Demon Tanjirou responded. "In a normal demon, their human sides don't leave them permanently, and in particular near deaths, many demons remember their human memories because of their human self."
Tanjirou sighed, "What is the significance of this? Why are you contacting me?"
"It's simple. It's because you are pathetic and weak." Demon Tanjirou answered back, with such a retort, that it confused Tanjirou.
"W-What?" Tanjirou asked, clearly confused. But alas, the demon version of him felt right.
"It's simple, just understand the situation you are n. You got overpowered and knocked out by a demon. Not even a strong demon!"
"Oh, shut up…" Tanjirou mumbled to himself as he looked away from the demon version of him.
"Oh wow, ignoring me now, how pathetic." The demon Tanjirou chuckled.
"Please, as if you could do something better." Tanjirou clapped back bitterly.
"Well, if I had been able to consume you, I could have shown you how powerful you could be." Demon Tanjirou smirked.
Tanjirou merely looked on, still a bit unimpressed, "What are you getting at?"
"It's very simple. You consume demons, right?" Demon Tanjirou asked.
"If you are a demonic representation of me, wouldn't you be able to know that I do?" Tanjirou asked, a small smirk on his face as if to taunt the demon there.
"You picking a fight?" Demon Tanjirou asked.
"You can't fight me anymore," Tanjirou answered back. "Besides, where are you getting at with this?"
Demon Tanjirou pondered and sighed, "Well, as I've said before, you are the human part of yourself, and I am the demon part of you."
"As you continue to consume demons and their blood, you develop your demonic presence more, and thus I'm the one you come to." Demon Tanjirou added.
"Alright… Continue…" Tanjirou motioned for his demonic counterpart to continue.
"Well, it's simple. You have deviated far away from Muzan's blood, and now you consume the blood of Muzan. You've become a cannibal for demons. And as you continue to consume demons, you get stronger and more potent." Demon Tanjirou explained, "And as you gain more strength, so do I, since I am the demon in you that becomes stronger."
"I get it, but even when I consume demons, I was still weak." Tanjirou gritted in anger. "But I don't need you."
"Oh, but you do. You cannot be a demon without me." Demon Tanjirou explained, "And so you need me, for a huge boost of demon strength."
"Demon what?" Tanjirou asked.
"Have I gotten your attention now?" Demon Tanjirou asked before he continued, "Yes, as you consume demon flesh, your demonic strength increases with every ounce of blood and flesh of demons you eat."
"Alright…"
"One of the main problems with letting you remain a human as demon blood flows through you is that you retain the physical traits of a human, except perhaps regeneration." Demon Tanjirou explained.
"Well, I already know that" Tanjirou sighed, "What else are you getting at?"
"So impatient, but alright. I'm trying to say that demons can have three different forms of themselves." Demon Tanjirou explained.
"Three different forms?" Tanjirou asked, now confused, and intrigued by what his demonic counterpart was getting at.
"Yes, the human-like form that is you, a second demonic form like me, and a third, awakened form." Demon Tanjirou explained, "As of now, you seemed to have always retained your human form. This is the state that makes you mimic that of a human, which seems to have gone relatively well for you. But that also means, that for you specifically, your demonic potential is limited. Many demons, even in their human forms can use their demonic traits." Demon Tanjirou explained.
"What about the other two forms?" Tanjirou asked.
"The demonic form has the demons turning into their more demonic form. This allows them to gain an increase in their physical capabilities." Demon Tanjirou explained, "For many demons, it acts as them becoming more serious. It doesn't necessarily give them as much as a physical boost since they already use them, but it helps their body adapt to the fight or flight response." Demon Tanjirou answered back.
"And as for the awakening form…?" Demon Tanjirou added, "That is another being…"
"What is an awakening form?" Tanjirou asked, clearly intrigued.
"You sure you want to know?" Demon Tanjirou asked, clearly unsure what to tell him.
"Tell me everything," Tanjirou warned his demonic counterpart, clearly not wanting
"Very well. The awakening form is only for demons that have gone beyond their limits. Once that occurs, the demon in question feels beyond immortal." Demon Tanjirou explained.
"Well, I guess I shouldn't be hoping for the awakening form any time soon…" Tanjirou thought. "But whatever, why are you here, talking to me? I ate you, and that should be that."
"The answer is simple." Demon Tanjirou explained, "You are pitifully weak."
"Well yes, I know… Considering Nezuko is much stronger than me." Tanjirou responded, clearly agreeing.
Being called weak was something he was used to, considering how he grew up.
"Well, luckily for you, there is an easy way for you to gain more access to your fullest potential." Demon Tanjirou explained.
"By consuming demon flesh?" Tanjirou answered, assuming that was what he needed to do.
"Even by consuming demon flesh, it is limited. Even if you gain a large amount of demon flesh, a lot of your demonic strength is limited by your body's regulation. Believe it or not, you have a normal amount of demonic powers and can even become one of the strongest demons." Demon Tanjirou explained.
"Is that so? Then why am I so limited in my physical capabilities?" Tanjirou asked.
"It's rather simple. Because you chose to side with the human side, you can only have access to your demonic strength if you embrace the demon in you, and show your demonic appearance." Demon Tanjirou explained.
"Is this a trick for you to lead me into your grasp?" Tanjirou asked, a bit skeptical about what his demonic counterpart was telling him.
"Once again, I am an integral part of you since you ate me physically, and thus I can only live in your mind." Demon Tanjirou explained, "But with many demons, even in their human forms, they are limited in their physical capabilities, and can gain more when they revert to a demonic appearance, and in the case of the strongest demons, they can gain even more capabilities when they awaken their true form."
"The difference with you, Tanjirou, is that under your human form, you pretty much mimic a human almost to the perfect degree. The only difference is your current inability to stand under the sun, which I think you may, at least for your human form, learn to adapt to." Demon Tanjirou explained.
This caused Tanjirou to look at him, "I can withstand the sun?" Tanjirou asked.
"Of course. Why else was Muzan so interested in your family?"
This caused Tanjirou to turn his head, and his eyes widened, "Muzan… Was interested in my family…?"
"Yes, because he thinks your family can conquer the sun! So, perhaps soon, if you perhaps get stronger and the likes, you may develop a resistance to the sun's rays, which may even turn into an immunity as you get stronger, who knows?" Demon Tanjirou shrugged, "The possibilities for you, are endless."
"Funny how you called me weak." Tanjirou deadpanned.
"That was before I got a glimpse of your potential. And as much as I would have liked to use the potential to become my own thing, I may not even have to do anything but motivate you to become something greater." Demon Tanjirou explained.
"I am not becoming a new demon race or something, I am becoming human." Tanjirou gritted his teeth.
"Say that all you want, and that is your opinion, but I tell you, Tanjirou, you will need to defeat Muzan to become human again, and for that you will become something greater, which I will gladly hold onto, even as I die, knowing I was something great, powerful, and full of worth!" Demon Tanjirou smirked maniacally.
"But for now, you need to understand, that you have more worth than you think. Just embrace the demon in you, and you will be blessed with the demonic capabilities you have been missing!" Demon Tanjirou explained.
"I can turn back to a human after, right?" Tanjirou asked.
"It's all about what you want to do. After all, you won our battle for control. Therefore, only you and your willpower can be the controller. Just remember what I told you." Demon Tanjirou explained.
As Tanjirou looked on, he knew what to do now. "Alright, I got it." Tanjirou sighed.
"Since I'm a human, I've adapted my human appearance to become almost human-like, but I lose the demonic physical capabilities until I embrace and turn into a demon in appearance… But I'll have to hold myself if that's the case… And then, I worry about what if I awaken my true demon…" Tanjirou thought as he shuddered.
"No. I will control it, and I will still be human…" Tanjirou was filled with determination.
"You don't have to worry about losing control mentally." Demon Tanjirou explained.
"How come?" Tanjirou asked.
"Once again, the benefits of retaining your human side. Since you defeated the demon inside you, it now serves the human you. In short, I only serve you, unless I get more of Muzan's blood inside, and I become strong enough again to challenge you once again." Demon Tanjirou explained, "Though, if that happens, I do promise, even if we see the world starkly different, I have no interest in serving that man either."
"So, I won't lose control… That's a relief." Tanjirou sighed.
"No, but you will drain your demon storage from the demonic flesh you've eaten. Once again, those storages can be regenerated by consuming human food or sleeping, but if you want to gain more storage and become stronger, then once again, you will specifically need demon flesh to continue." Demon Tanjirou explained. "But these are things you've mostly already know. I mean, you have already beaten me, and since you didn't get injected with Muzan's blood more, you do not worry about losing your human side."
"Well that's a relief…" Tanjirou sighed before he eyed his demonic counterpart. His demonic counterpart merely smirked, before offering his arm, a testament to what Tanjirou needed to do to activate his demonic self.
"Give 'em hell, Tanjirou."
The next thing Tanjirou knew, he was awake.
"Alright, you demon…" Tanjjrou got up, a renewed sense of strength and energy surging through him.
"Time for the real fun." Tanjirou gave a small smile before he got up, and with speeds, he wasn't even aware he could hit, he charged and kicked the demon ferociously onto the tree, saving Genya from his predicament.
The SED grunted, "I thought I got rid of you…" She mumbled before she realized.
"What the hell? That demon slayer didn't feel this strange… He's a demon?!" The SED panicked as if she realized the situation she was in.
She was pretty much fighting two demons, and even Genya himself could realize that something was different about Tanjirou now.
"This kid… I can sense something different with him… Is he like me? Can he turn into a demon as well…?" Genya asked before he turned to focus on the demon in front of them.
"I think it's time we give this demon a fight of its kind, huh?" Tanjirou asked his companion for now, who nodded.
"I agree."
And right now, the SED knew she was screwed.
She was now fighting two demon slayers, who by her knowledge, had just transformed themselves into demons.
SED immediately looked to her side, specifically towards a tree, before she tried to duck a strike she felt coming towards her.
Wind Breathing, Sixth Form: Black Wind Mountain Wind
With his demonic form in play, Genya could now use her breathing styles more effectively, and he used it to the best of his abilities.
Genya immediately cut off the SED's retreat with his blade, forging an uppercut movement, to create an arcing slash towards the SED. Her eyes widened in shock, before she tried to dodge, but felt herself being cut by the wind breathing's large striking radius.
As the SED tried to outmaneuver Genya after getting struck, she then felt another figure approaching her, too quick for her to even react.
Water Breathing, Seventh Form: Drop Ripple Thrust
Tanjirou blitzed through the distance to grab the SED right in the side, keeping the momentum going until he struck his blade deep into a tree.
The SED growled in pain at the sudden piercing strike that she couldn't even dodge.
"They're so much faster than before!" The SED panicked, clearly not liking this. Spinning her body to side-swipe Tanjirou, the boy merely kicked the demon, jumping over, and impaling his fist into the demon, then out, and used the same hand to snap the demon's arm.
"Grah!" The SED yelled out in pain.
Tanjirou quickly landed, back, and just as one of them retreated, another approached.
Genya once again took the opportunity to land another blow on the now-weakening demon.
Wind Breathing, Second Form: Claws-Purifying Wind
Genya lifted his blade upwards and above his head, unleashing four quick downward slashes on the enemies, four claw marks not protruding and gushing with blood from the torso of the SED.
The SED backed away, blood coming out from quite an amount of injuries before she grabbed Genya and kicked him away, but it wasn't as powerful due to her deteriorating condition.
Tanjirou took the opportunity to strike the SED multiple times, with the intent of finishing with a decapitating strike. However, he quickly realized he couldn't seem to be able to use his breathing styles whilst under his demonic form.
However, the SED only managed to stall her death with a small twist of her body.
"Come on, concentrate the rest of your muscles on the neck!" The SED called out, as the muscles of her body manipulated towards her neck and chest area.
Unfortunately for her, Tanjirou's strength had increased thanks to embracing his demonic instincts for now. To the SED's surprise, Tanjirou's blade cut through her cleanly with almost no change to the speed of the swipe.
The SED gurgled as her lungs got struck, and she with her last breath pushed Tanjirou away.
She finally saw the opening she needed and for her the chance to read. She quickly dashed out.
Tanjirou gritted his teeth, as he once again charged and swiped low, causing the SED to fall.
Genya, meanwhile, breathed in.
"I'm going to turn back to human soon, I better make this one count! I will kill this demon!" Genya called out in his mind, as he eyed the form.
Wind Breathing, Tenth Form: Whirlwind of Thunderstorms
With a crouched stance, Genya held his blade in a flexible grip. He breathed in deeply, as he eventually burst towards the downed SED, trying to get up.
He slashed up, jumping along the strike, which struck the side of the SED's head, before striking horizontally more, twirling his body as quickly as he could, slashing more of the demon.
Once he felt himself losing momentum, he slashed right at the SED, slicing her right on the chest, using both gravity and his strength to cleanly strike until he reached the ground.
But even on the ground, he continued, striking and lashing out at the SED with such an aggressive form that it caught the SED off guard.
She quickly grabbed Genya on the neck, but Genya wasn't done.
Quick as the sound of thunder, Genya slashed the neck off of the SED's body using the final strike.
Genya panted, clearly having completed his purpose, alas, just in time for his demonic fuel to have been used up. He sighed.
"You bastard!" The SED growled, using the last remaining strength she had to throw a tired Genya right onto a tree, Genya's figure hitting the tree with a sickening noise.
Tanjirou knocked the remains of the body down, as the SED realized she couldn't feel her body anymore.
Tanjirou sighed in relief, knowing the demon was done.
He immediately decided to consume the remains of the SED demon.
"Hm, she tastes spicier than the other demons I've consumed…" Tanjirou thought. Once he finished, he felt his strength diminish.
"Oh, right, I'm probably going back to my human form… Probably for the best…" Tanjirou sighed, as he felt fatigue hit him, clearly from the loss of strength.
He panted, before he picked up Genya, cringing at the sudden effort he had to put in before he eyed the Kakushi.
"Hey!" Tanjirou called out, alerting the Kakushi. "Alive demon slayer! Take him!"
The Kakushi's eyes widened at what Tanjirou told them, taking in the now sleeping figure of Genya. Tanjirou nodded to them before he realized there was another individual that stood out from the kakushi.
That was mainly because, the individual's uniform was not wearing the specific dark uniform, alongside a dark head covering with white linings and three dark squares.
This girl seemed to be of Nezuko's height, with dark lilac purple eyes. She had black hair, with a ponytail on the right side of her head, alongside a pink and green butterfly ornament where her ponytail was.
And behind all of that was a nongenuine smile. Her attire was more purplish of a demon slayer attire and a skirt rather than pants, and white boots.
Tanjirou quickly assumed she was one of the few demon slayers in the Final Selection to come out alive.
"She smells a lot stronger than Shinazugawa… She also has a smell of… Butterfly and Wisteria…? That could explain why my nose feels like burning…" Tanjirou thought immediately.
Before any of the Kakushi could react, Tanjirou quickly charged right back into the forest.
"Wait! You're supposed to be taken out of the forest!" The Kakushi exclaimed.
Meanwhile, the girl Tanjirou had analyzed, thought, "What an idiot…"
Tanjirou quickly ran around, trying to find the location of his sister.
"Nezuko!" Tanjirou called out.
He decided to head towards the middle of the forest, as it would cover the most area within the whole battlefield.
"Nezuko!" Tanjirou called out once again, and to his relief, he heard her respond.
"Brother?" Nezuko asked. Tanjirou heard his sister, but it sounded relatively distant.
"Where are you?" Tanjirou asked.
"I don't think explaining my surroundings will help you…" Nezuko remarked, as Tanjirou quickly realized that she would probably say around trees, and that would not help him with finding Nezuko.
"Well that's true…" Tanjirou responded. "Just keep talking to me, your voice seems to become clearer the closer I am to you."
"Got it, brother!" Nezuko responded.
And so, they played a game of hot and cold, as Nezuko occasionally called out for her brother, and vice versa.
Of course, this made it a bit weird and confusing regardless of the voice, it took a couple of trials and errors.
But once Tanjirou spotted the difference in connection with the direction he was going, it was only a matter of time before the two found each other.
And likewise, they continued to talk whilst they were making progress.
"So, what kind of demon did you encounter?" Nezuko was brought up as they made their way towards each other.
"Found a demon with a weird kink for bodybuilding. Also found a demon slayer that can eat demons as well." Tanjirou explained, "What about you?"
Tanjirou heard Nezuko sigh, "A demon with wings who loved to fly and jump around trees. Also found a demon slayer who kept sleeping and crying."
"Wow." Tanjirou responded, "How was that? Did you defeat the demon?"
"The other demon slayer did, I just picked him up and brought him to the kakushi."
Tanjirou nodded, "I did the same."
That was all they said, before they both remained quiet, as both felt a presence in front of them.
Considering it was still dark, not because it was nighttime, but also because of the low-lying smoke, both of them had to use their other senses besides vision and smell.
Even then, with their superhuman senses, they couldn't tell because of how much of an interference the smoke was.
They both were in a circular area within the Final Selection, clearly with a nice setting and clearing.
"Is that you, brother?" Nezuko asked.
Tanjirou sighed in relief, and before the two knew, it, Nezuko ran to hug her brother.
"It's good to see you again!" Nezuko called out through Tanjirou's mind as she hugged him tightly.
"Good to see you too, Nezuko…" Tanjirou gave a small smile behind his mask, as he patted Nezuko on the head.
"Brother, it seems we've made it to the center of the mountain. There are no demons around here, not that I see…" Nezuko explained.
"Perhaps, but the smoke is blocking most of our senses, so always be on the lookout," Tanjirou warned his sister.
"You make a good point, brother," Nezuko commented.
They both looked onward before they decided it was best to head West.
However, because of the smoke around them, neither of them could sense the demon that waiting for the two of them.
However, as the demon tried to strike at one of them, the two demon siblings quickly managed to sense that something was approaching them.
Tanjirou smelled something coming down.
"Nezuko, look out!" Tanjirou yelled out as he grabbed his sister and twirled himself away, leaping back, narrowly dodging a hand giant that tried to press and slam them.
Tanjirou sighed in relief before he and Nezuko stared down at the demon that tried to strike them.
It was a grotesque, green demon, with multiple, giant hands.
Immediately, Tanjirou's eyes widened in shock at the realization.
"This demon… This is the one who killed all of Urokodaki's apprentices!" Tanjirou thought to himself.
Nezuko seemed to have heard what Tanjirou said through their mind connections and clenched her blade.
"And he smells so much stronger than all of the other demons we've seen!" Tanjirou's eyes widened.
Nezuko had all the information she needed, especially with Tanjirou's mind racing. She knew her brother's state of mind whenever these circumstances occurred. It would race to astronomical speeds.
Nezuko looked on at the olive green skin and the large hands of this demon.
They both felt a sense of justice and vengeance in wanting to slay this demon. Both of them wanted to kill this demon to avenge Sabito, Makomo, and all the other people this demon had affected.
"He smells like he's eaten so many humans… How many…?" Tanjirou asked, once again Nezuko was hearing everything.
And so, despite their initial fear of how strong the demon seemed, their fear was soon replaced by determination.
"This demon…" Nezuko looked on in anger, her face contorted behind her mask, whereas Tanjirou looked at the demon with a rather stoic, but disappointed face. He was somewhat in a bad mood at this demon, but it was more of disappointment at what this demon had done.
He was feeling a rather emotionless void of lull, and this caused him to retain his breathing since his involuntary movements remained constant now.
The last thing both of them needed was to be exposed as a demon and threats by the other demon slayers in the mountain.
Tanjirou and Nezuko had to focus on slaying this particular demon.
"Nezuko, this is the demon both Tomioka and Urokodaki want us to slay." Tanjirou quickly informed his sister.
"Got it, I want to slay him too," Nezuko mumbled.
The two demon siblings store the Hand Demon (HD) down, clearly ready for whatever was going to hit them.
Tanjirou and Nezuko both breathed in intently,
And almost immediately, the HD quickly began shooting his multitude of arms toward the two demons.
Tanjirou went left, and Nezuko went right, dodging the first set, before clenching their blades and slicing through the fingers of the next hands that would get near them.
Thanks to their previous exposures to other demons, and the proximity the HD had to them, Nezuko was able to point out something crucial for them.
"Brother careful, this demon seems to have a muscle around his neck… We may struggle to decapitate him…" Nezuko informed Tanjirou who nodded.
"Thanks for the warning." Tanjirou sighed, as he clenched his blade, firmly to his side, getting ready to strike when necessary.
Immediately, the HD tried to grab Nezuko with his hands, and this was when Tanjirou struck, whilst Nezuko moved out of the way.
"I see." Tanjirou thought as he eyed the seemingly exposed neck of the HD. "He seems to be wanting to lure us to striking his neck, using the shock of his hard neck to slay us down right there." Tanjirou assumed, and he even though he eyed the neck of the demon, he quickly tumbled low.
Water Breathing, Tenth Form: Constant Flux
Tanjirou quickly sliced apart more of the fingers of the HD, who tried to strike down Tanjirou right there. He simply maneuvered his way around, skillfully dodging and counterattacking.
Of course, this did little to stop the HD's onslaught, for he regenerated his fingers quicker than the other demons he's fought.
"Just for you, Makomo, Sabito, Urokodki, and Tomioka, I'll kill this demon with water breathing. It only makes sense an apprentice of Urokodaki is to defeat this demon with water breathing." Tanjirou told himself and his sister.
All this time, Nezuko wasn't the type to lie down.
Water Breathing, Third Form: Flowing Dance
Nezuko was taking her forms in, winding her body as she sliced one of the arms of the HD.
The HD for his part looked somewhat surprised, "Well that's something… You two demon slayers might be something."
Nezuko continued to wind her body, eyeing a specific place on the HD's body. Properly dodging more of the hands, she quickly jumped over, using some of the hands of the HD to jump over and maneuver. Eventually, she found the spot.
With a mighty swipe, Nezuko sliced apart all of the arms connected to the shoulder of the HD.
The HD looked shocked before he quickly realized the other figure.
Water Breathing, Eight Form: Waterfall Basin
With a might swipe down, Tanjirou swiped down the other shoulder of the HD, effectively getting rid of the HD's other arms.
Tanjirou landed, as both he and Nezuko eyed the demon.
The HD smirked, before regenerating his arms just like that.
"These two seem strange…" The HD thought as he felt something different with the two, "They're stronger than those attending the Final Selection unless they have previous experience fighting other demons…?" The HD thought.
The HD was not done, far from it. He quickly launched his hands towards Nezuko and Tanjirou, trying to limit where they could go this time.
Of course, this caused both to stop and focus on striking the hands down.
This seemed to have worked, for the HD was able to smack Tanjirou and Nezuko away from them.
Tanjirou grunted as a splitting pain came to his head, whilst Nezuko yelped as her arm up to her shoulder was severed.
Both were sent flying in the air, where the HD then captured the two.
"And just like that, I've gotten them." The HD thought as he was planning on eating the two.
However, Tanjirou and Nezuko weren't the ones to end it there.
Tanjirou bit into the hand that was gripping his body tight.
The sudden feeling caused the HD to look on in confusion, and that was all the hesitation the two of them needed.
Tanjirou was free enough.
Water Breathing, Seventh Form: Drop Ripple Thrust
Using his blade to stab right into the arm of the demon, caused him to open his hand from the pain.
"Damn you!" The HD roared in surprise and pain.
But Tanjirou quickly eyed the hand that Nezuko was in, and acted accordingly.
Water Breathing, Fourth Form: Striking Tide
Tanjirou quickly jumped, and with multiple slices, was able to slice through the thick arm of the HD, freeing Nezuko from the grasp.
"Thank you, brother…" Nezuko sighed in relief, all the while Tanjirou nodded.
"No problem, let's defeat this demon," Tanjirou told her as the two eyed the HD with more awareness. They couldn't let the HD do that again.
Nezuko nodded, "Got it, let me do this one, brother, you keep up the pressure. Get closer to him."
Tanjirou nodded as he used the tenth form of water breathing, once again to pressure the demon on his end.
Water Breathing, First Form, Modified: Serene Waves
Nezuko calmed her stance, as she held her blade in a gripped, yet calm form. She quickly ran towards the first arm, her blade, with tranquility, slicing through the air, mere centimeters away from the HD's fingers, as she quickly build the momentum up.
The now simple flowing current now turned to that of a wave as twirled her body, and with a giant wave-like strike, crashed down on the arm of the HD.
The HD's eyes narrowed at that, "That was a new form… More like a modified version… Did this girl just create a new form off the bat?!"
Nezuko sighed, a bit tired, knowing that the form was something she would have to practice to better adapt her body to.
Tanjirou was impressed with his sister, as he should be.
But Tanjirou wasn't the type to lay low, he continued his strike.
Because he had bit into the hand of the HD, this gave Tanjirou a huge boost in strength compared to the other demons.
The reason was the large amounts of muscle the HD had, which Tanjirou could use against him.
And so, as he continued to slash with the tenth form, he was now able to slice through the arms of the HD with relative ease.
Tanjirou didn't worry about his sister, for she was stronger than him. She would be alright. He was weak compared to her.
As he continued to almost dance to avoid the hands from stomping him down, he quickly eyed the HD.
"Nezuko, I'm going to go from his back, you try and keep him distracted," Tanjirou told his sister who nodded.
"Understood!" Nezuko called out as she smiled.
Water Breathing, First Form Modified, Serene Waves
Using the first strike upwards to deny a hand from frontally assaulting her, she quickly jumped up and struck down, slicing the very hand vertically.
But she continued, the rapid waves now striking the same hand multiple times, causing the HD to flinch back.
But using the hand caused Nezuko to be surrounded by his others, and he quickly overhand struck her, causing Nezuko to lift her arms in an attempt to keep her figure from being crushed.
To the HD's shock, Nezuko was able to keep up in sheer strength, causing the HD to wonder if something was different about these two.
"Of course! The girl is a demon! But how? Why is she fighting with the humans?!" The HD thought a bit panicked.
However, using more of his hands, the HD was able to push Nezuko and crush her into the ground.
He then turned his eyes to Tanjirou, who had struck the HD in the back of the neck.
Tanjirou gritted his teeth as he tried to move his blade into his neck.
But it only went a couple of centimeters, as the neck was just too big, and more muscles were concentrated around the HD's neck.
Tanjirou silently cursed, before he saw a hand swinging its way towards him.
Tanjirou opened his mouth, before clenching it down on the incoming hand on time, riding the hand in the air…
Until his back hit a nearby tree.
The HD smirked before he felt a strike on his back.
"What the." The HD mumbled as he turned around.
Only to see Nezuko up and not injured at all.
He stared in disbelief at the humanoid indent on the ground, realizing what Nezuko had done.
"You slippery bastard!" The HD yelled as he once again engaged Nezuko.
"This person is different! I know she is!" The HD growled as he was now trying to figure out what made this girl so strange in the eyes of him.
Water Breathing, First Form: Water Surface Slash
As quick as the eye could see, Nezuko unleashed a horizontal slash that caused the HD to reflect his hand in.
He merely scoffed at what was going on, before he bombarded Nezuko with more arms.
He assumed the other boy would take a bit more time to recuperate, so this gave the HD enough time to focus on Nezuko.
But Nezuko just waited for Tanjirou to recuperate himself. He was completely fine, albeit his back was damaged a bit from being struck by a tree, but he was fine.
He got up and eyed the HD and Nezuko fighting.
Sure the two were demons, but so was he.
And yet, his strength and overall physical capabilities seemed too distant.
It made Tanjirou feel a bit unsure, weak, and once again, worthless.
"You stupid child… So worthless… So weak… Why did I ever worry about you?" The voice Muzan had told Tanjirou as he was so close to death haunted Tanjirou.
But it was a sense that he was still alive, did he gain the determination to continue?
Plus, he couldn't leave his little sister behind.
Water Breathing, Eight Form: Waterfall Basin
Water Breathing, Tenth Form: Constant Flux
Both Tanjirou and Nezuko unleashed their moves at the same time, capturing the HD off guard.
Nezuko leaped over one of the HD's arms before striking down both the incoming arm and the one she dodged.
Tanjirou meanwhile was slicing arm after arm, starting with the hand and moving inwards towards the arm. Once again, consuming the hand of the HD gave him a slight boost that he needed to continue.
The HD's arms immediately regenerated as he quickly shook himself, getting any close and nearby bugs and demon slayers off of him.
Enough to glance at Nezuko, forcing Tanjrou to grab her midair before landing safely.
The HD had enough, "I am getting tired of you little bunnies."
Before either of them could react, the demon's arm began to bulge in intensity, knowing he had to now take the two siblings more seriously.
Even if the two siblings showed no signs of jeopardizing his life, he could tell something was different about the two.
Not to mention that the boy seems to love eating his hands, and the exact two places that he consumed have yet to regenerate, yet.
"Say, those masks of yours… You are Urokodaki's subordinates." The HD told the two, clearly not needing to ask them.
"Yes, we are. What is it to you." Tanjirou asked. Even then, he knew who this demon was, considering what he heard from Sabito, Makomo, Giyu, and Urokodaki.
"What year are we in?" The HD asked, clearly taking this causal. Even if he was taking this seriously, he didn't feel like his life was in danger.
"The Taisho era," Tanjirou answered the HD.
"WHAT?!" The HD asked, suddenly enraged at what he was told.
"DAMN YOU UROKODAKI!" The HD yelled out.
Tanjirou and Nezuko immediately knew and confirmed this demon was indeed the very demon Urokodaki and Giyu spoke about.
"Seems the both of you will be the fifteen and sixteen apprentices of Urokodaki's I've encountered, and through it all, I've eaten them all. Not to mention the nearly fifty other demon slayers I've killed. Probably more since this recent predicament," The HD confirmed with glee.
Nezuko could only look at him in shock and anger, her anger present as her glare stared down at the HD.
"The two of you, remind me of two individuals. One with pink hair and a scar on his mouth, and a girl with flower-patterned clothing." The HD explained.
This was the exact description of Sabito and Makomo. Tanjirou and Nezuko know knew that this demon was not mournful or had no regret for his actions.
He took pride in eating Urokodaki's subordinates.
Both Tanjirou and Nezuko were beyond pissed. It was an understatement.
Nezuko began to cordially see some infrared lights, as for some reason, her vision was changing rapidly.
"Calm down Tanjirou. Your breathing is becoming unstable." The sound of Tanjirou's father caused Tanjirou to hold back his anger, which turned into confusion.
However, realizing that his father was the one in his mind, Tanjirou gritted his teeth.
"Damnit, why am I thinking about you?" Tanjirou asked himself, "I don't want to hear from you…"
"It's alright Tanjirou, just remember what I've always told you…" The sound of his father once again told Tanjirou, seemingly ignoring the rebuttal Tanjirou was making.
"Get out of my head, father… All you did was demoralize me…" Tanjirou mumbled in his head.
"It's alright my son… Just remember what you did with the dance." His father reassured his son.
Tanjirou sighed, "Get lost."
"Just remember to breathe…" The voice of Tanjirou's father began to fade, as Tanjirou was left in his confusion.
In addition, now Nezuko was the one engaging in the HD.
She was putting up a good fight considering Tanjirou had his mind a bit preoccupied.
Water Breathing, First Form: Serene Waves
Nezuko once again opened up with the modified form that she altered to fit for a multi-strike of a large incoming if hands.
With every strike, more waves crashed towards the HD's arms, and Nezuko focused on slicing them down, whilst jumping and maneuvering around and over the HD's arms.
It seemed that all concentration was focused, and even then Nezuko was able to outmaneuver the demon's best attempts to crush her.
That gave Tanjirou enough hope to be able to do this.
"We can do this…" Tanjirou thought to himself, his motivation going up slightly.
Eventually, Nezuko found herself being struck. Even though she was stringing her attacks, landing gently to make her quicker, the HD had managed to grab her.
"Nezuko!" Tanjirou cried out with pure rage and agony, clearly not liking the fact that his sister was struck by the HD.
Kanao's POV
"What an idiot." Kanao thought as she watched the mysterious slayer run back into the forest.
"Wait! Where are you going!" One of the kakushi called out, but it was no use.
Either the boy had a death wish, or noticed there was some other demon slayer that needed to be rescued.
Regardless, Kanao knew it was mostly a lost cause to go back after that boy.
Kanao sighed, as she followed the rest of the kakushi back.
Truth be told, when she had gotten news of the Final Selection this year, she hadn't chosen to ask her masters or sisters.
She had only flipped the coin to see whether she did it or not.
Needless to say, Kanao's current position was the result of the coin saying yes.
But despite all of that, no demon gave her much of a problem. For the most part, the demons she fought were either killed in one shot or required a bit more work.
It became a bit more difficult when she encountered some demons that she knew were out of her strength.
Kanao could see many of the demons were suddenly stronger, causing her to exert more effort. Not to mention she could see the smoke pluming through the skies of the forest.
That was when Kanao realized that something was wrong, now she knew that she had to switch her stance from survival to fleeing to get out of the Final Selection.
In the end, she made her way, flying and jumping from branch to branch in the trees.
She focused on not trying to get much attention from fighting other demons. With the risk of grabbing the attention of other demons if she got into a fight with some, she focused on getting out of the Final Selection as soon as possible.
In the end, she managed to get the attention of some kakushi who spotted her.
"That's Tsuyuri! The Kochos will be happy to see her!" The kakushi exclaimed as they began to call her down.
All this time, she sighed in relief, knowing that the kakushi meant that she was now nearing the perimeter of the Final Selection.
She could tell that the wisteria was burnt beyond function, meaning demons from the outside could easily enter.
Unfortunately, Kanao could tell from the sounds of fleeing demon slayers that the demon that was chasing them was unbelievably strong.
From what Kanao could see, the demon was very tall, with long platinum blond hair, with a blood-red shirt.
And so, Kanao merely jumped away, managing to evade the demon in question/
Once the kakushi came back with an unconscious Genya, which apparently, the masked slayer had brought back before running back deeper into the Final Selection, she saw the worried and relieved looks of both Kanae and Shinobu running to hug her.
Kanao's eyes widened when she felt the sisters hug her tightly.
Even Aoi was here, and she had her nichirin blade with her.
From what Kanao was told, Aoi rarely picked up a blade, only occasionally fighting and sparring with it, as Aoi was indeed talented.
Regardless, she was hugged by Kanae, Shinobu, and Aoi who were all glad to see her alive and well.
"Master, who else is here?" Kanao asked the three of them.
Kanae looked a bit relieved, "Himejima decided to come with us, but he's helping escort some of the unconscious demon slayers."
"How many survived?" Kanao asked.
"Well besides you, there's three others. Among them is Himejima's own tsuguko." Shinobu explained.
"That's a relief…" Kanao mumbled.
"Are you hurt anywhere?" Shinobu immediately began to look over and make sure Kanao was alright.
Aside from some shallow cuts on her shoulder, arm, and legs, she seemed to have gotten out relatively unscathed.
"I'd have to say, this is probably among the better performances I've seen… Did you focus on surviving over slaying demons?" Shinobu asked Kanao.
She only nodded.
"That's great, welcome back, sister." Kanae smiled at her younger, adopted sister hugging her tightly.
Unfortunately, something wrong was bound to happen.
And for that, whilst Gyomei assisted in carrying many of the injured kakushi and demon slayers within the Final Selection, Kanae, Shinobu and the others looked over, making sure there weren't any other demon slayers that were left.
That was when a sudden ruffling of a bush caught the attention of them all.
But what stood in front of them, wasn't a demon slayer, or even a typical demon…
The eyes of the demon Kanao had seen chasing a large swat of demon slayers.
The words in the eyes of this demon said Upper Two.
Immediately, Kanao saw that her eldest sister, Kanae flinched.
All the while Shinobu held an angry expression as she seemed to know who this demon was.
Upper Moon Two, named Douma.
The very demon who had encountered Kanae, and almost killed her.
The dramatic and almost somber tone when the kakushi brought in a gravely injured Kanae haunted Kanae and Aoi's memory, as Shinobu had to work for almost 18 hours nonstop to nurse and get her elder sister to a more stable condition.
Her shoulder had been badly dislocated, her nose was bent beyond normal, her neck was slashed near her jugular, her collarbone was snapped in half, her chest was compressed and red from the internal lung damage she suffered, her abdomen had a gash, her hipbone was pushed back, which combined with her nearly severed left leg, and Shinobu had to make the difficult decision whether to repair it to the best of her ability or the amputate it.
In the end, she went with the former option.
Alas, her left leg would not work the same.
And seeing the very individual who had harmed her sister so badly made Shinobu infuriated.
"Sister, stay back… Help the injured." Kanae told her two younger sisters and Aoi.
"But Kanae…-" Aoi tried to reason, but Kanae continued.
"My, you look the same." Douma smiled, "It's good to see you again."
Kanae looked on, a neutral expression on her face, "I wish I could say the same for you, however, seeing you here at the site of burning and killing our kind is unforgivable." Kanae explained as she pointed her blade toward Douma.
"Oh, is that so? But what if I told you that I did all of this for you?" Douma revealed, "I planned this just so I could get my revenge on you."
"Revenge? For what?" Kanae asked.
"For humiliating me." Douma revealed, "The scrutiny I faced from the other demons in my ranks was terrible, it was enough to make me cry!" He exasperated tearing up as he covered his eyes.
"And so, despite being humiliated by a cute girl like you, I'll make sure this time I end you. For the proof of my rank." Douma explained as he swung his fans towards Kanae.
Blood Demon Art: Cryokinesis
Almost immediately Douma showed off his fans, clearly intent on killing Kanae once and for all.
"Sister!" Shinobu called out, clearly seeing the environment already becoming icy as Shinobu worried for her sister.
"Stay back!" Kanae called out, a sense of seriousness evident on her face, which was unusual for Kanae. "You'll get yourself killed!"
"Aww worried for your butterfly sisters?" Douma asked, "I have to say, they all are so cute. Either I absorb you and I can let your sisters live free, or you let me absorb them three, and I let you live. Your choice." Douma smiled.
"I am a nice demon after all." He added.
Flower Breathing, Sixth Form: Whirling Peach
Douma let out a sound of surprise as he felt himself being cut across the chest.
Before he could even respond, Kanae had gone back to where she was.
Even with her left leg injured and not what it used to be, she seemed to have still been fast as ever.
"What an annoying girl, I didn't want it to be this way, perhaps I could have let you become a demon, but oh well, letting you be absorbed by me is the next best thing." Douma smiled, as he swung his fans around.
Blood Demon Art: Frozen Lotus
Douma swung his fan forward as Kanae dodged the sharp ice shards, further turning into ice lotuses.
Kanae dodged, trying not to breathe it in, she ran across the perimeter, using her agility to the best of her ability.
Once again, to the best of her ability.
Blood Demon Art: Wintry Icicles
Douma swung his fans toward the moving figure of Kanae as he tried to throw blizzards of ice shards toward her. They were shaped like lotus petals, and Kanae continuously dodge them.
Flower Breathing, Fifth Form: Peonies of Futility
With the large amounts of icicles that were approaching her, Kanae easily swung her body around to better allow her arms and blade to swing down and across to slice apart each icicle with relative ease.
She grunted as she successfully sliced apart each of the icicles.
Douma grunted upset that Kanae had easily blocked and struck down his attack.
However, he had to move out of the way, as Kanae had blitzed closer toward Upper Two.
"Not again!" Douma smiled, as Kanae twirled her body.
Flower Breathing, Sixth Form: Whirling Peach
As Kanae spun her body, moving her weight to attack, the sheer speed of the attack was what surprised Douma.
He could only swing his fans over to block Kanae's blade strike.
Kanae gritted her teeth trying to get her blade to break his fan, but Douma only smiled.
"Oh honey, didn't you forget about this? You're always at a disadvantage." Douma smirked before he whistled.
Blood Demon Art: Cold White Princesses
Douma unleashed two female humanoid figures at the edges of his shoulders, causing Kanae's eyes to widen in shock.
"That's not good…" Kanae mumbled to herself, as she saw the two humanoid females blow out the air of sheer coldness.
Kanae had no choice but to dodge and get as far away from Douma.
She panted, as she could feel her lungs spiking in pain a bit. But she shrugged it off. She could handle this.
The humanoid females continued to blow ice toward Kanae, and she planned it properly
Flower Breathing, First Form: Flower Cutter
Kanae quickly launched towards one of the humanoid females, striking the legs of the first one, before she launched herself upwards, and decapitated the neck of the other.
Kanae had quickly and effortlessly sliced apart the two ice-cold princesses.
It was a testament to the skill she had.
Perhaps it was because she had fought him before, or that the Hashira was this strong, or even that perhaps the Upper Moons were all lazy and not taking everything seriously, what was known was that Kanae can go up against Upper Two, once again.
And this infuriated Douma but also threatened to become a major threat to the rest of the Twelve Kizuki.
He couldn't allow that, and so he continued.
Blood Demon Art: Crystalline Divine Child
Douma began to create miniature ice replicas of himself, that all were capable of moving and using more forms.
Right now, he had created two, when he suddenly felt himself being attacked, and not being able to use them.
His ice replicas had dissipated just like that.
"What's wrong?" Kanae asked, "Can't use your ice replicas? You do realize that just striking you is enough for you to lose concentration."
Douma's eyes widened before he smiled, "You think you've gotten me? Getting confident, aren't we? That'll be your downfall, Flower Pillar."
Blood Demon Art: Lotus Vines, Wintry Icicles
Once again, Douma launched out his fans, allowing for lotus-like ice shards to extend out towards Kanae, the shape of vines maneuvering as they began to try and impale Kanae,
Kanae quickly rolled to the left, before she clanged with one of them, twirling to shatter one of them down.
But she didn't anticipate the follow-up attack.
Just as soon as the icy vines came to strike Kanae, they quickly shattered, causing a haze to surround Kanae.
Before Kanae knew it, she heard the sound of icicles firing toward her.
The first one grazed her side before she was forced to maneuver erratically to try and avoid them, which she did.
She panted, knowing she had just inhaled a lot of toxic icy air from Douma's blood demon art.
Still, she had managed to avoid the worst of the strikes, so she would continue.
Flower Breathing, Second Form: Honourable Shadow Plum
Blood Demon Art: Barren Hanging Garden
Kanae quickly lifted her blade as Douma began to slash at Kanae with his fans, each one generating an ice shard that Kanae felt slash her since she was at such a close range.
But she wasn't done.
After the eighth strike Douma attempted, fast as the eye could see, Kanae twirled her body and sliced off Douma's arm.
"Huh…" Douma mumbled, "You got a hit on me. That was better than last time since you couldn't even hit me back then."
"That's why you always watch your surroundings." Kanae explained, "It does intrigue me, why are demons like you, who you are?"
"Huh? You are intrigued by me?" Douma asked with a smirk.
"I'm intrigued by every demon I meet. After all, I'd like to have a demon friend, as long as they are like us." Kanae explained, "After all, you all were once humans."
Douma smirked, "That may be so, but we've gone past the line of cooperation with you weaklings."
Kanae panted, her lungs were being taxed by the air and she knew she couldn't last no more than then minutes.
But she needed more time. She had to do something drastic if she wanted to keep her family safe. She had been fighting for three hours, she but she couldn't let this continue, but she also had to wait until daytime. It was a lose-lose situation. But she had to stall until daytime.
And so, she would.
Blood Demon Art: Crystalline Divine Child, Freezing Clouds
Douma quickly summoned a large number of his ice replicas, as each of them began to scatter cold wind.
This was bad, as Kanae knew this could cause her lungs to act up.
But it was now or never. She had managed to hold off Douma for the first time for around 3 hours.
Now, she was doing it for roughly the same time. She knew the Kasugai crows were calling for Gyomei to come back to the mountain, but considering his location, she knew the distance from the Ubuyashiki Mansion to here would take six hours quickest.
The nearest known Pillar Mansion was the Water Mansion, and Shinobu was not going to call Giyu for help. By contrast, Urokodaki's cabin was around four hours away.
She had to act now, or else the forest would be full of the cold air Douma produced. But also, she had to last perhaps another hour and Gyomei could come back.
Gripping her blade, Kanae decided now was the time to use it.
Flower Breathing, Final Form: Equinoctial Vermillion Eye
To the eyes of both Douma and the other demon slayers, Kanae blitzed through the ice replicas and their ice breathes, slicing through them all effortlessly.
But for Kanae, her entire perception of the world had slowed down tremendously. She quickly slashed down one of the ice replicas, moving to the next, and onwards, before she turned her eyes to Douma himself.
She didn't care if she felt her left eye rupturing, she had to finish this.
And just like that, she had managed to slash the face of Douna, from his right eye down diagonally to his left chin.
Douma yelped in surprise, as the rest of his ice replicas dissipated.
Kanae would've kept continuing, but she noticed that the area around Douma had already planned another strike that she couldn't dodge, for she was panting from using the Final Form, and inhaling more ice wind than she would have anticipated.
Blood Demon Art: Lotus Vines
Kanae tried to dodge, but she felt her lungs giving up, as the vines struck her causing her to be thrown back, her figure hitting the ground with a thud.
Kanae was coughing up blood, as it was clear to Kanao, Shinobu, Aoi, and Kanae herself that she had breathed too much icy air, causing her lungs to fail in taking up oxygen. She was being deprived and needed medical assistance immediately. Not to mention that her left eye was now bleeding from using vermillion eye.
"Oh, how tragic. Alas, you put up more of a fight than the other demon slayer pillars I've fought. Take pride in that, Flower Pillar. At least we can finally become one." Douma smiled as he approached the figure of Kanae.
"Sister!" Shinobu called out in pure desperation.
"Kanae!" Aoi called out, clearly also of horror and desperation.
Kanao's eyes widened, not knowing what to do.
But before Douma could touch Kanae, or for Kanao to even flip her coin, a multitude of strikes full of flames came between Kanae and Douma, causing Douma to back up from Kanae's vulnerable figure.
Between the two of them stood a figure Kanao recognized.
"What the… Him again?!" Kanao thought to herself.
It was the same mystery slayer that ran back further into the woods after saving Genya Shinazugawa. The one with the mysterious mask, and the blue and white water haori with water waves on it.
"Is he trying to get himself killed…?" Shinobu asked, clearly worried a demon slayer was risking their lives to save her sister.
"But then again, a demon slayer saving a Hashira would gain attention and respect from the rest…" Aoi thought, trying to justify why a demon slayer would stand between a Twelve Kizuki and a Hashira.
"But will a simple demon slayer last until reinforcements arrive? Highly unlikely." Kanao and Shinobu both thought, as they decided to at least get Kanae out of the field and immediately get her medical support.
A.N / So much going on, it's quite a chapter, finishing the fight with Tanjirou and Genya against the SED, Tanjirou, and Nezuko against the Hand Demon, and a bit of a sneak peek at the fight between Douma and Kanae, round 2. For context, the Kanae and Douma fight has been going on for around 3 hours, since most of it was the result of merely dodging and stare downs, alongside conversations.
Also, as you can see, Aoi is here, and while she is mainly a medic, she is also a demon slayer, in a sense similar to what Shinobu is now. Remember since Kanae didn't pass, Shinobu didn't take the sword seriously as well, but she is a high-ranking demon slayer. Aoi is a bit lower since she focuses on caretaking and the like.
For once we see a bit of POV with Kanao, Aoi, Shinobu, and Kanae's whereabouts as they are the ones leading the evacuation of the remaining demon slayers. Gyoemi was sent to assist the kakushi since many of the kakushi were also injured and even killed. Gyomei is merely the bodyguard of the kakushi taking back the injured demon slayers. Hope these all fix any confusion, but if not, let me know!
Also, a major difference between Tanjirou and Genya, is that Tanjirou will struggle more to use his breathing styles whilst under his demonic form for mental and physical adaptations, and his human form, he won't be able to use blood demon arts. Whereas Genya is capable of using breathing styles under his demonic form, the actual demonic form is a limited time. Just to make them a bit more unique and different.
Character Profile:
Genya Shinazugawa: Male, 15 years old
Status: Alive, Human
Height: 5'6" (167cm)
Weight: 152Ibs
Aoi Kanzaki: Female, 15 years old
Status: Alive, Human
Height: 5'4" (162cm)
Weight: 132Ibs
Kanao Tsuyuri: Female, 15 years old
Status: Alive, Human
Height: 5'2" (157cm)
Weight: 108Ibs
Shinobu Kocho: Female, 17 years old
Status: Alive, Human
Height: 5'0" (152cm)
Weight: 92Ibs
Kanae Kocho: Female, 19 years old
Status: Alive, Human
Height: 5'7" (170cm)
Weight: 130Ibs
Douma: Male, 20 years old (135 years old chronologically)
Status: Alive, Demon
Height: 6'2" (188cm)
Weight: 195Ibs
Hand Demon: Male, 47 years chronologically
Status: Alive, Demon
Snake-Eyed Demon (SED): Female, 25 years chronically
Status: Dead, Demon
Abilities:
Kanae Kocho:
Flower Breath, Final Form: Vermillion Eyes – A technique that Kanae worked on after her first fight with Douma. It raises Kanae's visionary potential to the maximum, to the point that she was perceive the world in slow motion. Unfortunately, using the move too much and too frequently causes strain on the eyes, with blood vessels even rupturing which can result in partial or complete blindness.
Nezuko Kamado:
Water Breathing, First Form, Modified: Serene Waves – A modified form of the first form of water breathing. The first strike is tranquil with a relaxed and focused grip, which is followed by a surge of a wave, which is a continuous flow of strikes, crashing onto her targets, with the intention of eroding the shore of an opponent.
Genya Shinazugawa:
Mist Breathing, Second Form Modified: Low Lying Fog – Genya mobilizes himself to move, utilizing strikes to shroud the opponent with their vision. Using the confusion and daze the opponent is in, Genya ends it with a horizontal slash on an unsuspected opponent.
Wind Breathing, Tenth Form: Whirlwind of Thunderstorms - Genya launched himself towards the demon, quickly jumping with the purpose of unleashing a strong downward strike. It is more jagged and offensive than the water form of Waterfall Basin.
Demon Consumption: Genya possesses unique organs and microorganisms within his body that allow him to digest the contents of demons, briefly gaining the ability to become a demon. When undertaking a demon's attributes, Genya is able to properly use his breathing styles a lot more, whilst developing the characteristics of a demon.
