Kie sent a lance of moonlight at Gyokko's pot, shattering it. Unfortunately, another one appeared out of nowhere behind her and the other Demon emerged with another pot in his hands, "take this! Blood Demon Art: Water Whip!" Gyokko cried, attacking the Demon Kamado with multiple whips made of water. Kie growled as she was slashed up, said wounds healing in moments. Then Kyojuro leapt at him, making Gyokko retreat back into his pot before the attack could decapitate him.
"W-whe-ere not get-ting an-nywhere!" Kie growled in frustration. Kyojuro breathed deep, 'I must increase my temperature! Then I can put more speed and power into my strikes!' the Flame Hashira thought, slashing through several more attacks and shooting towards Gyokko in a whirl of flames. The Upper 4 Demon dodged the attack by retreating into his pot and appearing in a new one on a branch of a tree. "Up there Mr Rengoku, Mrs Kamado!" Sayuri called, pointing up at him. Kie immediately threw another spear of solid moonlight at him with a snarl. This time the attack struck, cutting off one of the small arms sticking out of Gyokko's head before he could retreat back into his pot again.
"Good hit Mrs Kamado!" Kyojuro called, leaping into the air and slicing the pot in half again. He felt his heartrate increasing, and his body getting warmer than usual when he used Flame-Breathing. Suddenly another pot rose up from the ground and two orange fish emerged from it. "What the-" Sayuri asked in confusion, before the fish puffed up their cheeks and spat out hundreds of needles. The black-haired Demon girl could smell the poison on them from where she was. "Mr Kyojuro! Look out! They're poisoned!" she cried. "Flame-Breathing, Fourth Form: Blooming Flame Undulation!" The flame-haired young man cried, swiping his sword in a circle and creating enough force to blow away the needles. There also seemed to be translucent flames following the blade.
Kie used the moonlight to form a barrier around the fish to keep them from scattering. "Flame-Breathing, First Form: Unknowing Fire!" Kyojuro called, slicing them all in half as the Kamado let down one side of her barrier to allow him to strike them. Gyokko grit his teeth, 'Damn them! They shouldn't be this strong! They're only a lowly Demon and a mere human! How have I not killed them yet?!' he thought furiously. Kyojuro leapt forwards, far faster than before as he felt his body tinging with heat against the cold night air. 'He's even faster?! But how?!' Gyokko thought in shock. Kyojuro felt his skin burning over his heart, but not in a bad, painful way. His heart beat wildly in his chest, and the searing heat spread even faster through his veins, increasing his speed and strength.
'There! His neck! I need to strike, right, now!' he thought, bringing his sword across the Demon's neck just as he began to retreat into his vase again. The body retreated, but the head fell to the ground, a shocked noise coming from his mouths. "WHAT?! HOW?! I AM ONE OF THE CHOSEN DEMONS! HANDPICKED BY LORD MUZAN! HOW COULD THESE TRAITORS AND A LOWLY HUMAN DEFEAT ME SO EASILY! NO! I CAN'T DIE HERE! NOT TO YOU!" Gyokko shrieked, his head thrashing like a toddler throwing a tantrum. "YOU THINK YOU CAN KILL ME?! YOU ARE NOTHING COMPARED TO ME! NOTHING! YOU'RE ALL DISGUSTING, UGLY PIECES OF FILTH, I'M THE ONE TRYING TO TURN YOU INTO WORKS OF ART! YOU TWO TRAITORS SHOULD BE THANKING ME FOR EVEN CONSIDERING USING YOU AS WELL!" Suddenly flesh started to bulge and grow from his severed neck, tiny hands sprouting and flailing from the bulge as well.
Kyojuro gasped, "is he, trying to overcome being beheaded?!" he asked in shock. "I SWEAR I WON'T FORGIVE YOU! I'LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THIS! I'LL TURN YOU INTO MY LONGEST LASTING ART PIECES YET! YOUR SUFFERING WILL BE AGONISING! EXCRUCIATING! I CAN'T WAIT TO DISPLAY YOUR SCREAMING PIECES FOR LORD MUZAN TO S-" Gyokko was cut off when Kie stomped on his head, crushing it. She stomped on it several more times, until all of the Upper Rank's strength was used up trying to regenerate and he faded into ash. She growled down at him as he faded, "ugly and annoying" she growled. Kie then looked up at the other two.
"Well! Excellent job Mrs Kamado! I'm sure your Husband will be very proud of you" Kyojuro congratulated the Demon woman. The sun began to rise then, the group turning to watch it with a smile. "We did it everyone. The Swordsmith Village is saved" the Rengoku said with a tired smile.
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Mitsuri and Hakuji continued to fight Zohakoten, fending off attack after attack. 'This is bad. Even with the increased power Miss Kanroji has now, she'll still tire out eventually. And while I can protect her and fend off the Dragons at the same time, I can't kill Zohakoten myself. Even if I know the basics of using a sword and could cut off his head, not only would that not do anything, since this isn't the main body, I have no knowledge of how to use Mitsuri's Sword. I'm more likely to cut my own head off than fight effectively with it!' Hakuji thought to himself. However, just as the other Demon banged a drum and another Dragon went after Mitsuri, it dissolved into ashes. Then Zohakoten burned away too.
The two of them stopped fighting and stared at the dissolving Demon, before Mitsuri collapsed to her knees and threw her arms up in celebration, "they did it! They did it! They killed the main body!" she cheered. Hakuji sighed, and smiled as he looked over at the direction he could sense Lord Tanjuro and the others at, "Well done Lord Tanjuro, everyone. I knew you could do it" he said to himself.
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As the sun rose over the area where Kyojuro, Kie and Sayuri were, Kyojuro began to panic and ripped off his Haori, "Mrs Kamado!" he called, turning to cover the Demon woman with the cloth, however he found Kie standing in the sun, and blinking at herself in confusion. "What?! Mrs Kamado! You're not burning! But, how?! You're not one of your Husbands Demons!" Sayuri asked in shock. "D-Don't k-k-know" Kie stuttered in shock. "Well what are we waiting for?! We have to go tell Lord Tanjuro the good news!" Sayuri cheered, beginning to run back towards the Village.
Kyojuro sighed and smiled, "so, everything turned out well after all. This has been a long night" he said as he continued towards the Village. Finally they reached the Village, finding Tanjuro and his Demons already there, looking around. Kie smiled, "Dear!" she called. Tanjuro froze, sure that the call had just been his imagination. The sun was up. Kie couldn't have called out to him. Even if she was still awake, she'd have to be hidden in the forest or something to stay safe from the sun. "T-Tan-juro!" the voice called again, and Tanjuro finally turned around to see a miracle. His Wife was running towards him, waving and beaming under the sunlight.
"KIE!" Tanjuro cried, instantly hurrying towards her as fast as he could go. "Oh my God! Kie!" he cried, finally reaching his Wife after what felt like hours and wrapping her in the tightest hug he could manage. "Oh my God! Kie! You- you're- okay?! You're not burning! How? I- I don't- how did this happen?!" Tanjuro demanded, as he pulled back and stroked Kie's hair and face and arms, ensuring that she was really there and alive. "KIE! Thank God! You're in the sunlight and you're alive! Oh my love!" he began to sob, clutching his Wife close. Then he kissed her. Deeply and passionately. Kie kissed him back, as all of Tanjuro's Demons watched.
"AWE!" Mitsuri said with a beaming grin, clasping her hands together in front of her chest. "I'm so happy for you Tanjuro!" she said, hugging both of them and crying. "M-Mitsu-ri!" Kie said happily. "I'm so relieved that Kie is alright. I don't know how she conquered the sunlight. I never gave her any of my blood, so it's not from that. But however it happened, I'm just so happy everyone is okay!" Tanjuro said in relief. "Lord Tanjuro, I need to talk to you soon" Hakuji said, eyeing Kie in concern. "Of course Hakuji. But we've all been through a lot. Why don't we get some rest before we go back to Headquarters" Tanjuro said, looking over at the two human Hashira.
"We're fine. The Kakushi will be carrying us back home anyway." Kyojuro said. "And besides, the sooner we leave, the sooner everyone here can prepare to depart" Kyojuro replied. "What do you mean?" Tanjuro asked. "The Demon Slayer Corps has several empty Villages for the Swordsmiths to use. That way if Demons manage to discover it, despite all the precautions the Corps takes to hide the Village, they can dismantle the current Village and move to the next one" the Flame Hashira explained. "Oh, that's cool!" Sayuri cried. "Yeah" Ume agreed. "Anyway, let's get ready to depart" Tanjuro decided.
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"Alright, well, I hope you can move and fix up the new Village quickly, and that everyone will be okay" Tanjuro said, bowing to Chief Tecchin respectfully. "Thank you. For everything Mr Tanjuro" the little old man said gratefully. Then they followed the Kakushi away from the Village, waving to all the Swordsmiths who came to see them off.