Rushing off to the location of the next Demon Ayano looked at me and said, "I know which demon we're going after!"

Looking back, I said, "give me the info Ayano what are we going up against!"

Ayano caught up and said, "it's the Persian! Be very careful with this one Niko he's a really good archer, and last I tried talking to him he had a horse with him."

I started to grin happily, "an archer on horseback! Yes, hell yes this is going to be fun!"

Ayano gave me a rather unique shocked look, like she was expecting me to act this way, but yet it still surprised her.

Ayano shook her head and said, "so how do you think Rengoku sensei is doing on his mission?"

Smirking I said, "knowing rengoku sensei its probably already done and he's on his way back to the butterfly manor ready for a great feast!"

Ayano chuckled and said, "you really have great faith in him don't you."

I nodded my head and said, "if it weren't for him I wouldn't be in Japan, well I would but I would be struggling a lot more to kill demons, before Rengoku sensei found me in Singapore all I had to kill demons was a single nichirin dagger and no idea what breathing styles were, how strong or magical demons could be, hell I didn't even realize how much of a threat Muzan was, heck if that wasn't bad enough I didn't even know Japanese!"

Ayano laughed saying, "you still don't"

I looked at her annoyed and said, "oi! But still Rengoku Sensei gave me the tools and training and even the connections needed to survive and do well as a demon slayer, so I owe him everything!"

Ayano giggled and said, "you know your pretty cute when you talk about the people you look up to, the genuine care and love, its nice to see, back when I was still one of Muzan's lackeys I never seen anyone genuinely care about each other, minus the upper moon siblings but they're a special case…."

I laughed and said, "the essence of Greek culture boils down to unity Ayano, remember this cause when I am long dead and your still around these words will keep you going, unity isn't just a familial bond its one born of friendship, comradery, and the bond between master and pupil, all of it built on respect, the more respect you give, the more they give back, that why I have such a tight bond with Rengoku sensei and shinobu sensei, they both showed me how to get ahead in life as a demon slayer, they could have just ended it there, went their ways and never said another word to me, but the respect I showed them along with how I treated them outside of training turned into a bond stronger than iron or steel, the pure essence of Greek culture"

Ayano laughed and said, "when you get into your little speeches about Greek culture or the will of fire you actually sound smart! I guess spartans aren't as dumb as the history books make them out to be!"

I laughed back and said, "there are the few spartans who think like me but those are far and few between."

Ayano laughed and said, "well at least you are one of the good ones! And mine"

As we approached the village, I got a good look at the village and its surroundings, there were loads of mountains around the area…this was perfect for a stealthy archer…this could be a pain in the ass to deal with, but I had never backed down from a challenge, in fact I was excited.

Ayano and I found a wisteria house to stay at and get a bite to eat and discuss a plan to get the jump on this guy.

Ayano looked at me while we waited for our food and said, "Nikolaos you talked about the persian probably being an immortal…what is that?"

Leaning forward I said, "well the Persian immortals go all the way back to king darius of Persia, they were his 10,000 most elite soldiers and were trained like an elite kill squad, as Herodotus wrote about them, each soldier was equivalent to 50 soldiers."

Finally, a simple Miso soup and some tempura were brought to us and as we ate we kept strategizing. If we caught him in the mountains, we might have a chance but at the same time if he had been a demon as long as Muzan these mountains were probably his home turf.

"it's going to take a lot of luck to get the drop on him, huh?" I sighed as I ate some more tempura.

Ayano took a drink of sake saying, "unfortunately yeah…he's a tough on…."

I took a drink of sake saying, "damn, once we're done eating, we should probably get going…night should be approaching soon and the Persian can't wait, nor can I wait to fight him."

Ayano sighed and said, "just remember Nikolaos you swore by the river styx to be safe and strategize instead of rushing him."

I leaned over and gave her a kiss on the lips and said, "you have my word my love" as she blushed.

Later that night we started to make our trek through the mountains and realized just how many straight paths and rugged mountains there were if a horseman was here…. The area was perfect for him as it looked like there were loads of bridges and hidden passages through caves.

As we passed through the mountains it suddenly got darker out of nowhere.

Ayano looked around and said, "strange it wasn't supposed to be getting this dark till later?"

I looked up with raised eyebrows I shouted, "Arrows!" before using my shield to block the arrows.

Ayano did the same thing instinctively using her shield as well. The rain of arrows went on for a little bit and went I finally did end I used my spear shaft to cut the arrow shafts and looked for where it could have came from.

I couldn't see much but I did see some rocks fall and shouted, "I think I have an idea where he is!" before sneaking up through the mountains while Ayano tried followed only to have an arrow pin her leaving her cursing the very stars.

As I continued up the mountain, I did happen to get a look at a shadow of a man on a horse rushing off laughing as he shot 12 arrows at me. Instinctively I put my shield in front of me letting the arrows try and pierce my shield, some of them did up most of them just bounced harmlessly as I kept making my way up the mountain till, I finally got a good look at the demon. At first, I didn't think he was a demon as I couldn't even see his face behind the bronze mask which looked like Xerxes's face. He was a lot more well-armed than most demons wearing a metal bowl-shaped helmet with a spick at the top and sort of chainmail curtain around the helmet protecting and shielding the rest of the head. It would be difficult to get a clean cut on him, however his armor was very…exotic to say the least. He wore a really elaborate blue tunic jacket that went all the way down to his feet, on top of it he had a bronze chest place, segmented scale style shoulder pads, thin greaves, and no shoes on at all. Armament wise other than that large recurve bow this man also had a short sword at his side along with a shield and a huge quiver of arrows.

His horse was also well armored too and was looking around and sniffing the air as if trying to find my scent.

The demon laughed and said, "you can't hide forever Nikolaos! I will find you, and when I do, I will make sure your death will go down in the history books as the death of a culture!"

Wait, he knew my name! how, did- did the demons have some sort of hive mind?

I really wanted to kill this bastard, but I knew if I got to close that damn horse will just run off and he'll nail my shield with more of those arrows! I needed to play this smart, get in close, kill his horse and then go after him. I thought about how to go about this and threw a rock at a bush causing Farid to shoot 12 arrows quickly using his distraction to stealthily make my way closer. Once I got close enough, I leapt at the demon a pulled him off his horse only for him to roll out of the way and catch me offguard as he managed to curve the arrow around my shield and get me right in the ribs.

Howling in pain I rushed the demon only to be met with 12 more arrows into my shield as I did everything in my power to try and get close.

The demon laughed at me saying, "come on, you're getting close just a little bit more!"

"Stand still you bastard!" I shouted trying to thrust my spear at him only for him to kick it down and run up the spear and do a flip followed by him shooting 12 more arrows at me.

The demon laughed before lunging at me and kicking my shield out of the way before pulling out his short sword and holding it to my throat.

The man laughed and said, "I have a feeling you will die from this blade, so why not let oblivion know who sent you! I am Farid, the desert serpent, one of the many Persian immortals who sacrificed their very soul to demons for a taste of immortality!"

"Well then Farid, I guess you forgot about me!" Ayano screamed before rushing him and stabbing him in the chest only for him to disappear in a puff of sand.

"Damn it!" I shouted.

Ayano looked at me and said, "he left?"

I nodded and said, "he's a wild little fellow…. we might need to fight him on horseback to make things fair."

Ayano raised his eyebrow and said, "you think that would be wise? I mean wouldn't he just kill the horse and put us at a disadvantage?"

I took off my helmet and said, "I have a feeling he wouldn't go that far; he wants a good fight, he may hate Greeks on a racial level, but I doubt he wants to make things impossible like this…"

Ayano looked at me and said, "the method he was using to fire arrows though, surely that has to be his demon art, the ability to shoot arrows like that!"

I shook my head and said, "I noticed that too and quite frankly that makes him deadly yes but it isn't something to do with his demon art, its ancient historical archery…Arabic archery methods….I remember hearing about how ancient archers were able to curve arrows around walls, fire up to 12 arrows at once….it's a dangerous method, heck even holding arrows in the draw hand instead of a quiver so that the arrows come out faster compared to Harangel or Horoko we're going up against a scalpel…"

Ayano took a bite of an apple and said, "so you mean we might have to think outside the box to get close to him?"

I nodded and said, "I wouldn't recommend getting close to him either cause if he is a Persian immortal, he'll also be armed for close quarters…"

Ayano sighed and said, "so what are we gonna do?"

I took a look at my shield and said, "his arrows were able to pierce the tough bronze of my shield…. i hate to say it but maybe stronger armor is required."

Ayano then said, "you might be right, but it would take to long for Hagenezuka or any blacksmith to put armor together for such a task…we'll have to be smart."

I nodded my head and said, "I hate to admit it but your right…he's a damn good archer I'll give him that, those arrows really hurt too!" looking at it.

The arrow shaft and feather were something else I'll give them that bamboo wood and actual vulture feathers for the fletching, not bad. But the arrow heads were the most interesting part, it was basically a fixed blade broadhead arrow point but with extra points like a fish arrow…and the amount of extra blades on it make the blade even harder to remove…a truly sadistic arrowhead. I'm just lucky my armor made it a bit harder to hit me.

Ayano sighed taking the arrow from and saying, "just be lucky these arrows aren't poisoned, I have a feeling if it was, they would do more damage…"

I laughed and said, "again I have a feeling he won't stoop to that kind of low…he may be sinical, but he doesn't seem like the type to do that."

Ayano leaned back and I could see she was working out a strategy in her head, "the horse he was riding…it's not a Japanese horse…it seems out of the area."

I nodded and said, "it was a shire horse, not native to Japan but strong, its big, it's tough and more importantly slow, a shire horse isn't built for Japan I can tell you that much."

Ayano then said, "so if we found some really strong horses could we have a chance- wait how do you know what kind of horse that was?"

I laughed saying, "when I was serving in the Balkan wars, I had the opportunity to ride one into battle, they're strong yes, and very durable but they aren't agile nor are they fast, I mean they are fast but not as fast as other breeds."

Looking up at the sky as the sun came up, I said, "we should probably head back to the wisteria house so we can at least get some sleep and plan out how we'll take this fucker down."

Ayano nodded and when we made it back in, after getting my wounds looked at and getting some food, Ayano and I spent the night cuddling as visions of my past flooded my mind. I guess whatever I got hit with fighting Harangel was still in my system…no matter though tomorrow night, I would end Farid.

The next morning, I rushed to put on my armor and leave the Wisteria house with Ayano in tow.

I felt excited, and not even scared. I was fighting a god damn Persian immortal! This was a fight I had dreamed of! However, the only problem is…I need a horse, luckily the village we were in had a stable close by, and they had some really good horses.

Walking by and watching them ride horses I couldn't find a horse I thought could stand up to the shire horse, until I saw her.

A bunch of the stable hands were having a hard time with an Arabian horse that was being truly stubborn. Suddenly the horse broke free from its handlers and bolted out and lightning speeds. This raised my eyebrows and I realized; this great horse was fast enough to get close to the shire horse!

Walking up to one of the stable boys with Ayano I asked how much it was for the Arabian.

The man laughed and Ayano told me the guy said that stead was not for sell as it was going to be put down.

"Why would you put down such a beautiful and powerful horse!" I shouted shocked out of my mind.

Ayano told me that the guy said it was because it was due to how stubborn it was, no one had been able to break the horse, no one could get close to it.

I smirked and said, "if I managed to tame the horse will you give it to me for free?"

Ayano translated and looked at me and said, "the man said if you managed to tame it he'd give you the horse, the money he was going to use to put the horse down, a free saddle and the hand of his daughter cause this horse has brought him nothing but trouble"

I laughed and said, "the horse and the saddle are good enough for me" before going over to the stables where the hands managed to get the horse back into the stable.

As I got closer to the Arabian horse, I remembered what my pateras used to say about horses, don't be weaker than them, nor try to out alpha them, be calm and collect, show no fear, but no ego as a horse like this doesn't need a firm hand, it needs a calm touch.

I took a deep breath and put my hand on the horses' head calmly and shushed the horse trying to keep it calm, which worked before one of the stupid stable hands tried to rush the horse to get on his back only to cause the horse to panic. Instinctively I leapt back and used my shield to protect myself as the horse kicked its front hooves at me.

Ayano wanted to leap forward but I shouted back saying, "don't! you'll only spook her!"

Ayano nodded and I leapt forward and started to calm the horse again soon managing to calmly get on its back and get some reigns on it. The horse trotted around for a bit calmly and I kept giving it words of encouragement till finally the horse trusted me enough and with a smirk I yelled, "Hyah!" and the horse rushed forward on to the nearby ranch fields, and we zoomed around for a bit till finally I brought her back to the shock of everyone.

The owner was impressed and said, "you sir, you are quite frankly the weirdest person I have ever met! Being able to tame such an aggravated horse with just kindness! Take the horse! Hell take the saddle too and just know anything you need from me is free!"

I laughed and said, "a horse for my companion would be good!"

The man nodded and I laughed saying, "give her a pony, it would be funny."

Ayano looked at me annoyed saying, "oh I am not following you around on a horse with drumstick legs!"

I laughed saying, "come ooon every great rider needs a squire on a tiny horse."

Ayano threw a rock at my helmet and said, "oi, oi, oi I am not your squire I am your wife!"

I raised my eyebrow as Ayano realized what she said and started to blush as she said, "waitwhydidisaythatimeaniwanttobeyourwifebutwaityoustupidjerkyouplannedthis!" before rushing off blushing.

Trying not to laugh I looked at the man and said, "I'll take your sturdiest horse for her"

The stablemaster nodded and said, "very well sir."

Ayano and I spent the rest of the afternoon training on horseback and getting used to riding at high speeds to catch each other, almost like a game of tag but on horseback I felt we had a good understanding of horse combat and got ready to go after Farid. As I did I was approached by the lady of the wisteria house who bowed to me.

"Forgive me lord Aristokles, but after what the doctor told me about your encounter with the horse demon I sent a Kasugai crow to the demon slayer headquarters to get these specially made for you, and your horse" the lady said before holding up a huge piece of cloth and two quivers of javelins each one tipped with nichirin blades.

The lady then walked over to my horse and calmly wrapped it on my horse almost like a blanket and said, "this cloth is made from the same material as demon slayer corps clothing but a bit tougher to protect it from the arrows."

I smirked and said, "thank you! this is very kind of you!" before bowing to the lady as Ayano rode by in her horse draped in the same kind of cloth as mine but in velvet.

Ayano smirked as I got my horse ready with the quivers of javelins on either side and said, "so you ready to go and hunt this bastard down?"

I nodded my head before taking one of the javelins and throwing it at a nearby tree, the javelin embedding itself deep within the tree before looking back at the lady and said, "strong javelins, a bit heavy though."

The lady nodded and said, "we used only the strongest wood for the full javelin, I pray they do you well in your endeavors" before sparking some flint on us for good luck.

Mounting my horse and starting my way up the mountain I noticed Ayano had a bunch of stones at her side and with a chuckle I said, "you gonna try and stone him?"

Ayano nodded and said, "oh I plan to get back at him for all those damn arrows he's pinned me with, these smooth stones should make it easier to nail him in the head!"

I laughed as we continued up the mountain making as much noise as possible to draw out Farid, but to our surprise he was waiting for us.

"ahhh if it isn't the shit eating Greek, back for a second round?" Farid sneered.

Before I could say anything however Ayano rushed forward on her horse saying, "oh I know you didn't call him a shit eating Greek! Get over here you bastard!" causing Farid to start running.

Sighing I said, "well, at least she's starting the fight, wait up!" before kicking my arabian and rushing after them.

I gave a laugh that honestly reminded me of Inosuke's as I caught up to Farid and Ayano saying, "not so cocky now are you ya bastard! This time I got speed! Behold the power of the Arabian!"

I felt my blood on fire once again but this time, this time it felt different not like I was doing this alone, I could weirdly enough feel rengoku Sensei fighting along side me on this as if his burning heart has mixed with my will of fire making something really unique as I laughed and made the horse go faster till I caught up with Farid and used one of the javelins to pierce him causing him great pain as we ran along the many paths and bridges till finally we hit a straightway where I seized my opportunity and pushed my horse forward.

Getting closer to him I shouted, "Pantheon breathing style 5th form burning chariot of Apollo!" and a surge of power coursed through my horse and through me as I threw one of the javelins straight into his chest, the entire time feeling rengoku sensei guiding my hand.

Farid looked shocked as I kept up with him shouting, "damn you! horseback combat is my thing you lesser freak!" before trying to shoot an arrow at me only for Ayano to hit him in the face with stone.

I laughed and said, "thought you were going to face just me! Nah mate I got a second pair of hands to make fighting me aggravating!"

Farid looked very pissed saying, "damn you!" before making a turn to try and rush us but all I had to do was put up my shield and thrust my spear forward to stab him but he turned into a puff of sand again and fled.

"Oh, you are not getting away from me this time you bastard!" I shouted as I whipped the reigns of my horse and got closer to him.

As I caught up to Farid, he looked back at me and shouted, "I will not be killed by a god damn Greek! Die you spartan bastard! blood demon art rain of Babylon!" before drawing back 5 arrows at me.

Before Farid could fire an arrow, I Instinctively leapt off my horse and shouted, "Pantheon breathing style, 6th form Artemis's Moonlit arrow!" and threw it right at the bow shattering it and also killing the horse in the process.

Farid let out a shocked gasp as he was thrown from the horse while I rolled and picked up my spear and started to fight him.

"Not bad for a Greek aye!" I laughed as our shields clashed.

Farid looked furious as I used the back point of my spear to slam his helmet clean off revealing a scarred face with grey skin and shining gold eyes with the Arabic word for Xerxes and ifrit in his eyes.

Farid howled and pushed me back pulling out a short sword and rushing me. Meeting him on equal grounds I slammed my spear into the ground and pulled out my kopis and started fighting him on equal grounds yet again but this time I had the advantage laughing like crazy as I felt my blood boiling over.

Farid looked at me confused saying, "is there something wrong with your head! You're going to die idiot! You lesser being, you damn lesser species! Your kind died out when Alexander the great took over Greece! Now die like the goat fucker you are!" trying to stab me with his short sword.

He managed to stab me in the shoulder, but I slammed my shield into his foot breaking it and with a laugh I stabbed him with my kopis in the neck and sliced his head clean off.

As Farid's head rolled on the floor, he howled nothing but insults at me before laughing like crazy at me.

Farid gave me a wicked grin and said, "so, we both represented a dying breed of warrior, the hoplite and the Persian immortal, and yet now you're the last of our kind the last ancient warrior, how does it feel Nikolaos! How does it feel to truly be alone in the world!"

I looked down at him and then up at Ayano who had finally caught up and said, "that's the one thing you Persians never understood about Spartans, just cause we're the last of our kind doesn't mean we're truly alone, our ancestors, our families, and our people stand by us, so I am never truly alone!"

Farid looked at me with a sneer before turning his attention to Ayano and saying, "none of us really liked you, I hope you realize that Douma, Akaza, Kokoshibo, hell even Harangel and Horoko and the other three eclipses, we all hated you and couldn't wait to make you scream in pain, I hope you die a horrendous death!"

Ayano sneered at him and said, "die alone Farid, knowing your quest for power ended here and that you were ended by a lesser person as you put it"

Farid's pov:

Tch, so this is how I go out? By the hands of a lesser person! Not only is he human but he is Greek! I could care less about the half breed wench who he has leashed up but the fact I was killed by a Greek was insulting! I was once one of the greatest of king Darius's Persian immortals, a lethal archer whose skills were only rivaled by his cynicism. Unfortunately, this came to bite me in the ass as one day I was separated from my other immortals on a march to Greece and somehow ended up in a village where the people were unworthy of my presence, so I killed them all…and ate all their food and took their riches back to my group once I managed to find them.

This didn't go too well with Darius though and he banished me! I brought him great riches and yet he treated me like that! I cursed the very ground Darius walked on and was thrown into the wild all alone with only my horse, I was enraged and as such made a deal with Angra Mainyu himself to become a demon, with the power of the sands and the viciousness of my bow I tormented thousands till I found Muzan Kibutsuji, he gave me more power at the cost of staying in Japan and killing those who angered him! Tch this Greek bastard better fear whats coming…. he's already killed three of us Eclipses…he still has to deal with the Egyptian, the Chinese and that fucking nord!

No matter I go to hell now waiting for the day they come see me, so I can hunt them down for eternity.

Back to nikolaos's pov:

I felt nothing but sorrow and pity for Farid…he was a demented soul to be sure but to willingly become a demon…who would ever do so. He wasn't worthy of drachmae for the ferryman, but I hoped to face someone like him in the future.

Ayano walked up to me and gave me a hug saying, "well…I'm glad he's dead, come on we should head back to Headquarters and let them know the demon is dead…and then to the butterfly manor to get your wounds checked."

I looked down and realized I had like…. alot of arrows in my back and in my armor and sighed saying, "Ayano…how much money do you want to bet Shinobu is going to murder me?"

Ayano looked me up and down and said, "to be fair…. i don't know if you'll survive…but rest assured I will make sure you have the most beautiful bouquet of flowers at your funeral."

I sighed and together we returned our horses to the owner who was shocked at the amount of arrows still stuck in me and said, "buddy you should see a doctor for all those arrows…as for the horse, like I said, the horse is yours"

I laughed and said, "tis but a flesh wound I can handle it! And thank you for the horse, I shall treat her honorably."

As Ayano and I trekked through the open wilderness on horseback back to the HQ Kotoyami soon found me and landed on my shoulder.

Kotoyami seemed…sad and on the verge of tears, "terrible news…Kyojuro Renqoku the flame hashira has been killed fighting an upper moon three demon, Mizunoto Tanjiro, Mizunoto Zenitsu, Mizunoto Inosuke, and the demon child Nezuko are gravely injured, I repeat Kyojuro Renqoku the flame hashira has been killed fighting an upper moon three demon, Mizunoto Tanjiro, Mizunoto Zenitsu, Mizunoto Inosuke, and the demon child Nezuko are gravely injured!"

I stopped dead in my tracks at this news. Rengoku sensei….no this couldn't be true it had to be a lie. My mind flashed with all the times he had trained me, how hard he pushed me to become a hashira, how proud he was when I was named the Greek pillar, and all the times we would spare, he was adamant in accepting Ayano just because he trusted me and my judgement so to hear he was dead i-I.

I crumbled to the floor, falling off my horse, dropping my spear and shield and bellowing in pain and sorrow. I couldn't stop screaming or crying over Rengoku sensei, he was like a brother to me training me to be stronger and excited to where I would go!

Ayano soon broke down too holding me close into her chest even taking off my helmet so I could cry. She had been there to comfort me, and I knew if I didn't have her there to comfort me through this when I was so far away from the other hashira, I would have just delved deeper into my own sorrow and probably never came out of it.

End of the chapter:

Nikolaos: Rengoku sensei….is this why I felt like you were guiding all of my movements…I hope you are watching me

Ayano: *hugging* Nikolaos I am so so sorry! I know Rengoku sensei is watching you

Nikolaos: and now time for taisho era secret! Most people here in Japan have never really interacted with greeks so they think most greeks are demons!

Ayano: next chapter i loose my mind with two nikos!

Nikolaos: Ayano that isnt the name of the chapter

Ayano: wait it isnt?

Ayano and Nikolaos: next chapter! A new will of fire burns bright!

Nikolaos: rengoku sensei I will make sure the new generation of slayers embody your burning heart!