Which One's The Monster?

Hello everyone and welcome to the latest chapter of The Heart Of The Asura! Now before we get too far I have an announcement to make, I PUBLISHED A NEW BOOK! That's right, it's called 'Barons Of The Stars', a spacefaring, futuristic fantasy adventure now on Amazon for $2.99. If you like space battles, duels with mystical weapons, and the occasional quip then check this new story out! Now then that's all the announcements I have for the time being, so with no guest review questions this week, on to the story!

Tsuzumi Mansion

Tanjiro was on target, his blade aimed for the demon's neck, ready to cut off his head just as he'd been trained to do for two whole years. As he was about to come within striking range, however, the demon hit one of the drums on his shoulder. The entire room turned sideways and Tanjiro fell to the left. He hit the wall, which had now become the ground, and rolled back up, seeing that the demon was still standing upright in the same orientation as the room.

Again he charged and again the demon hit one of the drums on his shoulder, this time causing the room to turn backwards. Tanjiro was ready for it this time and managed to land on his feet, wincing slightly from the pain of his previous injuries. 'That must be his blood demon art,' the slayer surmised while leaping up and kicking off part of the room. The demon hit the drum on his hip this time, causing the room rotate and reorient itself back to normal.

'No doubt about it now,' Tanjiro landed and resumed his stance, 'that demon is the master of this mansion.' "You damn insects," the drum demon growled, "buzzing around my mansion like this. You all need to DIE!" He hit the drum on his stomach then.

It was only thanks to his instincts and his training that Tanjiro leapt out of the way in time as the floor was shredded, looking almost like giant claws had slashed it. 'He has an offensive attack too,' the boy slayer realized before dodging out of the way of more claw strikes that seemed to come from out of nowhere. 'His attacks land with the same speed as the drum,' he quickly noted. The boy watched the demon like a hawk as he hit the other drums on his body.

One to rotate the room right, another for left, and one for backwards. 'I'm starting to get the hang of this, which means I can fight him!' Tanjiro waited for the room to orient into a specific position before attacking again. This time he'd be ready for whichever way the room spun. That is until he heard a drum beat that wasn't caused by the demon. 'Oh no' the boy swordsman raised his arms as the room changed and he slammed into a wall, falling back onto the floor. "Ow," he grunted while staring at the ceiling, "I hope the others are doing alright. This mission is starting to hurt a bit."

Another Section Of The Mansion: With Susamaru

"For fuck's sake, again," Susamaru huffed while noting the hallway had changed once more, "I'm guessing that wasn't you, fatso, so what gives?"

"It's that brat again," the large demon revealed, "and I'm not that fat, I'm just well-fed."

"I've been around long enough to know what fat looks like and you are fat with a capital 'F'," the Temari Demon pointed out. She wasn't kidding either, the demon not only towered over her a bit, he was also three times wider than her. The brown kimono top he was wearing looked quite small on him and his pants seemed pretty tight around the legs, or what she could see of his legs considering he seemed to be permanently crouching under his own weight. "Why in the world would you choose to look like that, anyway, we're shapeshifters who can take on all kinds of forms and you pick that one?"

"This is just the form I'm most comfortable in," he defended, "and why even bother looking good when we can only go out at night, anyway?"

"It's not just about looks, it's also about effectiveness," Susamaru sighed with her hands on her hips, "how in the world have you managed to properly feed yourself when you look like you'd have trouble keeping up with the elderly?"

"I do well enough, especially right now," he leaned in with his hand up to whisper, "which reminds me, are you here for the Marechi boy?"

"There's someone with Marechi here?" The Temari Demon was now paying attention.

"There is," the fat demon confirmed, "the little brat got a hold of the drum and has been making everything shift around."

"That explains why it seems so random," Susamaru put a hand to her chin, "is it just you and that drum guy?"

"I wish, there's one more guy with a long ass tongue running around here," the oversized demon scoffed, "but the good news is I've been smelling a lot more humans in the mansion recently. So what's say you and I make a nice meal out of them."

"I've got a better idea," she removed her haori and wrapped it around her waist before slipping out of her kimono top. Unsurprisingly her fellow demon leered at her, clearly misunderstanding what was going on. "I think I'll work on finishing the job we came here to do."

"Who's we-GAH!" Susamaru leapt up and slugged him in the face, hard enough for the fat demon to stagger back into the wall.

"Me and the slayers who came here to deal with all of you," She cracked her knuckles.

At About The Same Time: With Zenitsu and Kagabara

"We need to ruuuuun!" Zenitsu tried racing off but was merely stuck in the motion of running thanks to Kagabara holding onto the back of his uniform.

"There's no point in running from a demon of this level," she assured, "besides, we need to carve him up or he might eat more boys and lower the number of desirable men in the world."

"Oh, you're interested in desirable men," the blond slayer stopped trying to run.

"You've already blown it," she gave him a manic glare while invading his personal space, "you had your chance to prove it but you whined and ran at the first sign of trouble." The female Slayer released him roughly, causing him to nearly fall over as she approached the demon.

"A demon of my level," he repeated while swaying his tongue, "it seems I'll need to teach you a bit about the food chain before I devour you." The demon curled his body into a ball as several more eyes opened on his body. In the next instant, numerous growths began to sprout outwards like bubbles before shooting all over the room around and behind the demon. "Allow me to introduce my little frog helpers," he held out his arms dramatically as miniature, more frog-like versions of himself began creeping towards Kagabara, "they'll be aiding me in your education!"

The miniature monsters all began leaping towards the girl who simply tilted her head to the side for a moment as she breathed in. 'Yandere Breathing Third Form',' Kagabara thought while quickly drawing her weapon, 'Warding Love!' She swung the weapon in front of her in a one-handed, almost manic style that still somehow accurately cut through the first wave of attackers. "You're mine!" The demon lashed his tongue out as soon as she was done with the form.

The Yandere Breather sidestepped the attack, hearing a cry of pain as it slapped Zenitsu in the face and knocked him over. "Moron," she remarked while readying her weapon, which resembled a type of tuna knife, and charged forward with a two-handed thrust, "Yandere Breathing First Form: Possessive Love!" Her attack was aimed at the demon's face with the intent of tearing it up before she took his head. In a panic the demon leapt over her head, faster than she anticipated and her attack wound up only cutting his leg off.

'Shit, she's worse than I thought,' the demon attempted to scurry away before noticing Zenitsu was still unconscious, 'but at least I can get one of 'em!' He shot his tongue out in an attempt to drag the boy away with him. That is until his tongue was suddenly cut in half. 'What the?'

He backed up instinctively as the slayer stood up. 'Are his eyes still closed,' the demon noted as he actually began to sweat, 'and what's this feeling, it's like I'm up against a completely different person.' Zenitsu took a running stance then, his hand on his sword. "Thunder Breathing," he drew his sword just the slightest bit, "Thunderclap and Flash!"

There was a flash of yellow and a little bit of electricity then. The next thing Kagabara knew, Zenitsu was right in front of her with his sword sheathed again. "What in the," she backed up a little in surprise, "you could do that this whole time?" She didn't receive an answer at first and wondered if something was wrong before noticing he was still asleep.

That is until the demon's head rolled up against his leg. "Huh," he stirred, somehow standing while sleeping and looked down, "YAAAAAAAAH!" Zenitsu leapt up and landed in Kagabara's arms, "what's going on here?!"

"The demon's dead," the Yandere Breather pointed out, indicating the dissolving body, "not bad."

"Oh thank goodness!" The blond slayer hugged her, "I knew you were strong! I'm so grateful, thank you for saving me!"

"But you cut its head off," Kagabara corrected with a deadpan look, "you don't need to thank me."

"You're humble too," Zenitsu continued to cry, getting a sigh out of the female slayer. 'I hope it won't take much longer to get out of here.' The Yandere Breather didn't want to think of the implications of being stuck in a haunted mansion with him for an extended period of time.

Another Hallway: With Honoka And Inosuke

"Could you slow down?!" Honoka called while trying to keep up with Inosuke, "there could be traps or something worse!"

"I'm counting on it," he called back, "I'll slice through everything and use it as my springboard to get stronger!"

"That doesn't mean just rushing into everything that looks like a promising fight!" The Police Officer countered, "If you butt into something you don't understand it could cause all kinds of-CRASH!" As if to prove her right, a large form suddenly came bursting through the door and slammed into Inosuke, knocking him into the other room.

"You know I was recently unsure of where I stood on the totem pole," Susamaru admitted while walking through the hole in the doors she'd just made, "but now I'm starting to get a good idea that I'm not the lowest person on it."

"Ow," the fat demon more rolled up than sat up, "I don't understand, why are you fighting your own kind?"

"That's rich coming from a guy who straight up admitted to fighting other demons for food," the Temari Demon scoffed, "I'm doing what I need to survive. Now that I'm no longer Muzan's puppet I'll be fighting my fellow demons whether I want too or not. So I may as well help take out the asshole who's been lying to me all these years."

"You just said his name," the large demon's eyes widened, "how come you can say his-SLICE!" A pair of blades cut through his neck with little trouble, decapitating the demon as his body hit the floor with a thud.

"Hah! That's what you get!" Inosuke declared while stamping on the disintegrating corpse, "no one comes crashing into me and gets away with it!"

"You, you killed it," Honoka gasped, "and it's really dissolving, just like she said it would."

"Oh hey," Susamaru pointed at the woman, "you're that cop that came busting into Tamayo's place. What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you guys," the police officer pointed back, "I had questions for all of you, too. Don't you know how hard it is to write a report like this when all the witnesses are gone?"

"You followed us all the way out here just to get a repor-WHOA!" The Temari Demon ducked and jumped to the side to avoid the blades of the boar fighter.

"Enough talking!" Inosuke growled, "You're a monster just like that guy! And don't try to lie to me, you've got the same vibe as him."

"I never said I wasn't but-hey!" Susamaru had to dodge even more attacks as the boar boy swung wildly, but surprisingly accurately at her. "Will you just listen for a moment?!" She stumbled back then as both her arms were suddenly sliced off by the dual wielder.

"Now," he readied to cut her head off, "comin'-GUH!" The noisy slayer was silenced by a Temari hitting him in the face, "what in the-ah, oh, ow!" Three more followed before he finally realized she'd sprouted four extra arms.

"Alright, if you won't listen," Susamaru regrew her two main arms and brought her hand to her fist, "I'll break your jaw so you'll shut up and stop interrupting me."

"Bring it on ball-grabbing monster!" Inosuke challenged with his swords at the ready.

"Idiot, the ball grabbing demon was my mother!" She jokingly declared as the two engaged while Honoka tried to decide who to shoot.

Back With Tanjiro

'This mansion really is huge,' Tanjiro again observed, 'it's a wonder how long somebody could wander in here before memorizing the layout.' He was mostly focusing on this fact to distract himself from the dead body he'd come across after exiting the room he'd been transported too. There hadn't been much left, just enough for him to know the death had been recent, and not at all pleasant. It both chilled and angered him as he pondered just how many innocent people could be in the mansion this very moment.

The anger, however, was forgotten as he caught a scent, a human scent! Picking up the pace a little, Tanjiro approached what looked to be a larger room before cautiously sliding the door open. He was greeted by a gasp then as he saw a boy in the center of the room, with an orange Kimono! "Thank goodness," he breathed a sigh of relief while approaching slowly, "you're alright."

"W-Who are you," the boy asked hesitantly while his hand hovered over a Tsuzumi drum.

"There's no need to worry," Tanjiro knelt slightly to show he meant no harm, "my name is Tanjiro Kamado. I met your sister and brother outside of the mansion. I'm here to get you out of here and deal with the demons inhabiting this place."

"Kamado," he repeated, "my name's Kiyoshi. Are my sister and brother okay?"

"They're fine," the boy slayer assured, "the two of them are just outside the mansion right now. They're both very brave."

"They're okay," Kiyoshi let out a sigh of relief before covering his face as fresh tears fell, "I'm so glad they're okay."

"You did very well yourself," Tanjiro complimented, "if you'll allow me, I heard you were injured, mind if I take a look?" The boy seemed hesitant but the demon slayer had nothing but confidence as he pulled out a brown envelope. "There's no need to worry, this ointment given to me by my master is super amazing! You'll feel better right away."

His rescuee still seemed a little hesitant but showed him his leg where he'd been cut. Tanjiro applied the ointment and got to work bandaging it. "He was a strange man, always wearing a Tengu mask, but he was very kind." Tanjiro continued.

"Tengu mask," Kiyoshi tilted his head in slight wonder.

"Yep, he claimed it was because his face was too kind looking," the boy slayer smiled, "he said demons would laugh at him for it. So he started wearing the mask and they got really scared then. He taught me everything he knows," Tanjiro's face turned slightly more serious then, "now I need to find the demon who did this to you. Do you think you could tell me what happened?"

"A monster kidnapped me," the boy began shakily, "and it nearly ate me, but then two more monsters showed up and they started fighting over me. The one who took me had drums growing out of his body and the drum on his back got ripped out during the fight. I didn't know what else to do so I picked it up and hit it and when I did, the room changed. It's how I've held out until now."

"I know that demon," Tanjiro put a hand to his chin, "he mentioned something called 'Marechi'."

"Yes, that's what the demon kept calling me," Kiyoshi remembered, "what does that mean?"

"CAAW! Marechi refers to one possessing a rare type of blood!" Tanjiro's crow suddenly sounded. Kiyoshi naturally jumped and even his owner flinched a little.

"It, it talks," the boy shakily observed.

"Sorry about him," the demon slayer apologized while taking hold of his messenger, "this is a Kasugai Crow, they assist slayers like me in hunting demons. I don't know how but they can speak very well."

"Caw, I speak better than some humans," the crow boasted, "and it's Matsuemon Tennoji, Tennoji!"

"Alright, alright," Tanjiro sighed, "anyway, what do you know about Marechi, Tennoji?"

"All living things have different blood types," the crow explained while hopping down and holding his wings up, "the rarer or more uncommon types of blood are more desirable to demons. Humans possessing the Marechi blood type are an especially nutritious meal for a demon as it's the equivalent of eating as many as a hundred humans in some cases. In other words, those with Marechi are a demon's favorite food!" Naturally this did little to curb Kiyoshi's anxiety about the situation.

"That explains why he targeted you specifically," Tanjiro crossed his arms in thought, "and the behavior of the other demons." He tensed then when a familiar scent reached his nostrils. "Kiyoshi, I need you to listen to me. I'm going to leave this room now to confront the demon."

"But what will I do?" He asked, fear creeping back into his voice.

"Just keep doing what you've been doing," the boy slayer spoke calmly, trying to reassure him, "once I leave this room, strike the drum to change rooms. And if someone you suspect to be a demon tries to enter this room, strike the drum again. Don't worry, now that I know your scent I'll be able to find you again and I'll call your name before I enter. Just hold out a little longer."

He put a reassuring hand on Kiyoshi's shoulder and the boy nodded in understanding after a moment. "That's good, you're very brave, Kiyoshi." The demon slayer turned and faced an entrance further down just as the Tsuzumi wielder rounded the corner. Tanjiro shot forward and drew his sword, "now, strike it!"

He heard the sound of the drum as the door closed behind him. Once again the rooms changed but this time he and the demon were in the same room, meaning they didn't get separated. Not everyone else in the mansion was quite as lucky.

Back With Inosuke and Honoka

"Gah! Not again!" Inosuke held his arms up in frustration, "things were just getting good! I was actually having a fun fight!"

"Enough with your fight obsession!" Honoka bashed him on the head with her fist.

"Ow! What was that for noisy lady?!" The Boar Fighter asked while rubbing his head.

"For not listening," the police officer pointed at him, "I needed to question that girl and you were going to kill her!"

"Of course I was going too, she was a monster," Inosuke reminded, "why would you ask a monster questions?"

"To determine if she really is a monster," Honoka countered, "I only just found out about all of this demon nonsense yesterday and apparently a few of them aren't vicious killers. But I can't determine that if you just go around slicing their heads off before I get the chance to ask!"

"Since when does somebody ask questions before a fight," the boar boy tilted his head in confusion, "if you've decided you're going to fight them then fight them."

"I ask questions so that I know whether or not I have to fight someone," the police officer groaned, "the only time I don't ask questions is when someone attacks me first. But you're just rushing in there if it looks like someone can fight. Wait, have you been attacking other people just because they look like they can fight?"

"I've fought a few humans, yeah," Inosuke confirmed, "so what?"

"'So what'? that's assault!" Honoka exclaimed, "As a police officer I'd have to arrest you, especially when it's unprovoked. And it'll be even worse if you killed any of them!"

"I've only killed monsters," he huffed, "most humans don't fight so they're boring. The ones that have fought so far went down too easy so I didn't bother killing them. And what's it matter if it was unpoked or whatever that word you just said was?"

"'Unprovoked'," The tall woman repeated, "It means you weren't challenged or angered or anything that might've made you want to attack someone."

"Of course I was pro-poked," Inosuke held up his swords, "the guy I got these swords from came up looking to give me trouble. But I got him to tell me all about these demon slayer people and this thing called Final Selection. Now I just go where the monsters are and kill them so I can get stronger!"

"Wait, you're also a demon slayer?" Honoka tilted her head in confusion.

"That's what the weird girls said at the Final Selection thing," The boar boy confirmed, "I didn't really pay attention except for the part where I could kill monsters."

"I guess that means trying to get information about the Demon Slayer Corps from you is a dead end," Honoka sighed, "I'm just going to have to keep searching this mansion for the other slayers that might be here. Come to think of it, how long have you been here?"

"I haven't really kept track," the dual wielder shrugged, "maybe two or three days."

"Two or three days?!" The Police Officer repeated as the implications set in. "How are you even still alive?! Ordinary people can die without water in that time!"

"There's water around here," Inosuke assured with a finger to his chin, "I just need to remember where it is first. This whole place keeps changing so it's really annoying."

"Whether we do or don't find water might not even matter," Honoka tried not to panic, "we could be trapped in here forever, never to see the outside world or make human contact ag-SLIDE." She jumped at the sudden sound and turned towards its source.

"Oh," a girl noted their presence with a nervous looking blond boy behind her, "so there are other people still alive in this mansion."

With Tanjiro

'It hurts,' the boy slayer winced while trying to keep his footing, 'even with Lady Tamayo treating my wounds they're not completely healed. My ribs ache when I move too much and trying to stay off my leg is only adding to the difficulty.' And it was definitely proving difficult. The demon's drums, of which he now realized numbered five with one in his other hip, were turning the room every which way with one unleashing claw slashes at seemingly random intervals.

Tanjiro was doing his best to try and set up an attack but the possibility that he could falter at the wrong moment was constantly at the back of his mind. 'Just one good shot,' he told himself, 'just one shot is all I need.' The slayer tucked, rolled, and flipped when he needed too, using his sense of smell to find the opening thread that would signal the best moment to attack. It seemed to arrive when he successfully closed the distance by a few more feet.

'Nearly there,' he thought, 'I just need to….oh no!' His fears came to pass when he landed on his hurt leg a little too hard, slowing his advance. It was about this time that the drum demon's hand was nearing his center drum, the one used for attacking. 'I have to move out of the way before-SMASH!'

An orb suddenly flew through the door right behind Tanjiro, striking the demon in the face. "Ah!" He held his nose as the room stopped moving, thankfully back at its original orientation. "Now what?!"

"There you are," Susamaru slid the door open and closed it behind her as she entered the room, "the guy who runs this place."

"Another demon," the Tsuzumi Wielder narrowed his eyes, "are you also here for the Marechi?"

"No," the Temari Demon helped Tanjiro to his feet, "I'm here to give him a hand."

"A demon helping a slayer," the drum demon looked like he couldn't comprehend it, "what sort of nonsense is this?"

"Blame Muzan," Susamaru summoned her four extra arms and Temari, "that lying prick made it pretty clear he doesn't give a damn about any of us."

"You're wrong," her fellow demon growled as his eye shifted to reveal a number, albeit one that was scarred with a red 'x', "once I have enough Marechi, I'll be rewarded with a position among the Twelve Kizuki!"

"Yeah, he told me I was a Kizuki once," Susamaru narrowed her eyes, "Then he tried to kill me for speaking his name out of turn. Whatever he promised you, I can guarantee it's bullshit."

"NO!" The demon yelled as he readied to hit his drums again, "I will become a Kizuki! And no one, not a slayer or a turncoat like you, is going to stop me!" The last battle of the Tsuzumi mansion resumed then.

It looks like Susamaru's made up her mind and she has no interest in being an underling of Muzan again. But our heroes still need to survive the Drum Demon if they intend to make it out of the mansion. So in the meantime feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters! And don't forget to check out my book, Barons Of The Stars, on Amazon! Stop in next time as our heroes discover drums and Temari can produce interesting results when pitted against each other. 'Til then.