Nikolaos the Hashira born of bronze and fire

by The agent of steel

The balkin wars...an era that broke many and made many loose there will to fight anymore. on one fateful day, Nikolaos Aristokles born in sparta would have a chance encounter with demon that would reignite his will of fire and lead him to japan...the only problem is he doesnt speak a lick of japanese...

10. Chapter 10 The Aztec

The Greek hashira chapter 10

The night before having the trio do the Agoge, Ayano had a bit of a fever, so I was in charge of training Nezuko…only problem is I had no idea exactly what Ayano was teaching her, so I picked up a shield and Xiphos and handed them to a confused Nezuko.

Smiling I said, "Today I'll be showing you the Greek way of combat."

Nezuko gave a determined grin, and I showed her how to fight like a Greek throwing her opponents stepping on them even taking into consideration her blood demon art to coat her sword and then lunged forward.

"you got some fire in you Nezuko I can feel it, your fighting style though like a rabid animal can be honed! Soon you will be fighting like a true spartan!" I laughed as I showed her how to fight even harder and then taunt her opponents.

Seeing the sun rise I said, "ahh tis the day finally….i shall help you get back to the Bronze Pavilion safely" before putting a huge cloak over her and safely getting her to her room.

As I left Ayano looked at me with some robes and said, "this just came for you from the Butterfly manor and the swordsmith village along with some notes.

Curiously I read the first note from Shinobu sensei that detailed how the robe was my Hashira haori meant to go with my armor plating and that it was long enough to hide my movements but also thick and short enough to not hinder my spear thrusts or other movements. Putting on my armor first I noticed my Haori had little notches in it like they were meant to be buttoned and that's when I realized this was meant to be pinned on my armor so no matter how much I fight or how much I move around the coat will not fall off!

Looking at the second note from mr Hagenezuka it detailed how he was, under direct orders from the master himself, making me an Nodachi to use in combat when my spear shield and kopis fail me.

Smiling I looked at Ayano and gave her a head pat saying, "thank you for bringing this to my attention, it means a lot to me to know that I will be getting some new gear soon!"

Ayano laughed and said, "I am looking forward to seeing you with your new gear now then, we should be going to see Tanjiro and the others off for their Agoge trials shouldn't we?"

I nodded my head and walked out of the cave and over to the bronze pavilion where tanjiro and the others were waiting for me.

I smiled and watched as the three wearing only the tunics I had given them for festival wear looked at me.

"You all know what must be done, claim your blades at the top of the bronze pillar and then make it back here, disarm me of my spear and shield and I will approve of your return to the slayer duties!" I said sitting on my pile of floor pillows waiting for them.

The trio bowed and together shouted, "we won't let you down Lord Nikolaos!" before rushing through the forest.

I had secretly told Ayano to follow them and then report back to me about how they were doing.

Ayano soon returned to me heaving and Hoing and said, "they did it! They made it to the pillar and are on their way back! You should have seen it Nikolaos they had your fire! More importantly it looked like Rengoku was guiding them!"

This made me smile as I got up and waited for them. When they finally got here I nodded my head and I watched as the brazier burned to life around the arena getting my shield and spear ready as I watched Tanjiro, Inosuke, and Zenitsu got themselves ready. They all seemed ready with a better fire than when I first fought them, even Zenitsu though asleep was readying himself with his sword drawn.

Clanking my spear against my shield I said, "I give this match to the gods Athena and Ares, may they guide my spear and shield! Let the final part of the Agoge challenge begin!" before taking up a phalanx stance.

Tanjiro then nodded and said, "Just like we practiced….GO!" AND Inosuke lunged forward spinning like a top catching the edge of my shield and pulling it back, but I lunged forward and kicked him back before thrusting with my spear.

This was blocked though by Tanjiro who shouted, "Water breathing tenth form constant flux!" as he came at me.

Instinctively I shouted, "Pantheon breathing 2nd form Poseidon stampede!" before gripping my shield away from Inosuke and rushing Tanjiro to stop him from gaining some momentum but he shocked me again by slamming my shield back in my face causing me to stagger a bit as I saw the trio gang up on me.

Zenitsu then said, "thunder breathing first form thunderclap and flash! God speed!" before lunging at me too causing me to take up a sturdy stance.

"Pantheon breathing 8th form Iron Guard of Hephaestus!" I shouted as I prepared myself again and felt his Attack bounce off my shield and I then shouted, "My turn! Pantheon breathing 12th form! Bountiful counter of Demeter!" and I struck forward.

Zenitsu's tunic got torn but he managed to get out of the way as Tanjiro and Inosuke kept me on the defensive. These bastards knew my style of fighting, they knew the moment I take up the phalanx I would be unable to truly attack without opening up my guard so they have Zenitsu focusing on forcing me to go on the offense while Inosuke used those grooves in his swords to force my shield to the side so Tanjiro could go for the straps to disarm me! They were finally working harder than they did in the past.

Tanjiro then shouted, "keep him on the defensive! Don't let him get a chance to fight!"

Inosuke laughed hardily and said, "no need to tell me twice! This bastard has skill, but we have numbers!"

I felt it finally! Their fire, their drive, it was finally ignited like Rengoku's. It wasn't kindling like before it was a great forest fire! This was what I was waiting for, this was the pure will of fire I wanted to see and what I bet rengoku sensei would want from them too, and that's when I heard it, my own heart beating like a horse! This fight had me on the ropes just as much as the fight against Harangel! Grinning, I kept fighting harder and harder.

I gave a loud laugh and said, "this is exactly what I was waiting for! This is the will of fire I wanted from you kids! Pantheon breathing 7th form Rage of Ares! Roar!" before slamming my spear into the ground causing the ground to shake and break sending chunks everywhere as I threw my spear down and rushed Zenitsu first Suplexing him into the ground followed by turning my attention to the other two as they fought their hearts out managing to finally disarm me of my shield and spear.

Tanjiro then held his sword at my throat and said, "we have won!"

I grinned happily and continued to laugh clapping my hands and even crying a little bit, "yes well done! Well, done indeed you three, I give you all my seal of approval to return to your jobs as demon slayers! I will send word to HQ to let them know to send your Kasugai crows with missions from now on!"

When I looked over to the main hall, I was shocked at first but saw Nezuko fully grown with her chest puffed out and without her muzzle with her arms crossed and laughing like me in the darkened room while Ayano stormed over to me with her eyes twitching.

"Nikolaos, what the hell did you do!" Ayano asked sounding very annoyed.

Sweating I remembered the night before and said, "ummm well I may or may not have trained her the night before in the ways of a hoplite…."

Nezuko then pointed at my spear and shield, and I said, "wait you want me to make you a set just like mine?"

Nezuko nodded and I grinned saying, "I think I have a good idea!"

Tanjiro then looked at me with a dead stare and said, "wait…no is my sister starting to act like you…gods no, just promise me the shield won't be as tall as yours."

I chuckled and said, "I have an idea for a custom shield for Nezuko that would work well, for now all of you celebrate, have fun you are now truly powerful demon slayers!" before leaving to go into slayer town.

As I walked through the bustling town, I saw people laughing and trading goods and eating food. It was quite peaceful as a lady bowed to me and offered some freshly baked Spanakopita.

Graciously I took a couple before eating them and shouting, "delicious!" at the top of my lungs.

It was so peaceful so happy and soon I came to the house of the only man in slayer town who knew how to work with scarlet crimson iron, Yagen.

Walking into the blacksmith shop I bowed and said, "Yagen are you here?"

An old man wearing a black oni mask walked out from behind a set of doors and said, "ahhh lord Nikolaos how are you! to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

Looking at the blacksmith I described a large Aspis shield that collapsed in on its self and rolled out like a spiral staircase along with a xiphos sword that would fit easily in Tanjiro's box and made sure that the Xophis's handle matched her dress to make it look beautiful.

The blacksmith looked fueled up about the shield and said, "I'll make sure it is the most elegant and durable shield ever! As for the sword your lucky cause I just got a new shipment of scarlet crimson sand and scarlet crimson ore in from the swordsmith village! Give me a day!"

Bowing I said, "I knew I can trust you lord Yagen, I expect nothing but the best from you!" before leaving.

I Spent the entire day training the trio in hand to hand combat and gurellia warfare tactics like using the surroundings to ones advantage and how to survive off the land should it come down to it.

After training I decided to relax during the feast as Ayano leaned her head on me and said, "Lord Yagen should be done with Nezuko's weapons, will she be doing the agoge? If so, does that mean she will be a demon slayer too?"

I nodded and said, "yes indeed, I believe she is ready for the trial, it should be more efficient than final selection to see if she is worthy this way, if she were to do final selection she would have it easy as other demons would avoid her, at least this way I get to see her strength"

Night soon approached and with it lor Yagen with what I requested. Calling for Nezuko I brought her before me and smiling, I uncovered the shield and sword and watched as Nezuko looked in awe and tried them on.

"I hope the weaponry is up to your liking Nezuko and the weapons are small enough that they can fit inside your case too" I chuckled as I watched Nezuko swing the sword around like a natural.

When Ayano saw it, she looked utterly defeated as she sulked in a corner saying, "she now has a sword and shield and is a demon, all I have now is blood demon breathing, being able to speak Greek, and surviving the sun…she- she can't replace me yet…."

I chuckled and Tanjiro said, "so does that mean you'll try and have her go through the Agoge?"

I nodded and said, "if it's okay with you of course I wouldn't mind having her go through it. I'll try to put in a request to headquarters to have this be her final selection to make her a demon slayer"

Tanjiro chuckled and said, "she has been a great help to me, and I wouldn't mind having her fight alongside me, so you have my blessing to train her and put her through the Agoge"

Nezuko was making faster progress than the trio surprisingly when it came for training for the agoge her strength against the trainers was impressive even being able to fight and injure the strongest trainers that I had. When it came to her swordsmanship it was nothing to laugh at either as she was able to fight like me and Inosuke rough and powerfully like a Greek.

Watching Nezuko fling her arm causing the shield to spiral into a full Aspis was something to marvel at as she looked at me with a determined glare. Meeting her gaze, I kicked the bottom of my spear and took up my phalanx stance and started to circle her before Ayano raised her hand to start the match. Instinctively we both lunged forward and clashed our shields together and started to push each other back and forth while trying to use our weapons to stab each other from over the side of our shields till finally nezuko managed to get the upper hand by stepping back so I would fall forward and kick me in the stomach.

As if like a bolt of lightning I felt why she was fighting, her vow of silence due to her demon blood. She had some fire in her and her urge to protect all humans as if they were her family, and the fact she wants to defend her brother with her life was a noble effort only hindered by the demon blood coursing in her veins forcing her to take a vow of silence with the muzzle to make sure she didn't attack humans.

This caught me off guard as I rolled and took up a more defensive stance as she went on the offensive. I waited till I saw an opening and with a smile I lunged forward and tackled her to the ground before suplexing her.

Ayano then said, "enough! This battle is won, Nikolaos has the point!"

I laughed helping Nezuko up as I said, "you have some fire in you, your strength is something else too! Maybe try coating the blade in your blood, that way your xophis has some extra oomph in it, and your stance needs to be a bit wider."

I then held her left leg and planted her foot deep into the ground and helped her take a wider stance and said, "there now watch!" I then lunged at her with my shield, and we clashed again but with her strength she managed to push me away better even causing me to stumble.

Smiling I said, "see I told you! just remember that stance and what Ayano taught you about martial arts and you should be able to face anything that comes your way!"

Nezuko nodded and looked super determined as we continued to train for the remainder of the night till finally, I felt she was ready for the agoge challenge herself.

The next night I looked at Tanjiro and said, "be waiting by the south side of the bronze pavilion in case your sister washes out I'll go with her for the test."

Tanjiro bowed and said, "good luck nezuko!" with a smile.

As I led Nezuko to the mountain I looked at the moon and said, "the agoge might be even harder as it's a new moon with barely any light, I hope you are ready".

Nezuko gave a determined smile and I said, "let's do this then."

"If you can do it Nezuko I will personally recognize you as a demon slayer." I said, leading her to the cave.

Nezuko gave an even more determined glance as I threw her sword into bronze pillar and shouted, "Begin!" while getting my own spear and shield ready.

I watched in awe as she managed to make it through the challenge and started to swim back to me. She got very close with her sword but one of the whirlpools started to drag her in.

I was about to jump in and save her, but I stopped myself remembering this was her challenge and could felt my heart pounding as she got control of herself and managed to make it across the lake back to me where we fought hard till she finally managed to disarm me of my spear and shield.

Smiling like a stupid idiot I said, "FWEHAHAHAHAHAH! YES! HELL YES THIS IS WHAT I HAVE BEEN WIATING FOR I NIKOLAOS ARISTOKLES THE GREAT LION OF SPARTA, LAST HOPLITE BORN OF NEOCHORI NAME YOU MY TSUGUKO!" before hugging her tightly and laughing.

I soon let go of Nezuko and watched as she grew and puffed out her chest laughing like me making me smile as I started to contemplate giving her Greek armor, I knew if I did Ayano and Tanjiro would both murder me so I chose not to, instead giving her a pat on the shoulder and saying, "I swear by the river styx come first light I will make sure you are named a demon slaying demon!"

Inosuke then walked up and patted her on the back and said, "Fwegaragaragaragara! Welcome to team Greek Nezuko!"

The three of us all puffed out our chests and laughed saying, "Fwehahahahahahahahaha fwehahahahahahahahah!"

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Ayano looking dead inside as she pulled out a bottle of wine and drank most of it sadly.

The celebration was soon broken as a slayer rushed in shouting, "Lord Nikolaos! We have a big problem a great problem indeed!"

Curiously I said, "what is it?"

The slayer looked spooked and said, "demons! Loads of them approaching from the east! They're coming!"

Raising an eyebrow I shouted, "warn the village and get the slayers into slayer town! Protect the villagers and let them get out!" before picking up my shield and spear and looking at Ayano and the others.

"I will go and defend slayer town! You guys defend the bronze pavilion!" I shouted before rushing over to slayer town.

As I did I was in horror of what I saw, slayer town on fire people running around In fear as demons yelling and keening dressed in strange panther and eagle inspired clothing….no it was armor! They ran around attacking and tearing out the hearts of the many slayers and villagers who were unprepared.

Furiously I rushed forward and shouted, "pantheon breathing 4th form Speed of Hermes!" rushing with my Kopis and shield slicing the heads off the many demons that got in my way before looking around.

A lone slayer rushed up to me and said, "lord Nikolaos! We have a huge group of them rushing from the east!"

"gather as many as you can and tell them to meet me by the eastern entrance to the city! We wont let them rush us! And tell the other slayers in the bronze pavilion to aid the people of slayer town!"

The slayer bowed and rushed off to kill as many demons as I could before joining up with the many slayers who had gathered. Looking forward I saw a huge horde of the cultist inspired demons and Shouting I clanked my spear to my shield and shouted, "Form up a phalanx! Don't let anyone pass!"

The other slayers nodded and rushed forward clanking shields together forming the mighty phalanx with katanas naginatas and spears pointing out as the many cultist demons rushed forward. Some of the demons did fall prey to the spears and others got over but were attacked by slayers coming from the north and south to join up with us.

Laughing we pushed back the cultist and kept up the pressure as I shouted, "their wills are breaking do you see it! They were not expecting us to rally so soon! Let our wills burn with fire and our blood boil with rage! Pantheon breathing 8th form iron guard of Hephaestus!"

We stood proud and strong as they tried to break our defenses only to waive and give us room to move forward and give the spears behind us the chance to thrust forward and stab the demons killing them, we kept this up for a bit before a slayer ran to me and said, "Lord Nikolaos urgent message from Lady Ayano! A demon has broken our defenses and is now in combat with Tanjiro, Inosuke, Zenitsu, and Nezuko! And here's the worse part! Its an eclipse!"

My heart sunk into my gut as I realized why this seemed to easy this was a distraction! The real foe was fighting closer to the bronze pavilion! They wanted Ayano!

"rear guard switch!" I shouted before slightly breaking the phalanx before being replaced by the rear guard as I rushed off to deal with the demon.

Soon I made it close to the battle I saw the demon in question a demon clad head to toe in ancient Aztec style armor including a panther themed helmet, a pauldron adorned in feathers and grey skin with strange markings all over his body.

Lunging forward as the demon was about to cleave Tanjiro's head I shouted, "Pantheon Breathing 4th form speed of Hermes! God speed!" making sure to use my shield to bash the Aztec out of the way causing him to roll out of the way.

Struggling to look up Tanjiro said, "Lord Nikolaos, we- we did our best"

Smiling I said, "you did well kid…Rengoku sensei would be very happy with you today."

I gave Tanjiro a pat on the back as I looked at the Aztec and said, "these three are my Tsuguko, and my students I will not let you hurt them!"

The Aztec laughed and said, "ahhh finally a warrior worthy of my caliber! You must be the bastard who killed Farid, Horoko and Harangel!"

I nodded and said, "and you must be the eclipse known as the Aztec am I correct in this assumption?" I asked, taking up a stance.

The Aztec laughed and said, "yes that would be me! Fwehahahaha good! Very good I am excited to finally fight you" before slicing open his hand and pouring his blood on himself before pulling a huge club with jagged shards of Obsidian off his back and taking a very wide stance.

Taking a deep breath I said, "watch and learn my dear Tsuguko this Is the strength of a hashira!" before rushing forward at breakneck speed to meet the foe head on.

The Aztec laughed and rushed me too using his club to make a huge dent in my shield but I didn't care as I moved my shield out of the way and thrusted with all my might stabbing him in the gut and then twirling him in the air before throwing him at a tree.

The Aztec leapt off the tree and rushed me whooping and yelling as he rushed me again snickering as he lunged forward dancing as he fought me his movements very fluid as he brought his club down on my shoulder causing me to wince as he started a saw motion but as he did I stabbed him in the throat and tried to decapitate him but he moved back pulling his club out as he did.

I looked at my arm and winced as I realized just how much pain I was in with the number of torn muscles.

Tanjiro then shouted, "be careful Nikolaos! He has 27 hearts that need to be pierced!"

Grinning I said, "so the enemy is immortal because of these hearts! Good yes very good indeed this could be fun!"

The Aztec rushed me and shouted, "Blood demon art! Stride of the panther!" before turning into a bloody panther and trying to leap at me to maul me.

Laughing I dodged out of the way bitch slapped him with the shield before hooking my spear around his collar and throwing him away before rushing him and shouting, "lets see your fire! Pantheon breathing 5th form burning chariot of apollo!" before rushing him like a horse of fire and leaping into the air before jabbing down with my spear piercing his chest taking out one of his hearts causing him to howl in pain.

The Aztec kicked away my spear and shield and I kicked away his club and we began to spar our moves echoing far and wide as I lunged forward to fight but he danced around me. It was such an unorthodox fighting style with grooving movements and side steps I didn't realize he had hidden weapons until I felt a knife hit me in the back of the knee bringing me down as I kicked him away and grabbed for my spear and shield and started back to my phalanx style of fighting.

The Aztec laughed and said, "yessss you are good! Very good I can see how the others fell to you but we upper three eclipses have our own styles! Blood demon art Xiuhtecuhtli embers!" before pulling a medallion off his belt and pointing it right at me.

I had little time to react as the amulet suddenly started to spew fire at me burning the top of my helmet as I raised up my shield enough to cover my head.

Laughing I said, "hahahahah the god of strength Kratos himself fights by my side Aztec I can not loose here, let us see whose religious fire burns brighter! Right here and now! One last attack one last hail Mary!"

The Aztec looked at me annoyed and said, "no wonder the persian hates greeks you guys just don't know when to give up, fortunately I don't want to kill you, not in a fight, no I want to sacrifice you to the god of the night Tezcatlipoca! And what better way to do that than with this!"

He then pulled out an obsidian effigy of woman and shouted, "blood demon art, endless darkened sleep of Xoaltecuhtli!" before launching the effigy at me.

As he did the eiffgy's eyes glowed red as black good started to flow from it. Instinctively I tried to slash at it with my spear but no use somehow the thing grew tentacles and snapped my spear before forming a puddle beneath me. I watched in horror as it started to consume me as I pulled out my kopis to try and attack it only for that to break too.

As the black goo started to envelope me, I watched as it formed a single piercing needle and stabbed me in the heart. The last thing I saw as I started to pass out however was Ayano rushing over to me crying shouting, "Nikolaos!"

Soon the goo covered my eyes, but I wasn't blinded, I was left in the void, eternal darkness, I was alone. Death and mortality overtook me, and I could feel fear starting to take over my mind.

I looked at my broken gear and felt myself quivering again like I did with the Persian! This- this foe was strong, and I had been training my heart out and yet I still wasn't strong! What was I doing wrong! What was going on with me!

A voice then called out shouting, "stand tall Nikolaos!"

I looked up and I was faced with Rengoku sensei sitting in front of me with his katana out.

"Rengoku sensei…I failed you…even with your dying fire I am not strong enough!" I cried.

Rengoku smiled and said, "are you saying I chose wrong?"

I looked up at him shocked and said, "no! by the gods Rengoku sensei I would never say that!"

Rengoku smirked and said, "then why are you doubting yourself Nikolaos? Are you not the last true spartan of Neochori? The great lion of old!"

I stuttered a bit saying, "but Sensei! I- I am failing you! I barely had time to train the students you entrusted to me, I just left them to the other trainers and barely trained them personally! I let them get into a fight with a damn Eclipse for god's sake!"

Rengoku raised and eyebrow at me and said, "it seems those kids are doing fine to me? They have your will of fire no doubt about it, but they aren't giving up, even now outside of this abyss they are fighting to protect you from The Aztec, fighting to keep you from giving in to despair, do you wish for their efforts to be in vain?"

I took a deep breath and said, "but sensei I am not strong enough!"

Rengoku walked up to me and slapped me across the face knocking my helmet off as he said, "this is not the same Nikolaos I left my dying words to, his flame has dwindled yet he dares not admit it"

I looked down and noticed he was right; I could see my heart and the flame was dying.

Taking another deep breath and collecting myself I said, "Sensei…you are right…your death weighs heavily on me, I- I am afraid of my own mortality and the fear of loosing those closest to me"

Rengoku then broke his katana and slammed the tsuba against my chest where my heart's hole was and I felt a fire reigniting as he said, "this is my will of fire I pass on to you as my only Tsuguko, live your life protecting those you love, for love is the path to peace, passion shall kindle love, and love kindles your fire, remember that and nothing can hold you!"

Rengoku sensei then started to walk away and I tried to chase after him shouting, "Rengoku sensei! Rengoku sensei please come back!"

As a bright light returned me to the world I felt myself being shaken by Ayano who looked at me crying saying, "Please for the love of the gods Niko don't leave me! You stupid idiot I don't want to be alone again! Don't leave I beg you!"

Blinking a couple times I turned over and started to cough up black goo as Ayano cried and said, "Nikolaos! Your- your alright that black goo started to drill its way into your chest but then it- it!"

I looked over to the ground and saw the good turning into cinders and the idol on fire. Rengoku's parting aid. My eyes then darted over to see the trio and nezuko fighting off the Aztec using everything in their arsenal I had taught them to keep him at bay, it was beautiful watching it, even watching young tanjiro using what he knew of the hinokami kagura to fight him off.

"my weapons are broken though Ayano…I can't fight" I said getting up.

Ayano smirked and said, "then it's a good thing Mr Hagenezuka isn't afraid of delivering during a fight" before pulling out a large Katana with bronze ito wrapping, red samegawa, and a tsuba that depicted the Greek symbol for Omega on it.

Unsheathing it I was in awe as the black blade turned a deep shade of crimson and burned to life like a fire with bronze pattern like spears going towards the tip of the blade. The words "destroyer of demons" was etched in kanji near the tsuba and on the otherside in Greek was written "last spartan of Greece."

Smiling I got up and finally understood this life-or-death situation as Ayano said, "I also have your other gear, Hagenezuka thought it would be wise to also bring spares just in case before hooking my shield on my back, a new kopis on my side and a new spear planted firmly into the ground next to me.

As I looked over to the fight, I was at first shocked cause when I looked at them all I could see if their bodies, their brains muscles and even their nervous systems! I could see every single twitch in the muscles and even the remaining hearts that the Aztec had. My heart was beating faster and faster, faster than normal in fact almost like the war drums before a triumphant charge, and body was boiling over to the point I took of my chest plate and helmet just in an attempt to cool down as Ayano looked at me shocked saying, "Nikolaos! Your- your glowing! A red mark is forming on your back, it looks like the symbol for Meta!"

I grinned and said, "this must be the gods way of saying they fight with me!" before taking a stance with the Nodachi and rushing forward at the others.

Howling like Rengoku did in his fights and gripping the Nodachi in two hands I shouted, "Flame breathing! Third form! Blazing universe!" before slicing downwards with the Nodachi causing a huge burst of fire to explode on the ground from the attack defending young Tanjiro from the knife of the Aztec.

Tanjiro looked at me shocked stuttering, "R-Rengoku sensei?"

Snickering I said, "note entirely young Tanjiro, his Tsugoku is here! I am ready for round two! This time with more Gusto than the mighty 300 of Thermopylae!"

The Aztec laughed and rushed me with his knife and black magic shouting, "good! Yes very good! I was worried you were truly dead! Although it does surprise me you were able to escape my Xoaltecuhtli effigy but no matter I will make sure you die! And when you do I will make your sacrifice to the great god of death Mictlantecuhtli a wonderful one! Hahahaha!"

I laughed and parried his attack shouting, "Flame breathing fourth form blooming flame undulation!" twirling around him and leaving long burning slashes before sheathing my nodachi and switching to my shield and spear and shouting, "Pantheon breathing 7th form rage of Ares lunging to war!"

My bright red fire turned into a bronze flame as I howled in rage and stabbed him in heart connecting his arm to his forearm and severed it completely.

The Aztec looked shocked as he said, "my- heart! How is this possible you shouldn't have been able to see it!"

Calmly I kept fighting and howling as I fought the Aztec our blades clashing as I switched between the offensiveness of fire breathing and the sturdy defense of my pantheon breathing.

This Aztec had my blood flowing and pounding in my ears as I kept up with him aggravating him as he said, "by the gods you really are annoying! How dare you I will not be defeated by a Greek punk!"

In the back of my mind I knew I was getting close to finishing him ff as I muttered, "Rengoku sensei I swear to continue your will of fire and let passion and love guide my blade"

I then lunged forward pushing him off balance I pulled out my spear and nodachi saying, "hear me mighty Aztec warrior! I am not just Greek nor am I Japanese, I am an amalgamation of both cultures, I honor my past, I honor my present and I will honor what is to become of me in the future! I stand proud and face life with the fury and courage of my ancestors and my senseis! I am not going to let the darkness take me over I will let my will of fire shine bright Pantheon breathing 14th form, Will of Rengoku! Purgatory helios!"

As I took a step forward with my spear pointed forward and my nodachi on my back the land below me burned with magma as if Tartarus itself was flowing into the realm of mortals, the Aztec looked shocked and stumbled back a bit as his feet burned from the magma. Behind me my nodachi burned like a sun shining forward.

Enraged, The Aztec howled saying, "no I refuse to be destroyed this way your sun will be eclipsed by my moon and darkness shall reign supreme! Blood demon art rage of Cihuacoatl the earth goddess!" before letting the glowing markings on his arm turn from a turquoise blue to a deep amber yellow before slamming them into the ground.

The ground turned to blood and then into spikes shooting forward like serpents but no matter as I ran forward like a fireball the spikes melted like they had gotten to close to the sun as I shouted, "Aztec! Thank you! you have given me a fight I will never forget! You and the other eclipses have been worthy adversaries this entire time!"

Before the Aztec could do anything, I stabbed him right in the stomach with the spear sending a surge of magma right through his body causing him to howl in pain turning his skin to Ash and planting It in the ground like a flag as his body was impaled. Gripping my nodachi with two hands I watched in awe as the ghost of Rengoku sensei gripped the sword with me and with a smile I howled and stamped my foot hard on the floor causing an eruption of magma like a volcano as the sun came up behind me and I decapitated him.

The aztec's point of view:

As my life faded I was reminded of my earliest memories, I was once a priest in my village, long before those conquistadors came to my land and killed my people.

I had it all, a house to myself, gold and jewels and the honor of being the royal priest. I had the chieftain in the palm of my hand, allowing me to execute those that I believed were against me and the gods! And then those damn Conquistador, those damn Spaniards! They destroyed my people and cursed me! I was tied up and had my back torn open spread eagle and hundreds of curses placed in my bones!

I thought I would die but my gods blessed me and allowed me to continue living! I took this as an omen to continue my sacrifices! I spent what felt an eternity going around America and south America killing those my gods felt were unworthy, drinking their blood and adding their hearts to mine I was immortal, binding my blood demon arts to my many amulets and totems, I was drawn by the smell of strong blood to Japan where I met the other eclipses and soon….him Muzan Kibutsuji….he was strong yes, not as strong as the upper three eclipses but powerful to say the least his unique ability to turn others into demons was amazing and his promise of allowing me to blacken the sky and make day into pure darkness enthralled me and yet here I was dying to hands of this Greek bastard! I couldn't even remember my own name at this point.

As I stood there in the abyss and bright light in front of me with the open arms of my people who I hadn't seen in ages I sneered and said, "why would I stand with those who had no ambition, I'll curse your very existence and see you all in Mictlan where I will kill you again!" before walking off into the void.

Back to nikolaos's point of view:

As I stood their breathing heavily my body started to finally cool down, my blood stopped boiling the beating of my heart softened and the ground around me turned back to solid rock the only evidence of my new move being the ground around me representing that of a dormant volcano with ash and soot around me like freshly fallen snow.

I was however horrified as the Aztec laughed and said, "boy you must feel really dumb!"

I looked over to him and got ready to attack as he said, "you ever wonder how Ayano knows so much about us? I mean honestly do you think Muzan would turn any ol human into a demon and put them in charge of keeping tabs on lower moons and the eclipses! Nah you idiot!"

Ayano rushed forward shouting, "Aztec don't do it!"

The Aztec laughed and said, "why whats wrong with them knowing you are truly the daughter of Muzan Kibutsuji!" before finally fading.

Ayano looked over at us in fear before I could even react though and ran away.

Smiling I looked over to the trio and Nezuko who was slowly crawling back into her box and smiled as I started to pass out only to hear The trio shout, "Nikolaos sensei!" before rushing to grab me before I could fall over.

"Rengoku sensei…your will of fire will be passed down" I muttered before passing out.

Waking up in my bed I coughed a bit as the light softly came in through the window. Getting up and looking at my wounds I was fascinated with how well they had healed. Stretching a bit, I walked around and saw my armor in pristine condition along with the Haori and remembered what had happened.

Ayano had lied to me…she was not just any ordinary demon….she was Muzan's daughter! Born from his cells, damn it why didn't she tell me!

Walking out through the halls I heard yelling, cursing, the throwing of pottery and when I walked in I saw Ayano in a corner cowering in fear protected by Tanjiro, Inosuke and Zenitsu as the Hashira tried to attack her.